Long story short, my drone went missing, and I didnt see it come down or land.
But the Flight path video in DJI Go app, shows that it landed just in the long grass/bush right next to this tiny swamp, according to the lat and long point.

I'm hoping to;

1. Find it. I dont understand why the altitiude was at 23m when the log file ends. Strange because the area is a maybe 1-2m higher than where I took off from. And the trees near it are only 3-4m high. I have had a look around where it shows that the drone ended up, but could not see it. Although I have not checked in the long grass/bush that is at the alleged landing spot.

2. understand what went wrong and make sure this never happens again.

I wasnt flying recklessly only a low height in an empty park, but then somehow the Home point got set way off in this mapped home area, I dont know why that happened. There was a cell phone tower just near where it ended up. I have over 1 years flight experience.

Log file:
http://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/I14CFUDXDDY1EKXOZ9LG/#

Thankyou.

Update: according to google earth , the elevation difference between the original take off point, and the landing point, is landing was 4m higher.  So that puts the elev height log at around 23-4=19m. I wonder if there are any real time satellite photos available to see if it's on any of these high roofs?

Again a HP Jump, unbelievable...

It did not loose signal so it should be here up in the trees:

It is not your fault. DJI is to blame with their 3.1.2 Version.

Your Phantom is another victim of the jumping homepoint.
There have been plenty in the last few days.
Here's the point that it was heading for - it looks like it is in the swamp - not beside it.

Yeah  Labroides is right it seems to be a swamp not a tree -  so watch out for crocodiles ;-)

Flying High Bro Posted at 2017-1-26 06:59
Update: according to google earth , the elevation difference between the original take off point, and the landing point, is landing was 4m higher.  So that puts the elev height log at around 23-4=19m. I wonder if there are any real time satellite photos available to see if it's on any of these high roofs?

There are no real time satellite images available of anything.
Signal was lost as the Phantom was landing probably because of trees.
The Phantom will have continued to descend to the point shown.

Wow! Thanks for all the info. So I need to update my firmware to latest to fix this home point jumping bug?

So likely it could be up in a tree? or it hit the tree, and the Height was locked in, then it fell to below. Hence the 19-23~m elevation at loss of signal/log stop.
I will check again for it tomorrow. Thankyou

It seems to be not the firmware but the app.
Do you use 3.1.2 on android ?

formentera Posted at 2017-1-26 07:41
It seems to be not the firmware but the app.
Do you use 3.1.2 on android ?

Yes, 3.1.2 (581) on Android 6.0.2

Flying High Bro Posted at 2017-1-26 07:40
Wow! Thanks for all the info. So I need to update my firmware to latest to fix this home point jumping bug?

So likely it could be up in a tree? or it hit the tree, and the Height was locked in, then it fell to below. Hence the 19-23~m elevation at loss of signal/log stop.

No ... you need to downgrade the app to the previous version or DJUI have to fix the app and bring out a new version.
When signal was lost, the Phantom was still descending directly above this point.
It looks like water lilies or swampy vegetation.

Labroides Posted at 2017-1-26 07:49
No ... you need to downgrade the app to the previous version or DJUI have to fix the app and bring out a new version.
When signal was lost, the Phantom was still descending directly above this point.
It looks like water lilies or swampy vegetation.

Thanks Labroides. I'm pretty sure that section is the really long water grass. Will confirm tomorrow. This is pretty shocking to hear that DJI has this bug - so dangerous and costly.

Thanks heaps for the help.  

Flying High Bro Posted at 2017-1-26 08:39
Thanks Labroides. I'm pretty sure that section is the really long water grass. Will confirm tomorrow. This is pretty shocking to hear that DJI has this bug - so dangerous and costly.

Thanks heaps for the help.

Make sure you raise a Case with DJI

I was flying my p3a last night. I flew about 1 mile out and then pushed the return to home button, the drone came home but not in a straight line. it veered way to the right and made kind of a half circle. I thought that was odd.

timbo Posted at 2017-1-26 09:40
I was flying my p3a last night. I flew about 1 mile out and then pushed the return to home button, the drone came home but not in a straight line. it veered way to the right and made kind of a half circle. I thought that was odd.

Flying a curve rather than a straight line or slowly spiraling instead of hovering can be indications of compass issues.
Fly it well away from magnetic interference and see how it goes.

Labroides Posted at 2017-1-26 12:00
Flying a curve rather than a straight line or slowly spiraling instead of hovering can be indications of compass issues.
Fly it well away from magnetic interference and see how it goes.

My drone does have compass issues, sometimes during startup I get a stuck compass error, I sometimes get compass errors during takeoff. I think I need to replace the compass.

anyone know of a find my drone app, like find my iphone? i don't know how something like that would work, but i gotta think it would be a good thing to have

Billy Banana 4 Posted at 2017-1-27 12:09
anyone know of a find my drone app, like find my iphone? i don't know how something like that would work, but i gotta think it would be a good thing to have

You need to buy a GPS tracker and install it on the drone, then use a map app or some tracker have their own apps.

Flying High Bro Posted at 2017-1-26 08:39
Thanks Labroides. I'm pretty sure that section is the really long water grass. Will confirm tomorrow. This is pretty shocking to hear that DJI has this bug - so dangerous and costly.

Thanks heaps for the help.

More shocking is how they are dealing with the issue.
Waiting for more to crash so they can collect more data for their tech team to study probably isn't the resolution most are seeking.

Billy Banana 4 Posted at 2017-1-27 12:09
anyone know of a find my drone app, like find my iphone? i don't know how something like that would work, but i gotta think it would be a good thing to have

I think you can get gps fobs for your keys? Might be worth looking n ebay

Billy Banana 4 Posted at 2017-1-27 12:09
anyone know of a find my drone app, like find my iphone? i don't know how something like that would work, but i gotta think it would be a good thing to have

I think you can get gps fobs for your keys? Might be worth looking on ebay

Billy Banana 4 Posted at 2017-1-27 12:09
anyone know of a find my drone app, like find my iphone? i don't know how something like that would work, but i gotta think it would be a good thing to have

Your DJI Go app has a "black box" data recorder that can often explain what happened and usually find a lost Phantom.

Go to http://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/Upload/
Follow the instructions to upload your flight record.
Come back and post a link to the report it provides and someone here might be able to analyse it and help you.

Thanks Labroides, just to clarify i haven't experienced a fly away yet but I've been reading about other people who have recently. Seems they haven't had much luck getting theirs back by viewing the flight records. After I posted the question I did some investigating and it looks like WilliamM said getting a gps tracker is a good plan. Between the flight log and a gps tracker attached to the craft, that combo might really help aide in getting back a lost drone. I have also added decals to my craft in case someone finds it before I can get it, with my phone number and a REWARD notice.

https://www.amazon.com/ABLEGRID- ... s=gps+tracker+tk102
this looks like a good one

If you pull the flight log file from your phone you'll be able to see the new home point GPS coordinates that it was using. You'll find your drone there, no guessing. Use the phantom help website to open the text file and then download the excel file to view the coordinates.

Leeman240 Posted at 2017-1-28 01:39
If you pull the flight log file from your phone you'll be able to see the new home point GPS coordinates that it was using. You'll find your drone there, no guessing. Use the phantom help website to open the text file and then download the excel file to view the coordinates.

That's allready been done and the point plotted in Google earth.
See #5 and #11 above.

Billy Banana 4 Posted at 2017-1-27 16:03
https://www.amazon.com/ABLEGRID-RealTime-Tracker-Vehicle-Tracking/dp/B01535CSCE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1485551100&sr=8-1&keywords=gps+tracker+tk102
this looks like a good one

Not really, reviews aren't that good, and besides it's a 2G unit and that service is being fazed out. ATT has already drop it on Jan 1st., along with more than half of T-Mobile's 2G service. See here: "Only support 2G SIM card (SIM Card not included)" Anyone in the states wanting a GPS tracker should be looking at 3G models only at this point.

WilliamM Posted at 2017-1-28 07:11
Not really, reviews aren't that good, and besides it's a 2G unit and that service is being fazed out. ATT has already drop it on Jan 1st., along with more than half of T-Mobile's 2G service. See here: "Only support 2G SIM card (SIM Card not included)" Anyone in the states wanting a GPS tracker should be looking at 3G models only at this point.

I already ordered mine, will be here tomorrow. My AT&T store said they have the sim card for it

Billy Banana 4 Posted at 2017-1-28 12:04
I already ordered mine, will be here tomorrow. My AT&T store said they have the sim card for it

Sim card or not, ATT does NOT support 2G at all in the field. If it's a ATT only sim, it's not going to work. If it's a world sim than it might connect with other carries.
Here's something I found online about the ATT service. "AT&T began sending out letters to customers with old 2G-only devices still active on their plans, reminding them that as of January 1st 2017 those devices will become completely obsolete and unusable."

DJ Nee Posted at 2017-1-27 14:23
I think you can get gps fobs for your keys? Might be worth looking on ebay

Those key fob tracking devices are near to useless for drones, they do not have a GPS capability, and only work by Bluetooth, so the range is hopeless in the field.

WilliamM Posted at 2017-1-28 12:32
Sim card or not, ATT does NOT support 2G at all in the field. If it's a ATT only sim, it's not going to work. If it's a world sim than it might connect with other carries.
Here's something I found online about the ATT service. "AT&T began sending out letters to customers with old 2G-only devices still active on their plans, reminding them that as of January 1st 2017 those devices will become completely obsolete and unusable."

GREAT! thanks{:4_154:}

Hi I had today Januari 28, 2017 also a problem that the home point set in the DJI app 1,2 km away of the point i fly away (That i know now). Before the drone Phantom Standard  fly away it notified home point recorded. We fly 30 m away and forgot to put the memery card in. I said to my sone bring him home. When the drone was near to use is said use automatic landing.  The app ask at home point or something as the place were you are now. We pointed the last but it start beeping and went to home point. We canceled but the drone didn’t react and fly away. So far away that i couldn't see it. Now my drone is away. We couldn't find it. Tomorrow morning when it is light we go and look again. If i look on the map at de DJI app then it pointed a wrong return to home point.  Also on my sons phone the same problem. If i look at google maps than this program pointed the right place were we take of with the drone. Are there more people with this problem. Hopefully we will find it back.

Hi Jos,
i also had this FLY AWAY with my son a week ago. It is the faulty DJI GO 3.1.2 app. If you put your flylog here we can retrieve the point the drone possibly flew to.
Could you please get the djiflightrecord ...[date..].... .txt of that FLY AWAY flight from internal ssd / sd (somewhere in a dji log folder) ?
Then you can upload it here:  http://www.phantomhelp.com/LogViewer/Upload/
This will then provide a page. Could you then post the link of that page here?
It would be interesting to study another 3.1.2 fault.
Unfortunately DJI has done ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to prevent this so far.

3.1.2 has been out 10 calendar days already, 7 business days.   Perhaps the Chinese New Year has delayed DJI's reaction since I would think the app is developed in China.   Not really an excuse but possible explanation.

formentera Posted at 2017-1-28 15:11
Hi Jos,
i also had this FLY AWAY with my son a week ago. It is the faulty DJI GO 3.1.2 app. If you put your flylog here we can retrieve the point the drone possibly flew to.
Could you please get the djiflightrecord ...[date..].... .txt of that FLY AWAY flight from internal ssd / sd (somewhere in a dji log folder) ?

Maybe their all on time off for the Chinese New Year, isn't it this week?

Yeah that sounds plausible. A billion dollar turnover company with about 5000 employees all out in the snow on a sleigh partying downhill. ;-)

Well I finally was able to find it and retrieve it. It was submerged in water, just near the top of the water, held up by reeds, and surrounded by long reeds, so it was well hidden. And located in the spot marked on map. Its been 5 days since it went missing, little bits of rust forming on the screws , pictures here;
https://goo.gl/photos/c2879w72DDrutbHh9

The property it landed in was owned by a company and it was secured area, so I couldn't just wander in there. I spent a few days trying to reach them, and they also went and looked for me, really nice people. They let me in today and then helped me recover it with a long pole.

WilliamM Posted at 2017-1-28 17:04
Maybe their all on time off for the Chinese New Year, isn't it this week?

Yes, they have even stopped production of certain drones for this period....& I believe it's for more than 1 week, thought I heqard three mentioned somewhere, but could be wrong.

Flying High Bro Posted at 2017-1-31 04:29
Well I finally was able to find it and retrieve it. It was submerged in water, just near the top of the water, held up by reeds, and surrounded by long reeds, so it was well hidden. And located in the spot marked on map. Its been 5 days since it went missing, little bits of rust forming on the screws , pictures here;
https://goo.gl/photos/c2879w72DDrutbHh9

Glad you got it back, just a pity it has sat for so long in water. Hopefully DJI will come good and send you a NEW P3S as compensation.

Glad you were able to retrieve the drone. It doesn't look to well.  I had a Parrot  ardrone 2.0 and was way up and decided to check out the auto land and it landed in the pool with me jumping in to get it.  lol   totally ruined. Oh ya it was only 45 degrees out.