Assuming altitude selected for RTH is based on launch site as zero meters elevation?If so, will need to remember to reset when flying over the property uphill from launch point or just set the altitude higher than necessary.

Did a test RTH on the maiden flight. Too windy since that flight to fly.  From within 20 meters of the launch pad and lower than the set RTH altitude. Hit the hold position lock button. Took a peak to see where the drone was hovering.  Unlocked. Using Motion Controller 2 the  RTH was engaged.  Flew straight back and almost landed on the pad, but didn't notice any real gain in elevation. Assumed it would have ascended to the set RTH altitude before flying back to home and more or less hold that altitude until over home before descending.  Wrong assumptions?  Or was I just too close to home so the Avata2 just more or less kept the same altitude and then decended once close to home?

Bit concerned due to the nature of my "home" field.   Test flight launch site is the most open area on the property.  About a 15 x 15 meter area free of obstacles over 3 meters.  Surrounding trees on the 3 other sides are +20 meters.  RTH altitude IIRC is set at 30 meters.  If flying anywheres outside of the direction I was such as my trail system when engaging RTH, the Avata2 would have flown into a tree if it does not climb to the set RTH altitude.  Assuming it goes more or less straight vertical up to RTH set elevation.

In the perfect world, the drone would be able retrace the outbound route  +/- 1 meter in altitude and leeway returning to home.  Maybe a future upgrade when engaging RTH manually? Understand the feature would be overridden if RTH home was auto activated due to low battery or any other auto engagement event.

When within 5 meters of the Home Point, triggering RTH causes the drone to immediately land.

When 5-20 meters from Home Point, the drone flies directly home at current altitude then lands.

When >20 meters from Home Point, the drone climbs STRAIGHT UP to RTH altitude then returns home & lands.

If the drone is higher than the set RTH altitude, it will RTH at the current altitude.

On the Avata 2, on signal loss the drone will retrace the last 50 meters in an attempt to regain signal, then RTH if unsuccessful.

There is no provision to retrace the entire flight.

For your particular scenario you want to set an RTH altitude sufficient to clear any trees in the area.  Always launch from the clearing unless you want to take over the controls when the bird gets back in range.  One issue to consider is, if flying under the trees, the drone will climb STRAIGHT UP to RTH altitude when RTH is engaged.

A lot of questions there, all of which are covered in the user manual including disconnection which is arguable more important than manual rth.

Hi there. Thank you for reaching out. Please refer  may also refer to the image below:

This is available in the user manual. Here is the link: https://dl.djicdn.com/downloads/ ... _Manual_v1.0_en.pdf. Have a great day ahead.

Also important to note that if >20m the drone will literally stop and immediately begin ascending to the RTH altitude you set. Having no upward OA sensors the drone will crash into anything above it such as a overhead tree canopy or power cable. To stop this and return home manually (which you should do in VLOS) press the orange button on the MC3 to stop RTH. You can also change RTH to land or hover where it is within the settings menu in the event of fail safe being initiated.
For those in the UK flying under article 16 note that it is illegal to allow a drone to fly autonomously (without your manual inputs) thus including RTH under this article.

Thanks for the info.  Downloaded the complete Manual pdf. Nice reference source.

Friend discovered that his MiniPro4 doesn't see upwards and climbed into a tree.  Assumed that Avanta2 is blind to anything you don't see and the infrared downward and visual down angle sensors are unable to detect.  Something I need to consider when trail flying.  Tree canopy forms a "tunnel" in most sections.

Went to p.48 and read through the sections regarding RTH features and functions.  Discovered an interesting feature if activated.  Looks like the Avata2 can retrace its route to a limited distance.  Hope eventually DJI update would make it possible for the Avata2 to retrace the route back to home.  Assuming enough battery capacity remains.

OldGuy2024 Posted at 4-21 07:54
Thanks for the info.  Downloaded the complete Manual pdf. Nice reference source.

Friend discovered that his MiniPro4 doesn't see upwards and climbed into a tree.  Assumed that Avanta2 is blind to anything you don't see and the infrared downward and visual down angle sensors are unable to detect.  Something I need to consider when trail flying.  Tree canopy forms a "tunnel" in most sections.

In the woods under any canopy, ALWAYS set loss of signal to "Hover." Saves a lot of hassles!

KLRSKIR Posted at 4-21 09:49
In the woods under any canopy, ALWAYS set loss of signal to "Hover." Saves a lot of hassles!

Can't agree more; this thing doesn't have any form of obstacle avoidance so technically it can crash into anything in its path while ascending to preset RTH altitude if it had lost connection under a tree or any other building structure.

OldGuy2024 Posted at 4-21 07:54
Thanks for the info.  Downloaded the complete Manual pdf. Nice reference source.

Friend discovered that his MiniPro4 doesn't see upwards and climbed into a tree.  Assumed that Avanta2 is blind to anything you don't see and the infrared downward and visual down angle sensors are unable to detect.  Something I need to consider when trail flying.  Tree canopy forms a "tunnel" in most sections.

The purpose of this seems to be if you lost your signal, you should be able to restore it if the drone can go back a few seconds or back 50m where you obviously had a good signal.  I haven't had the opportunity to fly underneath 50m of tree cover or thru a 50m tunnel so for me, if I lost signal going thru such a challenging environment, this would back me out of it and likely into blue sky above.  My plan would be to cancel RTH immediately upon reconnection, just in case.

Will be interested to see this tested and demonstrated because for now, I use "hover" which is fine but not always comfortable for that to happen over 90% of my entire flight where I would actually prefer the drone to come home.  Basically for "hover" to be effective, all you need to do is likely move or walk that 50m to restore your connection so in the end, it might be all the same.

The Saint Posted at 4-21 11:47
The purpose of this seems to be if you lost your signal, you should be able to restore it if the drone can go back a few seconds or back 50m where you obviously had a good signal.  I haven't had the opportunity to fly underneath 50m of tree cover or thru a 50m tunnel so for me, if I lost signal going thru such a challenging environment, this would back me out of it and likely into blue sky above.  My plan would be to cancel RTH immediately upon reconnection, just in case.

Will be interested to see this tested and demonstrated because for now, I use "hover" which is fine but not always comfortable for that to happen over 90% of my entire flight where I would actually prefer the drone to come home.  Basically for "hover" to be effective, all you need to do is likely move or walk that 50m to restore your connection so in the end, it might be all the same.

Skip to 10:39 for an amazing example of RTH Retrace saving a drone...

Dirty Bird Posted at 4-21 11:51
Skip to 10:39 for an amazing example of RTH Retrace saving a drone...

https://youtu.be/nVEUHilsfuo?si=xJ1LgS-iCQn1Vkh_

wow, that's pretty impressive.  gonna save a lot of drones that way.  dji, can we get that in avata 1 please!!!?

The Saint Posted at 4-21 12:13
wow, that's pretty impressive.  gonna save a lot of drones that way.  dji, can we get that in avata 1 please!!!?

Fricking amazing that it retraced through the gap.  

The Saint Posted at 4-21 12:13
wow, that's pretty impressive.  gonna save a lot of drones that way.  dji, can we get that in avata 1 please!!!?

The Avata 1 has this feature!

GTHero Posted at 4-21 15:59
The Avata 1 has this feature!

I guess it does! (Says so in the user guide). Thanks, I'll have to check it out.  Wonder why so many people haven't praised this and end up crashing their drone into the rafters overhead.

DB, thanks for posting the video. More than amazing.  Will need to take a look at the complete video.  Impressive video some people create.

Will need to set the RTH to hover when exclusively trail flying.  Otherwise do as my friend did with his MiniPro 4.  RTH, up right into a tree.  50 meters retrace should be fine if not paying attention to signal strengths.

Yesterday couple hours before sunset the wind finally dropped enough to fly.  Only one moment of "high wind warning" when I punched the Avata2 skywards a bit too high.  Self incrimination.  Set the max altitude to 200 meters to allow clearing the tree tops at the N (uphill) end of the property.   Real world was significantly lower than the 400 ft limit above ground flying over.  At the N end of the property there is a plateau ~100 meters above launch site. The ridge then pitches upward another ~50 meters to the summit.  On the plateau there is a tall (+30 meter) red pine surrounded by a few smaller pines.  Have an idea how high the RTH needs to be set if needing to clear that pine tree.


Neighbor's 40 directly to west my 40 is an orchard.  Mark gave me permission to fly over his property.  Flew over to his property.  All was fine until a sudden drop in signal strength. White to yellow to red in a moment.  Single digit packet. Hard bank back home. Signal went instantly to white, full bars. 180 back west, but slowly. Similar rapid drop in signal strength.  Wondering if wireless internet signals from the local provider tower was the cause.  More or less flew into the the direct line of the tower ~0.2 nm N and the other tower ~10 nm S of Mark's property.  Not sure what frequency the towers connect with each other.  I know the local signal for subscribers is relatively weak.  I cannot receive a signal from either towers due to trees obstructing line of sight.  Next flight will drop below the tree line when over the orchard and see if I can make it across without signal loss.  

Outside of the above moment. When at altitude v. flying couple meters above ground and lower than your launch point blocked by a wall of trees.  The signal strength is rock solid.  Plenty of mBs of data and full bars.  Analog hardware consists of a SkyZone M5 monitor with Steadyview receiver and couple TrueRC X-Air antennae or TBS Triumph and IBC helical.  Feel more confident regarding penetration and probably range flying the Avata2. Those little dipole like stick antenna have me mystified in their ability to receive the signal. Or are they the rtx antennae? Then there is the  hidden vtx antenna DJI uses in the Avata2.  Another mystery. Curious about the internal goggle antennae.  The now discontinued TrueRC X-Air are a patch style, but when set vertically act more like an omni.  Maybe DJI has a similar system.  Couple directional patch type and an omni or two.