G+_John Saunders Posted July 30, 2017 Share Posted July 30, 2017 Good evening all, I had a rather eventful afternoon with my Syma X5C. I took it above the tree line behind my house, and about 60 seconds later a large gust of wind blew it across my neighborhood with no chance of recovery. All I could do is keep it within my neighborhood before losing signal and watching helplessly as it fell from the sky. Fortunately, I drove around and found it in a neighbor's back yard about 10 minutes later. My question to everyone is... Does anyone have a cheap lightweight tracker that could help locate a drone if it is lost? I was thinking of something like a BLE device like Tile or Trackr, but I have no experience with these and I dont know if it will give accurate directions to the location, or just a general area. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Shooter_FPV (Shooter_FP Posted July 30, 2017 Share Posted July 30, 2017 I see this question asked on the PhantomPilots Forum all the time, with a ton of different answers. The only one I WOULDN'T try is a Trackr, just because they DON'T WORK (yea, I know they are a sponsor... sorry...) I got a 2-for-1 deal just before Christmas, and my batteries died in April, WAY short of what they had said. They did send me 7 replacement batteries, but the bigger issue is that they don't stay connected to my iPhone 6 Plus longer than a few hours. Worst piece of tech I've purchased in a while... In saying that, I forget what the other options were that they suggested, but I'm not sure if any of them would be light enough to work on a X5C. I have one, and they are EXTREMELY light. Maybe take a quick visit to PhantomPilots and find a thread, everyone asks all the time... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_John Saunders Posted July 30, 2017 Author Share Posted July 30, 2017 Yeah, the X5C is a great practice drone, but not in any type of wind. I have a Blade 350 that I took out after my little adventure with my Syma, and with the 350 I was still fighting the wind but it wasn't as bad since the 350 is much heavier and doesn't get compromised as easy. I'll check out that site, I appreciate it Ken Jancef Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_John Sullivan Posted July 30, 2017 Share Posted July 30, 2017 Definitely not the Trackr ... piece of junk. Attached it to a forklift I was wanting to keep track of, and it did not work at all. Plus crowd-sourcing on Bluetooth is a dumb idea when most people turn Bluetooth off to save battery. Even if they had it turned on, you have to convince them to download the Trackr app and keep it running (again not likely) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Akira Yamanita Posted July 30, 2017 Share Posted July 30, 2017 You probably want something more like a homing beacon. Licensed ham radio operators have some good options for devices that use licensed frequencies. There are cell service based trackers as well, which would be fine if you're planning on using it in areas with coverage. Both transmit GPS coordinates but I tried looking for a basic homing beacon (just a basic transmitter that sends a pulse that you'd locate with a directional antenna) but didn't find anything ready made. It's hard to imagine that nothing like that exists, but I guess it would make for a decent DIY project. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Dan Hockey Posted July 30, 2017 Share Posted July 30, 2017 whistle.com - Whistle GPS Tracker For Dogs & Cats | Whistle Pet Tracker I have one of these. It has a rechargeable battery that lasts any where from five to seven days. It's meant for pets but it works on anything that moves. I haven't flown this on my quad yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Shooter_FPV (Shooter_FP Posted July 31, 2017 Share Posted July 31, 2017 I just remembered that, against my better judgement, I invested in this Ping device. I forgot because it's not supposed to (hopefully) be released until October. indiegogo.com - www.indiegogo.com/projects/ping-the-world-s-smallest-global-gps-locator-bluetooth#/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G+_Shooter_FPV (Shooter_FP Posted July 31, 2017 Share Posted July 31, 2017 And here's a list from PhantomHelp of what people are using/recommending. I think a lot of people like the Marco Polo, but it's pretty expensive... phantomhelp.com - DJI Phantom Accessories & Tips - Phantom Help Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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