Getting Very Comfortable with RTF (Return to Home)

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I've got about 50 flights with my Phantom Vision now and I've started getting extremely comfortable with RTH. (return to home). For the last 10 or so flights when I'm sick of flying I just shut off the transmitter, put the transmitter down and start packing up. A few minutes later my Phantom has landed itself where it took off and it stops spinning the props. Does anyone else do this? Be honest now! :twisted:
 
I've tried it a couple of times for yucks, and it comes in slowly and then starts pounding itself against the surface, over and over again until I flip S1 and shut it down. FWIW, the surface is rather hard (packed clay) and so perhaps the rebound is confusing it. The second time I tried it, before I had a chance to take over, it did a dynamic rollover and chewed the tips on a couple of props (my first damage! The horror!) ;)

Looked like the control loop was a little wide--the magnitude of the bounces seemed to be increasing.

We don't have much grass around here in the desert southwest so I'm not sure what to try next (putting out a 2m-wide mattress? I think that's a Cal King). All in all I'd rather have the thing try to beat itself to death until it falls over or the battery dies, rather than disappear forever or drop on someone's head, but it's a bit unnerving.
 
Yep. It's definitely a nice feature. Especially nice if I'm getting ready to do something else or I'm distracted with something else.
 
I haven't been doing it, but now that you mention it...

However if things ever go pear-shaped during an unnecessary RTH
and it disappears into the wild blue yonder, I will turn into an e-Thug
and seek to blacken your name all over the internet.

------------------------------------------------------

I'm also going to start using the 'grab in mid-air mode of landing from now on,
for the gentlest possible touch down. And also Pull-Up's calibration dance technique,
which makes much more sense anatomically.
 
El Rey said:
I haven't been doing it, but now that you mention it...

However if things ever go pear-shaped during an unnecessary RTH
and it disappears into the wild blue yonder, I will turn into an e-Thug
and seek to blacken your name all over the internet.

------------------------------------------------------

I'm also going to start using the 'grab in mid-air mode of landing from now on,
for the gentlest possible touch down. And also Pull-Up's calibration dance technique,
which makes much more sense anatomically.

What is pull-ups technique for calibration?
 
Sorry, I can't recall where it is now, but maybe when you have the time you can do an advanced search with his name and some other parameters.

In brief, he suggests holding the P2V stationary and moving your body, rather than the opposite.

So for example, holding the P2V up above your head then turning in a circle.
 
Yeah I hold it at eye level by the landing skid uprights - makes it a lot easier to see the LEDs to confirm when to stop spinning on the spot like a numpty. Less dignified in public than the spin the aircraft technique, but easier on the back and/or knees. ;) Then again I'm not in the "calibrate before every flight" camp, so I don't have to look stoopid too often. :lol:
 
My first few days with the Phantom 2 Vision and I keep flying it out of range and initiate the Return to Home feature. I am dissapointed because this is happening at about 1,000 feet. I just upgraded from the Phantom and was able to fly the Phantom at least twice as far to ranges of what seemed to be 2,500 feet. It appears the Return to Home feature is being initiated by lost Wifi and not lost remote control signal. Is there a way to disable the Return to Home feature from being Wifi initiated and only have it trigger when the RC signal is lost?
 
Dr. Nasty said:
My first few days with the Phantom 2 Vision and I keep flying it out of range and initiate the Return to Home feature. I am dissapointed because this is happening at about 1,000 feet. I just upgraded from the Phantom and was able to fly the Phantom at least twice as far to ranges of what seemed to be 2,500 feet. It appears the Return to Home feature is being initiated by lost Wifi and not lost remote control signal. Is there a way to disable the Return to Home feature from being Wifi initiated and only have it trigger when the RC signal is lost?

The Fail Safe can only be activated in the event you either turn off your transmitter, loose transmitter reception by either flying too far away or not within line of sight by flying behind something. Alternatively Fail Safe can be activated if your Phantom is in Naza more and you reprogram the bottom position of S1 for Fail Safe.

You will know you have entered fail safe two ways, by quick flashing yellow tail lights as well as a visual notification in the DJI app assuming you're flying within FPV range.

There are also two types of Fail Safe.

The first and preferred requires your Phantom has established a home lock before take off and is slow flashing green tail lights. When you have this Home Lock your phantom will perform the Return to Home fly back in the event of entering a Fail Safe Condition. Your FPV screen will first display control signal lost, followed by Going Home or Returning Home message.

The second type of Fail Safe behavior happens when you take off without your Phantom having first marked its home position before takeoff. In this instance when you enter Fail Safe your Phantom will land wherever it is currently flying over.

Moral of this story is two fold. 1) never take off before you have 6 or more satellites and solid home lock. And 2) only loss of your control signal will cause you to enter Fail Safe. Wifi has nothing to do with this.

It you would like extended FPV and transmitter range check out the more powerful repeater thread. Also make sure your controller is running in FCC mode for maximum range. When you power on you will hear two beeps. This is done by turning the bottom screw in the back of your radio control fully clockwise with flat screw driver.
 
Thanks for the detailed reply. I was thinking it was from the wifi because Return to Home is being initiated at about 1,000 feet and I know the range should be farther than that. I am only getting one beep on my controller but can't find the tiny flat screw you mention.
 
I'd used RTF several times and was quite impressed.
I was comfortable with the Return Home feature - until today.
If I get a new Phantom, I won't be flying it beyond where I can see it to control myself.
The unit said it was going home but distance indicator only showed slowly getting further away.
I had half a battery so wasn't too concerned. Tried to bring it home myself but couldn't see it or work out which way it was facing. Switched off again and it said going home but still no progress.
Problems started 200 metres out and the story ended 300 metres away (out to sea) and out of battery.
Motto ... don't get too comfortable. RTF is fine when it works but if it doesn't - it's nice to be able to fly home yourself.

Now ... what to do with a spare controller?
Can you buy just the Phantom on its own?
 
Found out the controller is worth peanuts ... all the $$ are in the copter.
Expensive lesson.
Bad GPS satellite spread today and I suspect that the home location was not recorded.
 
I do wish that there is a light on the controller that shows that it's doing return to home...
 
hellhole said:
I do wish that there is a light on the controller that shows that it's doing return to home...
I don't understand how this would be useful?

Because if you're within range of the wifi/fpv, you get visual confirmation of the return to home anyway. And RTH usually starts if communication is broken with the controller... so the light would only show that communication had been lost and not that RTH has initiated (if the P2V could definitively 'tell' the controller that it was returning home, then surely communication would not have been lost..?).
 
Meta4 said:
I'd used RTF several times and was quite impressed.
I was comfortable with the Return Home feature - until today.
If I get a new Phantom, I won't be flying it beyond where I can see it to control myself.
The unit said it was going home but distance indicator only showed slowly getting further away.
I had half a battery so wasn't too concerned. Tried to bring it home myself but couldn't see it or work out which way it was facing. Switched off again and it said going home but still no progress.
Problems started 200 metres out and the story ended 300 metres away (out to sea) and out of battery.
Motto ... don't get too comfortable. RTF is fine when it works but if it doesn't - it's nice to be able to fly home yourself.

Now ... what to do with a spare controller?
Can you buy just the Phantom on its own?

Wow META, you sound amazingly calm about this disaster. I know that if I lose mine, I will buy another - but it will still be a very, very black day.
 
Meta4 said:
I suspect that the home location was not recorded.

Maybe that explains why it didn't RTH, it was probably heading towards the last recorded home location...
 
EMCSQUAR said:
Meta4 said:
I suspect that the home location was not recorded.

Maybe that explains why it didn't RTH, it was probably heading towards the last recorded home location...

He's saying he may have taken off before the phantom had a good home lock which would explain his non returning phantom. It is also possible that head winds were so strong that day that it prevented the Phantom from flying back before running out of battery.

"Previously recoded" home lock would not have been what happened here unless he first took off at shore then for some inexplicable reason chose to use the reset home point function somewhere over the open sea. Nope it probably wasn't that it's mostly likely one of the two scenarios above that happened unfortunate as it is.

For anyone wondering where the screw is for FCC / CE mode it's on the back of the controller on the bottom right side. They are two holes that are recessed. The screw that toggles the power output mode of the controller is on the bottom. The one on top does nothing as it's meant for gimbal tilt angle control on supported gimbals. This can also be changed using the RC assistant software which requires disassembly of the controller to gain access to the micro USB port inside. Once changed in the rc assistant software the screw doesn't seem to have an effect anymore. Mine now stays in FCC mode regardless of which position the screw is in after checking off FCC mode in the RC assistant.
 

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