I was flying my Parrot ANAFI when all of a sudden it lost connection and never reconnected. The drone was on return to home (RTH) mode when it lost connection. I assumed it would come back but it never did. I was confused about what happened as I'd been flying it for about 10 minutes without any problems and the battery was still at 50%. The only indication was a quick "magnetic perturbations" error from the app right before it disconnected. Thankfully I was able to recover the drone a few days later but I'm still trying to figure out what happened. I was able to recover some of the footage as you can see here:
It appears to encounter some very strong interference (so much so that the camera goes out for a second) and struggles for a bit and then the video just ends, which seems to be about when the drone completely lost connection. Any ideas what could have happened?
Parrot ANAFI Unusual Crash
- Thread starter wesley1
- Start date
Yikes! Trying to understand what the green distortion was about. Looks magnetic.
Were you flying with RID? Was there any aircraft at the time? What country and frequency were you flying?
How long since you calibrated the drone? Were you using the modded app or regular app? Did you happen to use an SDR radio to capture or record interference on your band?
I'm guessing someone had a high powered something and overloaded the reciever. I dont know how well Parrot shielded it.
If EMP in the US, no one is allowed legally to take down an aircraft this way except military and government.
Ham radio operaters have tons of power they can use in much of our bands as well.
Were you flying with RID? Was there any aircraft at the time? What country and frequency were you flying?
How long since you calibrated the drone? Were you using the modded app or regular app? Did you happen to use an SDR radio to capture or record interference on your band?
I'm guessing someone had a high powered something and overloaded the reciever. I dont know how well Parrot shielded it.
If EMP in the US, no one is allowed legally to take down an aircraft this way except military and government.
Ham radio operaters have tons of power they can use in much of our bands as well.
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Turn off RID. Go back to the area with a raspberry pi you can spoof mac address of parrot drone ranges to conjure the system active again, use sdr to record and report the over power limits or jammer in that area to FCC.
www.fcc.gov
Jammer Enforcement
***ALERT*** Federal law prohibits the operation, marketing, or sale of any type of jamming equipment, including devices that interfere with cellular and Personal Communication Services (PCS), police radar, Global Positioning Systems (GPS), and wireless networking services (Wi-Fi). "Jamming...
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I'm not sure what RID is, I'm assuming I'm not using it. I didn't have any other radio up to capture the interference. I am using the default app and am in the US. I had just calibrated it before takeoff. I don't think there was any aircraft nearby but I could be wrong.
It's Remote ID
Yeah that seems like a jammer got to it, others will probably not have any input as usual.
Skydreamer
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that golf course probably has wifi extender thats jamming anafi signal…just guessing….i flew anafi in straight line till i hit 1 mile,on my way back i could see huge cell tower located behind me maybe 100 yards/meters…….i had anafi maybe 500 yrds/meters from me when i lost drone location on map(it just turned blank) and right after that anafi flew half circle on its own ,i lost screen for like 3 seconds and than it came back and i was able to control anafi back to me but not in straight line,like it was trying to “escape”…….it was kinda normal for parrot drones to disappear occasionally,thats why parrot closed down own forum,couldnt deal with all complaints …
i would recommend FIMI X8 PRO drone,very much like dji,good range and capable of flying in rain or snow,599$
i would recommend FIMI X8 PRO drone,very much like dji,good range and capable of flying in rain or snow,599$
You all prob know this but if you take it up about 100 - 200 feet you can get a good idea of the interferences up there when you switch to frequency display on ff6.
That's a possibility but I doubt it for a few reasons.
- The drone was flying at about 300 feet.
- The interference was so strong that it caused the local camera recording to get corrupted.
- The closest building related to the golf course is 1,400 feet (ground level) away from where I was flying it.
Skydreamer
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across the street where i live i towns water department,two straight antennas on the roof,i can see their wifi network on both 2.4 and 5.8….my range with anafi is 170 yards past that building before(i can see anafi) i loose signal / screen and anafi goes RTH….few time i had where bebop2 and anafi cleared map/RTH coordinates and it always happened around cell towers or buildings with cell antennas on the roof……what i am saying is,it is a possibility….btw,what is the name of golf coirse and location if you could?
Hey wesly1
I agree with other posters it sure looks like very strong interference messing with compass and or GPS - but just a guess.
Are you using and android or ios device?
Had you had any previous crashes?
What were the wind conditions?
When you recovered drone were the propellers intact?
What I would do - and recommend the same for you is using the program below to first analyze the .json Flight log and maybe Black Box telemetry file.
It was created by a forum member with a lot of input from other members
With the Show Anafi Log program you are able to view telemetry data, GPS & wifi signals, alarms and alerts, magnetic disturbances, etc.
Read thru the thread - you can download the program on post #1 and then post #343 explains how to get your flight log from FF6 in .Json format.
I would be very interested in what you find so If you have any questions feel free to ask. Once completed if you find anything odd I'll try to explain how to get Black box file.
I have also attached the user manual
Best of luck
Show Anafi log program
parrotpilots.com
I agree with other posters it sure looks like very strong interference messing with compass and or GPS - but just a guess.
Are you using and android or ios device?
Had you had any previous crashes?
What were the wind conditions?
When you recovered drone were the propellers intact?
What I would do - and recommend the same for you is using the program below to first analyze the .json Flight log and maybe Black Box telemetry file.
It was created by a forum member with a lot of input from other members
With the Show Anafi Log program you are able to view telemetry data, GPS & wifi signals, alarms and alerts, magnetic disturbances, etc.
Read thru the thread - you can download the program on post #1 and then post #343 explains how to get your flight log from FF6 in .Json format.
I would be very interested in what you find so If you have any questions feel free to ask. Once completed if you find anything odd I'll try to explain how to get Black box file.
I have also attached the user manual
Best of luck
Show Anafi log program
Show Anafi Log Project
I have been working with someone who makes programs to read telemetry files and displays the output with errors if any are found. His specialty is with Yuneec drones but I thought I would pick his brain and see if he could make a similar program for our Anafi's. Here is a link to what he has so...
parrotpilots.com
I was using an Android device. I haven't had any previous crashes with this drone. As far as I could tell it wasn't very windy that day. When I recovered it the propellers were indeed damaged two snapped off and all the others were bent. To the best of my knowledge, the drone just fell out of the sky after the footage ended.Hey wesly1
I agree with other posters it sure looks like very strong interference messing with compass and or GPS - but just a guess.
Are you using and android or ios device?
Had you had any previous crashes?
What were the wind conditions?
When you recovered drone were the propellers intact?
What I would do - and recommend the same for you is using the program below to first analyze the .json Flight log and maybe Black Box telemetry file.
It was created by a forum member with a lot of input from other members
With the Show Anafi Log program you are able to view telemetry data, GPS & wifi signals, alarms and alerts, magnetic disturbances, etc.
Read thru the thread - you can download the program on post #1 and then post #343 explains how to get your flight log from FF6 in .Json format.
I would be very interested in what you find so If you have any questions feel free to ask. Once completed if you find anything odd I'll try to explain how to get Black box file.
I have also attached the user manual
Best of luck
Show Anafi log program
Show Anafi Log Project
I have been working with someone who makes programs to read telemetry files and displays the output with errors if any are found. His specialty is with Yuneec drones but I thought I would pick his brain and see if he could make a similar program for our Anafi's. Here is a link to what he has so...
Regarding that program, I have no idea how to get the .json logs I only have the .bin ones in the "FDR" folder.
I had something similar happen in the past where I didnt have control and it just pulsed around in the air and fell straight down with a battery ejection on impact so no logs or video were saved. I swore it was actively being hit directly by something that pulsed up above the trees at 140 feet.
This day and age, it is unacceptable to have unknown interference. The technology is there for us.
This day and age, it is unacceptable to have unknown interference. The technology is there for us.
The JSON flight file you need is not on sd card in drone - its located within freeflight 6 app
1) Connect controller to phone and power up Anafi this helps to force the last flight data to populate in FF6
2) In FF6 "home" screen, tap the My Parrot icon at bottom of screen
3) This should take you to My Flights - all your flights should be listed on right side - look for the flight that crashed by date and time
4) On the far right side of flight tap the sharing icon (square with arrow) and email the file to yourself.
5) You now have the flight file in .json format.
6) Load it into the Show Anafi log program and tap on review log data tab
Btw... sometimes it wont record flight data in FF6 due to power loss
if that's the case the Black Box file may still contain some data - its located in phone
I think if you are able to recover and review flight data in show Anafi log it may help you understand what happened
Let me know if any questions
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I'm confused about what you mean by frequency. You don't mean the wifi channel, right?
