Discuss your P3's hovering stability

Joined
May 28, 2015
Messages
59
Reaction score
14
Age
44
I bring this up because today, somewhat randomly, I decided to see how my P3 would fair simply hovering (appx 10 ft off the ground) I had my hands off the controller to observe the hovering stability and I wasn't too crazy about it. It was moderately windy but I had performed a compass calibration before flying today and had like 15 satellites locked on so I expected a more stable hover.

It was drifting to the side quite a bit. When I wanted to land it on top of a table (had it lined up right on top of it in the middle) I couldn't simply press DOWN I had to constantly adjust the right stick. It just felt less stable than I think it should.

In fairness I haven't really specifically analyzed this before so I can't say for sure whether it may have something to do with firmware/weather/etc.

I guess what I'm looking for is: (1) share how stable your P3 hovers and whether you're happy with it or not AND (2) what are the best steps to take to try to get it to hover in a more stable manner.

Update: Decided to check out DJI website to see if I can chat with one of their "technicians" Was a waste of time and a joke. Hope I never need them for any real assistance. See below.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: AbsPapa
You are chatting with Phantom_Fay
Thank you for contacting DJI Technical Support.

Hello, thanks for contacting DJI. You can also reach us by:
E-mail to: [email protected]
Send an e-mail containing your name, phone number, location, product Serial Number, and brief description of your issue, and our service team will contact you as soon as possible. DJI regional offices during local working hours:
North America:
Call +1 (818) 235-0789, Mon-Fri 9:00am - 5:00pm PST, or e-mail [email protected]
EU Member Countries:
Call +49 (0) 9747-9304200, Mon-Fri 9:00am - 5:00pm Central Europe time, or e-mail [email protected]
Japan:
E-mail [email protected]
If you have any pre-sales questions about DJI products before you buy, please write to us at [email protected], and we will respond shortly.

Thank you!

DJI

20:33:24
Hello?


Hi


Anyone there?


How can I help?


I have a P3 Advanced


Quick question


20:34:36
Today when flying it I felt that it wasn't hovering as stable as it should


Is there anything I can do to make it more stable?


Did you fly outdoor or indoor?


I calibrated it before flying today and had like 17 satellites connected


Outdoors


20:36:53
make sure you have no disturb signal around
 
I had my P3P about 150ft up yesterday and let go of the sticks and it didnt move (18 sats). I showed the video to someone and they were impressed. Even at 10ft or so it doesnt move. Im so happy with my P3 that I cant fault it. The only issue I have is with the weather!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Steve Moore
I see this drifting on some days and not others. I suspect it is due to geomagnetic storms. The next time this happens, go here to see if there are geomagnetic storms in process.
 
Hello everyone. Today the same thing happened to me two times. The Phantom3 exit to the left slowly, and I made the decision to land and turn everything off and reconnect again. Pro he was super stable to the 2 times. I never had this happened to me before today.
 
Flew in 20mph steady winds doing some video on the Texas Gulf Coast and the Phantom was rock solid. There is no noticeable movement at all for video when the Phantom was hovering and recording.
 
I see this drifting on some days and not others. I suspect it is due to geomagnetic storms. The next time this happens, go here to see if there are geomagnetic storms in process.
Thats beyond posibility. The GPS and in your phone isnt freaking out is it? How about the one in your car? Everything else seems to work flawlessly, but the Phantom doesnt. Sure, you have a problem, but the sun isnt one!
 
The P3 is the most stable drone I have flown yet. No doubt there will be newer ones that make it look like it's a drunk on a slip'n'slide but it's pretty **** stable even compared to it's predecessor.

Try it with/without VPS and see if that changes anything.
 
Both my P2V+ and my new P3P had some 'play' in its hovering.

I was really expecting the Optical Flow to keep it in check. The P3P is definitely more stable than my P2V+ was at lower altitudes, but still drifts a couple of feet in any direction.
 
Thats beyond posibility. The GPS and in your phone isnt freaking out is it? How about the one in your car? Everything else seems to work flawlessly, but the Phantom doesnt. Sure, you have a problem, but the sun isnt one!

Was that sarcasm, or just misinformation? Because Geomagnetic storms absolutely can affect the precision of GPS measurements. I don't think he said his drone was "freaking out" just drifting sometimes. To say "that's beyond possibility", would be a false absolute. Certainly not quantifying how much of an effect it could have on a Phantoms drift, but it is well established that solar storms affect GPS precision. It's highly probable that a Phantom could be affected more notably then a car or phone...their GPSs just aren't as precise, and minor fluctuations wouldn't be noticed as readily.
 
  • Like
Reactions: snerd
I see this drifting on some days and not others. I suspect it is due to geomagnetic storms. The next time this happens, go here to see if there are geomagnetic storms in process.
Actually, the location signals always drift to some degree. There is a constant recalibration required to keep the signal reasonably accurate. This does not mean there will be no signal at all or that radio transmissions will be interrupted. It simply means the charge of the ionosphere is constantly changing. It's kind of like the reffraction of light through ripples on a swimming pool.
 
Coming from RC nitro the P3P is rock solid.;)
raptor1.JPG
 
The P3 is the most stable drone I have flown yet. No doubt there will be newer ones that make it look like it's a drunk on a slip'n'slide but it's pretty **** stable even compared to it's predecessor.

Try it with/without VPS and see if that changes anything.
I also turned mine off-- no issues-- I think it helps-- especially if you are under 20 ft.
 
I've noticed that take off location seems to have a huge impact on my hover stability. A week ago, after doing a compass calibration, I took off about 100 yards from a large building, and had no issues. On my second flight around the same building, I tried taking off about 15 yards away, and my P3 began hovering erratically--oscillating over 10 feet, and at one point it seemed to orbit another point with a five foot radius. I managed to land it without incident, and tried three more times to take off after powering off and on, but had the same results. So I took it further from the building--maybe 40 yards, (still different side of the building than first flight), and it hovered just fine. I could fly it within 10 feet of the building and it would however just fine--though it started getting a little erratic with altitude hold when I flew it between two high rises. I assume that was from GPS signals bouncing around erratically--no matter how many satellites you've locked onto.

Later I took it out into the country, and it barely moved a six inches in any direction. I've noticed though that other flights out in the country--if there was any metal around--like my car or a guard rail, hover would wobble a foot or two. This only seems to effect take off location though. If I take off far away from my car, then fly close to it, it hovers perfectly--so, not sure why... but in my experience, take off location is very important--kind of like the importance of calibrating your compass in a metal free environment...
 
  • Like
Reactions: 30secs

Recent Posts

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
143,066
Messages
1,467,352
Members
104,933
Latest member
mactechnic