Can flight logs and battery info be erased or altered?

[rjp1267]

Going to be buying a couple of P3 Pro's and have little experience with used equipment. A couple of concerns are crashes, hours on drone, excessive battery use and battery condition. I know you can pull the flight logs and battery maintenance info but was wondering if this info is reliable and not subject to adulteration/alteration which would otherwise hide issues.

Obviously will test drive them to see if any problems are obvious but dont want to get stuck with a lemon(s).

Any suggestions on the above or advice on buying used equipment is much appreciated.

Thank you.

 

[Meta4]

Going to be buying a couple of P3 Pro's and have little experience with used equipment. A couple of concerns are crashes, hours on drone, excessive battery use and battery condition. I know you can pull the flight logs and battery maintenance info but was wondering if this info is reliable and not subject to adulteration/alteration which would otherwise hide issues.

Flight records in the app can be deleted but the battery data can't

 

[rjp1267]

So no hardcoded flight data or telemetry, that is what I was afraid of. People want around 600-650 for a used P3 Pro with supposed low hours and no crashes...for an additional $100 I can buy new with warranty may just do that. I am going to run and see one that looks brand new if he is flexible in price otherwise new is the way I will probably go.

Hey maybe you can tell me if there is an alternative app to the DJI Go to operate the platform? I see lots of poor reviews and for myself I have not yet had any problems but am also reluctant to do upgrades to firmware and app since everything is running fine. I see lots of complaints from people after updating the bird, battery and or the app that I tend to shy away fearing the worst. Any advice on this?

 

[Meta4]

So no hardcoded flight data or telemetry, that is what I was afraid of.

The internal data recorder can't be tampered with but it only has about the last 4 flights with older records being over-written by new flights.

Hey maybe you can tell me if there is an alternative app to the DJI Go to operate the platform? I see lots of poor reviews and for myself I have not yet had any problems but am also reluctant to do upgrades to firmware and app since everything is running fine. I see lots of complaints from people after updating the bird, battery and or the app that I tend to shy away fearing the worst. Any advice on this?

The DJI Go app is fine. I give it a hard workout several times per week.
The poor reviews come from users that either don't know what they are doing or are trying to run it on a tablet without sufficient resources to run the app properly.

 

[solentlife]

This is a debated subject elsewhere ... I was able to erase flight data on the internal fixed card in the AC - but DJI were able to recall it all from a hidden partition or hidden files on it. I could investigate pages of flight records of previous owner of my P3P ..... and I deleted them when I was happy with it all at home. But overall - the data is there and as another says gets overwritten in what is termed 'revolving archive' ... as the card fills up - it overwrites the oldest.

App to fly ? Many people use LITCHI ... it has a few more functions / abilities than GO ... but you will still need GO to setup various user parameters such as Battery discharge etc.

I was a dedicated Litchi user till recently and then drifted back to latest GO.

As another says - many of the problems encountered are most likely User initiated .... like who reads the manual ??

Cheers
Nigel

 

[Meta4]

This is a debated subject elsewhere ... I was able to erase flight data on the internal fixed card in the AC - but DJI were able to recall it all from a hidden partition or hidden files on it. I could investigate pages of flight records of previous owner of my P3P ..... and I deleted them when I was happy with it all at home. But overall - the data is there and as another says gets overwritten in what is termed 'revolving archive' ... as the card fills up - it overwrites the oldest.

But the internal data recorder only has about 4 flights - not pages of them.
The app hasn't allowed you to delete them since DJI stopped that ages ago, which is understandable since the files can be important in warranty issues.
It sounds like DJI simply accessed the internal memory rather than some secret hidden partition.

 

[solentlife]

Yeh well .... pity I don't have the archive to show you ...

Nigel

 

[rjp1267]

All great info, much appreciated. I am reconsidering my thoughts on buying used equipment mainly because people seem to think their stuff is worth more than I feel it is. Example, a guy in Vermont wants $650 for his P3 Pro, nothing special about it, he is not negotiable in price. I can go to an online retailer and get a brand new one with full warranty for between $750 and $799, to me the added expense is worth it since it hasnt been used and I get he peace of mind of having the warranty. Dont know why people are so obtuse when common sense says their way of thinking is counter productive. Like PT Barnum said, "There is a sucker born every minute".

Happy Holidays

 

[Meta4]

This is a debated subject elsewhere ... I was able to erase flight data on the internal fixed card in the AC - but DJI were able to recall it all from a hidden partition or hidden files on it. I could investigate pages of flight records of previous owner of my P3P ..... and I deleted them when I was happy with it all at home.

What did you use to read the (encrypted) flight records from the previous owner?
Have a look at it now and see how many flights are there and if you can delete any.
We are talking about the internal data recorder - not the app.
You have to connect the drone to a computer to get to them.

 

[Hollow Dog]

All great info, much appreciated. I am reconsidering my thoughts on buying used equipment mainly because people seem to think their stuff is worth more than I feel it is. Example, a guy in Vermont wants $650 for his P3 Pro, nothing special about it, he is not negotiable in price. I can go to an online retailer and get a brand new one with full warranty for between $750 and $799, to me the added expense is worth it since it hasnt been used and I get he peace of mind of having the warranty. Dont know why people are so obtuse when common sense says their way of thinking is counter productive. Like PT Barnum said, "There is a sucker born every minute".

Happy Holidays

Yes you're right you should purchase new if you can't get a much better deal than that.
Because the reasonable value of used electronic equipment is about 50% of new.
The market drives prices but you're not looking to purchase a unicorn.

 

[solentlife]

What did you use to read the (encrypted) flight records from the previous owner?
Have a look at it now and see how many flights are there and if you can delete any.
We are talking about the internal data recorder - not the app.
You have to connect the drone to a computer to get to them.

There is no way I can read Previous Owners data in my app !! So that tells you immediately it must have been AC internal data storage ...

Nigel

 

[solentlife]

Yes you're right you should purchase new if you can't get a much better deal than that.
Because the reasonable value of used electronic equipment is about 50% of new.
The market drives prices but you're not looking to purchase a unicorn.

Your lucky - because over here - the gear sells for same numbers but in Euros ...........

Standards ask anywhere up to about 550 Euros .... Advanced about 600 Euros and Pro about 650 - 700 Euros second hand. Usually with case and spare battery. But you see them without for similar !

Nigel

 

[Meta4]

There is no way I can read Previous Owners data in my app !! So that tells you immediately it must have been AC internal data storage ...

So how many flights are showing in your internal flight data?
Can you delete any?
What do you use to read them?

 

[solentlife]

Instead of wasting my time to do what you request ... I can simply direct you to :

Flight Data Log Viewer DJI Phantom 3 and Inspire 1

Worked for me when I bought the P3P second-hand this year ...

Nigel

 

[solentlife]

I sat and thought .. well there will still be argument .... so I did exactly what I did before ... which is follow the above link instructions.

I have 21 flight logs .... first is from months ago .... which is a lot more than 4 flights !!!!! even if we discount a few small dat files of bench power-ups.
The card is supposed to be 4Gb as user accessible ... but there is no info as to whether that's a partition or the full card. I suspect the mistaken quote of 4 flights recorded is actually 4Gb of flight data recorded and then it starts to overwrite older files. My 21 flight logs occupy 1.13Gb ... so I have just under 3Gb to go before it starts to overwrite.....

I have copied to my PC ... I can delete ... I can replace ...

Nigel

 

[rjp1267]

I have decided to buy new and only get involved in used if there is a great deal to be had. Anyone selling used thinks they can get near new pricing and I tell them they are crazy and enjoy hanging on to something they no longer want. I am going to pull the trigger on a new P3 Pro and Inspire, just looking for best pricing.

As far as app goes, I just saw a YT video where the guy was using Litchi Hub and Google Earth to map out a mission. He would map the waypoints in GE and then save and import into LH. The subject of this video was maintaining constant altitude AGL during the flight when terrain heights vary. Thought it was very cool and something that would be of great use. Since I have not been able to use the updated DJI app as it has been in the 20-30 degree range here I have not had an opp to test out the updated app. does the DJI app have this or similar capability? I started reading the user guide but am only about 1/3 way through it.

I am trying to sift through all of the apps and tools out there to come up with a standard toolkit for flying, planning missions, getting pre flight data, etc but it is difficult since the market is flooded with stuff and is difficult to identify the garbage from the gems. Maybe this would make for an interesting topic if one does not already exist.

 

[With The Birds]

I have decided to buy new and only get involved in used if there is a great deal to be had. Anyone selling used thinks they can get near new pricing and I tell them they are crazy and enjoy hanging on to something they no longer want. I am going to pull the trigger on a new P3 Pro and Inspire, just looking for best pricing.

As far as app goes, I just saw a YT video where the guy was using Litchi Hub and Google Earth to map out a mission. He would map the waypoints in GE and then save and import into LH. The subject of this video was maintaining constant altitude AGL during the flight when terrain heights vary. Thought it was very cool and something that would be of great use. Since I have not been able to use the updated DJI app as it has been in the 20-30 degree range here I have not had an opp to test out the updated app. does the DJI app have this or similar capability? I started reading the user guide but am only about 1/3 way through it.

I am trying to sift through all of the apps and tools out there to come up with a standard toolkit for flying, planning missions, getting pre flight data, etc but it is difficult since the market is flooded with stuff and is difficult to identify the garbage from the gems. Maybe this would make for an interesting topic if one does not already exist.

The GO app doesn’t have this capability.

 

[Offroader]

Caveat emptor on used equipment. The seller I bought mine from didn't disclose crash damage and I didn't see it in the pictures he provided. None the less, I did get it for less than the above mentioned prices with 2 batteries, and an aluminum case.

Best buy new.

 

[solentlife]

The usual advantage of buying second user - is the extra batterys / case etc. you get. But if there is no extra's - then such pricing is a joke.

I would think that most P3P over counters now would be refurb, as it has been some time since P3P was actually manufactured. Refurb is fine - you get a warranty and basically as new machine.

I did buy second user ... because of the higher pricing new here in EU land. Doesn't matter what it is literally ... bits for my yacht ... bits for models ... DJI ... European pricing is daft compared to USA.

Nigel