What if the battery runs out while flying Long Range FPV?!

[@FalconRadFPV]

A note why I haven't been using GPS coordinates. Well first off, yes I learned my lesson, I should have been logging the GPS coordinates on my transmitter. That would have helped me find it in this case for sure. BUT 95% of the flights I do there is no way to get to the mountain and recover the drone. Almost every mountain I fly there is no road going up to the base of it. Even if I have coordinates it is not possible to access the other side of the river in most places. Almost all my flights I start by crossing a river. As soon as I get across that river there is no way to get to the other side and look for it. If you see roads in the video on the other side, I've tried them all and most are wiped out by landslides because they only maintain them while logging that area (once every 30 years) then they let them fall apart. That is one of the things that many don't realize about my flights. Almost every flight, there is no way to get it back even if I could see it on the ground with binoculars. I would need a helicopter! That said, yes in this case it would have helped to log coordinates since I flew the quad towards the only accessible road on that side of the river. I'll be logging coordinates with my transmitter from now on but I won't be putting them in my OSD. OSD coordinates would be very rough and disappear along with video. At least with them on the transmitter I could get the current coordinates when it's on the ground if I still have a connection with the receiver (and if the gps is still working).

[@douglasshackett8747]

Awe that explains no coordinates in OSD.

[@WX4CB]

i totally agree... this is the reason why i log coordinates on the tadio. I even log them on the OSD purely and sinmply before that the couple of times i've "lost" an aircraft. I know the last coordinates that were on the OSD or on the radio, when i get to that point, some times i still have video and/or the RX is still going so even if i don't hav a connection on the RX, if i get close and the video is still running, the latest coordinates are there. if that makes sense.

[@daemn42]

FWIW, whenever I've gone down while mountain flying, it's not been at the top of the mountain miles out of reach (thus I would simply ignore that as an excuse for not being prepared), but almost always for the same reason as your flight, flying the battery low on the way home (often fighting an unexpected wind, or because I tried just *one more* climb and dive) and I either just come up short somewhere in the forest a couple hundred meters away or aim for a reachable road somewhere. 1. You don't really need to "log" the GPS on the Tx. If you have telemetry enabled on the FC and simply tell the TX to discover all available sensors, and GPS coordinates are included in that stream. You probably already had it in your telemetry, or could have gotten them. Any time you have a link, you'll have have live GPS coordinates, and if the link is lost it simply freezes on the last know coordinates. Add em to your telemetry display and take a pic with the cell phone before you shut off the Tx.. 2. As for the beeper. Yes you might not be able to hear it over the water in this case, but it's still useful for pinpointing the location once you get close in the forest using some other technique. To that end, I always have a self powered beeper installed in all my quads (GPS enabled or not). My preference is the VIFLY Finder V2. It charges itself off the beeper power pads but can beep for more than a day when power is lost, is quite loud, and even starts a bright LED strobe at night which you can use to locate it on the face of a mountain by eye, or even with another drone. 3. You already had something in your hand with better direction finding capabilities than the zero penetration 5.8Ghz video. Your RC Tx. Enable Rf RSSI display on your Tx and then move the Tx around and watch the RSSI go up and down. Can even put it on a bar graph instead of just using numbers. If you're far enough away, then you use the directional antenna and follow the higher signal strength. When you get closer, the high strength direction becomes too wide, so the trick is to switch to an omni antenna and then hold the tx backwards with the antenna close to your body and turn until the signal is blocked by your body and the RSSI drops (practice this somewhere safe first so you understand how it works). Then simply move opposite the direction of lowest (or lost) signal strength . When you get so close that the RSSI doesn't drop in any direction, then usually you're within range of the beeper (or video if it's still transmitting). BTW, this type of direction finding works best if you set the Tx to fixed power level (and you can reduce the power as you get closer to improve the body blocking accuracy). One issue with this type of direction finding is when you find yourself in steep rocky terrain, you may get reflections and signal blocked by the nearby rocks. Sometimes it's best to move some distance off in a couple different directions (up and down your road for instance) and triangulate instead of trying to go straight toward it. As long as I have RC telemetry signal, I've never lost an aircraft, thus I usually rely on it *first* so I can work it before the battery in the aircraft dies. I've been using this trick since the very first 2.4Ghz RC that had telemetry and have done it following nothing more than a single LED telling me I had telemetry signal or not, using the body blocking technique. It's so much easier with Rf RSSI.

[@WX4CB]

@@daemn42 one thing we do when we are "fox hunting" with our amateur radio gear is similar to what you describe using body fade, but when you get so close that you can't tell... just take off the antenna and see what direction it's in.. now obviously you're using a transmitter so you have to be careful, but most transmitters can cope with not having an antenna on for a few seconds. heck my tbs crossfire module has not had an antenna on it for an hour at 100mW when i forgot to switch the radio off after putting it in my bag lol

[@daemn42]

@@WX4CB Yes I was going to mention removing the antenna when you get very close but it as you say it is a Tx, and they don't *all* like that. Another option is to pick up a terminator or otherwise really badly tuned antenna just for this purpose.

[@RCwithAdam1]

This is a great video. I really appreciate your humility to post this. It helps the rest of us learn, and events like this make the lessons really stick. I could absolutely see and feel the panic, anguish, grief and eventual acceptance of the situation. I definitely felt the sense of loss, like something had died. Props to you and your spotter for making the best of a bad situation at the end. 👍👍

[@FalconRadFPV]

Thanks so much! You are one of the few that got the point of the video. Even if it only helps 1 or 2 people, it was worth the embarrassment of posting this. 😅

[@larssmith2170]

I recently recovered my 7 inch long range DJI quad that had been stuck in a tree for 3 months. It landed in a dense forest 1.5 miles short of home due to my poor head wind calculation. I was finally able to drag a fishing line across the branch with another quad and shake it down. In spite of months of heavy rain everything on the quad worked except for the buzzer! It still flies perfect. I used the lat/long coordinates plugged into my tablet to find it.

[@FalconRadFPV]

Wow, crazy! It still flew fine 3 months later?! That's awesome!

[@gregor.potrebujes]

Oh man, I felt your pain while watching this movie... been there, done that... While watching it my heart was pumping just as if I was flying it... The moment of realizing that 3V per cell while being 3km out... gotta say you handled it much better than I would have :) We all learn... trully sorry for your loss. It just happens sometimes. Very nice of you that you compiled this clip even though it must have been hard...

[@FalconRadFPV]

Thank you very much for saying so.

[@mickelson8332]

I feel for you mate. We have all had that feeling of despair when we lose something we have put a lot of time, effort and of course money in to. I don't have even a glimmer of the experience and knowledge you have but by you posting this, you have made me feel so much better when I see that even the experts can lose their very expensive gear sometimes....in the nicest possible way of course. Thanks for posting mate. Mick UK

[@FalconRadFPV]

Thanks for the comment!

[@00fluxone]

it can happen to the most experienced - my biggest fear isnt losing a quad, its starting a forest fire from a burst lipo in these situations

[@FalconRadFPV]

Good point! That's why I use li-ion most of the time. One of the tests they do for li-ion cells to be considered safe to sell, is to crush them. If they catch on fire or explode then that cell type fails the test and won't be sold by major retailors. Li-ion cells are MUCH safer than lipos. A lipo can catch fire just by lightly hitting a branch.

[@humbertomontalban3932]

Incorrect, this happen only to idiots.

[@alekss.7123]

Fortunately, these batteries were pretty dead so there was not much left to cause a fire

[@frankwindt]

If u fly LiIon there is much more less danger ! Safety first. Yeah this is a horror scenario. There your insurance of 1.5 Mio doesn't beat it.

[@andrewut7ya511]

@@humbertomontalban3932 thags not true at all. You can build a perfect quad and do everything right but if a mosfet in your esc blows, you are going down. Ive had a faulty esc fail on me after 3 flights with no crash. Luckily i fell into an open field and could easily recover, but over a forest that could have been bad.

[@derek7448]

I'm just amazed how far in the middle of nowhere you are in a two wheel drive truck, wife on crutches, looking for your drone with everything you have at your disposal. You two are hardcore to the bone!!

[@FalconRadFPV]

haha, thanks. Ya that one was quite an adventure!

[@peeweeherman5590]

So sorry for your loss. It's like losing a pet you will always be looking around every Bush for a long time hoping to find it. RIP Falcon

[@timucindemiralp8581]

This video makes you more pro. No worries. I am new long range FPV pilot. I watched your video and read all your comments 2 times to learn. Thanks. I have 2 questions. 1- What was your battery pack on guad that day (2 packs of 4200mah 6s Lipo ? that should be ok for at least 20 mins you were not flying agresively) 2- Why your amp meter was not accurate?

[@FalconRadFPV]

its was 2 packs of 2600 mah 6s li-ion. The amp meter I had made a small change to the day before. It ended up making much more of a difference in the readings than I had expected.

[@josheaton4618]

Oh I know the feeling! Great flight, regardless, and thanks so much for the commentary during flight. As an aspiring long-ranger I was taking notes!

[@FalconRadFPV]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@itamarperez]

Oh man watching this, I'm reliving those moments when you know it's down and you get the adrenaline rush going out there finding it ❤️

[@colbiecallister2307]

Ah yes I know that feeling, including the frantic “we have to try to find it” never fun but that’s the nature of the best!

[@FalconRadFPV]

Thanks, ya its part of the risk flying in a location like this.

[@pinarmusa]

I know that feel. Even a buzzer could not help with those roaring waterfalls. Wonderful scenery. Carry on. Stepping up your yt thumbnail game I see btw? lmao

[@FalconRadFPV]

Ya that's the added risk of flying mountains. The landscape is so difficult to access. Yes I've been experimenting with my thumbnails a bit more. It's interesting, half art, half phycology.

[@SchuylerL]

Your best video yet, sorry you lost it for good. You took that really well!!

[@FalconRadFPV]

Glad you enjoyed it, thanks.

[@k4x4map46]

Wow; know the feeling...been 'joy flying' quads since 2017 LOS. last year first time ever going fpv (all explicits included!) night test flight disoriented but the killah part I had a dead (used) battery in my 'charged' battery bag. goggles were on a table recording footage with my phone...reviewing the footage, battery low right at take off...red/green pos lights winked out quad dropped...search was on--no chance of finding it --everything about that quad was brand new; took me two weeks to get over it!! lesson learned and now I'm getting into long range and wowzie this video is preparing me in a great way!! Thanks for uploading it!!

[@FalconRadFPV]

Darn, that sucks, sorry to hear you lost that quad.

[@k4x4map46]

@@FalconRadFPV Definitely a lesson...battery check check!!

[@soonjaekwon6455]

I also lost my 7" quad by drowning in a river last month, so watching your video cheered you on finding your quad again. I'm sorry you didn't find the quad.

[@FalconRadFPV]

Oh, sorry to hear you lost a quad recently as well. I had one go down in a river in November, 2 years ago. It was close to me though and the water was low so I was able to wade into the river and get it. My legs started going numb in just a couple of minutes though, warmed up for 30 min before packing up and then cranking the heat the whole way home!

[@MonkeySwing]

Dude, I love your videos. Thank you for being so vulnerable.

[@FalconRadFPV]

Thank you, I appreciate that!

[@oswaldgrimmelsworth9774]

Really sorry you lost the quad. Regardless, I love these videos and this format. Please keep doing them. I am going to join the Patreon.

[@NevesFPV93]

Oh man that is so unfortunate, it takes some time to forget a lost quad. It's always a combination of factors that usually make our quad to be lost. Either way since this happened to me as well in Madeira Island - Portugal, just think there was a learned lesson with that lost and keep flying and producing awesome content. Happy new year mate 😊

[@FalconRadFPV]

Thanks. Oh yes lots more flying and content to come!

[@ValleyFPV]

Watching this... I totally understand what emotions were running through you during the flight. And yes..many don't realize how thick this terrain is. When the quad is down its gone.

[@FalconRadFPV]

Hey buddy, thanks for the comment!

[@Jonsbasecamp]

Excellent video! You and the wife stayed very positive. I've added a Marco Polo tracking system (~12grams) to my long range Chimera 7...just in case I need to do a search. It's very small/light weight and I attach to one of the batteries. Up to 2 mile range and battery lasts for days.

[@JorgeJimenez2020]

Where do you get this Marco Polo tracker?

[@FalconRadFPV]

I'll have to look that up, sounds like a good idea if the signal is strong enough.

[@kabirahmed9845]

Well! You have documented and we can learn from your experience. Good Luck for next flight 👍

[@FalconRadFPV]

Thanks!

[@ColorsRfun]

Good attitude with the quad / Go Pro loss! Appreciate your work

[@FalconRadFPV]

Thanks 👍

[@copternutFPV]

Great video thank you Conrad, I'm currently using a Matek M8Q-5883 Compass GPS sitting raised above the quad running INAV, gotta say I'm really impressed so far. I realise this wouldn't have helped at all in this situation, battery calibration even small adjustments can really change things! We are always learning, even the King of Long Range (IMHO) FalconRad can get things a bit wrong but it's who is willing to share that helps us all improve.

[@FalconRadFPV]

Thanks for the comment. Ya I was hesitant to make this video. I thought it would be good to show that long range isn't all beautiful views and mountain dives, it's also searching and possibly starting over. I was rushed, distracted and focused on making content rather than setting everything up properly first. It doesn't exactly make me look like a pro, but from the very beginning of starting on KZbin I decided that I wanted to just be myself and not get stressed out by trying to come across as a super confident pro. I screwed up this time and this is what happens when you push your luck to much without proper preparation. I'm just like everyone else, except very driven and dedicated once I've set my mind on something.

[@jeffdempsey2446]

Thank you Chris for the Lessons Learned.

[@FalconRadFPV]

It's Conrad actually.

[@earry509fpv]

Sorry for your loss brotha!! I can tell u feel the same as me when u lost it!!

[@FalconRadFPV]

Thanks!

[@lordknighton]

Thanks for sharing, sorry for your loss.

[@FalconRadFPV]

Thank you.

[@cohendavies]

Great video. What a ride. If only you could have made it to that road and recovered the quad, but still, really enjoyed that!

[@FalconRadFPV]

So close! I'm sure the quad was within 50 meters of where I parked the truck.

[@gigazman]

@@FalconRadFPV if have fluorescent props or strap on your quad, you can maybe find it easily with a powerful UV torch at night if you have any chance to get there again. I found my small 2" props lost in the middle of the grass like this :)

[@meirdeaph]

Omg u handled that way better than i would an tossing the roadblock an crossing the bridge i love u guys so much

[@FalconRadFPV]

Thanks so much! I really appreciate the comment!

[@undeze]

Thanks for sharing this experience. There are often as many learning points from stories like this, where things have not gone to plan, as there are from crisp & concise video tutorials. Cheers :)

[@FalconRadFPV]

Thank you, I appreciate that.

[@polarijet]

great educational content. I've flown long range without proper testing (sometimes any) more times than I'd like to admit. Surprisingly, only one aircraft couldn't be recovered.

[@FalconRadFPV]

ok so I'm not the only one that rushes the process sometimes.

[@mexicofpv]

I've done just a few long range flights, but as much as I want to trust my ELRS and RTH Im still scared of this jaja. I discovered the other day that I should keep recording my dvr with my Latitude + Longitude position that is in my osd just incase i can look at that, and I also get them displayed on my transmitter too, which is super cool incase of failsafe and unsuccessful return and the drone loses connection at least i have the GPS lat+Lon are still on my remote and in my OSD. In the end its part of the hobby I had to convince myself LOL Greetings from Mexico and thank you for the video! Later we will be doing some volcano long range here in Puebla so we hope to show you soon!

[@FalconRadFPV]

I don't want the GPS data in my OSD on youtube, but ya logging it on the transmitter would have helped in this case. Usually where I fly there is no hope of recovery because I don't have any mountain climbing gear, or know how to do it. As well as no road access.

[@mexicofpv]

@@FalconRadFPV So true I don't want to reveal where I've been unless I can blur it out the video. But I can agree with the no chance of recovery sometimes. I doubt I will hike the side of a volcano for it haha. I have a rescue DJI drone with lasso but that's only if I'm that lucky lol

[@ghettogardens1]

Don't ya just hate it when this happens? We have all been there! Even the best can have a bad day once in awhile, and you're the best! Thanks for sharing! Good luck!

[@FalconRadFPV]

Thanks very much, I appreciate that!

[@rmirov]

I've had models go down around 2km away several times. With 915MHz ExpressLRS I've still had telemetry at that range with the planes on the ground and in poor orientation. My Taranis was able to display the live GPS coords, but even so it was hard to find the planes. Video went out in both cases (torn off CAM/VTX in one case, dislodged UFL in the other). I used the raw RSSI dBm reading on my transmitter telemetry screen along with my 915 MHz Moxon-like antenna (directional) with the antenna held close to my body to increase the directionality. Basically get an approximate directional reading from a few different points and then move in that direction. Repeat until your signal strength says that you are within a few meters and you'll be able to see the craft. That tried-and-true radio direction finding approach worked each time.

[@TheTryzna]

Sorry for your loss man:-/ Unfortunately it had to come, sooner or later, but you are still hero for a lot of us!:-)

[@FalconRadFPV]

Ya it was bound to happen eventually.

[@sheggy012]

Thanks for sharing. As a spectator, it is easy to say that the low voltage should have been obvious. But when flying a quad yourself, you know how much information you have to process in parallel, so something like that can quickly be unnoticed. But do you not have GPS telemetry? So far I have always been able to find my quad to an accuracy of 5 meters. Simply enter the last GPS data in GMaps and find it precisely.

[@TLK22]

I put the cell voltage right in the bottom center because that's my most important telemetry.

[@FalconRadFPV]

I didn't log the gps coordinates or know about the finder feature in crossfire. Woah accuracy of 5m? Mine always thinks I'm 30 meters away from where I actually am.

[@BrandonBeans]

The gps data on the radio telemetry will guide you there. Also make sure to log to SDcard using the special function triggered by the arm switch. I like the smo4K but shooting 4k60 is not good. I'm shooting 2.7k60 auto for convenience but 60 FPS is just unnecessary with long range. Maybe 4k30 or 2.7k30 upscaled would work well for you. I do like the FPV level of flowstate stabilization but only after the most resent app update. No jello with the nd16 and I've been told I need to lock my ISO because the shifts are visible.

[@FalconRadFPV]

Thanks for the tips. I use 60 fps sometimes because 30 fps doesn't look so good if you adjust the playback speed.

[@BrandonBeans]

@@FalconRadFPV also, turn off the vivid color profile that's on the smo by default. Standard color looks good. The issue with 4k60 is the bitrate isn't there for the detail, either need less resolution or less frames. I ramp up in multiples of 2x to make my speed up motion smooth looking.

[@craigdavo]

Hey, do you happen to have that script to hand? Could really do with writing the coordinates to sd card. Thanks.

[@jakub.medek42]

My biggest LR fail was with a wing. The crash was a result of multiple things going wrong. I went north, back south, north (or so I thought, actually east) - loss of orientation, just chilling with LR, thinking home arrow or rth is enough. Loss of video while turning back, taking off goggles to fly by radio widget (attitude, altitude, position, speed, direction home), hit the disarm by accident - Ardupilot didn't allow re-arm and home position reset on the radio Turning south to come home (wrong) and asking spotter to look up gps coords on a map - under stress, spotter put the coords wrong twice (too far) so I didn't believe the last "4km to east" After stalling manually at 30m height while trying to re-arm, we drove north to look for it - I had radio flight logs, but no laptop to export them Thankfully we found a really helpful older guy, who helped us get the logs from the sd card to my phone where I could browse them. By manually plotting several points in the log, one after another, I saw my mistake in the heading and we drove east to look for the plane at last reported coordinates - and found it there with over half battery remaining after 1hour on the ground. Since then I implemented: Map for any LR spot on my radio. Planning flights in advance. Checking that my perceived and actual position match. Two-button disarm, the original switch can now only arm and needs another button to disarm, otherwise it just kills the throttle channel (fine for a wing). Btw, as much as I was annoyed with Ardupilot for not re-arming (it should be able to) and the home position resetting on the radio, Ardupilot did a surprisingly good job of maintaining the plane in air with no throttle by gliding and slowly losing altitude to maintain a minimum speed above stall.

[@FalconRadFPV]

sound like it was really stressful with no video. Glad you managed to find it!

[@zerosympathyfpv3963]

Aye man how i look at this lesson learned. You got awesome support! amazing content! 2022 will be the year for fpv pilots. Cant wait for the next video. Keep up the grind! Till the next video

[@FalconRadFPV]

Thanks so much, I appreciate it!

[@Rcschim]

Sad to see your rescue mission wasnt successfull. I didn't loose a lot of copters but every time you do, it's really a pain. My biggest gripe with loosing an expensive ship in Italy Dolomites to some eagles was that I didn't even record groundstation video on error. So I had nothing to show than speculation in my video. I was done with Dolomites and we spontaneously drove further down to Venice which was a really great idea and a wonderful trip. Still had a small copter to fly the canals there ;) greets and thanks for the video, greets, Mario

[@FalconRadFPV]

Oh so lucky to fly in the dolomites! Woah, an eagle took out your drone! Crazy!

[@divingfalconfpv4602]

Oh man.. sorry for ur loss. That's a great frame too

[@isaywoopow]

Loved the show ☺️

[@FalconRadFPV]

Thanks!

[@GiantAntCowboy]

Bummer, I was rooting for you! I feel your pain though, every flight can be the last for the quad, and the GoPro… it’s all part of the our hobby though, and what makes it so exciting. Cheers mate!

[@FalconRadFPV]

Ya the risk is part of the rush!

[@Rogue_FPV]

I'm amazed you can remain so calm and collected in such a moment of crisis! Sorry you didn't get it back...

[@FalconRadFPV]

Thank you.

[@JoshLarsen]

I have left a couple quads out in the world. It is always sad to finally call it and walk away. Best of luck on your upcoming frame.

[@minkorrh]

I've used that directional method on more than one occasion to find a quad. It's pretty accurate. It sucks that you lost it. No one wants to drop the better part of a grand.

[@Clif_Brown]

I carry self-contained loud beepers that have bright LED's on them, on my more valuable drones. They can last for days. That plus GPS coords usually works very well to find them.

[@captaindronieversefpv]

comeback stronger..you inspired many people.

[@FalconRadFPV]

Much appreciated!

[@lushstrings]

Love your videos, I want to get into long range FPV as well, similar to you setup! Sorry for your loss...

[@FalconRadFPV]

Thank you, and good luck!

[@douglasshackett8747]

Awe dude! LOL that was a 1st class suspense thriller. LOL I lost my long rig a few weeks back going full throttle (dumb idea) for a half mile but was easy terrain to navigate. My condolences on the quad. Now i do believe it's a good time to learn how to calibrate/I've not looked into that yet. So far I've been relying on cell voltage. The GPS stats in the OSD are annoying but I'm scared to go without. Great video thanks Conrad.

[@FalconRadFPV]

Thanks very much for the comment!

[@casper01]

Damn, sorry you lost your long range quad mate. The footage from the go-pro of the ice-caps and the running water would have been amazing. New scribe, i look forward to your flights of 2022.

[@FalconRadFPV]

Thanks very much!

[@mafiafpv3469]

Sorry buddy was hoping you’d find it … great video I always wait for your videos to post and I’m like yeah buddy 🙏🤘😎

[@FalconRadFPV]

Thanks so much! 👍

[@jasonblanksma478]

This sucks, I know the pain. I lost a drone in October. Go pro and all. Unfortunately the area I was searching was infested with birds that chirped in a similar tone and rate of the recovery beeper. I tracked down many birds that day. It's damn rough but unfortunately part of the game. Some lessons learned to apply in the future. Keep on flying my dude.

[@FalconRadFPV]

Thanks very much. Ya it's all part of the risk with flying mountains.

[@JoeSmith-el9yt]

Bummer for the loss, but by posting this you likely saved many of us a lot of headache

[@FalconRadFPV]

I hope so!

[@akaruchoose2693]

I'm new to this drone stuff (DJI Mini SE). Your running commentary was very educational, thanks. My question is, if you were in the general vicinity of the downed drone, and had other drones with you, would using one of them to search from above made a difference in locating it? Like I said, I'm new to all this and have so much to learn.

[@FalconRadFPV]

it would be hard to see underneath all the trees and bushes.

[@psoon04286]

I lost my Mini 3 Pro last year on a mountain slope when it went just too close to the treetops clipping a branch. Went back twice with another drone. Had binoculars to aid in the search……nada😔

[@GregPless]

Ouch! That always hurts, but I gotta say that may be the best video yet. 😉Very informative and dramatic, kept me pinned to the end. May be a great YT formula if you can get the quads and cameras paid for. Push it till you lose it, then mount a search and rescue. Only slightly teasing. I’m sending you $10.

[@FalconRadFPV]

I should start doing that if I can get any companies to actually send me a drone.

[@BOTGRINDER]

wow those mountain tops looked epic, sorry you lost it.

[@FalconRadFPV]

Hey brother, thanks for the comment! Well it was bound to happen at some point, at least I got a bunch of views out of it 😅

[@roystevenson9632]

I feel your pain, I lost one of mine a few weeks ago and had to go away for work, but when I got back went looking for it and found the battery on the ground and above in the tree was my drone!

[@FalconRadFPV]

Nice you got it back! Awesome!

[@spoonblender797]

I really enjoy your videos and I"m so sorry that you lost your quad. Can you explain why you didn't get a beacon signal with the GPS co-ordinates if you still had telemetry connection why you were searching? I have a tiny lipo connected to my XF diversity which sends out the lat and long data after a crash.

[@FalconRadFPV]

I didn't have cell reception, so my google maps wouldn't be able to tell me anything. I was at least 20km (a very difficult 20km) from the nearest cell signal. I guess in the future I should download an offline map to my phone before hand.

[@dhavesy5730]

Long range king! Me i already lost 2 drones and not even a long range flight to be considered but i still do it and love flying far enough for me and my quad.

[@FalconRadFPV]

Hang in there and keep trying. Anyone who flies long range a lot, has lost a quad I think.

[@skydawg98]

Awesome flight! To bad you lost it! I just ordered one of your frames. Do you have a label on it? Maybe you will get it back some day!

[@FalconRadFPV]

Thanks, and thanks for your support. I'm sure you'll love the frame.

[@lowtone20hz]

I'm sorry you lost your quad. I hope some how you get it back. I enjoyed the video and love a good rescue story.

[@FalconRadFPV]

Thanks 👍

[@drillzoom668]

Hello dear Falcon Rad, I'm sorry about your quad, I love your videos very much, may I ask what kind of module you flew with in this video?

[@FalconRadFPV]

I was using a crossfire nano tx V2 at 1w and a rapidfire module in my ORQA goggles.

[@divingfalconfpv4602]

With bardpole ur tx antenna does have to be vertical to match orientation?

[@FalconRadFPV]

Yes with a vertically mounted bardpole you would want your TX antenna to be vertical as well.

[@Noidfpv]

That's tough. Long edit but I had to know if you recovered it. My stomach turned when it went down. Seems nerve wracking but I bet its rewarding. 😎👍🔥

[@brianfreland9065]

All the of the awesome pilots I know have one of their own lost quad stories. I'm pretty sure its just a right of passage in the evolution of an FPV pilot. So, I guess this means you're officially official ;) haha

[@robertrosicrucion]

Just curious but did you have a self-powered beeper for a beacon in the event of power loss?

[@FalconRadFPV]

I didn't but I did have dshot beacon to use. Either way no help in this situation. The waterfall that it crashed near was VERY loud, no way to hear anything.

[@DriftaholiC]

Do you not have a backup buzzer? I've done this too though not as far away, but very similar terrain. In hindsight I try to just point the quad straight at the ground at and object I think I'll recognise and crash it straight in vs trying to glide to something.

[@FalconRadFPV]

The waterfalls were too loud to hear the buzzer. I couldn't fly to the ground, I had out of line of sight to get within 100' of the ground.

[@adamlovell23]

Did the last GPS coordinates not get you close?

[@FalconRadFPV]

I didn't log the coordinates. I don't think they would have got me any closer than I did with my memory though. GPS on a drone is rough, give or take 10 to 30 meters. For me it guess's that I'm in the building across the street when I test it at home. I know the quad was within about 30 meters of where I parked the truck because I have the whole valley memorized after hundreds of flights.

[@adamlovell23]

@@FalconRadFPV if the radio link is connected it will show you exactly where it's sitting. In my experience it brings you about 10' within it usually, I've used coordinates multiple times to find quads/wings and never lost one

[@danielhoffmann67]

A few weeks ago I had an outlanding/crashing of my Crocodile4 baby (ExpressLRS 868 MHz (EU) Crossfire protocol) about 1 Km away. I hadn't logged any kind of GPS data but I had configured the GPS sensor. I typed the last GPS coordinates displayed in the telemetry menu into Google Maps. I found it just about 1 or 2 meter away from the displayed GPS coordinates. So there's no need to configure GPS logging but you should have at least configured your GPS sensor.

[@FalconRadFPV]

umm.. it was configured! I could find it because it was on a mountainside with a deadly waterfall to search being the most likely location. I intentionally steered the quad over a road that I recognized. It was probably on one of the 30 to 50 ft cliffs by the waterfall, that's what was right under the quad when it dropped.

[@flyingpotatoes1509]

That leaves me feeling nearly as sick as if it had happened to me. Editing that footage must have been really hard. Thank you for sharing.

[@FalconRadFPV]

It was tough losing it, but I was sort of prepared for it. I had months earlier accepted that it would be happening at some point and tried to be ready for it. Thanks for your empathy!

[@raffyturc]

after take-off, I do an RTH test(switch) first before going farther. and if there are spectators next to me, I do minimal chit-chat only. rssi/sat/batt are my main visual priority.

[@FalconRadFPV]

Sounds like you got your system sorted out. I used mah count a lot since voltage fluctuates with throttle use. With the current meter set perfectly I've done flights where I've timed it to get back home with less then 500 mah left to spare. Squezzing the most out of the battery like that got me out and back to 8.5km away before.

[@nellriordain8291]

Just lost mine today :'( Fell in a river in the mountain after hitting a small branch, i spent 1 or 2h i dunno taking a lot of risks to get to where it fell because there was no easy way to get there. Never found it :( Had to let it go i was alone in a remote and somewhat dangerous area. Sometime it's better to bring yourself back alive haha

[@FalconRadFPV]

Oh damn! that sucks. Sorry you didn't find it but glad you didn't risk too much looking for it. It sucks, but you can always builds another one.

[@skinnyguy3184]

Hi mate I just subscribed, love your channel. I've been flying quads and wings for a number of years, I just finished building a tbs source one 7" and noticed in all your videos and li-ion build video you use 6s packs, I was thinking of using 4s 18650 packs, is there an advantage of using 6s over 4s? I'm running 2807 1500kv motors, was thinking of keeping it relatively light what would your thoughts be? Thank you from newzealand

[@FalconRadFPV]

On 4s the amp draw is much higher. You would need the very highest amp rated cells to handle the current draw. You might be better off with a lipo at 4s voltage unless your build is VERY light and only pulls 30 amps at high throttle. I'm trying out 8s right now, just to get the amps down more for the li-ion packs.

[@skinnyguy3184]

Oh ok thanks for that, i havent test flowin it yet, but im going to make some 6s packs!

[@ShermanKenB]

I like to display my gps coordinates on my osd and also write the telemetry to my radios sd card as a backup. This gives me two good options for having a known last gps coordinate that can be used to locate

[@FalconRadFPV]

Ya storing to the sd card on the transmitter sounds the most reliable since (at least for analog) the OSD cuts out a lot, especially if you're just about to lose your quad.

[@sarahdaviscc]

I'm so sorry. What a bummer. Your spotter is a good egg, encouraging you to look 😊

[@FalconRadFPV]

Ya sure is, I couldn't do all this without her help.

[@travis.stevens]

Thanks for the video! One thing I've never understood (or tested) with GPS rescue, when your sats go below 5 while flying, does rescue still work? Or will it be ok since I armed with 12?

[@FalconRadFPV]

below your min sat setting it will just drop the quad if you trigger rescue.

[@stillededge]

Man, I have a hard time finding my drone in an open field and beeper well engaged. Need to put a Apple Air Tag or some such on them?

[@FalconRadFPV]

I don't think there is any way to get up there. If I crashed up there it's gone. And too much noise with the waterfalls to hear a beeper.

[@PortalFPV]

😭 that sucks! I'm dreading the day this will happen to me. Another long range pilot said "you have to be prepared for WHEN it happens, not IF"

[@FalconRadFPV]

If you fly enough long range, it'll happen eventually.

[@proffesorx8516]

Do you provide a PID tune for your 7 inch frame?

[@FalconRadFPV]

I have posted videos for all the betaflight settings not just the pid tune, bl heli and gps rescue setup, and also one about the current sensor calibration. Oh and a full in-depth build video as well as a frame assembly guide. It's all in the quads and gear playlist on my KZbin page.

[@sk8erfinch]

Sympathy sub thanks for the lesson I'm starting the long range adventure

[@FalconRadFPV]

Thanks!

[@W113bm]

I had something similar happened to me , I had a fresh 4" inav build, and after I tested RTH function, I decided to test the range. So I got carried away , it was too late when I understood that I'm not going to make it back, if I would land it would be much better, unfortunately the quad felt from 140 meter on the concrete road , most of it was destroyed, only the electronic survived.

[@FalconRadFPV]

Oh that sucks, sorry to hear it got destroyed. Flying long range is risky though.

[@timlong7289]

Thanks for sharing, hopefully I can learn from it. I had a strikingly similar experience a couple of weeks ago, empty battery, crashing next to a river, getting telemetry for a while but no video, then nothing. My crash was on a river flood plane only a few hundred metres away. We didn't find it on the first attempt but went back a week later to search across the river, We found it about 2m from the river bank nose down in some long grass. I was a happy boy that day. I still don't know what really happened, one of the motors seems to be faulty and I think it emptied the battery really fast somehow, and the quad dropped out of the sky in a spin.

[@FalconRadFPV]

Thanks, oh great you managed to find it! Maybe I'll go look for mine again in the spring, it would likely be ruined but I could hang it on the wall :)

[@theartandscienceofflight9239]

Good video. Sorry to see you down a quad. I am looking at some of the long range flying and your content is inspirational! I was wondering if you've considered using the CRSF Nano Diversity feature to have a small 1S Lipo to keep the connection even after your flight battery is exhausted. Apparently a tiny battery will keep the beacon mode powered for hours. Either use the GPS position (if it's still working) or search like you were doing using the CRSF direction finding. I agree that a beeper is probably not going to help if you are near running water. Happy flying in 2022!

[@douglasshackett8747]

I use the nano diversity and had forgotten about that option, after that traumatic ending I'll be installing that 1S!

[@FalconRadFPV]

I was too lazy to get that part of it setup. I do so many builds that I haven't been taking the necessary time to do the best possible setup. Ya the TBS diversity finder feature is the best solution I think. It sounds better than gps for searching nearby. I'll try making a parabolic dish for one of my crossfire antennas and do a video about using it to search for a hidden/lost quad.

[@gabinofpv]

i love your good attitude 👌🏽

[@FalconRadFPV]

Thanks. I think focusing on making the video helped to keep my mind off how disappointed I was.

[@davincifpv3983]

Why is that alert "RSSI DBM" we can see?

[@FalconRadFPV]

The RSSI alarm setting was setup too low. The connection was fine the whole time.

[@vchan1501]

I wonder why you do not have a GPS coordinate on your OSD or your Frsky controller. That is the only reliable source of information to trace the quad in this kind of situations

[@FalconRadFPV]

Most places I fly recovery is not possible, due to no road access. This one was different, lesson learned, I'll have the gps coordinates on my transmitter from now on.

[@audiogek]

Always wondered if you could retrieve it in case of a crash, damn sorry to hear you can't. I'm pretty sure all of us feel your pain. Question though: Can you explain the logic behind why you base your remaining flight time on used mAh first and voltage second? I don't even bother tuning the current meter anymore cause voltage is just always correct.

[@FalconRadFPV]

At 3.55 volts how many kilometers can you still fly? Were you at 30% throttle or 50% throttle when you checked, that will change the reading. At 2800 mah (when the drone is setup PROPERLY) I know I can fly 6 km if it's all down hill. I max the range of my drone this way. I've done flights where I fly straight back from a mountain top and returned home with only 2 or 3% of my battery left. Perfectly calculated for maximum range. I've done it many times. Check out my "barely made it home" video for an example.

[@audiogek]

​@@FalconRadFPV I live in a flat country so my throttle is always between 25-30% and when I hit 3.7-3.6V I know I have to come back. No matter how many mA I used. This way it also works with every size lipo. (still haven't taken the time to make a Li-ion pack) And of course I always fly into the wind. My thought behind it is that when a battery is getting older or when it's a really cold day, the used mAh will be quite a bit lower compared to a new battery and a hot day. I'm anything but a long range specialist, only done 6 LR flights but this is what works best for me. You're absolutely right about maximizing range with properly setup gear. But I feel much safer going on voltage.

[@zefixx6659]

Sorry for your Qwad man! I know wht it feels like losing a Qwad. I also save GPS telemetry in my transmitter, so i was able to find it. I also learnd my lesson. When you change ANY SETTING go for a little testflight in a friendly environment.

[@daviddouglasspeidel]

Gosh I just empathized with you big time. I’ve been in your shoes a few times. 🤦‍♂️😭

[@FalconRadFPV]

Thanks.

[@francescobarnes7567]

My deep sympathies !

[@FalconRadFPV]

Thanks!

[@ADRIANSFPV]

Rip, good video mate, i know his feeling

[@FalconRadFPV]

Thanks.

[@src2920]

Perhaps a dumb question....is it advisable to just turn on gps rescue over the mountain top and let the quad fly back? Would that work at all given the current altitude and distance from home.

[@FalconRadFPV]

It may work in some situations. But in this case I ran out of battery so the quad just wouldn't go any further.

[@lstepnio]

Good video! We would be hanging out if you're ever in CO.

[@FalconRadFPV]

Thank you, hopefully I get to take a trip across the boarder to the US sometime.

[@attilafustos]

So you had a GPS but not displaying coordinates on your OSD. Why?

[@FalconRadFPV]

It takes up way too much space on the OSD and the information is delayed. The coordinates on the transmitter would be more accurate. But I didn't log them or have cell reception to enter them into google maps.

[@alexcook4851]

Been following the channel for a while, sorry for the quad loss. I’ve lost two wings in remote areas, once pilot error, once a RunCam camera failure. In the second case I ignored some wing issues before take-off. Great call not to put yourself at too much risk looking for it. Easy to sprain an ankle or take a fall in rough wooded terrain. Have you thought about a beeper system like ViFly which runs on its own battery and high output volume? They run for 24hrs plus. GPS should put you within 10m2 but in rough terrain that’s a much bigger area than you might think. Looking forward to the production release flight! Great channel 🔥👍

[@FalconRadFPV]

Thanks so much for the comment. Ya I've got a self powered beeper WITH LEDS now.

[@anakrantauyt9784]

What i like about the video it is analogue and make that still have chance to still have connection.....while the dji drone just blacked out

[@PolackFPV]

thank you my friend, for those sharing experience. I'm sorry for you . it touched me a lot your video 😯😯

[@FalconRadFPV]

Thank you my friend, I appreciate that.

[@CurryKitten]

Sorry for your loss... although it makes for an entertaining video. By which I mean I end up spending the first 10 minutes shouting at the screen telling you to look up :) I'm always interested in these to see how different people use different metrics to check their flights. I've never put much faith in current meters, and for whatever reason I don't like looking at a cell voltage, so I've always used the combination of the actual voltage and knowing how long my quads will fly for. I know you've answered about why you don't have GPS coords, but hey - on the chance it happens again and the forest is more accessible, I think it's worth doing for some extra peace of mind (and you've got 3 lots of RSSI in there, you could definitely fit it in and rearrange your OSD a bit) Normally, I'd be shouting about battery independent buzzers - and whilst I can't see it helping too much where you are next to a waterfall, something that puts out 100dBm can be picked up quite well - even through dense trees. What an awesome location though - I can see why you want to get out and fly it.

[@FalconRadFPV]

Thanks so much for the comment! I've seen a bunch of your videos BTW. I got a beeper that has two bright leds connected to it as well, so if it can't be found during the day maybe at night I could at least see a hint of the led flash and get an idea where to check when I come back and it's light again. Of all the comments the two best have been, TBS crossfire finder feature on the transmitter to track it down, and setting up a voice prompt on the transmitter to call out voltage at certain levels.

[@LIFPV]

Awesome video as always bro. Expensive mistake but a memory nonetheless.

[@FalconRadFPV]

Thanks!