I've just come back from one of the more interesting flights I have ever had. I was flying my Typhoon H over some new ground - searching out for some potential new hunting spots. Local environmental conditions included a partially overcast sky and winds gusting to 20kn (30kph/22mph). First flight went without a hitch. Second flight was a little interesting. All flying was in 'Angle mode'.
About 4mins into the flight, my video screen started to 'glitch' and I also noticed that my gimbal was not keeping the horizon level. The H was flying away from me at this stage and I had a lot of trees between myself and the H. I increased elevation and started to bank back towards 'home'. That's when it got a little crazy. The screen on the ST16 went blank and then I got a message stating something like "RC connected, waiting for WiFi" - don't quote me on this message as I had far more important things on my mind at that time.
My first instincts were "don't panic". I waited a little, hoping that I would get a link back to the H, but this wasn't happening. After about another anxious minute, I decided to jump in my 4wd and head in the last known direction of the H. At this stage, I had no visual of the H and the message on my ST16 screen had not changed. All telemetry (battery, etc) for the H was blank.
After driving for less than 80 metres, the screen came alive and I had a link again. I quickly brought the H back to me and landed safely.
Previewing the video, once back home, I could see the moment that I lost connection and the H just held its position in the sky - this lasted just under 4 minutes. That's the amount of time that I had to wait for the connection to come back.
I've learnt a few lessons from this and figured it may help to pass these on, just in case other users are in a similar position.
Firstly, when things seem to go bad - don't panic. Keep your head clear and try to focus on the situation.
Secondly, I stupidly flew out of VLOS and had a lot of big trees blocking my line of sight, therefore my rc and video link to the H were compromised.
It may be worthy to note that, at no time, did I turn off my ST16 and I did not hit the RTH switch as I figured this would be pointless as I had no connection.
It was also encouraging to know that if this does happen, then the H will just hold it's last known position - that's a pretty cool feature. It's also encouraging to know that it will do this in some pretty gusty wind.
Reviewing my telemetry files (with UAV Toolbox) I could see the loss of rc displayed on the graphic. The errors were right at the end of the flight, once the H was well within my control and I am pretty sure the compass cal warnings were from me holding onto the top of the shell, while I was walking back to my 4wd.
I wasn't planning on drinking today, but after that little incident, I think I better have a few quiet beers and count my blessings as I thought I had lost my H.
Oh, and yes, I think I've found a new hunting spot too.
About 4mins into the flight, my video screen started to 'glitch' and I also noticed that my gimbal was not keeping the horizon level. The H was flying away from me at this stage and I had a lot of trees between myself and the H. I increased elevation and started to bank back towards 'home'. That's when it got a little crazy. The screen on the ST16 went blank and then I got a message stating something like "RC connected, waiting for WiFi" - don't quote me on this message as I had far more important things on my mind at that time.
My first instincts were "don't panic". I waited a little, hoping that I would get a link back to the H, but this wasn't happening. After about another anxious minute, I decided to jump in my 4wd and head in the last known direction of the H. At this stage, I had no visual of the H and the message on my ST16 screen had not changed. All telemetry (battery, etc) for the H was blank.
After driving for less than 80 metres, the screen came alive and I had a link again. I quickly brought the H back to me and landed safely.
Previewing the video, once back home, I could see the moment that I lost connection and the H just held its position in the sky - this lasted just under 4 minutes. That's the amount of time that I had to wait for the connection to come back.
I've learnt a few lessons from this and figured it may help to pass these on, just in case other users are in a similar position.
Firstly, when things seem to go bad - don't panic. Keep your head clear and try to focus on the situation.
Secondly, I stupidly flew out of VLOS and had a lot of big trees blocking my line of sight, therefore my rc and video link to the H were compromised.
It may be worthy to note that, at no time, did I turn off my ST16 and I did not hit the RTH switch as I figured this would be pointless as I had no connection.
It was also encouraging to know that if this does happen, then the H will just hold it's last known position - that's a pretty cool feature. It's also encouraging to know that it will do this in some pretty gusty wind.
Reviewing my telemetry files (with UAV Toolbox) I could see the loss of rc displayed on the graphic. The errors were right at the end of the flight, once the H was well within my control and I am pretty sure the compass cal warnings were from me holding onto the top of the shell, while I was walking back to my 4wd.
I wasn't planning on drinking today, but after that little incident, I think I better have a few quiet beers and count my blessings as I thought I had lost my H.
Oh, and yes, I think I've found a new hunting spot too.
