Found Crashed P3 Professional

As I was googling ways that someone might retrieve a drone if it is lost and drone etiquette upon finding a lost drone, "flyaway" seemed to be the most thing drone owners are afraid of, so several articles cited it.

I know the cost of the camera because it was listed on the store page with the price of the drone when I was trying to figure out how much this thing was worth.

I am legitimately trying to do the right thing. No ill will from me.
Have you tried the lost and found in your local paper? I know I would reimburse any costs you would have placing an ad. If nobody shows up looking for it, buy an controller and start a hobby. Its not like you didn't try.
 
Haven't tried the paper. Our community has a facebook page with a lot of people on it for lost/found stuff and we have posted it there. It's been reposted by a few people and stuff, so word is getting out.

I am going to call support for DJI tomorrow with the serial number to see if they can track down the owner. Looks like they are closed today and their online support is closed for Chinese spring festival or something.
 
I have read many stories in my research about people shooting them from the sky over their property or bashing with bats upon find one on their property. I could have easily took a shovel to someone's expensive investment, but instead, I decided to be prudent and do some research. The term flyaway, gimbal, price, etc. aren't exactly like explaining nuclear physics. Flyaway means exactly what it sounds like.
None of the terms are complicated, but to a non drone person, they just aren't "everyday" terms.
 
Haven't tried the paper. Our community has a facebook page with a lot of people on it for lost/found stuff and we have posted it there. It's been reposted by a few people and stuff, so word is getting out.

I am going to call support for DJI tomorrow with the serial number to see if they can track down the owner. Looks like they are closed today and their online support is closed for Chinese spring festival or something.
Good luck with support from dji. I've never had any..LOL
 
None of the terms are complicated, but to a non drone person, they just aren't "everyday" terms.

I hear ya. I googled it and did about an hours worth of research, so I could post on here and at least sound a little like I knew what I was talking about. I had honestly never heard of a gimbal before. That was the only real new term for me.

But there are tons and tons of things on google for this stuff. Lost drones are pretty common actually and a lot of people find themselves in my shoes.
 
Good luck with support from dji. I've never had any..LOL

I've read that too! When I tried to get someone on their online chat support earlier today and I noticed that it closed because they are in China because there is a festival there I thought "great, another company in China where I'll get nowhere with this".

I already don't like DJI and I have't bought anything from them.
 
Well, it stands to reason that if it was somebody just out having fun, they will be looking for it. On the other hand, if it was somebody doing something they shouldn't, you may be our newest member.

And there is dji us support. They will be closed today, but you might try tomorrow. Still cant guarantee any help though.
 
Well, I would hope that someone around me is using this in a responsible manner and enjoying themselves. If I do end up getting video from this thing somehow and I do discover anything nefarious there is no way they'd get it back and I would definitely be a new member.

I do know that if I lost it I would have at least some GPS tag from and I'd go find it immediately. The fact that it was out there for a week or so and nobody has knocked on doors or anything is suspicious to me. I mean there are houses on the back side of me with a strip of woods inbetween my neighborhood and theirs, so it's not like we are talking a vast expanse of woods or anything. It's very residential. It wouldn't be that hard to track down. The drone itself was in plain sight, and when I finally walked down there to investigate I thought to myself "**** this thing has been the whole time". I remember starting at it, but when the drone was upside down it just kind of looked like a piece of construction material or something. The neighbor behind me is doing a major overhaul of their back yard, so I wrote it off as that. If not for the green light, I'd never would have went to check it out.
 
Well, I would hope that someone around me is using this in a responsible manner and enjoying themselves. If I do end up getting video from this thing somehow and I do discover anything nefarious there is no way they'd get it back and I would definitely be a new member.

I do know that if I lost it I would have at least some GPS tag from and I'd go find it immediately. The fact that it was out there for a week or so and nobody has knocked on doors or anything is suspicious to me. I mean there are houses on the back side of me with a strip of woods inbetween my neighborhood and theirs, so it's not like we are talking a vast expanse of woods or anything. It's very residential. It wouldn't be that hard to track down. The drone itself was in plain sight, and when I finally walked down there to investigate I thought to myself "**** this thing has been the whole time". I remember starting at it, but when the drone was upside down it just kind of looked like a piece of construction material or something. The neighbor behind me is doing a major overhaul of their back yard, so I wrote it off as that. If not for the green light, I'd never would have went to check it out.
There is an sd card in it, mines in the top of the camera, I don't know where its at on the professional, but you can pull it out, stick it in a reader and in your pc, and see the video, maybe even the owner and what they were doing at take off, the whole flight. I wish I had something interesting to be fiddling with like that...LOL

That is, if it didn't fly out on impact.
 
I found it!!!! It was on the bracket thing. Not the camera itself. It's a 16GB SD card.
 
Ok, now I'm cooking with gas! Looks like it's pulling up on the computer now.
 
Kudos for you for taking the initiative to find the owner. If there are still pictures on it they should have the GPS coordinates embedded from where they were taken. If the card yields no clue then I might suggest you see if there is a local hobby shop in town. If you can find someone with a controller they are willing to pair to it then you can pull the 'black box' data off the aircraft. There is a memory card inside the Phantom that will have a complete record of the last 20+ flights with all the GPS data of where it took off from, flew, and landed.
 
And to clarify trying to plug it into a computer you need the remote and phone app to put the aircraft into data read mode. Find someone close by with a phantom and you can download the flight logs.
 
Just had a thought. What if he finds out the pictures and video on the card is someone spying on him? Haha
 
Well, there was only one video on there and it was 1 minute and 13 seconds, but it had corrupted files and iPhoto couldn't import it. I wasn't getting a good connection either. I think the port may be damaged in the drone. At any rate, I did get a picture preview of the clip and it was over a neighborhood but I am unable to tell which one. Just looks like a bunch of houses. Kinda strange there is only one video and it was only a minute long.

Well, I tried. I'll sit and wait hope this thing sent out a GPS tag when I turned it on and pings the owner.
 
I guess he owns a 1200$ drone. If I found that out, I would.

Since most of us in this hobby follow the rules I doubt that will be the case. Keep in mind there is someone out there that has probably been grieving at the loss of their P3 the whole time. Would love to see the look on their face when reunited.
 
Kudos for you for taking the initiative to find the owner. If there are still pictures on it they should have the GPS coordinates embedded from where they were taken. If the card yields no clue then I might suggest you see if there is a local hobby shop in town. If you can find someone with a controller they are willing to pair to it then you can pull the 'black box' data off the aircraft. There is a memory card inside the Phantom that will have a complete record of the last 20+ flights with all the GPS data of where it took off from, flew, and landed.

Cool. I'll see if I can find one. This is the first drone I've ever seen either flying or not. I've never actually seen anyone around with one at any of the parks or anything.
 
Well, there was only one video on there and it was 1 minute and 13 seconds, but it had corrupted files and iPhoto couldn't import it. I wasn't getting a good connection either. I think the port may be damaged in the drone. At any rate, I did get a picture preview of the clip and it was over a neighborhood but I am unable to tell which one. Just looks like a bunch of houses. Kinda strange there is only one video and it was only a minute long.

Well, I tried. I'll sit and wait hope this thing sent out a GPS tag when I turned it on and pings the owner.

Unfortunately, it doesnt work like that. There is no "GPS ping" when you turn it on.

There may only be one video because many people format the card before every flight. He probably didnt start recording until he was up in the air.

I really hope you can make some effort to find the owner. I am sure he has been grieving this whole time at his loss. I know how I would feel.
 

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