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How Do You Manage Flying Stability in Changing Elevations with the Typhoon H Hex Series?

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I’ve been using the Typhoon H Hex Series for a while now, and I love how intuitive it is for capturing aerial footage. However, I’ve run into a recurring issue, and I’m hoping to get some advice from others who might have encountered the same thing.

Whenever I fly my Typhoon H in areas with a lot of elevation changes, particularly hilly terrains, I’ve noticed that the drone’s stability and control don’t always seem to be as smooth as when I’m flying over flatter areas. This becomes especially noticeable when I’m flying low over uneven landscapes or when there are sudden shifts in the altitude of the ground beneath the drone. I find myself constantly adjusting and monitoring the height manually, which can sometimes distract me from focusing on the footage I’m capturing.

Has anyone else experienced this? How do you handle these types of situations? I’m wondering if it’s just me or if it’s something inherent in flying drones in areas with a lot of elevation change. I’m open to any tips or best practices that others have found helpful.

One thing I’ve been inspired by positively is the idea of incorporating the elevation data into flight planning. Elevation, which refers to the height of a point above sea level, plays a crucial role in drone operations, especially in varying landscapes. I know the Typhoon H has great GPS capabilities, but I’m wondering if anyone has found a way to use elevation maps or something similar, like a real-time elevation tracker based on location, to help predict and adjust for changes in elevation automatically? I’ve heard of this being a thing in other tools, and it seems like it could be really helpful to have the drone adjust its altitude based on the terrain it’s flying over, without me having to micromanage it.

I’ve also found that weather conditions, like strong winds or varying temperatures, can sometimes exacerbate the issue of maintaining stability when flying in these kinds of environments. I’ve tried flying at different times of day to see if it makes a difference, and sometimes it seems like the cooler morning air helps, but other times it doesn’t seem to matter much.

So, how do others navigate these challenges? Do you rely more on manual adjustments, or have you found any features in the Typhoon H Hex Series that I might be overlooking that help with this kind of flying? I’m not super technical, so I’m hoping there’s a straightforward solution that doesn’t involve a lot of complex setup.

I’m really interested in hearing how others manage flying over areas with fluctuating elevations, especially in terms of keeping the drone steady and avoiding crashes or jerky footage. I’m sure there must be ways to address this that I haven’t thought of yet, and I’d appreciate any advice or suggestions!
 
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I believe DataPilot used on the H520 can use terrain maps for elevation control but only for preplanned flights. Even in this case you need to maintain a high altitude over the terrain because the maps do not take into account trees or structures. Trees can be over 100' high.

I'm not sure what you mean by "flight stability". Are you seeing changes in uncommanded vertical or horizontal position?

Flying close to the ground in varied terrain is always tricky and it's easy to crash before you can react to increases in ground levels.
 
This is a very complex problem.
1. Stability: Elevation in flight control FW uses two sources: GPS and barometric height. GPS delivers absolute height, baro delivers relative elevation above start. Accuracy of GPS depends on quality of received GPS signal that may change during flight and vertical accuracy is worse than horizontal due to technical reasons. Baro accuracy depends on weather conditions and temperature drift. In varying landscapes that has deeper influence (think about downdrafts and so on). The conditions 100m higher can differ significantly from those on the ground.
So, there is a good reason to fly VLOS.

2. Following terrain by flight plan: This is not easy and as said above. GPS delivers height above MSL on base of geoid (ellipsoid) model WGS84. Depending on the area you live the model may be different. Here in Germany the official geoid model is GCG2016. This means the real terrain height may be differ from that what GPS is measure (and additional +/- vertical accuracy). An online tool for some geoid models is here:

Example. The height above NHN (difference to MSL - I think it goes to far to explain the difference, it means ~MSL) for my hometown is 513m according the Wiki. GPS data for absolute height gives values between 505 and 540m.
 
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If you are having stability problems maintaining altitude, its likely your barometer isn't behaving. I have never experienced any stability issues flying in and around the mountains, which being in Colorado I have done extensively.
 
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