Fishing Trip Question

[dataengine66]

I'm planning on taking spark on a fly fishing trip on the Snake River in Idaho. The river is really wide, and moving slowly, so what is the best advice? Will it track the fishing boat?

DIJ GO 4 or Litchi? I have an iPad Mini 4.

 

[Spark 317]

Hello from the Hoosier Heartland, dataengine66.

It should track the boat.
Have the remote handy just in case.

Keep in mind if launching from a boat, your Home Point is recorded there. You'll have to update the Home Point manually as the boat moves so the Spark won't go home where it launched if a RTH scenario is initiated.

I have a WiFi only mini4 (no GPS) so updating the remote Home Point doesn't work for me.

Welcome to the Forum.

 

[Pearson]

Isn't that exactly what the Dynamic HomePoint setting is for?

 

[McCloudSpark]

Since we are only talking about 12 minutes of fly time - I would just launch the AC from shore, even while sitting in the boat. The AC will return back to shore when finished.
BTW - I fished the Grand Ron (off the Snake) 2 years ago for Steelhead. Had good luck!

 

[Spark 317]

Isn't that exactly what the Dynamic HomePoint setting is for?

Yes, if flying during the Active Track mode as the Spark updates it's HP of the Spark while flying, not the remote, so if the Spark looses the subject it won't go all the way back to the original HP but to it's last HP recorded during the Active Track flight, maybe 15 meters or so.

If flying manually, you'll have to update the HP via the Go4 app if you want the Spark to come to you, on the boat, not it's last spot over the water.

 

[dataengine66]

my iPad doesn't have a gps. I suppose I could use a bluetooth gps. When it's set to dynamic home point, how often does it update?

 

[Spark 317]

Every 15 meters but Bluetooth and the Spark don't get along with each other.

 

[Spark 317]

If the river is slow as you said, you shouldn't have a problem flying manually, just keep an eye on your battery level and ensure enough fudge time to fly back to the boat.

The Spark is easy to hand catch but if all else fails, I'm sure you have hand held fish net to capture the Spark like a butterfly in a worse case scenario. Just be sure to take extra props.

 

[dataengine66]

Interference?

 

[Pearson]

I was going to suggest Bad Elf GPS with the iPad, but then I remembered some recommend BT be disabled due to possible Spark interference.

 

[dataengine66]

If the river is slow as you said, you shouldn't have a problem flying manually, just keep an eye on your battery level and ensure enough fudge time to fly back to the boat.

The Spark is easy to hand catch but if all else fails, I'm sure you have hand held fish net to capture the Spark like a butterfly in a worse case scenario. Just be sure to take extra props.

Has anyone on here tried Litchi magic leash?

 

[Andre Levite]

my iPad doesn't have a gps. I suppose I could use a bluetooth gps. When it's set to dynamic home point, how often does it update?

Your device does not need its own GPS signal. The Spark has its own GPS antenna to feed Home Point data to the DJI Go app.

There are 3 options for Home Point setting in this scenario:
You can set static HP on shore if you want Spark to return to original takeoff point. Or you can allow dynamic HP in Active Track mode which will update several times per minute. Or you can refresh HP manually in the DJI Go app as often as you like.

Some pilots have had issue because they set static Home Point on boat at takeoff -- but when boat moved a considerable distance during flight the drone didn't have enough battery for RTH and forced landing in water.

Another concern specific to fly fishing is that you or your fishing buddies could get their lines wrapped in props with the frequent casting. There are a few crash videos on YouTube (skip to 1:35) with that exact mishap. Be sure to keep Spark a respectable distance away to avoid the lines (especially if Active Track).

 

[Spark 317]

Or you can refresh HP manually in the DJI Go app as often as you like.

How does the Spark know where the new Home Point (remote) is without a GPS on the device? I tried once and the Go4 prompted me turn on the device GPS, which is a WiFi only mini4.

The "Find my drone" option doesn't work as well because of no GPS.

 

[Andre Levite]

How does the Spark know where the new Home Point (remote) is without a GPS on the device? I tried once and the Go4 prompted me turn on the device GPS, which is a WiFi only mini4.

The "Find my drone" option doesn't work as well because of no GPS.

My iPad has a GPS antenna so I can only give the general answer that... the Spark has its own GPS antenna that sends data to the DJI Go app. That data can be used to set a Home Point of the aircraft location but not the RC (unless they are in the same place). And you can use that same GPS data to help find a lost drone in your flight records (Find My Drone in the app itself not helpful).

If you have different knowledge or first hand experience I am interested.

 

[Spark 317]

Again, if a Home Point is set to the Sparks location, flying in the air away from you, what's the point of updating it if the Spark won't come back to you, on a boat?

 

[Andre Levite]

I don't know what is so hard to understand...

You set a Home Point when first powering up (Spark and RC are at same location). You fly around a bit and boat drifts. You bring Spark close by again and set new Home Point manually. Repeat as necessary.

I never use RTH routinely - I prefer to control the aircraft myself. I save RTH for emergency but thankfully that's rare. From a boat I keep struct VLOS and have good Home Point set "just in case".

Flying from a moving platform can be dicey and requires more attention and spare battery. The manual reset isn't convenient but it's another option. That's why I got the iPad Mini with GPS!

 

[Spark 317]

I understand and agree the RTH should be used sparingly but if the Home Point is in the air by manually setting it and a situation happened to where the Spark would need to go back to the Home Point, it's not going to go to that point in the air and land. If anything it should hover, like during the Active Track mode if the subject is lost.

Without a GPS on the device connected, the Spark doesn't know where to go for it's new HP.

If the iPad mini5 comes out, I'll be sure to get one with GPS as I have learned that I don't have full use of the Spark.

Since I can't test this perhaps you can. Disable the GPS on your device and see what happens with manually setting a new HP while on the move.

 

[Andre Levite]

I understand and agree the RTH should be used sparingly but if the Home Point is in the air by manually setting it and a situation happened to where the Spark would need to go back to the Home Point, it's not going to go to that point in the air and land. If anything it should hover, like during the Active Track mode if the subject is lost.

Without a GPS on the device connected, the Spark doesn't know where to go for it's new HP.

If the iPad mini5 comes out, I'll be sure to get one with GPS as I have learned that I don't have full use of the Spark.

Since I can't test this perhaps you can. Disable the GPS on your device and see what happens with manually setting a new HP while on the move.

I don't intend to intentional turn off a perfectly good GPS antenna -- not even for one flight -- that's my "safety net".

But if you are setting the Home Point based on the Spark's GPS then the lack of GPS signal on the device would be irrelevant.

[BTW theiPad Mini 5 is expected to be released March 2019. Price drop to $299 is rumored]

 

[Spark 317]

I don't intend to intentional turn off a perfectly good GPS antenna -- not even for one flight -- that's my "safety net".

How is the GPS enabled device a "saftey net" ?

When the weather gets better, I'll test this with my Droids and see what happens with GPS and without.

[BTW theiPad Mini 5 is expected to be released March 2019. Price drop to $299 is rumored]

 

[Bandiano]

How is the GPS enabled device a "saftey net" ?

When the weather gets better, I'll test this with my Droids and see what happens with GPS and without.

How is the GPS enabled device a "saftey net" ?

When the weather gets better, I'll test this with my Droids and see what happens with GPS and without.

if this is a stupid question forgive me I am new to this amazing machine - in the DJI GO4 app there are two icons for RTH near the height setting is one not normal RTH and the other Dynamic RTH ?
The latter being the preferred option for a moving location such as a boat. My understanding is the dynamic updates once the home point moved more than 15 metres, maybe as soon as the wild UK winds die down i’ll do a test.....