I wanted to share an experience that I had last night and early today as I watched my mini 250 fly away. I had just replaced the CC3D with the APM 2.6 I did a short test inside and that should have given me the clue not to take it out, but having the grandkids here and rushing a bit I took it outside to see if it would loiter. Well it was very windy but I just wanted to try it close to the ground.
I had also just added the telemetry so I could see what was happening through Mission Planner. That was a what saved me or should I say my mini.
I started the motors up but shortly after it started to have mind of its own. it shot up above the house and started to travel away. I tried to switch to stabilize but nothing worked. I tried all I could to get it back under control, but it was a lost cause. I tried RTL which had no effect even though I had a good home lock.
I watched it disappear over the woods behind my house and was not sure just how deep it was. It was almost dark out so I had to wait till the morning. I looked at the flight logs and was hoping maybe it tracked its flight. Good news, it followed the entire crazy flight. I was just hoping it was accurate and maybe I would have some chance of finding it.
In the morning I took the longitude and latitude that it was reporting and converted them so my gps could take me on the hunt. My wife and I love Geocaching which this felt like that. If you have not gone out geocaching check it out, you will be surprised what is hidden very lose to your home. geocaching.com Anyhow I told my wife I was going out on a hunt, forgot to tell her I may have lost my quad lol....
I will shorten the story and tell you that Mission Planner and the Telemetry brought me within 10 ft of where it was laying. I first found the battery, then some props, and right next to a small creek there it was just waiting for me. Amazing to say the least. I don't think I will ever fly without telemetry or my gps tracker ever!
The only things lost were my telemetry radio and 2 props. about $30 but everything else is working and I am going to reconfigure the APM before trying again. I am just so excited how well it reported its location and wanted to let everyone know. It would have been nearly impossible to locate it if not for the exact telemetry that was reported.
Grandpa Jake
Replies
Jake,
What telemetry were you using that gave you the coordinates? What tracker are you planning to use?
I was using the Version 1 3d telemetry radio. If you are not familiar with that it will repot back to Mission Planner many different things. Voltage, altitude, Speed and so much more. But what is nice is as you are flying it will show on a satiate map within mission planner the entire flight. And when mine ended somewhere in the woods it reported till it lost power. And if you play back the log you will see at the bottom of the page the reported longitude and latitude where it should be. Then I took the readings and entered them in to this program http://boulter.com/gps/ and below where it says GPS I just enter them into my Handheld gps and away I go on my search.
As for a tracker I will be testing something new very shortly, but for now I use the RF-V16 Gps tracker. Here is a link to one similar. http://www.amazon.com/Tracker-Rf-v16-Real-time-Tracking-Communicato...
I did a review on GPS trackers, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6Ruxh0y9xM but since that time I changed to the one I just gave a link too. Once I test this next tracker I will let everyone know if it works well. But this Mini 250 did not have one on, but the telemetry sure saved me.
Take Care
Grandpa Jake https://www.youtube.com/user/funtimegrandpa/videos
Jake,
Your video convinced me to buy the RF 16, I have yet to use it. What has made you move on to another?
I have the 3DR radios but I use Droidplanner rather than MP when flying and don't find the range on them to be that great. I don't know how much use DP and the radios would be to find a lost quad in the hilly woods around here.