Whilst on my 2nd ever flight (over mt etna which is beautiful btw) halfway through it suddenly said disconnected! I panicked lots, kept pressing return to home /land over and over but it didn't seem to do much. It hovered where it was whilst I panicked a bit more then it suddenly started returning to home. (Not sure if I temporarily gained connection for this to happen? ) just wondering if this happens often and if so what should you do to regain control?! Thanks!

No worry. That's how it works.  Keep line of sight with spark n controller. Good to go.

It's happened to me twice, think when at the edge of range for that location...first thing to do is to breathe and not panic. If Spark loses the signal but has gps, it will, if you've flown correctly with a home point set, return to that point. Keep it in sight, stay calm and fly it closer to you. The second time I lost connection, my screen went black, and after about (i think) 3 seconds it started to return to home, my signal came back, I was able to cancel the return to home and continue to fly...though I kept it closer to me. Good luck.

If you are flying over WiFi and controlling from a phone, I would keep it in close range. Really, you need to have the dedicated remote control and an OTG connection between the remote and your phone for reliable control of the drone.

Do you have the remote controller or just a phone?  With the remote, you need to keep the sides of the antenna pointed at the drone.  Not the tips.  It radiates out the sides more than the end of the antenna.  Lots of people lose link when they lift up the remote to see the screen better and blank/hide the antennas from the drone.

If you are using a phone as the controller, you might try changing how the phone is oriented until the connection comes back.

I have lost video link but never the control.  I just turned the drone or the icon on the screen (lower left) and flew the drone back to me until video restored.  I never use RTH as it can cause wrecks or flyaways.  I fly and land better than it does.

Sparky Sparkinson Posted at 2018-4-22 07:51
If you are flying over WiFi and controlling from a phone, I would keep it in close range. Really, you need to have the dedicated remote control and an OTG connection between the remote and your phone for reliable control of the drone.

Why do you say you need a dedicated remote AND OTG connection, I’m running iPhone X and use WiFi to remote and it’s perfectly fine

I’ve found if you lose connection just relax and allow the drone to do its job, quite often when it reconnects it’s on its way back. The return to home is pretty good as long as there is nothing in between you and the drone and the RTH altitude is sufficient

ChrisJG Posted at 2018-4-22 07:49
It's happened to me twice, think when at the edge of range for that location...first thing to do is to breathe and not panic. If Spark loses the signal but has gps, it will, if you've flown correctly with a home point set, return to that point. Keep it in sight, stay calm and fly it closer to you. The second time I lost connection, my screen went black, and after about (i think) 3 seconds it started to return to home, my signal came back, I was able to cancel the return to home and continue to fly...though I kept it closer to me. Good luck.

You say to fly it closer but how can I do that if its no longer connected to my phone? (I do not have a controller, just my phone.)

It sounds like the Spark initiated RTH when it became disconnected, as it's designed to. It hovers for a few seconds or more before returning home, as yours eventually did. Your commands, as panicked and insistent as they were,;) weren't getting through because of the disconnect. That's my guess.

If disconnects, it will never receive any input, however the RTH will kick after a few seconds without connection to the RC or Phone.

GlobetrotterGP Posted at 2018-4-22 14:34
You say to fly it closer but how can I do that if its no longer connected to my phone? (I do not have a controller, just my phone.)

Once it loses connection, after (I think) 3 seconds,  Spark will start to return to the Home Point. As it does, the connection (in my case) re-established as the distances decreased and then you will have control again.

Honestly, to be quite frank... you need to read the manual before you lose your quad.  Coming here with questions is fine, but that's a pretty rudimentary situation.  I say this only in your best interests.

https://dl.djicdn.com/downloads/ ... 0Manual%20V1.6-.pdf

Required reading...

Also definitely get the remote! I wouldn't trust flying my Spark without it as there are too many variables to keep a reliable connection with phone only.

Same as everyone above. Been pushing the limits for distance, it often disconnects then begins RTH. Will then reconnect on the way back at which stage I cancel and continue to fly.