Phantom almost bites the dust....please help

[magicmethods]

So I just came in from a very scary episode in which I felt completely helpless. I took my Phantom out for my first flight of the day (air temp 35, wind 13). I did all the preflight items I always do and waited for homelock and gps lock. I took off, switched to atti mode and went exploring.....when I was about 3600 ft away I started to lose picture then all of a sudden my phone said dynamic homelock can not be changed and then it stated that it was landing. As I am looking down in disbelief trying to take control again I noticed that my distance immediately changed from 3600 ft to 6600 ft (wtf) . I could not regain any type of control (tried switching back into gps mode) nothing was responding so I just shut my controller off and said a prayer to the Phantom God's hoping that they weren't unhappy today. So I waited for a several minutes and couldn't spot anything in the sky then all of the sudden I heard the faint sound of the propellers off in the distance a minute later and I was able to spot my Phantom. I turned back on my transmitter and looked at the display and it stated that it was in RTH mode I still had a little over 50% battery and 11 satillites (only had 8 when I took off) . I considered letting it come all the way but I became anxious and took over controls and brought it in for a landing.

Has anyone ever had this happen before? What might have been the cause? Is the Phantom still safe to fly?

I have lost video before and when it happens I just reverse direction and wait for the video to come back. I have never seen the "cannot change dynamic homelock" warning before and cant come up with a reason the distance changed all of the sudden.

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

 

[Ivan]

Why the ATTI mode?

 

[magicmethods]

I fly in ATTI mode because I like the flight characteristics better. (more responsive and faster)

 

[flyNfrank]

I personally would not fly in atti at those kind of distances. Do you have a different antenna setup that allows you to go the distances you mentioned?

Also, Not sure what altitude you were flying at but the 13mph wind you spoke of is really only the speed close to the ground. You can go up to say 200ft and be in a totally different wind stream, and one that is usually the speed in which you see the clouds moving at. Either way, a 13mph wind will take your quad away in no time. The atti is like a hotair balloon. What were you doing that you felt it was safe enough to fly in atti mode with a 13mph wind?

 

[Meta4]

Just a guess .. could the crazy differences be due to a problem with your phone reporting an incorrect GPS location ?
It's a mystery to me but turning off the Dynamic Home Point feature in the app might be an idea if you aren't needing it.

 

[magicmethods]

I personally would not fly in atti at those kind of distances. Do you have a different antenna setup that allows you to go the distances you mentioned?

Also, Not sure what altitude you were flying at but the 13mph wind you spoke of is really only the speed close to the ground. You can go up to say 200ft and be in a totally different wind stream, and one that is usually the speed in which you see the clouds moving at. Either way, a 13mph wind will take your quad away in no time. The atti is like a hotair balloon. What were you doing that you felt it was safe enough to fly in atti mode with a 13mph wind?

At ground level I was not experiencing any wind at all (no trees blowing or even noticeable cloud movement). I stated the wind speed that was displayed on my weather app. My altitude was at 150 ft. When I switched over to ATTI mode it drifted extremely slowly in my direction so I went into the wind.

I have only stock antennas and by no means was I actually stating that my phantom actually went 6600 ft it just stated on my phone that the phantom was that distance from me.

Do you think that my problem was because the Phantom was in ATTI mode? If so, then why. Thanks

 

[magicmethods]

Just a guess .. could the crazy differences be due to a problem with your phone reporting an incorrect GPS location ?
It's a mystery to me but turning off the Dynamic Home Point feature in the app might be an idea if you aren't needing it.

That may be the reason for why it stated the incorrect GPS location. I have no need for the Dynamic Home Point so I will turn it off.
Why would the app tell me that my Phantom as landing? I just looked at the footage and it didn't seem to loose any of its altitude throughout the flight. Thanks

 

[crash1sttime]

I had the cannot set home point issue once, it was due to low satellite count, as has been said, if you don't need it turn it off , unless you plan on changing where your stood by any great distance then the DHP system is not needed

 

[flyNfrank]

I personally would not fly in atti at those kind of distances. Do you have a different antenna setup that allows you to go the distances you mentioned?

Also, Not sure what altitude you were flying at but the 13mph wind you spoke of is really only the speed close to the ground. You can go up to say 200ft and be in a totally different wind stream, and one that is usually the speed in which you see the clouds moving at. Either way, a 13mph wind will take your quad away in no time. The atti is like a hotair balloon. What were you doing that you felt it was safe enough to fly in atti mode with a 13mph wind?

At ground level I was not experiencing any wind at all (no trees blowing or even noticeable cloud movement). I stated the wind speed that was displayed on my weather app. My altitude was at 150 ft. When I switched over to ATTI mode it drifted extremely slowly in my direction so I went into the wind.

I have only stock antennas and by no means was I actually stating that my phantom actually went 6600 ft it just stated on my phone that the phantom was that distance from me.

Do you think that my problem was because the Phantom was in ATTI mode? If so, then why. Thanks

No I do not think the atti mode was a problem in your case. I only brought it up because of the 3600ft you mentioned and not being in GPS with a little security.

 

[magicmethods]

Thanks crash, I have now turned off my dynamic home point.

Thanks Frank, I do appreciate your input. I understand what you are saying about "little security". My flight plan was to observe the shoreline across the water. If the wind would have caused any drift it would have caused it to drift back in my direction (over open water/ice, there was literally nothing between my phantom and me but H2O) I have never and will never intentionally fly over people or places where people congregate.
After watching and re-watching my video I have come to the conclusion that my GPS told my Phantom that I was in a different location. The reason I state this is because I can recall that I put the Phantom in Homelock and pulled back on the stick to see if the Phantom would come back and reconnect. My video shows the Phantom going in the complete opposite direction when I was doing this. I therefore must conclude that my GPS was ultimately the cause of the failure.

I feel very fortunate that my bird "ultimately" performed as it should and made it back home.

Thanks for all of the input and if anyone else has anything else to offer please feel free to inform me.

 

[ToThePoint]

Could have been a solar storm that corrupted the GPS or a low sat count.
Sats come and go, see on the sat predictor site what to expect.
Wind conditions on a location you were flying change and thats due to land and water temperature.
Especially on low wind days when you get a sea breeze.