Waypoints

[ccase39]

Does the waypoint feature work pretty well? Do you trust it outside LOS? Does it come enabled or will I need to go into advanced settings or Naza? For the week i had mine before sending it back because of the camera problem I was too scared to even try the RTH function.

 

[RCRookie]

Does the waypoint feature work pretty well? Do you trust it outside LOS? Does it come enabled or will I need to go into advanced settings or Naza? For the week i had mine before sending it back because of the camera problem I was too scared to even try the RTH function.

I live in a heavily treed area of East Texas... If i fly LOS.. Its mostly straight above me. I use the waypoint navigation to patrol the neighborhood. It works great... But you have to deal with the fear that doing so, imparts from not knowing or seeing exactly where your craft is. Pay particular attention to your RTH settings and be VERY familiar with what the craft will do in a RTH situation, or not accounting for towers, steeples or structures in its return path could ruin your day.
A low altitude RTH setting could also be a disaster.

It really comes down to the trust factor... Assuming you dont have a battery problem or other issues, WAYPOINT is in fact, "more reliable" than LOS hand controlled flying.

Loosing all connections to the craft, it will finish its programmed route. Make sure your last waypoint is above you. And have faith. Lol

Good luck

The Rookie

 

[ccase39]

I had no idea that was you! I have watched pretty much all of your videos. They are priceless and the best resource I have found for all things Phantom. Thank you so much for doing them!

Question, are you able to hover over a waypoint for a while to shoot video and then have it take back over and continue on the waypoint path?

Again your videos are awesome. Very in debth and easy to understand. Even for a Yank.

At what height do you guys set your RTH function?

 

[RCRookie]

You can pause the mission at a waypoint, and you can control pitch of the camera (and yaw with the plus), assuming you still have the wifi feed. But you cannot "re-aim" the craft at a point of interest. Setting more than one waypoint (nose in) towards object is the best you can get.

I set my RTH altitude at 60 meters.. Or about 180 feet.. If you're flying above trees, setting RTH higher may allow you to regain the video feed a little sooner.

 

[crash1sttime]

I did a 7 minute way point flight last week, it was a touch unnverving to have to have it go over 1000ft away from where i was stood, but true to its nature it happily completed the 4 point flight i had set without any issues, the only thing i dont like is that it doesnt auto land after completion, it just hovers above the home point, this is only for the app based version, from what i have read and understood the PC ground station system does in fact land the craft (confirmation needed), if you use a small screen phone such as the Iphone 4 or similar then its a bit fiddly setting up waypoints, especially adjusting the height of each one.

FInd a nice sized field and try a short one first, and then move on to a longer further flight.

 

[RCRookie]

I did a 7 minute way point flight last week, it was a touch unnverving to have to have it go over 1000ft away from where i was stood, but true to its nature it happily completed the 4 point flight i had set without any issues, the only thing i dont like is that it doesnt auto land after completion, it just hovers above the home point, this is only for the app based version, from what i have read and understood the PC ground station system does in fact land the craft (confirmation needed), if you use a small screen phone such as the Iphone 4 or similar then its a bit fiddly setting up waypoints, especially adjusting the height of each one.

FInd a nice sized field and try a short one first, and then move on to a longer further flight.

You may be correct...I haven't read that. You can set the option in the NAZA settings to either Return to Home or Land, but I believe that's only for a low battery warning. So perhaps that's how it is perceived that you can in fact, have it land.

Otherwise, Select ATTI/ GPS / RTH after the mission is complete.

 

[msinger]

A common oversight is that people think the Phantom will rise to the altitude of the first waypoint before it starts moving toward that waypoint. But, the Phantom actually increases or decreases in altitude gradually from waypoint to waypoint.

To work around this issue for the first waypoint, either set the waypoint close to your home point or fly your Phantom to the desired altitude before starting the ground station mission.

 

[ccase39]

A common oversight is that people think the Phantom will rise to the altitude of the first waypoint before it starts moving toward that waypoint. But, the Phantom actually increases or decreases in altitude gradually from waypoint to waypoint.

To work around this issue for the first waypoint, either set the waypoint close to your home point or fly your Phantom to the desired altitude before starting the ground station mission.

i was wondering about that thanks!