Betaflight GPS Rescue | How To Test Safely

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How to test Betaflight GPS Rescue without risking your quad fall out of the sky? I'll show you! And I'll show you why Betaflight refuses to let you activate GPS Rescue when you're too close to the home position.
My review of the Flywoo Explorer, iFlight Chimera, GEPRC Baby Croc, and all other Long Range 4" quads I've received is at: • Micro Long Range
My video about the Failsafe Aux Mode and why you (usually) shouldn't use it, but testing GPS is one time when you should use it! • Betaflight only aux ch...

[@anti-popfpv4638]

61! I didn't think BF GPS rescue worked until...well it worked. I didn't expect it to RTH after a FS and was really hoping it wouldn't because I was surrounded by water. It started flying around me and I couldn't regain control, I was running around like a loon chasing after it ready to grab it from water because it was toilet bowling like crazy. But then all of a sudden it landed within a few feet from where I launched.

[@bkramber]

I thought that every aspect of our hobby is already shown many times by youtubers, but somehow you find and review really hot and important topics. You are awesome!

[@princesfpvdrones]

I did as you suggested in testing the GPS rescue, first time ever done this and it worked, just like you demonstrated. You rock!!

[@undeze]

I took notes as I watched this tutorial. I've had to rebuild two quads recently due to airborne disarming and crashing when testing GPS Rescue (I'm a slow learner...). I wish I'd watched this video first. Thanks for the tutorial :)

[@RGMGFitness]

Perfect timing! I just ordered the iFlight Chimera 4 with GPS Rescue and wanted to know more about it. Thank Joshua...

[@Rcschim]

Good information Joshua! I kinda like that it can work without baro but with some limitations. Less complex builds, one component less that can fail or influence the quad. Super excited to try the chimera4 soon.

[@roadkill4twenty541]

I accidentally tested GPS rescue when my quad failsafed because I left my Crossfire on 25mw and got too far away. And it freaked me out because I totally lost stick control. So I got to sit there and watch my quad fly itself back thru my goggles with my heart running at about 120 BPM until it made a fairly nice landing about 4 feet away from where I armed and took off. I've heard from several people that the Betaflight GPS rescue doesn't actually land the quad but it worked beautifully for me, unless I just got lucky.

[@richardamiss7000]

Thank you for explaining the lack of compass issue. I honestly couldn't figure out why my 5 year old Hubsan H501 can automatically land at my feet 99% of the time, but I'm lucky if my Flywoo Explorer even flies in my direction.

[@michaelrcolton]

Wish I had seen this before I put my quad in the air, less than 100m away, hit the switch and it just fell out of the air. Thankfully, no expensive damage. The part about which sanity check mode to use was helpful too. Thanks for the info!

[@naomarik]

Great info! Wish this video came out sooner, last month destroyed a new 6s R-line 1300mah when my quad fell a several feet on some rocks testing RTH.

[@OwlShadow]

without this dude i probably wont be flying at all no mater what im searching on yt i end up at his channel So thank you

[@mikel3419]

Good stuff and good advice. Some of this GPS stuff is less user friendly than other hardware/software. All of your GPS vids are great.

[@Dr_Matthews]

I needed this video! Thank you!

[@henshaw7]

hey mate, love ya content and what a heart of gold. So, I tested gps rescue today with FS setup on a Aux and my gps rescue worked but once it was coming home towards me i switched my aux back but nothing happens! lol my quad come back to me stayed at like 20 - 25m of altitude then circled uneven circles until eventually it hit a tree branch and i hit disarm :) All is good. Thanks

[@moonraker814]

Bardwell, you are awesome. Thank you for all the info.

[@MrCrowleyandhisdrone]

Thanks for the vid. I am gonna watch your vids and then I pick up gps for my 3 Kwads. I appreciate the support. Great vid.

[@jlarson42]

Very helpful video, I'm collecting up the parts to build a 4" lightweight lr kwad. Based on the Flywoo LR Explorer frame, I won one from Flywoo. Happy flying 🤓

[@MCsCreations]

Great tip, Joshua! Thanks a lot! 😊 Stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊

[@chipsterflysome]

Just in time for me...Thank you Joshua

[@tipsfan88]

I tried mine about 3 feet off the ground. Worked on the switch then I went right back out and shut my radio off. Worked flawlessly! Followed your video to the letter to set it up. Thank you!

[@RIIK70XZENAZ]

Gps Rescue on My Quad works perfect when i activate it from the aux, but when i turn the radio off it just completly falls out of the sky like a brick ¿What can be the problem of that?

[@daveman172]

@@RIIK70XZENAZ Under failsafe.

[@grupomexcomer]

Wioooooow was waiting for this. Yeahhh baby

[@shyamk7849]

I don't own a quadcopter.. but still iam watching all your videos for past 90 days 🤷❤️

[@markeezy_fpv2664]

Two years later I still love it 😂

[@retrodudefpv]

Great info, as always

[@BOTGRINDER]

i just used rth for the first time and it is such a weird feeling letting go of control and letting the quad do the flying.

[@gettricksdietryin]

my fpv drone from 2014 did this

[@NullHyp]

@@gettricksdietryin wow you’re so cool

[@DroneAcharya9]

@@NullHyp lol

[@mikel3419]

I know the feeling but if you set up RTH in INAV, when you trip it the quad flys toward your position at elevation and just as it is about to fly over it lands within 3 - 4' of you. My first DJI stuff did this but it never gets old to have it work properly.

[@anti-popfpv4638]

@@mikel3419 I'm used to inav rth and love it, BF just makes me nervous AF cuz ya can't regain control when link is re established. And it tends to float around at varying altitude doing this toilet bowl phenomenon. Not good when you fly by..anything

[@thedok7333]

Love the end..!! 😍😉

[@tadasskeltys]

I just did a failsafe test via the aux switch yesterday in the air to check my gps rescue and my 7" rig just fell out of the sky :) two days too late to release this video bro, only broke an arm tho so it's fine.

[@Sam-gr8pl]

Thx..for the efforts 👌👍

[@kardady]

thanks JB

[@mafiafpv3469]

Mine work awesome on both 119 and 129 I love it!!!!

[@fpvmaberlin1041]

Another way to test it: Fly 100m away, disarm, arm (so you set your new home point 100m away), fly back to you. Than activate rescue mode. If it doesn't work, you have control over your quad or you don't need to walk 100m if it fall out of the sky.

[@p.i.engineer398]

smart

[@philthayer4087]

Yeah, I like this. Going to try.

[@jiatan_fpv]

@mmm mmm I fail to see the advantages to your method compared to JB's. You can't use either of those if the grass is too tall to land and relaunch. You still need to land topside up. If you fail to land properly, it's still turtle mode or walking. If you mean to disarm and arm while in the air, this can still go wrong if you forgot to disable arming safety checks and the rearm fails, or if you're using two switch arming and it takes longer to arm than for a quad to fall out of the sky. Also there's a BF setting to save home point only on fist arm after plugging the battery (gps_set_home_point_once), and it would interfere with that method.

[@ThatFlyinRyan]

Thanks JB

[@helmuthuneke1775]

thank you that is a good advice

[@jc.cantrell]

Excellent video - content outstanding - explanations pertinent and helpful -- thank you

[@jc.cantrell]

I posted the comment above in mid-April 2021 (last week)....interesting the comment is listed as "5 months ago"

[@fpvnycdream_4197]

Thanks for the info 👍 I’m wondering if the quad went to failsafe and gps rescue enabled itself to fly back to the home position, how do we get back control over the quad once it’s close enough to take over again ? Thank you.

[@MarcoPolux]

Maestro!

[@jinchen9937]

Awesome, like Baby crco

[@pinoyautomotogpsmaster220]

Interesting video bro

[@seattleitefpv]

This is good information. I am wondering how it applies to RTH on FETTEC/KISS. Perhaps you could make a video on that, Joshua?

[@ericbraun4652]

You can change a variable in the cli that sets GPS home on power up only, not arm or re-arm. Keeps you from having to do the "bouncies" and I can't think of a downside.

[@mike4103FPV]

will be testing that on my quad hehe

[@lifeinrc9051]

Thanks for the video Joshua, on the radio side of failsafe, what is the correct setting for it when you have GPS Failsafe and RTH setup?

[@svoland]

Thanks

[@ma1337hi]

Hey Joshua. Do I still have to set my crossfire Rx to "cut" when using GPS rescue as my failsafe? Greetings from Germany :)

[@upnorthFPVandEUC]

Thanks this all works perfect for me until I switch gps rescue back off, it just crashes to the ground. How do I recover control?

[@batlong261092]

In case my DJI goggles loses the signal from my quad, and I activate the gps rescue, does the goggle get the video signal when the quad comeback in the range of goggles’s signal or I have to wait until the quad back home, land down, and restart the quad?

[@PhillGraaf]

Still very new to this and trying to find out how to get this setup... what is a sanity check?

[@Nlanaconda]

Wat happens if it crashes in GPS rescue mode? Will it disarm or will it 'fight' whatever it is flying against?

[@Sir_Hubris]

thx!

[@sambautista50]

Hi Josh what happens if i placed FAIL SAFE anD GPS Rescue on the same AUX switch? will they interfere with each other functions or will it just fail? cheers!

[@McDeslandes]

I had no idea about this, straight into a swimming pool. No kidding

[@kolabuzlu]

Hi. Thanks for great information. I have a question. If I adjust sanity checks to failsafe only, sanity checks will not be applied in gps rescue aux mode. Will it do sanity checks in Failsafe aux mode? Best regards.

[@jimmychan4917]

Hi there, i am planning to put the BN880 to my Protek 35 FPV. But I realized the FC (Beast F7 55A V2.2 AIO (BMI270) 25.5x25.5) does not have the SDA & SCL slot. I wonder where should the SDA and SCL wire on the BN880 be soldered on? I plan to use the BN880 instead of the BN220 because I want the compass function as I keep getting lost in the forest...

[@keyrrjohnmelperino8871]

Hello sir, i'm having trouble with my setup right now for gps. When it failsafe at first time, it will do the job, but when gaining the rx signal again, the coordinate of the gps reset to where the quad was gaining the rx signal. And then when it failsafe again, it didn't go to rescue mode due to the gps_rescue_min_dth. :( i'm using the bn200 btw. sadge..

[@trinehelen10]

Thanks a lot for testing failsafe. I wonder to test it 😅

[@FRnir]

Is there a way to set fallback in case sanity check fails ? to set it to land ( for cinewhoop only)

[@GibStud]

JB, is there anyway to recover my TH2 if I accidentally reset my settings to Default on Betaflight? Boneheaded move I know but I’m just starting into FPV. You’re the best and I am wondering if you can help?

[@dericklong6191]

What budget friendly gps has a magnetometer? So it can hover on its own

[@AlphaOmega]

Hi, Joshua. I'm a Flywoo explorer user . i want to ask , what can i do if my Alt is to late on giving a data. i mean , is late . i'm in 10 meter the telemetry for altitude just give me the 10 meter after 3-4 seconds after.

[@mimarfpv]

when i activate the gps rescue switch it works, coming to home. but when i deactivate the rescue switch for taking control, quad falls down. what could be wrong?

[@anthonysmith1616]

How does that help us fix it so we. Don't have these issues

[@christopherconkright1317]

Can you do an updated version of this? Now it has Gps land etc. I will ask on sunday too incase you don't see old video comments

[@henshaw7]

Hey Josh Do you know of Any reliable gps modules? I've tried flywoos gm8, iflights gps that came with xl5 dh1586, and matecs sam- m8q and only the matec performed okay which lasted atleast 30 packs the rest of them only worked for about 2-3packs.. cheers

[@therearviewr.tapper1771]

Off topic here but you are the one with the answers. I have a QAV105 with the cheap FRSKY PRO D8 rx. It will not bind to my DJT module. Well it looks like it has bound as the lights stop flashing but I get no input on cleanflight. I have a D8R rx which works fine on my larger frame. Help!

[@badrx5783]

I think you should have used ACRO mode with motor stop ON and without using AIR MODE. That way you don't have to worry about bouncing and (maybe) breaking yours props.

[@maddercat]

Is it still like that where it just disarms?

[@billyd9040]

I have experience using GPS M80 HGLRC ( non compass ), when one of reciever wire was broken, the quad back to home point, because i can't do anything, so the quad disarm automatically, and drop down, altitude from 10 meters and 10 meters from homepoint

[@509FUN]

After all your gps videos I decided it’s time to just add gps on all my quads... so I need a bulk price lol

[@mxracingunlimitedltd7784]

How do you cancel GPS Rescue when its coming back? I have mine set to switch to Angle mode in the Failsafe Tab, when it does GPS Rescue. I thought that was how you did it but i learned later in can stay in Acro and fly back as well or it does whatever its going to do regardless maybe. Im still on BF V4.4.2 and really no complaints and no plans to switch to BF V4.5 just yet.. I know they changed a lot with the GPS Rescue in the new version of BF that just came out as a Full Release version recently.. Also cant you lower the Distance away from the Homepoint? I thought that was a setting in BF? I have GPS Rescue switch assigned, not a Failsafe switch. I have had it GPS Rescue in the past by accident from not too far away from me in a field so it worked and it had nothing to hit into, but i have my GPS Rescue Height set high enough to clear any Trees or Powerlines basically as well..

[@embededfabrication4482]

GPS rescue has made my quad fall out of the sky twice, why does it have to disarm? second time broke a motor when it crashed. It won't let you rearm and stop if from falling either, I was a couple hundred feet up, hit rescue and it disarmed and fell to the ground, neat feature. INAV RTH always works without disarming.

[@jcfpv3454]

Great video thanks JB why didn't they fix it like in inav if rth is actived too close it will automatically land instead of disarm in mid air it seams safer to land vs disarm and possibly hit/hurt someone vs slowly descending and it has the ability to land without any gps in failsafe menu I actually learned this the hard way 6 months ago and destroyed a 5" when it crashed onto my driveway( pilot error and lesions learned.)

[@JoshuaBardwell]

Inav requires a compass and a barometer. Betaflight tries to work with just a GPS. Since it has less information it has less capability.

[@philthayer4087]

I've found its best to turn OFF the baro if your FC has one.

[@philthayer4087]

I take mine 500' out, land in angle mode, no disarm. Then use AUX switch for failsafe test.

[@pengud485]

Angle mode is very useful in some cases

[@pavelnew2863]

Hi Joshua. Thank you for the video. May I check if you got the Catalyst Shocker this week? Shall we expect the review any time soon?

[@JoshuaBardwell]

It's supposed to arrive today.

[@vialdeo]

Use INAV, you can change this setting 😉

[@stevehowell2910]

have never thought about landing then testing the fail safe

[@matt1499]

nice

[@InfinityDrones]

What if the arrow does not point back home? My arrow never points back home, but the distance to home is very accurate. Using an HGLRC M80 Pro and a Zeus F748 stack. When i flip gps rescue it shoots up to like 70m in the air (even though rth is set to 30m). I'm also more than 200m away when I tested. Is there a way to calibrate the home arrow?

[@JoshuaBardwell]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/fYWVqZ-vZ7eoZ7s

[@dengorc8364]

Wish I knew this stuff before I tested gps rescue a few months back 🙄😅

[@mattsupertramp6506]

Yeppp....

[@thehyperspeed]

same, got multiple crash just because to testing the gps

[@7invi]

Me too. that time drone just fall out of the sky

[@richardbulger]

What actually happens when the rx link re-establishes after rth is initiated from a failsafe? Do you only regain control when you provide stick input?

[@JoshuaBardwell]

Correct. If you don't provide stick input it assumes you don't know you have control back yet. If you never provide stick input it will never give back control. So if you are in GPS rescue you can sort of gently deflect the sticks a bit to see if you have control back. I think you need minimum 15% deflection.

[@YuriuSSS]

I'm just flying as low as I can while testing GPS rescue, if it will disarm 1m of altitude is not so bad

[@tango_sierra8608]

Great vid! Can you PLEASE make that video that you mentioned in the live stream- how to get LQ on the DJI osd

[@gus8378]

What's LQ?

[@leffler2]

@@gus8378 Link Quality

[@gus8378]

@@leffler2 i've never seen that acronym before. Is it commonly used?

[@UnrulyRotors]

@@gus8378 it's kind of like RSSI but not. More accurate, and for crossfire.

[@tango_sierra8608]

@@ItsBlunty thank you! So this is all the same with the tango2 correct? Just want to make sure since most crossfires are modules and use some “lua script” or something. Not sure if my tbs tango does the same thing or some other black magic lol.

[@outboxfpv4360]

Nice one sr. Iam new to gps setting up on dji quad all good but my home arrow show just a dash.. no arrow ??? why? i just tested on ground did not fly

[@InfinityDrones]

update your fonts or reload your fonts in the betaflight OSD configuration.

[@RaynerGS]

Does GPS have a correct orientation or position to be placed in the drone? I ask it because my drone got in rescue mode recently, and instead go back to me, it got in another direction and went away.

[@JoshuaBardwell]

You may need to calibrate your compass. But I don't think GPS has orientation.

[@opossumfpv]

Do you know if it count vertical distance as part of the '100 meters from home'?

[@JoshuaBardwell]

Bottom line, look at the distance to home element in the OSD. I think it's only horizontal but not sure.

[@MultiGregor11]

Does anybody have an .stl file for that GPS/antenna holder?

[@jeffjorczak]

How do you regain control when it returns? Does failsafe shut off when the radio link is reestablished? Same if you shut off a return to home switch?

[@JoshuaBardwell]

Yes, failsafe returns control. You must deflect the sticks past I think 15% maybe 25% before GPS rescue quits.

[@countryboymotovlogs926]

Jason or anyone, in the failsafe portions in the transmitter, what do you set the failsafe to? No pulses, set, etc, this is on the fly woo lr explorer. R does it even matter? Thanks

[@JoshuaBardwell]

No pulses.

[@joni-mirfpv6976]

Hello Joshua. Help please, is it possible to set the toggle switch ,on and off, for the GPS rescue option? Thank you for information. Best regards.

[@JoshuaBardwell]

No, unfortuantely that can't be done. You can unplug the GPS unit before flight, and enable the Betaflight option that allows arming without GPS fix.

[@joni-mirfpv6976]

@@JoshuaBardwell Thank you for answer.

[@AErefrigeration]

When I fly 200m away, land, power off the radio, GPS rescue does not work. If I fly 200m away and use the aux switch, the quad comes back.

[@Babeboo33]

I lost my baby crock last night it went the opposite way spend like 4 hour this morning and didn't find it

[@KrotowX]

Seems "toilet-bowling" was the reason why my GPS enabled freestyle quad on RTH or GPS rescue kinda flew back, but circled in large radius around me.

[@mohanmony01]

Hi Joshua , I’m having a little problem with connecting IFLIGHT GPS module to Mamba DJI F405 mini MK2 FC . But if connect old one it shows up in Beatflight . And I check that module working fine. Any idea? Thanks

[@JoshuaBardwell]

Here are the things I would do: after wiring up the GPS unit, go to Ports tab and make sure GPS baud rate is set to auto. Then in Configuration tab, enable GPS, set type to UBLOX, and enable auto-baud and auto-configuration. At that point, if it doesn't work, I suspect wiring or hardware issue.

[@mohanmony01]

@@JoshuaBardwell appreciate your quite respond. I think I found the problem. It’s protocol this IFLIGHT M8Q-5883 GPS module working on NMEA protocol and baud rate 9600 in my FC. But I don’t know this right or wrong. Anyway thanks your help

[@utchiepulini]

that antenna placement on your goggles... which is really better? patch on top or below? hmmm

[@JoshuaBardwell]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/qn3ReqmloduiZtk&ab_channel=JoshuaBardwell

[@stefffpv]

Good day does this also work when i turn off my Radio testing the failsafe like when your losing connection with the reciver?

[@JoshuaBardwell]

Yes it will work.

[@stefffpv]

@@JoshuaBardwell Thanks for super fast answer Joshua, have a freind out in the field now. the first test did work with the switch but he was supriced how fast the drone did shoot up in the air hehe. so he want little less power on that one hehe. Skål From norway :)

[@grim-upnorth]

what does the quad do when it gets "home" but you haven't re taken control of it? For example, if your radio is powered off?

[@JoshuaBardwell]

It crashes.

[@grim-upnorth]

@@JoshuaBardwell lol cheers 🤣

[@EnuffsEnuff318]

What happens if you don't take control when the quad returns home in gps rescue?

[@JoshuaBardwell]

It crashes.

[@DougEfresh.]

Does it have to be on the ground to use GPS rescue? What if you are way out and some reason lose orientation or where you are? Can you use GPS rescue in flight?

[@Sergei75000]

It s just for tested your config , if it doesnt work , your quad will not fall , after the rescue mode has to work at distance or altitude you want when you need !

[@JoshuaBardwell]

Like Sergy said, this is just for testing. You can activate it in the air, but if a sanity check fails you will fall out of the sky.

[@likandros3633]

thank you very much for the video...and i apologize for being in your fridge..

[@adamlhotak8180]

I decided that if i did a GPS rescue test while flying and then if it disarms, it should fall, it isnt worthy of being in the fleet