Dedicated P4P Range and Distance discussion

[MassGuy]

OK, we have to know. Tell us how you drowned a P4P. Did you run out of battery on that 4mi flight?

Stupid mistake! I landed on a dock over the weekend. I had to adjust it's position a little and flew back a little to much as it touched down. I went to correct but one of the legs got stuck between two of the boards. It was at the edge of the dock and flipped back into the water before I could do anything. The water was only about a foot deep but that was a foot to much. It landed in it upside down. It's replacement arrived a few hours ago.

 

[GadgetGuy]

Great tips
Do you have some share vids accessible somewhere ? ( here or youtube ? ) some of your trips, flights ... are you running all latests FW and SW available ? no issues on that side ?
thanks again .

No, all my stuff is private, but I am running FW 1.03.0509 and Go 4 ver 4.0.0 so I can still turn Smart RTH off, which is also essential, as it is way too conservative, but I also carefully manage my battery percentage and my remaining flight time from over 500 flights in the same area. I have also had to ditch the aircraft on a few flights, when I went too far to make it back! Experience is a great teacher!

 

[GadgetGuy]

Stupid mistake! I landed on a dock over the weekend. I had to adjust it's position a little and flew back a little to much as it touched down. I went to correct but one of the legs got stuck between two of the boards. It was at the edge of the dock and flipped back into the water before I could do anything. The water was only about a foot deep but that was a foot to much. It landed in it upside down. It's replacement arrived a few hours ago.

You can also drown in a tea cup of water! Handcatching will save you from many landing problems! I'd highly recommend learning to do it safely. It may save the replacement from a similar fate some day.

 

[Onemanshow]

No, all my stuff is private, but I am running FW 1.03.0509 and Go 4 ver 4.0.0 so I can still turn Smart RTH off, which is also essential, as it is way too conservative, but I also carefully manage my battery percentage and my remaining flight time from over 500 flights in the same area. I have also had to ditch the aircraft on a few flights, when I went too far to make it back! Experience is a great teacher!

Thanks GadgetGuy
Bad thing that i run the latest FW’s

 

[GadgetGuy]

Thanks GadgetGuy
Bad thing that i run the latest FW’s

Well, do the best you can, with what you have, or downgrade the FW and the app, if you need more. I have unique, specific requirements that others aren't hampered by. If I can't go over 3 miles, then the better P4P camera is of no use to me. I'd be better off with a P4 or P3P that has that capability. Fortunately, the P4P, with my FW and app version, works just fine. If it ain't broke, don't fix it, and certainly don't let DJI "fix" it! They will cripple it in a heartbeat, calling it a bug fix!

 

[JJErrico]

8.3km range with 2.4GHz with stock P4P, no problem - battery left more than 12%.

KykPhantom, that's some range. Gives me hope for my P4A which doesn't support 5.8. Also, trying to make sense of the coordinates on your previous screen shots. You must be somewhere without much signal noise. Is that right? Cypress?

 

[John Locke]

KykPhantom, that's some range. Gives me hope for my P4A which doesn't support 5.8. Also, trying to make sense of the coordinates on your previous screen shots. You must be somewhere without much signal noise. Is that right? Cypress?

There is no hope for the P4A IMO, I'm sorry to report. That craft uses the same crappy GL300C controller that the P4 used. I had to ditch that POS and use the Inspire GL658A controller to get decent range, equal to my P3P. The P4P is a different kind of Lightbridge, way better than previous P4, and a little better than P3P which was pretty good. If you're not happy with the GL300C, you might try linking a GL658A to that P4A, or the GL300A might also be better. You can read about my research and tests to solve this GL300C mystery here.

 

[Onemanshow]

Well, do the best you can, with what you have, or downgrade the FW and the app, if you need more. I have unique, specific requirements that others aren't hampered by. If I can't go over 3 miles, then the better P4P camera is of no use to me. I'd be better off with a P4 or P3P that has that capability. Fortunately, the P4P, with my FW and app version, works just fine. If it ain't broke, don't fix it, and certainly don't let DJI "fix" it! They will cripple it in a heartbeat, calling it a bug fix!

Thank you sir , excellent , i totally agree .
I was under the impression that at this time , it is impossible to downgrade or revert back firmwares or App in use for the P4P , i will keep searching on that .

 

[Onemanshow]

There is no hope for the P4A IMO, I'm sorry to report. That craft uses the same crappy GL300C controller that the P4 used. I had to ditch that POS and use the Inspire GL658A controller to get decent range, equal to my P3P. The P4P is a different kind of Lightbridge, way better than previous P4, and a little better than P3P which was pretty good. If you're not happy with the GL300C, you might try linking a GL658A to that P4A, or the GL300A might also be better. You can read about my research and tests to solve this GL300C mystery here.

Excellent infos as well , thank you John Locke .

 

[JJErrico]

There is no hope for the P4A IMO, I'm sorry to report. That craft uses the same crappy GL300C controller that the P4 used. I had to ditch that POS and use the Inspire GL658A controller to get decent range, equal to my P3P. The P4P is a different kind of Lightbridge, way better than previous P4, and a little better than P3P which was pretty good. If you're not happy with the GL300C, you might try linking a GL658A to that P4A, or the GL300A might also be better. You can read about my research and tests to solve this GL300C mystery here.

Thanks. Fortunately I don't need the range for my business, which is real estate photography.

 

[Onemanshow]

Thanks. Fortunately I don't need the range for my business, which is real estate photography.

Great .

 

[exit 4]

Went 6645 meters with no wind. Turned around with 65% battery to be safe. Landed with 17% battery. Had full bars on signal the whole way. Very pleased with the distance on my P4P.

 

[GadgetGuy]

Went 6645 meters with no wind. Turned around with 65% battery to be safe. Landed with 17% battery. Had full bars on signal the whole way. Very pleased with the distance on my P4P.

Best stock setup from DJI yet for range and flight time! The first phantom to actually deliver the advertised range, since the P3P!

 

[Roberto Smera]

Went 6.432 meters over the sea with Argtek omnidirectional antennae and landed with 12%. Very little signal oscillation the whole way. Will test the my MaxxUAV Raptor RX tomorrow.

Airdata UAV - Flight Data Analysis for Drones

 

[John Locke]

Went 6.432 meters over the sea with Argtek omnidirectional antennae and landed with 12%. Very little signal oscillation the whole way. Will test the my MaxxUAV Raptor RX tomorrow.
Airdata UAV - Flight Data Analysis for Drones

Is your 6432M the round trip distance, or is that the max range away from launch point?

 

[GadgetGuy]

Is your 6432M the round trip distance, or is that the max range away from launch point?

According to the link, it's one way.

 

[John Locke]

According to the link, it's one way.
View attachment 87699

Oh thanks, I didn't even realize that was a link. Dah. Wow, 1000' AGL over water? That's not nice.

 

[GadgetGuy]

Oh thanks, I didn't even realize that was a link. Dah. Wow, 1000' AGL over water? That's not nice.

Practically cheating!

 

[Roberto Smera]

This is the second atempt in the same direction, only changing the antennae to MaxxUAV Raptor RX. Tried to go beyond 7 km but the signal was cut abruptly and didn't want to take the risk. Anyway, the antennae work as advertised but is very directional.

Airdata UAV - Flight Data Analysis for Drones

 

[GadgetGuy]

Signal likely cut out as soon as you reached land and interference. I get the same distance with a fully stock setup, with just a windsurfer, over urban areas at 100 feet, with clear LOS. Not sure of the benefit, unless you are under CE, rather than FCC, where the stock Auto 5.8 Ghz is weaker than the 2.4Ghz band.