Phantom 3 Professional Firmware v1.6.0040

FredzMaxxUAV · Jan 13, 2016

Is there a way to upgrade the batteries to 1.6 without upgrading the bird? And if so, will the batteries then not have the "temperature bug" anymore?

KyleMaxxUAV · Jan 13, 2016

Plug them in someone else's bird that has 1.6 already on it .. Or upgrade to 1.6 and downgrade as far as you can but I don't think you can go back much any more

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Cynical · Jan 13, 2016

Bought a Phantom 3 Pro and did my first flight yesterday.
Had to update to 1.6.. Dj pro app was complaining.

Have to say that ive just watched alot of videos of the P3P hovering and it looks lot more calm and steady in the air than mine.
My drone was kind of wobbling and the camera was very shaky =P

Any ideas?

FredzMaxxUAV · Jan 13, 2016

Cynical said:
Bought a Phantom 3 Pro and did my first flight yesterday.
Had to update to 1.6.. Dj pro app was complaining.

You never have to upgrade. DJI Go app just says that you don't have the latest version, but it never forces you to upgrade. You can still fly with 1.1.9 and before using the latest app.

jeepjamis · Jan 13, 2016

Don't mean to thread back but y'all are talking in subject to my plight.
my p3p fell from 200ft last night and I'm super upset. Ev thing was fine. Other than flying with Unupdated software, battery levels were 100% and I just lost signal, looked back up and it was gone.
1/ I feel like dji is liable for this repair , but does flying with an Unupdated craft void their liability? ,
2/ my first crash I felt like they were liable also but they said nope, that'll be 200$ plz. Has anyone had a dji covered repair?
3/ what do I do now?

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the overheadIMAGE · Jan 13, 2016

Been listening to you guys. Updated my P3P the new FW for the battery issues, no problems to date. NO FLY ZONES are going to happen and I have NO problem with them and feel they're meant to keep all of the goof balls from flying into a crowded stadium full of spectators. I'm in Pittsburgh and you can NOT fly around any of any professional sports stadium. Tried flying/videoing at the Polar Plunge, right outside Heinz Field on the river had to shoot from the ground. I'm in the process of obtaining an FAA 333 Exemption, I feel that those zones should be lifted if granted. The FAA at that point knows who you are and what you have, your craft is registered, just like a hand gun. Hopefully these upcoming FAA rules are made with the commercial business owners in mind. I urge all of you to contact you local FAA office and voice your opinions.

razorseal · Jan 13, 2016

1.6 worked fine for me. The class c airspace near me just surrounds the airport and did not turn 5 into miles. Going to fly it today and see how it is in the air. I don't have an issue w getting permission to fly either honestly.

DiluxEdition · Jan 13, 2016

Lots of people complaining about how it used to be precision accurate on older firmwares. I'm pretty sure you are just spoiled now and expect it to not move a mm. Fact is that the props are likely unbalanced, you need to do an IMU calibration, gimbal calibration, or there is normal wear/tear on the components of the p3 such as motors, gps unit, compass. Most drift is likely due to the compass degrading due to unknown and accidental contact with magnets. Some tablets and phones have magnets in them... The compass is not expensive, its like $15 I think. Its a pain to change it, but I'm about to order my 2nd one already since I've noticed it has degraded.

sledman1 · Jan 13, 2016

DiluxEdition said:
Lots of people complaining about how it used to be precision accurate on older firmwares. I'm pretty sure you are just spoiled now and expect it to not move a mm. Fact is that the props are likely unbalanced, you need to do an IMU calibration, gimbal calibration, or there is normal wear/tear on the components of the p3 such as motors, gps unit, compass. Most drift is likely due to the compass degrading due to unknown and accidental contact with magnets. Some tablets and phones have magnets in them... The compass is not expensive, its like $15 I think. Its a pain to change it, but I'm about to order my 2nd one already since I've noticed it has degraded.

I will say this one more time. Just prior to updating my firmware I had performed 5 flights of 15+ minutes each. and the aircraft was rock solid. I did not crash or landed hard on any of them. Updated firmware and now it flies like junk. Not a minor change but significant change in speed, stability and flying straight. Tons of drift and vibration. I have performed a cold IMU calibration, Gimbal Cal and a compass cal. It was a joy to fly before the firmware update and now it is GREATLY degraded after the firmware update. Just because your P3 is not exhibiting the same problems please do make assumptions that that "I am spoiled now and expect it to not move a mm". I am taking the time to reply not for your benefit but for the benefit of the people that have not upgraded yet. If I could go back in time and not perform the upgrade I most certainly would.

WetDog · Jan 13, 2016

jeepjamis said:
Don't mean to thread back but y'all are talking in subject to my plight.
my p3p fell from 200ft last night and I'm super upset. Ev thing was fine. Other than flying with Unupdated software, battery levels were 100% and I just lost signal, looked back up and it was gone.
1/ I feel like dji is liable for this repair , but does flying with an Unupdated craft void their liability? ,
2/ my first crash I felt like they were liable also but they said nope, that'll be 200$ plz. Has anyone had a dji covered repair?
3/ what do I do now?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Look up the many, many posts on crashing. You can see exactly what steps to take. If you want folks to review the flight, start a separate thread on it.

Cynical · Jan 13, 2016

Fredz said:
You never have to upgrade. DJI Go app just says that you don't have the latest version, but it never forces you to upgrade. You can still fly with 1.1.9 and before using the latest app.

Ok. Is it possible to go back to 1.5 or earlier?
I had red flashing firmware need to update. Thought i had to update to fly lol. But im a noob so

Apilot101 · Jan 13, 2016

Cynical said:
Ok. Is it possible to go back to 1.5 or earlier?
I had red flashing firmware need to update. Thought i had to update to fly lol. But im a noob so

You do not HAVE to update to physically fly. Its your choice. Some will say do it for safety, others will say dont due to new restrictions. Your call. Just remember, if you do update, as of now you can not roll back.

Personally, I ignore the firmware update.
Dont ignore compass and imu calibration

Sky King · Jan 13, 2016

Well, just found out that my P3P repair is in progress. That is FAST! They just got it this week on Monday. Hoping to get it back in perfect working condition so I can get back in the air and taking pics and vids! Hopefully it will come back not only updated correctly but flying right. I really don't care about them making sure it is on the latest FW update as long as it performs as it is supposed to. I never had any problem with any updates in almost 300 flights until the last update.

John Locke · Jan 13, 2016

Fredz said:
Is there a way to upgrade the batteries to 1.6 without upgrading the bird? And if so, will the batteries then not have the "temperature bug" anymore?

The bug isn't in the battery firmware, it's in the Phantom firmware. The Phantom motherboard with 1.5 reads the battery voltage incorrectly, much lower than reality. I have deemed 1.5 the kiss of death, you really want to get off that asap, either go back to 1.4 or move up to 1.6. The 1.6 battery firmware update limits the current draw, which helps maximize flight time, but slow down the vertical climb rate from 11mph to about 7-8mph. The horizontal speed is unaffected, however the acceleration to get to top speed is. The real purpose of limiting the current draw is to minimize voltage fluctuations at full throttle, as this voltage reading is important to prevent auto-land initiation, or in the worst case power shutdown. 1.5 firmware mis-read the battery voltage in high current draw scenarios (full throttle) as being below 3V on a single cell, when actually all the batteries are all above 3.3V. This mis-reading of voltage is a huge flaw in 1.5, don't fly with it. All previous firmware before 1.5 did not have this problem, so 1.4 and previous are OK to safely fly.

John Locke · Jan 13, 2016

Cynical said:
Ok. Is it possible to go back to 1.5 or earlier?
I had red flashing firmware need to update. Thought i had to update to fly lol. But im a noob so

You definitely don't want to fly with 1.5, it's the kiss of death. It has a major voltage management problem that can shut down the power mid flight! Don't fly 1.5.

FredzMaxxUAV · Jan 13, 2016

John Locke said:
The bug isn't in the battery firmware, it's in the Phantom firmware. The Phantom motherboard with 1.5 reads the battery voltage incorrectly, much lower than reality. I have deemed 1.5 the kiss of death, you really want to get off that asap, either go back to 1.4 or move up to 1.6. The 1.6 battery firmware update limits the current draw, which helps maximize flight time, but slow down the vertical climb rate from 11mph to about 7-8mph. The horizontal speed is unaffected, however the acceleration to get to top speed is. The real purpose of limiting the current draw is to minimize voltage fluctuations at full throttle, as this voltage reading is important to prevent auto-land initiation, or in the worst case power shutdown. 1.5 firmware mis-read the battery voltage in high current draw scenarios (full throttle) as being below 3V on a single cell, when actually all the batteries are all above 3.3V. This mis-reading of voltage is a huge flaw in 1.5, don't fly with it. All previous firmware before 1.5 did not have this problem, so 1.4 and previous are OK to safely fly.

I'm still at 1.4, so no problem?

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bighi · Jan 13, 2016

Just do what I did. Update to 1.6, then update all batteries. Then bring it back to 1.5. I fly in -3 to +3 every day. I bring it out of my 23 Celsius apartment and get it started within two minutes. Idle it, take off, hover for one minute, then go about my business.

John Locke · Jan 13, 2016

Fredz said:
I'm still at 1.4, so no problem?

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That is correct, no problem, other than the drifting that some pilots are experiencing with 1.4. I flew with 1.4 and tolerated the drifting, it wasn't that big if deal to me.

Croatian drone · Jan 13, 2016

bighi said:
Just do what I did. Update to 1.6, then update all batteries. Then bring it back to 1.5. I fly in -3 to +3 every day. I bring it out of my 23 Celsius apartment and get it started within two minutes. Idle it, take off, hover for one minute, then go about my business.

So you are saying that is the way to P3P without vibrations on ghimbal and so...?
Best regards from Croatia!

bighi · Jan 13, 2016

The thing that bugged me about 1.6, other than the hidden Stasi freebies and flying in a "yuneequely" slow kind of way, was the funny rudder behavior on full speed forward, full down descents. Little inputs when doing those two in conjunction would not have accuracy and go a little over so then I would correct a hair the other way and so forth. On 1.5 no problem. Completely accurate. I like 1.5. Never gave me any trouble.