Flying behind trees, buildings

[connell83]

Had my PV2+ a few days now. Love it.

If I fly behind a building:

(1) will the control signal cut?
(2) if it does cut, will it attempt to fly home and crash into the building which is directly between me and the PV2+?

 

[cahutch]

1 - yes
2 - yes

 

[Jayson Hanes]

however, you can successfully program the autopilot with waypoints that have a path behind buildings.. losing either control or wifi signal will NOT trigger a RTH. Just pay close attention to your mission and altitudes at each point!

 

[Cocoa Beach Kiter]

however, you can successfully program the autopilot with waypoints that have a path behind buildings.. losing either control or wifi signal will NOT trigger a RTH. Just pay close attention to your mission and altitudes at each point!

That's a good thought!

Also, remember it will fly a direct line between it and home point and climb to apx 60' above home point. So if building is lower ...

 

[UKFlyer]

It always puzzles me why people fly behind buildings, yes the control and fpv will be cut.
The pv2+ will rise to 20m higher than your home point then return home so if the building is taller than that it will hit it, you can reset the home point higher up though by switching S2 between position 2-3 a few times, the rear lights will flash green to confirm.
To recap, say the building was 60m tall. You would launch and reset the home point at about 50m height, then if you was to go behind the building it would ascend to the 50m home point AND the automatic 20m, in all 70m and clear the buillding to return home.
Or use the groundstation to plan a route around it.

 

[Werz]

Watch the first couple of minutes of this video I shot at the local college:

http://youtu.be/PVmyaW5xYR8

At about 1:12, I start a run which is obviously over a lot of trees and fairly short buildings, but well out of my line-of-sight. At 1:45 - 1:50, you'll see a small wiggle and a stall just before the transition. That was a loss of control signal. It was only about 300 meters from my position, but a lot of trees can absorb a lot of signal.

The good thing was that I was flying at about 130 feet (40 meters). If you are above 20 meters, your Phantom will not drop to 20 meters to RTH; it will fly home at the same altitude as when you lost control. Good thing, since many trees in my area exceed 20 meters.

Setting a home point at a point well off the ground is a good strategy. However, a better strategy is not to drop down below the height of obstructions between you and the Phantom.

 

[witold]

It always puzzles me why people fly behind buildings, yes the control and fpv will be cut.

You don't have to fly behind a building to lose control. There are plenty of people who few around what seemed like a fairly doable obstruction but 2.4 and 5.8 signal still can't handle it.

One example is the Buddha clip that a member here posted just days ago.

 

[cahutch]

Line-of-sight means you can see it.
If it's behind a building or a Buddha, you can't see it and the control signal can't get through.
Even a tree can block your control signal. If you're moving past something quickly, hoping to get the signal back after it passes, reconsider. Once the signal is lost it will stop and hover behind the obstruction and after three seconds it will RTH, possibly through the obstruction.

It's also possible to be able to see it but still block the control signal. If you're trying to go through a window, keep in mind that modern glass has a metallic coating to block UV and IR and will block high frequency radio signals also.

 

[wattage]

One example is the Buddha clip that a member here posted just days ago.

I think it's pretty obvious if you fly behind a massive bronze statue you're going to lose signal.

 

[UKFlyer]

One example is the Buddha clip that a member here posted just days ago.

He goes behind the buddha's head. :roll:

 

[CarlJ]

I try to avoid tress and buildings, and as luck would have it, I've never damaged my quad.

I'm still trying to figure out why... :?

 

[Geoelectro]

I intend to fly around a local water tower, the tallest water tower west of the Mississippi River. So here's what I'm thinking. I will be south of the tower. So I plan to take off on the East side, slightly north. This way, if I lose signal as it passes around the north side, it will go east heading back to home.

In other words, separate home point from my controlling location.

Geo

 

[Madwak]

I try to avoid tress and buildings, and as luck would have it, I've never damaged my quad.

I'm still trying to figure out why... :?

Maybe its because you RTFM :lol:

 

[Dirty Bird]

I intend to fly around a local water tower, the tallest water tower west of the Mississippi River. So here's what I'm thinking. I will be south of the tower. So I plan to take off on the East side, slightly north. This way, if I lose signal as it passes around the north side, it will go east heading back to home.

I would suggest when you first lift off climb straight up, directly above your Home Point, until the topmost portion of the tower is even with the horizon from the Phantom's camera view. Use the S2 procedure to reset your Home Point at your current altitude. When you see the rear lights rapid flash, confirm the new Home Point altitude by manually triggering a RTH from where you are. Note the altitude, and you should see the Phantom begin to climb to 20m above your current altitude. Now you can make your tower attempt with confidence since you know, even if you lose control signal, it will clear the tower if Failsafe is triggered. Your lateral Home Point remains unchanged, so she will return to the launch point.

 

[wattage]

..confirm the new Home Point altitude by manually triggering a RTH from where you are. Note the altitude, and you should see the Phantom begin to climb to 20m above your current altitude.

Are you sure about that Dirty? I thought it only climbed to 20m if you were below 20m when RTH was initiated. RTH as I understand it maintains the same altitude otherwise.

 

[Jayson Hanes]

he's talking about resetting the home point, which will effectively reset the altitude at the same time -- so it will indeed climb +20 meters from that new point on a RTH.

 

[wattage]

Ah, I seeee. Thanks.

 

[Cocoa Beach Kiter]

he's talking about resetting the home point, which will effectively reset the altitude at the same time -- so it will indeed climb +20 meters from that new point on a RTH.

I think the telemetry data stays unchanged, which may be causing the confusion of resetting the altitude for RTH.

 

[CarlJ]

I try to avoid tress and buildings, and as luck would have it, I've never damaged my quad.

I'm still trying to figure out why... :?

Maybe its because you RTFM :lol:

Naww, that's just crazy talk. Why read the manual when I can just ask one of the guys who likes to fly into - I mean behind buildings and trees? :shock:

 

[Soulnet]

he's talking about resetting the home point, which will effectively reset the altitude at the same time -- so it will indeed climb +20 meters from that new point on a RTH.

I think the telemetry data stays unchanged, which may be causing the confusion of resetting the altitude for RTH.

I would still like this to be a value you can set yourself. Would make life a lot easier for 99% of my flying.