Smart RTH?

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If I understand correctly Smart RTH flys the same path and altitude back as it took to get there. It seems like that could cause it to not have enough battery to get back. Is that indeed how Smart RTH works? Why would I ever not want it to fly straight back at 50 meters?
 
I suppose it could be useful in large city's and in mountainous terrain.
 
"Smart RTH" is the RTH that is manually enabled by holding the RTH button on the remote controller (or from the icon on the left side of DJI GO). The retracing feature you're referring to is an option for Failsafe RTH and is only available on the P4A/P4P.
 
If I understand correctly Smart RTH flys the same path and altitude back as it took to get there. It seems like that could cause it to not have enough battery to get back. Is that indeed how Smart RTH works? Why would I ever not want it to fly straight back at 50 meters?
The retracing feature (which isn't Smart RTH) only retraces back until it picks up signal again.
This makes sense for occasions where you lose signal because you flew behind an obstacle.
 
The retracing feature (which isn't Smart RTH) only retraces back until it picks up signal again.
It only retraces for about 30 seconds. If the remote control signal is not reestablished, it then flies directly back to the home point.
 
I was flying earlier with an old iPhone attached to my p4 to record video. I'm waiting on parts to repair my gimbal and camera. I was flying low over treetops trying to see if I could find a quad that flew away on me a while back. As I was viewing the video I saw a couple of openings in the Forrest canopy that I would like to have investigated if I had had live video but it looked like getting out could be troublesome. That would be an ideal situation for tracing the entry route back out. I'm constantly trying to think of different scenarios that I could possibly encounter when flying and think of what my options are to safely resolve any potential problems I may encounter.
 
So what exactly is the difference between smart RTH and RTH? I've watched dozens of videos on the topic and nobody has described what the difference is from having the smart RTH on and not having the smart RTH on? One person says one thing and another person says something totally different.
 
So what exactly is the difference between smart RTH and RTH? I've watched dozens of videos on the topic and nobody has described what the difference is from having the smart RTH on and not having the smart RTH on? One person says one thing and another person says something totally different.

Smart RTH is when you press the RTH button. RTH is RTH when you loose connection. Terrible nomenclature.
 
Smart RTH is when you press the RTH button. RTH is RTH when you loose connection. Terrible nomenclature.
Well that's strange cause have the smart RTH turned off but it still comes back when I hit the button so I'm not sure that's exactly right.
 
My understanding of smart RTH is that it will kick in automatically when it detects there is just enough battery juice left to make the return trip. This will occur even if you have solid connection to the controller and didn't press RTH button.
 
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My understanding of smart RTH is that it will kick in automatically when it detects there is just enough battery juice left to make the return trip.
"Smart RTH" never kicks in automatically. You're describing the "Smart Return-to-Home" setting. The names are similar, but they are completely different functions.
 
So "Smart RTH" and "Smart Return-to-Home" are completely different functions? Huh, that is definitely not obvious but good to know.
 
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So "Smart RTH" and "Smart Return-to-Home" are completely different functions? Huh, that is definitely not obvious but good to know.
I've heard 10 different things from 10 different people. Im looking for a definitive answer as far as what the difference is between RTH and smart RTH. I'm going to research it some more and will post the difference.
 
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I've heard 10 different things from 10 different people. Im looking for a definitive answer as far as what the difference is between RTH and smart RTH.
"RTH" is just a generic term that means the aircraft will automatically return back to the home point. The Phantom manual covers the various types of RTH (Smart RTH, Low Battery RTH, and Failsafe RTH). It does not discuss the "Smart Return-to-Home" feature.
 

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