DJI Hexa f550 lost over the Pacific

[wordupmag]

Flying the Hexa at Point Dume in Malibu fully loaded with all my gear. The new Sony PJ710v with AG550 Gimble, Naza GPS, and Naza FC. The flight started out smooth but quickly turned ugly. I forgot to check if I had satellite lock with the GPS and during the flight I hit the return to home button and....well you will see what happen.

 

[lakis21]

Flying the Hexa at Point Dume in Malibu fully loaded with all my gear. The new Sony PJ710v with AG550 Gimble, Naza GPS, and Naza FC. The flight started out smooth but quickly turned ugly. I forgot to check if I had satellite lock with the GPS and during the flight I hit the return to home button and....well you will see what happen.

Thanks GOD! Hex and camera are ok!!!
I think you are very happy now!

 

[hugh4g]

Wow...

It wasn't until I ws half way through watching that I realised it must have come back to you... because you had the footage... well done... what happened?

Hugh

 

[VINHEX]

OMG I've had a flyaway on a Drone and lost it for 3 hours LOL Still getting the guts up to try RTH on Wookong-M/F550.. This is why at the point you lost it I would have been swimming in the sea trying to get it LOL Great recovery glad all ok..

 

[hjls3]

wow - close one.

 

[wordupmag]

Thanks GOD! Hex and camera are ok!!!
I think you are very happy now!

Yes... I still can't believe it. It feels like a bad dream. I bad dream I would never tell my wife about.

 

[wordupmag]

Wow...

It wasn't until I ws half way through watching that I realised it must have come back to you... because you had the footage... well done... what happened?

Hugh

Not sure... I believe the GPS was not working. i was in Home Lock and the Hexa took off to China. I turned Home Lock off and could not see the Hexa, However I could see a small dot over the pacific so I just kept pushing the controls in different directions. I actually had given up on the Hexa.

 

[kloner]

you were flying it all line of sight, no fpv?

 

[wordupmag]

you were flying it all line of sight, no fpv?

Yes all LOS.

 

[kloner]

that musta been such an emotional rollercoaster........ good job reigning it in

 

[Dewster]

I haven't played with the home lock setting. I like course lock mode for distance flying. Nice save. You got some great aerial video of the ocean and the beach.

 

[kloner]

does one come back a straight line and the other follow the way it went there?

 

[wordupmag]

I haven't played with the home lock setting. I like course lock mode for distance flying. Nice save. You got some great aerial video of the ocean and the beach.

I did some more testing today and found that course lock as well as home lock will not work unless I have GPS lock on take off. This is good info to have because now if I take off without GPS lock I will not flight long distance.

 

[Warlock]

I would have been so nervous when it got way out over the ocean I would be in my mind trying to resolve the fact that I would never see any of it again. Watching the video, and from the description, I honestly thought it was about to become a sub. :nevreness: But then it dawned on me that I was watching the video, hense it made it. When it started moving towards shore, I was almost giddy because had this been me, I would have been going home with out it. Very nice save. Great video..

 

[Dewster]

I did some more testing today and found that course lock as well as home lock will not work unless I have GPS lock on take off. This is good info to have because now if I take off without GPS lock I will not flight long distance.

For some reason this seems to work: Let your craft record it's home position after powering your multi rotor. Check the GPS signal quality. If you are not getting a solid GPS signal take off in GPS mode (short flight) and usually you'll see your signal improve. Go ahead and land your craft, and re-power your multi rotor again. You'll see when it starts back up that you'll obtain a solid GPS signal on the ground. Now let your craft record it's home position again and then fly in Course Lock Mode.

It seems to work for me on those spotty GPS days. Just beware of your signal quality when you initially fly in that setting. If the signal is not good you may receive some erratic or uncommanded flight movements.

Give a safe try.

 

[wordupmag]

For some reason this seems to work: Let your craft record it's home position after powering your multi rotor. Check the GPS signal quality. If you are not getting a solid GPS signal take off in GPS mode (short flight) and usually you'll see your signal improve. Go ahead and land your craft, and re-power your multi rotor again. You'll see when it starts back up that you'll obtain a solid GPS signal on the ground. Now let your craft record it's home position again and then fly in Course Lock Mode.

It seems to work for me on those spotty GPS days. Just beware of your signal quality when you initially fly in that setting. If the signal is not good you may receive some erratic or uncommanded flight movements.

Give a safe try.

Hahaha... yes.... I notice that also. My second flight always had full GPS.

 

[wordupmag]

After two days of testing I have conclusively been able to determine what happen with my hexa using HL. I was able to repeat this numerous times during testing. Home Lock (HL) works intermittently at best even when taking off with full GPS. During theflight you can lose HL causing the hexa the fly in a direction unintended. I took off with full GPS and flew out to 200 feet I then rotated the Hexa to face home (nose-in). I engage Home Lock (HL) and pulled the control stick back (home) and the Hexa flew nose-in home. I released the stick at about 100 feet away and the hexa stopped. I then dropped the hexa altitude from 70ft to 25ft and and pulled the control stick back again. This time the hexa went back (away). The hexa went back because it had lost GPS (Home Lock) I do not understand why my hexa will have HL one minute and 20 seconds later HL is not working.This is dangerous because it changes how control sticks influence to hexa. I did numerous test and the bottom line is HL works intermittently during flight. To make a long story short I will just keep those functions off for now. Tired...very long day will post video soon.

 

[Dewster]

I see I'll have to do more testing myself. I haven't tried home lock feature, because I'm still a little confused on what to expect. Under the new firmware update I got rid of the feature by choosing control mode 2. So I have Course Lock and Point of Interest. You're problem may be due to losing good GPS signal. If the signal gets weak it'll revert into a different flight mode. That can be confusing, especially at distance.