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As a drone pilot, losing your drone can be the worst experience of your life. Even though it is very rare to happen, it does happen. According to a GPS company, Trackimo, almost 30% of drone pilots have lost their drones and have not been able to find it again.
Some of the most often searched questions related to losing a drone are:
- How to find a lost drone in a tree?
- How to find a lost drone that flew away?
- How to find a lost drone without a tracker?
- How to find a lost drone in a forest?
- How to find a lost drone if the battery died?
Even though, the chances are less, there is always a little hope. You might lose your drones due to malfunction, a crash, mismanagement or some other reason, but here are some great tips and methods that can help you locate your lost drone.
Check this article out for more details!
Finding a Lost Drone
Here are some popular and effective ways to locate a lost drone under poor circumstances, check out the following.
1# Keep the Remote Control ON
In case you lose connection with your flying drone midway, this is the most basic tactic to use. Many times, a drone pilot might be testing their drones by reaching maximum distance, which sometimes results in poor and weak receptions, and sometimes lose your drone’s point of view. In this case, make sure your remote controller is activated and just start spamming the Return or Home Button in order to fly back your lost drone immediately.
Sometimes, the lost drones get caught up within a tree or a wired fence, and do not come back, but as long as the remote control is activated, the drone stays active.
2# Use the Tracker App
Buying a drone includes downloading an app to easily locate your drone with its built-in tracking device. Certain drones offer a free application while in case of others, you need to buy a separate tracker and app from any drone store which might cost you around $80 but worth a lifetime.
So many drone lives are saved everyday using these trackers and GPS apps. Also, if you happen to own a very expensive drone, you must buy a tracker, because you never know when it comes handy.
3# Take a Screen Shot
This feature is only applicable for drones with photography features. This method is based off on a guy who lost his DJI Phantom and was able to track the lost drone by simply taking screenshots with his Phantom’s camera before it crashed. This feature will help you identify the aerial footage including buildings and terrain to determine how far the drone travelled and where was it last seen.
The possibility of finding the drone increases within 100 to 400 feet away from you. For more help, use an area map to locate the photos and screenshots in order to plot down possible locations in case you are not familiar with the area.
4# Post Flyers Around Town
Losing a drone could be as painful as losing a pet, so don’t shy away and start posting flyers around the city saying “Have you seen this Drone?” with a clear picture of the drone. It might be embarrassing but it is a desperate call for help in case of emergencies and if you own a really expensive drone to be replaced.
In case a good Samaritan finds your drone and sees your flyer, he might come forward to help you, so there are good chances of getting back the drone.
5# File a Police/Flyer Club Report
If other tactics and flyers don’t help, resort to authority for help. Police are viable when it comes to lost drones. In case you are missing a drone, all you need to do is file a police complaint with your building, name, drone model, contact number and that’s it. If someone reports your drone to the police, they will notify you.
If you are not comfortable with filing a report with the police, your alternative is to find volunteers working to find lost drones. They collect the lost, crashed or stuck drones and identify the owner by scanning the bar code.
6# Use the Back-Up Drone
If you are lucky enough to own more than one drone, it might be easier for you to locate your lost drone. It is an effective way of experienced drone enthusiasts to use their spare drones to locate the lost UAV by travelling to the place it got lost.
For best results, this activity should take place at night as the lost drones emit lights if it still has its battery running. Using the night vision, it will be easier for the spare drone to locate the lost drone at night.
7# Fly with Caution
Some people treat drones as a toy and start risking by flying it carelessly and too comfortably. You might feel charged up to take risks and fly dangerously to explore more with the drone, but learn to avoid taking such risks.
Drone prices are no joke, they are an expensive item so make sure you fly them within the range of 400 feet in altitude and always keep them in your line of sight with no joking around.
8# Monitor Battery Life
Take precautions by monitoring battery life of the drone and keep an eye on it. The drone battery life and distance are both limited and could die if over-used, therefore, it is always better to keep the drones charged so the power doesn’t go off while you are flying the drone.
This ensures the drone are always in range and that it has enough power and battery life to reach back to you.
Better Safe Than Sorry!
Follow these effective tips and methods to increase the chances of finding your lost drones. If our information helped you find your lost drone, let us know in the comment box!
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