Such a downer! It was a beautiful day and place to take photo/video, but unfortunately my final flight only lasted shy of 8 minutes.. Synopsis:
1. Took off from wooden deck in GPS mode (but didn't get "homepoint updated" voice call - perhaps mistake #1).
2. Home point finally recorded 46 seconds into the flight. It wasn't someplace I would want to land (lake), but at least I felt confident I had full GPS signal at that point (probably mistake #2).
3. Unbeknownst to me at the time, I had multiple "GPS Position NoMatch" recorded during the flight. I found this out after reviewing my flight log downloaded from my phone. I have no idea what it means or if I've had it before, as this is the first time I've downloaded and viewed a flight log in this manner. Here it is: DJI Flight Log Viewer - PhantomHelp.com
4. I started losing video link to my phone intermittently approaching the 7 minute mark, just over 1000' away.
5. Spark initiated RTH at 7:31, and climbed from 130' to 165'. I briefly lost sight of the drone itself at this point, but I saw video on my phone that indicated it was coming back in the proper direction and had a clear line to fly (no trees).
6. During RTH, suddenly I got "Weak GPS Signal" displayed on my phone, along with "Compass Error, Exit P-GPS Mode". Also verbal "Atti Mode". This occurred at 7:43.
7. That was the last communication from Sparky. I waited around for 5 minutes or so, looking and listening, but didn't see or hear it again. The last time logged was 7:44.7
I walked around for awhile using "find my drone" on the GO4 app, but didn't see anything in the tall grass of the farm field in the vicinity of it's last known location (the trees visible in the satellite shot have been cut down). More searching tomorrow.
I assume, given the errors in the compass, the Spark probably went spiraling off somewhere and may be nowhere close to it's last recorded position?
What "should" the Spark normally do in ATTI mode with no stick inputs? I believe simply hover, but subject to being pushed by the wind, correct? Will it do this until the battery is exhausted, then land, or something else?
Any other ideas to find Sparky are much appreciated!
1. Took off from wooden deck in GPS mode (but didn't get "homepoint updated" voice call - perhaps mistake #1).
2. Home point finally recorded 46 seconds into the flight. It wasn't someplace I would want to land (lake), but at least I felt confident I had full GPS signal at that point (probably mistake #2).
3. Unbeknownst to me at the time, I had multiple "GPS Position NoMatch" recorded during the flight. I found this out after reviewing my flight log downloaded from my phone. I have no idea what it means or if I've had it before, as this is the first time I've downloaded and viewed a flight log in this manner. Here it is: DJI Flight Log Viewer - PhantomHelp.com
4. I started losing video link to my phone intermittently approaching the 7 minute mark, just over 1000' away.
5. Spark initiated RTH at 7:31, and climbed from 130' to 165'. I briefly lost sight of the drone itself at this point, but I saw video on my phone that indicated it was coming back in the proper direction and had a clear line to fly (no trees).
6. During RTH, suddenly I got "Weak GPS Signal" displayed on my phone, along with "Compass Error, Exit P-GPS Mode". Also verbal "Atti Mode". This occurred at 7:43.
7. That was the last communication from Sparky. I waited around for 5 minutes or so, looking and listening, but didn't see or hear it again. The last time logged was 7:44.7
I walked around for awhile using "find my drone" on the GO4 app, but didn't see anything in the tall grass of the farm field in the vicinity of it's last known location (the trees visible in the satellite shot have been cut down). More searching tomorrow.
I assume, given the errors in the compass, the Spark probably went spiraling off somewhere and may be nowhere close to it's last recorded position?
What "should" the Spark normally do in ATTI mode with no stick inputs? I believe simply hover, but subject to being pushed by the wind, correct? Will it do this until the battery is exhausted, then land, or something else?
Any other ideas to find Sparky are much appreciated!