Purchased my refurbished P3S a couple of weeks ago and I have a few flights under my belt (nothing fancy). On Friday, I decided to go downtown and record two flights (just got a second battery), hoping to still have my Phantom intact when I finished. I tried to think of everything in the planning stages so I wouldn't make any fatal mistakes.
I'm happy to report I did not crash and both flights were successful! However, I have a few questions and comments regarding my flight. For background info, this was in a major downtown area (Davenport, IA) along the Mississippi River, but my home point was a open park near the river.
1) DISTANCE. Even though I was in a downtown area, I took off and controlled the Phantom from a wide open park with no obstacles near to me. The maximum I could fly in any given direction was about 1000-1200 feet (while flying 200-400 ft high). Once I reached those distances, my camera FPV signal dropped, though my controller signal was still ok (not great, but it didn't disconnect).
Q. Does 1000-1200 feet sound about right for a downtown area? There were definitely cell towers and such around the area.
Q. Is it typical for the FPV camera view to drop before the actual controller gets disconnected? I think one other time the app asked me if I wanted to go home since I lost FPV, even though the controller was still ok. Obviously, if the controller disconnects for a period, then it'll do failsafe RTH.
C. I purchased an inexpensive range extended (just the plastic reflector type that attaches to the existing antenna) and it really didn't do much at all. Sometimes I think it helped a bit, and other times I think it actually degraded my signal. I tried attaching it upside down and right-side up with varying degrees of success, but just ended up taking it off because of the inconsistency.
2) GIMBAL / CAMERA stutter? When looking over my footage, I noticed that once in a while the picture would be wobbly or wavy (not sure how to describe it). Is that the rolling shutter, or is that just the gimbal not being to stabilize precisely enough for the conditions? It wasn't too windy of a day, so I don't think it was the wind, but I haven't noticed it on previous flights. I'm just hoping my gimbal or camera isn't having a problem (you can see the effect somewhat in my video below, though I edited most of it out).
3) RECORDING VIDEO. I have learned that controlling the drone and shooting video with camera angles in mind is not an easy think to do. It does require some planning, skill, and practice. My first few flights, I really didn't even care about camera angles, but just wanted to concentrate on flying. This time, I felt pretty comfortable flying, so I tried to plan some shots and get some better footage. I think I was moderately successful, but when looking back at it, I can obviously see many things I should have done differently. It was nice having an extra battery so I could make two flights out of it. Sometimes, I spent too much time trying to fiddle with the settings doing something like Point of Interest, etc. In the end, I think it's better to cut out more footage, but I'm finding it difficult to pick and choose! lol
Here's the video:
I'm happy to report I did not crash and both flights were successful! However, I have a few questions and comments regarding my flight. For background info, this was in a major downtown area (Davenport, IA) along the Mississippi River, but my home point was a open park near the river.
1) DISTANCE. Even though I was in a downtown area, I took off and controlled the Phantom from a wide open park with no obstacles near to me. The maximum I could fly in any given direction was about 1000-1200 feet (while flying 200-400 ft high). Once I reached those distances, my camera FPV signal dropped, though my controller signal was still ok (not great, but it didn't disconnect).
Q. Does 1000-1200 feet sound about right for a downtown area? There were definitely cell towers and such around the area.
Q. Is it typical for the FPV camera view to drop before the actual controller gets disconnected? I think one other time the app asked me if I wanted to go home since I lost FPV, even though the controller was still ok. Obviously, if the controller disconnects for a period, then it'll do failsafe RTH.
C. I purchased an inexpensive range extended (just the plastic reflector type that attaches to the existing antenna) and it really didn't do much at all. Sometimes I think it helped a bit, and other times I think it actually degraded my signal. I tried attaching it upside down and right-side up with varying degrees of success, but just ended up taking it off because of the inconsistency.
2) GIMBAL / CAMERA stutter? When looking over my footage, I noticed that once in a while the picture would be wobbly or wavy (not sure how to describe it). Is that the rolling shutter, or is that just the gimbal not being to stabilize precisely enough for the conditions? It wasn't too windy of a day, so I don't think it was the wind, but I haven't noticed it on previous flights. I'm just hoping my gimbal or camera isn't having a problem (you can see the effect somewhat in my video below, though I edited most of it out).
3) RECORDING VIDEO. I have learned that controlling the drone and shooting video with camera angles in mind is not an easy think to do. It does require some planning, skill, and practice. My first few flights, I really didn't even care about camera angles, but just wanted to concentrate on flying. This time, I felt pretty comfortable flying, so I tried to plan some shots and get some better footage. I think I was moderately successful, but when looking back at it, I can obviously see many things I should have done differently. It was nice having an extra battery so I could make two flights out of it. Sometimes, I spent too much time trying to fiddle with the settings doing something like Point of Interest, etc. In the end, I think it's better to cut out more footage, but I'm finding it difficult to pick and choose! lol
Here's the video: