Recent content by DocL

I haven't seen any lifespan estimates but my Matrice 100 polit/flight stats sync up with my Phantoms in the DJI Go app. All of these drones are so modular it is almost like an old Chevy/Ford V8, you can just replace parts and keep them going. I think we will see more situations where the drone...

I just discovered a few weeks ago when you launch the DJI Go app look in the top left corner, there is a compass looking thing. Tap on that and login if necessary, it tracks your flights. I have it on 4 or 5 different devices and sync them all up. I am missing some data because I used the...

I was wondering the same thing a while back. I have have a few P3's and a Matrice 100. The Phantom 3 is my workhorse. I have flown through heavy rain on several occasions and had some serious crashes. I have replaced 3 P3 bodies completely due to crashes but never had to replace a motor. I...

I do a lot of night flying too. I used to put tape over the LED's but recently I learned if you just take the plastic lenses off the LED's are much harder to see unless it is right over you. One word of advice, dont paint over the compass on the leg. I did that once and had to replace the...

They are painted with basic Rustoleum spray paint. Both of those are replacement bodies so I painted them before transferring the "guts" to the new body. I have another "spare" body kit that I painted blue for the next crash if that ever happens. You can see them a lot better being in...

I need to replace the plate on the camera, not the gimbal plate that you can find online. Does anyone know where I can get this part? I cannot find it anywhere.

Try wrapping electrical tape around it and leave some extra tape to use as a "pull tab". After you get it off the first time it is easy from then on. You cannot pinch it, it has to have pressure evenly applied all around. It took me many hours to get it right but after that it is super easy...

I have had that issue on 2 occasions and it was a loose screw on the motor. My landing gear also gets loose sometimes. Spin the blades up during warm-up on the ground and see if any of them seem out of balance. You might be able to isolate it to 1 motor. If everything seems straight then I...

I added the HDMI out module to my controller and then bought the monitor below. It has 5.8ghz capabilities but those dont work with the P3. Anyway I mount this monitor to a tripod, run a long HDMI cable to it and people can watch from there. This is also rechargeable. It was too hard to fly...

I have been on the outskirts of a lighting storm and it was pretty cool. I have flown through rain 3 or 4 times with zero problems. One of the rainstorms was VERY heavy rain and the P3A flew flawlessly for an entire battery (about 20 min). Afterwards I brought it inside and let the motors run...

I have pushed mine out 1.5 miles with the cheap directional slide-on antenna boosters but it was also away from civilization. I can usually get out to a mile fairly easily between 300-400 feet altitude but if I am around neighborhoods the interference usually cuts my range down to 1/4 to 1/2 mile.

I learned that you can buy the aircraft alone without a charger or remote for pretty cheap. I think it is like $550 on the DJI site. I would just get a new one and keep that one for parts. That is what I did after a similar crash. IF you think about it these drones are pretty durable! After...

The guys above are probably right but I can tell you I have flown with much worse damage and it was fine. I would just watch it hover for a few minutes and make sure it isnt vibrating. I often find motor screws coming loose after a while so every few weeks I check them and tighten them if...

I wish I knew how much I have flown. I flew for the first time on May 5th 2016 and have been flying 1-2 hours a day ever since (I have 8 batteries). I have 2 pro's and 1 advanced, 2 of them have been completely rebuilt due to crashes. I have over 1TB of video already. It is like therapy for...

I use movie maker as well and make a lot of videos. The video in movie maker is usually pretty low quality but when i save the file for "high definition display" it looks great. I cannot do 4k in movie maker but I can do the 2.7k just fine. Sometimes my low-light or night time video is...