Lost my drone in a field of dry brush - have last GPS coordinates

[ecsdude]

My Anafi was drifting left and I couldn't properly steer it back to me with the battery life I had left.. return to home didn't work properly and the drone was actually getting further away. I had to pull a sudden landing wherever I could in hopes of being able to retrieve it from that location.

I was able to force land the Anafi in a big field of dry brush (think large patch of land where cows sometimes are seen, with dry brush that is sometimes flattened and some of it can be 12-18" high).

The camera was still on at time of landing. Unfortunately as I made my way over to the drone, it had lost connection and I couldn't re-establish connection to it. So I followed the GPS coordinates to the approximate area and managed to finally walk to where the red dot was.. at first I was 100ft away, 50ft away and then it seemed I was right on the dot. I looked around but I couldn't really easily see the drone. I couldn't trigger the beacon/homing signal (I pressed on the bell icon on the GPS screen on my phone in the Parrot Flight 6 app). I suspect if I could have heard beeping from it, I may have been able to recover it.

It was getting late and I had to leave for the day.

Does anyone have some recommendations for the best way to locate the drone and retrieve it?

I have the coordinates in my phone still but I need something more precise than my phone and google maps/directions feature. I think it'd be helpful to see in real time my current coordinates relative to the drone's last coordinates and then I can know if I need to walk forward or backwards, left or right more..

is there a good phone app for this or should I look into a GPS unit of some sort? Or would it be better to be able to plug in the coordinates into a different drone and try to look for it from above using another drone?

It can be a little tough walking in the field of dry brush.. the ground is not level and supposedly there are rattlesnakes in the area.. I didn't encounter any that day but I did see plenty of 2" holes in the ground at various points.. not sure if that is man-made (there's some new home construction not far from there) or signs of present rattlesnakes..

there's been no rain in my area lately so I think the chances are good that my drone is still there. It's wire fenced off so not land that sees much human traffic at all.

Any tips and suggestions would be appreciated! Would hate to not be able to recover a $700 drone. Especially one I just got recently and have flown maybe 10 times at most

 

[slvervper99]

I'm sorry man, I saw that you were having issues about your drone especially the left drift ever since you got it. Did you get in touch with Parrot about your issues? Were you able to fix the issues when you reset the drone to factory specs after which did you update them? I know this is not the answer to your questions, but may have helped avoid you losing the drone. I had a similar situation with my Yuneec, I'm sure the drone is just around that area but I could be wrong.

 

[Naviator]

I had a very similar situation, except my drone was lost in thick bushes.
I used Google Maps on my phone, and with it on the Sky Controller 3, it led me to within 1 meter of my drone. However, I still spent almost 2 hours looking before I found it. The Anafi is going to be very colorful soon!

 

[Hawkeye Alaska]

If you have the exact coordinates there is an app I use geocaching which is extremely accurate. It is called GPS Waypoints Navigator and is very accurate.

 

[dashSolo]

The exact grid coords where it landed are in your app. Look there and get a handheld gps device where you can dial in the exact coords. This works within a foot (I think) . I recovered mine this way on my second flight back in July in 75ft of water.

 

[Landbo]

My Anafi was drifting left and I couldn't properly steer it back to me with the battery life I had left.. return to home didn't work properly and the drone was actually getting further away. I had to pull a sudden landing wherever I could in hopes of being able to retrieve it from that location.

I was able to force land the Anafi in a big field of dry brush (think large patch of land where cows sometimes are seen, with dry brush that is sometimes flattened and some of it can be 12-18" high).

The camera was still on at time of landing. Unfortunately as I made my way over to the drone, it had lost connection and I couldn't re-establish connection to it. So I followed the GPS coordinates to the approximate area and managed to finally walk to where the red dot was.. at first I was 100ft away, 50ft away and then it seemed I was right on the dot. I looked around but I couldn't really easily see the drone. I couldn't trigger the beacon/homing signal (I pressed on the bell icon on the GPS screen on my phone in the Parrot Flight 6 app). I suspect if I could have heard beeping from it, I may have been able to recover it.

It was getting late and I had to leave for the day.

Does anyone have some recommendations for the best way to locate the drone and retrieve it?

I have the coordinates in my phone still but I need something more precise than my phone and google maps/directions feature. I think it'd be helpful to see in real time my current coordinates relative to the drone's last coordinates and then I can know if I need to walk forward or backwards, left or right more..

is there a good phone app for this or should I look into a GPS unit of some sort? Or would it be better to be able to plug in the coordinates into a different drone and try to look for it from above using another drone?

It can be a little tough walking in the field of dry brush.. the ground is not level and supposedly there are rattlesnakes in the area.. I didn't encounter any that day but I did see plenty of 2" holes in the ground at various points.. not sure if that is man-made (there's some new home construction not far from there) or signs of present rattlesnakes..

there's been no rain in my area lately so I think the chances are good that my drone is still there. It's wire fenced off so not land that sees much human traffic at all.

Any tips and suggestions would be appreciated! Would hate to not be able to recover a $700 drone. Especially one I just got recently and have flown maybe 10 times at most

If you had a GPS lock on the quad when it landed and at the same time it was connected to the controller, you have the landing site + - 2 meters. You can then use FreeFlights 6 cards to see where the drones are located in the field and your phone's GPS to see where you are in relation to your Anafi. You should be able to go straight to find your Anafi using your phone.

If you can not find it within few meters, you must go in the direction your Anafi flew in relation to the last known place.

Then you should not fly anymore before the your Anafi has been repaired.

Good luck, regards Leif.

 

[Waldo Pepper]

My Anafi was drifting left and I couldn't properly steer it back to me with the battery life I had left.. return to home didn't work properly and the drone was actually getting further away. I had to pull a sudden landing wherever I could in hopes of being able to retrieve it from that location.

I was able to force land the Anafi in a big field of dry brush (think large patch of land where cows sometimes are seen, with dry brush that is sometimes flattened and some of it can be 12-18" high).

The camera was still on at time of landing. Unfortunately as I made my way over to the drone, it had lost connection and I couldn't re-establish connection to it. So I followed the GPS coordinates to the approximate area and managed to finally walk to where the red dot was.. at first I was 100ft away, 50ft away and then it seemed I was right on the dot. I looked around but I couldn't really easily see the drone. I couldn't trigger the beacon/homing signal (I pressed on the bell icon on the GPS screen on my phone in the Parrot Flight 6 app). I suspect if I could have heard beeping from it, I may have been able to recover it.

It was getting late and I had to leave for the day.

Does anyone have some recommendations for the best way to locate the drone and retrieve it?

I have the coordinates in my phone still but I need something more precise than my phone and google maps/directions feature. I think it'd be helpful to see in real time my current coordinates relative to the drone's last coordinates and then I can know if I need to walk forward or backwards, left or right more..

is there a good phone app for this or should I look into a GPS unit of some sort? Or would it be better to be able to plug in the coordinates into a different drone and try to look for it from above using another drone?

It can be a little tough walking in the field of dry brush.. the ground is not level and supposedly there are rattlesnakes in the area.. I didn't encounter any that day but I did see plenty of 2" holes in the ground at various points.. not sure if that is man-made (there's some new home construction not far from there) or signs of present rattlesnakes..

there's been no rain in my area lately so I think the chances are good that my drone is still there. It's wire fenced off so not land that sees much human traffic at all.

Any tips and suggestions would be appreciated! Would hate to not be able to recover a $700 drone. Especially one I just got recently and have flown maybe 10 times at most

It’s possible it’s there at the GPS coordinates hidden in the dry grass, very possible. This happened to me once, had to land 1 mile away in a dry grassy cattle ranch area. When I arrived to the area, was only a few feet away could actually hear the bebop 2 but as hard as I looked it was hidden in the dry grass. Finally, I seen it after almost stepping on the drone.

Go back and cover every square inch, it’s probably hidden right near the coordinates.

Good luck,
Paul

 

[Naviator]

You might also try a "low tech" search method that is almost certain to work. Using GPS, establish a generous sized perimeter "box" around the area of the lost drone's last known location. Mark the corners of the box visually using poles, stakes, flags or other markers of some sort. Then systematically and physically search every square foot of the marked out area until you find your drone. It will definitely be a more efficient method than wandering around aimlessly in the near vicinity...

 

[Zamzara]

Agree with all the above, just also wondering did you actually see it land there, or is this GPS-based info only? In other words could the drone's reported GPS position have been incorrect since it wasn't returning to the right place?

If all else fails Parrot seem quite good at replacing in these situations.

 

[dashSolo]

ESCdude,

Did you find your drone?

Contact Parrot if you already haven't. They will ask a lot of questions and many emails but in the end you should get a replacement. The process for me took about 3 weeks, twice.

Hang in there.