Confused on how far I can fly; scared to push it too far (see pic)

[SkyviewLou]

I went on vacation and used my drone in two places, one over the ocean in Daytona Beach and then one on Lookout Mountain in TN. In both instances, my drone didn't get more than 75M either up or away from me, both times I got the "watch out, major interference." Now, it was super windy at the beach so maybe that was my problem. I even "lost GPS" signal for a little bit...which scared me to death because I couldn't see it. Maybe the wind was the issue there (would love some guidelines on when to fly a drone and when not to!), but at Lookout Mountain it was a clear, beautiful day and I couldn't so much as go 50M up or away from me without getting warnings. Why? Am I over-reacting? Are you comfortable flying it in anything other than GPS mode?

The end result? I'm afraid to fly my drone to the extent it can be used. I don't know how far is too far. It's really limiting my ability to use it and I'm curious if anyone can point me in a direction of where I can learn more about flying it. Even further, I still have never been able to calibrate it. I get it to do it horizontally, but as soon as it flips the photo on the phone (vertical, I believe) it won't calibrate...but it always finds my home spot or whatever it is called and uses GPS. I don't understand it.

Lastly, to give you an idea of how far out I can go until I get the "watch for interference, weak signal" warning, I've attached a pic of Lookout Mountain that I took. I don't know if it is good or not?

Thanks for any direction/feedback.

Skyview in the Lou

 

[WilliamM]

You need to calibrate both the compass and the IMU, if your saying you've never have since taking it out of the box? You need to asap. Either search You-Tube or watch some tutorials on the DJI site on how this should be done.

 

[WilliamM]

On the wind issue, never fly when winds are over 15 mph. And until you have some flight hours, you might want to keep it under 10 mph winds.
And GPS should not be going out on you during flight. Also on the P3S you should have a min of eight or nine sat before flying anywhere, best if it could be ten or more.

 

[Alan Russel]

If it is too windy stay home....a good guide 0-15 no problem, 15-20 doable but fly into wind only, 20+ nope fly at own risk.

 

[Meta4]

my drone didn't get more than 75M either up or away from me, both times I got the "watch out, major interference." Now, it was super windy at the beach so maybe that was my problem. I even "lost GPS" signal for a little bit... ... at Lookout Mountain it was a clear, beautiful day and I couldn't so much as go 50M up or away from me without getting warnings. Why? Am I over-reacting? Are you comfortable flying it in anything other than GPS mode?

What warnings?
Interference is what you get in an urban area. Your photo doesn't look like anywhere you should be getting interference.
And as long as your Phantom has a good view of the sky, it should not be losing GPS.
Almost all flyers use GPS mode almost all of the time.

I still have never been able to calibrate it. I get it to do it horizontally, but as soon as it flips the photo on the phone (vertical, I believe) it won't calibrate...but it always finds my home spot or whatever it is called and uses GPS. I don't understand it.

Your compass might be part of the problem and definitely needs to be calibrated before you fly.
If you are getting compass errors, that causes the Phantom to drop the GPS data.
Work at calibrating your compass in an open area away from any steel or reinforced concrete before you fly again.
You might have to turn it more than 360 to get the lights to change.
Compass calibration makes the Phantom fly straight. It has nothing to do with GPS or finding home.

Lastly, to give you an idea of how far out I can go until I get the "watch for interference, weak signal" warning

Interference is related to the area you fly and how much wifi activity is there, not how far you fly.

 

[SkyviewLou]

Yes, thanks for those pointers, but what about at Lookout Mountain? It was gorgeous and I got it at like 50M. I posted the picture to give you an idea how far I was able to go - not far at all.

 

[SkyviewLou]

What warnings?
Interference is what you get in an urban area. Your photo doesn't look like anywhere you should be getting interference.
And as long as your Phantom has a good view of the sky, it should not be losing GPS.
Almost all flyers use GPS mode almost all of the time.

Your compass might be part of the problem and definitely needs to be calibrated before you fly.
If you are getting compass errors, that causes the Phantom to drop the GPS data.
Work at calibrating your compass in an open area away from any steel or reinforced concrete before you fly again.
You might have to turn it more than 360 to get the lights to change.
Compass calibration makes the Phantom fly straight. It has nothing to do with GPS or finding home.

Interference is related to the area you fly and how much wifi activity is there, not how far you fly.

That helps, thanks. I was getting those weird signals at Lookout Mtn., and it really frustrated me.

 

[Alan Russel]

From lookout mountain you should a least get 1000m distance with your P3s (clear line of sight).

 

[QuadcopterCrazy]

I'm conservative but I say 15 plus fly at your own risk. Took it in 12mph winds the other day, rock solid hovering but had to make corrections when moving forward so no flying in tight spaces IMO.

I went on vacation and used my drone in two places, one over the ocean in Daytona Beach and then one on Lookout Mountain in TN. In both instances, my drone didn't get more than 75M either up or away from me, both times I got the "watch out, major interference." Now, it was super windy at the beach so maybe that was my problem. I even "lost GPS" signal for a little bit...which scared me to death because I couldn't see it. Maybe the wind was the issue there (would love some guidelines on when to fly a drone and when not to!), but at Lookout Mountain it was a clear, beautiful day and I couldn't so much as go 50M up or away from me without getting warnings. Why? Am I over-reacting? Are you comfortable flying it in anything other than GPS mode?

The end result? I'm afraid to fly my drone to the extent it can be used. I don't know how far is too far. It's really limiting my ability to use it and I'm curious if anyone can point me in a direction of where I can learn more about flying it. Even further, I still have never been able to calibrate it. I get it to do it horizontally, but as soon as it flips the photo on the phone (vertical, I believe) it won't calibrate...but it always finds my home spot or whatever it is called and uses GPS. I don't understand it.

Lastly, to give you an idea of how far out I can go until I get the "watch for interference, weak signal" warning, I've attached a pic of Lookout Mountain that I took. I don't know if it is good or not?

Thanks for any direction/feedback.

Skyview in the Lou

Calibrate compass and IMU from the APP, Then always look for things like electromagnetic interference, it will say that on the app before you fly. If it says that, its a no go where you are flying. always make sure you get at-least 9 or 10 satellites, my average satelites is around 11-12 when I fly.

 

[WilliamM]

I'm conservative but I say 15 plus fly at your own risk. Took it in 12mph winds the other day, rock solid hovering but had to make corrections when moving forward so no flying in tight spaces IMO.



Calibrate compass and IMU from the APP, Then always look for things like electromagnetic interference, it will say that on the app before you fly. If it says that, its a no go where you are flying. always make sure you get at-least 9 or 10 satellites, my average satelites is around 11-12 when I fly.

I would add one caveat to that. The new firmware, 1.7.9 for the standard is giving these interference warnings much more frequently than ever before. Others have stated, including myself that we're getting his interference warnings in places that we frequently have flown before and never had gotton a warning such as that. Also people have been reporting that their flight has been just fine in these cases.

Sent from my HTC 10 using PhantomPilots mobile app

 

[QuadcopterCrazy]

I would add one caveat to that. The new firmware, 1.7.9 for the standard is giving these interference warnings much more frequently than ever before. Others have stated, including myself that we're getting his interference warnings in places that we frequently have flown before and never had gotton a warning such as that. Also people have been reporting that their flight has been just fine in these cases.

Sent from my HTC 10 using PhantomPilots mobile app

I don't have the new firmware but if you haven't flown in the area before and get those warnings I wouldn't take it lightly.

 

[RodPad]

Hey all, I knew this sounded familiar.

No matter what I do, I can't calibrate!

@SkyviewLou
My opinion, Your unit must be defective, I would get it fixed before it crashes or more likely Fly-Away, those kind of problems are very bad. People crash and loose these things without those errors.

Anybody else?

Rod

 

[Luiso16]

Well, you are flying in the US, FAA regulations require you to keep line of sight at all times..... be careful out there........


Sent from my iPad using PhantomPilots

 

[WilliamM]

Well, you are flying in the US, FAA regulations require you to keep line of sight at all times..... be careful out there........


Sent from my iPad using PhantomPilots

 

[QuadcopterCrazy]

View attachment 68808

Don't hate its a fact you're not suppose to, if the community as a whole is gonna condemn flying higher than 400 feet we have to embrace all the rules, that's like sayings Murder is illegal but we'll look the other way if you just attempt murder. Both are wrong both are punishable by law same with flying further than line of sight.

Either way people will do what they want but when you fly out of line of sight and something happens and your quad comes down, anything could happen. If you registered it, if something bad happens its coming down on you.

 

[WilliamM]

Don't hate its a fact you're not suppose to, if the community as a whole is gonna condemn flying higher than 400 feet we have to embrace all the rules, that's like sayings Murder is illegal but we'll look the other way if you just attempt murder. Both are wrong both are punishable by law same with flying further than line of sight.

Either way people will do what they want but when you fly out of line of sight and something happens and your quad comes down, anything could happen. If you registered it, if something bad happens its coming down on you.

Not hating, just think other hobbyist should keep their opinions to themselves with regards to which guidelines are followed unless the thread is on this topic specifically. We have members in the community from all around the world under very different laws of the land, not to mention some in the states fly as hobbyist and others within the rules of flying commercially. These have two different sets of rules and guideline to go by under the FCC. One size does not fit all.

 

[RodPad]

Really now, what was the OPs problem.

Rod

 

[WilliamM]

Sometimes threads can go off topic for a post or two, nothing wrong with that, it's normal. But my reply was in response to Luiso16 who I think was trying to tell the OP not to worry about how far he should fly as it would go beyond LOS, so why bother.

 

[RodPad]

Sometimes threads can go off topic for a post or two, nothing wrong with that, it's normal. But my reply was in response to Luiso16 who I think was trying to tell the OP not to worry about how far he should fly as it would go beyond LOS, so why bother.

Yeah, maybe its me, but I was hoping the OP would get back, or somebody would agree or disagree with my opinion, or have something to add.

Rod

 

[QuadcopterCrazy]

Not hating, just think other hobbyist should keep their opinions to themselves with regards to which guidelines are followed unless the thread is on this topic specifically. We have members in the community from all around the world under very different laws of the land, not to mention some in the states fly as hobbyist and others within the rules of flying commercially. These have two different sets of rules and guideline to go by under the FCC. One size does not fit all.

I forgot its a forum, we aren't suppose to have opinions, BUT THANKS for your opinion