I purchased a Quadrone Pro 4Ch 2.4G Remote Control Quadcopter for my son. It is distributed in US by AWW Industries. It lists on the outside of the box that is has return to home capability however there is nothing in the instructions that describe how to use the return to home function. I found the same unit on ebay - it is listed under item number: 391186477726 The ebay description also lists the drone as having return to home capability. Does anyone have one of these and has figured out how to use the return to home function ? or any info on where I can find this out. I know that the return to home will probably not be very accurate on a low priced unit like this however it may be useful for my son until he gains more experience flying it. any info appreciated Gary
I don't think these have real RTH function - what some have is a so-called "headless" mode which allows you to pull back on the right stick and have the quadcopter head back in your direction. This makes use of only a compass - not a GPS, barometer and other instruments that are used by true RTH. I have some toys with this function - but I honestly never used it since it's probably more of a gimmick than anything else. But there should be a mode you can switch into which allows the machine to head back to you (or in any direction) regardless of how it is actually facing. This is called "Home Lock" or "headless"" mode.
Thanks for the reply - the manual describes how to change 2 modes - one is a switch for beginner/advanced, which is essentially a low/high switch - in low the controls are less sensitive so that the drone responds slowly to large stick movements for a beginner and in high it responds much quicker. The other is a mode switch that reverses the function of the left and right control sticks - normal mode is left/right when the right switch is moved side to side and left stick is to rotate when moved side to side - if the mode is changed the function of the side to side stick movement is reversed so left stick is left/right and right stick is rotation. I understand headless mode and agree that would be helpful if the drone gets too far away and it is hard to see its orientation or what direction it is moving but there is nothing in the manual or on the packaging that says anything about this one having headless mode.
The chances of this having a real RTH system are close to zero - which is why I think it's chinese translation and US Marketing interpreting headless mode as RTH. For RTH you need a true GPS function. There is nothing I know of below about $3o0 that has GPS. Looking closer, your bird is probably a Syma X5. http://www.symatoys.com/product/show/1921.html
I didn't expect it to have a GPS RTH at this price range - agree it could be a poor translation or misinterpretation of headless mode. It does look identical to the Syma X5 however it does not seem to have headless mode - it is not mentioned in the instructions that came with it and when flying it the forward orientation is always with the red lights leading and green lights following no matter which way the controller is pointed. If it has headless mode I have not figured out how to use that mode.
Did you find a X5 owners manual? You probably can online or find a current review and it may tell you how to make headless happen. Personally, I never found headless useful on my toy quads - it was not accurate. I just make sure to fly them close by and in an open area if I want to keep them.
