3/5 Updated Autopilot firmware v3.12 released

[BigPig]

Re: Upgrade firmware B4 flying your Vision! Update 1/4: FYI

I saw so many fly away videos on YouTube last night I'm terrified to even fly mine, even with the latest firmware updates. There are A LOT of people that lost theirs even on their first flight. Geez. I've even slightly considered (a small percentage) just sending mine back to B&H since it's barely out of the box new and never been flown. People point to everything causing the fly away problem from the transmitter (I can't go spend extra for a Futaba) to firmware to interference. Ugh.

 

[BenDronePilot]

Re: Upgrade firmware B4 flying your Vision! Update 1/4: FYI

I saw so many fly away videos on YouTube last night I'm terrified to even fly mine, even with the latest firmware updates. There are A LOT of people that lost theirs even on their first flight. Geez. I've even slightly considered (a small percentage) just sending mine back to B&H since it's barely out of the box new and never been flown. People point to everything causing the fly away problem from the transmitter (I can't go spend extra for a Futaba) to firmware to interference. Ugh.

I too was a little concerned before flying my Phantom 2 Vision for the first time. But you need to keep perspective of the BIG picture here. Think about the volume of Phantom and Phantom 2's sold versus the actual number of people with alleged fly aways. To keep perspective of negative experiences in forums, realize that fewer people will write in forums who are having a positive experience, or don't have any particular questions, versus those that are having some sort of problem or question. The result will always be a disproportionate number of negative versus positive posts versus the actual number of satisfied and problem free owners. Also keep in mind how many people have had one or more user error related crashes before finally having their Phantoms "fly away" or do something they didn't expect it to do. Those types of so called fly aways can be directly attributed to their prior crashes and not having the bird thoroughly inspected by a qualified technician. Then there are people calling crashes do to the operator not paying attention to the battery level, a fly away (with the exception of P2V battery connection glitch, which has since been fixed via firmware). Then keep in mind how many people will call something on youtube a Fly Away, which is just an inexperience pilot flying in atti or manual mode letting the bird get away from them. Now keep in mind that the few legitimate causes of a fly away having been sorted with firmware fixes. All that being said as long as you follow the manuals and these helpful forum posts and preflight check lists there is very little chance you'll have a non user error related crash of your Phantom. When you get your Phantom out of the box. Do your compass calibration just the 1st time in an open area as per instructions. And keep it low and slow as you get used to flying and orientation and you should be fine and you'll have a blast with your new Phantom 2 Vision.

 

[Knighthawk]

Re: Upgrade firmware B4 flying your Vision! Update 1/4: FYI

Ahhh... I found it. Colin mentions switching S1 in his interview with Mitch when discussing fly-away's:

Take that switch on the top right, and switch it one click down, into the middle, which is attitude.

However, I think it still remains unclear whether this applies to Vision Mode.

iDrone

I can help give you further explanation to the S1 switch for you. I think I also posted this in another thread but here goes.

If you're in "Vision" mode the Phantom will always be operating in GPS mode regardless of the position of the S1 switch. The reason though that you want the S1 switch always in the uppermost position is that it effects the way Return to Home functions. Also Colon says S1 in middle being "attitude" mode because he was description a Phantom 1 which has that enabled out of the box unlike the vision.

Flying in Vision mode, as long as you have a Home Lock (green tail lights before take off) and you enter Fail Safe RTH (quick yellow flashing tail lights) by either turning off your transmitter or flying out of reception this is how the S1 switch works. The Phantom will rise to an altitude of 66 feet if below that or stay at current altitude if higher then fly in a straight line hovering above the marked Home location for approximately 15 seconds before coming in for a landing. If your transmitter has been on all this time leaving the S1 switch in the upward position will allow the Phantom to descend and land on it's own. If you moved the S1 switch to the center position at any point during RTH the Phantom will return to the home position but it will not descend instead it will just hold position and await input. Keep in mind that you will still be in GPS hold as there is no attitude mode.

Flying in Naza mode, the return to home fail safe works in basically the same way when loosing controller signal or just shutting it off with the exception that if you have the S1 switch in the center you're in attitude mode and the Phantom will fly above your home point but not land and if wind hits the Phantom it will drift because of no GPS position hold with S1 centered while in Naza mode.

If you configure the bottom position for S1 to be "failsafe" putting the S1 switch in the bottom position will engage a full fly to home and landing operation unless interrupted by putting the S1 switch into the middle position to regain control. Leave S1 centered if you want to fly continue flying in Atti or move S1 back to top position to fly in GPS mode.

On a side note, if you took off before you had a home lock if Phantom enters failsafe it will automatically land wherever it is with no attempts to fly back to you. You would have to quickly get your transmitter on and put S1 switch to center to stop this.

Thanks, BenDronePilot!! That's the best S1 explanation that I've seen yet!

 

[Knighthawk]

Re: Upgrade firmware B4 flying your Vision! Update 1/4: FYI

I saw so many fly away videos on YouTube last night I'm terrified to even fly mine, even with the latest firmware updates. There are A LOT of people that lost theirs even on their first flight. Geez. I've even slightly considered (a small percentage) just sending mine back to B&H since it's barely out of the box new and never been flown. People point to everything causing the fly away problem from the transmitter (I can't go spend extra for a Futaba) to firmware to interference. Ugh.

I too was a little concerned before flying my Phantom 2 Vision for the first time. But you need to keep perspective of the BIG picture here. Think about the volume of Phantom and Phantom 2's sold versus the actual number of people with alleged fly aways. To keep perspective of negative experiences in forums, realize that fewer people will write in forums who are having a positive experience, or don't have any particular questions, versus those that are having some sort of problem or question. The result will always be a disproportionate number of negative versus positive posts versus the actual number of satisfied and problem free owners. Also keep in mind how many people have had one or more user error related crashes before finally having their Phantoms "fly away" or do something they didn't expect it to do. Those types of so called fly aways can be directly attributed to their prior crashes and not having the bird thoroughly inspected by a qualified technician. Then there are people calling crashes do to the operator not paying attention to the battery level, a fly away (with the exception of P2V battery connection glitch, which has since been fixed via firmware). Then keep in mind how many people will call something on youtube a Fly Away, which is just an inexperience pilot flying in atti or manual mode letting the bird get away from them. Now keep in mind that the few legitimate causes of a fly away having been sorted with firmware fixes. All that being said as long as you follow the manuals and these helpful forum posts and preflight check lists there is very little chance you'll have a non user error related crash of your Phantom. When you get your Phantom out of the box. Do your compass calibration just the 1st time in an open area as per instructions. And keep it low and slow as you get used to flying and orientation and you should be fine and you'll have a blast with your new Phantom 2 Vision.

Thanks for this commentary, also! I've kinda been in BigPig's camp, reading about flyaways and such. I've had my PV since Christmas Eve and STILL have not had it in the air! I keep making excuses not to launch based on feelings that I must read more and watch more videos. But, what you say here makes a lot of sense about why there seems to be a high ratio of problems people are encountering compared to good experiences. I'm gonna bite the bullet and fly this coming week! Thanks, Ben!

 

[BigPig]

Re: Upgrade firmware B4 flying your Vision! Update 1/4: FYI

I saw so many fly away videos on YouTube last night I'm terrified to even fly mine, even with the latest firmware updates. There are A LOT of people that lost theirs even on their first flight. Geez. I've even slightly considered (a small percentage) just sending mine back to B&H since it's barely out of the box new and never been flown. People point to everything causing the fly away problem from the transmitter (I can't go spend extra for a Futaba) to firmware to interference. Ugh.

I too was a little concerned before flying my Phantom 2 Vision for the first time. But you need to keep perspective of the BIG picture here. Think about the volume of Phantom and Phantom 2's sold versus the actual number of people with alleged fly aways. To keep perspective of negative experiences in forums, realize that fewer people will write in forums who are having a positive experience, or don't have any particular questions, versus those that are having some sort of problem or question. The result will always be a disproportionate number of negative versus positive posts versus the actual number of satisfied and problem free owners. Also keep in mind how many people have had one or more user error related crashes before finally having their Phantoms "fly away" or do something they didn't expect it to do. Those types of so called fly aways can be directly attributed to their prior crashes and not having the bird thoroughly inspected by a qualified technician. Then there are people calling crashes do to the operator not paying attention to the battery level, a fly away (with the exception of P2V battery connection glitch, which has since been fixed via firmware). Then keep in mind how many people will call something on youtube a Fly Away, which is just an inexperience pilot flying in atti or manual mode letting the bird get away from them. Now keep in mind that the few legitimate causes of a fly away having been sorted with firmware fixes. All that being said as long as you follow the manuals and these helpful forum posts and preflight check lists there is very little chance you'll have a non user error related crash of your Phantom. When you get your Phantom out of the box. Do your compass calibration just the 1st time in an open area as per instructions. And keep it low and slow as you get used to flying and orientation and you should be fine and you'll have a blast with your new Phantom 2 Vision.

This realty does make a lot of sense and makes me feel better. Thanks for the thought. Is it bad to calibrate the compass again after this first time? The reason I ask is that I have already calibrated my compass once, and only once when I get it on Thursday. Having said that, and not known to me at the time, was this solar storm. So now I'm thinking ID like to do it again but don't want to make a mistake by doing it twice. I have read here that performing more than once can be a cause for fly-away.

 

[BigPig]

Re: Upgrade firmware B4 flying your Vision! Update 1/4: FYI

I saw so many fly away videos on YouTube last night I'm terrified to even fly mine, even with the latest firmware updates. There are A LOT of people that lost theirs even on their first flight. Geez. I've even slightly considered (a small percentage) just sending mine back to B&H since it's barely out of the box new and never been flown. People point to everything causing the fly away problem from the transmitter (I can't go spend extra for a Futaba) to firmware to interference. Ugh.

I too was a little concerned before flying my Phantom 2 Vision for the first time. But you need to keep perspective of the BIG picture here. Think about the volume of Phantom and Phantom 2's sold versus the actual number of people with alleged fly aways. To keep perspective of negative experiences in forums, realize that fewer people will write in forums who are having a positive experience, or don't have any particular questions, versus those that are having some sort of problem or question. The result will always be a disproportionate number of negative versus positive posts versus the actual number of satisfied and problem free owners. Also keep in mind how many people have had one or more user error related crashes before finally having their Phantoms "fly away" or do something they didn't expect it to do. Those types of so called fly aways can be directly attributed to their prior crashes and not having the bird thoroughly inspected by a qualified technician. Then there are people calling crashes do to the operator not paying attention to the battery level, a fly away (with the exception of P2V battery connection glitch, which has since been fixed via firmware). Then keep in mind how many people will call something on youtube a Fly Away, which is just an inexperience pilot flying in atti or manual mode letting the bird get away from them. Now keep in mind that the few legitimate causes of a fly away having been sorted with firmware fixes. All that being said as long as you follow the manuals and these helpful forum posts and preflight check lists there is very little chance you'll have a non user error related crash of your Phantom. When you get your Phantom out of the box. Do your compass calibration just the 1st time in an open area as per instructions. And keep it low and slow as you get used to flying and orientation and you should be fine and you'll have a blast with your new Phantom 2 Vision.

Thanks for this commentary, also! I've kinda been in BigPig's camp, reading about flyaways and such. I've had my PV since Christmas Eve and STILL have not had it in the air! I keep making excuses not to launch based on feelings that I must read more and watch more videos. But, what you say here makes a lot of sense about why there seems to be a high ratio of problems people are encountering compared to good experiences. I'm gonna bite the bullet and fly this coming week! Thanks, Ben!

Ditto!

 

[BenDronePilot]

Re: Upgrade firmware B4 flying your Vision! Update 1/4: FYI

This realty does make a lot of sense and makes me feel better. Thanks for the thought. Is it bad to calibrate the compass again after this first time? The reason I ask is that I have already calibrated my compass once, and only once when I get it on Thursday. Having said that, and not known to me at the time, was this solar storm. So now I'm thinking ID like to do it again but don't want to make a mistake by doing it twice. I have read here that performing more than once can be a cause for fly-away.

You can calibrate as many times as you like. Though it's only recommended to do so when necessary or if you see your Phantom not flying straight. The reason being that the compass calibration can be a sensitive procedure and doing it multiple times unnecessarily may accidentally create a problem that didn't exist prior should said calibration be done incorrectly or with something causing interference preventing the best possible calibration. That being said, if you feel the need to redo yours, go ahead. If possible do so in a clear open area free of interference or metal or concrete directly underneath you. Also turn off your cell phone and the camera's power button to further eliminate any possible sources of interference just for the sake of being a extra cautious.

 

[BenDronePilot]

Re: Upgrade firmware B4 flying your Vision! Update 1/4: FYI

Thanks for this commentary, also! I've kinda been in BigPig's camp, reading about flyaways and such. I've had my PV since Christmas Eve and STILL have not had it in the air! I keep making excuses not to launch based on feelings that I must read more and watch more videos. But, what you say here makes a lot of sense about why there seems to be a high ratio of problems people are encountering compared to good experiences. I'm gonna bite the bullet and fly this coming week! Thanks, Ben!

Ditto!

And thank you for the feedback. I'm glad you found my info helpful and you're going to have so much fun with your Phantom 2 Vision. Tomorrow is going to be good weather here in NYC so I'm taking her out for some flying as well.

 

[Pull_Up]

Re: Upgrade firmware B4 flying your Vision! Update 1/4: FYI

To the guys feeling a bit nervous/daunted about that first flight...

Go to a nice, open area free of trees and other obstacles, and preferably low on human traffic too (not becuase I think you might hit them, but because first flight with an audience is just ramping up the tension factor!).

Go through all the pre-flight stuff you have already read about and watched, let the Vision settle after power up (and settle yourself). Get your app all up and running and check your battery level and satellites is more than 6. Then forget about the app for the first flight!

Set yourself a simple goal for your first flight: "I'm going to launch with the camera facing away from me and climb to just above head height. I'm going to leave it there and check it's hovering nice and solidly for 30 seconds. If I don't like the way its behaving I'm going to land and check everything again, or get some help. Assuming all is well (and I'm almost certain it will be) then I'm going to go up a bit higher - stay under 50ft - and fly it gently forwards. Then bring it back again. Then roll it gently left, then back. Right, then back. Then I'm going to yaw it around 360 degrees slowly first left, then right. Then I'm going to gently reduce throttle and bring it to a nice positive but not hard landing and then immediately hold throttle all the way down until the motors stop. Then I'm going to remember to breathe again, break out a ridiculous grin, wonder what all the fuss was about and go do it again - but this time maybe fly it a little bit further, and try a couple of turns in there, have a look at the app a bit, take a photo."

Onwards and upwards! I had two back-to-back flights this morning after nearly 3 weeks of no flying due to weather and it was glorious and the Vision was yet again flawless. I want to see a selfie posted of that grin I talked about.

 

[BigPig]

Re: Upgrade firmware B4 flying your Vision! Update 1/4: FYI

What an awesome way to put it. Hopefully the weather will cooperate so I can get this bird off of the ground! Thanks for the encouragement!

 

[rotation]

Re: Upgrade firmware B4 flying your Vision! Update 1/4: FYI

To the guys feeling a bit nervous/daunted about that first flight...

Go to a nice, open area free of trees and other obstacles, and preferably low on human traffic too (not becuase I think you might hit them, but because first flight with an audience is just ramping up the tension factor!).

Go through all the pre-flight stuff you have already read about and watched, let the Vision settle after power up (and settle yourself). Get your app all up and running and check your battery level and satellites is more than 6. Then forget about the app for the first flight!

Set yourself a simple goal for your first flight: "I'm going to launch with the camera facing away from me and climb to just above head height. I'm going to leave it there and check it's hovering nice and solidly for 30 seconds. If I don't like the way its behaving I'm going to land and check everything again, or get some help. Assuming all is well (and I'm almost certain it will be) then I'm going to go up a bit higher - stay under 50ft - and fly it gently forwards. Then bring it back again. Then roll it gently left, then back. Right, then back. Then I'm going to yaw it around 360 degrees slowly first left, then right. Then I'm going to gently reduce throttle and bring it to a nice positive but not hard landing and then immediately hold throttle all the way down until the motors stop. Then I'm going to remember to breathe again, break out a ridiculous grin, wonder what all the fuss was about and go do it again - but this time maybe fly it a little bit further, and try a couple of turns in there, have a look at the app a bit, take a photo."

Onwards and upwards! I had two back-to-back flights this morning after nearly 3 weeks of no flying due to weather and it was glorious and the Vision was yet again flawless. I want to see a selfie posted of that grin I talked about.

Thanks, Pull_Up. I'm waiting for delivery of my P2V (Tuesday can't come soon enough), but like some folks here, I've mixed in some nervousness with the anticipation... :| Then I told myself nearly the same thing you said above (though I'd break that first flight into about three, with practice landings in between to make sure I can set it down without running a prop into the dirt). Perspective is a great thing, too!

 

[Pull_Up]

Re: Upgrade firmware B4 flying your Vision! Update 1/4: FYI

Go for it all. That way if you do ding a prop, you'll still have actually flown it and done some manoeuvres and will have had a 90% awesome flight.

If you just go up, hover a bit, come straight down and ding a prop you'll only have had a 50% awesome flight.

 

[rotation]

Re: Upgrade firmware B4 flying your Vision! Update 1/4: FYI

If you just go up, hover a bit, come straight down and ding a prop you'll only have had a 50% awesome flight.

Well said... Perhaps I will (go for it all)... [as he opens a new browser window to order backup props ]

 

[Pull_Up]

Re: Upgrade firmware B4 flying your Vision! Update 1/4: FYI

I had 3 full sets and have broken exactly one prop since 1st November. And that was only because I was being cocky and trying to land back on my flight case. There was a skill/confidence imbalance. <ahem>

Order extras and I guarantee you won't use all of them. Don't buy any more and you'll end up breaking them all and not being able to fly - sod's law!

 

[garygid]

Re: Upgrade firmware B4 flying your Vision! Update 1/4: FYI

When we update firmware, do we update the code inside the Naza module,
or does the P2V actually have a real Naza module at all?

Or, is there just a DJI clone of the Naza module that is Naza-like?

Apparently the real Naza modules got a firmware update available in mid Dec 2013
that, if and when applied, actually limits the height above takeoff to about 450 feet.
And, once applied, you cannot go back to a previous firmware version, I was told.

 

[Pull_Up]

Re: Upgrade firmware B4 flying your Vision! Update 1/4: FYI

It's either a modified NAZA, or it's a straight NAZA that's only having a subset of its features made available by firmware.

 

[kingcat200]

Re: Upgrade firmware B4 flying your Vision! Update 1/4: FYI

I had 3 full sets and have broken exactly one prop since 1st November. And that was only because I was being cocky and trying to land back on my flight case. There was a skill/confidence imbalance. <ahem>

Order extras and I guarantee you won't use all of them. Don't buy any more and you'll end up breaking them all and not being able to fly - sod's law!

Hi Pull Up

Not sure what you will think about this for Newbies.

How about instead of landing and risking props ,recovering the model from the hover as Colin used to do.

I do this every time now and have done from almost the beginning as not only do you risk prob damage but as I learnt the hard way all that force can displace the circlip and the spacing washer can be drawn into the motor windings by magnetism.

Recovering the model whilst airbourne may sound daunting and I can now fly nose in and not move from where I am standing after a lot of practise. However when I started this manoeuvre I would back the model in to myself about three feet away above head height allow the model to settle in a stable hover and then the final manoeuvring to recover the model would be by myself ie physically changing my position by walking up to the model raising an arm grasping the model and once a firm grip is obtained fully close and hold close the throttle stick.

I always have a get out plan ie be in a position where I can physically get out of the way of the phantom, never attempt a recovery from head height or below and be prepared to hit the gas on the throttle get out of there vertically and then subsequently reposition

As I say less daunting than one would imagine as all the final manoeuvring is done by your body which is intuitive as the phantom sits in a stable hover.

As mentioned I never land anymore and spectators tend to think this is a pose sometimes with associated clapping ,but I can assure you my primary reason is to reduce risk of damage to the machine.

Just imagine the shock loading going through the motor shaft and subsequently through the airframe to find the one iffy solder joint as that prop strikes the ground !!!!!

Having read many post some people seem happy to just stick a new prop on and go. As mentioned earlier I have sustained secondary damage from prop strikes and would personally give the craft a good inspection a bare minimum of undoing the motor and inspecting the c clip. May I also suggest that a flight after any impact should be treated as a test flight ie low hover and manoeuvring until full confidence in the integrity of the craft is re established

 

[pault]

Re: Upgrade firmware B4 flying your Vision! Update 1/4: FYI

Hi Kingcat
Your method of landing sounds tempting, would you mind sharing exactly how you grab hold of the PV2 please - do you just grab a skid and if so, does the PV2 not want to tip sideways ?

 

[kingcat200]

Re: Upgrade firmware B4 flying your Vision! Update 1/4: FYI

Hi Kingcat
Your method of landing sounds tempting, would you mind sharing exactly how you grab hold of the PV2 please - do you just grab a skid and if so, does the PV2 not want to tip sideways ?

Apologies to all if this subject has gone sideways !!!!
However in answer to your question Pault yes I just grab a vertical undercarriage leg and once you have a firm grip you are the master if you try to grab it out of the air whilst motors are running sure one to two are going to rev up but its not a problem. However once you have a firm grip just hold the phantom in the hover and reduce throttle to zero and hold at zero until motors shut down I started off by not moving the phantom until the motors had stopped I occasionally pull her from the air with motors running and throttle at idle whilst she shuts down with no ill effects probably not reccomended though.
As I say I got the idea from DJI Collin who used to do all the videos that have now disappeared so hold no claim to it.
Once you have done it once you will have no qualms about the technique.
As I say I damaged my phantom by landing on a bump in the ground hidden by grass and had the misfortune to suffer secondary damage as well as prop damage thus use it as a risk mitigation technique.
I am sure there must be Hundreds or Thousands of other Phantom owners employing the same technique.
Ps I don't have a neck strap for the controller either but I guess one might give you confidence for your first try

 

[Pull_Up]

Re: Upgrade firmware B4 flying your Vision! Update 1/4: FYI

I do that too, in windy/gusty conditions. I've never had a problem with landing on level ground in calm or light winds at all though. Yesterday I took a good friend's 10 year old with me and gave him a go. He did a slightly longer version of the maiden flight plan I outlined to give him an idea of the controls then I talked him through a landing and he aced it. My method for hand catching is to always have the quad downwind of you, so if you get it wrong or there's a sudden gust it will move away from you. Once in a hover move yourself so the quad is above and to your right, reach up and hold a leg gently, close the throttle all the way down with left hand and wait 2 seconds.

Like everything, it's whatever you're comfortable with - but personally I would learn to land it even if you always subsequently hand-catch. One time you might be running very low on battery and out of hand-catching range and need to use those legs it came with.