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charliespark

Well-Known Member
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Mar 21, 2018
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123
Loc
Essex UK
Some advice please. Was flying Sparky off the back of a yacht recently. Palm take off and all going well until suddenly would not respond to right joystick and started disappearing. Skipper kindly whipped down cruising shute and went in pursuit. After a short while RTH came into force, I assume because it was now over safe distance from the Home Point way back down our track. Cancelled RTH and RC started working again when we got closer and we had a happy ending with some good footage and a tricky landing on a bobbing yacht! Should I have continually updated the home point? I thought if you selected the right hand Home Point option then the Home Point was always where the RC was - but this does not appear to be the case. Had lots of near misses on this trip but fortunately all have ended well and I have learnt such a lot.
 

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I thought if you selected the right hand Home Point option then the Home Point was always where the RC was - but this does not appear to be the case.

I fly with a WiFi only mini4 and that is not option for me as I understand my mini has no GPS. It has a compass, but no GPS.
A compass just tells me which direction I'm facing, not where I'm at.

If I understand it correctly, the device needs to be GPS enabled so that when you hit the right button, it is supposed to reset the HP where you are with the device.

The weather is getting better in my area and I plan to do some test flights with my Droids to see if those functions work as described.
 
I thought if you selected the right hand Home Point option then the Home Point was always where the RC was
That feature only sets the home point to the remote controller's current location. You'd need to keep resetting the home point like that each time the boat moves.
 
Some advice please. Was flying Sparky off the back of a yacht recently. Palm take off and all going well until suddenly would not respond to right joystick and started disappearing. Skipper kindly whipped down cruising shute and went in pursuit. After a short while RTH came into force, I assume because it was now over safe distance from the Home Point way back down our track. Cancelled RTH and RC started working again when we got closer and we had a happy ending with some good footage and a tricky landing on a bobbing yacht! Should I have continually updated the home point? I thought if you selected the right hand Home Point option then the Home Point was always where the RC was - but this does not appear to be the case. Had lots of near misses on this trip but fortunately all have ended well and I have learnt such a lot.

If you select this option, the AC sets the home point from the GPS co-ordinates of the mobile device. But if your location changes again, you have to repeat the step.
 
Thanks everyone. The radar was off! It looks as if I shall have to keep resetting the home point if I can not set the RC as the 'permanent ' home point. Makes flying from the yacht a bit more difficult but worth it!
 
while I realize boat trips may be great places to get drone video, I can't help but be extremely nervous to see launch-and-recovery over open water. Nowhere safe to land except in your hand!
 
while I realize boat trips may be great places to get drone video, I can't help but be extremely nervous to see launch-and-recovery over open water. Nowhere safe to land except in your hand!
Definitely wouldn't try it without a set of these
10264
 
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The other concern I would have would be the pitch and roll, especially if you're not in a nice calm lake but instead out on the ocean. Even trying to catch a drone by hand could be challenging since it's probably going to be at a stable elevation while you and your boat could easily be going up and down a foot or two at a time. (imagine trying to catch the spark out of the air if the person flying it is randomly bouncing the left stick up and down)

Even with those floatation gear, there will be no nice gradual touchdown like we're all used to with the spark, it's going to get down near the waves and suddenly a swell is going to rise up and kiss the bottom of the gear and probably yoink it right out of the air as the swell falls. Remember that promo picture there is on a stagnant pond with the water as calm as glass, that's not how it normally works even on a decent lake! With the Spark less than 2" from the surface, it's going to get splashed at least a little bit before you can row over and recover it. I'd also be worried that a swell would hit it unevenly and grab a couple of the pods before the others and bring it down unevenly, possibly flipping it iover. (remember, it's got a frighteningly high center of gravity with those things, it'll roll like an SUV in a sharp turn!)

And then of course there's the logistics of going out and getting it / bringing it back onboard if you're on a bigger boat.

There's nothing about this that appeals to me!
 
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The other concern I would have would be the pitch and roll, especially if you're not in a nice calm lake but instead out on the ocean. Even trying to catch a drone by hand could be challenging since it's probably going to be at a stable elevation while you and your boat could easily be going up and down a foot or two at a time. (imagine trying to catch the spark out of the air if the person flying it is randomly bouncing the left stick up and down)

Even with those floatation gear, there will be no nice gradual touchdown like we're all used to with the spark, it's going to get down near the waves and suddenly a swell is going to rise up and kiss the bottom of the gear and probably yoink it right out of the air as the swell falls. Remember that promo picture there is on a stagnant pond with the water as calm as glass, that's not how it normally works even on a decent lake! With the Spark less than 2" from the surface, it's going to get splashed at least a little bit before you can row over and recover it. I'd also be worried that a swell would hit it unevenly and grab a couple of the pods before the others and bring it down unevenly, possibly flipping it iover. (remember, it's got a frighteningly high center of gravity with those things, it'll roll like an SUV in a sharp turn!)

And then of course there's the logistics of going out and getting it / bringing it back onboard if you're on a bigger boat.

There's nothing about this that appeals to me!

Being of the coast of Florida most of my flights are over water. Many from boats or pier. Not scary at all once you've done it a few times. Easy to avoid windy days or rough seas.

In fact there are fewer obstacles when flying over water -- no trees, no buildings, no power lines. Rarely people or boats below either. Rarely private property and no homes or roads to fly over. You just need to land where you intend which is important over land too!

"Hand landing" is really a misnomer. Better to hover, grasp firmly and turn sideways to kill motors.

Really easy. And water around here is prettier than the land.
 
Even with those floatation gear, there will be no nice gradual touchdown like we're all used to with the spark, it's going to get down near the waves and suddenly a swell is going to rise up and kiss the bottom of the gear and probably yoink it right out of the air as the swell falls. Remember that promo picture there is on a stagnant pond with the water as calm as glass, that's not how it normally works even on a decent lake! With the Spark less than 2" from the surface, it's going to get splashed at least a little bit before you can row over and recover it. I'd also be worried that a swell would hit it unevenly and grab a couple of the pods before the others and bring it down unevenly, possibly flipping it iover. (remember, it's got a frighteningly high center of gravity with those things, it'll roll like an SUV in a sharp turn!)

And then of course there's the logistics of going out and getting it / bringing it back onboard if you're on a bigger boat.

There's nothing about this that appeals to me!

I wouldn't attempt water landing myself for the reasons you stated. But in the case of virtually any other situation that would cause a Spark to come down anywhere other than where you intended, the floats would be nothing more than an insurance policy so yhat you would at least have a chance to recover it. Even if it gets soaked, at least you have something to send back to DJI or try to repair yourself without having to go diving for it. That's all I meant.
 

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