Another Phantom Fly Away - IMPORTANT

C

CameraGuy

Guest
http://youtu.be/dLRwOeeHdlgThis

This a demonstration of what happens when a DJI Phantom suddenly looses it's control, and heads off.

It's referred to as a Fly-Away because the Phantom just heads off in what ever direction it wants. Typically, it fly's as far as it's battery lasts, or until it hits something.I lost one about 8 weeks ago, when this happened and it hit Lake Ontario in Canada, and sank. It cost me about $1,500.00.This is my second unit, and on a windless morning, I decided to test a new Neutral Density filter. After about 1 minute of flight, the Phantom just headed off on it;s own.I took the following steps

1. Did a pre-flight. Everything was OK

2. Got the 16 LED flash confirmation it knew where home was

3. Got just green LEDs indicating more than 5 GPS satellites.

4. Tried to get control with the throttle and the pitch and yaw. No response.

5. Turned off the transmitter, which is suppose to tell the Phantom to Return to Home - your launching point.

Yes, I had the 16 green LED flashes before take off, and yes, I had just green LED's indicating 5 or more GPS satellites.Fortunately, it headed for a golf course, and then hit a tree gently, causing it to fall to the ground.

Check out the video. Please help me make this video Viral in the DJI user community. DJI doesn't seem to want to admit this issue and it is costing users thousands of dollars to replace cameras, the Phantom, and other accessories. Please send the link to this video to everyone you know who uses DJI gear. Your dealer, your flying club, your friends. Let's make this issue big enough that DJI takes Financial Responsibility and that they fix this issue.

Thanks

Darren Kelly,
CameraGuyTV
http://www.cameraguytv.com
http://www.dbkcreative.com
http://www.youtube.com/dbkcreative
 
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D

Dewster

Member
i keep hearing about fly aways. How far were you from home point when you lost control? i dont know how receivers behave at the edge of the transmitter's output. Turning off the transmitter should have brought your craft home if you allowed it to records its position prior to flight. I have a Futaba diversity receiver in my DJI F550. It's supposed to eliminate signal interference. My only worry would be the maximum range that I could achieve (which is beyond line of sight-tested).
 

ChrisViperM

ChrisViperM

Active Member
Sorry to hear your troubles !

Strange enough, in the past that happend mostly to Wookong units, mostly connected to a S800.....there was a joke going arround: If you hit Return-To-Home, it flies off to China.
I keep on bitchen and ranting for ages to make people aware of DJI's product (software) crap quality and their total ignorance towards their customers......but people seem to be blinded by all the advertising which makes flying a copter jus a matter of charging a LiPo, switching on and being the king of the universe

Don't believe....??? Watch this:





....it even can communicate with outer space.....



Chris
 
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C

CameraGuy

Guest
PeteDee said:
ANd it did not respond to manual mode?
Click to expand...

No, it didn't respond to any controls. I just headed off into the golf course, and thankfully the tree.

This is a serious issue that DJI needs to address. Please help me make DJI solve our problem. Make this video goto as many people who use the NAZA controller as possible.

Thanks

Darren
 

C

CameraGuy

Guest
Dewster said:
i keep hearing about fly aways. How far were you from home point when you lost control? i dont know how receivers behave at the edge of the transmitter's output. Turning off the transmitter should have brought your craft home if you allowed it to records its position prior to flight. I have a Futaba diversity receiver in my DJI F550. It's supposed to eliminate signal interference. My only worry would be the maximum range that I could achieve (which is beyond line of sight-tested).
Click to expand...


I lost it about 100 feet in the air, about 50 feet from the take off point. I tried to force it to land about 200 feet away.

I am considering the Futuba 8 Radio. DO you think it will help?

Darren
 



sixshooterstang

sixshooterstang

Bird's Eyes Aerial Media
If this is a consistent thing I would say buy something that isn't a DJI. APM 2.5 (now 2.6) is really nice for the price and there are loads of options out there that will not fly off on you.
Almost sounds like it could be an issue with the compass. If your declination is wrong in APM or Multwii and it tries to navigate home then it may (at least initially) head in the wrong direction
 


F

fj_montilla

Member
I have a Naza M and Wookong M. I have'n had a flyaway, but i've had unexplained sudden bursts of altitude while on GPS mode. As a result, I don't trust GPS mode, I always fly attitude. Which is a shame, considering the good money you pay for these costly systems, that are self proclaimed "game changers" LOL!
 

iceman

iceman

Member
CameraGuy said:
1. Did a pre-flight. Everything was OK
Click to expand...

Did you check your prop nuts? In your video you say you found the prop on the ground but no prop nut!! I would say you had a loose nut during the flight hence the instability during the flight and lack of control. This doesn’t look like a typical "Flyaway" more a loss of control, I would replace the prop nuts with Nyloc before your next flight.
 

R

rdalemercer

Member
Hey CameraGuy -
Sorry that you received so many negative comments on your YouTube video but glad that you're here.

I'm assuming that you are using a GoProH3? Just out of curiosity, was the WIFI wireless system enabled?

... I don't remember exactly 'where', but I remember reading a DJI warning on this forum about the WIFI system and some compatibility issues with the Phantom/NAZA (WKM?). This may have been a 3.1 issue that was (?) resolved with 3.12 -- but ......... anyway - I'm not stating that DJI shouldn't investigate & respond to the 'fly away' issues that some customers are having, but I'm just trying to eliminate a probable cause.

Dale.
 

Kilby

Kilby

Active Member
That seems to be a strange case since it's not simply flying away, it's actually flying around a small area across the street from where you took off. This might be a case of wifi interference. Very strange either way. Please let us know if you get to the bottom of it.

-Terry
 

C

CameraGuy

Guest
rdalemercer said:
Hey CameraGuy -
Sorry that you received so many negative comments on your YouTube video but glad that you're here.

I'm assuming that you are using a GoProH3? Just out of curiosity, was the WIFI wireless system enabled?

... I don't remember exactly 'where', but I remember reading a DJI warning on this forum about the WIFI system and some compatibility issues with the Phantom/NAZA (WKM?). This may have been a 3.1 issue that was (?) resolved with 3.12 -- but ......... anyway - I'm not stating that DJI shouldn't investigate & respond to the 'fly away' issues that some customers are having, but I'm just trying to eliminate a probable cause.

Dale.
Click to expand...

No, the GoPro wireless was not turned on. I too read that quote, and it was turned off.

Many people think it's the cheap transmitter that is included in the package, and the cheap radio. While I am loathed to spend more money on this thing, I will purchase a Futuba J8 this week to see if it improves things.

DJI has yet to respond - what a surprise.

Darren
 

C

CameraGuy

Guest
Kilby said:
That seems to be a strange case since it's not simply flying away, it's actually flying around a small area across the street from where you took off. This might be a case of wifi interference. Very strange either way. Please let us know if you get to the bottom of it.

-Terry
Click to expand...

If it hadn't hit the tree it would have completed the TBE effect, or Toilet bowl Effect I have learned it is called. It spirals down in ever smaller circles until it hits something.

DJI - Come on Colin. Time to man up.

I am disappointed in their lack of response or caring. On Wednesday, I release it to the Media in HD world wide. We'll see how they feel about it then.

D
 

R

RobertsUp

Member
Darren, you can't just buy a new transmitter and expect it to operate the Phantom. Stop. Don't buy that Futaba.

You'll have to disassemble your Phantom and completely modify the insides. Remove the Phantom receiver and replace it with another. There's a tutorial on YouTube that explains how to modify the Phantom to enable it to be controlled with a DX8. The receiver inside the Phantom appears to be proprietary and it seems the Phantom can only be controlled by that simple looking white transmitter. Others have found out how to fly the Phantom with better transmitters but you'll have to learn to take it apart and make all the internal modifications necessary.

At present, you're stuck with the Phantom transmitter.

Best, Rob
 
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C

CameraGuy

Guest
This is a message I received from another user.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hi matey,

I saw your video and I see you getting alot of flack from people, sorry that's happening.... but please read this message as I really do want to help you....

One of the main things in your video is the power lines. They create alot of RF interference, also your flying next to apartments which probably has everyone and his dog having some form of wireless access point for internet which also all work from the 2.4ghz

Now to overcome this of course don't fly near this stuff... but your real problem is the poor pathetic radio controller DJI have made with this.... they make a $700 copter to put in a $5 radio receiver module... (watch the first youtube video below to see what I mean)

If you want to gauranteee you will never fly away and you always have control I recommend you buy a Futaba 8J radio (they cost about $300 USD).... the benfits out way the cost and you can always flick a switch to return to home in any mode (GPS/Atti) and it will come back.

You can fly up to 2.5km away,it gives you dual diversity, secure connection that does channel hopping to always have a connection. You will never lose control of your phantom again. The Futaba 8J comes with the receiver and radio and all you need is to spend 10 minutes changing the DJI one out and your gold! and yes even though you shouldn't fly where you are.... you would be able to fly exactly where you are and still maintain control!

There is a youtube guide that he steps through installing and configuring the radio, it is easy as PIE!!

Part1:http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=jRUDKZGhwuU



Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=T63T6T0WpgI



Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=mZNmSjauNJM


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I'm comfortable with what has to be done inside the unit based on what I see here.

DJI has cheaped out on the radio portion at a minimum. If this last $300 doesn't fix it, I'll throw in the towel.

Darren
 

D

Dewster

Member
Futaba makes good radio equipment. I like the diversity receiver concept. There's a DIY video on YouTube where the Phantom receiver was replaced.

http://youtu.be/jRUDKZGhwuU

http://youtu.be/o9NbjYtSeBE

Radio control has never been an issue with me. I've flown my craft just beyond line of sight without issue. Reading stories like yours did cause concern, especially since my craft weighed just over seven pounds. I could only think that the receiver was getting noise to fool the system into thinking there was still a radio signal.
 

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