In this article, we are going to be sharing with you some of the easiest ways to find your lost drone without GPS. Now, suppose you don’t already know. In that case, GPS stands for global positioning system, and it’s what many consumer drones use.
It is to make sure that they can find their way back home when their battery starts to run low or the drone loses sight of the controller due to distance or obstructions such as trees or mountains. Nowadays, almost every drone comes with GPS, even the pretty cheap ones.
But there are many drones as well that lack this convenient feature. GPS makes piloting the drone efficient, and most of the intelligent flight modes depend on it; therefore, if your drone lacks GPS, there are chances that you are missing out on some of the pretty impressive innovative drone features.
What Is A GPS Drone?
Most drones these days come with GPS technology. It helps the drone navigate its way and not get lost. GPS technology uses satellites to keep track of the location of the drone, which allows the drone to move around freely without getting lost.
Most of the advanced intelligent flight features use GPS to work. Features like follow me, orbit, and find my way can not work without a drone. Therefore, having a GPS in beginner-friendly drones is a key to learning to pilot the drone without any danger and chances of missing your drone out in the woods.
Can Drones Fly Without GPS?
Well, in simple words, the answer is yes. GPS is a very handy feature to have, but it is not a mandatory feature which means you can pilot a drone without it if you know how to control your drone actively.
However, as a beginner, piloting a drone without GPS can get a bit daunting, and you will have more chance of losing your drone as you can not use features like returning home. But if you are indoors and not flying the drone that far from yourself, not having the GPS will not bother you that much.
You might miss out on some of the awe-inspiring flight features due to the lack of GPS. But there are some advantages as well. Having a GPS limits your drone’s altitude range. With a GPS, you can only take your drone as high as 400 ft.
Therefore, if your drone does not come with a GPS, you can fly further away, which is always fun. But then again, you should know how to pilot the drone first. Just keep in mind, if you are using a drone without GPS, try to fly it in an open space where there are not too many obstacles.
Keep the drone close to you, and in case you feel like you are losing your drone, bring it back near you so that you don’t lose it with the wind.
How To Find You Lost Drone With GPS?
The best and most efficient way to find your missing GPS drone is by using the dedicated tracking app of the drone. You can try other methods as well which are given below especially if your drone does not support GPS. Thus, keep reading to find the most suitable way for you.
Use Find my iPhone app
Before you start freaking out too much, log into iCloud and make sure you find my iPhone isn’t already activated. This feature allows you to use GPS tracking to locate nearby devices–even if they’re turned off.
Just because Find my iPhone hasn’t helped find your missing phone yet doesn’t mean it won’t work for a drone. Apple suggests turning it on as soon as possible because certain functions aren’t available until the device has a WiFi connection.
As long as your device isn’t protected by password lock and the screen isn’t locked when you’re logged into iCloud. Find my iPhone should activate immediately upon connecting to WiFi. Once the device is connected to WiFi, use it to search for your lost drone.
Use Find My Drone App
Looking for a way to locate your lost or missing drone? There are many apps that you can download on any smartphone that will allow you to locate and recover your beloved device. The Find My Drone App – If you own an Apple device like an iPhone or iPad, get outfitted with Find My Drone, a free app available through iTunes.
Downloading Find My Drone is quick and easy. After it’s installed on your device, you can use it in three simple steps. Open it up, activate its GPS tracking ability, then enter its serial number. And just like that, you will find your drone in no time.
Simply keep Find My Drone on hand so that you have it if something does happen to your UAV. Most drones purchased today also come equipped with unique features like emergency buttons. These buttons send distress signals directly back to their owners and find my drone features.
Keeping track of where they go can help ease anxiety and anxiety-inducing situations caused by accidentally leaving them behind while traveling. It’s comforting knowing they won’t be missed when they go astray during travel. As you simply used one of these incredible find-my-drone app tools found online.
Find My Drone App Features
Find My Drone is a feature you can find in most new drones. This will make it much easier to find if you ever lose it. It is particularly useful if you are flying around with multiple drones. For example, during aerial filming in a busy city like Manhattan, more than one of your drones could fly away while you’re flying.
Even if they get stuck on top of a building or skyscraper and have not moved from their original spot. Find My Drone should be able to help you track them down by using GPS tracking on an app on your phone. This feature uses the drone to give out signals to the pilot in case the drone is getting out of range or if you lose signals.
How To Use Find My Drone App?
If you haven’t heard of find my drone app yet, prepare to be amazed at just how easy it is. We’re willing to bet you could find any type of device using one of these apps. So, what’s so great about them?
For starters, they use GPS tracking and map services to find anything that has been equipped with a GPS chip – which is most devices these days! This makes it easy for anyone to find their device when they don’t know where it went after they’ve misplaced it somewhere.
But which app is best? Don’t worry; we got you covered. Below are reviewed three top find my drone apps: Find My Drone Pro (Free), G-Predictor Premium ($9.99), and Droid Where ($1). All three of these programs come highly recommended by their users. But they all vary slightly in terms of usability and available features (some more than others). Let’s look at each individually to find out why.
What is Find My Drone Pro (free)?
Find My Drone Pro comes from developers Winsoft Design LLC, which seems pretty committed to keeping it up-to-date according to user feedback. The interface is surprisingly simple and efficient compared to some other find my drone apps on Google Play. It makes the app perfect for non-techies who still want an easy way to find their stuff—which would be everyone, right?
One of its biggest draws is that it works with both Android and iOS devices via Bluetooth connection. But only if there aren’t obstacles between your phone/tablet and whatever you’re trying to track down. Unfortunately, you’ll need extra hardware to connect wirelessly as well.
Moreover, as far as negatives go, some reviewers complained about its performance on older phones and slower internet connections. We also found that several users were annoyed by ads—but as mentioned before, it’s free! And hey – supporting developers is fantastic no matter what.
The following two options below are premium find my drone apps G-Predictor Premium ($9.99) & Droid Where ($1). These two find my drone apps offer everything essentially Find My Drone does except for ‘Scan’ mode. This mode costs a $3 add-on in Find My Drone App.
3 Ways to Find Your Lost Drone Without GPS
If you’ve been flying for a while, you’re probably familiar with that sinking feeling of panic when you realize you can no longer see your drone or that low battery warning. If it’s not near where you took off from, it might be entirely out of range and out of sight.
Good news: There are a few simple steps that could help you find your drone quickly if it goes missing. They require nothing more than an Internet connection on your phone. No additional apps are necessary! You don’t need GPS to find it! All you have to do is follow the methods given below.
I recommend doing these things and following these methods, and maybe you will find your drone somewhere near you. Keep in mind there is always an off chance that even after following these three steps, your drone will still never show up again. But even knowing about one method is better than none at all!
Use Another Drone To Check The Perimeter
This is just like roaming around in the woods hoping that you will stumble upon your lost drone, but you are doing it using another drone. If you are a drone pilot and own more than one drone, this method might come in handy for you. Just launch your second drone and try to use a GPS drone this time.
Start searching for the area near you for the drone and keep expanding the perimeter, hoping to find your lost drone. The chances are that you will find the drone a little further away from you. But that is only if your lost drone is stuck on a tree or lying somewhere on the ground where the trees do not block the view.
Check Last Coordinates or Flight Logs
Most drones come with a remote controller that can keep a record of your flights. This means that it can store your flight data like the last coordinates where your drone was before it went missing. These coordinates can help you as you can use them to track down the area where your drone was last seen and start searching from there.
Use the coordinates of the drone and put them in a GPS tracking device. Even your smartphone will work for this task. And the device will take you to those coordinates. The chances are that you will find your drone somewhere near that area if it wouldn’t have drifted away any further with the air.
Read: How to Calibrate a drone?
Use a Drone Tracker
Like the Find My Drone App, there are other apps that work with a separate tracker! There are drone trackers that you can get from the market. They are an extra investment, but these trackers will come in handy if you have a drone without GPS.
You can also use them with a GPS drone if you want, as they increase the chances of finding your drone no matter where it is on the globe. These trackers work in conjunction with a mobile app. One of their features is that you can see exactly where they are on a map using satellite imagery and other info.
If you feel like your remote control is acting weird or out of control, you can check where they are in real-time through the use of signal reception. Finding your drone quickly is easier than it sounds, but here’s how to do it anyway.
Don’t forget to take photos of it beforehand, so you know what it looks like if something goes wrong and your copter falls from the sky, becomes damaged beyond repair, or just gets lost by accident. A basic Find My Drone device will set you back about $50.
It comes with several extra blades (in case of any break) and an inductive charger for USB devices such as phones and tablets. So there’s no need to worry about losing power while tracking your copter via satellite imagery…or even just locating someone who steals one!
Conclusion
GPS tracking is great for when you want to find a missing drone. However, finding a lost or missing remote control quadcopter can be difficult. Especially if you lose it in an area with no GPS coverage (deep forests) or if your drone’s battery dies mid-flight. The Find My Drone App puts a safety net under traditional GPS tracking and gives you other options when traditional GPS fails.
Its new find my phone feature adds another level of security in case something happens while you’re out flying. Like if you lose connection with your drone, immediately have its location sent direct to your phone. At least then, even if it falls out of sight, it won’t fall out of mind! Download now on Android and iOS.
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