Any mods for P3P? Soon to be Phantom 3 Pro owner/pilot

itechnology · Jul 13, 2019

Anybody have any mod ideas for DJI’s Phantom 3 Pro AC? I’m open to any ideas or completed mods. Any tips as well for myself as a new Phantom owner? Any tips/advice would be greatly appreciated.

quaddamage · Jul 13, 2019

There are various kinds of mods. Since you're asking before even flying, I assume the question is for aesthetic mods. After all, you do functional mods when you know what exactly doesn't match your needs.

Most people customize their phantoms by just putting stickers - either small ones, or skins for the whole drone.
If you want to start the flight from grass, landing gear extension is quite popular. I'm using it sometimes.
There are more aggressive mods as well - like "Phavic", a completely new shell which turns Ph3 into mavic-like shaped drone.

Alan Russel · Jul 13, 2019

There are also battery mods for longer flight times and you can even get a wet suit for your drone if you want to fly in the rain.

itechnology · Jul 13, 2019

quaddamage said:
There are various kinds of mods. Since you're asking before even flying, I assume the question is for aesthetic mods. After all, you do functional mods when you know what exactly doesn't match your needs.

Most people customize their phantoms by just putting stickers - either small ones, or skins for the whole drone.
If you want to start the flight from grass, landing gear extension is quite popular. I'm using it sometimes.
There are more aggressive mods as well - like "Phavic", a completely new shell which turns Ph3 into mavic-like shaped drone.

Thank you. I appreciate your response. I have been flying drones for quite some time, I am currently a Mavic Air owner. I am not looking towards aesthetic mods as I am functional mods. My Phantom 3 Pro has some pretty sweet aesthetics ?. The landing gear mod sounds like something I would modify soon. I appreciate your advice man. Thanks ?

joeruby · Jul 13, 2019

itechnology said:
Anybody have any mod ideas for DJI’s Phantom 3 Pro AC? I’m open to any ideas or completed mods. Any tips as well for myself as a new Phantom owner? Any tips/advice would be greatly appreciated.

The P3P is a fantastic (AC) aircraft. So good that I have three P3P. Combined with the Litchi App, it does everything I want/need. I have two mods that increase the durability. They both are devices made of aluminum. One replaces the DJI plastic tablet mount on the RC remote control. Not the big clamp but the plastic with the two screws that hold it to the RC body. That way when I have my 9.7" Samsung Tablet Galaxy Tab S2 mounted with my full size Hoodman total shade, it is solid. The other is a metal device that keeps the camera ribbon cable from being destroyed, during a hard crash/landing. Several years ago, right after I installed it, I hit the top of a 105 foot tall pine tree, and the AC tumbled thru the branched all the way to the ground. The AC, camera, and ribbon cable still worked OK after inspection and re-calibration of everything.
I don't have links to these two devices, but if you are really interested, I can take photos, and try to find a link. The RC device was made by PGY. I have 644 air miles on my first P3P named "KAOS", I have just retired it to hang from the ceiling in the family room.
I hope this helps you.

itechnology · Jul 15, 2019

joeruby said:
The P3P is a fantastic (AC) aircraft. So good that I have three P3P. Combined with the Litchi App, it does everything I want/need. I have two mods that increase the durability. They both are devices made of aluminum. One replaces the DJI plastic tablet mount on the RC remote control. Not the big clamp but the plastic with the two screws that hold it to the RC body. That way when I have my 9.7" Samsung Tablet Galaxy Tab S2 mounted with my full size Hoodman total shade, it is solid. The other is a metal device that keeps the camera ribbon cable from being destroyed, during a hard crash/landing. Several years ago, right after I installed it, I hit the top of a 105 foot tall pine tree, and the AC tumbled thru the branched all the way to the ground. The AC, camera, and ribbon cable still worked OK after inspection and re-calibration of everything.
I don't have links to these two devices, but if you are really interested, I can take photos, and try to find a link. The RC device was made by PGY. I have 644 air miles on my first P3P named "KAOS", I have just retired it to hang from the ceiling in the family room.
I hope this helps you.

Thank I’m really excited to get flying with this beast of a quad. Both of those mods that you have mentioned intrigued me. Mind posting those links of the mods? It would be greatly appreciative. If you can’t find them, no big deal. That’s awesome man that you have 3 of these quads. They seem amazing. Good luck to you and flying and I really appreciate the time that you took to write that. Cheers.

itechnology · Jul 15, 2019

Alan Russel said:
There are also battery mods for longer flight times and you can even get a wet suit for your drone if you want to fly in the rain.

Where can you buy wet suites for the Phantom 3 Professional? Have you completed a battery mod yourself? Thanks for the response.

solentlife · Jul 15, 2019

Personally - I don't see any modification of real merit for the P3P ... its a solid flying machine as is out of box.

I fly of rough and good areas ... grass etc. - never a problem. If grass is long - I either put case down as launch pad .. or a piece of heavy hessian back carpet I keep specially for this ... or hold the P3P up level as it initialises so camera is not obstructed ... then place on ground for take-off. For landing .. no problem . I will land back on and in grass - its never had problem with that ...
I will only hand catch if absolutely necessary.

itechnology · Jul 20, 2019

solentlife said:
Personally - I don't see any modification of real merit for the P3P ... its a solid flying machine as is out of box.

I fly of rough and good areas ... grass etc. - never a problem. If grass is long - I either put case down as launch pad .. or a piece of heavy hessian back carpet I keep specially for this ... or hold the P3P up level as it initialises so camera is not obstructed ... then place on ground for take-off. For landing .. no problem . I will land back on and in grass - its never had problem with that ...
I will only hand catch if absolutely necessary.

I agree man. The P3P is a marvelous machine. Your tips for taking off are solid. I appreciate it. Thank you.

brigerdrones · Jul 21, 2019

quaddamage said:
There are various kinds of mods. Since you're asking before even flying, I assume the question is for aesthetic mods. After all, you do functional mods when you know what exactly doesn't match your needs.

Most people customize their phantoms by just putting stickers - either small ones, or skins for the whole drone.
If you want to start the flight from grass, landing gear extension is quite popular. I'm using it sometimes.
There are more aggressive mods as well - like "Phavic", a completely new shell which turns Ph3 into mavic-like shaped drone.

This is my phavic mod

joeruby · Jul 21, 2019

itechnology said:
Thank I’m really excited to get flying with this beast of a quad. Both of those mods that you have mentioned intrigued me. Mind posting those links of the mods? It would be greatly appreciative. If you can’t find them, no big deal. That’s awesome man that you have 3 of these quads. They seem amazing. Good luck to you and flying and I really appreciate the time that you took to write that. Cheers.

This bracket replacement really holds my 9.7" Samsung tablet and Hoodman solid. You may find one on ebay.

I couldn't find the ribbon cable protector bracket yet.

Remote Controller Bracket Mount Holder for DJI Phantom 3/4 Inspire1 PGY for sale online | eBay

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itechnology · Jul 21, 2019

No worries. Thanks. That bracket seems pretty sturd.

itechnology · Jul 22, 2019

Hmm... that link doesn’t seem to be working.

itechnology · Jul 22, 2019

Never mind, it’s sold out!

solentlife · Jul 22, 2019

There is absolutely no need to replace the original holder bracket unless you wish to fit a large screen.

I use a 7" Nexus in mine and its rock solid ... How ?

The bracket has 3 fixings ... not 2.

The main thumb job vertical that supports the arm, grub screw that locks it and the large headed screw horizontally.

Deleted member 120647 · Jul 22, 2019

I have made 2 mods so far,
1) I covered the top of the drone and some of the vertical surfaces with orange, plastic, insulating tape (wide). The reason for this is that I am told the colour deters bird attacks.
2) A gimbal card of the type shown in the attached. I you decide to fit one be warned some are reputed to interfere with the downward looking sensor in the housing below the battery
I am considering another mod which is to install a 'headlamp' (hopefully switchable) on the front of the drone as a beacon in the hope of increasing the drone's visibility i.e. increasing the distance at which I can see the drone.
I got a pair of landing gear extenders but have decided not to use them because....there are two clips on each extender which clip the the vertical portions of the legs, on both extenders the grip of one of the clips was good but the other was not. From memory both extenders had projections which go under the horizontal portions of the legs to provide vertical location for the extender.
I suspect the lesser grip of the second clip this actually an intentional design feature to give the extenders some 'knock way' capability, so that the chances of them snagging something are reduced. However it made me wonder if it would knock away in a not ideal landing and tip the drone.
A "swings and roundabout" problem

D0CT0R · Jul 22, 2019

And if you want it to do some things DJI didn't plan for it you can do some reading about this recent Mod....

itechnology · Jul 24, 2019

solentlife said:
There is absolutely no need to replace the original holder bracket unless you wish to fit a large screen.

I use a 7" Nexus in mine and its rock solid ... How ?

The bracket has 3 fixings ... not 2.

The main thumb job vertical that supports the arm, grub screw that locks it and the large headed screw horizontally.

Ok. I may use a larger screen in the future but my phone is fine for now.

itechnology · Jul 24, 2019

PhiliusFoggg said:
I have made 2 mods so far,
1) I covered the top of the drone and some of the vertical surfaces with orange, plastic, insulating tape (wide). The reason for this is that I am told the colour deters bird attacks.
2) A gimbal card of the type shown in the attached. I you decide to fit one be warned some are reputed to interfere with the downward looking sensor in the housing below the battery
I am considering another mod which is to install a 'headlamp' (hopefully switchable) on the front of the drone as a beacon in the hope of increasing the drone's visibility i.e. increasing the distance at which I can see the drone.
I got a pair of landing gear extenders but have decided not to use them because....there are two clips on each extender which clip the the vertical portions of the legs, on both extenders the grip of one of the clips was good but the other was not. From memory both extenders had projections which go under the horizontal portions of the legs to provide vertical location for the extender.
I suspect the lesser grip of the second clip this actually an intentional design feature to give the extenders some 'knock way' capability, so that the chances of them snagging something are reduced. However it made me wonder if it would knock away in a not ideal landing and tip the drone.
A "swings and roundabout" problem

I’m a bit weary as to whether or not I should add a gimbal guard like that. I feel that it can scratch the landing gear during installation and block the camera’s view. Birds attacks are not a prevalent issue in my area however that is a great idea for those of you with bird swarms. I am very interested in the headlamp mod - if I installed a bright enough one, could search and rescue be a possibility? I appreciate your ideas Philius. Good luck to your headlamp mod. Thank you.