Fly Away - P3 Pro: How to Counter the DJI Response

KB_Colorado · Dec 27, 2015

I had a definite Fly Away with my P3 Pro on December 13. I have retained the video (from the cloud) and it shows the copter flying with no issues, no obstructions in the area, copter was heading NNW at 20 MPH, then a display of "No Signal". I immediately switched from Course Lock to GPS only, and activated Return to Home,... No change. I jumped in my vehicle and headed towards where I knew the copter last was (it was still beeping from RTH), but no change. The video shows no errors in flight, just a loss in signal, It could have kept flying.

I submitted the customer form and video to DJI, and they responded stating that the copter lost signal, that it must be due to external interference and offered a discount on a new unit. I need to know how to counter that statement. My best comeback is that if the copter loses signal (for what ever reason) it is suppose to Return to Home.

Any suggestions are appreciated here.

Kevin

DB4Tim · Dec 27, 2015

Form what I have encounter is they are very non responsive....and I had no where near the problems you have.

MJB1971 · Dec 27, 2015

KB_Colorado said:
I had a definite Fly Away with my P3 Pro on December 13. I have retained the video (from the cloud) and it shows the copter flying with no issues, no obstructions in the area, copter was heading NNW at 20 MPH, then a display of "No Signal". I immediately switched from Course Lock to GPS only, and activated Return to Home,... No change. I jumped in my vehicle and headed towards where I knew the copter last was (it was still beeping from RTH), but no change. The video shows no errors in flight, just a loss in signal, It could have kept flying.

I submitted the customer form and video to DJI, and they responded stating that the copter lost signal, that it must be due to external interference and offered a discount on a new unit. I need to know how to counter that statement. My best comeback is that if the copter loses signal (for what ever reason) it is suppose to Return to Home.

Any suggestions are appreciated here.

Kevin

What was the offered discount?
Just curious.

KB_Colorado · Dec 27, 2015

30% Discount on a new P3 Pro

480sparky · Dec 27, 2015

Interference can affect the compass as well. If it doesn't know what direction home is, it can't go home.

alirz · Dec 27, 2015

In that case where's it heading....? If compass, has etc doesn't know where home is then it doesn't make sense to the drone just fly towards some unknown destination. There's no reason for RTH to fail and if it does fail due to some glitch, interference or whatever sorry excuse out there then the drone should hover until critical battery triggers. If it can't even figure how to hover i.e its brain is totally f'ed up then it should land wherever it is instead of flying away for no reason.

480sparky · Dec 27, 2015

alirz said:
In that case where's it heading....? If compass, has etc doesn't know where home is then it doesn't make sense to the drone just fly towards some unknown destination. There's no reason for RTH to fail and if it does fail due to some glitch, interference or whatever sorry excuse out there then the drone should hover until critical battery triggers. If it can't even figure how to hover i.e its brain is totally f'ed up then it should land wherever it is instead of flying away for no reason.

You can change from RTH to Hover in the Go app.

flyNfrank · Dec 27, 2015

There has to be loss off GPS signal in the event of a fly away. Since the very 1st day P3's were shipped I only know of 1 actual fly away.They just don't happen.

What is the address of the cloud you found your video at?

ForistellFlyer · Dec 27, 2015

Possible "alien abduction"

WetDog · Dec 27, 2015

The most common reason for this - not saying that it has relevance in your particular case - is that the drone IS trying to go home. But home isn't where home was because you've moved and for some reason, the home point wasn't updated.

You should be able to check that in your flight log.

mirrorimage · Dec 27, 2015

KB_Colorado said:
30% Discount on a new P3 Pro

Ask for 50%
They will tell you they got it approved with their supervisor. That's the most discount they will ever do. Don't expect to get the drone replaced unless you wanna fight their terrible support for 6 months. Just get the 50% off offer.

KB_Colorado · Dec 27, 2015

The video is in the DJI GO App, but I don't see a way to send a link to that video. Can someone tell me if the is an HTTP: address to access the DJI GO videos? Is that how yo view the flight log also? (I don't see a way to view that on the app, and I no longer have the copter).

Thanks, Kevin

mirrorimage · Dec 27, 2015

KB_Colorado said:
The video is in the DJI GO App, but I don't see a way to send a link to that video. Can someone tell me if the is an HTTP: address to access the DJI GO videos? Is that how yo view the flight log also? (I don't see a way to view that on the app, and I no longer have the copter).

Thanks, Kevin

Plugin your iPad to iTunes, browse your apps, click the DJI apps and you can see all the files and save them to your computer.

480sparky · Dec 28, 2015

If you have video caching turned off, there won't be a video on your device.

Foosy · Dec 28, 2015

If you got "No Signal" then your phantom lost control with your remote. Obviously, at that point an RTH from the remote will not help. But if it is set to RTH, it should try on its own.
Reasons it can fail are:
1. it is fighting a very strong wind, so it advances in the wind direction, even though it is trying to reach you
2. it has a compass error that is causing it to be confused
3. it entered by mistake P-OPTI mode . Happened to me, and I almost lost it too. Can check 3 other threads I had on this.
4. Your home point was not where you thought it was
5. Your battery could have drained after the No signal, causing it to crash

Somethings you should know:
1. DJI does not answer their customer support requests. I have reported bugs twice and they all fall in a black hole
2. An analysis of the file on the phone/tablet can help understand if anything was wrong.
3. There are at least two things that went wrong: "No Signal" is one of them. But there was something else as well...

KB_Colorado · Dec 28, 2015

Thanks for the responses so far, they have been very helpful. So just to clarify:
1) I have the video and it clearly shows ~ 2 mins of smooth / stable flight in a wide open area, then the videl just stops.
2) I have to say that DJI Support has been very responsive, althought the answer is not what I wanted to hear, both by phone and by email, they have been very helpful and responsive. That may be becasue I am crying "Fly Away", but all the same they are listening and responding.

PJ Orlando · Jan 2, 2016

Good to hear DJI support has gotten better. It was one of the things that made me shy away at first from a purchase. I hope I never have to use them all the same. Fly aways are rare with the p3p but it seems to me you should stay on DJIs butt until you get answers and a replacement. Especially if you have flight data proof.

Lonewolf · Jan 2, 2016

OP said he experienced "No Signal" which means he lost "Video Signal" & not "Connection Lost" Meaning he could have still brought it back to him. However, in the "Connection Lost" in that case the craft would have initiated RTH on it's own.

Gustavo10 · Jan 2, 2016

Slightly off the subject but still relevant to it: Why can't you have the Return Home facility in Phantom mode (P2)? Never understood that this very useful help wasn't available to a beginner.

funtimegrandpa · Jan 2, 2016

KB_Colorado said:
I had a definite Fly Away with my P3 Pro on December 13. I have retained the video (from the cloud) and it shows the copter flying with no issues, no obstructions in the area, copter was heading NNW at 20 MPH, then a display of "No Signal". I immediately switched from Course Lock to GPS only, and activated Return to Home,... No change. I jumped in my vehicle and headed towards where I knew the copter last was (it was still beeping from RTH), but no change. The video shows no errors in flight, just a loss in signal, It could have kept flying.

I submitted the customer form and video to DJI, and they responded stating that the copter lost signal, that it must be due to external interference and offered a discount on a new unit. I need to know how to counter that statement. My best comeback is that if the copter loses signal (for what ever reason) it is suppose to Return to Home.

Any suggestions are appreciated here.

Kevin

I know this does not fix what has happened to your Lost Phantom. But there is a very helpful solution that came to my rescue when my Phantom 2 had a battery failure and ended up deep in the woods. You are more than welcome to check out my review and then feel free to search for the later dated search and rescue !!!! Also they gave me a discount code which can save you a few dollars. When I did the review I did not expect to try it out in a real situation, but if it was not on my phantom I believe it would still be at the bottom of the forest! I have a number of trackers, GPS, and RF but for a situation where your craft fly's away far from sight I don't think you will find better as it will report the very last position even to the seconds before loosing power! Sorry again for your loss :-(