Confused orientation

indonesianpilot · Jan 17, 2016

Thanks guys for the advice, i learn a lot today.
And yeah im from indonesia, thereis no regulation yet about flying a quadcopter, but i will keep in mind about VLS for safety tho.
I really want to use tower, but unfortunately im using ipad mini and tower is not available for ios.

Cheers

erikgraham · Jan 17, 2016

indonesianpilot said:
Thanks guys for the advice, i learn a lot today.
And yeah im from indonesia, thereis no regulation yet about flying a quadcopter, but i will keep in mind about VLS for safety tho.
I really want to use tower, but unfortunately im using ipad mini and tower is not available for ios.

Cheers

For iOS try Mav Pilot. Haven't used it myself, but others here have. It's not as good as Tower but it might serve your needs.

brunoferreiro · Jan 17, 2016

I do not have the visual ability to distinguish colors in the legs at this distance. What I do are two things:
1- on takeoff took me a second and look at the screen and memorize an object in front of it to my off in the distance and turn 180 degrees and remember another stuff behind mine. This may be an antenna, a tree, a building, whatever. With this if I lose what I do I am turn 360 to find one of the two points to return home esealy. This I do when I cant open maps.

2- open the map in the app and see in which direction the drone is relative to the take off position and return flying with the map.

In latter case, press the button to return to home to watch it and then fly back to regain control

Maddog · Jan 18, 2016

indonesianpilot said:
Can you see my solo in the picture that i attached? It is there, actually in line of sight, but because the pattern of the background is so complex, black solo is very hard to see. And because of the pattern of the fields, i cant see myself from FPV. So even my GP isnt freeze, i still cant find myself. Let say my GPS is fine and my controller signal is strong, i want to film the field from far away straight to my place, i fly, i turn down my altitude near the field and suddenly damn, i cant see my solo. And guess what, i cant see myself from FPV too, the fields is look alike everywhere i see. I dont have any idea where my solo heading. Am i need to use RTH everytime this happen? Then how can i do my work? In this kind of complicated altitude of the hills, RTH is not a very good idea too, im afraid it will hit the hills. I mean, put a simple radar on the app is not hard, and the benefit is real
View attachment 2331

I too have difficulty seeing Solo after about 500' distance and 200' altitude. Even though it's directly in my line of sight, it can just disappear depending on the sky conditions.

That's why I'm developing a pair of bright white flashing lights that just plug into the port on the bottom of Solo. They won't tell me Solo's heading, but if I can at least find it I can use other techniques to send it where I want.

Check this thread:
Flashing Lights? | 3D Robotics Drone Forum

They are brighter than Solos' LED's and the Polar Pro headlight/ taillights and easier to see in daylight.

brunoferreiro · Jan 18, 2016

polar pro have orientation lights

SurfnSkate81 · Jan 18, 2016

I use the Polar Pro LED lights to help with my visual orientation.

Did a flight a few weeks ago without them for the first time and I've got to say that they really make a difference and I won't be flying without them again.

Maddog · Jan 18, 2016

SurfnSkate81 said:
I use the Polar Pro LED lights to help with my visual orientation.

Did a flight a few weeks ago without them for the first time and I've got to say that they really make a difference and I won't be flying without them again.

Can you see them in bright sunlight?

SurfnSkate81 · Jan 19, 2016

Maddog said:
Can you see them in bright sunlight?

Sure can, but the strobe on the other thread 'Flashing Lights' is a better idea for far away.

After using them for a dozen flights and then flying my replacement Solo without them I realised that they sure help me with orientation. More of a help when the drone is close and I'm flying a low altitude. Once I get up high or far away I relying on the GoPro feed anyway.

Maddog · Jan 19, 2016

SurfnSkate81 said:
Sure can, but the strobe on the other thread 'Flashing Lights' is a better idea for far away.

After using them for a dozen flights and then flying my replacement Solo without them I realised that they sure help me with orientation. More of a help when the drone is close and I'm flying a low altitude. Once I get up high or far away I relying on the GoPro feed anyway.

Thanks- that's good to know!

QuadCoyote · Jan 19, 2016

I'd echo what an earlier poster said: practice. This is one of the core challenges of flying multi rotors, and it's important that you get comfortable with how to determine the orientation of your copter without FPV.

I found this YouTube video quite helpful when I was first practicing this with my Hubsan X4...

PdxSteve · Jan 19, 2016

You can also pull the map open in the Solo app which shows the solos location, solos orientation, and home position.

SteveReno · Jan 19, 2016

To me, it sounds like he flys out of range a little, then he loses feed from GP & he's nervous about Solo hitting something.

Set your RTH altitude to everything higher then anything around you, Tree's, Buildings etc...

When Solo loses connection with controller, it will automatically start to RTH, No matter which way it was pointing.

If/when Solo & Controller reconnects while in RTH, then you will have feed & can regain control.

Mike Evers · Jan 23, 2016

erikgraham said:
I understand where you are coming from. I've flown many times in many places with similar challenges visually. I think a lot of folks here have as well. But what most of us are saying is that after a lot of collective experience, we don't recommend the type of flight mode you describe. On DJI phantoms they call it IOC with a couple variations (if I recall they are called Home Lock and Course Lock). On 3DR platforms, similar modes are called Simple mode and Super Simple mode. So we do understand what you are asking for, but we don't recommend it.

Instead, I would recommend using the map in the Solo app. It will show you both the location and the heading of your Solo. It's like a Radar. Or use the Tower app.

Also, I'd recommend that you make a habit of checking your soroundings when you start flying. Pay attention to where the sun is relative to you. Look for landmarks, like a particular hill or building near you. That will help you return to home using FPV if you want.

Lastly, once you've scouted an area and you know what kind of shots you want, land, plop in a new battery and set up a cable cam or use Tower to create a detailed mission.

I agree, on the Solo app and Tower. Tower is awesome and very powerful for mission planning and execution.

Flying Squirrel · Jan 23, 2016

indonesianpilot said:
My solo is flying out of sight. Or when i fly it at daylight its hard to see the light from solo its too dim

"My Solo is flying out of sight" ...

Pilots are required to fly "line of sight". This means the pilot should be able to see the aircraft. If you're unable to determine orientation then you are flying beyond the line of sight and operating in an unsafe manner.

You can find this and more information in "Know Before You Fly"

Know Before You Fly

indonesianpilot · Jan 23, 2016

Flying Squirrel said:
"My Solo is flying out of sight" ...

Pilots are required to fly "line of sight". This means the pilot should be able to see the aircraft. If you're unable to determine orientation then you are flying beyond the line of sight and operating in an unsafe manner.

You can find this and more information in "Know Before You Fly"

Know Before You Fly

Well in my defense, i do fly in "line of sight", i do stand at the highest place that i can see all around me without obstacle, i fly in bright daylight, and i do know that it is important for safety issue. I just dont expect that i'll not be able too see it because of the pattern of the background(see pict that i upload before)

Samphoto · Jan 23, 2016

Just slide out the map from any screen and it shows you where the Solo is, what direction it is facing and where you are. Piece of cake. Even if you don't have topo map data cached it doesn't matter, you still get the orientation and direction back to home. Truly it is all there, you don't need any tower or any additional stuff in the app.