Never tested the RTH feature, manual/hand catch-landing for my Mavic.

$gambino$ Posted at 2017-9-9 21:02
Dj enertia again with bad info....rth at night isnt bad u just wont have sensor assistance. As long as your rth height is good u will clear obstacles and my drones always land in the homepoint. Like i said u wont have obstacle avoidance on rth or precision landing, When landing

I dont think i gave bad info ...just some common sense.Its basicly what i said i was refering to Mavic RTH not being safe at night can be disastrous -no sensor assistance and even if u keep visual on your Mavic its much harder to see what your doing. In Australia and most countries its not legal to fly at night with out a Drone Pilots License heavy fines even prison time apply but if u decide to do so and use RTH like $gambino$ said no sensor assistance but it will land back at home point.....Fly safe.

DJ Enertia Posted at 2017-9-10 05:51
I dont think i gave bad info ...just some common sense.Its basicly what i said i was refering to Mavic RTH not being safe at night can be disastrous -no sensor assistance and even if u keep visual on your Mavic its much harder to see what your doing. In Australia and most countries its not legal to fly at night with out a Drone Pilots License heavy fines even prison time apply but if u decide to do so and use RTH like $gambino$ said no sensor assistance but it will land back at home point.....Fly safe.

Night time flying is only as safe as preparation by pilot, if this is done correctly then you shouldn't have any problems, but as you say in many countries it's illegal and also flying out of VLOS can cause problems, but taken all that into account night time flying is safe in the right hands.

Safe flying...

hallmark007 Posted at 2017-9-10 06:10
Night time flying is only as safe as preparation by pilot, if this is done correctly then you shouldn't have any problems, but as you say in many countries it's illegal and also flying out of VLOS can cause problems, but taken all that into account night time flying is safe in the right hands.

Safe flying...

Good point Pilot common sense and prep = Safer flying..

hallmark007 Posted at 2017-9-10 06:10
Night time flying is only as safe as preparation by pilot, if this is done correctly then you shouldn't have any problems, but as you say in many countries it's illegal and also flying out of VLOS can cause problems, but taken all that into account night time flying is safe in the right hands.

Safe flying...

Can u fly legaly no license in Ireland at night?Wish we could in Australia as night footage can be very nice..

DJ Enertia Posted at 2017-9-10 06:19
Can u fly legaly no license in Ireland at night?Wish we could in Australia as night footage can be very nice..

I can fly in Ireland at night time, but and it's a big but IAA say max VLOS at night time is 50 feet, I do have a license and can apply to fly specific operations but there is very strict protocols surrounding these operations before being granted permission to fly.

hallmark007 Posted at 2017-9-10 06:30
I can fly in Ireland at night time, but and it's a big but IAA say max VLOS at night time is 50 feet, I do have a license and can apply to fly specific operations but there is very strict protocols surrounding these operations before being granted permission to fly.

Nice hallmark.Its similar here in Australia once u get your License..

I only use RTH as failsafe and override/cancel it as soon as I regain signal or VLOS

Depends on the situation. If the Drone is close by, I usually hand catch it. When I send it pretty far, I use RTH until it gets back above me then manually land it.

Manually land it. Not that I don't trust RTH, but I feel more confident landing it myself and it's more enjoyable.

Manual landing,
for safety and the pleasure

If I'm not sure about Mavik's location, I'll press "return home." As soon as I saw him, I put my hands on the ground. I seldom plant on the ground. I often put it on my arm.

I prefer to manual landing, it's more secure.

Other - in fact I use both depending on what is happening. It is easy to loose visual in a tree clad horizon, so use RTH. Had a strong/gusty wind get up as I returned manually to home and found landing on my small target an interesting challenge.

Will catching the Mavic harm the sensors.. When I catch the drone the RPM increase till the motor shut off.  Just wondering

Maveriksam Posted at 2017-6-7 20:39
I always land manually. Two reasons for this.
1. Giving full control to the Mavic scares the hell out of me.
2. Even though I've set my return altitude to 40 meters, I'm still concerned it won't be high enough. (We don't have tall trees where I live)

From my experience, which is little, the zero is the point of take off... as I fly from driveway, but also at the back of the estate here, which is 35 meters elevated.

Will take it out on my next hunting trip, with altitude  of 1500 m ( my concern is the thinness of the air as previous attempts with a RC Copter have failed to take off )

With avoidance control on RTH, you should be safe to test this, just keep an eye on it.

I’ll do both, only have 30 flights with Mavic under belt, but there are times grass will be in the way, or too much dust and will fly back to me and hover catch, from home will be lazy and press rth ( have some massive gum trees around, so I have a 55m rth altitude, which can put me on edge if battery alarm is going off, but trust in the tech I do

I have never tested RTH yet. 99% are manual landing but I tried once to grab the drone once, it worked out, but the mavic did try to fight it for 5 or 6 sec (I wouldn't recommend it unless absolutely necessary)

Been using manual landing. Probably a 50/50 toss-up between landing on the ground and catch-landing. Will play around with the RTH feature just to learn more about it.

Use RTH if I become a bit disoriented in the area I may explore but mostly manual land. I'd say probably 95% of the time - land manually.

I use both methods, RTH and manual. RTH when I want to show off the technology to curious friends. Just wish I could stop tha annoying beeping.

Bent Kangaroo Posted at 2017-6-7 19:11
Catch land for me.
Pull the Mavic into about head height and approach from the side and grab the undercarraige and pull down on the left stick.
The blades will thank you for it and it can decrease risk of getting contaminants (sand/dirt etc) in motors.

If you're worried about sand/dirt/etc you should also look into getting extensions, just got mine still have to try it though

rshah921 Posted at 2017-11-8 10:16
If you're worried about sand/dirt/etc you should also look into getting extensions, just got mine still have to try it though

Be very, very careful with those. Disable VPS. Read the post with my experience here: https://forum.dji.com/thread-116890-1-1.html

BumblerBee Posted at 2017-11-8 10:59
Be very, very careful with those. Disable VPS. Read the post with my experience here: https://forum.dji.com/thread-116890-1-1.html

wow, had no idea. I just read that whole thread. I was so excited to be able to use them without worrying lol. What do you use now? Landing pad?

rshah921 Posted at 2017-11-8 11:48
wow, had no idea. I just read that whole thread. I was so excited to be able to use them without worrying lol. What do you use now? Landing pad?

Yes, I am using the foldable landing pad. Extenders were planned for the occasions, when it was inconvenient to unfold a pad or even take it with you.
I am still going to do some testing with the extenders, but for now they are not used for regular flights.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Portabl ... ic-Pro/372015320697

As for the topic - RTH only in case of emergency, like loss of video feed/app disconnect (and during those couple of first flight when I was getting to know all the functions), otherwise I always bring the bird back manually.

I use both around 70% RTH and 30% manual

I used RTH when i was beginner as I tended to lost track of where the drone was. Nowadays I'm not that risky and I always fly close, as the shots became the priority

BumblerBee Posted at 2017-11-8 14:12
Yes, I am using the foldable landing pad. Extenders were planned for the occasions, when it was inconvenient to unfold a pad or even take it with you.
I am still going to do some testing with the extenders, but for now they are not used for regular flights.

Just a quick question, are the leg extensions on the corners also interfering or just the ones that go directly on the bottom?

rshah921 Posted at 2017-11-9 08:03
Just a quick question, are the leg extensions on the corners also interfering or just the ones that go directly on the bottom?

Only the rare ones. There are several variations of the extensions, but they all seem to come into the field of view of the rare VP camera.

Im more concerned that so many people are not confident in the RTH feature, and yet seemingly, DJI have not addressed this.

The RTH feature is great " if working correctly " and it doesnt seem that the failures are sporadic or focussed - its become common expectance.

rshah921 Posted at 2017-11-9 08:03
Just a quick question, are the leg extensions on the corners also interfering or just the ones that go directly on the bottom?

the PGYTECH leg extensions that I was using were diagnosed as the cause of my MP wanting to climb without stick input.

Since removing them, no issues......

I use both options depending on the situation.

Manual landing for me, I'm a control freak and RTH is just not a natural feeling.

except one time rth (to test it) I prefer manual!

Eagle_Eye Posted at 2017-6-8 04:00
Here's a vid I made recently doing a RTH w/ Precision Landing @ 85m high (RTH set Alt).

RTH Precision Landing

Very best POSSIBLE soundtrack for that.  

I also do both but prefer to do manual.

I tested RTH 9 months ago when I first got it.  Manual landing every since.  I recently got a landing pad and I've tested RTH a few times to check accuracy.  I still prefer the manual landing...

I press return to home until I can see it and then cancel it to catch it

I manually landmine most of the time. I do use RTH just to make sure everything is working.  Will say it is very accurate.