How I ended up with 2 phantoms..

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Exactly 5 weeks ago, I wanted to demo my few months old Phantom 2 to a couple friends. I had an FPV setup with iOSD, it was around 11pm, clear and calm evening. After take off I got a bit carried away and flew +400m high. The lights were still very visible in the dark sky. Suddenly I saw on my display the amount of satellites blinking 0 and before I knew it I drifted much further then I thought. I started panicking a bit since I had a hard time finding the right direction to head back. FPV didn't help much since it was dark, with no home location, so was trying to see if I was going left or right head-in to make sure I was coming my direction. Suddenly the FPV started shaking left and right (prob got VRS). And slowly saw it disappearing on the horizon behind some trees. We jumped in the car driving around but no luck. Hindsight I think at some point I must have lost contact, the quad started to descent and got himself in VRS? (I was still on FW1.08 so maybe auto-descent speed was still to high).
So, being all crushed, I had a couple gin tonics and went to sleep hoping somebody would call the next day that they found it. (I recently put my phone number on it just in case). Never heard anything, so 2 weeks ago I bit the bullet and bought the whole setup again, including gopro only now with a H3-3D. Then this week, 5 weeks later, a lady calling me saying she found my 'helicopter'. Went to pick it up yesterday, FPV antenna broke off, but other then that it seemed in pretty good shape, blades were even intact, just a bit of dirt here and there. Turns out everything still works besides the FPV transmitter, amazing! The lady said they found it in their backyard, I suspect they had it for a while before seeing the number or calling me, cause it has been raining a lot lately. And everything still works. These things aren't water proof right? :) Well, either way, I now got 2 phantoms :)

On the analysis, it is a real shame I didn't record that flight at the time, would've love seeing it again. Although I did flew way too high in the dark, then satellites for god knows what reason went to 0 and drifted away. Also altitude showed suddenly 1200m at some point but I believe that must've been an error, unless it started controlling itself. Probably got into VRS doing a self descent. I just know I won't be flying that far out in the dark anymore ;)
Happy flying all! ;)
 

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Great you got it back. Now order some trackers or one you can swap back and forth with your supply of quads. :)
 
xtonex,

I have been looking around and just cant pull the trigger on a tracker. Is flytrex live super reliable with the gps tracking?
 
I actually worry about the proactive 2G cell data push coming out of that thing and it's potential to interfere with the controller.

I keep my Garmin GTU-10 in passive state so there's very little 2G traffic while flying, but a constant stream of 2G data coming off the bird worries me.
 
i've read a lot of fly aways that after a couple weeks the owners received a call that someone found their phantom. to be honest im impressed that there still are good and honest people willing to give you a call letting you know they have your drone.

im not sure that would happen in mexico :s
 
The best trackers are RF based.

I would never trust my cell phone signal to keep track of anything. I ride motorcycles and we go on rural area rides. There are tons and tons of deadspots. Heck, my house is a deadspot so if my Phantom crashes in my yard, the tracker won't help me find it. :) A tracker that works from a SIM is next to worthless to me because you can't depend on it. On top of that, GPS will work fine in the air, but if the quad falls through some trees it may or may not work. When I go running, I lose cell phone GPS signal just because the road is next to tall trees/etc. My car Garmin units occasionally lose signal as well. Combined, you end up carrying a completely undependable system.

So...

As far as RF based trackers, the best right now (for the price) is Marco Pollo. http://eurekaproducts.com/rc-model-trac ... -recovery/ The range is just enough for Phantoms and it _will_ work. No matter what happens and where, you will get signal. It may be weaker or it may be stronger and you may walk around a bit, but you will have signal unless you crash it straight into some special RF blocking metal box. :)

While the initial price is high, when you add up the SIM card paygo plan costs, Marco Pollo is eventually cheaper long term and you don't have to think about your SIM paygo plan reloads. Additionally, if you travel around to other countries you don't have to think about SIMs and how the puzzle fits together.
 

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