Setup to avoid flyaway, failsafe? Manual? Bacon?

[Loppy]

Helloooo folks! Quick on me: Fly several CP heli's (which, are now for sale due to quad bug and the glorious art of FPV :lol: ) Picked up a Phantom in person from Century Heli a few weeks ago... GAME ON. Already upgraded to T-motors and CF props. Flown it about 8 times with no issues, performed flawlessly, but all real close and in my backyard (acre). My Fatsharks showed up, so now I'm ready to venture out there and get crazy. I've searched, read, read and read some more, but still not clear on this issue. Installed Naza Assistant and I'm nervously ready to plug in the phantom.

I've read some stories of flyaways or loss of control and guys insisting that 3rd position to MANUAL helped them gain control and return the rig. (I immagine this would work good IF you had a good video signal and KNEW where you were, but what if you lost orientation and or video?)

I've read some stories that setting the 3rd position to FAILSAFE is the way to go, just flip the switch and rely on Naza to bring her home. (this method certainly puts your phantom in the hands of the Naza gods...)

Just wondering if there's a concensus out there on the best setup, resulting in more successful RTH's. Really appreciate responses, this site and the great commeraderie!

 

[rilot]

I don't think there is any consensus on this.
I learned from many years of flying helis that as soon as I throttle up, it could be the last time I see my copter.

 

[Loppy]

I don't think there is any consensus on this.
I learned from many years of flying helis that as soon as I throttle up, it could be the last time I see my copter.

Well, with my heli's, I'll agree with you with a twist, I would say "...last time I see it in one piece" :lol: I've never had a heli flyaway or completely loose sight of it (lost orientation when its too far away, but could still see it).

I'm not trying to get out a mile or two here, but i want to FPV in some cool places I go, small canyons wtih trees, trails, waterfalls etc. where it will be relatively close, but would likely loose line of sight here and there.

If there's no concensus, then what do you prefer and why?

 

[marcus_canada]

If you switch off the transmitter the phantom goes into failsafe mode, so returns to home and lands - hopefully. If you want to re-take control of it before it lands you have to switch back on, then after a few seconds go into manual mode then bounce back to Att or GPS. If you had to make a choice it therefore makes sense to program the third option to Manual.

I upgraded to a different transmitter so I have the ability to select failsafe or manual, so it's like a catch all.

In case of disorientation or loss of visibility, throttling up is a good thing with a stable quad like the Phantom. If there is one vector pretty much guaranteed to get you away from obstacles, it's directly up.

 

[Loppy]

I see what you did there Marcus. So if setup in Manual, you're saying you can get the 4th option of RTH by proxy of simply shutting off the Tx? After flying heli's, planks and everything in between for 20 years... shutting off my Tx with a bird in the air is just wrong!! Goes against every grain! ha. Ugh... I think I might go you're route, swap out to Spektrum and get a better radio, better range, more reliability and more options.

Question: If you loose it, dont have RTH programmed, and use the "shut off tx" option, say you see the phantom again and its heading towards you but huge trees in the way, so you want to take back control. Turn tx on, how long to rebind? WILL it rebind out of normal sequence like that?

 

[marcus_canada]

Question: If you loose it, dont have RTH programmed, and use the "shut off tx" option, say you see the phantom again and its heading towards you but huge trees in the way, so you want to take back control. Turn tx on, how long to rebind? WILL it rebind out of normal sequence like that?

The Phantom, if you let it initialize correctly before taking off, will remember it's home position. So now, if your Transmitter checks out for any reason or you fly out of range, the Phantom sees the radio lock in the receiver is lost and will automatically "Go Home".

In this autonomous mode, the Phantom will climb to a height of original start height + 20 meters. This is like a catch all to account for houses, trees etc, but not everything of course. The Phantom will then fly back to the start position, hover at 20 meters for like 60 or 90 seconds, then descend and land.

If you want to test that, then switch the Tx off while the Phantom is relatively close by. I hated myself for being a wimp about it, but I have nervously tested this function and it worked fine - Phew.

When the Phantom is in range, if you want to try, you can switch on the Tx and the radio will bind in a few seconds, but you won't have control. If you want control back, then you have to switch into and then out of Manual.

 

[Gizmo3000]

I see what you did there Marcus. So if setup in Manual, you're saying you can get the 4th option of RTH by proxy of simply shutting off the Tx? After flying heli's, planks and everything in between for 20 years... shutting off my Tx with a bird in the air is just wrong!! Goes against every grain! ha. Ugh... I think I might go you're route, swap out to Spektrum and get a better radio, better range, more reliability and more options.

Question: If you loose it, dont have RTH programmed, and use the "shut off tx" option, say you see the phantom again and its heading towards you but huge trees in the way, so you want to take back control. Turn tx on, how long to rebind? WILL it rebind out of normal sequence like that?

yah,. shutting off the Tx does seem to go against instinct. but these micro-processor flight controllers are pretty clever.
before it became an option tho, many found it the only practical solution for getting out of a sticky situation. (worked for me on two occasions!).
yes, if you wish to regain control all you gotta do is turn the tx back on, and flip to ATTI mod (with the throttle at 50% or greater so the quad won't fall from the sky).

with a 3rd party Tx, you could easily implement GPS/ATTI/Man, and still add an additional failsafe switch so you wouldn't have to shut off the Tx.

The tricky part about flyaways is that they can be caused by different system failures - including operator error. (either in air or not following proper startup protocol).
so there's no single solution to recovering from one...

with pilot error, usually enabling RTH will work, provided there's enough juice left in the battery. (also another element of pilot error),. some times a pilot will claim that RTH didn't work, but in actuality it did, but the craft was too far away when enabled and came down hard.

switching to ATTI can help when there's GPS error, but maybe not when there's severe compass error?

while not very common, stuck gyro's can also be a disaster, as switching to ATTI won't help.. it seems only manual mode can help you recover if a gyro gets stuck.

flipping to RTH with either a bad GPS, compass or gyro is almost a guaranteed way to send your craft off into neverneverland.
but it's hard not to hit the "panic button" when things go awry.

 

[ArshadR]

When the Phantom is in range, if you want to try, you can switch on the Tx and the radio will bind in a few seconds, but you won't have control. If you want control back, then you have to switch into and then out of Manual.

My experience is that switching to ATTI mode also regains control, ie you don't have to switch to manual mode.

 

[Loppy]

Thanks guys. I guess there's really no clear path on this one, I just need to pick one and get used to it.

Being confident in my pilot skills, I think I'm going with Manual mode and use the shut off failsafe as a last resort, now knowing I can reconnect in seconds, it makes sense to me. Gives me the most chances to regain control, most options. Thanks buds! May your props stay up!

 

[marcus_canada]

When the Phantom is in range, if you want to try, you can switch on the Tx and the radio will bind in a few seconds, but you won't have control. If you want control back, then you have to switch into and then out of Manual.

My experience is that switching to ATTI mode also regains control, ie you don't have to switch to manual mode.

That would be cool as the Phantom kicks a bit when you go into Manual mode. But that absolutely didn't work for me

 

[Loppy]

When the Phantom is in range, if you want to try, you can switch on the Tx and the radio will bind in a few seconds, but you won't have control. If you want control back, then you have to switch into and then out of Manual.

My experience is that switching to ATTI mode also regains control, ie you don't have to switch to manual mode.

Is this AFTER your Tx was off, and switched back on?

 

[ArshadR]

My experience is that switching to ATTI mode also regains control, ie you don't have to switch to manual mode.

Is this AFTER your Tx was off, and switched back on?

Yes, that's what I recall. I'll have to try it again, but I was definitely able to regain control after turning the Tx off/on, and I don't have my phantom setup for manual mode. I similarly regained control after it kicked into failsafe after going out of range. Once it was close, I switched from GPS to ATTI and was able to control it. Running 3.14.

 

[Loppy]

My experience is that switching to ATTI mode also regains control, ie you don't have to switch to manual mode.

Is this AFTER your Tx was off, and switched back on?

Yes, that's what I recall. I'll have to try it again, but I was definitely able to regain control after turning the Tx off/on, and I don't have my phantom setup for manual mode. I similarly regained control after it kicked into failsafe after going out of range. Once it was close, I switched from GPS to ATTI and was able to control it. Running 3.14.

Thanks. This is good to know. I changed my mind and switched mine to RTH so that I can safely test the function on my rig before moving to manual and shutting down tx. Now that I have assistant dialed in and a mini laptop for the field, its an easy switch to play with this weekend. Cheers!

 

[ArshadR]

Definitely give it a try under a controlled situation, ie fly nearby, force GTH and then see if switching from GPS to ATTI gives you back control. I don't know if there are other differences between models that might necessitate going to manual on older phantoms or something.

 

[Loppy]

Definitely give it a try under a controlled situation, ie fly nearby, force GTH and then see if switching from GPS to ATTI gives you back control. I don't know if there are other differences between models that might necessitate going to manual on older phantoms or something.

Good point. I will be checking it both ways (with video evidence) maybe even tonight using 3.12 and report findings when I can.