LOST MY DRONE IN THE SEA...Here's What I Did Wrong

[@DroneSupremacy]

You win some, you lose some. RIP APEX! However I’m determined to look at this situation from the bright side as I’m ordering parts for my new quad 😂🤙🏼 I hope this video gives you some pointers about things to avoid and things to consider so you don't get into similar situation yourself!

[@randymcneely4983]

Crashes suck, but you ROCK with that honesty and positive attitude. Most if us should take a lesson from you sir! Best wishes from Burlington Ky. USA. MavicMini and Autel EVO pilot here. No FPV for me...too old.

[@jumpstartfpv]

Do consider getting a GPS for the gps rescue mode.

[@carsonlight_lapse6394]

Maybe you should add a GPS module and set the failsafe to GPS return to home so at least there will still be a chance? Gps modules are really cheap so I will always add them to my quad

[@sotonin]

I was wondering the same thing.. i thought all DJI drones had that safety feature return to home if signal lost?

[@carsonlight_lapse6394]

@@sotonin um no, cuz the dji fpv system does not come with the GPS system and it's not for making the quad fly like a DJI cine drone

[@sotonin]

@@carsonlight_lapse6394 Ah i see. Ive never had a FPV drone

[@objectivelense1006]

@@sotonin i think it will just be a matter of time before they put that in...thinking that the mavic mini is 249g and has everything..add a more powerful motor hmmmm cam it do it?

[@fffmpeg]

@@sotonin yes, they all do, but this is the dji fpv system. it is only for video. the gps module would be connected to the flight controller which is not a dji product.

[@adirdays]

just lost my drone a few days ago and I miss it ,lol wanted to find some comforting videos :(

[@TiagoWolf]

You can start a new hobby. Scuba diving 🤙 nevertheless if that zone usually has divers and your drone has a sticker with your phone number you might be blessed

[@bijoykalathil]

Sorry to know this Mike , still , I completely appreciate your mindset to provide guidance to the fellow pilots .. Cheers from 🇮🇳 👍

[@samuelcarter9077]

You are right I really like his positivity ☺️

[@Conradlovesjoy]

Look up “GetterBack” I use it every time I am over water. The little buoy deploys so you can GET HER BACK!

[@benjamingetter7712]

Look at my last name

[@proddream3845]

@@benjamingetter7712 lool

[@ABarraza]

Mike, for me...it helps to learn from other pilots, especially if I have drone and I enjoy to fly it. Sorry about your lost and thank you for sharing your experience. This is Angel From Cabo San Lucas, Baja Sur, México.

[@jonahchua]

@Drone Supremacy what some people have done is strap plastic water bottle on the bottom to make the drone float if it crashes. In freshwater as long as you unplug the drone underwater it has a good chance of surviving. Love the content btw.

[@DroneSupremacy]

I literally did that with the same quad last week when I flew over water. For some reason i totally forgot doing it this time :/

[@jonahchua]

Drone Supremacy aww too bad. Next time you’ll remember 👍

[@longboardlouie5816]

Thank you so much for being humble enough to share this experience with us. You hit the nail on the head when you said this stuff isn't that important compared to family and friends. I recently lost all my videos and photos thanks to Windows 10 updates or whatever, and hearing you just reaffirms me what's important, thanks again!

[@sharksfan2011]

dude, so sorry to see this. I fly all the time off the coast of California and my biggest fear is interference and my drone dropping into the drink. Thanks for sharing your story though, we all learn from each other’s mistakes.

[@nes.torfernandez]

I lost my drone as well at the beach with GoPro I clouded it was my favorite HD 7 inch quad. I didn’t lose video I failsafe using the tango 2 the first time I flow it. A empty plastic bottle is good to fly over water. I use two true RC as well and to be honest I don’t think Omni antennas will make a difference because the range of those isn’t that good so you won’t have much 360 range coverage. Learn from your mistakes. I know it sucks but you will get trough it and rise stronger. ( A GPS is also a good option )

[@dmarko326]

Frigging Tango2. Needs to be 1W .

[@Ger.FPV2023]

I'm sorry for your lost man. This is why I always got GPS and rescue mode in all my rigs when flying over water or mountains. Is very sad to loose your quad after so much work and investment.. Cheers 🙂

[@captraykelly]

Sorry about your loss of drone and GoPro. That's why DJI RTH is great. Cool place to fly. Thanks for sharing.

[@HDBoy]

I perfectly understand how bad feelling is it, I just lost one of my quad as same a couple days ago. Built the next one and keep flying! Happy fly!

[@RCGemblung]

6:23 is that distance caused the problem? I heard you can fly dji fpv up to 10km far away.... This is just 1km.

[@karnkarnkarn]

Yea. Lost signal for 3 sec it hovers and then return home. That is what I heard!?

[@RCGemblung]

@@karnkarnkarn sad

[@Hidden_Destinations]

Thank you for helping the rest of us by being so honest.

[@xplmr1]

That sucks. Pool noodles are also a great tool for recovery in water crashes. They are light, visible, easy to attach and give you peace of mind while trying to get that shot over water. You can cut, shape, and attach them to your drone without affecting the balance or aero dynamics too greatly.

[@jackbisson9226]

Its good you are going to use GPS failsafe mode. I lost one of my fpv drones and then installed GPS units on all of the remaining drones. It sucks to lose a GoPro, Air Unit , etc.

[@ioannisevanthis8397]

Was in ATTI mode when lost the signal ...at the time of crash? Maybe the air conditions were different at the point of crash? Thanks for sharing your experience !

[@objectivelense1006]

the topography of the rocks makes a huge difference. it is like a stealth coating and absorbs and scatter signals.

[@acvlabs]

I lost mine to yesterday, it definitely feels very bad.

[@jrbees929]

So sorry Mike. Thanks for trying to help us to avoid the same situation.

[@SB-ri4tb]

Hi, sorry to hear about the lost drone. One thing that I don’t understand: if the RTH is working and the height set for returning is higher than obstructions, the drone should come back when you lose signal ? I have lived through this a few times but the drone retuned. The key is to have the RTH settings right. Sam

[@SpaceAgeOdyssey]

Sorry to hear you lost your drone. Like you said its just material thing and can be replaced. Thats a good reminder because I know it can suck losing it if it cost a lot. I lost a drone a few years ago.. Yuneec Breeze I got for Xmas, was lucky to have about 5 good months of flying it. Lost it because I got too close to the bricks on the front of my house about 4 ft away, and... A strong breeze and whack!!! Down it went. It never flew again, messed up the motor, to fix it wouldn't be cost justified. Oh well it was not as good as the one I have now.. I'm now extremely overcareful when it comes to how close any type of terrain is to my mavic mini.. Like at least a 40 ft space cushion. No trees, open field, never indoors.

[@MissNajahe]

Me and my friend both have DJI mavick air 2. When we go flying together we frequently lose signal even when we're 20' apart. Rarely have the connection issues when I'm flying alone though.

[@charlesduzzie9811]

It is bad you lost your drone. The video of that area in Bulgaria was very beautiful.

[@asyatravels]

So sorry to hear it! And thanks for the video, I did learn some things! I almost lost my drone recently because I flew too far and then crazy wind started unexpectedly. It was super stressful 🙈

[@ioannisevanthis8397]

what drone you are flying? your drone has ATTI MODE ?

[@AboveandBeyondGlobalDrones]

Sharing with the community the Errors that took place and the possibility of radio interference from yor flying partner is a welcome, selfless act. We learn from our mistakes and those of others, when there shared, that's a part of what makes this community so great. Thanks for posting this learning experience.

[@DroneSupremacy]

Thank you! 🙌🏼

[@ernieschatz3783]

All good points. I thought you would never mention GPS, but you got there. We can talk about the type of precautions that are more or less self discipline or self-imposed limits all day, but a sense of adventure will always be at odds with that. The unattractive side of FPV hobby-grade to me has always been the land-in-place failsafe. That issue is magnified if you have crossfire, ELRS etc and a drone with any decent battery life. Failsafe to RTH is a no brainer IMO. Especially with a DJI air unit that costs as much a your GoPro.

[@Young360]

damn, sorry to hear that you lost your fpv... i really enjoyed your FPV shots!!

[@DroneSupremacy]

Don't worry another build is coming soon, plus I have another 3-4 fpv drones ready to go :)

[@Kajedkid]

Tough break man. Maybe if your gonna do some shots like that you should think about putting GPS on the quads and get the fail-safes working. Could've really helped in this situation.

[@rexcowan9209]

Although you lost signal the drone should have automatically returned to home. Providing you had the return to home height set and location was updated when you launched, then the loss of the drone is some sort of software malfunction. You should be able to look up your flight record in the app and it will animate the flight with all the warnings as you go along. I find these disappear off the screen too quick to read when flying, and when you are keeping visual contact which is mandatory where I live, its hard to switch back to what is happening on my phone. I'm learning to keep to my flight plan and end off when I have done what I set out to do. I crashed into a bush while I was pretty much fooling around after I had done what I had planned. Also I believe turning the drone off and rebooting the app are a good idea as you go along and get things completed.

[@philq9815]

Sorry to hear this, my mavic air lost signal when a kid came along with an RC car. Luckily I had it set to return home when signal is lost between the remote and drone.

[@gerardmorgan5246]

Gutted for your loss. On the plus side, I got to see your coastline and it's beautiful!

[@madladdan]

Water is literally the grim reaper of drones. If you fly a drone near water it will attract it. I've seen videos of people who crash meters from water and the drone bounces and rolls off trees and rocks and somehow lands in the water. I will never fly near water XD

[@TonysTravel]

Sad history Mike - Anyways let me share my 5 cents tips with you. - *Interference* : Flying with 2 radios close produce what is called interfering signal due to the beat of the spurious frequencies - *Rocks*: Avoid to fly below the radio line of the horizon when you are in proximity of rocks because they are full of magnetics minerals - *Antennas*: Don't buy antennas with slight radiation lobe, prefer directional antennas with at least 180 degrees of radiation lobe. Omnidirectional are not good in WiFi because you are using very high frequency and your signal need to be the best. Quick example an omnidirectional antenna has usually 0 dB of gain because spread the signal at almost 360 degrees, a directional antenna can reach 8 up to 15-20 dB of gain because the radiation lobe is less wide. I hope those tips can help, and happy to discuss further the topic

[@DroneSupremacy]

This certainly does help. I've learned a lot since this accident and i hope it won't repeat :)

[@RGMGFitness]

Sorry to hear she was lost at sea. Yes, FPV is very unforgiving....that's a great t-shirt logo! If it makes you feel any better I would have attempted that ARCH shot as well! No doubt! No risk...no reward as they say.

[@TriniWeekes]

Sorry to hear my friend, unfortunately its part of the Hobby.

[@dmarko326]

I lost one in the Atlantic in the Florida Keys some years ago. It didn't have GPS rescue as it was FlightOne FC with Crossfire but no GPS support. Certain marine equipment , namely Raymarine Micronet also on 915mhz may have been the culprit as a yacht with it was passing nearby.

[@DangerousDaveKincaid]

Sorry Mike for the loss.. I have lost a drone also to the sea.

[@lifeinrc9051]

I'm so sorry you lost the drone Mike, I'm also surprised that you fail safe with Crossfire. I don't know much about signal strength in your area but I will say that GPS RTH would of saved the drone most likely. With your quality of range, footage and photos I would suggest Betaflight GPS RTH failsafe configuration or iNav GPS RTH failsafe.

[@DroneSupremacy]

I'm on it for my next build!

[@jumpstartfpv]

Get a GPS for the quad and use the gps rescue mode. That way of you failsafe it automatically throttles up, climbs and them returns to home.

[@IaninLondon]

Ah, that's sad man! Really sorry to see this. Have to say FPV close to rocks over water leaves no room for forgiveness! And you've got used to the DJI OcuSync signal strength, and also DJI style of auto-RTH with its own RTH auto-altitude, so I think it would have just carried on with its flight path until it hit the cliff. Chin up and carry on flyng mate! Cheers, Ian

[@Pieschacon]

Sorry RIP drone!. all the best

[@cigarnationwarriors3981]

This is a total bummer, Mike. Glad to see you’re keeping a positive outlook on this crash. Stay the course because you’re content is excellent. CNW😎🇺🇸

[@chcgostyle]

I fly a DJI drone, I see a lot about people on youtube who build their own FPV drones. What does it cost to build the one you lost? What are the real advantages of building your own, compared to buying one? ... Sorry for your loss. You took it like "a trooper".

[@manc01]

So sorry to hear about this. You have a good attitude towards what happened. Nobody was hurt and it can be replaced. I was going to suggest a GPS. One simple thing that I do is put a label on my quads with my phone number and "reward". It could potentially help to recover it if it goes missing. Keep up the good work 😁

[@jaymaynard2646]

I can relate my friend. I crashed my Air 2 a few days ago. I lost communication also but it was weird because the drone was above me at the time with no obstacles. Anyway I enjoy your videos. Take care and God bless!

[@lynsmith1096]

Sorry you lost your drone and the footage at the end of the video are great.

[@IanPerry]

Oh dear - sorry Mike! Flying low, behind things, even trees, I often lose signal; but, I am lucky that I only fly drones with altitude hold & RTH. Stay safe! Ian :-)

[@downsouth822]

Yep👍

[@bikooig]

Sorry to hear that Mike, as you said don't worry about materials :) BTW nice ending i like the small cinematic video ;)

[@omanfly909]

sorry to hear that mike . sure the dji mavic will effect the signal and it happened to me but from the video and the sudden act of drone I feel like the crossfire failed safe

[@lesio333]

Thank you for sharing your painful experience so we can learn from it. You have a great mind set - we can buy a drone again :)

[@MartinMeli]

I'm sorry about your drone, but it's good to learn from mistakes and it's even better to teach others

[@PeterRospond]

This is very interesting - losing video signal should not affect the radio. Crossfire uses 868 MHz while DJI Air unit 5.8 GHz. With other DJI Mavic in the air you should still not lose radio. There must be another factor in play here. Sorry you lost your quad though :(

[@JBARTNICKI]

Haha just lost my Mavic air 2 over the sea too lol but also 😢

[@judasblewit]

Ugh I would throw up lol.

[@JBARTNICKI]

Yea it pretty annoying

[@judasblewit]

@@JBARTNICKI I thought they were smart? How did it happen?

[@JBARTNICKI]

I was flying it very low and a wave hit it

[@RubyS.1]

I lost an apex a week ago no GoPro but DJI. Same problem I practiced but went behind a building and video never recovered. I think once DJI looses link it basically reboots so it won't come back.

[@MichaelMenton]

Sorry to hear, same thing happened to me today :( Searched for over 1 hour and could not find it.

[@claudiufarcas]

No need for GPS, all we need is that FC firmware in the case of failsafe, to switch to horizon(level) flight and climb up for 10-20 meters and sit there stable until you have time to adjust your antenas to recover the signal and connection. For this to work the FC needs only the accelerometer and altitude(air pressure) sensor. No GPS needed. I bet this approach would have saved a couple of dozens of FPV drones out there. I feel you pain!

[@MariusMeyer1]

Sorry Mike. Thx for sharing. Enjoy the next build

[@overfly_pt]

What bad luck Mike can happen to anyone, don't be discouraged👍😢👍

[@ivanjdrakov1957]

Човек, не мога да повярвам че си направил такава грешка брат, честно ти казвам. Най важното нещо, дори за DJI дронове, е LOS (Line of Sight)! Ако нямаш директнен visibility на дрона, то тогава и дистанционното няма да работи, особено ако има СКАЛИ брат между вас. Аз като си летя с моето Мини и винаги най важното ми нещо е сигнала, ако има дори малко lag, тогава знам че повече не бива на далеч, и също много внимавам със сгради в София. Но се случва и на най добрите от нас, така че - heads up buddy, I'm sure you'll never make this mistake again. I actually thought you lost your Mavic Air 2 and I was gonna cry for real... But for a FPV drone I can't cry, although I'm really really sad for your loss of the GoPro camera, that hurt me also hey! I also think in Bulgaria we need new laws for the transmission power we're allowed to have for 5.8ghz band channels, thus way at least we can have better signal and stuff, but rocks bro, no that's just too hectic for any signal I guess.. Sweet Keep well and be safe bro.. PS : it's called RADIO SILENCE bro.. 🙂

[@michaelc5027]

Yikes, that's rough Mike, sorry to see this happen to you. This hobby has great highs but also great lows that are a result of the risk that is inherent with flying FPV. You learn from experience, improve and keep going 👍

[@smallerthanagrainofsand9008]

On snaps that sucks. Gps would’ve prevent it to stop flying on lost signals and return home by default ?

[@Utyobko]

Appreciate your sharing experience and some thoughts to dwell in.

[@leof.6288]

Sorry to hear Mike

[@iflyfpv5927]

I understand how you feel, I’ve been on the losing end once or twice and it’s a bummed out feeling but I love this hobby and so I kept going and I learned from every experience... sorry about your quad but your attitude is 👍💯 😉

[@hiflyer53qwc]

super cool to hear honesty...what more can I say. Thanks for this and all of your video's

[@sawneybean9584]

welcome to the club my fpv quad went for a swim in Scotlands Clyde .

[@clivewoods4975]

Mike. Really tough luck. I don’t think your crossfire was hit by your friends DJI system as they use very different frequencies. It does sound like a fail safe caused by the density of the rocks. Something to think about is putting a gps on your drones. Easy to do. I have this on all mine (even on a 3 and 2 inch). It adds only a few grams but you can set failsafe to return to home rather than drop. Given some of the great footage and locations you film on fpv I think this is a must.

[@KenCorkum]

Sorry to hear you lost your drone and GoPro. What is the Stol GPS (I think that is what you said) thing you mentioned??

[@edwinnegron7761]

sorry for your loss :(

[@Manihsi]

You’re very Nice guy , sorry about loosing your drone

[@thatsthatdude]

Lost my drone yesterday in the river...sad start to the weekend.

[@MPQuads237]

Feeling with you buddy. Happened to me last autumn. Good lesson learned.

[@brianpickens9556]

Thanks for the share. Respect. Sorry to hear about the gear! Damn

[@kaddyfpv]

When flying over water you should strap an empty water bottle to the bottom of the drone! 10- 15g of extra weight but at least it will float!

[@MaximumDiver]

Sorry for the accident...Could you ask a fellow scuba diver to dive in this area? I guess it would be preferable to go with a boat. Amazing shots by the way Mike! Take care and stay safe!

[@nicklasv8880]

I don't quite understand how this happened? No signal does not mean that the drone just drops like a rock...? Was that no signal for a long time?

[@berry2583]

To bad for you Mike! But thnx for sharing, we can al learn from you. Good luck building your new quad!

[@roroger2402]

Wow! That's a real shame Mike but I'm sure you won't dwell on it, but build a new done with added features. All the best.

[@laser__unicorn]

My biggest fear, to lose my mavic 2 in the ocean. I live by the beach and the rock formation on the place I'm used to fly causes massive interference with the controller.

[@danielmadrid818]

How come?. So what's the reliability of occusync then?🤔🤔

[@DB_-jj7wd]

Ocusync 2.0 Should be stable and get you a good 10Km - What are you getting interference from? - The FPV Was on a totally different frequency band(s) and distance was less than 1km

[@dannyschreckengost1973]

@@DB_-jj7wd yeah quote, should be. It's probably the best of it's kind but I'm in the city and I can't get over 2500 feet in the city. Before losing connection or getting weak signal's. Granted there is alot of trees, buildings, houses, and wifi connections, etc but still for the price I should be able to go further.

[@alejoush]

This comment by any means have and agressive intention, just a warning for everyone in your situation to consider. Sorry you lost your drone hop thie helps for the next one. This is a perfect example for people flying automated easy camera drones not to get into fpv thinking they know what they are doing without respecting a proper learning curve and understanding their equipment before going to a difficult location, dominate your training fly fied and then go test your limits. 1st earth and rocks are the most interfering object to radio signals so you must never let them between you and your drone. 2nd you can see in the video footage you were flying with your antenas facing directly in the opposite direction to your drone thats a newbee mistake , you were watching to the sea and not into the place you were flying while using directional patch antennas and not omnidirectional ones. 3rd your directional patches could easily manage those obstacles they have a 120 horizontal coverage and a narrower vertical but they have great penetration facing the right direction 4th always set a switch in your radio with a level flight mode in case you loose control just flick it put some throttle and get altitude to get signal back, then go to acro again and bring it back 5th always go with a spotter and tell him to call for warnings if you are getting out of sight or behind stuff or over people 6th never fly a 5" over people you could have hit or cut someone

[@thehexter1]

Live and learn, amigo. Stuff happens but a good learning event for you and all of us.

[@eyemavic786]

Sorry to see your drone go....

[@skyrotfpv]

Sorry to here dude! 😥 Do you think an angle mode switch could have helped? When you lose vtx, you could switch from acro to angle mode and throttle up. This would help to level the quad and shoot up vertically. Keep your head up and good luck next time! 🍀✌️FPV has its extremes... in a positive and negative way. That's why I love it so much!

[@domi1711]

I've seen some Goggle DVR of a very similar situation, complete loss of signal within the fraction of a second. Normally you have something close to the drone which reflects the signal, so you have a link even without a direct LOS. But in this case, there was just Water. I'm sure you will be more careful next time :) Great Vid!

[@mouthpiec]

I think the biggest mistake was that you planned the flight, but did not fly the plan :) better luck next time mate

[@MindRiderFPV]

Sorry man. Next time a floater on the quad. Have you tried searching with a strong magnet attached to a line?

[@Hobbit247]

Ok I have a Mavic Mini and I purposely flew it out until it lost signal. It came back to me to the home point or until it regained signal to my controller. I'm sorry for your loss bud. But the shots you did get are pretty cool. Yes......enjoy life my friend. We only got one spin on this rock.....absolutely enjoy it. Stay safe and thanks for the vid

[@allancox651]

hi just heard a guy from another channel on drones mentioning about VIO interfering with your GPS under 20 feet and also mentions lots of pilots he talks to that lose their drones above water...90% of them this has happened with the VIO. I have,nt got a drone ...but interested so am watching youtube videos. hope this helps and sorry to hear you lost your drone -(. Thanks, Allan.

[@Kajedkid]

Such a beautiful landscape. Good stuff. Good positivity. Don't get hung up on material stuff.

[@genefoxgreenmountaindroning]

Sorry about your drone but the video at the end is nice

[@bluegrassdroneguy3495]

My guess is the rocks blocking signal was main culprit, sorry bout your equipment Mike

[@private7384]

Why does the drone drop on loss of signal...it doesnt have a failsafe hover or rth or something?

[@dannie3117]

Bad luck. KZbin needs a “sad” button for things like this

[@floatinsun]

Happy and sad button 🤣

[@top10todolist2]

Could this happen with a mavic air 2? Never knew a drone could drop from losing signal

[@apeel2008]

Silver lining. You now have an extra space on your wall rack for a new drone! Yeah!! (sorry for the bad joke ... )

[@MrEddieNunez]

You are a really positive guy 🙏

[@danboarder]

agree, GPS rescue mode would have been the solution in this case 😭

[@neilfpv]

That's what I was thinking too. I have that and enabled for a manual switch and RXLOSS. If that happened to me, I will do touch the switch.

[@danboarder]

@@neilfpv also if you have RTH on RXLOSS and have no video you can just turn off your radio to make sure it's triggered.

[@neilfpv]

@@danboarder yep, I did that test before and it worked!

[@asahai2]

Danboarder, could u please share a link to where I can read up to set this up? Thanks...

[@danboarder]

@@asahai2 sure, Joshua Bardwell has a good GPS rescue how-to video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/eJC8nWOtpreZbJo

[@VictorMartinVandJ]

Sorry for your loss. But it wasn't a signal issue from the other drone. I've been to drone meet ups. And me and my buddy fly our DJI drones together feet away. Never an issue. More plausible to be the rocks blocking your signal.