This problem is relatively common, and would impact other classes of drone too.
I was flying in "bush" (Australian for "heavily wooded area")
The Avata crashed quite some distance away. It was low impact and it fell on dead leaves, so no damage done.
However, as the motors were restarted, it reset the home point.


So, I had no idea where it was and it had no idea where I was. I couldn't hear it (even with hearing aid volume cranked up), and even thought I elevated it above the trees, it was too far away to see. I flew it in a wide circle until I could hear it and eventuall saw it.

What I would like:
A way to either store multiple home points, or at least the option to not overwrite the previous one.

The Avata 2 Wisk - Visible from over 1500'.

Dirty Bird Posted at 5-12 03:45
The Avata 2 Wisk - Visible from over 1500'.

I was 75% correct

That's actually a really good idea. With a cool head you probably could've looked at the flight records in DJI Fly and estimated the direction you should go in to come back home, but something like being able to manually chose between last N saved home points would be great for situations when you panic or maybe have no time to go through flight records due to low battery/incoming sunset/rain etc.

fichek Posted at 5-12 05:49
That's actually a really good idea. With a cool head you probably could've looked at the flight records in DJI Fly and estimated the direction you should go in to come back home, but something like being able to manually chose between last N saved home points would be great for situations when you panic or maybe have no time to go through flight records due to low battery/incoming sunset/rain etc.

I had to use Find My Drone, with the Avata 1.  The home point had somehow changed to the middle of a tree about 500 metres away. It worked, but it took a while. And I thought I was the pointer in the map instead of the circle

If you connected the googles to a phone you could have used find my drone to be guided to it from the phone,   the home point doest matter for that feature.  

DAFlys Posted at 5-12 07:27
If you connected the googles to a phone you could have used find my drone to be guided to it from the phone,   the home point doest matter for that feature.

Yes, that's what I said. However the drone was about a kilometre away, it was able to fly and I didn't want to trek through the bush to get it

ReproRetro Posted at 5-12 06:15
I had to use Find My Drone, with the Avata 1.  The home point had somehow changed to the middle of a tree about 500 metres away. It worked, but it took a while. And I thought I was the pointer in the map instead of the circle

I guess I'm not the only one who was a bit confused using "Find My Drone" the first time.

Similar crash incident.  Tried to sneak through a gap in the tree canopy over the trails I was flying. Sort of missed and the quad tumbled down to earth landing on a bed of leaves. My guess where it tumbled to was totally off. Without the location feature it would have been another lost drone.   But the A2 survived a wild descent bouncing off tree branches. "Interesting" goggle view.  Did break a propeller blade.  How I found out that the "standard" M76/3pitch T mount GemFan or HQ propellers do not fit on the A2 motors.

My Wish List is more of a "I wish DJI would have List".  Would have used "standard" MT76 hole spacing.  I have a handful of "std" M76 propellers for the other "3 inch" quad.  Missing the landing pad  usually  results in chipping  a propeller.  The self landing, pivoting gimbal make landing the A2 so easy.  Only time it missed the pad was the test RTH.
My true Wish List.  In stock A2 batteries. Prefer a minimum of 4 batteries.  Up to now the cooler conditions (5-10C) conditions are limiting my flights to ~12-14 minutes.  I prefer to land with ~30% of I'm assuming battery capacity.  OSD update to show the actual lowest cell voltage.  In the other quads I fly when voltage sag drops to ~3.4V I land.  mAH used would be nice. Give you an idea of battery capacity loss with aging.  Or add to the app a battery data page showing you the capacity and cell IRs when connected. Or an upgraded charger with data display.

OldGuy2024 Posted at 5-13 08:59
I guess I'm not the only one who was a bit confused using "Find My Drone" the first time.

Similar crash incident.  Tried to sneak through a gap in the tree canopy over the trails I was flying. Sort of missed and the quad tumbled down to earth landing on a bed of leaves. My guess where it tumbled to was totally off. Without the location feature it would have been another lost drone.   But the A2 survived a wild descent bouncing off tree branches. "Interesting" goggle view.  Did break a propeller blade.  How I found out that the "standard" M76/3pitch T mount GemFan or HQ propellers do not fit on the A2 motors.

Sounds like a higher capacity batteries would be good. I wonder if you could change the cells in an old battery to modern ones

Are you saying that the drone was on the ground in a heavily wooded area, about 1 km from the controller, and you were able to take off again??  Based on your pics, unless the launch spot was elevated, there's no way my Avata (1) would retain connection in that environment from that distance once it dropped below the tree canopy.  The 04 transmission system must be quite an improvement!

Oh, and another option to have gotten your bearings - assuming you had sufficient battery, would have been to just go straight up, looking down and rotating as you go.  Even if you have to go above 120m, at some point you're going to see something that will tell you where you are - a geographic feature, a road, your car.

GTHero Posted at 5-13 17:12
Are you saying that the drone was on the ground in a heavily wooded area, about 1 km from the controller, and you were able to take off again??  Based on your pics, unless the launch spot was elevated, there's no way my Avata (1) would retain connection in that environment from that distance once it dropped below the tree canopy.  The 04 transmission system must be quite an improvement!

Oh, and another option to have gotten your bearings - assuming you had sufficient battery, would have been to just go straight up, looking down and rotating as you go.  Even if you have to go above 120m, at some point you're going to see something that will tell you where you are - a geographic feature, a road, your car.

Yes, I'm guessing it was around 1K.
With my Avata 1, the video gets pixilated from around 2k and there are breaks in transmission, but I've flown the Avata 2 I've flown further without any transmission problems.
I tried the method you suggested, without luck. So I flew in a large circle until I could hear it, then steered to to maximize the sound

Higher capacity battery would be nice up to a point. Bit of a compromise with the additional mass. On the 6s powered 3" non-DJI drone I occasionally fly I invested in some 5th gen Tattu that are lighter relative to the sam capacity older generation.  Hope is in the future DJI is able to do the same.  One issue with the 5th Gen, folded design with some "exotic" chemical component is when you hit 3.4V you need to land within a few moments and avoid any heavy throttle input. Low voltage sag battery until a point where the sag just drops like a rock.  Ignorance resulted in killing one battery.  Bit of a compromise.

OldGuy2024 Posted at 5-15 09:59
Higher capacity battery would be nice up to a point. Bit of a compromise with the additional mass. On the 6s powered 3" non-DJI drone I occasionally fly I invested in some 5th gen Tattu that are lighter relative to the sam capacity older generation.  Hope is in the future DJI is able to do the same.  One issue with the 5th Gen, folded design with some "exotic" chemical component is when you hit 3.4V you need to land within a few moments and avoid any heavy throttle input. Low voltage sag battery until a point where the sag just drops like a rock.  Ignorance resulted in killing one battery.  Bit of a compromise.

It's generally easier to kill LiPo packs with more cells in series as they hold the voltage better (due to needing less current for same power output so less heat is generated etc.) up to a point and then they suddenly drop much more rapidly. I can't count the amount of times I barely managed to land after switching from 4S to 6S because of how differently they drop off and I end up going into single-digit voltage Not a problem with DJI's smart batteries though.

But Avata 2 batteries seem perfect so far imo.

fichek Posted at 5-15 15:01
It's generally easier to kill LiPo packs with more cells in series as they hold the voltage better (due to needing less current for same power output so less heat is generated etc.) up to a point and then they suddenly drop much more rapidly. I can't count the amount of times I barely managed to land after switching from 4S to 6S because of how differently they drop off and I end up going into single-digit voltage  Not a problem with DJI's smart batteries though.

But Avata 2 batteries seem perfect so far imo.

One of my cars had a 1 pint emergency reserve fuel tank that you could put on line.
Maybe we need a tiny reserve battery

JMHO and from a DJI newbie. Similar feelings regarding the Avata 2 battery. They seem to have a good energy density.  Only using the MC3 controller, but really don't notice a drop off in performance at sub 50%.  IIRC, the spec note Lithium Manganese Nickel Cobalt chemistry. Lithium Ion?  If so, are the motors low KV and high torque units?  When I unboxed the Avata2 the size of the motors were underwhelming.  Wrong first impression. Seem to be a good match for this quad.  JMHO, again. A2 might be one of the better "compromise", not in a negative manner quads available. Fine for those into video capture, great for newbies, nice for those of us not into hardcore freestyle but like an immersive flying experience.

Regarding higher capacity. I bumped up the size of the battery for my "Franksteined" 450 size quad from 3200 to 4000 mAH battery of the same make and model.  Flight times went from ~6-9 minutes to ~7-10 minutes. The weight gain v. capacity compromise.  If similar small gains with the Avata2.  Better to just add a 4th battery to the kit.  Also, my eyeballs and brain probably need the break between batteries.  Curious to see how much improvement in flight times will result from flying at 5C vs 20C.

OldGuy2024 Posted at 5-15 15:49
JMHO and from a DJI newbie. Similar feelings regarding the Avata 2 battery. They seem to have a good energy density.  Only using the MC3 controller, but really don't notice a drop off in performance at sub 50%.  IIRC, the spec note Lithium Manganese Nickel Cobalt chemistry. Lithium Ion?  If so, are the motors low KV and high torque units?  When I unboxed the Avata2 the size of the motors were underwhelming.  Wrong first impression. Seem to be a good match for this quad.  JMHO, again. A2 might be one of the better "compromise", not in a negative manner quads available. Fine for those into video capture, great for newbies, nice for those of us not into hardcore freestyle but like an immersive flying experience.

Regarding higher capacity. I bumped up the size of the battery for my "Franksteined" 450 size quad from 3200 to 4000 mAH battery of the same make and model.  Flight times went from ~6-9 minutes to ~7-10 minutes. The weight gain v. capacity compromise.  If similar small gains with the Avata2.  Better to just add a 4th battery to the kit.  Also, my eyeballs and brain probably need the break between batteries.  Curious to see how much improvement in flight times will result from flying at 5C vs 20C.

I noticed a big improvement in flight time with the Avata 2, so there's less range anxiety
When wearing goggles, you need to take them off every 20 minutes and focus in the distance.

There was an interesting NPR report in the increasing population of younger people being nearsighted.  Maybe too much time focusing at a fixed, close object.  For everyone and more importantly for younger people focusing on objects at a variety of distances between batteries is probably a good idea.  Cannot hurt. No point in adding to the maybe risk factor of too long periods of close, single distance focusing.

Not the flight battery, but the MC3 battery. DJI notes 2600mAh battery.  Not the largest and assuming based on the weight of the controller one 18650 Li-Ion?  It rarely needs charging relative to the flight batteries. Mine was down to blinking 4th LED.  Did not charge it prior to last session.  Old person memory.  Don't remember when last charged. Have a power meter between it and the power source. Curious to see how little of the capacity it used in flying through 6 flight batteries down to ~30%.

OldGuy2024 Posted at 5-16 14:21
There was an interesting NPR report in the increasing population of younger people being nearsighted.  Maybe too much time focusing at a fixed, close object.  For everyone and more importantly for younger people focusing on objects at a variety of distances between batteries is probably a good idea.  Cannot hurt. No point in adding to the maybe risk factor of too long periods of close, single distance focusing.

Not the flight battery, but the MC3 battery. DJI notes 2600mAh battery.  Not the largest and assuming based on the weight of the controller one 18650 Li-Ion?  It rarely needs charging relative to the flight batteries. Mine was down to blinking 4th LED.  Did not charge it prior to last session.  Old person memory.  Don't remember when last charged. Have a power meter between it and the power source. Curious to see how little of the capacity it used in flying through 6 flight batteries down to ~30%.

2600mAh listed in specs refers to the FPVRC3. 18650 looks like it might be a bit tight for RCM3, I wouldn't be surprised if it had an 18500 or something even smaller in there.

fichek Posted at 5-16 14:44
2600mAh listed in specs refers to the FPVRC3. 18650 looks like it might be a bit tight for RCM3, I wouldn't be surprised if it had an 18500 or something even smaller in there.

Whatever the size and type of battery. Happy!  Passing through to the G3 is a great way to reduce power needs of the controller.  The couple other recently purchased Tx require fully charging before sessions or sometimes require field charging.

+1 on multiple home points

Is there no option not to reset the house point in the Avata 2? Sorry but it sounds crazy. In Betaflight or INAV drones there is an option to reset the home point with each takeoff, or to keep only the first one... until the drone is turned off (default mode). And of course it's the safest mode in 99% of cases. So in your case, you wouldn't have lost the information to get home more easily and safer. Think if you would have lost the connection or the batteries were dead and the Avata activated the RTH, but going where it crashed before?
I think DJI must do something to fix this issue.
The good thing about the O4 is that you could receive the 1k video broadcast from you with the drone landed and disarmed. This is a big improvement.

Luca Rubino Posted at 5-27 06:31
Is there no option not to reset the house point in the Avata 2? Sorry but it sounds crazy. In Betaflight or INAV drones there is an option to reset the home point with each takeoff, or to keep only the first one... until the drone is turned off (default mode). And of course it's the safest mode in 99% of cases. So in your case, you wouldn't have lost the information to get home more easily and safer. Think if you would have lost the connection or the batteries were dead and the Avata activated the RTH, but going where it crashed before?
I think DJI must do something to fix this issue.
The good thing about the O4 is that you could receive the 1k video broadcast from you with the drone landed and disarmed. This is a big improvement.

Yes you can reset the HP in the Avata 2:
Settings>Safety>Set Home point. As long as the drone has a GPS lock then a new HP will be set.