Hello Fellow Yuneec Pilot!
Join our free Yuneec community and remove this annoying banner!
Sign up

Max Height

Wingshooter is correct. You have to set the limits with the GUI and connect the Q to the computer.
Altitude and Distance in the settings applies to Smart Mode.
Altitude also applies to Angle Mode, but not distance.
 
Can the return to home altitude be changed?
I have connected to GUI but did not see a setting for that and was told you could raise it.
I do normally fly above 100 feet but was just wondering if it was changeable like the altitude and distance.
 
  • Like
Reactions: SolarEclipse
Can the return to home altitude be changed?
I have connected to GUI but did not see a setting for that and was told you could raise it.
I do normally fly above 100 feet but was just wondering if it was changeable like the altitude and distance.
The RTH altitude is easier to set than the max alt. You just do it with the ST16. If I remember correctly, select the GPS cal button, then Alt, and there should be a slider displayed on the screen you can adjust with your finger.
 
To change your RTH altitude do this:

1) Power on your ST16 and Typhoon.
2) After the two connect, press the Setting Calibration icon on the lower left side of the ST16. Several items will pop up. You want to select RTH altitude.
3) Once there, enter the new height you wish your H to return to home and it will do so. Keep in mind, however, your terrain and environment, the heights of nearby trees, structures, etc., and most importantly always ensure your H is in a secure position to ascend to the height you set unobstructed before you ever hit the RTH switch, otherwise you could find yourself lifting right up into a canopy of trees, power lines or worse as there are no OA sensors on top of the unit to protect you from such collisions.

Also, I do not think you actually have changed your max altitude using just the TYphoon's GUI interface. Yuneec installed a fix a while back that keeps you locked into the FAA altitude max of 400 feet, regardless of what numbers may pop up on your interface after changing the numbers. Yes, the numbers will appear to change but in actuality you are still bound by the 400 foot rule.

My understanding is that it takes special permission and assistance from Yuneec to set things up so you can exceed the 400 foot limit using Yuneec's current firmware for the ST16 and Typhoon, which you probably are on. Apparently earlier firmware versions DID allow you to make adjustments to exceed the FAA max 400 foot altitude limit, and so some pilots have either opted not to keep their firmware up to date to preserve the ability to fly higher than 400 feet while others have rolled back their firmware to earlier versions for the same reasons. However, doing so denies you access to all of the improvements contained in the most recent firmware updates, something worth considering.

The FAA takes everything it deals with quite seriously. To them, they are used to nailing things done officially and maintaining their set in stone rules and regulations. I'd rethink wanting to go beyond the 400 foot limit, for several reasons. First, if you're any distance out and that high up having adequate VLOS - as mandated by the FAA - becomes incredibly difficult to achieve, maintain or justify to actually have. Second, if you get caught doing it by the feds (and all it takes is one phone call by someone to them) be prepared to lose your aircraft, your registration, the ability to fly drones again, as well as facing at the very least some impressive fines. Even jail time is not out of the picture, depending upon how far your violation is determined to be and the consequences your illegal actions had upon others.

I totally understand the desire to fly higher. Height and speed can be addictive when flying a drone. But to me it's just not worth the risks or trouble you can get into. Personally, I know I sleep better at night knowing I'm obeying society's rules and laws. I would strongly advise against going down that road, which as I said to my knowledge cannot be done anyhow using just the Yuneec GUI interface.
 
To change your RTH altitude do this:

1) Power on your ST16 and Typhoon.
2) After the two connect, press the Setting Calibration icon on the lower left side of the ST16. Several items will pop up. You want to select RTH altitude.
3) Once there, enter the new height you wish your H to return to home and it will do so. Keep in mind, however, your terrain and environment, the heights of nearby trees, structures, etc., and most importantly always ensure your H is in a secure position to ascend to the height you set unobstructed before you ever hit the RTH switch, otherwise you could find yourself lifting right up into a canopy of trees, power lines or worse as there are no OA sensors on top of the unit to protect you from such collisions.

Also, I do not think you actually have changed your max altitude using just the TYphoon's GUI interface. Yuneec installed a fix a while back that keeps you locked into the FAA altitude max of 400 feet, regardless of what numbers may pop up on your interface after changing the numbers. Yes, the numbers will appear to change but in actuality you are still bound by the 400 foot rule.

My understanding is that it takes special permission and assistance from Yuneec to set things up so you can exceed the 400 foot limit using Yuneec's current firmware for the ST16 and Typhoon, which you probably are on. Apparently earlier firmware versions DID allow you to make adjustments to exceed the FAA max 400 foot altitude limit, and so some pilots have either opted not to keep their firmware up to date to preserve the ability to fly higher than 400 feet while others have rolled back their firmware to earlier versions for the same reasons. However, doing so denies you access to all of the improvements contained in the most recent firmware updates, something worth considering.

The FAA takes everything it deals with quite seriously. To them, they are used to nailing things done officially and maintaining their set in stone rules and regulations. I'd rethink wanting to go beyond the 400 foot limit, for several reasons. First, if you're any distance out and that high up having adequate VLOS - as mandated by the FAA - becomes incredibly difficult to achieve, maintain or justify to actually have. Second, if you get caught doing it by the feds (and all it takes is one phone call by someone to them) be prepared to lose your aircraft, your registration, the ability to fly drones again, as well as facing at the very least some impressive fines. Even jail time is not out of the picture, depending upon how far your violation is determined to be and the consequences your illegal actions had upon others.

I totally understand the desire to fly higher. Height and speed can be addictive when flying a drone. But to me it's just not worth the risks or trouble you can get into. Personally, I know I sleep better at night knowing I'm obeying society's rules and laws. I would strongly advise against going down that road, which as I said to my knowledge cannot be done anyhow using just the Yuneec GUI interface.
Thanks for the clarification on adjusting RTH altitude @CC Rider. I should have also mentioned that if you are already higher than the RTH altitude setting, the H will stay at that altitude and won't descend until it is overhead.
The max FAA altitude is 400' AGL (above ground level). The terrain I fly in would severely limit my ability to fly or would result in a crash into trees or hills if I was restricted to 400'. I usually need to set it at 1200' but I still stay well below 400' AGL. It's actually pointless to fly higher than 400' over any terrain because the video is pretty much useless with a wide angle lens.
 
  • Like
Reactions: loganlexow
The RTH altitude is easier to set than the max alt. You just do it with the ST16. If I remember correctly, select the GPS cal button, then Alt, and there should be a slider displayed on the screen you can adjust with your finger.
Thank you for the response but I guess I should have said I have a Q500. And I would not change my altitude height above 400 for regular flight. I just have some 75 ft trees in area and want to clear them if it did go into RTH mode. Thanks !
 
Thank you for the response but I guess I should have said I have a Q500. And I would not change my altitude height above 400 for regular flight. I just have some 75 ft trees in area and want to clear them if it did go into RTH mode. Thanks !
The RTH with the Q is fixed and can't be changed. The rule of thumb I always used with the Q is to always stay high enough to clear everything if there is a chance I would lose control signal. On those occasions where I lost visual, I just climbed for a few seconds before using RTH and hoped for the best.
 
The RTH with the Q is fixed and can't be changed. The rule of thumb I always used with the Q is to always stay high enough to clear everything if there is a chance I would lose control signal. On those occasions where I lost visual, I just climbed for a few seconds before using RTH and hoped for the best.
Thank you, Thats what I do, always fly higher than the tallest object around me, Even had it up to 400' and what a view!
 
  • Like
Reactions: CC Rider
Thanks for the clarification on adjusting RTH altitude @CC Rider. I should have also mentioned that if you are already higher than the RTH altitude setting, the H will stay at that altitude and won't descend until it is overhead.
The max FAA altitude is 400' AGL (above ground level). The terrain I fly in would severely limit my ability to fly or would result in a crash into trees or hills if I was restricted to 400'. I usually need to set it at 1200' but I still stay well below 400' AGL. It's actually pointless to fly higher than 400' over any terrain because the video is pretty much useless with a wide angle lens.

Gotcha. Your kind of terrain - with hills and valleys and ever-changing elevations and topography - definitely impacts upon just how high you have to fly just to be up there and avoid obstacles and crashes. And of course you still stay within the 400' AGL limit while flying, too. How I wish I had your elevation problems to consider.

Here in Delaware, a very flat coastal plain environment, we have no real elevations to speak of. We go from being at sea level on our Atlantic Ocean coastline to our highest elevation point located about 2 hours north from where I live in southern Delaware, where the beach areas are. And its a slooow climb to that high point, a nearly imperceptible one unless you're at just the right vantage point to notice it. That highest elevation is a point of land just 447.85' above sea level. Counting Washington, D.C., Delaware has the third lowest high point in the nation.

Even though I am a born and bred flatlander living near the coast just a few feet above sea level - as our routine local coastal flooding of low-lying areas and roadways will attest to during hurricane season as well as the occasional extreme high tides we get when the moon is just right or the wind is whipping off of the ocean - at heart I am a mountain-loving man who loves to see rolling hills, too. I spent quite a few years living in the Southwest years ago and instantly fell in love with the mountains throughout that region. The western mountains are quite different than those here in the East. Being comparatively younger, the western mountains have not been as eroded by time and the elements as East Coast mountain ranges have been, and therefore are higher and more "aggressive" in their appearance.

Not intending to be politically incorrect in ANY way whatsoever, I've heard East Coast mountains referred to by geologists as "feminine mountains" as they are much more rounded and covered over by vegetation, and not as high as their western counterparts, the results of the centuries of wear and tear the region endured during the last Ice Age followed by the sudden boom of vegetation that flourished there afterwards. (As an aside, believe it or not, the vast majority of the world's vegetation can be traced back to that location since the Ice Age killed off vegetation in most areas of the globe and new life really took hold there and eventually spread everywhere.) I've heard western mountain ranges referred to as "masculine mountains," being more craggy, more angular, and less affected by erosion and the geological processes that, in time, will one day alter their appearance, too. Either way, I envy those drone pilots who have such terrain waiting for them right outside their backdoor.

I'm planning a cross-country trip with my children this summer to see the Southwest and give them a tour of special areas I remember and would like them to see. My Typhoon, its car and ac chargers, extra props, takeoff mat and all of my 6 batteries are coming with me, without a doubt. I'm going to have a chance to really see what the H can do out there. What a pleasure it will be to see it fly further than just the next set of nearby trees a few hundred yards away I have to contend with, in an area where my VLOS will be greatly enhanced and extended, and in the wide open spaces it was designed to fly in and capture. I can't wait.
 
With the Q500, it will either go up to 10 M (33 feet), or, if you are already higher than that, stay at that elevation until it returns and then descends. We cannot change the default height with this software release.
 
You will probably run out of battery at that height and it will end up falling out of the sky.
I only run mine 5 minutes usually. 10 at the most.
It might take you 5 minutes just to get to 10,000 feet.
Takes me maybe 20 seconds to get up to 400 feet.
 

New Posts

Members online

No members online now.

Forum statistics

Threads
20,955
Messages
241,591
Members
27,287
Latest member
wccannabis