Kind of scary....

jjpish68 · Jan 22, 2018

So just recently took myself out of beginner mode. I have flown about 4 times out of beginner mode and no problems.

This morning I went for a flight at an old abandon golf course which I built back in 1995 and worked at for 15 years. First flight this morning was awesome. Adjacent to the property is a banner plane business and they were practicing takeoffs and landings so I stayed clear of that area.

This afternoon I called to find out if they were done and went back to fly over that area. Did the normal set up and took off. As I’m flying I lost video signal as I have in the past but then I lost controller signal. That was a little scary. It can’t back then out again. I pushed that come home button for all it was worth and she flew back to me luckily.

So why did I lose controller signal? Does this happen often? What happens if it doesn’t reconnect? Did I fly too far away? I was about 1800’ I believe when signal was lost.

Thank you

arto.inetco · Jan 22, 2018

i can't tell you why it happened, but it has happened to me. i notice mine is specific to specific locations i fly...the xsp should come back home on its own, regardless... its critical to set a proper return home altitude and take off from a spot thats clear for the xsp to return back to. i now always take off with the xsp as if it would RTH if it had to, part of preflight check..note 6ft clearance minimum....this from experience, only a few broken props..

HiloHawaiian · Jan 22, 2018

Oh man, it’s happened to me too. Check for close by power lines, cell towers or any thing causing stray RF emissions. Sometimes they are closer than you think, or can see. My XSP always came home though, so don’t worry too much. I also re-paired my RC to the XSP the last time it happened, and it hasn’t happened since. Pairing is easy, it’s in the StarLink App...

Jagerbomb52 · Jan 22, 2018

Even though the antennas are omnidirectional antennas you still need to be focused as to where the Quad is and have them pointed at it. Having them in the right position also helps. Losing connection can be nerve racking for sure. Most of us have down it once or twice. First time it happened to me I was out 1.2 miles. It seemed like forever before I heard the sweet sound of the motors getting closer

RTH will kick in if you lose connection, its written into the firmware.

Quadrotor · Jan 23, 2018

jjpish68 said:
So just recently took myself out of beginner mode. I have flown about 4 times out of beginner mode and no problems.

This morning I went for a flight at an old abandon golf course which I built back in 1995 and worked at for 15 years. First flight this morning was awesome. Adjacent to the property is a banner plane business and they were practicing takeoffs and landings so I stayed clear of that area.

This afternoon I called to find out if they were done and went back to fly over that area. Did the normal set up and took off. As I’m flying I lost video signal as I have in the past but then I lost controller signal. That was a little scary. It can’t back then out again. I pushed that come home button for all it was worth and she flew back to me luckily.

So why did I lose controller signal? Does this happen often? What happens if it doesn’t reconnect? Did I fly too far away? I was about 1800’ I believe when signal was lost.

Thank you

You didn't mention whether you had a clear direct path from the controller to the aircraft when communications were lost. The strengths of radio-frequency signals both to and from a remote aircraft can be greatly attenuated by almost anything, such as bushes, trees, buildings, hills, etc. that block the direct (straight-line) communication path. Furthermore, even with a totally clear path at an 1800-foot communications distance the signals on both ends would be very weak and subject to being interfered with by much stronger nearby 5.8 GHz WiFi devices, 900 MHz wireless home weather stations, 900 MHz wireless earphones, and many other things that share the two bands of electromagnetic spectrum used by the XSP and its controller.

Even though solid communications can be maintained with an unmodified XSP more than two-miles over an ocean where there is nothing to either block or interfere with the signals, communication can be lost over very short distances if the communication path is blocked or there is strong-enough radio-frequency interference at either end of the communication path.

Jagerbomb52 · Jan 23, 2018

Quadrotor said:
You didn't mention whether you had a clear direct path from the controller to the aircraft when communications were lost. The strengths of radio-frequency signals both to and from a remote aircraft can be greatly attenuated by almost anything, such as bushes, trees, buildings, hills, etc. that block the direct (straight-line) communication path. Furthermore, even with a totally clear path at an 1800-foot communications distance the signals on both ends would be very weak and subject to being interfered with by much stronger nearby 5.8 GHz WiFi devices, 900 MHz wireless home weather stations, 900 MHz wireless earphones, and many other things that share the two bands of electromagnetic spectrum used by the XSP and its controller.

Even though solid communications can be maintained with an unmodified XSP more than two-miles over an ocean where there is nothing to either block or interfere with the signals, communication can be lost over very short distances if the communication path is blocked or there is strong-enough radio-frequency interference at either end of the communication path.

And so what do you suggest he does to improve his problem??

jjpish68 · Jan 23, 2018

Quadrotor said:
You didn't mention whether you had a clear direct path from the controller to the aircraft when communications were lost. The strengths of radio-frequency signals both to and from a remote aircraft can be greatly attenuated by almost anything, such as bushes, trees, buildings, hills, etc. that block the direct (straight-line) communication path. Furthermore, even with a totally clear path at an 1800-foot communications distance the signals on both ends would be very weak and subject to being interfered with by much stronger nearby 5.8 GHz WiFi devices, 900 MHz wireless home weather stations, 900 MHz wireless earphones, and many other things that share the two bands of electromagnetic spectrum used by the XSP and its controller.

Even though solid communications can be maintained with an unmodified XSP more than two-miles over an ocean where there is nothing to either block or interfere with the signals, communication can be lost over very short distances if the communication path is blocked or there is strong-enough radio-frequency interference at either end of the communication path.

I was here

Some trees but pretty much wide open I would imagine. There is nothing around the area kind of the middle of nowhere. I was quite surprised to have a signal problem at 1800 but I do understand the 2 miles over the open ocean anolgy. Was hoping to feel more confident about longer flights.

Quadrotor · Jan 24, 2018

1800-feet seems to me like excellent range at the altitude your aircraft appears to have been flying. If it had been high enough so that you would have been able to see it from the location of the antennas on your remote-control unit (had it been large enough to have been visible at that distance), you almost certainly would have been able to fly much further away before losing contact.

It appears from the video that you lost contact merely because you flew signicantly beyond line-of-sight, but another issue to keep in mind is that there can be strong interfering radio-frequency signals even in very sparsely populated areas like that, because, in addition to other reasons, power-amplifiers and high-gain antennas are often combined to provide internet service via 900 MHz or 5.8 GHz links to remotely located homes.