Drastic speed reduction with new Firmware

They already have enough problems having to replace all those cracked shells. My Phantom 3 was returned within 2 weeks after discovering cracks arounds it's 100th flight.
Yep and what happens if they say to their customers that the motor mount screws were over tightened at the factor and the user should loosen then re torque them? Every crash would be blamed on dji.
 
Hey everyone 1st post ever on this site but have been reading for a while. Really disappointed in what's going on with the new download. I however have not done it.

Question is are we safe remaining at the prior download and not going to the 1.6?
It has been going well and I don't want what I am used to to change. I am in New Jersey and right now it is still warm but today I flew it in the low 40's and had no problems. Once again back to my question ( sorry for rambling) will I be ok if I stay at the 1.5.3 and ignore the 1.6??? Thanks for the response.


Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots mobile app
 
will I be ok if I stay at the 1.5.3 and ignore the 1.6??? Thanks for the response.

I believe the safe answer is no. The update fixes a problem, albeit one you may never have experienced. That said, if you are happy, hang back a bit and don't fly it like you stole it!
 
So no drastic reductions to report? Seems the thread title might be misleading.
For anyone wanting to report their findings, the app gives a clear readout of vertical speed and horizontal speed - just have to consider wind if looking at horizontal speed.
I disagree, the thread has merit. As I have posted in another thread, my P3P would do 11mph vertical speed upon full throttle on a direct vertical ascent. That was with 1.4 firmware, I never used 1.5. After my 1.6 upgrade, yesterday my P3P would only reach 5 to 6mph with full throttle vertical ascent. The other anomaly was full throttle up and full forward simultaneously gave me about a 35 degree ascent rate on 1.4, and yesterday with 1.6 it was about 15 degrees (I'm guessing at the angles, but it's around half the angle it was before, maybe less). Yesterday was 55F weather here in So. Calif. I'm sure DJI has new current limiting enabled in the firmware, and it's not just in cold weather, even though it may be worse in colder weather, I'm not sure. As for acceleration, it definately seemed sluggish, however I need to retest again, that's subjective. My top speed was 33mph, which seemed fairly normal, but it got to that speed slower, the acceleration was down a bit.

The horizontal acceleration doesn't concern me that much, however vertical ascent speed does. I fly at the beach sometimes and seagulls can attack occasionally. The best way to get away from them is to ascend to 400' REAL QUICK and then get the heck outta there. Seagulls can't ascend at 11mph for very long, so it was usually an easy getaway. Now I don't have that defense.
 
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I believe the safe answer is no. The update fixes a problem, albeit one you may never have experienced. That said, if you are happy, hang back a bit and don't fly it like you stole it!
According to dirtbum (post #184) based on a conversation he had with DJI, he surmised 1.5.30 firmware introduced battery protection, which shuts down all power mid-flight if any one of the 4 cells gets below 3.0V. Seems like a dumb thing to implement, but they did. That may be why we saw 1.6 come out so quick after 1.5.3 was released, this problem showed up quick with disastrous consequences for some. This implies 1.4 and before didn't have this battery protection "SHUT DOWN" mode since nobody seem to have this "SHUT DOWN" problem, anywhere in the world I would assume.

It's well known that Li-Po batteries will discharge faster in cold weather, so I presume people in cold climates saw the effect of the battery protection in 1.5.30 before anyone else, and birds fell from the sky.
 
Ok, Just updated my P3p and my 4 batteries this morning.
I live in Las Vegas. 54 degrees F. No wind at all.

The vertical ascending speed is noticeably slower now. horizontal speed, I reached 36 MPH, but the
acceleration was noticeably slower. I used to love how fast this quad could accelerate upward. Now
it is very slow.

Very disappointing update. Feels like i am in Beginner mode or the Emergency brake was left on. LOL

Has anyone successfully switched back to the previous firmware and how did you do it.???

Thanks

Would be interesting to see if you see the increased speed again after reverting back to the previous version of the firmware :) .. Please keep us posted.
 
I have firmware 1.4 and RC firmware 1.5.7. Using the DJI Go app, I can't ascent faster than 6 m/s. Even back in the summer, when I still had firmware 1.1.9, I couldn't ascent faster than 6 m/s and descent faster than 3 m/s. (I checked my logs just now.)
So I don't understand the claims here. Unless, of course, other apps allow a faster ascent speed. I tried with Litchi on iOS and FPV Camera on iOS and couldn't ascent any faster.
Am I doing something wrong here? I still have the old 1.4 FW on all batteries.
 
I'd like to chime in here. I've only flown my P3A for a couple days now but I've flown with both 1.5.3 and 1.6 all in cold weather. All flights started at 4500 ft elevation over the same terrain.
Trying to get a feel for my new bird, I ripped it all over the sky. I was also trying to get used to operating the camera so I spent time learning how to be smooth.
With 1.5.3 all takeoff temps were in the low teens (F). Yesterday I installed the 1.6 update and went outside to fly. Take off temp +17F. I couldn't tell much difference at all. Maybe climb rate and acceleration was reduced a bit but it flew as well as it did before. It was still fast horizontally and it was definitely smooth. At about 50% battery I went back inside to recharge. Just before dusk I re-emerged with a full battery to repeat my practice drill. Takeoff temp +7F. I noticed three things different on this flight. (1) It took longer for the aircraft to warm up before flight. (2) When I released the stick from a full speed horizontal flight the aircraft tipped up to break but the motors did not rev like before. It "skidded through the air for about 30 ft. I did not notice a difference in vertical ascent rate. (3) At about 50% battery my iPad Air 2 powered off from the cold so I landed and went inside where I checked my weather station. The outside temp had fallen to -17F.
Personal observations: With the new firmware, my batteries stayed throughout. Flight characteristics feel smoother and a bit less abrupt. Breaking takes a longer distance so beware. Fly like you're driving a car on ice! (Also, plastics begin to shrink at an accelerated rate when the temps drop very far below freezing. They also become quite brittle. Keep this in mind if you're worried about stress cracks.) Tablets and cameras don't like cold but the bird flies well... like a bird!
 
I disagree, the thread has merit. As I have posted in another thread, my P3P would do 11mph vertical speed upon full throttle on a direct vertical ascent. That was with 1.4 firmware, I never used 1.5. After my 1.6 upgrade, yesterday my P3P would only reach 5 to 6mph with full throttle vertical ascent. The other anomaly was full throttle up and full forward simultaneously gave me about a 35 degree ascent rate on 1.4, and yesterday with 1.6 it was about 15 degrees (I'm guessing at the angles, but it's around half the angle it was before, maybe less). Yesterday was 55F weather here in So. Calif. I'm sure DJI has new current limiting enabled in the firmware, and it's not just in cold weather, even though it may be worse in colder weather, I'm not sure. As for acceleration, it definately seemed sluggish, however I need to retest again, that's subjective. My top speed was 33mph, which seemed fairly normal, but it got to that speed slower, the acceleration was down a bit.

The horizontal acceleration doesn't concern me that much, however vertical ascent speed does. I fly at the beach sometimes and seagulls can attack occasionally. The best way to get away from them is to ascend to 400' REAL QUICK and then get the heck outta there. Seagulls can't ascend at 11mph for very long, so it was usually an easy getaway. Now I don't have that defense.


Reducing current from the battery would be difficult and inefficient.

Since these devices are fly-by-wire at the FC level the limiting or restriction is done via the control-loops.

Horizontal speeds are limited by max [tilt] angle for example.
 
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I'm still not sure what John Locke is stating Drastic speed reduction with new Firmware | Page 3 | DJI Phantom Forum. In the P3 specs, it states maximum ascent speed 5 m/s; maximum descent speed 3 m/s.
So how did he get to 11 m/s? Can't reproduce it with any firmware!
With 1.4 I was getting 11 miles per hour vertical ascent, and about 5MPH descent. With 1.6 I'm getting 5 to 6MPH ascent and 5MPH decent. What is everyone else seeing in MPH? Is there someone that still has 1.4 that can measure their straight up MPH vertical speed full throttle?
 
With 1.4 I was getting 11 miles per hour vertical ascent, and about 5MPH descent. With 1.6 I'm getting 5 to 6MPH ascent and 5MPH decent. What is everyone else seeing in MPH? Is there someone that still has 1.4 that can measure their straight up MPH vertical speed full throttle?

Oops sorry I thought you were talking m/s. I have 1.4 and my test today showed 5 m/s = 11 mph. That's what I always had. You really only get 3 m/s now in ascent? That's ridiculous!
Can anyone else with 1.6 confirm this? This is a MAJOR drawback if this is confirmed, when not only in very cold weather!
 
Hey everyone 1st post ever on this site but have been reading for a while. Really disappointed in what's going on with the new download. I however have not done it.

Question is are we safe remaining at the prior download and not going to the 1.6?
It has been going well and I don't want what I am used to to change. I am in New Jersey and right now it is still warm but today I flew it in the low 40's and had no problems. Once again back to my question ( sorry for rambling) will I be ok if I stay at the 1.5.3 and ignore the 1.6??? Thanks for the response.


Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots mobile app
Better yet, if you like 1.5 upgrade to 1.6 so you can upgrade your batteries and fix the problem that it's intended for and then downgrade your copter back to 1.5 and enjoy
 
I have firmware 1.4 and RC firmware 1.5.7. Using the DJI Go app, I can't ascent faster than 6 m/s. Even back in the summer, when I still had firmware 1.1.9, I couldn't ascent faster than 6 m/s and descent faster than 3 m/s. (I checked my logs just now.)
So I don't understand the claims here. Unless, of course, other apps allow a faster ascent speed. I tried with Litchi on iOS and FPV Camera on iOS and couldn't ascent any faster.
Am I doing something wrong here? I still have the old 1.4 FW on all batteries.
As far as I'm aware of nobody was having problems with the batteries on 1.4 so if you're having no problems flying the bird with 1.4 you should be fine the battery problems came with the battery update of 1.5.3
 
I flew today. Two batteries in a test field.

All results exactly the same as prior versions.

Max ascent 5 m/s.

Max descent 3 m/s (always been this speed from the PV+ onwards)

Max horizontal speed 17.75 m/s (39.7 mph)

All tests carried out at around 12/13 degrees Celsius.

No changes in behaviour from my testing.
 
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I flew today. Two batteries in a test field.

All results exactly the same as prior versions.

Max ascent 5 m/s.

Max descent 3 m/s (always been this speed from the PV+ onwards)

Max horizontal speed 17.75 m/s (39.7 mph)

All tests carried out at around 12/13 degrees Celsius.

No changes in behaviour from my testing.
Good information but one piece missing: Could you confirm which FW you are using?
 
Better yet, if you like 1.5 upgrade to 1.6 so you can upgrade your batteries and fix the problem that it's intended for and then downgrade your copter back to 1.5 and enjoy
I'd have to see an official word on that being a fact.

As far as I'm aware of nobody was having problems with the batteries on 1.4 so if you're having no problems flying the bird with 1.4 you should be fine the battery problems came with the battery update of 1.5.3
Correct me if I'm wrong, but there was no battery update with 1.5 as far as I can remember. There was no routine of updating all your batteries like with this firmware.
 

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