Setting Return Home

[jguerriere]

Hi all,

I just received my 2nd Phantom is one week as my first one is way out in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Charleston, SC.

I know I messed up. I was flying in 30 knot winds, but keeping it low getting some good footage. I couldn't resist taking it up high, so I did. I estimate I went up about 1,000 feet or so. I did it twice, and the first time it got scarey so I cut the engine and it fell back to a controllable altitude pretty fast. So I did it again, but this time it got caught in what I guess was very strong jet stream and it was gone, Gone, GONE! It just flew away like it was shot out of a slingshot.

I tried to get it to fly back but no luck, so I turned off the TX hoping it would fly back, but I am pretty sure the head wind was way to strong to overcome.

Is there a way to confirm what the "Return Home" way point is before taking off?

I fly in GPS mode (right hand switch all the way up) and the left hand switch is all the way up. I do not like the IOC mode. I did a lot of RC as a kid and the IOC actually messes me up.

Is there a safe way to test the return home mode? Like take it to a football field, take it up 100 feet or so and turn of the TX?

PS - I have watched the videos and read the manual but it is not 100% clear if and when the 'return home' point is set.

Thanks in advance.

-John

 

[Sac D]

A rapid flurry of green light flashes (6 or 7) indicates the Phantom has recorded the "home" spot.
So if you have a good, and patient, initialization routine that you follow, the RTH will be stored in memory. That's no guarantee that it will do any good, however, as you and I both found.
Mine probably found a watery grave as well when it got to the American River, I still have hope that it is in the parkland along there, although it could be in a spot where it won't be discovered for years or perhaps it never will be. I'm thinking if it came down in a residential area in the vicinity that someone would have called me by now (I had my phone number written all over it). My wife told me today that it was probably on craigslist the next day after I lost it! I didn't find that amusing at the time.

I'm probably going to order another Phantom in the next few days, hopefully I won't get another lemon.

 

[Gizmo3000]

yikes. so sorry to hear about your loss.
things can get really windy up at higher altitudes

technically, when you first insert the battery and the Phantom has warmed up to a single green blink, the moment you give it throttle it should then blink green many times, indicating that it's locked it's home position.

another way to ensure that home position has been set is to click between HL and CL 5 times and look for 5 blinking green lights, indicating that home position has been locked.

I don't think anyone particularly likes flying in CL or HL, but I once did find HL handy whenI lost my orientation and was able to bring my Phantom back towards me until I could see where it was facing.

yes, best way to test return to home is to find a field, fly a bit away and kill the Tx. to regain control you turn the transmitter back on and select ATTI apparently (I think I tried that, but forgot to turn my Tx back on)
*but always be sure to put your contact info on your phantom just in case.

 

[Gizmo3000]

Oh yah, one way to test the home position just to be sure, is to fly 80ft away (low altitude), rotate the craft, flip to HL and pull back on the right joystick and see if it comes back to you. (and then again try it 80ft away in the opposite direction.
doing so will give you a lil bit more confidence that your starting point is where the Phantom considers home.

 

[pwright]

Oh yah, one way to test the home position just to be sure, is to fly 80ft away (low altitude), rotate the craft, flip to HL and pull back on the right joystick and see if it comes back to you. (and then again try it 80ft away in the opposite direction.
doing so will give you a lil bit more confidence that your starting point is where the Phantom considers home.

Good tip!

 

[devinclk]

Vote and let people see how many people are losing their phantoms

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1872000

 

[tanasit]

You can always do a manual CL and a manual HL as below:

To do a manual CL recording toggle from off to CL 4 times

To do a manual HL recording toggle from CL to HL 4 times

And back to OFF before taking off.

Normally during the warm up, if you see rapid green that means the Phantom has successfully recorded the home position. But it is a good practice to check the CL and HL function before you venture out to somewhere.

 

[csimojo]

You can always do a manual CL and a manual HL as below:

To do a manual CL recording toggle from off to CL 4 times

To do a manual HL recording toggle from CL to HL 4 times

And back to OFF before taking off.

Normally during the warm up, if you see rapid green that means the Phantom has successfully recorded the home position. But it is a good practice to check the CL and HL function before you venture out to somewhere.

I notice I get the rapid green before all the red lights go out. How accurate can my home position be if I don't have enough satellites?

 

[pwright]

I notice I get the rapid green before all the red lights go out.

Are you getting 4 or 6 green flashes?

 

[csimojo]

I notice I get the rapid green before all the red lights go out.

Are you getting 4 or 6 green flashes?

I thought six, but I guess I don't know.

 

[pwright]

IF you are seeing a series of green flashes while still getting red flashes then it probably isn't the 6-flash home location is set notification. It might be the 4-flash there is an error notification and you need to hook it up to your computer to do a calibration. Or it may be because you moved it during the warm up period.

 

[Eik]

another way to ensure that home position has been set is to click between HL and CL 5 times and look for 5 blinking green lights, indicating that home position has been locked.

I always do this before takeoff, as I want to be sure its set. HL has saved my *** twice already in flight (Have yet to test RTG though)

 

[csimojo]

IF you are seeing a series of green flashes while still getting red flashes then it probably isn't the 6-flash home location is set notification. It might be the 4-flash there is an error notification and you need to hook it up to your computer to do a calibration. Or it may be because you moved it during the warm up period.

Now I'm guessing I'm moving it. It seems like there is 8 or 10 flashes of green. I'm probably moving it. I plug in the battery, put the battery in the compartment, close the lid then turn on the gopro and make sure wifi is off. Then I set it down and wait. I've tested out the home lock and it seems to work fine. What should I do? Plug in the battery and just wait till I get a single green flash then turn put the battery in, close the lid and turn on the gopro and start recording?

 

[Gizmo3000]

Now I'm guessing I'm moving it. It seems like there is 8 or 10 flashes of green. I'm probably moving it. I plug in the battery, put the battery in the compartment, close the lid then turn on the gopro and make sure wifi is off. Then I set it down and wait. I've tested out the home lock and it seems to work fine. What should I do? Plug in the battery and just wait till I get a single green flash then turn put the battery in, close the lid and turn on the gopro and start recording?

yah,. it'll blink a bunch while you're moving it around. that's standard.

I usually stuff the battery into the compartment the moment I connect the battery. may as well do something while the Phantom is warming up. And then of course I wait for the single green blink.

 

[pwright]

As Gizmo says, it will blink a bunch if you jostle it before you take off. My normal operation is to turn on the GoPro and make sure it is in the mode I want. The GoPro battery lasts for a long time and I have a spare so I'm not worried about running out of juice. Then in slide the battery in and tuck the balance connector inside. Then plug the power into the Phantom and close the battery door. Once the Phantom has warmed up I do a compass calibration and as I put it down I hit the shutter release on the GoPro. Double check the blinking single light status and then take off.

 

[tanasit]

Fear not.
1. After you connected the battery, 30 seconds later you should see rapid green confirming the home point recorded.

2. If not (sometime I missed that because I was connecting the FPV gear and others but I tried to keep my peripheral vision on the reflection of the led on the dome antenna), then manually set the home position by flipping 4-5 times OFF/CL, then another 4-5 times CL/HL then back to off. Again the rapid green confirmed.

3. You can do #2 above in flight too but make sure you see the led for confirmation.

4. The CL will still work if you don't get the satellite signal because it based on the compass.
Test the CL in ATTI mode if you wish.

 

[Loneranger]

I read with interest the conclusions about Return to home. I am having trouble understanding some of the abbreviations being used. I to am having issues with the Return to home system on my Phantom 4 and whilst i have watched a number of You tube videos ,i still cannot get the Return to home to function. I will watch this forum with anticipation.
Thankyou ,Loneranger