Hello everyone, "please excuse my grammars, it's not that great"

Not too long i experienced something every strange/crazy.. i was hoping that someone can shead and light.
Initial check before take off.
-Battery condition 100% just left the charger about for about 10min.
-RC battery 100%

Weirdo 1.
Before taking off, i had the battery in and powered on everything was perfect. Just like a normal routine i proceed to do a compass calibration "sucessfully" afterward i re-initiated home point. So i took it straight up to about 300m, at that instant i was playing around with my camera setting, and was not paying any attention to location..... about 3-4 min later i realized that my drone had drifted a bit far away "due to the night time i was unable to see where its currently" so i then initiated RTH. imediately after i press RTH, the drone would turn around look at home and continue to driff away.... "at this momemt none of my joystick command was working" i then initiated RTH phantom3 would spin around and look at home and continue to driff away. I then had to chase with my truck about 2.5miles, once i got close enough to the drone, magically the i was able to control it, i was able to lower and land it safely.

I havent yet to find a solution, or anything that is related to it beside another person experiencing the same problem.
What i have done:
1) Update all my firmware
2) IMU calibration

Someone please help me.

Thank you in advance!

Hard to say. A full Video of thet FlightRecord could probably help. only from the Pictures cant say much. My Suggestion, u lost Connection to Controller and GPS was weak or gone for some time

gernot.baier Posted at 2016-1-25 01:49
Hard to say. A full Video of thet FlightRecord could probably help. only from the Pictures cant say  ...

just earlier today, i was trying to grab a few photo of my school. I flew it straight up and it start to drift by itself too, but i was able to control it and fly it around. i never had any of this problem with my p2... Also how could i get a video of my flightrecord on here?

Thanks

jdmwhre14@hotma Posted at 2016-1-25 00:01
just earlier today, i was trying to grab a few photo of my school. I flew it straight up and it st ...

It is illegal to fly over schools.Why are you flying at night over houses/neighborhoods? What happened to LOS? You are the irresponsible type of drone flyer that causes all of us to be labeled as outlaws. Too bad you didn't lose it.

SFGiants24 Posted at 2016-1-25 10:21
It is illegal to fly over schools.Why are you flying at night over houses/neighborhoods? What happ ...

For the school picture:Actually i'm a research assistant, and i was trying to get a photo for a university project. I do have permission to fly/take this picture. Im simply here asking a question to improve something, and you're here just to complain and calling people out without knowing the whole back story.

And obviously the only reason to fly at night is to do long exposure duhhh. Thats why DJI have manual exposure in the first place.


For the houses/neighborhoods.
Obviously, you didnt read because you're too busy basing me, and not trying to help.


But as you didnt read, i had and error in my system that caused my p3p to drift away from me.

jdmwhre14@hotma Posted at 2016-1-25 16:53
For the school picture:Actually i'm a research assistant, and i was trying to get a photo for a uni ...

I notice you say the Phantom was more or less directly above you, depending on your antenna direction you would most likely have had a week signal and may have lost contact. Have a look at the video below, this may or may not explain some of the issues you had

http://forum.dji.com/thread-33091-1-1.html

Could you post the log file?
It might help us help you

Clock here to learn more about the flight log files

What mode was you flying in?

flight log,

dacofty Posted at 2016-1-25 13:19
What mode was you flying in?

Same question I have.   If you have a clear sight to satellites and you are in P-mode, it shouldn't drift, regardless of losing controller signal.

Sounds almost like he was in A-mode and did lose controller signal.  So in A-mode, any wind will make your quadcopter drift and loss of signal could explain why he couldn't control it.

from what im seeing on this log, there was no home point from the very start....
i find that weird because, i always wait for "home point has been updated" command before i take off.

jdmwhre14@hotma Posted at 2016-1-25 13:44
from what im seeing on this log, there was no home point from the very start....
i find that weird  ...

Did you audibly hear the app tell you "home point recorded" and see that same text on the screen before you took off?

I always ensure I hear that home point recorded now because sometimes it takes a little bit for the app to record it  --- however, I still don't think that is what went wrong here.

I'm still not sure what really happened.

jdmwhre14@hotma Posted at 2016-1-25 19:36
flight log,

This is the interesting part of the log

You can see that it has a home point in the first pictures you posted even tho the Tip is missing.
In this part of the log you can see that it tried for more than four minutes but flew the wrong way!

[RCG]Balthazar Posted at 2016-1-25 13:04
This is the interesting part of the log

You can see that it has a home point in the first picture ...

i agreed,  from the picture "way at the top" you can see the little (H) for home point.
But as it was drifting away, when i press RTH, i can see that drone spin around and point toward home but continue to drift away.

I alway fly in P-mode with gps assistant. However after some digging I did stumble upon someone else post regarding the issues of drifting in Pmode... ATM i dont even know what to do...
http://forum.dji.com/forum.php?m ... mp;page=1#pid301510

jdmwhre14@hotma Posted at 2016-1-25 20:23
i agreed,  from the picture "way at the top" you can see the little (H) for home point.
But as it ...

Not used to feets so I cant really judge speed but thousands of them doesent strike me as drifting.
When RTH is activated it usually takes off like a scolded cat towards where it thinks is home.

Either way you want to update, downdate then reupdate or reinstall your firmware in case a bug snuck in somewhere.
Same thing for your GO app.

And maybe someone from DJI would love to have a look at your DAT file

PS: You can share your heltydrone link without personal data if that's why youre using all these screenshots ;)

[RCG]Balthazar Posted at 2016-1-25 13:55
Not used to feets so I cant really judge speed but thousands of them doesent strike me as drifting ...

[RCG]Balthazar,
thank you for letting me know that there is share option!
here is my flight log hope someone can help.
http://healthydrones.com/main?share=MTg1Mw
i have also reupdated to 1.6 last night, i will try it again today.

jdmwhre14@hotma Posted at 2016-1-25 21:16
[RCG]Balthazar,
thank you for letting me know that there is share option!
here is my flight log h ...

If this is correct it combined with strong signal interference could explain the whole thing.But I think it simply shows some kind of (hopefully) software error or Sensor Problem.


Do a couple cautious flights somewhere safe if you dare then upload the new logs and see it theyre still crazy.

If they are you really need to dropbox and mail the .DAT files for analysis by DJI before Drone Apocalyse is upon you


Again, be careful!

[RCG]Balthazar Posted at 2016-1-25 20:43
If this is correct it combined with strong signal interference could explain the whole thing.But I ...

Why do you think that's an error?  It fully explains the situation.  The wind direction is exactly the direction of drift & the wind speed is more than the P3's maximum flight speed.

You could theoretically have brought it home manually by zig-zagging instead of having RTH trying to fly directly into the wind.

That's more than twice the wind speed you should be flying in!  No wonder it flew away.  By the way, you are in the U.S.  I assume you know the maximum altitude you can legally fly.  Just mentioning it in case you don't.

nigelw Posted at 2016-1-26 00:23
Why do you think that's an error?  It fully explains the situation.  The wind direction is exactly ...

Because I'm always looking for the best in people and always trying to not accuse anyone of anything

One could always have a look at weather data for the area to make sure either way though.

35Mph head wind is what it takes to make the P3 hover at full pelt forward ;)

You'd need to be an expert pilot to not loose it in those conditions.

AG0N-Gary Posted at 2016-1-25 17:43
That's more than twice the wind speed you should be flying in!  No wonder it flew away.  By the way, ...

max alt giving by the FAA is 400m, its most likely to be my fault.  I did take off in front of my house, inside a neighborhood where wind could be block off. However in open sky wind could be a big problem.  

correction FAA is 400FT!!

jdmwhre14@hotma Posted at 2016-1-25 19:49
max alt giving by the FAA is 400m, its most likely to be my fault.  I did take off in front of my h ...

Flying at 1000 feet in 50 mph wind over your neighbors and wondering why you lost it? Doh!!!! I don't know what you're studying but I hope it has nothing to do with flying.lucky youndidnt kill someone.

[RCG]Balthazar Posted at 2016-1-25 15:43
If this is correct it combined with strong signal interference could explain the whole thing.But I ...

Isn't being in a 41 MPH wind at 950' the entire problem here?

ccbiggz Posted at 2016-1-26 05:56
Isn't being in a 41 MPH wind at 950' the entire problem here?

You would think so.  

OP: Could you please change the title of this post stating it wasn't a flyaway?

[RCG]Balthazar Posted at 2016-1-26 00:28
Because I'm always looking for the best in people and always trying to not accuse anyone of anythi ...

It's not an accusation, just pointing out the problem, which is what the OP's asking for.  It may have been relatively calm on the ground, but a thousand feet up & things can change very quickly.

You don't need to be an expert to recover it, you just need to be aware of the cause.  It may have been a simple case of reducing altitude as soon as he realised it was too windy up there.  Next time he'll know & react accordingly (hopefully).

AG0N-Gary Posted at 2016-1-26 07:43
That's more than twice the wind speed you should be flying in!  No wonder it flew away.  By the way, ...

I don't think you'll get through to this person.  Looks like an ID 10 T error to me.  

[RCG]Balthazar Posted at 2016-1-25 15:43
If this is correct it combined with strong signal interference could explain the whole thing.But I ...

Just wanted to comment that I love your posts....especially your lengthy one that describes in detail how to use healthydrones!

ccbiggz Posted at 2016-1-26 18:56
Isn't being in a 41 MPH wind at 950' the entire problem here?

No, being a person that would do such a thing is the real problem.  Folks like this will make it even more stringent regulation wise when they blindly enter the airspace system.  You can fix a UAS, you can't fix stupid.  

It looks like you found your answer to why it drifted away.

I was suspect of the altitude at once.

It is very clear that this hobby is going to come under strict if not crippling regulation because many new owners never  seem to take the time to learn anything about their aircraft, current regulations or safe, responsible, common sense flying. It will not be long before a serious incident occurs at the hands of some uniformed individual. It is beginning to look like that we may be seeing the end of this pursuit for individuals.

Amazon, UPS, and other commercial operations will be granted the permission to fly and continue as they will need to follow rules, laws, regulations or risk losing their ability to conduct business in this manner. For the rest of us, we will probably just be prohibited from flying because the hoards of people like the OP cannot be controlled while they try to pin their oblivious stupidity on the drone manufacturer.

aopisa Posted at 2016-1-27 00:22
I was suspect of the altitude at once.

It is very clear that this hobby is going to come under str ...

Right on target....I cringe when folks post bad UAS manners that will impact this hobby and commercial operations.  Good post!

wmw1490 Posted at 2016-1-26 11:33
Right on target....I cringe when folks post bad UAS manners that will impact this hobby and commer ...

I am very concerned that I entered this hobby at the tail end of the "Golden Age". I hate to be a pessimist, but the recent exponential proliferation of this type of thing and people coming on here to ask the most obvious of questions (at least they are asking I guess) is astonishing. I fear the hammer is going to come down sooner rather than later. I hope I am wrong.

aopisa Posted at 2016-1-27 00:38
I am very concerned that I entered this hobby at the tail end of the "Golden Age". I hate to be a  ...

Me too.  It won't take too many of them doing stupid tricks to get the media attention to further harm this very enjoyable activity.  Folks forget there are other aircraft, people's lives in the air & on the ground, and numerous other concerns.  There is a lot of power and responsibility in those control sticks that some folks just don't get.  

Drop a UAS on someone causing injury and watch what happens next.  Same for a midair collision with another aircraft. Think about the no-fly time after the 9/11 attacks...are these folks going to honor that if we ever have to shut the airspace down again or just fly around and contribute to a panic?  

Unfortunately, those that are RC model enthusiast have taken on self-regulation and work very hard to keep there practices legitimate.  You just don't here about those hobbyists/professionals doing stupid things.  UAS pilots need to get onboard with legitimizing the hobby or it will be restricted further outside our own control.  (meaning more gov regs/restrictions)

aopisa Posted at 2016-1-26 17:38
I am very concerned that I entered this hobby at the tail end of the "Golden Age". I hate to be a  ...

I dont think you have to worry about that.

Jusl look at how these far more lethal machines have faired in a mere 125 years


The base beast still kind of looks the same


Thoug faster bigger variants keeps popping up


You can have fun with all of them, all of them requires a licence
and all of their pilots are going to have different styles and grades of carefulness.

[RCG]Balthazar Posted at 2016-1-26 17:25
I dont think you have to worry about that.

Jusl look at how these far more lethal machines have f ...

And all of them need the driver to pass a test & obtain a licence.  It will happen with drones, there's no doubt, & to be honest, I look forward to it.

[RCG]Balthazar Posted at 2016-1-26 12:25
I dont think you have to worry about that.

Jusl look at how these far more lethal machines have f ...

I know there was opposition by some to the "horseless carriage", but I think the auto age was generally welcomed as a labor saving device. The automobile was most likely not viewed as a killing machine especially since in the beginning the top speed was far less than that of a horse or locomotive. Plus, the only space that an auto was invading was a dirt road occupied by rider on horseback or at most a few people in a wagon.

Drones on the other hand have the potential of invading a well established air space occupied by aircraft carrying hundreds of passengers at a time. The media has taken it upon themselves to indeed paint drones as dangerous killing machines without bothering to do any research. Their sensational negative reporting directed at vilifying drones is only a vehicle to get more viewers or increase web site clicks.

Yes, drones will increasingly fill the skies, but ever more  I think that individual hobbyist will not be a big part in the overall picture. I am fine with a steeper barrier to entry if it means that you have to know how to operate one of these things before just taking it out of the box and flying it up to 1,000 feet in a heavy wind over a populated area.

nigelw Posted at 2016-1-26 14:11
It's not an accusation, just pointing out the problem, which is what the OP's asking for.  It may  ...

I didnt accuse you of accusing... nvm lol were all friends

Here's an example from my own experience underlining the various wind speeds at various heights.
At ground level you can see there's no wind by looking at the tree tops.


At approx 100m I noticed the drone going further and further away even in ATTI mode.
The wind was too powerful and easily overwhelmed the P2.
Dropping down I lost FPV but I found a sweet spot at this altitude over land where I had picture and managed to fly back.



So the lesson is: DONT PANIC even if everything seems lost.
Switch to the fastest mode, point it towards you and find a layer of air that works for you.
Keep an eye on the display to see wether the distance and altitude increases or decreases even if looking for you money in the sky is very tempting!
Judging if the pixel in the sky gets smaller or bigger is too hard and you will have to use the map trying to find it anyway.
Getting a tracker is a great idea for added means of recovery.

This truly is a standard ID 10 T error.