I went to fly today and the app announced that the battery was low. I have the warning set at 40 per cent. The app read 60 per cent. As this is an expensive drone I decided to err on the cautious side. It returned home reading 40 per cent and I flew it near me for a while. I changed batteries and the same thing happened only thIs time I continued to fly based on the battery readout. It turns out the reading was correct. After landing I shut everything down and restarted. This time I did not get a false low battery warning.

Anyone else encounter this with 2.8.3?

How far were you from takeoff point when that happened? Smart Return home will attempt to calculate if you got enough power to return home...  I am on Phantom 3, not sure what model you got, but i would assume the same functionality. You can disable "Smart Return Home" in the app.. it still leaves the standard RTH alone, but will not do all the other "extra stuff"...  See if you think that could be the issue.. If not, then I am not sure at this stage.

Hello skipilot1, it is not an app issue. I think this pic could help you:

Phantomski Posted at 2016-6-6 13:04
How far were you from takeoff point when that happened? Smart Return home will attempt to calculate  ...

I was about 1.5 km which isn't that far. Since winds were at 14mph, I was flying almost directly into a headwind.

I wouldn't disable Smart RTH until I feel a lot more comfortable. Rather, with time I might lower the threshold to 30 to 35 per cent.

While you were flying out with the wind getting a "free ride", the aircraft was doing it easy, and the calculation of 60% probably was accurate -- assuming you continued to fly in the same conditions and direction.  As you turned around into a headwind the aircraft is working a lot harder and depleting the battery much faster than what it did on the outward bound leg.  The Smart RTH calculation obviously took the rate of depletion into consideration and updated the estimated charge remaining to get home to 40%.  That sounds correct if you are fighting a headwind.  As long as you aren't regularly flying into high winds like this, the estimates in future should be more consistent.

endotherm Posted at 2016-6-7 01:53
While you were flying out with the wind getting a "free ride", the aircraft was doing it easy, and t ...

Perhaps I wasn't clear. I was flying out into the headwind. That is something I always do when the winds are greater than about 7mph. As they were at 14mph I was careful.

skipilot1 Posted at 2016-6-6 13:02
Perhaps I wasn't clear. I was flying out into the headwind. That is something I always do when the ...

Ah, so your return trip would be WITH the wind? Good planning!

skipilot1 Posted at 2016-6-7 03:02
Perhaps I wasn't clear. I was flying out into the headwind. That is something I always do when the ...

The app doesn't factor the wind conditions, it was operating correctly.

Phantomski Posted at 2016-6-8 04:53
Ah, so your return trip would be WITH the wind? Good planning!

Always. I used to be a glider pilot. If you want to fly in stronger winds, fly into the headwind on the way out and use a tailwind on the way home. Works up to 45 degrees. A ninety degree crosswind factor means cut the windspeed in half and add that into the calculation.

DJI-Ken Posted at 2016-6-8 06:02
The app doesn't factor the wind conditions, it was operating correctly.

Does that mean when flying into a headwind, and you are using high power and get a short distance, the software assumes it will take the same amount of time to get home?

skipilot1 Posted at 2016-6-8 06:21
Does that mean when flying into a headwind, and you are using high power and get a short distance, ...

I'm not totally sure but it may be that way.

Hi Skipilot1

Did you start with freshly 100% charged Battery packs? and what was the temperature (atmospheric) when you were flying.

Cheers..

Skipilot - also read this post - it may help..  http://forum.dji.com/thread-41951-1-1.html

dji-p3p1 Posted at 2016-6-8 11:44
Hi Skipilot1

Did you start with freshly 100% charged Battery packs? and what was the temperature (a ...

Yes. The batteries were charged within 1 day and at or close to 100%. That is the only way I fly.

dji-p3p1 Posted at 2016-6-8 11:46
Skipilot - also read this post - it may help..  http://forum.dji.com/thread-41951-1-1.html

I read the post. Very informative. I have turned on the voltage indicator and will start keeping an eye on it along with the percentage.

DJI-Ken Posted at 2016-6-8 05:34
I'm not totally sure but it may be that way.

If it´s smart (and it is) it should take the wind into consideration. It could calculate how much power is used and from that calculate the wind. But sadly it does not.

Swedrone Posted at 2016-8-26 01:46
If it´s smart (and it is) it should take the wind into consideration. It could calculate how much ...

It probably could only easy calculate that if you were to fly only in a straight line out and straight line back.
But you probably are flying all different directions, speeds, altitudes  as you fly further out and that's probably too much to calculate.

DJI-Ken Posted at 2016-8-25 20:30
It probably could only easy calculate that if you were to fly only in a straight line out and stra ...

That´s what the IMU is for

Swedrone Posted at 2016-8-28 07:05
That´s what the IMU is for

It's not built in that way to work with wind so there's a reason for it.