Recent content by ChiefStealth

My home point gets set when I start the motors with CSC, or auto-takeoff. I don't have to set it, it just happens. I have to have the volume up on the tablet so I can hear the announcement that the home point is set. If I land at the previously set home point, and turn of the motors, then...

The simulator is not reality.

Yep! Hand landings and hand takeoffs are next on my list of skills to learn. I figure that I will need to keep the RC box pretty stable while I'm operating it with one hand.

I have no need to fly that far.

The one concern I have about batteries is fly-by-night vendors that claim to be selling OEM batteries for $149 dollars, when they deliver cheap, third-party batteries that normally sell for $80 dollars. Find a trustworthy vendor!!! EBay is not a always a good bet.

There is also the "home lock" option. It can be quite useful, instead of RTH, when you lose visual sight of your Phantom.

Skip the sims... just fly the Phantom. Outside.. big field.. lots of space.. no wires or poles.

I've never left mine "on" for three days. I keep it in "power off" state. It doesn't discharge much at all.

My pics are rather "middle" quality right off the SD card. The thing I least like is the wide FOV of the Phantom. I have learned a few tricks, in Gimp, to sharpen up the pics. Helps a lot. Takes time.

Just tap on the small map image.

IMHO, the risk of buying used is too great unless you can test each and every function of the Phantom before you buy.

Problem with exterior inspections is detail. The Phantom cameras are rather wide angle. You have to get really close to a subject to get pics with enough detail to find defects, or leaks. That increases the danger of flying into the subject.

I have one battery pack that will not auto-discharge. In the advanced tab of the battery tab in the settings within the DJI Go there is a message that says, in red text, bad cell. Its not real bad. There is one cell that is about .03 volt less than the highest cell. That's not a lot, but enough...

Some people have tried this. Some have had good results... some have not. There seems to be disagreement on exactly where the .bin file needs to be on the SD card. There are links to how-to threads at Phantomhelp.com

Our Lithium batteries are multi-celled. We have to keep the individual cells "balanced", or very close in voltage. If any cell gets badly out of sync, it causes problems. If we have one cell out of sync, and we discharge the whole pack too much, there is a chance that the weak cell could be...