Sorry for the loss ... but good possible reasons have been given by people here.

Your insistence on losing control signal - if that was the case - the AC would have automatically RTH if that is set by you in APP.

I'm a little concerned about this repeated pressing of RTH button ... I can appreciate the panic set in - I travel a lot and Kazakhstan is part of my travels .... salaries are very low for most there.
The Press and Hold till button blinks .. ok ... RTH kicks in ... but if you press it again ... it cancels RTH. Pressing momentarily will not kick RTH in again ... it has to to be held till button blinks. Page 26 of the manual ..

But I refer back to others posts advising what they interpret from the data log.

As to where it is to look ? It probably was not out of control at first - you lost it .. then it would have carried on ... it would be expected to RTH once control lost ... so that means it would turn to fly back to Home Point ... but because you took of with partial battery ... obviously encountered stronger winds than you expected ... the radius from last recorded point is large and difficult.

BUT when battery gets too low and is insufficient to RTH - it will land ... so I suspect as another says - its stuck up high in a tree out there ... and as said - with snow etc. difficult to see ...

Nigel

Listen to Labroides.  These other people are only repeating what he said in their own words trying to copy his expertise.

Booyadarkman Posted at 2018-1-4 02:11
2. Below zero degree temperatures.
For us, like for russians,  it's not cold temperature. Many phantoms was in the air at New Years holidays. It's ok. but only my aircraft was gone(

its kinda pushing the limits for the phantom 3 Advance.

cjgambit Posted at 2018-1-4 04:38
its kinda pushing the limits for the phantom 3 Advance.

DJI cover themselves well with the operating range temperatures, but not without good reason. I have just returned, well actually I am now waiting in the Reykjavik airport lounge to return from 10 days flying in temperatures of down to -20 C with a p4p. I had no problems, but not without battery warmers, very careful planning and flights decidedly shorter than in warm weather. Wind is a killer, a couple of times I had to return at least some of the way in “ATTI” mode just to get the speed I needed to make reasonable headway.

Dockater Posted at 2018-1-4 05:16
DJI cover themselves well with the operating range temperatures, but not without good reason. I have just returned, well actually I am now waiting in the Reykjavik airport lounge to return from 10 days flying in temperatures of down to -20 C with a p4p pro. I had no problems, but not without battery warmers, very careful planning and flights decidedly shorter than in warm weather. Wind is a killer, a couple of times I had to return at least some of the way in “atti” mode just to get the speed I needed to make reasonable headway.

Good advice, Dockter.  Have you thawed out?

ALABAMA Posted at 2018-1-4 05:24
Good advice, Dockter.  Have you thawed out?

NO I HAVE NOT but the bird is ok, thanks for your concern. Using the controller with ski gloves on is not easy and without gloves is bloody dangerous.

I am considering an external antenna to place on a vehicle roof so I can sit inside, fly and drink hot chocolate at the same time, like a real pilot.

If the RTH button never lights I would be pressing the button again myself.  Very easy to tell if it's on.

Dockater Posted at 2018-1-4 05:16
DJI cover themselves well with the operating range temperatures, but not without good reason. I have just returned, well actually I am now waiting in the Reykjavik airport lounge to return from 10 days flying in temperatures of down to -20 C with a p4p pro. I had no problems, but not without battery warmers, very careful planning and flights decidedly shorter than in warm weather. Wind is a killer, a couple of times I had to return at least some of the way in “atti” mode just to get the speed I needed to make reasonable headway.

Exactly and I hope you thaw out well !!

If I was restricted to what DJI say in terms of temperature - then 1/3rd of my year would be grounded.

Winter here can drop to -25C or lower at times ... and although I don't make a habit of flying in such temps - I regularly fly at -10C .. or lower ... as Dockater - no problem.

Nigel

Dockater Posted at 2018-1-4 05:34
NO I HAVE NOT but the bird is ok, thanks for your concern. Using the controller with ski gloves on is not easy and without gloves is bloody dangerous.

I am considering an external antenna to place on a vehicle roof so I can sit inside, fly and drink hot chocolate at the same time, like a real pilot.

I have a couple of pairs of Tip sensitive gloves ... one set are woollen and other are leatherette ....

Helps for at least flight time - but longer ? Needs serious gloves. The biggest problem is not the hands - its the touchscreen doesn't work so well. So I revert to RC buttons / switches.

Nigel

Phantom One Posted at 2018-1-4 05:42
If the RTH button never lights I would be pressing the button again myself.  Very easy to tell if it's on.

If your Phantom has lost signal, there's nothing you can do with the controller that will have any effect.
And if you have pressed the button a few times and can't tell whether RTH is active or not, the best thing you can do is to shut down the controller completely for 10 seconds.
That would definitely trigger RTH .

Labroides Posted at 2018-1-4 06:35
If your Phantom has lost signal, there's nothing you can do with the controller that will have any effect.
And if you have pressed the button a few times and can't tell whether RTH is active or not, the best thing you can do is to shut down the controller completely for 10 seconds.
That would definitely trigger RTH .

Very true ... trouble is guys story has too much emotional content and panic mixed in - so we cannot really tell if he lost actual command signal or what when he panicked ... obviously he did lose control eventually - but then he had not enough battery initially ...

That's how I read it ....

Your cue Alabama ....

Nigel

If communication was lost there is no way of shutting RTH off.  If communication was lost it would trigger RTH without having to shut anything off

solentlife Posted at 2018-1-4 05:47
I have a couple of pairs of Tip sensitive gloves ... one set are woollen and other are leatherette ....

Helps for at least flight time - but longer ? Needs serious gloves. The biggest problem is not the hands - its the touchscreen doesn't work so well. So I revert to RC buttons / switches.

Thanks solentlife, such gloves should indeed help. I will be giving the whole process of flying in such conditions some serious thought in the near future.

Booyadarkman Posted at 2018-1-3 20:54
we have searched (2.5 hours and one hour) - twice that place and more. But we can't find it and went to my home town 60 miles

Then I blame Bigfoot.  He has a new hobby.

Kuya Kano Posted at 2018-1-4 16:09
Then I blame Bigfoot.  He has a new hobby.

man,..I've sen that dude, think he had an Icarus device with him too

Booyadarkman Posted at 2018-1-4 03:09
ok. A wanna go to the crash zone at this weekend with my friends. we will searching it for 1 mile radious. The big problem is that snow and aircraft is white colored

Good luck with your search it is certainly a big loss, it looks as if the aircraft was pushed beyond its limits, a hard lesson.

I already flew a year on this drone. So I know how to press RTH. I pressed and held it. And he was waiting for a return. Nothing came. After that, I slide the RTH slide on the smartphone screen. There was a communication error. Then we stood and waited for him. Then I started pressing the "home" button many times.

Booyadarkman Posted at 2018-1-4 19:35
I already flew a year on this drone. So I know how to press RTH. I pressed and held it. And he was waiting for a return. Nothing came. After that, I slide the RTH slide on the smartphone screen. There was a communication error. Then we stood and waited for him. Then I started pressing the "home" button many times.

'Then we stood and waited for him. Then I started pressing the "home" button many times.'

And at least one of those button presses probably cancelled RTH.

Dockater Posted at 2018-1-4 05:16
DJI cover themselves well with the operating range temperatures, but not without good reason. I have just returned, well actually I am now waiting in the Reykjavik airport lounge to return from 10 days flying in temperatures of down to -20 C with a p4p pro. I had no problems, but not without battery warmers, very careful planning and flights decidedly shorter than in warm weather. Wind is a killer, a couple of times I had to return at least some of the way in “atti” mode just to get the speed I needed to make reasonable headway.

atleast you know the limits of your aircraft. shorter flight distances/time will not be an impact.
its a P4P vs P3A, the P4P its more agile/resilient than the latter.

Booyadarkman Posted at 2018-1-4 19:51
this is the last video from smarphone

kinda pretty close to a mountain top?
also i find it hard to fly with prop guards on. the wind also catches those things nd makes the drone less stable/hover.

Geebax Posted at 2018-1-4 20:16
'Then we stood and waited for him. Then I started pressing the "home" button many times.'

And at least one of those button presses probably cancelled RTH.

after first pressing, i was waited a few minutes

you can see on the video, that wind was weak.

Booyadarkman Posted at 2018-1-4 20:43
you can see on the video, that wind was weak.

I already flew a year on this drone. So I know how to press RTH. I pressed and held it. And he was waiting for a return. Nothing came. After that, I slide the RTH slide on the smartphone screen.
In a year of flying you should have learned that pressing the RTH button does nothing when you have no control signal.
Your Flight data shows that no RTH signal was ever received.
There was a communication error. Then we stood and waited for him. Then I started pressing the "home" button many times.
There was no communication error.
The data shows that the Phantom was responding properly to your control inputs.
You simply flew out of range.  You had three warnings that you were losing signal but kept going.
you can see on the video, that wind was weak.
I can't see any wind in the video but I can see that you had prop guards on.
They are like sails that catch the wind and make your Phantom even less able to work against the wind.
I can't see any wind but I can read flight data.
That your Phantom was getting blown away when trying to hover in place makes it very clear.
The wind was stronger than your Phantom could RTH against.

You seem determined to ignore the evidence and believe that the loss of the Phantom wasn't due to operator errors.
That's tough ... you may not want to learn from the experience but at least others can.

"There was no communication error.
The data shows that the Phantom was responding properly to your control inputs.
You simply flew out of range.  You had three warnings that you were losing signal but kept going."

that's it, I did not press the buttons of the console. and the report showed that I was pressing on gas and it flew away. I did not do this !!! I swear, how else to prove that I do not know - After 3rd warning video ends. and i pressed RTH

Booyadarkman Posted at 2018-1-4 21:46
"There was no communication error.
The data shows that the Phantom was responding properly to your control inputs.
You simply flew out of range.  You had three warnings that you were losing signal but kept going."

and the report showed that I was pressing on gas and it flew away
How many times do I have to tell you?
The data clearly shows that your Phantom was blown away.
I've pointed out the exact sections of the data that prove this.
Your Phantom couldn't hold position.  What could possibly cause that?

ok. i understand. thank you

L ... you've illustrated how and most probable reasons ... but human nature as you know will always look for alternative to own  error.

The Phantom has a problem of its own success : Its too easy to fly and continue flying without fully learning about it and its controls. The number of fly-aways and incidents shows this too often.

Plus the most simple of solutions to a problem such as lost orientation or lost video as I suspect we had here - is switch off the RC as you and others made clear. Sadly I suspect as you highlight - he actually still had control for a while but then events overtook all and it 'blew away' .. that allied to a low battery is A1 Disaster ...

I hope a search can find it .. a P3P constitutes about 3 months gross salary to many in Kazakhstan !

Nigel

cjgambit Posted at 2018-1-4 20:28
atleast you know the limits of your aircraft. shorter flight distances/time will not be an impact.
its a P4P vs P3A, the P4P its more agile/resilient than the latter.

Very true, each drone has its limits, some are even designed for specific environments. Whatever the drone, if you are flying in challenging conditions, just reduce your expectations, do not take shortcuts and give it the best chances from the start.

Whilst on the point of limits perhaps the most decisive of all is pilot limit. This affects the drones capability and a successful return more than any other single factor. Learning the limits for the drone is one thing knowing your own limits is another. Some pilots never learn and many will simply not be honest with themselves. The saying “anyone can fly a drone” is simply not true.

"The saying “anyone can fly a drone” is simply not true" .....

But DJI has produced a machine that an Idiot can fly day in day out till that occasion that real knowledge is needed.  Compare it to example WLtoys 959 ... a handful for even an experienced multi-rotor flyer ! The Syma X series ... its painful watching people try to fly them ... but put a DJI in their hands and bingo ...

The problem comes when people get to extremes as this guy did .... then all ther DJI programming in the world cannot fix it.

Nigel

I think the drone is on top of that huge rock or down around the base of it.

Booyadarkman how did you have the DJI GO app set up for Phantom  radio control transmission failure? "Return to Home" or "Hover"

Air/America Posted at 2018-1-5 07:55
Booyadarkman how did you have the DJI GO app set up for Phantom  radio control transmission failure? "Return to Home" or "Hover"

Return to Home

If it is set to RTH then it must have been blown away as others have said, those prop guard would have been its downfall im sure, they act like sails!! The wind only needs to be 1mph fast than the rth speed and it will not return home, the higher you go the faster the speeds can be, most certainly faster then ground level although not all the time, also every 100m it drops about 1C in temps,  not that that had a part in this, just mentioning it in passing,

You need to find out from your met office, how fast the wind speed was at the height you was at and what direction it was coming from, post that in here and i bet the guys can help narrow down the search area base on that information and the remaining battery

Good luck

I bought another one the same, used for 500 dollars. I updated the firmware immediately and set the range to 400 meters.
wrote a phone on the case

Bashy Posted at 2018-1-7 21:44
If it is set to RTH then it must have been blown away as others have said, those prop guard would have been its downfall im sure, they act like sails!! The wind only needs to be 1mph fast than the rth speed and it will not return home, the higher you go the faster the speeds can be, most certainly faster then ground level although not all the time, also every 100m it drops about 1C in temps,  not that that had a part in this, just mentioning it in passing,

You need to find out from your met office, how fast the wind speed was at the height you was at and what direction it was coming from, post that in here and i bet the guys can help narrow down the search area base on that information and the remaining battery

I'm serious, there was not a strong wind

On the ground there was little to no wind, you can clearly see this in the video, but you was not on the ground was you? you was 212m high, rest assured, there will have been some wind up there

Bashy Posted at 2018-1-7 22:11
On the ground there was little to no wind, you can clearly see this in the video, but you was not on the ground was you? you was 212m high, rest assured, there will have been some wind up there

I let go of the controls he soared over the mountain

Sorry for your loss, have you reported this to the Support? I would recommend you contact them, see if there is anything they can do for you. Here is a link for reference. https://www.dji.com/support?site=brandsite&from=nav

DJI Diana Posted at 2018-1-7 22:35
Sorry for your loss, have you reported this to the Support? I would recommend you contact them, see if there is anything they can do for you. Here is a link for reference. https://www.dji.com/support?site=brandsite&from=nav

Hello D-v,



Thank you for providing necessary information. As we checked the status of your warranty, it seems the drone is out of warranty now since it was activated last 2016-10-05 18:03:57. For the data analysis to proceed here, it should be still in warranty period. In this case, it will not proceed due to its warranty status which is done already. I hope you understand and I'm really for the inconvenience here.

Thank you for understanding and cooperation. Have a great day!




Regards,
DJI Support