So, my new ADV arrived yesterday and initial impressions are very good. The range with Lightbridge is certainly more stable. It came out of the box needing all updates, so did that and decided to take a night flight to compare against my P3S modded with a DBS Panel & FPVLR (I swap the two). Although I got this new ADV for a steal ($649 shipped), a $799 ADV vs. a $499 Standard + $110 DBS mod (or $160 FPVLR mod) still puts the Standard w/mods cheaper by $150-200.
The ADV's shell FEELS different...slightly more matte, not so smooth. The motors seems to not turn as freely when off (whereas the P3S's motors easily spin). As for the VPS, I can't really see a need for that. The Standard is EASIER to land manually than the ADV. It is much harder to land the ADV with VPS ON, and still harder than the Standard even with VPS switched off for whatever reason. BTW...I almost NEVER hand catch.
The ADV seems a LITTLE faster (about 2mph according to Healthydrones) and sounds a little different flying. Where the ADV excels obviously is the range-not only in distance, but more solid video feed. Since the P3S uses both 5.8 (RC) and 2.4 (wifi FPV), I think there's a bit of discrepancy for folks (i.e. either RC or FPV will cut out first). With the 2.4 for both on the ADV, both seem to get weak in step, which is probably why it feels less random when things would drop vs. the P3S.
So, I took them both out for another night flight over transmission towers nearby (didn't want to drive anywhere) and here are the numbers:
ADV (stock-no windsurfer or anything)
-5,632 ft. before I turned back. It MIGHT have gone a bit further but the video was deteriorating quickly and I just did manual RTH on the controller.
HealthyDrones.com - Innovative flight data analysis that matters
P3S (DBS panel)
-5,335 ft. before RTH
HealthyDrones.com - Innovative flight data analysis that matters
P3S (FPVLR)
-3,507 ft. before RTH (this one is weird cause their other night I CRUSHED it with this over 7K ft. same route).
HealthyDrones.com - Innovative flight data analysis that matters
So, what kind of drives me nuts a bit is the INCONSISTENCY of the the FPVLR mod. Overall, the DBS Panel SEEMS a bit more consistent, but the FPVLR got the longest range of either the ADV or DBS on that same route just a few days ago! HealthyDrones.com - Innovative flight data analysis that matters
As I get more flights under my belt with the ADV I will be interested to see how consistent the range is. I will then probably do a windsurfer because it seems very effective with the P3 ADV/PRO controllers...whereas on the P3S, the FPV gets blocked.
The ADV's shell FEELS different...slightly more matte, not so smooth. The motors seems to not turn as freely when off (whereas the P3S's motors easily spin). As for the VPS, I can't really see a need for that. The Standard is EASIER to land manually than the ADV. It is much harder to land the ADV with VPS ON, and still harder than the Standard even with VPS switched off for whatever reason. BTW...I almost NEVER hand catch.
The ADV seems a LITTLE faster (about 2mph according to Healthydrones) and sounds a little different flying. Where the ADV excels obviously is the range-not only in distance, but more solid video feed. Since the P3S uses both 5.8 (RC) and 2.4 (wifi FPV), I think there's a bit of discrepancy for folks (i.e. either RC or FPV will cut out first). With the 2.4 for both on the ADV, both seem to get weak in step, which is probably why it feels less random when things would drop vs. the P3S.
So, I took them both out for another night flight over transmission towers nearby (didn't want to drive anywhere) and here are the numbers:
ADV (stock-no windsurfer or anything)
-5,632 ft. before I turned back. It MIGHT have gone a bit further but the video was deteriorating quickly and I just did manual RTH on the controller.
HealthyDrones.com - Innovative flight data analysis that matters
P3S (DBS panel)
-5,335 ft. before RTH
HealthyDrones.com - Innovative flight data analysis that matters
P3S (FPVLR)
-3,507 ft. before RTH (this one is weird cause their other night I CRUSHED it with this over 7K ft. same route).
HealthyDrones.com - Innovative flight data analysis that matters
So, what kind of drives me nuts a bit is the INCONSISTENCY of the the FPVLR mod. Overall, the DBS Panel SEEMS a bit more consistent, but the FPVLR got the longest range of either the ADV or DBS on that same route just a few days ago! HealthyDrones.com - Innovative flight data analysis that matters
As I get more flights under my belt with the ADV I will be interested to see how consistent the range is. I will then probably do a windsurfer because it seems very effective with the P3 ADV/PRO controllers...whereas on the P3S, the FPV gets blocked.
Last edited: