New way to lose your drone

[deltamike]

...but the same can be said for planes, trains and automobiles.

Huh? Nope. You have to have a licence to operate those. Come the day ................

 

[jwmcgrath]

Huh? Nope. You have to have a licence to operate those. Come the day ................

I'm just saying that I doubt we will "lose" them... any more than we lost planes, trains and automobiles when they were considered unsafe and noisy nuisances.

But if we aren't careful then the restrictions they impose upon them will certainly steal all the fun.

Of course I agree we need to use them safely and with a healthy dose of common sense.

Wouldn't bother me to need a licence if it helps weed out those that will undermine the credibility of the hobby.

 

[jayeverts]

I'm just saying that I doubt we will "lose" them... any more than we lost planes, trains and automobiles when they were considered unsafe and noisy nuisances.

But if we aren't careful then the restrictions they impose upon them will certainly steal all the fun.

Of course I agree we need to use them safely and with a healthy dose of common sense.

Wouldn't bother me to need a licence if it helps weed out those that will undermine the credibility of the hobby.

If you were referring to my post then you need to reread it. I did say lose them (in part), but read it all. We could effectively lose them if they become e heavily regulated and priced out of almost everybody's hands. Also, they could simply be made illegal.

In the end, you are alright, we hold the power to keep or lose them based on our actions.

 

[deltamike]

If you were referring to my post then you need to reread it. I did say lose them (in part), but read it all. We could effectively lose them if they become e heavily regulated and priced out of almost everybody's hands. Also, they could simply be made illegal.

In the end, you are alright, we hold the power to keep or lose them based on our actions.

No, if you read his header you will see he was replying to me, but you both make a lot of sense. Pity more of us don't think like we do.

I am just waiting for 'The Big One' to happen in the UK - probably around Heathrow THEN the brown stuff will hit the fan.

I wish all UAV's had to be registered to an owner on purchase together with a practical flight test but pigs fly.

Now someone is going to post a flying pig. Betcha.

 

[Vexed]

This may not be new news but I have never seen a discussion of this before.

I was flying my P3A at an altitude of about 100 m and a distance of 3000 m when I decided to bring her home. I tapped what I thought was the return home button on the DJI GO app screen and instead I had tapped the land icon. The drone drop down to about 15 m before I noticed that it was landing but I was losing contact with the bird from the RC because of the altitude drop. I imediately initiated the return home and had to hope because there was no signal coming back to the RC.

I should have noticed that I had tapped the wrong icon because the slider appeared and I just automatically approved the request without actually reading it.

Yes, I did get the drone back with about 10% battery left, but I was lucky. I don't know if it's just me, but I would like to be able to place the icons on the screen where I wanted them and I certainly would not have the land button by the return home button.

You need to read the screen and not auto approve

 

[jwmcgrath]

If you were referring to my post then you need to reread it. I did say lose them (in part), but read it all. We could effectively lose them if they become e heavily regulated and priced out of almost everybody's hands. Also, they could simply be made illegal.

In the end, you are alright, we hold the power to keep or lose them based on our actions.

No, if you read his header you will see he was replying to me, but you both make a lot of sense. Pity more of us don't think like we do.

I am just waiting for 'The Big One' to happen in the UK - probably around Heathrow THEN the brown stuff will hit the fan.

I wish all UAV's had to be registered to an owner on purchase together with a practical flight test but pigs fly.

Now someone is going to post a flying pig. Betcha.

Sorry gang... it was just a frustrated lash out at the direction some of these poorly thought out and overly restrictive regulations are going. I knew when I wrote that post that it was short and vague and written in haste.

Thanks for understanding it wasn't meant to be critical or directed at anyone here in particular.

Peace offering:

 

[Paul Schulze]

You need to read the screen and not auto approve[/QUOT

I agree and I did watch the screen as that is how I discovered it was heading downward. My problem was that I relied too much on the fact that I thought I hit the land icon (instead of the RTH icon) to orient the quad for a return to home and got distracted while I was explaining what the quad was supposed to be doing. It was all pilot error I am sad to say.

 

[deltamike]

Sorry gang... it was just a frustrated lash out at the direction some of these poorly thought out and overly restrictive regulations are going. I knew when I wrote that post that it was short and vague and written in haste.

Thanks for understanding it wasn't meant to be critical or directed at anyone here in particular.

Peace offering:

Heh. Excellent.

Is that a DJI model then and where does one put the batteries? The mind boggles. I DO like the landing legs. Now thats given me an idea for the P3A.

Thanks JWM. Made my piggin day that has.

 

[sparky1111]

I want to know how the heck you get 3000 meters from your drone??!! With my Phantom 4, I'm lucky to get 2500 feet (distance) in optimum conditions!

Wind sails mate from Amazon. I paid 20 quid and now get about 13000ft easy.

 

[John Locke]

Wind sails mate from Amazon. I paid 20 quid and now get about 13000ft easy.

It's called a Windsurfer, or parabolic dish.

 

[John Locke]

I want to know how the heck you get 3000 meters from your drone??!! With my Phantom 4, I'm lucky to get 2500 feet (distance) in optimum conditions!

Pete, the P4 controller (GL300C) is the weakest Lightbridge controller since Lightbridge was introduced in Phantom 3 in April 2015. There was the original controller model GL300A, GL300B, and now the GL300C, which is 20% weaker in RF signal transmit power than the original A version. You can buy a GL300A or B and that will help with range, or even better GL658A or C (Inspire RC), with 50% more signal strength (in the US). Here's my test results, and below are a few things that might help your GL300C range:

1. Click HD icon and find out which of the 8 channels is has the least traffic. Select a custom channel with on the quietest channel
2. After setting a custom channel, a slider will appear to adjust the "Transmission Quality". Turn it down from 10mbps to 4mbps.
3. Use a windsurfer to direct your signal transmission, and receive your video signal in a directional setup.
4. Always keep your craft with LOS connection, no trees, bushes, mountains or buildings between you and the craft.

Assuming you live in the US, these tips should help you get a little more range, assuming you haven't done this already. But the real cure is buying an Inspire controller (used, about $300), or upgrading your GL300C RC with DBS2.2 antenna and amplifiers (self install kit ~$300) from MaxxUAV.com

 

[jwmcgrath]

Heh. Excellent.

Is that a DJI model then and where does one put the batteries? The mind boggles. I DO like the landing legs. Now thats given me an idea for the P3A.

Thanks JWM. Made my piggin day that has.

It's the new DJI Bovine 1. It's fuelled naturally but rumour has it, it handles like a pig...

 

[Jussaguy]

This may not be new news but I have never seen a discussion of this before.

I was flying my P3A at an altitude of about 100 m and a distance of 3000 m when I decided to bring her home. I tapped what I thought was the return home button on the DJI GO app screen and instead I had tapped the land icon. The drone drop down to about 15 m before I noticed that it was landing but I was losing contact with the bird from the RC because of the altitude drop. I imediately initiated the return home and had to hope because there was no signal coming back to the RC.

I should have noticed that I had tapped the wrong icon because the slider appeared and I just automatically approved the request without actually reading it.

Yes, I did get the drone back with about 10% battery left, but I was lucky. I don't know if it's just me, but I would like to be able to place the icons on the screen where I wanted them and I certainly would not have the land button by the return home button.

If you lose signal, it should be programmed to return home and abort the landing.

 

[Paul Schulze]

I realized that later, but I was afraid that it might hit a tree or something in the three seconds before the automatic RTH kicked in. I suppose that if I did have time I could have even turned the RC off.

Again it was a case of pilot panic.

 

[gsreinke]

Still can't wrap my mind around why people risk automated RTH instead of just flying back. RTH is for emergencies, not laziness.

I exercise that option occasionally to become familiar with the procedure. Do not want to use RTH for the first time in an emergency

 

[gsreinke]

The comment re energy consumption was likely sighting the fact that RTH speed is significantly slower than that at which the AC provides greatest distance for a given mah consumption (i.e. You would have had significantly more than 10% capacity remaining if you flew home manually at a higher speed than RTH).

Please explain why returning at higher speed consumes LESS energy. Higher speed equates to HIGHER drag and MORE energy consumed. Thus depleting the battery faster.

 

[gsreinke]

Russ43 you are absolutely right, however 15X60 binoculars allow a spotter to follow the drone on rare distance flights. Nearly all my flights are close to the home point. I do not know if binoculars qualify for line of sight, but the rule does not state unaided eyes.

Personally, I think the FAA rule is rather vague in that the ability to see your drone is going to vary drastically from person to person as well as from weather condition to weather condition. Clear blue skies would give you one distance where as cloudy skies give you another distance. Yes, I realize the FAA rule is meant for control of the drone regardless of how far away it is from you.

Has anyone ever been cited for flying out of sight in the United States? I would say that most pilots lose line of sight somewhere in their flight or flying lifetime.

We all need to be responsible in our flying.

VLOS is unaided.

 

[gsreinke]

The theoretical resolving power of a human eye is about 4x10^-4 radians in daylight and assuming light of 5000A. Assuming perfect vision a 1 foot object would become a point at about 2460 ft or 750 m.

Taking into account that most folks have reduced vision, once you take your eyes off the drone to look at your controller, your ability to visually reacquire the drone in 3 sec is only possible at much shorter distances. My guess is 1000 ft is probably the maximum distance for complete visual control.

I would suggest some experiments.

1) Fly your drone at an altitude of 50m.

2) Put drone at a horizontal distance of 100m.

3) take your eyes off drone and read distance on display screen. Reacquire drone visually in 3 sec or less.

4) Repeat at 100 ft intervals until you take longer than 3 sec to reacquire drone.

5) Report your maximum distance here.

I chose 3 sec because that is loss of signal RTH.

Agree, totally. Seeing the drone and determining it's orientation are separate challenges, entirely

 

[With The Birds]

Please explain why returning at higher speed consumes LESS energy. Higher speed equates to HIGHER drag and MORE energy consumed. Thus depleting the battery faster.

I posted an article on page two of this thread- you may find it an interesting read.

Opening considerations;

1. If the drone is flying slowly away most of the energy is required for hovering. The air resistance of the drone does not matter.
2. Does the drone flying very quicklyoutweigh the drag. The force of air resistance increases with the square of airspeed. The necessary power to the third power. A twice as fast flying drone needs about 8 times the motor power. This is incidentally also apply to a car or airplane.

The article concludes, and we know in practice (user experiences in the range threads are testament to the fact), greatest distance on a given battery consumption is achieved for the phantom 3 at an airspeed just shy of 14ms (i.e. close to flat stick). That is considerably higher than the programmed RTH speed.

 

[blackcrusader]

It came back on its own as my last command apparently got through.

Yes distractions can be deadly. I was showing my granddaughter the iPad screen so my attention to details was minimal.

Pilot error... the reason people lose their drones.