The Difference between a "fly away" and Remote Signal Lost?

[harleymhs]

Hey Guys, Quick Question: Whats the difference in a FLY AWAY and RC Signal Lost... The other day I had my Spark out about 1200 ft from me, the phone said RC Signal lost and the Spark Returned home on its own, When I fist got the spark I flew it and the next thing I knew it was gone and flying away! No return to home initiated .. Can someone clarify this... Thanks!

 

[Spark 317]

I'll take a crack at it.

I consider a Fly Away to be when the Spark enters Atti-Mode for some reason and "flies away" with the wind as the Spark has lost GPS and will not stay in the same position.
The Spark should stay at the same height, but be at the mercy of the wind.

The Spark should still be able to be flown, but needs your input on where you want it to go. I use the map as a quick reference for the Sparks orientation to help fly.

This is why it's good to fly VLOS and maybe practice with a non GPS drone so that you'll really know how to "fly" the Spark during Atti-mode.

When the Spark is in Atti-mode, the RTH won't work because it doesn't know where it's at.
If the GPS is reestablished during the flight, all is well. Unless it drifted with the wind too far for a safe RTH, then it should land somewhere on it's way back when the battery is critical.

I'll fly into the wind at the start of a flight and use it for a faster flight back.

There have been a few posts that I have read that DJI has warrantied some of the fly aways thanks to the flight logs on the device after review.

RC Signal Lost is when you have a signal loss between the Spark and remote for some reason.

Improper antenna arrangement, flying too far away, Bluetooth, WiFi or trees and buildings in the area blocking the signal.

The Spark still has a GPS lock and the RTH should kick in if the signal hasn't been reestablished.

 

[harleymhs]

I'll take a crack at it.

I consider a Fly Away to be when the Spark enters Atti-Mode for some reason and "flies away" with the wind as the Spark has lost GPS and will not stay in the same position.
The Spark should stay at the same height, but be at the mercy of the wind.

The Spark should still be able to be flown, but needs your input on where you want it to go. I use the map as a quick reference for the Sparks orientation to help fly.

This is why it's good to fly VLOS and maybe practice with a non GPS drone so that you'll really know how to "fly" the Spark during Atti-mode.

When the Spark is in Atti-mode, the RTH won't work because it doesn't know where it's at.
If the GPS is reestablished during the flight, all is well. Unless it drifted with the wind too far for a safe RTH, then it should land somewhere on it's way back when the battery is critical.

I'll fly into the wind at the start of a flight and use it for a faster flight back.

There have been a few posts that I have read that DJI has warrantied some of the fly aways thanks to the flight logs on the device after review.

RC Signal Lost is when you have a signal loss between the Spark and remote for some reason.

Improper antenna arrangement, flying too far away, Bluetooth, WiFi or trees and buildings in the area blocking the signal.

The Spark still has a GPS lock and the RTH should kick in if the signal hasn't been reestablished.

Perfect Answer! Is what I thought.... Im sure it went into ATTI mode when it flew away... And the other day just lost its RC signal and came home as it was supposed to! I am a seasoned pilot I fly 3d RD planes ... But the size of the Spark is hard to handle in Atti Mode! LOL

Thank you for your response!

 

[twickers14]

I’m always learning on this Forum. Such a well explained reply and will try to remember this if/when I suffer one of these thank you Spark 317.

 

[MarcV]

With my (little) experience I have an other possible reason for a fly away. If you start, and the Spark was not long anough stable to fix its new home position, it can fly back to it's latest, which can be far away. Is this a weird idea? I think I had this problem on a test flight. I was fast anough to cancel the RTH procedure and fly back manually....

 

[Spark 317]

You're correct MarcV,

If the HP hasn't been established at launch, but mid flight, that's where it's going.

Welcome to the Forum.

 

[MarcV]

Thanks Spark 317. I live in Belgium and have a Spark for more than one year now. Till now I did a lot of test flights. I hope to be able to make some nice recordings in the time comming. If I have, I will share some here. It's a nice place for "Sparkers"

 

[twickers14]

I always take off and hover for long enough to establish the HP and wait for the “Home Point has been recorded” spoken message.

 

[grounded]

I'll take a crack at it.

I consider a Fly Away to be when the Spark enters Atti-Mode for some reason and "flies away" with the wind as the Spark has lost GPS and will not stay in the same position.
The Spark should stay at the same height, but be at the mercy of the wind.

The Spark should still be able to be flown, but needs your input on where you want it to go. I use the map as a quick reference for the Sparks orientation to help fly.

This is why it's good to fly VLOS and maybe practice with a non GPS drone so that you'll really know how to "fly" the Spark during Atti-mode.

When the Spark is in Atti-mode, the RTH won't work because it doesn't know where it's at.
If the GPS is reestablished during the flight, all is well. Unless it drifted with the wind too far for a safe RTH, then it should land somewhere on it's way back when the battery is critical.

I'll fly into the wind at the start of a flight and use it for a faster flight back.

There have been a few posts that I have read that DJI has warrantied some of the fly aways thanks to the flight logs on the device after review.

RC Signal Lost is when you have a signal loss between the Spark and remote for some reason.

Improper antenna arrangement, flying too far away, Bluetooth, WiFi or trees and buildings in the area blocking the signal.

The Spark still has a GPS lock and the RTH should kick in if the signal hasn't been reestablished.

I was flying this past weekend and did lose sight of the little guy, but I was not much concerned due to the safety net of RTH. However, shortly after initiating RTH my phone informed me that the RTH had been cancelled and I was now in ATTI mode (for the first time in my life). So I went from unconcerned to total panic in a split second. I did gather myself enough to find an old warehouse on the visual screen, and I figured out that if I just pointed him towards that he wouldn't be too far away. Then I had another bright idea and re-initiated RTH. The phone said it was working but I had my doubts, and had about given up on him when at last I heard that whirring sound coming down right above me. My questions are (1) would RTH have re-initiated on its own if he was able to re-acquire satellites?, and (2) if the RTH home point is taken automatically on takeoff, is there any point in going into the drone setup screen and doing it manually? Many thanks to all for this good information, and I welcome any feedback - I still have a lot to learn.

 

[Spark 317]

(1) would RTH have re-initiated on its own if he was able to re-acquire satellites?

Yes. The Spark should keep the Home Point in it's memory and as soon it establishes a GPS connection, the Spark knows where to go in relation to itself.

The Spark only has so much battery left and might not make it all the way back to the original HP if it flew with the wind in Atti-mode. It will probably do a fail safe landing on it's way back when the battery can't maintain flight.

(2) if the RTH home point is taken automatically on takeoff, is there any point in going into the drone setup screen and doing it manually?

With a GPS enabled device (phone) you can manually update the HP to yourself. Very useful if you are walking around the park or on a boat that is moving. You'll want the ability to bring the Spark to you and not where it was launched from as the boat's not there anymore. You'll have to update manually every time you move.

I fly with a WiFi only mini4 and don't have the option to update as it doesn't have a GPS chip. It has a compass, but no GPS.


A couple of apps worth having and checking before flights would be UAV Forecast and Windy.com available in the app stores.

I like the Windy.com app as it has a flowing graphic of arrows to show the direction of the wind.

 

[grounded]

Yes. The Spark should keep the Home Point in it's memory and as soon it establishes a GPS connection, the Spark knows where to go in relation to itself.

The Spark only has so much battery left and might not make it all the way back to the original HP if it flew with the wind in Atti-mode. It will probably do a fail safe landing on it's way back when the battery can't maintain flight.





With a GPS enabled device (phone) you can manually update the HP to yourself. Very useful if you are walking around the park or on a boat that is moving. You'll want the ability to bring the Spark to you and not where it was launched from as the boat's not there anymore. You'll have to update manually every time you move.

I fly with a WiFi only mini4 and don't have the option to update as it doesn't have a GPS chip. It has a compass, but no GPS.


A couple of apps worth having and checking before flights would be UAV Forecast and Windy.com available in the app stores.

I like the Windy.com app as it has a flowing graphic of arrows to show the direction of the wind.

Thank you sir, that was very helpful.