So I've now crashed my MP twice - and both times into tree canopies.   Both were pilot error, and I can't complain about my own stupidity.  The first time my drone fell about 30 ft on to soft dirt and survived with only a few scrapes.   The second time was more serious - as it initially got stuck 70ft up, and then didn't survive the gravity assisted return to earth.   In both cases, the 'Find my drone' feature was extremely helpful in getting me close, but it still took me a while to locate the drone in the thick brush.   While I had toyed with the idea of attaching a GPS tracker, I just never did it.   I also brushed off the idea of a bluetooth tracker due to the extremely limited range.    Now that I've crashed and searched a few times, my opionion has changed.   I bought a Tile this weekend.   Here's why.   For both of my crashes, the drone stayed powered on and recording.   I even caught myself on camera searching for it.   The Find my drone feature gave me the the GPS location...but as I said, it still took me a while to actually find it.   That's where the bluetooth tracker makes sense.   If I'm close, I can make the bluetooth tracker yell at me and help me find it.....which brings me to the point of my post.

As I said, in both cases, my drone stayed powered on after the crash.  Since the MP has a speaker/beeper, why don't we have the option to set off the startup tone either on demand or through some activation process when selecting 'Find my drone'?    If the drone isn't dead, it sure seems like a quick and easy way around the bluetooth tracker as you'd have the full range of the remote controller at your disposal...

LP

Dji dows have ESC beeping feature.  Just tap on the aircraft symbols in find my drone and below it should pop up ESC Beeping and Smart LED.  

I been considering adding a tracker to my drone, however I never had a crash where I lost my drone and I do fly pretty far  and often and not ways in areas where recovery would be easy.  But given how cheap Tile is I may consider buying on if the range is any good like 100 feet or so because if mine crashes and I can’t locate it exactly I’m likely going to need decent range to overcome foliage and stuff it maybe stuck in or behind.  
Edit: fixed my stupid spelling because my iphone’s Autocorrect is terrible.

Wow - I didn't know that.  I'll have to take a look.   As far as the tile is concerned, I bought the Tile Sport - and I think it does 100ft easy.  It advertises up to 200ft, but I don't think I could get that.   The main problem is that the tone isn't that loud.  I can't even hear it after about 75-100 ft.

LP

LeafPeeper Posted at 2018-5-25 16:01
Wow - I didn't know that.  I'll have to take a look.   As far as the tile is concerned, I bought the Tile Sport - and I think it does 100ft easy.  It advertises up to 200ft, but I don't think I could get that.   The main problem is that the tone isn't that loud.  I can't even hear it after about 75-100 ft.

LP

does it have a map/pointer function?  some bluetooth locator beacons have pointer/maps/radar type looking functions that can help guild you more easily.

None of the bluetooth trackers I tried did because none of them had GPS built in.  All they do is highlight where they were last seen based on your phone's GPS (ie: the last time it was in range) or when it is in range - then you can set it to ring.

LP

Sorry for the accidents. If the drone flies away, please try to trigger the ESC beeping when using Find My Drone. Fly safe!

DJI Susan Posted at 2018-5-27 19:54
Sorry for the accidents. If the drone flies away, please try to trigger the ESC beeping when using Find My Drone. Fly safe!

Yes- for some reason I completely missed that feature.  I have since found it.  Thank you very much.    I still think it might be nice to have the option to trigger the boot up sound on demand, but the ESC beep is better than nothing.

LP

LeafPeeper Posted at 2018-5-28 06:38
Yes- for some reason I completely missed that feature.  I have since found it.  Thank you very much.    I still think it might be nice to have the option to trigger the boot up sound on demand, but the ESC beep is better than nothing.

LP

All right. Hope the engineers would consider this in the future.

Thanks Susan

There is an app you can get for wifi signals strength, but that may not help you if you are not broadcasting an SSID, like when in wifi mode. You can see the wifi name and strength, for quite a distance, even isolating just one specific name from a list, if you know your drones wifi name.

They also sell a little "bluetooth tag", which responds when you use the app to activate it as a locator. I think the cheaper ones are only like $20.00 USD for one or $40.00 for a 4-pack.

DJI Susan Posted at 2018-5-27 19:54
Sorry for the accidents. If the drone flies away, please try to trigger the ESC beeping when using Find My Drone. Fly safe!

I had many comments on this video from people saying they didn't know the Find My Drone feature even existed, and even more comments that they didn't know they could make it beep.  Maybe you can suggest the engineers highlight this option better and to show the sound option without having to tap the drone icon!

Ian

And to the OP, can I humbly suggest you watch this:   

Points 4 and 15 might be of interest to you!  
Ian

Wellsi Posted at 2018-6-2 00:39
And to the OP, can I humbly suggest you watch this:      

Points 4 and 15 might be of interest to you!  

LOL - I actually saw this quite some time ago.  I thought it was great!  I was impressed that you were willing to mess up your Mavic for the sake of the video.  

So let me address point number 15...

I wasn't flying in a forest.   It was kinda a messed up common area with a variety of vegetation and one tree that was an offender.   It was funny.  I brought my neighbor into my yard to show him where it was stuck and before I could point it out, he laughed and said 'I hope it's not in that one'....  Here's a pic for fun.



LP

LeafPeeper Posted at 2018-6-2 07:21
LOL - I actually saw this quite some time ago.  I thought it was great!  I was impressed that you were willing to mess up your Mavic for the sake of the video.  

So let me address point number 15...

Ha, actually I cheated on that video. I used a Mavic that was being sent in for repair / replacement, It had a large cushion under where I flew it into the tree, and the close up footage of the branches was actually my cellphone just rubbing against some branches      All in the editing....

How did you get your Pro out of that tree?

Ian

Wellsi Posted at 2018-6-3 01:01
Ha, actually I cheated on that video. I used a Mavic that was being sent in for repair / replacement, It had a large cushion under where I flew it into the tree, and the close up footage of the branches was actually my cellphone just rubbing against some branches      All in the editing....

How did you get your Pro out of that tree?

Well none of the tree removal companies were willing to come up and help since they were so busy.  I lucked out one day and heard the excavators start up.   The land behind the tree is being leveled for some new home construction.   I threw the guy with the bucket loader a few bucks and he shook it free.   These things are tough little buggers.    The only damage was the gimbal snapping off and two chipped props.   I accidentally tapped the battery button and it even lit up after being in the elements for two weeks.  Obviously I didn't power on the craft as I didn't want to risk even more damage.

LP

Please help me out with this situation. Yesterday in perfect whether condition, only 194 m away from me, 112 m high, at 59% level of battery (I have 3 batterys to avoid low battery power), with RTH settings on (worked perfectly couple of times) I suddenly lost connection with the drone getting a few notifications on the controller and in 10 seconds it was gone from the screen. The video it made is some how corrupt, I can’t open it with anything. It’s very much looks like a battery failure. I can’t find it so I’m hartbroke because I was saving up for it over a year. I’m a big fan of DJI already had Phanton 2 and Phantom 3 so I’m not a beginner. I really hoping to get an appropriate support from you as I’m even even using for work and has over 2000 followers on Instagram due to my drone work.

https://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/WN4YTGCKRYYOR5XADVL2/

Thank you