Litchi: Lost connection during mission, but would not reconnect on return

[Bob Hospadaruk]

Anybody have this happen or advice? I flew a simple 4 waypoint mission, which I've flown before - 1st point close to home, 2nd far away where I expect to lose connection, and the 3rd & 4th back near home. In the past the drone reconnected when it was flying back, nearing waypoint 3. This time though, neither the RC nor Litchi reconnected. I tried everything, restarting Litchi, restarting the RC ect. After a minute or two, the drone started what looked like a RTH, and it came down to a foot off the ground and hovered until the battery went low and it landed. I had no way to land it myself since I was completely disconnected. I had to stand in the street next to the drone till if landed due to battery depletion I suppose.
Why the no re-connection when it seemed to reconnect automatically in the past?

Mission Hub - Litchi

 

[Northwood Mediaworks]

Hmmm.. this seems to be the first Litchi "fail" story I've read... I would be curious about what the pundits have to say. Glad it did not end in tragedy, what percentage of battery did it finally land with?

 

[unlink]

Uh, this is weird. Wifi interference maybe? Did everything fix after changing the battery on the Spark? Also on Litchi: I usually set "Finish action" as RTH or "Back to 1" (which is usually near home) just to be extra safe, I see you have "None" on your mission.

 

[webvan]

There can always be software issues on your smartphone/tablet but it's very odd that the RC did not reconnect, did it fly normally after you put in a new battery ?

 

[Michael in Malta]

Hi everybody. I am new in the business buying my Spark 3 weeks ago.

In the last 2 days I had exactly the same issue twice. On a waypoint mission I lost the connection and could not regain the control. The drone hovered about 2ft. high at the last waypoint until the battery went empty. Unfortunately the last waypoint of the last mission was close to my position, but over the sea. It landed in the water and sunk immediately. I could recover the Spark and I am trying to dry it at the moment.

Before that I flew several similar missions and the bird always reconnected automatically as soon as it came into transmission range.

Maybe someone can give me some tips to find out the problem, if the bird survives.

Regards from Malta
Michael

 

[Spark 317]

Hello from the Hoosier Heartland, Michael in Malta.

I always hate hearing when the Spark goes for a swim, especially in sea water, as it tends to do more damage then fresh water due to the salt content.

Salt water will get into every nook and cranny in the Spark and will effect the electronics via corrosion that will continue over time.

Your Spark might power up and fly again if you are lucky, but I wouldn't trust it in the future as the corrosion process still may be happening and you could lose the Spark someday when you won't expect it.

Hopefully you purchased the DJI Care Refresh if available in your area. Just send it in and get another Spark.

I can't help you with the Litchi missions since I have not purchased it yet, but other members may pop in with advice.

Welcome to the Forum ?