13ringinheat Posted at 2018-10-28 19:04
You got to pay to play my friend. Don't let my story discourage you from getting a drone. It is a really rewarding hobby and it adds another layer to your video edits that can not be beat. I got my drone insurance through state farm and they were legit. No hassle and check was in the mail. I pay $70 a year in Florida and for me, this is worth every penny.

Agree; Like most things, if there is not any risk, where is the reward.  I'm practicing daily with my Tello so when I ever get my Mavic X I'll have confidence in my ability to fly it somewhat responsibly, lol.

13ringinheat Posted at 2018-9-3 10:46
Just a follow up on this story.........with a pic.

Below is the pic of what the woods look like from the ground when i tried to retrieve it the next morning....what it doesn't show is the amount of water as soon as you enter in there....Knee deep murky water.

First off all you should have never fly at night, I use to own a Dji Spark and I was flying it around sunset and I lost VLOS of the aircraft and I hit the return home button on the remote controller. It almost made it back to the original point of take off but it some how clipped a tree and got stuck at the top of it. Long story short, the aircraft was stuck at the very top of a very tall tree. I was able to climb up the tree and grab it luckily. If I were you I have a solution when you move forward with your new Drone and to add a 2nd mini gps tracker that works as a two way communication device. It's called Trackimo and another company makes a special bracket for the Mavic Pros and the DJI Phantom  4's. I have one on the back of my Mavic Pro with zero interference with the compass on my drone. The Trackimo has a sim card inside so it will automatically text you the exact location of the drone.  Also, it has no effect on the flight!

FLPilotShark Posted at 2018-10-29 07:36
First off all you should have never fly at night, I use to own a Dji Spark and I was flying it around sunset and I lost VLOS of the aircraft and I hit the return home button on the remote controller. It almost made it back to the original point of take off but it some how clipped a tree and got stuck at the top of it. Long story short, the aircraft was stuck at the very top of a very tall tree. I was able to climb up the tree and grab it luckily. If I were you I have a solution when you move forward with your new Drone and to add a 2nd mini gps tracker that works as a two way communication device. It's called Trackimo and another company makes a special bracket for the Mavic Pros and the DJI Phantom  4's. I have one on the back of my Mavic Pro with zero interference with the compass on my drone. The Trackimo has a sim card inside so it will automatically text you the exact location of the drone.  Also, it has no effect on the flight! [view_image]

What do you have the trackimo connected with?

thanks for sharing your story - real sorry for your loss. only thought to contribute is that when my firmware continues to not be up to date for too long then i usually start getting disconnects and then i am forced to update. So far that has always cleared up disconnects that i receive - although in your case as ha been well covered it appears LOS interference was the issue - dirty birds post offers good advice in this regard

JJBspark Posted at 2018-9-3 00:37
Hi,

Really sorry for your loss. What a story to tell, compliments for sharing your story.

hi jj - great analysis as always - great contribution.

I have a question that came to me whilst reading this thread about the compass and green line (in the app) and disconnects.

I will start a new thread and will look forward to your input

Bekaru MP UAV Posted at 2018-10-29 12:15
hi jj - great analysis as always - great contribution.

I have a question that came to me whilst reading this thread about the compass and green line (in the app) and disconnects.

Thanks for the compliment! wilco on your new thread.

cheers
JJB