Put reflective tape on it as a minimum. You can return in the early morning or late evening and use a bright flash light to find it. The tape will light up when hit by the light.
3M makes some real great reflective films that would make the job a lot easier even come in colors that would be easier to spot like blue on the ground.
I've watched the Mini 3, 4, Air 3, Mavic 3, and a lot more range tests so many times that I've lost count. I cannot express how much I love these videos; they are so extremely entertaining and they just inspire me to go fly my own. Thank you Dustin for this amazing series. Love your work.
Yeah,it's entertaining if the drone is not yours ahahhahaha I felt extremely worried for the 2nd flight,just bought a dji 4 mini pro and if I did this in my contry it would've been surely lost forever lol
Remember you had a pretty stiff left to right crosswind. So it is likely that the drone would be blown to the right of its return course and its expected final landing position is possibly off to the right of the final line of flight.
I noticed the general area.. when you are flying your Mavic to check the vicinity ,if you haven't done it already ..check that one tree that is brown sticks out from the rest ,follow that line and should have landed just before that brown tree .if you know what I'm talking about ..good angle to explore area
Sorry you lost your drone during testing, and I hope you can still recover it someday. Great video, the Mini 4 Pro does have amazing signal and great battery life. Thanks for sharing Dustin.
I think you do the best range testing for all drones. A lot of videos I see where the tittle says range test, they don’t actually test it’s max range or even close to it but man you go above and beyond. I loved my DJI mini 2 se but unfortunately it had a battery error during flight and I was only 500 meters out but where it fell I was unable to locate it even with the gps coordinates due to the heavily wooded area it landed in. Btw I think the angle you had the camera at for this video is great for us viewers to kinda be able to visually see how far you’ve traveled by seeing the ground and trees out in the distance. Keep up all your awesome work man.
Exactly the same thing happened to me with my DJI mini 3 which made a forced landing 700 meters from the return point and I found it directly with the location and after only 10 minutes of walking and 2 minutes dd research. I was really happy. It served as a lesson to me because now I know that you have to land in a safe place before you run out of battery.
Those little drones are very resilient, my mini was stuck in a tree for 5 days of rain, when I got it down I dried it out for a couple of days, everything still worked fine, even the battery! Hope you find it, keep us posted.
Had the same happen with my mini se. Needed an arborist to recover my drone. Over a year later and just starting to have an issue with one of the motors.
LOL - dude I was flying mine and I hit some tall grass near my buddies waterfall/pond -yep it hit that grass and dove straight into the basin about 3 feet deep. we fished it out and blew the hell out of it with an air compressor then let it sit in a bag of silica Gell and rice for a few days. It didn't hurt it at all not the card slot the cam or anything . If I was able I would post a video of the crash for as much as it sucked it was classic halarious
Tip, use the coordinates to find your drone. Google Maps supports coordinate inputs. They are a 100% match. If I'm not mistaken, did he ever try looking for the drone in the trees? I swear, I think I saw it, but oh well.
As others have said landing earlier could have conserved some power to be able to activate the flashing lights and alert buzzer. Despite the outcome it was brilliant and impressive range test. Hope you find the Mini 4 Pro soon 👍
@@overyonderjustapiece you have a "drone" if not I don't know what you are talking about. For me, the recording is saved both on the card and on the phone.
The biggest test for my mini 3 pro was in yosemite. I flew over 6 kilometer with it. When i was returning to home it started landing. I found the road that i was on and rushed with my car to get it. Lost signal several times. When i got to the point, I saw it hovering in the air, and used the last few minutes of batery to land in the corect place. I dont recoment it to anyone because it looks like your heart will stop. Great video.
Two suggestions for the future: 1. Red reflective tape to help find your drone if something goes wrong and a bonus is that it also stops most birds attacking your drone. 2. Use an Apple Air Tag attached to your drone if your going to take risks like you do. A seperate tracking system not reliant on the drone having some power remaining would be a better solution. Flying is not inherently dangerous. It is very unforgiving for errors in judgement though.
Air Tags don't have their own GPS signal, they rely on the location information of nearby phones. That doesn't help you very much in the woods. The best it could reasonably do is tell you if it is somewhere near your phone when you search for it. But he knows the general area anyway.
I lost my drone in Tenerife 2 weeks ago. Close to a road according to the flightlog. When I got there it turned out to be a ravine. Went down, searched for 2 hours. No luck. Next day I went back, put the last known flightlog coordinates in my phone and found it in 15 minutes. This led me directly to the drone. Might be an idea. Drone was fine.
Dustin, I hope this can be of some help. Your video at 1:02:10 where you were landing your mavic 3 IS NOT where your mavic 4 pro was when it went down. If you freeze your frame at that time stamp, you can see that horizontal fallen log. Your mavic 4 pro was in general approach of where dead tree is on this frame (right of frame) and bottom fallen log (there is one north, that one is too far north) due left towards only purple tree in this frozen frame. If you pause video at 51:28 there is a purple tree right next to your telemetry that says 6.8mph. If you were landing mavic 3 where you were looking, you were looking at the wrong place. In fact if you see the dirt road that (I assume is parking area) there is a lone tree that stands in the middle of the road loop. If you draw a straight line from that tree to purple tree, a smidge right... that is where drone is a smidge to right off the purple tree. Edit: I left you a message on facebook with actual frames freezed and marked up.
Thanks. The Mavic 3 location was just an example and base launch/land location. We searched in about a 50 or so foot wide column from behind DJI's lost point all the way to parking lot in case it kept moving forward. I appreciate the input and I'll take a look at your markups! 🍻
@@EarthSouthside It may have landed. I had the same thing happen with my mini 2. It was on zero battery, trying to limp it home. It was about 700 feet away from me when the signal cut out. I figured that it shut off and dropped out of the sky. I jogged towards it up a decently steep hill in no big hurry because I thought it had already crashed. It took me a couple minutes but as I got closer, I could hear it. So I sprinted the last bit and as I come around the last tree and there it was, still hovering over some tall grass. 😃
On the mavic forums they have a crash and flyaway thread. There are experts there that can fully analyse the final flight data and extrapolate the resting place. Worth doing. 👍
I started flying drones Phantom 2V+, Phantom 3S, Mavic 1 Pro and from 2018 - 2024 Mavic 2 Zoom. My record is 6km apart. In your video I see 7.1 km far from the HP. That's great. beautiful landscape and a calm flight. Mini 4 is a very powerful drone that I want to buy. And of course a battery plus must be purchased for the drone. This will ensure long flights and endurance in the air. Great video. Greetings from the Czech Republic
Lost mine the same way to a canal.... only this time, I wasn't able to retrieve it. The culprit was wind. I flew out to the island that was about 2 miles out with no issues at 10 meters a second. On the way back, the wind was slowing me down so bad that I was flying at 2 meters a second. I think I will change that to mph. But I'm planning to buy another one sometime this week. But this thing has such nice video quality. I have a few 4k edits on my channel, which is private. I used Adobe Premiere Pro and when I got those up on my TV, it was like a dream come true. But on top of the aggressive wind that slowed me down, the drone decided to force a landing, so... it never returned. The good news is that I forgot my SD card, so that means my other recordings were not lost. I will make sure that I remove all safety measures and keep the obstacle avoidance. I will also note that forgetting my SD card will be a sign of caution next time. I have had interesting things happen without my SD card. Dang it. Also, tip: If you are using the map on the DJI app, you are making a mistake. Use the coordinates, they are literally exact when it comes to finding the drone. I forgot to mention that I lost mine 2 times. The first time I used coordinates and Google brought me to the Exact location, literally not even a foot off, and yes, you can use the coordinates on Google Maps. The second time, well, that one was game over no matter the deal.
I have been flying fixed wing for 40 years. I'm debating on a drone. This helps tremendously on making my decision. Thank you for your efforts. Note: I like the ground view with the horizon.
Sir, i am from india. I liked your drone very much but I am very poor and cannot buy it. I want this drone. Please help me and gift me this drone. I will be thankful to you.
I definitely love watching your range test videos! Good to see how strong that O4 signal still was! I am sure, you will eventually find your little drone. It was probably a few feet away from you, where ever you ever looking there. With persistence, you will eventually spot it. Good luck. Thanks for sharing!
Two things come to mind: 1.) Painting (or vinyl) the upper body part neon orange might be smart 2.) A buzzer (like LR fpv) could be helpful Best wishes
@@Hat_Uncle Agreed! You could for example use waterbased acrylics / airbrush colors. Or, as mentioned, vinyl/decals. They even make sets for specific drones. Best wishes
I should definitely be marking them with orange for range tests. Adding weight won't be ideal for this type of test as it will largely effect the flight time/ distance 🍻
Shout out to your kids and wife for helping you look for the drone. I've lost my drone a handful of times, only never been able to locate the drone once, but never had the help of family look for it. Aside when my dad dropped me off in this remote area that I couldn't park my own vehicle for an extended amount of time without getting towed.. I think this video is really good for helping others increase the chance of finding their drone.
The only review that's so satisfying to watch for 1 hour. Like who DF watches a review that's more than an hour? Unless it's THIS satisfying and informative.
Sir, i am from india. I liked your drone very much but I am very poor and cannot buy it. I want this drone. Please help me and gift me this drone. I will be thankful to you.
Dustin Dunnill - Drone Range Tests: 1. DJI Mavic 3 - 8.956 miles / 14.413 km 2. DJI Air 3 - 7.753 miles / 12.478 km 3. DJI Mini 3 Pro - 6.676 miles 10.744 km 4. DJI Mini 4 Pro - 6.460 miles 10.396 km (LOST) 5. DJI Mavic 2 Pro - 6.091 miles / 9.803 km 6. Autel EVO 2 - 5.433 miles / 8.744 km 7. FIMI X8SE 2020 Edition - 5.312 miles / 8.549 km 8. DJI Mavic Air 2 - 4.948 miles / 7.964 km 9. DJI FPV Drone - 4.356 miles / 7.010 km 10. V-Copter Falcon - 4.355 miles / 7.009 km 11. DJI Air 2S - 4.199 miles / 6.758 km 12. DJI Mavic 2 Pro (Light Urban) - 3.618 miles / 5.822 km 13. Autel EVO - 3.498 miles / 5.629 km 14. DJI Mini - 3.426 miles / 5.514 km 15. DJI Mavic Pro + Parabolic - 3.173 miles / 5.107 km 16. DJI Mavic Pro - 2.938 miles / 4.729 km 17. DJI Mavic Air - 2.863 miles / 4.608 km 18. DJI Mini 2 - 2.850 miles / 4.587 km 19. Parrot ANAFI - 2.200 miles / 3.541 km 20. DJI Phantom 4 Pro - 2.105 miles / 3.388 km 21. DJI Spark + Parabolic - 2.076 miles / 3.341 km 22. DJI Mavic Air (Urban Range) - 1.944 miles / 3.128 km 23. DJI Spark + OTG Cable - 1.884 miles / 3.031 km 24. Skydio 2 - 1.039 miles / 1.673 km
Definitely like the 45deg downward gimble angle. DJI needs to add some type of beeper that can be initiated when you get to the recovery spot. It would not take much voltage at all.
Just bought this one. The first drone I bought was a holy Stone. One from Amazon not too expensive but now wished I could have just jumped to this one directly as the range for the one I got was pathetic and even giving you a range of 2 or 3 mi I would be more than happy. That's pretty amazing! Looking forward to it
@@w.e.s. For some of new to this, his channel would come across as 'new', poor thing, you must've been really upset that someone who is new to this hobby would dare right something positive to OP.
@@jeffl1484 Well, to be fair, to say someone is under-rated implies that they are… low rated. I see what you were getting at though but he is in the top 1% of subscribers on this platform so he is doing well.
@@Greego ok I respect that. My comment was actually to say he’s underrated as in for the content he provides he deserves more views. It was a compliment to him.
Thanks for 2 great range tests Dustin. I'm sorry you haven't been able to find the mini 4 pro yet. I agree with you that you should have pointed the camera down and started landing in a clearing.
I admire you for remaining so calm after losing the drone - I wouldn't have been able to maintain my composure like you did! Good luck with the search...
This video had 1 million views. That’s $1000 even without ad revenue. I feel sorry for Dustin having lost the drone, but he made at least $400 profit even if he had to replace the Mini 4 Pro.
Because of the strong winds during the time of your range test the Drone may have been carried as its Landing by the wind. Extend the perimeter of the search and you will find it because you're very close to the area that it came down. Continue to search more to the east as there was variable winds coming from the south prior to the crash. You're still a legend in my book.
Lesson here is when pushing battery . 1>Find a spot to land 2> point camera down and take a pic or record small video. 3>give it a land command. 4> go to location and find it with help of video and landing location. If you lost connection while flying it’s much much harder if it landed automatically with a mind of its own on low battery .
You need a landing spot with a landmark to be able to locate it from google earth images. There should be some distinct features of the landing spot. If you'll land the drone at some random location in the forest you are done.
if you’re flying home, flying home with the wind that way you’re facing the wind, so the drone will fly back easier with the wind and if you lose GPS in remote signal, if you’re flying against the wind going home, you will have much more of a risk to lose it as the wind will blow the signal and interfere
That’s what we’ve been all waiting for!!! 🎉🥳🫡👊 Edit after seeing whole video: I would assume the moment you’ve lost the signal on rc2 was the moment battery died completely so it has to be somewhere there. It fell from significant height so probably on the ground already. Keep looking! 🤞👊
Yo! Sorry you lost ur drone bud and hope you eventually spot it one of these test vids. Honestly, way to push the envelope like always! Thats why we watch you bro, for your insights, knowledge and of course testing. Your not afraid to go to the next level with these wonders of tech for us, so we dont have to. Great vid man, keep them coming!
I learn a few great things on your video! Definitely will add to memory- if ever in a panic situation to force land, tilt camera straight down. Retrieving last 10 seconds of video is an important clue for retrieval of a downed/lost drone. Maybe DJI will add that as an emergency option on under ‘Controls or Safety’ to automatically aim camera down for last 10 seconds of a forced landing? Hope you find your Mini 4 Pro!
At the end of this video; reminds me of my experience when I use to own the first Mavic Pro, and this is exactly how I lost my Mavic. I never recovered it. I actually left out of the Louisiana woods bloody and cut up from thorns and briarpatches
This was so entertaining, thanks for sharing. I have a Mini 3 Pro and the other day was flying at night, and completely misjudged the wind and couldn't believe how fast the battery died. It tried to force land and I haven't had that before, so wasn't sure of the best way to deal with it. It was over a river near the end and I was panicking and moved it AWAY from me instead. No idea why! Holding the left stick up, the highest it went to was 10.3 feet (maybe it's programmed to do that with the Mino 3 Pro?) and luckily that was enough to get it over the river bridge I was standing near. So I ran across and grabbed it! I've never been so freakin' nervous. Teehee.
I feel your pain I've lost a Phantom 4 and a Mavic Mini both over the sea but your videos are the reason I bought the mini 4 pro a couple of days ago it's an amazing drone thanks for your videos . Hopefully you find the drone 👍
Great video. The problem was when you had 10% spare battery, you should have used an extra 5% outwards, and then 5% back, not an extra 10% out. Hope you find it
Sir, i am from india. I liked your drone very much but I am very poor and cannot buy it. I want this drone. Please help me and gift me this drone. I will be thankful to you.
Man Dustin I love your range tests man. I stopped watching an action movie for this for the whole hour, becquse of the adrenaline I felt. You kept me up until 5:37 am. Much love ans respect. Best drone channel qpand please dont stop these range tests. They are unique. Blessings from Chile my friend keep at it!
Brilliant i had a similar issue pushing the battery to far..find my Drone pin pointed with arrow searched for an hour but couldn't find it..think it could have landed on the water in a pond..and sunk..learned a lot from watching this
Hey Dustin, your advanced settings will determine the drones behavior after the point of disconnect. You can manually select to have the drone either RTH, immediately decend, or hover. So your drone may have plotted a course back to "home" for the remaining 3-5% battery life. Hope this helps you find the M4P
Not true, my mini 3 lost signal and never returned. I waited forever and pushed the control sticks upward. At around 900ft I regained signal, pushed rth several times but the drone just wouldn’t return. It continued to drift away and landed on top of a building according to find my drone. This was in the beginning of November and DJI still haven’t replaced my drone. I missed thanksgiving pictures, my daughter’s birthday and now Christmas 😡 DJI has really upset and mistreated me this time around!
@@theurbanartist775 Right, what he's saying is the drone might have started RTH (after disconnecting) and died somewhere along the way. He would need to check those settings to determine what it was set to do.
@Repoman46 thanks repoman. Could be a cool feature to test. Even if the drone had 3% battery left, it would still have x=seconds left of flight time. The drone can be set to hover in place, descend, or RTH in the event of a signal loss. So for the remaining x=seconds of flight time, it may have changed its trajectory towards home for its last seconds, if the setting was set to rth.
Add an air tag to the drone. Then you can track it with your cell phone. Also, you could add high vis reflective tape or paint to help in the recovery.
I put a tile pro (android and iPhone) on my mini3 pro. Could track the location of my drone anywhere it was regardless of range with a small subscription fee ( $120/year) . I would not fly an expensive drone without it! No interference, but it may be over 249g's...idk I never weighed it. 🥂 cheers and happy hovering 🍻
Great test Dustin. Entertaining and informative. Your videos are one of the things that inspired me to get a drone (on number 3 do far...). I learned stuff from you losing them too. So, worth it to me, haha!
Hi Dustin, I have a Tile pro Velcro’s on top of my mini 2. It has saved my ass a couple of times in heavy tropical jungle brush . The drone can be up to 200 feet from the find my drone spot. Check wind direction for the day and follow that path a ways. The tile pro has upto a 400 foot range which gives up to an 800 foot sweep. Each time I never search longer than 20 minutes . The find my drone was way off. The tile works like you are getting warmer, getting colder game. Don’t bother with iTag as they only have a 35 foot range. The tile battery lasts around a year. All my drones carry one when I fly.
Dustin, Really awesome range video. As exciting as the IMAX Theater! One of the things that has saved me several times in finding a downed drone has been that my drones are covered with fluorescent drone skins - fluorescent orange. In one instance I was able to find my drone at the bottom of a river due to its tremendous visibility. Another little trick that has saved me is to fly in the daytime with an attached strobe running. Once the evening sun sets the drone's location your drone's location will become instantly evident. The batteries in a strobe run for m-a-n-y hours. I understand that on a range test one is hoping to carry no payload but the strobes I use are extremely light and yes, once you add the strobe you are over 250 grams so that may be a consideration. Keep up the great work. Your videos are 5-star for sure *****!
There's a difference between flight time and flight distance. I figured the low speed wouldn't yield nearly as much distance. If you're flying at twice the speed but have 30% less flight time you'll still go further than at the lower speed with 30% more flight time.
I bought a cool product (can't remember the name) for my Phantom 3 Pro that would emit a high-pitched beeping noise when you activated the transmitter for it within 1000 feet. It would really help you in a situation like this to find a lost drone. The biggest problem is that small drones like the Mini 4 Pro can't carry a lot of excess weight.
Hi, incredible 115 seconds of zero % flight. We won't see this anywhere else, only you would do such a thing, it's DJ who must not be reassured to see your flights 👍❤❤❤
The tilt is due to compensation for the effects of wind vs your commanded flight path. Next time try turning towards the direction of the tilt .. will level out and free up some battery power to applied elsewhere as required. Great video 😊
If you notice at the end before it's lost, the compass horizon seems almost like the drone was glitching. Could have been the wind but it looked algorithmic to me hence the call out on screen 🍻
I did enjoy your range test Dustin. I was a little irritated at the lost of your drone but I had to reevaluate my attitude. Your test was definitely entertaning. I also know that when testing the limits of anything, the outer limits helps you know when it is time to turn back. So your video cemented my decision to purchase the mini 4 pro. It is videos like this that teach us what to do, when to do it and when to call it off. And, I hope you are able to find you drone. Let us know when you do.Thank you again Dustin.
Thanks. Glad you are one the viewers that can appreciate all the info here. Even though the ending was not perfect 🍻. Still looking and I'll make a video of the rescue if found 🍻
DEFINITELY a nail biter I was literally bitting my fingers watching this and I was hoping that you was going to find it...I just got a mini pro 4 2 days ago and I tested the distance limit just a little compared to this video and I was impressed with the distance I went , I wanna say I only went like 8,000 feet away to the near by lake and I was Impressed but THIS! I need more I need to know the limits lol and I also have regular batteries tho not the extended ones but this is AWESOME IM IN LOVE WITH THIS DJI MINI 4 PRO
You may already know this but a self powered (with it's own battery) strobe would have made it a breeze to find once it was dark. I have one that can last for about 8 hours on it's lowest setting and can still be seen from a few hundred feet at night.
That 4+ mile range is actually really dang good! I did a test with a Mavic Pro series 1 a few years back and had it at 125 feet and got 2 miles away with 64% battery remaining. I chickened out and brought it back and it landed with 22% thanks to the tailwind. I actually just sold a second Mavic Pro I had a couple weeks ago.
What affect would putting a airtag have affect on battery life? Extra weight on the drone etc. I wonder if it's better in these scenarios is when the drone is down to 5% battery left, is to look for a safe clearing area to land
Very little as it only weighs a few grams. Problem is the range of an AirTag is very short. In this case we know the general vicinity where the drone went down so it could prove helpful.
After watching your lost drone go down i was disappointed you were not able to find it. My suggestion would be to get a thermal imager and it is amazing how you can locate different temperature signatures with it. You got rocks , dirt, trees , leaves and bushes. Each with their own signature, the drone will stand out no matter where it is as an anomaly to all its surroundings. I figure it is in a thick green bush or possibly someone witnessed the descent and picked it up as a treasure. Man i wish i could help you. Otherwise it seems your not nearly as bent out of shape about the loss as i was.
That was great to share with us mortals. Brought back memories at the end of my first and only loss years ago with the mini 1. I bought another mini straight away and did the aerial view thing and marvelled at how different areas in high growrh looked just like the shape of the drone and color. Merv Perth Australia
FIND IT!! 1. attach a chinese UV flashlight on the Mavic and let the flourescent light guide you. 😅 If the dji white body come off as flourescent (most white plastic do) you WILL find it. (You'd probably test the uv trick on a different dji white body first). 2. If you have a dji with the same behavior on low battery/ forced landing mode. Do an exact re-run of the forced landing in a controlled environment. To see if it will avoid obstacles and if the landing zone and gps report do match. Maybe it paused the gps logging way before actually landing. Then you are searching at the wrong spot. Proactive measurements: Like many suggested, reflective tape is a good one, but could easily be spotted by others. For stealth i would suggest painting the body with transparent flourescent color. And/or add an apple iTag. Great video overall. You won a subscriber. ❤
Great vid as ever, confirming the MP4 has good connection/range and occusync 4 does the job very nicely, footage was excellent and am grateful for you pushing the limits so as to help others. Don’t give up looking, that bird needs to be found. Thanks again Dustin!
Hi Dustin, I think I know what may have happened. Your drone was originally flying to its home point. You diverted that path and flew it towards a clearing. When the drone lost connection it still had 3 volts or so remaining. I believe what happened was the drone had no connection back to the controller and thus the location is skewed. That being said it would have begun traveling towards its original home point. If you try to vector it’s last known location with the home point it will be along that line. Shoulda coulda painted it fluorescent orange or put an air tag on it but you will find it if you travel from the last known location and that home point. Good luck.
@@DustinDunnill sad part is you can see a landmark in the video of that loop turn around, drone is likely in a 200m radius of that area. just too damn small to see easily.
@@DustinDunnilldid you find your drone in the end ? Apple tag I think I will put on mine ,would do you think about fishing with it ,would that be possible ? I mean to throw the hook far in and just come back
I just got my mini 4. My first REAL drone. Says 20km on the box. That is like 12 miles. At first I was thinking how a limit of 5 or 6 miles out is kind of a rip off because of the range it claims to have. But I guess you have to factor in the trip back (in this video) too which is getting close to 10-11 miles. So this thing did pretty good actually. I love mine I am not willing to go that far with it. Thanks for doing that for us though!
I use to find my dji drones by the flight log file located in the device I used with the controller. In your case that file should be in your controller. You should be able to at least locate the file based on the date. Respond if you need additional help. My guess is the drone did not make as far as you visually saw it fly based on the camera angle.
The find my drone feature uses the flight log and last known coordinates to help locate it does it not? Although I can see it being useful if it was still allowing input from sticks and traveling beyond it's logged and transmitted GPS point 🍻
I swear I saw 2-3 mini 4 pro range test video recommendations but I didn't click on ANY of them. You just do it better and differently dustin. Much love❤ cheers 🍻 Edit: you gotta tell us when you find it man. I hope you really do.
@DustinDunnill OH goodness! I like that one guys thought that it may have lost transmission to the rc, then turned towards home, then flew till it couldn't anymore.
I’m not sure how this drone would react in this situation, but maybe when it lost connection, return to home took back over and it headed toward the home spot. So it might be somewhere between the GPS location and where you were standing when you launched it.
The battery was to low to RTH the drone was in forced landing and you cant push it up and also the battery voltage was depleted and if the drone tried going up the voltage would drain to a critical level and the drone might fall out of the sky
I always learn soooo much from watching your videos. All the range tests that you do on all the drones I am soooo amazed. I had always wondered what the C1 and C2 buttons were for and especially the two small screw holes on the bottom of the controllers? I still have to learn how to fly the Avata 2 and learn how to do the flips. Thanks Dustin for all you do.
I liked the reflective tape advise others were saying but one thing you can do to help yourself is change the camera view to straight down after you know the direction it’s flying forward to. Then when the camera cuts out you’ll at least have a good top view of the last picture it was at.
Thank you for pushing the limits and doing a real world test. FPV drones can be set up with a beeper on the motors when lost that lasts until the battery goes or you can add an external beeper with its own battery. We may need to invest in one of those for you. 😅 I know you’ll find it. It’s a pain, but it’s there. Great stuff as always.
I'd just be worried about the added weight for these range tests. It will drastically affect a drone of this weight. I'm long overdue for marking them orange for range tests which I'll start doing 🍻
@@DustinDunnill it would add 5g if you used something like the Vifly beeper but that would definitely go against what you’re doing which is all stock. I just feel your pain. I’ve had to search for quads in some gnarly desert situations. Looking forward to the video where you locate it though. Cheers!
It's a matter of time and speed: the first time you turned back at 48% and came back at 11%. You went back faster, so you spent less time in the air while going back. That accounts for the 11% remaining. The second time you turned back at 40% and came back at the same speed. No way you could have made it unless there was tailwind AND going faster also. The drone can fly only half time going out and half time going back. Roughly speaking, give or take 1 or 2% maximum. Anyway I was waiting for this video for a long time 😊
For any future distance tests,..Tape an apple air tag on the drone....will get you to very close proximity and you can make it chime and listen.... also flourescent stickers on drone will help recover
Hope you found it. I loved the video and while, after watching hours of other drone videos this evening and deciding after those, that I really don't think the drone thing is for me, your video has changed my mind completely. I'm really going to look into it now. Thanks for the fun.
You spent 40% of the battery returning from 4.4 miles, then pushed it 6.5 with only 40% remaining, an extra 2.1 miles needing the same 40% to return. Should have returned it at 45% which would have returned you around 0% battery.
Hi Dustin, I’m pretty sure the drone powered off and dropped out of the sky when the screen went black. I don’t think it would have lost signal since you still had a clear line of sight and all of a sudden it just went from a fall 5 bars of RC and a very clear video feed straight to nothing. Normally what would happen if it lost signal, it would quickly start dropping from 5 bars straight down to 1 bar in red and then say “rc signal lost”. Whereas this time as soon as the video feed froze the telemetry stopped moving and RC bars dropped from a fall 5 bars to nothing all at the same time. It did also say aircraft in auto power off protection and low battery voltage. Either way, hopefully you find it 👍
You may be right. Others have the same opinion also. I'm hoping it may have shut down all symptoms robbing power so it could land at least. Still searching 🍻
Yessiree i have learned quite a bit from you for sure, this is the 3rd video i have watched as i have been studying drones and looking for a way to keep an eye on our property. Poachers, tresspassers and detelicts do come on this property and it is hard to monitor it or just inconveinient to ride around it all. It is over 200 acres of mostly farmland. I almost think i should get the 2SE DRONE to get the knack of it first even though it has no obstacle avoidance. You asked at 38% battery if we thought you would make it and how much battery would be left i think . I believe with your tailwind from the left rear it will have from 5 to 1l% battery left when it gets home to you. Possibly 12%. Starting video back now to find out.
Hey Dustin thanks for pushing the envelope! 5:30 you were still pretty high so if it lost power completely it definitely would not have gone straight down. I'd continue searching the surrounding areas if you haven't already. Let us know if you find it.
The first time I ‘lost’ my Mavic 2 Pro I knew it wound up in a tree because I got over to where the system suggested that it was, but the elevation kept suggesting that it was AGL-above ground level. With the aid of binoculars, I finally was able to spot it! Inverted, and in an odd attitude, I still had some residual power so that I could skew the camera gimbal a little bit-hoping it could loosen up its grip on a branch! No go. Ultimately, I paid one of my gardeners (who has the gear and the guts) to go after it. The suggestions about reflective tape or paint is highly sound. But, better, there are devises that can pinpoint it precisely. When I used to want to monitor the range of my cat, I placed a device sold as a ‘Whistle’ on a harness for him. It exploits cellular systems. The precision is remarkable. It even lets your know the 3rd dimension, (so being lost in a tree would be findable). Clearly, this sounds like what we in the AIR FORCE would designate as a Minimum Essential Subsystem List (MESL) item when doing such purposeful range testing-like when you’re overriding all of the inherent safeties. To continue with this sort of testing is highly appreciated by us drone pilots but a wee bit expensive for you, over time! Good luck in recovery. I have wondered why DJI has painted them the colors they have! They certainly could not have camouflaged them any better!!
Other videos have actually shown that disabling it CAN in fact add a tiny bit of flight time. Not having to run the algorithm on repeat does in fact save a tiny bit of power. Problem is most people dont have the fine stick control (or fine motor skills) to notice the difference as they are wasting more battery getting from a to b to c.. than the person who can notice by being completely conservative about flight. This is alos why some people get 50-60 mins flight times, and others only 20 mins. Much like a car, or truck, if you are heavy on the throttle 90% of the time, your gas mileage will never see the rated figures on the sticker from the car lot..
For example, the MPG on an 87 Honda CRX is something like 30... and I was able to get over 60 on a single gallon of gas. Others have gotten way more than even that. Eco milling and such.
If you panned down, perhaps you would have seen those random hikers in the landing zone! Sorry for the loss but wow, what a wealth of info for the rest of us. Your narration and experience provides a ton of data we are not going to get anywhere else. Thanks and good luck with the next one!
Based upon your experiments and experience with this drone, I just ordered one. Consider yourself an ‘influencer’ because you influenced this guy to buy one.
One of the main thing about the mini drones is that they are supposed to be under 250 grams to avoid various flight restrictions, so theres a limit on what they can put in there whilst maintaining flight control/assists and camera quality
Put reflective tape on it as a minimum. You can return in the early morning or late evening and use a bright flash light to find it. The tape will light up when hit by the light.
dude. Great idea. I love U
I was thinking the same.
They have wraps now for the mini 4 that you can use to change the color of your drone. I would change the color and add reflective tape.
3M makes some real great reflective films that would make the job a lot easier even come in colors that would be easier to spot like blue on the ground.
Absolutely a GREAT idea!!! Going to add that tape to my drones this week! I typically add a Tile puck to the top of the drone as well.
I've watched the Mini 3, 4, Air 3, Mavic 3, and a lot more range tests so many times that I've lost count. I cannot express how much I love these videos; they are so extremely entertaining and they just inspire me to go fly my own. Thank you Dustin for this amazing series. Love your work.
Range test shouldn't have. Been done in a wooded area thought (not without a GPS tracker attached to it)
Yeah,it's entertaining if the drone is not yours ahahhahaha I felt extremely worried for the 2nd flight,just bought a dji 4 mini pro and if I did this in my contry it would've been surely lost forever lol
Remember you had a pretty stiff left to right crosswind. So it is likely that the drone would be blown to the right of its return course and its expected final landing position is possibly off to the right of the final line of flight.
Flying directly away at full speed and then not returning until battery is well below 50% seems like asking for failure, but it was exciting to watch!
Even if no one will fly that far in real life, it's a great test, very impressive what the little guy (mini 4 pro) can do. Thanks! 👋👋☺
Everybody that is fun will do this. I do it at lest once a month
Technically not legal to fly this far. Always have to keep visual line of sight
@@gtiguy1992able wrong
@@samholdsworth420 well in the USA it’s illegal to fly beyond you visual line of sight
@@gtiguy1992able yeah, but our laws are made by criminals, so F them.
When Dustin does a range test you know it's going to be an entertaining video! Got my popcorn in hand.
Got my beer!
Hahaha
Oh ya same here dude
I noticed the general area.. when you are flying your Mavic to check the vicinity ,if you haven't done it already ..check that one tree that is brown sticks out from the rest ,follow that line and should have landed just before that brown tree .if you know what I'm talking about ..good angle to explore area
@DrTollz Your avatar looks like @billykyle 😆
Sorry you lost your drone during testing, and I hope you can still recover it someday. Great video, the Mini 4 Pro does have amazing signal and great battery life. Thanks for sharing Dustin.
I think you do the best range testing for all drones. A lot of videos I see where the tittle says range test, they don’t actually test it’s max range or even close to it but man you go above and beyond. I loved my DJI mini 2 se but unfortunately it had a battery error during flight and I was only 500 meters out but where it fell I was unable to locate it even with the gps coordinates due to the heavily wooded area it landed in. Btw I think the angle you had the camera at for this video is great for us viewers to kinda be able to visually see how far you’ve traveled by seeing the ground and trees out in the distance. Keep up all your awesome work man.
Exactly the same thing happened to me with my DJI mini 3 which made a forced landing 700 meters from the return point and I found it directly with the location and after only 10 minutes of walking and 2 minutes dd research.
I was really happy.
It served as a lesson to me because now I know that you have to land in a safe place before you run out of battery.
I just bought one of these as my first drone. I really appreciate these videos. You explain things well and I found your videos very helpful! Thanks!
Those little drones are very resilient, my mini was stuck in a tree for 5 days of rain, when I got it down I dried it out for a couple of days, everything still worked fine, even the battery!
Hope you find it, keep us posted.
Had the same happen with my mini se. Needed an arborist to recover my drone. Over a year later and just starting to have an issue with one of the motors.
LOL - dude I was flying mine and I hit some tall grass near my buddies waterfall/pond -yep it hit that grass and dove straight into the basin about 3 feet deep. we fished it out and blew the hell out of it with an air compressor then let it sit in a bag of silica Gell and rice for a few days. It didn't hurt it at all not the card slot the cam or anything . If I was able I would post a video of the crash for as much as it sucked it was classic halarious
Thats amazing mate
Tip, use the coordinates to find your drone. Google Maps supports coordinate inputs. They are a 100% match. If I'm not mistaken, did he ever try looking for the drone in the trees? I swear, I think I saw it, but oh well.
Well i watched this video and now I know the range……until the battery’s flat😂
As others have said landing earlier could have conserved some power to be able to activate the flashing lights and alert buzzer. Despite the outcome it was brilliant and impressive range test. Hope you find the Mini 4 Pro soon 👍
I found it thx
how else would he have the footage from the drone?
Riiiigghhhttt...sure you did 😂
did you ever find it?@@DustinDunnill
@@overyonderjustapiece you have a "drone" if not I don't know what you are talking about. For me, the recording is saved both on the card and on the phone.
The biggest test for my mini 3 pro was in yosemite. I flew over 6 kilometer with it. When i was returning to home it started landing. I found the road that i was on and rushed with my car to get it. Lost signal several times. When i got to the point, I saw it hovering in the air, and used the last few minutes of batery to land in the corect place. I dont recoment it to anyone because it looks like your heart will stop. Great video.
I thought we weren't allowed to fly in National Parks.
Two suggestions for the future:
1. Red reflective tape to help find your drone if something goes wrong and a bonus is that it also stops most birds attacking your drone.
2. Use an Apple Air Tag attached to your drone if your going to take risks like you do. A seperate tracking system not reliant on the drone having some power remaining would be a better solution.
Flying is not inherently dangerous. It is very unforgiving for errors in judgement though.
Air Tags don't have their own GPS signal, they rely on the location information of nearby phones. That doesn't help you very much in the woods. The best it could reasonably do is tell you if it is somewhere near your phone when you search for it. But he knows the general area anyway.
don't forget that an tag adds quite a bit of weight which is very bad for the mini
I lost my drone in Tenerife 2 weeks ago. Close to a road according to the flightlog. When I got there it turned out to be a ravine. Went down, searched for 2 hours. No luck. Next day I went back, put the last known flightlog coordinates in my phone and found it in 15 minutes. This led me directly to the drone. Might be an idea. Drone was fine.
How did you access the flightlog coordinates?
Yeah, I will love to know how you access the flight log coordinate too
@@michelbeussen3920 any answer to the above 2 guys on accessing the flightlogs?
Let us know if you found/find it please
Dustin, I hope this can be of some help. Your video at 1:02:10 where you were landing your mavic 3 IS NOT where your mavic 4 pro was when it went down. If you freeze your frame at that time stamp, you can see that horizontal fallen log. Your mavic 4 pro was in general approach of where dead tree is on this frame (right of frame) and bottom fallen log (there is one north, that one is too far north) due left towards only purple tree in this frozen frame. If you pause video at 51:28 there is a purple tree right next to your telemetry that says 6.8mph. If you were landing mavic 3 where you were looking, you were looking at the wrong place. In fact if you see the dirt road that (I assume is parking area) there is a lone tree that stands in the middle of the road loop. If you draw a straight line from that tree to purple tree, a smidge right... that is where drone is a smidge to right off the purple tree.
Edit: I left you a message on facebook with actual frames freezed and marked up.
Thanks. The Mavic 3 location was just an example and base launch/land location. We searched in about a 50 or so foot wide column from behind DJI's lost point all the way to parking lot in case it kept moving forward. I appreciate the input and I'll take a look at your markups! 🍻
This is exactly at the find my drone gps point next to the dead tree. I think it's got to be around there 🍻
@@EarthSouthside It may have landed. I had the same thing happen with my mini 2. It was on zero battery, trying to limp it home. It was about 700 feet away from me when the signal cut out. I figured that it shut off and dropped out of the sky. I jogged towards it up a decently steep hill in no big hurry because I thought it had already crashed. It took me a couple minutes but as I got closer, I could hear it. So I sprinted the last bit and as I come around the last tree and there it was, still hovering over some tall grass. 😃
Attach a gps tracker ?
@@qiqi2692 Airtag would have helped. Also it was a bonehead attempt.
On the mavic forums they have a crash and flyaway thread. There are experts there that can fully analyse the final flight data and extrapolate the resting place. Worth doing. 👍
That's cool!
Take into account the wind speed and direction to find out if the wind took it
I started flying drones Phantom 2V+, Phantom 3S, Mavic 1 Pro and from 2018 - 2024 Mavic 2 Zoom. My record is 6km apart. In your video I see 7.1 km far from the HP. That's great. beautiful landscape and a calm flight. Mini 4 is a very powerful drone that I want to buy. And of course a battery plus must be purchased for the drone. This will ensure long flights and endurance in the air. Great video. Greetings from the Czech Republic
Lost mine the same way to a canal.... only this time, I wasn't able to retrieve it. The culprit was wind. I flew out to the island that was about 2 miles out with no issues at 10 meters a second. On the way back, the wind was slowing me down so bad that I was flying at 2 meters a second.
I think I will change that to mph. But I'm planning to buy another one sometime this week. But this thing has such nice video quality. I have a few 4k edits on my channel, which is private. I used Adobe Premiere Pro and when I got those up on my TV, it was like a dream come true.
But on top of the aggressive wind that slowed me down, the drone decided to force a landing, so... it never returned. The good news is that I forgot my SD card, so that means my other recordings were not lost. I will make sure that I remove all safety measures and keep the obstacle avoidance. I will also note that forgetting my SD card will be a sign of caution next time. I have had interesting things happen without my SD card.
Dang it. Also, tip: If you are using the map on the DJI app, you are making a mistake. Use the coordinates, they are literally exact when it comes to finding the drone. I forgot to mention that I lost mine 2 times. The first time I used coordinates and Google brought me to the Exact location, literally not even a foot off, and yes, you can use the coordinates on Google Maps. The second time, well, that one was game over no matter the deal.
I have been flying fixed wing for 40 years. I'm debating on a drone. This helps tremendously on making my decision. Thank you for your efforts. Note: I like the ground view with the horizon.
they are a great tool,but instances like this are nerve wrecking.
Sir, i am from india. I liked your drone very much but I am very poor and cannot buy it. I want this drone. Please help me and gift me this drone. I will be thankful to you.
I definitely love watching your range test videos! Good to see how strong that O4 signal still was!
I am sure, you will eventually find your little drone. It was probably a few feet away from you, where ever you ever looking there. With persistence, you will eventually spot it. Good luck. Thanks for sharing!
Two things come to mind:
1.) Painting (or vinyl) the upper body part neon orange might be smart
2.) A buzzer (like LR fpv) could be helpful
Best wishes
for #1, orange plastidip doesn't add too much weight with light spray application. You'd just have to be sure the solvent didn't damage the drone.
@@Hat_Uncle Agreed!
You could for example use waterbased acrylics / airbrush colors.
Or, as mentioned, vinyl/decals. They even make sets for specific drones.
Best wishes
Orange sharpie boom
could also use a RFID chip. People use them on their pets, why not drones.
I should definitely be marking them with orange for range tests. Adding weight won't be ideal for this type of test as it will largely effect the flight time/ distance 🍻
Shout out to your kids and wife for helping you look for the drone. I've lost my drone a handful of times, only never been able to locate the drone once, but never had the help of family look for it. Aside when my dad dropped me off in this remote area that I couldn't park my own vehicle for an extended amount of time without getting towed.. I think this video is really good for helping others increase the chance of finding their drone.
Brand new Drone Pilot here (2 days ago) and purchased the Mini 4 Pro as my first. This is a great video, that I learnt a lot from. Thanks mate👍
The only review that's so satisfying to watch for 1 hour.
Like who DF watches a review that's more than an hour?
Unless it's THIS satisfying and informative.
Thanks for the video it really helped reduce the range anxiety for my Mini 4 Pro as I now know that my everyday flying will never tax the range limit.
Sir, i am from india. I liked your drone very much but I am very poor and cannot buy it. I want this drone. Please help me and gift me this drone. I will be thankful to you.
Dustin Dunnill - Drone Range Tests:
1. DJI Mavic 3 - 8.956 miles / 14.413 km
2. DJI Air 3 - 7.753 miles / 12.478 km
3. DJI Mini 3 Pro - 6.676 miles 10.744 km
4. DJI Mini 4 Pro - 6.460 miles 10.396 km (LOST)
5. DJI Mavic 2 Pro - 6.091 miles / 9.803 km
6. Autel EVO 2 - 5.433 miles / 8.744 km
7. FIMI X8SE 2020 Edition - 5.312 miles / 8.549 km
8. DJI Mavic Air 2 - 4.948 miles / 7.964 km
9. DJI FPV Drone - 4.356 miles / 7.010 km
10. V-Copter Falcon - 4.355 miles / 7.009 km
11. DJI Air 2S - 4.199 miles / 6.758 km
12. DJI Mavic 2 Pro (Light Urban) - 3.618 miles / 5.822 km
13. Autel EVO - 3.498 miles / 5.629 km
14. DJI Mini - 3.426 miles / 5.514 km
15. DJI Mavic Pro + Parabolic - 3.173 miles / 5.107 km
16. DJI Mavic Pro - 2.938 miles / 4.729 km
17. DJI Mavic Air - 2.863 miles / 4.608 km
18. DJI Mini 2 - 2.850 miles / 4.587 km
19. Parrot ANAFI - 2.200 miles / 3.541 km
20. DJI Phantom 4 Pro - 2.105 miles / 3.388 km
21. DJI Spark + Parabolic - 2.076 miles / 3.341 km
22. DJI Mavic Air (Urban Range) - 1.944 miles / 3.128 km
23. DJI Spark + OTG Cable - 1.884 miles / 3.031 km
24. Skydio 2 - 1.039 miles / 1.673 km
You forgot “line of sight: 500 feet”
I thought you flew the Autel Nano Plus as well??
My record is 7km with phantom 4
I had no idea the Mavic 3 flew so far.
I never did the Autel Nano but maybe I will soon 🍻
Definitely like the 45deg downward gimble angle.
DJI needs to add some type of beeper that can be initiated when you get to the recovery spot. It would not take much voltage at all.
Just bought this one. The first drone I bought was a holy Stone. One from Amazon not too expensive but now wished I could have just jumped to this one directly as the range for the one I got was pathetic and even giving you a range of 2 or 3 mi I would be more than happy. That's pretty amazing! Looking forward to it
One of the most underrated channels here, I've been researching this drone for a little bit and this is very informative. Thank you!
Under-rated? Dustin is famouse in the drone world especially range test. Everyone thay flys drones knows him I have no idea what your talking about
@@w.e.s. For some of new to this, his channel would come across as 'new', poor thing, you must've been really upset that someone who is new to this hobby would dare right something positive to OP.
@@jeffl1484 Well, to be fair, to say someone is under-rated implies that they are… low rated. I see what you were getting at though but he is in the top 1% of subscribers on this platform so he is doing well.
@@Greego ok I respect that. My comment was actually to say he’s underrated as in for the content he provides he deserves more views. It was a compliment to him.
Thanks for 2 great range tests Dustin. I'm sorry you haven't been able to find the mini 4 pro yet. I agree with you that you should have pointed the camera down and started landing in a clearing.
I admire you for remaining so calm after losing the drone - I wouldn't have been able to maintain my composure like you did! Good luck with the search...
he has DJI care... fly away insurance... i hope
@@spkendrickcan't imagine that it would cover this
@@maluminse6013 especially when he did it on purpose on camera.
This video had 1 million views. That’s $1000 even without ad revenue. I feel sorry for Dustin having lost the drone, but he made at least $400 profit even if he had to replace the Mini 4 Pro.
I have to say the level of thought into this is hilarious
Great review, I'm totally sold on the 4. I use them for jeeping videos and all the censors will help with the active track. Thanks a bunch.
Because of the strong winds during the time of your range test the Drone may have been carried as its Landing by the wind. Extend the perimeter of the search and you will find it because you're very close to the area that it came down. Continue to search more to the east as there was variable winds coming from the south prior to the crash. You're still a legend in my book.
Thanks! I will 🍻
Please find it q.q @@DustinDunnill
Take into account that slopes can also make it slide somewhere further.
Lesson here is when pushing battery . 1>Find a spot to land
2> point camera down and take a pic or record small video.
3>give it a land command.
4> go to location and find it with help of video and landing location.
If you lost connection while flying it’s much much harder if it landed automatically with a mind of its own on low battery .
You need a landing spot with a landmark to be able to locate it from google earth images. There should be some distinct features of the landing spot.
If you'll land the drone at some random location in the forest you are done.
if you’re flying home, flying home with the wind that way you’re facing the wind, so the drone will fly back easier with the wind and if you lose GPS in remote signal, if you’re flying against the wind going home, you will have much more of a risk to lose it as the wind will blow the signal and interfere
That’s what we’ve been all waiting for!!! 🎉🥳🫡👊
Edit after seeing whole video: I would assume the moment you’ve lost the signal on rc2 was the moment battery died completely so it has to be somewhere there. It fell from significant height so probably on the ground already. Keep looking! 🤞👊
Yo! Sorry you lost ur drone bud and hope you eventually spot it one of these test vids. Honestly, way to push the envelope like always! Thats why we watch you bro, for your insights, knowledge and of course testing. Your not afraid to go to the next level with these wonders of tech for us, so we dont have to. Great vid man, keep them coming!
I learn a few great things on your video! Definitely will add to memory- if ever in a panic situation to force land, tilt camera straight down. Retrieving last 10 seconds of video is an important clue for retrieval of a downed/lost drone. Maybe DJI will add that as an emergency option on under ‘Controls or Safety’ to automatically aim camera down for last 10 seconds of a forced landing?
Hope you find your Mini 4 Pro!
At the end of this video; reminds me of my experience when I use to own the first Mavic Pro, and this is exactly how I lost my Mavic. I never recovered it. I actually left out of the Louisiana woods bloody and cut up from thorns and briarpatches
This was so entertaining, thanks for sharing. I have a Mini 3 Pro and the other day was flying at night, and completely misjudged the wind and couldn't believe how fast the battery died. It tried to force land and I haven't had that before, so wasn't sure of the best way to deal with it. It was over a river near the end and I was panicking and moved it AWAY from me instead. No idea why! Holding the left stick up, the highest it went to was 10.3 feet (maybe it's programmed to do that with the Mino 3 Pro?) and luckily that was enough to get it over the river bridge I was standing near. So I ran across and grabbed it! I've never been so freakin' nervous. Teehee.
Great stuff - Just watched the first 5 seconds before commenting. Looking forward to the next 1 hour and 4 minutes!
I feel your pain I've lost a Phantom 4 and a Mavic Mini both over the sea but your videos are the reason I bought the mini 4 pro a couple of days ago it's an amazing drone thanks for your videos . Hopefully you find the drone 👍
😢omg,i couldnt handle that,but you have to hey.
Great Video...DJI needs to add a beep system to the "Find my drone" This way once you are within 50 yards or so the beep or sound will assist!
Thanks, it has one but only if there is power remaining 🍻
The wireless signal strength is amazing, that distance and good control with no flicker on great video quality
Great video. The problem was when you had 10% spare battery, you should have used an extra 5% outwards, and then 5% back, not an extra 10% out. Hope you find it
Yep.
Always gets your heart going on your flight tests ❤😮
Sir, i am from india. I liked your drone very much but I am very poor and cannot buy it. I want this drone. Please help me and gift me this drone. I will be thankful to you.
Your range test are truly awesome, so sorry you lost your drone , hope to get an update if you find it
Man Dustin I love your range tests man. I stopped watching an action movie for this for the whole hour, becquse of the adrenaline I felt. You kept me up until 5:37 am. Much love ans respect. Best drone channel qpand please dont stop these range tests. They are unique. Blessings from Chile my friend keep at it!
Brilliant i had a similar issue pushing the battery to far..find my Drone pin pointed with arrow searched for an hour but couldn't find it..think it could have landed on the water in a pond..and sunk..learned a lot from watching this
Hey Dustin, your advanced settings will determine the drones behavior after the point of disconnect. You can manually select to have the drone either RTH, immediately decend, or hover.
So your drone may have plotted a course back to "home" for the remaining 3-5% battery life. Hope this helps you find the M4P
Not true, my mini 3 lost signal and never returned. I waited forever and pushed the control sticks upward. At around 900ft I regained signal, pushed rth several times but the drone just wouldn’t return. It continued to drift away and landed on top of a building according to find my drone. This was in the beginning of November and DJI still haven’t replaced my drone. I missed thanksgiving pictures, my daughter’s birthday and now Christmas 😡
DJI has really upset and mistreated me this time around!
@@theurbanartist775 Right, what he's saying is the drone might have started RTH (after disconnecting) and died somewhere along the way. He would need to check those settings to determine what it was set to do.
At critical battery like this was at the end, it will not go into RTH even if it is set to on signal loss 🍻
What was your battery level when you tried RTH last?
@Repoman46 thanks repoman. Could be a cool feature to test. Even if the drone had 3% battery left, it would still have x=seconds left of flight time. The drone can be set to hover in place, descend, or RTH in the event of a signal loss.
So for the remaining x=seconds of flight time, it may have changed its trajectory towards home for its last seconds, if the setting was set to rth.
Add an air tag to the drone. Then you can track it with your cell phone. Also, you could add high vis reflective tape or paint to help in the recovery.
An airtag only works if an iPhone goes within the nfc range of it. Not likely to work in this type of situation
I think the airtag could have been a great help. He only needs to bring his Iphone within 100 feet of drone to find it. @@garybamsch6352
If you have an I phone it may work!
I put a tile pro (android and iPhone) on my mini3 pro. Could track the location of my drone anywhere it was regardless of range with a small subscription fee ( $120/year) . I would not fly an expensive drone without it! No interference, but it may be over 249g's...idk I never weighed it. 🥂 cheers and happy hovering 🍻
My air 2 s, & mini 2 will bring me exactly where my drone has landed
Great test Dustin. Entertaining and informative. Your videos are one of the things that inspired me to get a drone (on number 3 do far...). I learned stuff from you losing them too. So, worth it to me, haha!
Hi Dustin, I have a Tile pro Velcro’s on top of my mini 2. It has saved my ass a couple of times in heavy tropical jungle brush . The drone can be up to 200 feet from the find my drone spot. Check wind direction for the day and follow that path a ways. The tile pro has upto a 400 foot range which gives up to an 800 foot sweep. Each time I never search longer than 20 minutes . The find my drone was way off. The tile works like you are getting warmer, getting colder game. Don’t bother with iTag as they only have a 35 foot range. The tile battery lasts around a year. All my drones carry one when I fly.
Thanks for the info! I may start using the tile. Time to do some flight time testing to see how much the added weight affects it 🍻
Dustin, Really awesome range video. As exciting as the IMAX Theater! One of the things that has saved me several times in finding a downed drone has been that my drones are covered with fluorescent drone skins - fluorescent orange. In one instance I was able to find my drone at the bottom of a river due to its tremendous visibility. Another little trick that has saved me is to fly in the daytime with an attached strobe running. Once the evening sun sets the drone's location your drone's location will become instantly evident. The batteries in a strobe run for m-a-n-y hours. I understand that on a range test one is hoping to carry no payload but the strobes I use are extremely light and yes, once you add the strobe you are over 250 grams so that may be a consideration. Keep up the great work. Your videos are 5-star for sure *****!
I recently got a lightweight "pebblebee" tracker with sound and light activation. Planning on trying it on the next range tests to see how it works 🍻
can you please post the strobes and batteries that you use? I want to do this to. Thanks
Using both Firehouse Arc 5 and Lume Cube strobes with rechargeable internal batteries. Both units run 5-6 hours on a full charge.
Maybe for the next range test it might be a good idea to put a some bright colored sticker on it.
I think controlled landing is the best
homer said fuel and fire good
There's a difference between flight time and flight distance. I figured the low speed wouldn't yield nearly as much distance. If you're flying at twice the speed but have 30% less flight time you'll still go further than at the lower speed with 30% more flight time.
A suggestion to DJI maybe, what about a high pitched locater beep that can be enabled once you’re in the area?
They make a small beeper that I attach to all my flyers ! When it goes down, I put on my “hunting earphones” and walk to'it
I bought a cool product (can't remember the name) for my Phantom 3 Pro that would emit a high-pitched beeping noise when you activated the transmitter for it within 1000 feet. It would really help you in a situation like this to find a lost drone. The biggest problem is that small drones like the Mini 4 Pro can't carry a lot of excess weight.
Hi, incredible 115 seconds of zero % flight. We won't see this anywhere else, only you would do such a thing, it's DJ who must not be reassured to see your flights 👍❤❤❤
The tilt is due to compensation for the effects of wind vs your commanded flight path. Next time try turning towards the direction of the tilt .. will level out and free up some battery power to applied elsewhere as required. Great video 😊
If you notice at the end before it's lost, the compass horizon seems almost like the drone was glitching. Could have been the wind but it looked algorithmic to me hence the call out on screen 🍻
I did enjoy your range test Dustin. I was a little irritated at the lost of your drone but I had to reevaluate my attitude. Your test was definitely entertaning. I also know that when testing the limits of anything, the outer limits helps you know when it is time to turn back. So your video cemented my decision to purchase the mini 4 pro. It is videos like this that teach us what to do, when to do it and when to call it off. And, I hope you are able to find you drone. Let us know when you do.Thank you again Dustin.
Thanks. Glad you are one the viewers that can appreciate all the info here. Even though the ending was not perfect 🍻. Still looking and I'll make a video of the rescue if found 🍻
hope you find it. Great video! @@DustinDunnill
I really enjoy watching your videos!! Especially the range tests! Thank you!
Love the flight test videos and so bummed you never found it...Some great ideas in the comments tho.
Thanks for posting.
DEFINITELY a nail biter I was literally bitting my fingers watching this and I was hoping that you was going to find it...I just got a mini pro 4 2 days ago and I tested the distance limit just a little compared to this video and I was impressed with the distance I went , I wanna say I only went like 8,000 feet away to the near by lake and I was Impressed but THIS! I need more I need to know the limits lol and I also have regular batteries tho not the extended ones but this is AWESOME IM IN LOVE WITH THIS DJI MINI 4 PRO
You may already know this but a self powered (with it's own battery) strobe would have made it a breeze to find once it was dark. I have one that can last for about 8 hours on it's lowest setting and can still be seen from a few hundred feet at night.
Good idea. What's the weight on that strobe?
That 4+ mile range is actually really dang good! I did a test with a Mavic Pro series 1 a few years back and had it at 125 feet and got 2 miles away with 64% battery remaining. I chickened out and brought it back and it landed with 22% thanks to the tailwind.
I actually just sold a second Mavic Pro I had a couple weeks ago.
What affect would putting a airtag have affect on battery life? Extra weight on the drone etc. I wonder if it's better in these scenarios is when the drone is down to 5% battery left, is to look for a safe clearing area to land
Very little as it only weighs a few grams. Problem is the range of an AirTag is very short. In this case we know the general vicinity where the drone went down so it could prove helpful.
After watching your lost drone go down i was disappointed you were not able to find it. My suggestion would be to get a thermal imager and it is amazing how you can locate different temperature signatures with it. You got rocks , dirt, trees , leaves and bushes. Each with their own signature, the drone will stand out no matter where it is as an anomaly to all its surroundings. I figure it is in a thick green bush or possibly someone witnessed the descent and picked it up as a treasure. Man i wish i could help you. Otherwise it seems your not nearly as bent out of shape about the loss as i was.
That was great to share with us mortals. Brought back memories at the end of my first and only loss years ago with the mini 1. I bought another mini straight away and did the aerial view thing and marvelled at how different areas in high growrh looked just like the shape of the drone and color. Merv Perth Australia
FIND IT!!
1. attach a chinese UV flashlight on the Mavic and let the flourescent light guide you. 😅
If the dji white body come off as flourescent (most white plastic do) you WILL find it. (You'd probably test the uv trick on a different dji white body first).
2. If you have a dji with the same behavior on low battery/ forced landing mode. Do an exact re-run of the forced landing in a controlled environment. To see if it will avoid obstacles and if the landing zone and gps report do match. Maybe it paused the gps logging way before actually landing. Then you are searching at the wrong spot.
Proactive measurements:
Like many suggested, reflective tape is a good one, but could easily be spotted by others. For stealth i would suggest painting the body with transparent flourescent color. And/or add an apple iTag.
Great video overall. You won a subscriber. ❤
Apple tag will not help if no one is closer than 10 meters
Great vid as ever, confirming the MP4 has good connection/range and occusync 4 does the job very nicely, footage was excellent and am grateful for you pushing the limits so as to help others. Don’t give up looking, that bird needs to be found.
Thanks again Dustin!
Hi Dustin, I think I know what may have happened. Your drone was originally flying to its home point. You diverted that path and flew it towards a clearing. When the drone lost connection it still had 3 volts or so remaining. I believe what happened was the drone had no connection back to the controller and thus the location is skewed. That being said it would have begun traveling towards its original home point. If you try to vector it’s last known location with the home point it will be along that line. Shoulda coulda painted it fluorescent orange or put an air tag on it but you will find it if you travel from the last known location and that home point. Good luck.
Worth a try. In my experience they won't try to return when in forced landing mode 🍻
@@DustinDunnill I see what your saying. Hope you find it.
Airtag is a great idea.
@@DustinDunnill sad part is you can see a landmark in the video of that loop turn around, drone is likely in a 200m radius of that area. just too damn small to see easily.
@@DustinDunnilldid you find your drone in the end ? Apple tag I think I will put on mine ,would do you think about fishing with it ,would that be possible ? I mean to throw the hook far in and just come back
I just got my mini 4. My first REAL drone. Says 20km on the box. That is like 12 miles. At first I was thinking how a limit of 5 or 6 miles out is kind of a rip off because of the range it claims to have. But I guess you have to factor in the trip back (in this video) too which is getting close to 10-11 miles. So this thing did pretty good actually. I love mine I am not willing to go that far with it. Thanks for doing that for us though!
It means the transmission range. Not flight range 🍻
@@DustinDunnill true true. But ain't no way in hell. hahah
With RC plans and High Altitude balloons we always include an audio beeper. Never lost one yesterday but the beeper was out hero.
I use to find my dji drones by the flight log file located in the device I used with the controller. In your case that file should be in your controller. You should be able to at least locate the file based on the date. Respond if you need additional help. My guess is the drone did not make as far as you visually saw it fly based on the camera angle.
The find my drone feature uses the flight log and last known coordinates to help locate it does it not? Although I can see it being useful if it was still allowing input from sticks and traveling beyond it's logged and transmitted GPS point 🍻
I swear I saw 2-3 mini 4 pro range test video recommendations but I didn't click on ANY of them. You just do it better and differently dustin. Much love❤ cheers 🍻
Edit: you gotta tell us when you find it man. I hope you really do.
Still Looking 🙂🍻
@DustinDunnill OH goodness! I like that one guys thought that it may have lost transmission to the rc, then turned towards home, then flew till it couldn't anymore.
In my experiences they don't do that in critical low battery unless there was some glitch it just lands where it is 🍻
I’m not sure how this drone would react in this situation, but maybe when it lost connection, return to home took back over and it headed toward the home spot. So it might be somewhere between the GPS location and where you were standing when you launched it.
it won't try to return home once forced landing is active
The battery was to low to RTH the drone was in forced landing and you cant push it up and also the battery voltage was depleted and if the drone tried going up the voltage would drain to a critical level and the drone might fall out of the sky
I always learn soooo much from watching your videos. All the range tests that you do on all the drones I am soooo amazed. I had always wondered what the C1 and C2 buttons were for and especially the two small screw holes on the bottom of the controllers? I still have to learn how to fly the Avata 2 and learn how to do the flips. Thanks Dustin for all you do.
I liked the reflective tape advise others were saying but one thing you can do to help yourself is change the camera view to straight down after you know the direction it’s flying forward to. Then when the camera cuts out you’ll at least have a good top view of the last picture it was at.
Starting a fund for a new one.
Thanks Sam! 🙂🍻
Thank you for pushing the limits and doing a real world test. FPV drones can be set up with a beeper on the motors when lost that lasts until the battery goes or you can add an external beeper with its own battery. We may need to invest in one of those for you. 😅 I know you’ll find it. It’s a pain, but it’s there. Great stuff as always.
I'd just be worried about the added weight for these range tests. It will drastically affect a drone of this weight. I'm long overdue for marking them orange for range tests which I'll start doing 🍻
@@DustinDunnill it would add 5g if you used something like the Vifly beeper but that would definitely go against what you’re doing which is all stock. I just feel your pain. I’ve had to search for quads in some gnarly desert situations. Looking forward to the video where you locate it though. Cheers!
It's a matter of time and speed: the first time you turned back at 48% and came back at 11%. You went back faster, so you spent less time in the air while going back. That accounts for the 11% remaining. The second time you turned back at 40% and came back at the same speed. No way you could have made it unless there was tailwind AND going faster also. The drone can fly only half time going out and half time going back. Roughly speaking, give or take 1 or 2% maximum. Anyway I was waiting for this video for a long time 😊
Your right. I should have turned around at 45% I think 🍻
For any future distance tests,..Tape an apple air tag on the drone....will get you to very close proximity and you can make it chime and listen.... also flourescent stickers on drone will help recover
Hope you found it. I loved the video and while, after watching hours of other drone videos this evening and deciding after those, that I really don't think the drone thing is for me, your video has changed my mind completely. I'm really going to look into it now. Thanks for the fun.
You spent 40% of the battery returning from 4.4 miles, then pushed it 6.5 with only 40% remaining, an extra 2.1 miles needing the same 40% to return. Should have returned it at 45% which would have returned you around 0% battery.
I agree 🍻
You always want to keep tolerance. He flew it fine.
Did you ever find it???
@@dixienormus8097 I believe he did
@@dixienormus8097 did u ever find your dad?
@@Tiggabrad so funny innit and so original wow
Hi Dustin, I’m pretty sure the drone powered off and dropped out of the sky when the screen went black. I don’t think it would have lost signal since you still had a clear line of sight and all of a sudden it just went from a fall 5 bars of RC and a very clear video feed straight to nothing. Normally what would happen if it lost signal, it would quickly start dropping from 5 bars straight down to 1 bar in red and then say “rc signal lost”. Whereas this time as soon as the video feed froze the telemetry stopped moving and RC bars dropped from a fall 5 bars to nothing all at the same time. It did also say aircraft in auto power off protection and low battery voltage. Either way, hopefully you find it 👍
You may be right. Others have the same opinion also. I'm hoping it may have shut down all symptoms robbing power so it could land at least. Still searching 🍻
6.5 miles is awesome I'm fixing to get me a dji mini4 pro. I like your videos great job
Yessiree i have learned quite a bit from you for sure, this is the 3rd video i have watched as i have been studying drones and looking for a way to keep an eye on our property. Poachers, tresspassers and detelicts do come on this property and it is hard to monitor it or just inconveinient to ride around it all. It is over 200 acres of mostly farmland. I almost think i should get the 2SE DRONE to get the knack of it first even though it has no obstacle avoidance. You asked at 38% battery if we thought you would make it and how much battery would be left i think . I believe with your tailwind from the left rear it will have from 5 to 1l% battery left when it gets home to you. Possibly 12%. Starting video back now to find out.
Hey Dustin thanks for pushing the envelope! 5:30 you were still pretty high so if it lost power completely it definitely would not have gone straight down. I'd continue searching the surrounding areas if you haven't already. Let us know if you find it.
did you find it ?
Not yet. I'll make a video if I do 🍻
would sport use more? it disables sensors....
@@TheNeo2k airborne no need not indoors
Reflective tape is helpful, I have been taping an airtag to my drones and it has saved me twice now by having the airtag lol. Best of luck.
The first time I ‘lost’ my Mavic 2 Pro I knew it wound up in a tree because I got over to where the system suggested that it was, but the elevation kept suggesting that it was AGL-above ground level. With the aid of binoculars, I finally was able to spot it! Inverted, and in an odd attitude, I still had some residual power so that I could skew the camera gimbal a little bit-hoping it could loosen up its grip on a branch! No go. Ultimately, I paid one of my gardeners (who has the gear and the guts) to go after it. The suggestions about reflective tape or paint is highly sound. But, better, there are devises that can pinpoint it precisely. When I used to want to monitor the range of my cat, I placed a device sold as a ‘Whistle’ on a harness for him. It exploits cellular systems. The precision is remarkable. It even lets your know the 3rd dimension, (so being lost in a tree would be findable). Clearly, this sounds like what we in the AIR FORCE would designate as a Minimum Essential Subsystem List (MESL) item when doing such purposeful range testing-like when you’re overriding all of the inherent safeties. To continue with this sort of testing is highly appreciated by us drone pilots but a wee bit expensive for you, over time! Good luck in recovery. I have wondered why DJI has painted them the colors they have! They certainly could not have camouflaged them any better!!
Not one of you said any condolences….RIP little drone one day you might be rebooted.
Disabling obstacle avoidance doesn't save any battery power.
The physical sensors keep active, only the software doesn't use their information.
Other videos have actually shown that disabling it CAN in fact add a tiny bit of flight time. Not having to run the algorithm on repeat does in fact save a tiny bit of power. Problem is most people dont have the fine stick control (or fine motor skills) to notice the difference as they are wasting more battery getting from a to b to c.. than the person who can notice by being completely conservative about flight. This is alos why some people get 50-60 mins flight times, and others only 20 mins. Much like a car, or truck, if you are heavy on the throttle 90% of the time, your gas mileage will never see the rated figures on the sticker from the car lot..
For example, the MPG on an 87 Honda CRX is something like 30... and I was able to get over 60 on a single gallon of gas. Others have gotten way more than even that. Eco milling and such.
You no doubt are brave and fearless. Thanks for real lesson. Why No sim card?
Put AirTag on it 😂
AirTag won’t work because it needs other iPhone signal which in this park you don’t have
Oh yeah but if he is close enough it ll work with the chip in it so I m sorry for my answer
If you panned down, perhaps you would have seen those random hikers in the landing zone! Sorry for the loss but wow, what a wealth of info for the rest of us. Your narration and experience provides a ton of data we are not going to get anywhere else. Thanks and good luck with the next one!
Based upon your experiments and experience with this drone, I just ordered one.
Consider yourself an ‘influencer’ because you influenced this guy to buy one.
There should be an inbuilt battery just to locate the drone for atleast 10 hours of search. With ping and heavy beep sound
One of the main thing about the mini drones is that they are supposed to be under 250 grams to avoid various flight restrictions, so theres a limit on what they can put in there whilst maintaining flight control/assists and camera quality