I've heard a few others with the same story. I was flying high on a calm day just before sunset for 5 minutes. Lost GPS unable to return home message. Still able to fly using video link. Strong signal line of sight. Then it tumbled and fell, no obstacles in the sky. Anyone else have this happen?  I should not fly in the evening?  Not fly above houses?  How to prevent this?

Sounds to me you need a more capable drone, like the mini 3 pro.  The Neo is a great little drone for what it does - push it too far and it will all end in tears.

umpa Posted at 10-29 10:11
Sounds to me you need a more capable drone, like the mini 3 pro.  The Neo is a great little drone for what it does - push it too far and it will all end in tears.

Should it not fly on a calm day at 20m height?  Nearby, line of sight, no radio interference. Certainly the GPS should continue to work after being connected for 5 minutes?

umpa Posted at 10-29 10:11
Sounds to me you need a more capable drone, like the mini 3 pro.  The Neo is a great little drone for what it does - push it too far and it will all end in tears.

Sounds to me you need a more capable drone, like the mini 3 pro.  The Neo is a great little drone for what it does - push it too far and it will all end in tears.

Sounds like you have nothing useful to say, might be best to keep out of posts that you cant answer.

At the OP

Was it connected to a controller with a phone, if so then get the flight logs and see what happened use this website to read them and post the link

https://www.phantomhelp.com/logviewer/upload/

I have sent my flight log to DJI for analysis. Should know tomorrow? Anyone else have this problem?

MiniManiac Posted at 10-29 10:55
Sounds to me you need a more capable drone, like the mini 3 pro.  The Neo is a great little drone for what it does - push it too far and it will all end in tears.

Sounds like you have nothing useful to say, might be best to keep out of posts that you cant answer.

Well no not really at ALL, DJI have stated (MANY TIMES) the Neo should not be flown in low light.  If the OP wants to fly in low light - he should buy a more capable drone you know - one that can actually do what he wants - DUH !!

sbright33 Posted at 10-29 10:46
Should it not fly on a calm day at 20m height?  Nearby, line of sight, no radio interference. Certainly the GPS should continue to work after being connected for 5 minutes?

Well, my take is that the Neo is a jack of all trades drone, when it loses GPS lock, it will go in to attitude mode, this makes the drone very twitchy, prone to move erratically and drift and if your not experienced in this mode it may well crash out the air - it happens to all of us at some point or another.

What I said was in no way a criticism on you, the neo is small - light and easily pushed about in the air without GPS.

DJI have said not to fly in low light.  

umpa Posted at 10-29 12:15
Well, my take is that the Neo is a jack of all trades drone, when it loses GPS lock, it will go in to attitude mode, this makes the drone very twitchy, prone to move erratically and drift and if your not experienced in this mode it may well crash out the air - it happens to all of us at some point or another.

What I said was in no way a criticism on you, the neo is small - light and easily pushed about in the air without GPS.

I have been flying drones for 15 years. ATTI mode would have been nice. It tumbled uncontrollably. I have the video to play it back.

umpa Posted at 10-29 11:58
Well no not really at ALL, DJI have stated (MANY TIMES) the Neo should not be flown in low light.  If the OP wants to fly in low light - he should buy a more capable drone you know - one that can actually do what he wants - DUH !!

The NEO flies just fine in the dark. So long as GPS is working. IT WAS NOT DARK.

sbright33 Posted at 10-29 14:57
The NEO flies just fine in the dark. So long as GPS is working. IT WAS NOT DARK.

All I have done is told you what I think caused it - Pilot error - pushing a device that is one step up from a toy drone.

You might not agree and that's fine.  All I can go on is what you stated in your original post, with your 15 years of experience trumps my 8 years, however it's just a numbers game, I have met other yacht owners that say similar but they seem to only go out twice a year and always to the same destinations - so they have years of experience on the same experience, and noting new.

I am not saying that's is you so don't get all upset about it, but it does need to be said.

Now I have had similar issues with the Neo flying close to roof tops, where up drafts have caused issues, but I am experienced enough to know I was at fault with such a small drone.  

This is a new product that has only been out a couple of months, and 15 years experience of what ever you have, should tell you to:-

1) Read the Manual
2) Realize everyone has two months experience MAX with this drone.
3) Don't get upset when some one tries to help you, even if you don't agree with them.

I wish you luck.

So you're telling me that it is very sensitive to air currents. It needs full sun during the middle of the day. And GPS often fails leaving it in ATTI mode?  I have experienced the opposite of this. It seems we are flying totally different products. Along with a few friends. We fly on a windy day with large thermals in a grassy field just in case we crash. I often fly at 6am or 7pm in NJ when the sun is setting. It also flies in total darkness. The GPS has never failed before with 100's of flights. Maybe there was interference? When it does fail, it is not any ATTI mode I have known. Any ideas what caused this GPS failure? Will a GPS failure always cause a crash?

We will find out after the DJI analysis what the cause of the Flyaway is. I can be sure it's not pilot error. Sorry.

My opinion: if the wind is light enough that you can fly back home against it, then it is safe to fly. Yes, there can be brief gusts. Then the video will no longer be smooth. In all these cases it is "Safe" to fly.

Simple fix if possible.  If it allows user to maintain control of their Neo.  Option for the user to engage ATTI mode in all flight modes to shut down the stabilization system.  Right now I only feel confident flying the Neo in Manual Mode under low light conditions or into deep shadows.   Yesterdays session.  Heavy dark clouds. Low enough ambient light that vehicles automatic headlight were on.  Plenty of satellites (teens to low 20s) acquired.  Probably plenty of light. But, not going to push my luck flying in S mode. Plus I need to develop some manual mode stick skills.  Zero wind. Flew Manual Mode.  No issues.  Except my poor Manual mode landings.  Missed the landing pad 3 for 3.
The Neo's lack of auto engaging ATTI mode and maintaining user stick control is just dangerous in some environments.  Like when there are other people within LOS.  

sbright33 Posted at 10-30 05:26
So you're telling me that it is very sensitive to air currents. It needs full sun during the middle of the day. And GPS often fails leaving it in ATTI mode?  I have experienced the opposite of this. It seems we are flying totally different products. Along with a few friends. We fly on a windy day with large thermals in a grassy field just in case we crash. I often fly at 6am or 7pm in NJ when the sun is setting. It also flies in total darkness. The GPS has never failed before with 100's of flights. Maybe there was interference? When it does fail, it is not any ATTI mode I have known. Any ideas what caused this GPS failure? Will a GPS failure always cause a crash?

What I am saying is that the Neo uses its cameras and sensors for stable flight when there is no GPS lock, and they work best in good light and are unpredictable when there is not enough. You might think there is enough, that does not mean the drone does.  It has a great deal of AI in it.

If you were to post the video where it crashed, it would help myself and others,  

FWIW whilst inspecting a roof for the entry point of wasps (needed to know for sure) the Neo shot up in the air uncontrollably hit the chimney stack, went in to atti mode for all of one second, and before I could react another gust side swiped it on an adjacent roof, where fortunately it slid down and on to the floor, this was a 2 story cottage Neo was not damaged.

Do to the house construction the area I was in had a chimney effect, where a gust of wind spiralled up  causing all my grief.  Although I had 26 satellites was at 2pm and good light and it was only a small impact, it still resulted in to a un correctable upset.

The Neo is not perfect, some people say its buggy, I don't know if it is or not, or if DJI will / can fix it, but it is a very small, light weight drone and we have to be aware of it's limitations.  You might even have experienced VRS.

I regard the Neo as a play thing, and don't expect too much from it.

VRS?  I agree it uses video where there is no GPS. Why is there no GPS for an extended time?

I got my analysis back from DJI!  They blame that I was flying near water 20m high. No mention of the GPS. "Non-manufacturing factors". They are sending me a new one Free of charge!
Should I avoid water completely next time? Even high above? Even when there are waves or plants to reflect the light? Is that really the cause?  Or was it the loss of GPS?

sbright33 Posted at 10-31 10:07
I got my analysis back from DJI!  They blame that I was flying near water 20m high. No mention of the GPS. "Non-manufacturing factors". They are sending me a new one Free of charge!
Should I avoid water completely next time? Even high above? Even when there are waves or plants to reflect the light? Is that really the cause?  Or was it the loss of GPS?

Good that they replaced your Neo. Bad DJI seems to be not addressing the issue. And not the low light fly away out of control issue.   I thought the downward sensors basically do not  function above a certain altitude. Like when the height above ground OSD goes from yellow to nothing.  You shouldn't need GPS to fly.  Just for positioning. Consider manual mode and fly where you want to.  


If you have the FPV RC3 the option for manual mode flying. I find Manual Mode with ATTI engaged is something between to Angle  and manual mode.  In addition to stabilization I think all the auto features shut down.  Found out during the last session that the Low Battery RTH is off or I have glitch.  Normally I land with at least 30% battery capacity. Last battery of the session.  Flew to low 20% before deciding to land. Throttle input was getting soft.  My manual mode landing skills are bad.  So I switched to N mode close to the landing pad. Low Battery Auto landing kicked in.  Wasn't thinking. Should have switched back to M mode and see if the Low Battery Auto disengaged.  Not sure if that feature is inactive in M mode.

OldGuy2024 Posted at 10-31 10:23
Good that they replaced your Neo. Bad DJI seems to be not addressing the issue. And not the low light fly away out of control issue.   I thought the downward sensors basically do not  function above a certain altitude. Like when the height above ground OSD goes from yellow to nothing.  You shouldn't need GPS to fly.  Just for positioning. Consider manual mode and fly where you want to.  

you can fly it "FORCEFULLY" (by holding throttle up beyond 50%) to even 0% and below .. saw from the logs i got close to 2.7V per cell (thats already minus from 0%) after 17min ... then it had not enough power to hover anymore and slowly decended to ground AND instantly shut off itself, after landing!!! so if this would have been some meters out in the field, i would not even been have able to engage find my drone / beeper modus .... but okay, it said several minutes before i must land and also it forcefully will land but i kept it in the air.. so nothing really wrong there. but it should have a LOW BATTERY-FIND MY DEVICE mode, were it erratically beeps each 30s, EVEN with battery below 3V per cell..... this would be VERY IMPROVING the worth of the device itself, as would be a manual-engage/emergency-engage ATTI-Mode as suggested. please add it @DJI

fallenangel3k Posted at 11-4 06:47
you can fly it "FORCEFULLY" (by holding throttle up beyond 50%) to even 0% and below .. saw from the logs i got close to 2.7V per cell (thats already minus from 0%) after 17min ... then it had not enough power to hover anymore and slowly decended to ground AND instantly shut off itself, after landing!!! so if this would have been some meters out in the field, i would not even been have able to engage find my drone / beeper modus .... but okay, it said several minutes before i must land and also it forcefully will land but i kept it in the air.. so nothing really wrong there. but it should have a LOW BATTERY-FIND MY DEVICE mode, were it erratically beeps each 30s, EVEN with battery below 3V per cell..... this would be VERY IMPROVING the worth of the device itself, as would be a manual-engage/emergency-engage ATTI-Mode as suggested. please add it @DJI

My non-DJI drones do not have any RTH, Find My Drone options.  ESC beeper is it.  But like the DJI ESC beeper option, not the loudest and fine until your battery capacity is too low.  Use an aftermarket drone buzzer and beacon (VIFLY brand).  Self powered, spec note hours if fully charged, adjustable sensitivity accelerometer sets it off.  Older model, but IIRC sub 7gm.  Newer Micro FPV model is sub 3gm.  Option, but I don't like adding any additional mass to smaller quads like the Neo.  Just an option if DJI is unable to correct this issue.

OldGuy2024 Posted at 11-4 07:14
My non-DJI drones do not have any RTH, Find My Drone options.  ESC beeper is it.  But like the DJI ESC beeper option, not the loudest and fine until your battery capacity is too low.  Use an aftermarket drone buzzer and beacon (VIFLY brand).  Self powered, spec note hours if fully charged, adjustable sensitivity accelerometer sets it off.  Older model, but IIRC sub 7gm.  Newer Micro FPV model is sub 3gm.  Option, but I don't like adding any additional mass to smaller quads like the Neo.  Just an option if DJI is unable to correct this issue.

Could you paste a link or name of these 2 beepers?

sbright33 Posted at 11-6 10:32
Could you paste a link or name of these 2 beepers?

viflydrone.com
Pull down menu on their home page.

Just looked at their website. I use the larger "wireless version for any drone" model which is listed at 6gm.
It has  the flashing beacon light that is activated if ambient light levels are low enough. The other two models are newer, but look to be powered by the flight battery until it dies. Then the beeper battery kicks in.

Company seems to have good products. Have been using their 6 port 1s charger. It has a storage voltage feature.