Getting ready to embark on your lost drone recovery project? Let’s see if I can help provide some insight into this whole drone recovery process business.
It is already bad enough that your drone went completely MIA (missing in action). On top of that, you really shouldn’t have to spend hours upon hours on looking for a clear how-to recover your drone guide to aid in your lost drone recovery project. This is where Droneflytech.com comes into play. We have done a ton of research into how to get your drone back when lost and want to share this all with you. Losing your drone or quadcopter is no fun, and can really fast turn into a nightmare.
We have written out an AWESOME GUIDE with 14 Ideas and Tips on finding lost drones here “How to find a lost drone without a tracker” (Opens in a New Tab). Please feel free to browse that resource, as it is jam packed with tips and ideas on how to locate your lost drone. But do not forget about the guide that is coming up below.
Back to the lost drone recovery project guide. The purpose of this guide is to come up with a strategy for you to utilize as an aid in your drone search. Some of the things that we will go over might sound basic, but please bare with us as this will all make sense in the end. Alright, lets get into it.
Lost Drone Recovery Project – The Guide (How to find lost drones)
- Step #1. Connectivity with Drone is Lost – You have lost all communication with the drone and are no longer able to see through the FPV camera and the drone doesn’t respond to your controller commands.
- Step #2. Stay Calm – Take it easy here and do not panic, all is not lost. There are a number of things that you can still try in order to retrieve your lost drone.
- Step #3. Controller Power – DO NOT Turn the controller off. This is the first mistake that people tend to make when trying to look for their drone when it disappears. We need the controller active for the following steps.
- Step #4. Start Walking – With your controller still turned on, you will need to start walking in the general direction of where your drone went missing. Most controllers will try to reconnect with the lost drone as you come closer to it. As long as the drone still has some battery life and you have a general idea of which direction the drone flew away to, this should be able to locate it. If you are still unable to find it, continue reading the lost drone recovery project guide.
- Step #5. Drone Power – If the drone’s battery is drained, you will unfortunately not be able to use the drone’s controller to locate the unit. This is where Drone # 2 comes into play.
- Step #6. Drone # 2 – Yep, you are reading this correct. If you have a second drone at your disposal, go ahead and grab it ASAP. If you don’t have one, you might want to consider picking up a cheepie, just make sure it has a decent Camera (most drones under $100 would suffice). Feel free to check out our Best Drone Under 200 Dollars page for some ideas.
- Step #7. Drone # 2 continued.. – The reason why we want a second drone in the mix, is so that you can go ahead and get that puppy up there and add him to the search party. A bird’s eye view is always going to be better then trying to walk through woods, grass fields, back yard, marshes etc.. on your own.
- Step #8. Last Known Position – Now that we have Drone # 2 ready to go, the next obvious step will be to see if we can go ahead and figure out the last known position of the lost drone. Here is where the lost drone recovery project guide takes a turn towards a more technical approach. This may not be for the none-technical drone pilots, but you may try to follow anyhow.
- Step #9. Getting Coordinates – Nowadays there are a few different ways that one might be able to get historical coordinates for their drone. There are logs that are stored on the drone smart phone apps, as well as logs that are stored in the cloud for some of the more higher end machines. Another thing to try (this is more of a prevent-the-drone-loss type of a tip), is to take a screenshot of your drone’s controller as you see it start losing connectivity with the unit.
- Step #10. If you are still unable to locate your drone with the above guide, you may really want to check out the Ultimate Guide on how to find a lost drone without a tracker. That guide really has it all.
- Step #11. The End.
Drone Tracking Device – Should be an Important Part of Every Drone Pilot’s Arsenal
I really hope that some of the information above has been helpful to you as you search for your lost aircraft. If you have located your drone with the help of some of our tips, I would recommend for you to grab a Drone Tracking Device. Drone trackers are somewhat like insurance policies on your drone. What is the point of spending $100’s or $1,000’s of dollars on an awesome drone, if you don’t protect it somehow.
There are actually 3 different types of trackers to choose from when trying to track your drone. Bluetooth, Cellular & Dedicated trackers. All 3 of these trackers fall into the category of a drone recovery company product. We like and recommend the “Dedicated Tracker” because it is reliable, easy to setup, no monthly fees or costs associated with it and a good range of tracking (2+ Miles). Our recommendation for a dedicated tracker is the Marco Polo Drone Tracker. If you would like some more information about this, please go ahead and visit the Amazon page for this product to get more details about it. Marco Polo Drone Tracker Amazon Page – Drone Retrieval Unit!
We really hope that some of our tips and ideas were helpful in pointing you towards a good and positive outcome with your drone search.
Until next time Drone Enthusiasts, happy flying.