FPV transmitter adjustments? Disaster struck...

[Blackhawk]

Fellow members and closet-geniuses... I need your help. Quick story to get you up to speed...

I got a Phantom 1 a year ago. Loved it, flew it, showed it off.... one dreary day, I was trying to impress a girl with it by flying it outside my house. (true story...) and suddenly I lost control as I was flying over a park full of children. This wasn't like an 'oh no, I don't know how to fly!" it was more of a "What the $%@#... it's drifting and I can't recover..." as I tried to recover, it only sped the craft up as it DRILLED my neighbor's house.

Didn't happen again for a year. (replaced that phantom...)

SKIP SEVERAL MONTHS.

I was SO stoked to get a DJI 5.8 gHz fpv transmitter, and I finally got it. I hooked it up, made sure it worked, and took the thing outside to fly in the park again. It was hovering fine, too dark to really test, so I just flew it up and did a short test run. FML. Suddenly I had flashbacks to a year before- my blood ran cold as I again watch my phantom start to drift.... I went into recovery mode, with the exact same result.... full speed ahead into my neighbor's house. Bounced on the ground, gimbals and cameras and transmitters and batteries flying in all directions... and the remainder of the craft landed mockingly on my doorstep. WTF?!!

So here are my questions:

-Why is my craft doing this?! I have flown countless times without problems, made multiple films... and I have had two of these crazy out-of-control outbursts... can it have something to do with signal interference?

-If it is signal interference, how do I avoid that?!

-Could this have anything to do with the FPV transmitter? I had a small battery mounted on one leg and the transmitter mounted on the other...

Please comfort me if possible. I'm scared to use my expensive FPV setup ever again... let alone fly the thing..

 

[RobertLC]

Were the only times you experienced this type of flyaway when you flew near your house?

 

[Blackhawk]

Were the only times you experienced this type of flyaway when you flew near your house?

Yeah, the two times it happened were both right outside my house in a park. One went wild and crashed into my neighbor's house two houses away, the other crashed into my neighbor's next door. I know the simple answer is that I just don't know how to fly, but honestly I would consider myself an advanced level pilot- and I wasn't doing anything crazy. Just kinda hovering in Attitude mode.

 

[RobertLC]

Were the only times you experienced this type of flyaway when you flew near your house?

Yeah, the two times it happened were both right outside my house in a park. One went wild and crashed into my neighbor's house two houses away, the other crashed into my neighbor's next door. I know the simple answer is that I just don't know how to fly, but honestly I would consider myself an advanced level pilot- and I wasn't doing anything crazy. Just kinda hovering in Attitude mode.

Sounds like something in the area might have been interfering with the signal from your transmitter, sending erratic signals to your quad causing it to fly off and crash.

I wouldn't fly in that area any more.

 

[Blackhawk]

Were the only times you experienced this type of flyaway when you flew near your house?

Yeah, the two times it happened were both right outside my house in a park. One went wild and crashed into my neighbor's house two houses away, the other crashed into my neighbor's next door. I know the simple answer is that I just don't know how to fly, but honestly I would consider myself an advanced level pilot- and I wasn't doing anything crazy. Just kinda hovering in Attitude mode.

Sounds like something in the area might have been interfering with the signal from your transmitter, sending erratic signals to your quad causing it to fly off and crash.

I wouldn't fly in that area any more.

Is this something that is common? Should I be worried about flying in 'public' places? I read some stuff about how 'Futaba radios' can prevent signal interruption... is that something that could help me avoid this again?

 

[Ayrflier]

The first 3 flights I made with my brand new, just out of the box, Phantom 2 were similar.

I bought:
Phantom 2
Zenmuse Gimbal
Fatshark FPV kit
GoPro Hero 3+ Silver

I had previously owned the Phantom 1 and expected a better flight experience (Though hard to imagine as it was brilliant). Took off, got to about 10m and suddenly it accelerated to the right. I lost all direction control. Fail-Safe did nothing. All I could do was reduce the height, so I did. It ended up on a roof, 2 storeys up, 5 houses away. It was upside down so I couldn't even fly it back to ground. Ladder, long pole, got it back.

Flight 2: ok - keep it low. Got about 1m off the ground, banked right and SLAMMED into a fence. Broken props.

At this point I went into panic mode. My £1250 toy didn't work.

I then decided to do a full calibration. Failed twice and seemed to work the 3rd time.

Back outside - flying. All seems well!
2 minutes later the Phantom lands itself 2 streets over!

Long story short, I no longer fly outside my home. I put it down to interference from dual mode wifi routers which transmit at 2.4 and 5.8GHz.

I have since flown in wide open spaces, over 100m high and 500m away with full control and confidence to go further.

Take it away from built up areas, sources of interference and have fun.

 

[Blackhawk]

The first 3 flights I made with my brand new, just out of the box, Phantom 2 were similar.

I bought:
Phantom 2
Zenmuse Gimbal
Fatshark FPV kit
GoPro Hero 3+ Silver

I had previously owned the Phantom 1 and expected a better flight experience (Though hard to imagine as it was brilliant). Took off, got to about 10m and suddenly it accelerated to the right. I lost all direction control. Fail-Safe did nothing. All I could do was reduce the height, so I did. It ended up on a roof, 2 storeys up, 5 houses away. It was upside down so I couldn't even fly it back to ground. Ladder, long pole, got it back.

Flight 2: ok - keep it low. Got about 1m off the ground, banked right and SLAMMED into a fence. Broken props.

At this point I went into panic mode. My £1250 toy didn't work.

I then decided to do a full calibration. Failed twice and seemed to work the 3rd time.

Back outside - flying. All seems well!
2 minutes later the Phantom lands itself 2 streets over!

Long story short, I no longer fly outside my home. I put it down to interference from dual mode wifi routers which transmit at 2.4 and 5.8GHz.

I have since flown in wide open spaces, over 100m high and 500m away with full control and confidence to go further.

Take it away from built up areas, sources of interference and have fun.

Thank you SO much for this info! I really hoped somebody could give me some good input, and it is good to know that I'm not losing my mind. Maybe I won't be too scared to try my FPV again.... first I need to find a new gimbal or someone with a think black ribbon cable to replace mine that busted.