Im so angry right now i upgraded to the lastes firmeware v1.4.0010 on my dji phantom 3 Professional. It was blue sky perfect weather almoste only open fields except for small forest. Ive been flying there many times before. When it was 300 meters away 50-60 meters up it went from having full signal both on GPS and to the controller to nothing! I lost connection both video feed and controller! I paniked and started to run towards the spot i last had signal but nothing! it dident reconnect! And it didnt go home. Ive been searching along the path that the GPS gave me but its gone!!! So pissed of! DJI most be responsponeble for this! What can i do anyone?!

Sorry to hear about you loss.

Please post any flight logs and relevant data so others can review, those will  usually call tell what happened. Or maybe even video if you were recording at the time.

Did you happen to recalibrate compass and IMU after you upgraded?
Was this the very first flight after upgrade?

Sorry this happened!

Was Failsafe set to return to home or to Hover?  Did you try to reboot your app for re connection?  You lost video signal but did you loose your RC signal (was light green or red)?  Your Log file will show where it was when you lost connection.  If it was me I would think about these: if it was in Hover mode for failsafe it probably landed near the last place it was when you lost signal and the battery drained.  If it tried to return to home walk a line from that spot where it lost signal back towards the home point.  If you RTH height was not high enough it might have hit a tree on its way back.

Sir Edward K Posted at 2015-9-8 14:23
Sorry this happened!

Was Failsafe set to return to home or to Hover?  Did you try to reboot your ap ...

I keep forgetting how many variables there are in question when trying to determine why a flyaway happened and what was done to try and avoid it.

Today 08 sep, we had a strong magnetic storm from the sun.
KP index=6
Risky to fly above KP index=4
Could perhaps be that?
There's an gratis app to check the KP index:
"Magnetology"

LeHussard Posted at 2015-9-8 13:28
Today 08 sep, we had a strong magnetic storm from the sun.
KP index=6
Risky to fly above KP index=4

Yes, I have heard that that will affect the GPS and radio signals.   That could have been a factor.

6 is moderate enough to knock out  the accuracy of gps, interfere with radio reception and transmission, and induce noticable voltage spikes in coiled wires and circuit boards, kp of 9 can induce enough voltage in national power grid to put power stations off line, in the case of Canada once enough damage was done to take nearly a week to get back online

And make note that GPS operates on 1.5ghz, 1.2ghz and GLONASS operates on 1.6ghz and 1.2ghz and its a radio frequency being transmitted from the satellite, so everything that works inside the phantom relies on radio frequency.

Basically every time you fire up that phantom you are taking a huge gamble, so make the odds in your favor by looking up affecting factors and minimize there effect.

Gabe R Posted at 2015-9-8 20:27
I keep forgetting how many variables there are in question when trying to determine why a flyaway  ...

Sorry for your loss ;-(

Yesterday we had very strong K-index . This could easyli have been the reason. A month ago I almost too experienced a fly away. calibrated compass before flight and checked imu, had GPS, but suddenly the GPS switched off and the bird went crazy, I also did not react well on my input in atti mode, I struggled for 10 min. almost to get it down, had to hand catch it also, very unresponsive. But luckily I managed to get it down safely,

When came home I checked the K-index and it was very high that day. From now on I allways check the K-index before flying.

Also there is an android app for this, and probaly also for IOS I guess.

I think the should build in an K-index indicator in the app.

Hope you find the drone, and not too much damage.

LeHussard Posted at 2015-9-8 14:28
Today 08 sep, we had a strong magnetic storm from the sun.
KP index=6
Risky to fly above KP index=4

You are certainly correct. In fact, I will not even do a compass calibration unless the K Index is around 3 or less. Of course, this may NOT be the cause of this loss.

Good things to check (mentioned before) before you calibrate the compass or fly is:
www.solarham.net/
www.spaceweatherlive.com/

Very sorry that happened - maybe DJI would consider mentioning in instructions.

uavforecast.com and plug in your location. It's literally the best tool for all UAV pilots.

And remember.  DJI does not control solar activity.

Nicholas Rønsho Posted at 2015-9-8 15:40
Sorry for your loss ;-(

Yesterday we had very strong K-index . This could easyli have been the rea ...

The name of the App for iOS is "Solar Sphere"

It was set to return home. Lost all signals both controller and feed. Been search but now it's to dark. Don't know if there is a way to get dji to compensate me.  Hmm don't think there was any problem with k-index

Checked k-index and it was 2-3 during my flight

IOS app is called solar monitor.

Sorry to hear and I hope you can find your craft undamaged, and can resolve this issue as kp does not seem to be a factor
But any way i try to explain about solar storms a bit for others

As you can see from this pic of me a solar storm is like a rain shower, it's not uniform intense parts and empty parts and it changes, in 20 seconds that picture would be totally different.
So that makes where and how it effects different a green patch could fall and hit within seconds then be gone 5 or  10 minute's  later,
While man in next town is unaffected at that moment if you get what I mean
These were taken with a kp of 5 in Helsinki that lasted 4 hours, these particles have enough energy to make the gas glow in our atmosphere, make electric currents in wires, circuit boards, while they might not effect old fashioned magnetic compasses,  electric ones with wires like ours yes, our gps module has to be exposed to pick up the very weak gps signal, and the particles from the sun / coronal ejection will play havoc  if they have enough energy in them within a storm ,

300 meters out from you , and you could no see it ? I lost video feed once and was in visual sight of the P3 , and I flew it back to myself .   Just saying ...  

chris@chris-hil Posted at 2015-9-8 22:23
Sorry to hear and I hope you can find your craft undamaged, and can resolve this issue as kp does n ...

awesome picture, lucky you to be in a northern hemisphere where  you can take these pictures on regular basis

What lens were you using and what settings on your SLR ?

Linus,
sorry to hear about the loss..
Stupid question,
Does the P3 have a find my Phantom feature as the P2's do?

Thanks W. W
Northern hemisphere / lucky !!!!, double edged sword,
as we live near the end of this magnet called planet earth, we get all that solar shite attracted towards us, and the effects multiplied 3 fold

chris@chris-hil Posted at 2015-9-9 00:34
Thanks W. W
Northern hemisphere / lucky !!!!, double edged sword,
as we live near the end of this  ...

Yeah i forgot about that LOL

kp index was 3 when I was flying and yes it was set to return home. I will go out and search for it again

Total Posted at 2015-9-9 05:45
300 meters out from you , and you could no see it ? I lost video feed once and was in visual sight o ...

Was behind small forest and in fact it was 600 meters away I checked flight data . And I lost connection with the controller also. So i had no control

Total Posted at 2015-9-9 05:45
300 meters out from you , and you could no see it ? I lost video feed once and was in visual sight o ...

Was behind small forest and in fact it was 600 meters away I checked flight data . And I lost connection with the controller also. So i had no control

Northofthe49th Posted at 2015-9-9 12:19
Linus,
sorry to hear about the loss..
Stupid question,

nope it does not

linus.norden Posted at 2015-9-9 04:14
It was set to return home. Lost all signals both controller and feed. Been search but now it's to da ...

i doubt very much DJI would compensate you. Sorry for your loss. but i have not heard of the device going dead and the rc loosing signal and the p3 not coming back home, all in one incident????
Logic dictates that something other than DJI was at fault here, question is what? and there is no one here or alive that can answer that question without having been there or have the flight log to try and make sense of it.
again sorry about your loss

More speculation here,
I did see a link to a video here some where that showed a battery with 80 something percent life left, and it went from 100 charge to critical after 25  seconds of flight,
If power dropped of suddenly that could explain total loss of video and rc signal, and fail to RTH,
Again I hope a new day helps you find your craft safe and in good shape

Hi everyone! i found my Dji phantom 3 Adv this morning in bad shape 300 meters from where i lost the signal. And whats strange is that i still had 75% batterie life left in the aircraft. So a recap. Perfect day K-index 3  at the time. Just updated to the last firmware, calibrated, was in fail safe mode. Fly away approx 30 meter up 600 meter away all of a sudden when i fly over an open field i lose everything feed, signal on the controller. JUST GONE! And as i said batterie life at 75% when i found it. So it just when down.....!!!

If you are 'behind a small forest', all bets are off, let alone 600 meters. 1800 feet. If you can't see it, and override manually, DJI will do nothing for you. The best you can hope for is upload your flight logs here for interpretation and approximate location help. And.... Learn about wireless signals before flying something wireless.... You can't fly to the other side of a moisture (RF sucking material) unless you are measuring. I'd say this one is a loss and you've learned the hard way. Sorry to hear.

brycerichert Posted at 2015-9-9 08:53
If you are 'behind a small forest', all bets are off, let alone 600 meters. 1800 feet. If you can't  ...

But the thing is that something else than signal happend to the drone. Because its suppose to return i it looses signal. Now it just went down still batteri life left 75%

linus.norden Posted at 2015-9-9 08:06
But the thing is that something else than signal happend to the drone. Because its suppose to retu ...

Was the battery still fitted to the phantom when you found it?
If it was then it must have powered off in flight.  I have never heard of this.  I don't think there is any way to turn off a battery either in flight or on the ground using the remote.

If the battery was found outside the phantom then I would assume if fell from the craft during flight.  I don't know if this would lead to the battery turning off?  Or maybe when not fitted it would remain on and still be 75% charged.  Was the battery still turned on?

linus.norden Posted at 2015-9-9 09:06
But the thing is that something else than signal happend to the drone. Because its suppose to retu ...

more surprising that the battery was anywhere near it after it crashed. i hear they usually go rocketing away....

Linus, my suggestion would be to send, or upload, your flight logs to HealthyDrones/ Eran. He seems to be nothing short of a genius in regards to figuring out the coulda, shoulda, woulda's of these things.

What kind of shape was the P3 in when you found it? Is it recoverable?

Flyhigh7887 Posted at 2015-9-9 09:39
more surprising that the battery was anywhere near it after it crashed. i hear they usually go roc ...

Need to change the the shell one arm broken. Gimbal seems fine, dirt in the motors. Ill download the flight data. I change the shell before so i know how to do that but it takes time...  

linus.norden Posted at 2015-9-9 10:28
Need to change the the shell one arm broken. Gimbal seems fine, dirt in the motors. Ill download t ...

happy to hear that you got it back & it may be recoverable.

keep us posted on how it goes.

I'd get the log off the Phantom itself and have a gander ...   sounds like it dropped out of the air suddenly

huge magnetic storm last night/this morning. sorry for your loss

An asshole with a jammer could cause exactly this scenario...
http://www.jammer4uk.com
GPS, WiFi, whatever you want...
No need for a very strong transmitter, the source must only be near by the Phantom or the RC
(if it´s much  closer to the copter than you are with the RC, you don´t need much power to disturb the connection and you can also disturb the copter gps)
...of course, there could be other sources that can produce electromagnetic fields, every spark generates broadband interference

Do you have the video from the SD card on the Phantom??