Lost Connection

[PatR]

The brains pretty much are but the knowledge base has not had the time needed to develop expanded knowledge and experience needed for understanding hasn’t been enough yet.

Then again, there are many much more mature brains that have had ample time to obtain knowledge and experience that learn very little.

I’m pleased the OP has experienced something he didn’t understand and went on a quest to learn more about what he doesn’t know. He shows a desire to learn. In the process he has the opportunity to learn even more that will help him become a better and safer operator. What I believe is also important is how the teaching process is handled. I know if I signed up for a college class using an assortment of instructors I would not stay in it long if the instructors always singled out students for an attack. I'd go looking for other ways to learn. Perhaps not the right ways, but they would be considerably more pleasant to endure.

Don't tell anyone, but once in awhile I try to be nice

 

[PatR]

I believe RTH auto is after a set time? Certainly all mine on the very odd occasion, have stayed put for for a while, luckily they have reconnected the control by then and I can carry on, I have gone higher too, and reconnected.

Typically the time lag between complete loss of C2 link and initiation of auto return is only a few (5-10) seconds. The aircraft has to recognize link was lost, wait for a brief period of time to re-establish link, then initiate RTH. The auto pilot command line for an action usually reads similar to "if Z occurs, wait X seconds, then perform action". There's a catch, though. The C2 link has to be completely lost for an action to be initiated. It's possible for the C2 link to be attenuated by obstacles, insufficient height above the ground (the further away the higher it needs to be) for the separation distance, or other conditions and to still be receiving enough signal packets to maintain a connected status but not enough packets to execute commands. Under those circumstances the aircraft might just remain at a location and do nothing until signal strength and packet count improves.

Another situation not related to lost signal that can occur with an H happens when a distance geo fence is set by the user. If they are operating in Smart mode the aircraft will travel the distance to the fence limit and stop going further. It does not auto return when it encounters the fence, it just stops there. If that distance is a long ways out the user may not be able to discern lateral flight motion if their lateral command inputs were of short duration and start thinking signal was lost.

 

[John Hennessy]

Very educational PatR,
Yes he is young and hopefully he wishes to be apart of the 3 L's, (LOOK ,LISTEN AND LEARN, ) and with guidance from the great people on here he will be able to accomplish that. I think that he will learn as he has taken the opportunity to join this forum and ask questions. ABSAALepic941, Fly well and fly safe and within the LAWS that govern our hobby or in my case and others their job. There is a huge encyclopedia of knowledge on this forum from the infancy of the Yuneec Typhoon H use it well and it will be a great experience and future. Johnno Hennessy.
Keep flying on the green side of the grass.

 

[PatR]

People are people and the more intelligent they are the more inclined they are to explore. Exploration is good as it expands our knowledge base. The difficult part comes into play when establishing where, when, and how exploration can be conducted.

Just be sure there is a 0.00% chance of encountering another person, structure, or aircraft for a distance exceeding how far a drone can travel on a full battery for a 360* radius.

Doing that accomplishes two things; it guarantees safety and assures you won’t get caught[emoji6]

 

[Mrgs1]

Intelligence is on many levels, just being highly intelligent doesn't mean you are prone to exploring possibilities, I have worked for Oxford Dons and professors, and they couldn't change a light bulb or wire a plug. I found them to be a bit reclusive, constantly writing theories etc. I prefer people from the " University of life" certainly being young enables your brain to absorb more info, they say "younger the better" for learning lots of different languages etc, my children have learnt numerous languages, very quickly where I have taken three times as long and still struggle. Certainly it can be a pleasure to learn from your elders as they say, best of luck to the 14 year old and don't crash!

 

[AeroJ]

Thanks for your input. I guess ultimately, it comes back to my user error and all the gambles I took with it.

I'd have to agree. Whilst I can accept that we are all young once, and humans make mistakes, it does seem that OP seems to consider flying at these sort of distances and out of VLoS 'normal', which I would reiterate is not a good thing.

As soon as we can't see that craft, we have no idea what might be going on around it - birds might be attacking, there might be low flying aircraft you can't see or avoid, and if your video drops out you are flying totally blind, unaware of ground level changes, what altitude your craft is currently at (altitude report on controller can be woefully misleading), or where it sits in relation to surrounding obstacles, which I'd have to say was a very unstable and unsafe situation to ever allow yourself to be in regardless of RTH failsafes etc. Even if we're not in a country where BVLoS flying is illegal, the H480 is not a long-range machine and we have to remember that and fly well within its limits, where dropouts shouldn't ever be a problem...

 

[Mrgs1]

I'd have to agree. Whilst I can accept that we are all young once, and humans make mistakes, it does seem that OP seems to consider flying at these sort of distances and out of VLoS 'normal', which I would reiterate is not a good thing.

As soon as we can't see that craft, we have no idea what might be going on around it - birds might be attacking, there might be low flying aircraft you can't see or avoid, and if your video drops out you are flying totally blind, unaware of ground level changes, what altitude your craft is currently at (altitude report on controller can be woefully misleading), or where it sits in relation to surrounding obstacles, which I'd have to say was a very unstable and unsafe situation to ever allow yourself to be in regardless of RTH failsafes etc. Even if we're not in a country where BVLoS flying is illegal, the H480 is not a long-range machine and we have to remember that and fly well within its limits, where dropouts shouldn't ever be a problem...

At least he admits his mistakes, usually there's a lot of verbal abuse by some when challenged on here, and they stomp off never to be seen again.

 

[Russell Smith]

So... what happened?

I was flying my Yuneec Typhoon H480 yesterday over a protected forest near my house. I had no line of sight to the drone, so I was relying on the camera view on my ST16. I was not nervous because I had flown much greater distances before without a line of sight before. However, after about 50-60 seconds into the flight, I lost the signal. All the gauges and data (distance, speed, altitude, etc.) on my ST16 disappeared and the live footage from my flight disappeared. All I could see now was blank gauges, the connecting to RC and connecting to WIFI popup, and the stock blank background the ST16 gives (the one that looks like a bluish mountainscape). Obviously, since I was flying over a heavily wooded area and lost signal, I got scared and expected the worst. I waited for myST16 to reconnect (which it did) and immediately flipped the switch from Angle to Return to Home mode.

A few Notes:
- I am a semi-experienced drone pilot. I have flown a lot of drones before, but I have flone my Typhoon H only about 6 times. It is my first high end or professional drone.
- The drone was somewhere between 1200-1500 feet away from me when it lost signal. I can't exactly recall the exact distance it was though.
- I had calibrated the compass, gimbal, and accelerometer the day earlier before this flight. I calibrated the gimbal and accelerometer successfully, but not the compass. I didn't know how to. I just set my drone on a flat surface and thought the compass would calibrate itself, but now I know I was wrong.
- After my drone returned back to me thanks to the return to home mode, I flew it again to see what would happen (much closer to me this time so I have a Line of Sight). I kept getting a recalibrate compass pop-up on my ST16, so I opened a youtube tutorial and did it correctly this time (using the flashing lights and rotating it twice and everything).
- I reviewed footage of my drone that it recorded from its camera. During the time signal was lost, the Typhoon H stayed in place until it reconnected and I turned on Return to Home.

Thanks for your help. I've seen what the community can do and you guys are amazing. I'm just really scared and don't want this to happen again because I fly over a lot of wooded and forested areas and I can't risk losing such an expensive drone.

for starters I don't think it lost total signal loss or it would have returned to home right off the get go. you said it wasn't until you gained control when you flipped the switch to come home. I think it just got out there and had a glitch or brain fart or what ever you call it. and again, line of site. well, fly the way you want but just be sure the area is documented a fly zone and it's out where god lost a shoe. if it drops in an isolated lake, it'll just be your loss.

 

[Mrgs1]

for starters I don't think it lost total signal loss or it would have returned to home right off the get go. you said it wasn't until you gained control when you flipped the switch to come home. I think it just got out there and had a glitch or brain fart or what ever you call it. and again, line of site. well, fly the way you want but just be sure the area is documented a fly zone and it's out where god lost a shoe. if it drops in an isolated lake, it'll just be your loss.

They don't RTH instantly. Mine wait up to approximately 15 seconds to start the return,

 

[KEITH KUHN]

In a very open flat field my TH would lose video sync around 1800 feet away at 100 feet AGL. I still had RC Control at somewhat greater distance. The point being that was well within VLOS as well as Radio LOS. Trees are very good at absorbing RF energy and especially the 5.8 GHz WiFi signal for the camera feed (the reason so many FPV fliers use 900 MHz composite video feed).

For how the TH responds to loss of control signal (RC connection) refer to page 28 of the attached User Manual. So be sure to set your RTH height to clear any obstacles in your flight area.

I sure learned all my lessons about staying LOS
And pushing it past it's limits. Yuneec is a video platform,and a good one.
Not a distance machine or a fast jet plane.
Keith

 

[Docdor]

Hey, thanks for your reply. I don't get it though. I have flown my drone more than 2600 feet away without a line of sight and all has been well. What went wrong here? I understand the whole line of sight thing, and I will keep that in mind next time as well.

That violates the FAA rules for hobbyist drones. I would suggest you become familiar with them. The AMA is a good group to join.

 

[Fred Garvin]

......FYI, if you hold a 107 and you crash your drone under such a scenario, you probably can expect to answer some questions from the gubbermint after you fill out the accident reports, even a 480 refurbed exceeds the $500 threshhold........

Value of the aircraft is not considered. It’s all about the fair market value of the property that was damaged and cost of repairs to that property.

 

[ABSAALepic941]

Very educational PatR,
Yes he is young and hopefully he wishes to be apart of the 3 L's, (LOOK ,LISTEN AND LEARN, ) and with guidance from the great people on here he will be able to accomplish that. I think that he will learn as he has taken the opportunity to join this forum and ask questions. ABSAALepic941, Fly well and fly safe and within the LAWS that govern our hobby or in my case and others their job. There is a huge encyclopedia of knowledge on this forum from the infancy of the Yuneec Typhoon H use it well and it will be a great experience and future. Johnno Hennessy.
Keep flying on the green side of the grass.

Thank you sir, I really appreciate it.

 

[FlushVision]

Hey, thanks for your reply. I don't get it though. I have flown my drone more than 2600 feet away without a line of sight and all has been well. What went wrong here? I understand the whole line of sight thing, and I will keep that in mind next time as well.

You mentioned that you were between 1200' and 1500' when you lost video and control but were not in LOS. Now, at 1500' I still have VLOS (but only just) so that tells me that something was between you and your aircraft which prevented VLOS. What went wrong, then, is that your signal was being blocked by whatever object was between you and you aircraft.

I never fly anywhere where I, or my controller, can't see my aircraft so with that I've only ever once needed to initiate a RTH. The TH is a pretty good aircraft at what it was designed for but it ain't a distance drone even though is can be seen out to greater distances than a Phantom or Mavic. Ironic since a Mavic has a greater control range than a TH.

 

[Crazy Crow]

I am still amazed at people who insist on FLYING BEYOND LINE OF SITE, and it appears to me that ABSAALepic941 who just joined the forum recently and is only 14 years old needs to read the rule book and manual about LINE OF SIGHT and stop flying illegally . What hope have we got if a 14 year old insists on flying BVLOS , it does not go well for our future. Just my 2 Bobs worth from Australia.
Johnno Hennessy. Keep flying on the green side of the grass.

These are true words of wisdom if you ask me.

I can imagine a 14 year old wants to do all the stuff they do in the “cool” videos that you see on youtube. But the most important thing is that the priority is always safety. And not just your own and your drone. But more importantly your surroundings and the people that might get hurt when you screw up. There’s enough bad publicity allready.

If tou don’t completely understand the workings of your “flying meat grinder” you should not fly it.
You don’t operate a combine harvester or an excavator without knowing the workings of it. If you do, **** WILL go wrong.

So a word of advice to ABSAAL.
Keep it safe. Just like your parents tought you.

 

[RatBob]

Value of the aircraft is not considered. It’s all about the fair market value of the property that was damaged and cost of repairs to that property.

The value of the aircraft is figured into the equation from what I've read, goona have to read some more.

 

[PatR]

Do read some more, looking for the word “excluding”.

 

[KellyR]

When I talked to my insurance company the other day they said the the value of the craft wasn't covered, but that they did have another type of insurance just for my craft(s) valued up to I think it was $4k. It was pretty cheap... like $60 for a year.

 

[Mrgs1]

Do read some more, looking for the word “excluding”.

That's the only word on most insurance policies!

 

[Fred Garvin]

When I talked to my insurance company the other day they said the the value of the craft wasn't covered, but that they did have another type of insurance just for my craft(s) valued up to I think it was $4k. It was pretty cheap... like $60 for a year.

I have 2 kinds of insurance: Hull and flight.

Hull is inexpensive general liability that also covers replacement cost of aircraft. Paid annually.

Flight is a $1m liability policy while the bird is in the air. Per hour, pass cost to client.