Drastic speed reduction with new Firmware

You're getting those kinds of numbers from a stock phantom? no alterations what-so-ever?
No I have a FPVLR V2 antenna and A battery mod with extra lipo battery packs. Image-3.jpg Image-2.jpg
 
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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.


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I would upgrade. Clearly DJI thought the battery cut off and birds falling out of the sky needed to be addressed by a firmware update. How will you feel if it falls out of the sky because you did not update
 
I can confirm ParsnipHysorter's findings. I've tested out the 1.6 firmware and noticed that vertical speed seemed the same as the 1.4 firmware I previously had, 10-11 MPH with full battery and repeated tests for the next 8 minutes or so. Then once the battery had drained some (don't know the actual battery %, but probably around 60%) there was a significant drop in vertical acceleration for the rest of the life of the battery (7-9 MPH max vertical speed). Temperature was 70 degrees F., so not cold at all. The Vertical speed seemed to get slightly slower every time I tried it as the battery drained. I never got below 7 MPH vertical speed. The vertical speed wasn't consistent the whole accent either. It seemed slightly faster the first 30 feet and then I could visually see and hear a reduction in assent/motor speed.

I then downgraded to firmware 1.5 and retested under the same conditions. Vertical speed was back to 10-11 MPH no matter how much life was left on the batteries. I've gone back and forth on which firmware to keep on my phantom and decided to stick with version 1.6 for now. I don't want to risk the battery shutdown mid flight. I'll take the better piece of mind over the lower vertical performance even though I haven't witnessed any battery shutdown issues firsthand with the 1.5 firmware.
Very wise. A small performance in vertical climb is not worth the risk of a total battery shut down. Clearly they upgraded the firmware for a reason.
 
So, what can you take away from that? From this ever more pissing about regulation environment, if the bird flies a bit slower and shortens up the range of people flying well beyond LOS (an absolute no-no), you get...conformity. Heck, that's a nice plus for them. But if you start talking 13mph, that's ridiculously hobbled. Even pro-am video needs more than that. I hope I don't hear that one again.
LOS is not A law yet bro its a guideline. I have 10 million flight feet in under 300 flights 66 hrs on the P3 with no incidence 8.6 miles out and back over the gulf of mexico under 200 ft. Altitude you tell me who I'm hurting at that altitude over open water?

Line of sight is a guideline not a law. In

Line of sight is a guideline not a law I fly over the Gulf of Mexico at an altitude of under 400 feet my last flight was 8.6 miles and back at under 200 feet Who am I hurting over open water at that altitude. You need to worry about people that just got their drones with no flight experience doing something stupid not someone like me that has 10 million feet and 66 hours of flight experience with the p3.[/QUOTE]
It's about good common sense. It's a hobby drone. If you want to fly 10 million feet out and you can't see it since the camera can't rotate 360 degrees you can't see everything around you (regardless of your altitude) then it's probably not a good idea. Perhaps they already have a commercial line that requires testing and training but for simple hobby folks I think it works just fine. If you want to go faster and higher then build your own.
 
I would upgrade. Clearly DJI thought the battery cut off and birds falling out of the sky needed to be addressed by a firmware update. How will you feel if it falls out of the sky because you did not update

The dropping from the sky has been a smart battery firmware issue. His battery mod does away with that.




It's about good common sense. It's a hobby drone. If you want to fly 10 million feet out and you can't see it since the camera can't rotate 360 degrees you can't see everything around you (regardless of your altitude) then it's probably not a good idea. Perhaps they already have a commercial line that requires testing and training but for simple hobby folks I think it works just fine. If you want to go faster and higher then build your own.

It's obvious you are not that familiar with the P3. The aircraft is able to rotate in either direction during flight. This allows it to produce nearly the same video results as a Inspire1.
 
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All I can say is that another flight on 1.6 firmware, 40°f temps, and flying down to 40% on the battery, I had no trouble flying the speeds I needed, be it vertical and horizontal. I really think for the average person just flying and filming, there is nothing drastic about speed with this update. Behaving perfectly!
 
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I would upgrade. Clearly DJI thought the battery cut off and birds falling out of the sky needed to be addressed by a firmware update. How will you feel if it falls out of the sky because you did not update

cough insurance cough... so can i go back to 1.4 and stay there as that f/w didnt have the issue which is what i want to do but i updated my ios and the app and the app wont work on the older ios and im trying to ask and see if anyone has gone back to 1.4 while using the latest ver. of the go app and if all runs well like that as that is what u and I should most likely do to get rid of out horrible vibration problem im only at 1.5 but just worry about having everything up to date and the p3 at 1.4 if any issues like signal lose or picture lose are likely? really hate this horrible vibrating
 
I have not done the upgrade, but my takeaway from reading this and other threads about the new firmware is that there is no reduction in maximum speed. However, under cold conditions, there is a reduction in acceleration both horizontally and vertically. It appears this has been done in response to problems of sudden drop in battery power some have been experiencing while flying in very cold temperatures. It looks like there is also a battery firmware update available in this release also designed to help operation in very cold temperatures.

Does that seem to be an accurate assessment?
Spot on m8 I have new firmware and need it due to the crap battery life u get with the new batteries! 35 flights & battery knackered the 4 cells are all over the place as you can see by this pic. Always discharged to 50% it's a joke @120 pounds per battery DJI claim around 300 cycles per battery or so I read becoming an expensive hobby!!
IMAG0558.jpg
 
Spot on m8 I have new firmware and need it due to the crap battery life u get with the new batteries! 35 flights & battery knackered the 4 cells are all over the place as you can see by this pic. Always discharged to 50% it's a joke @120 pounds per battery DJI claim around 300 cycles per battery or so I read becoming an expensive hobby!!View attachment 40317
They now give you the ability to see the battery voltage on the main screen at what level is the voltage considered to be low and dangerous to fly
 
They now give you the ability to see the battery voltage on the main screen at what level is the voltage considered to be low and dangerous to fly
Yeah I have this on my screen, after about 10 mins or at 3.62 volts mine turns Orange! Scary, I think it turns red around 3.4 in which case it will automatically landing knowing my luck on a house or in a lake lol.
 
I am at loss of knowledge now and need explanation.
- Some say the drone is slower due to low temps and batteries are cold affecting the operation and specs of the drone.
- At the local RC plane field, a lot of pilots flying electric planes bring the Li-Po batteries in coolers surrounded by those blue ice packs to keep the batteries low temp since it improves the plane performance.
Something does not make sense.
 
Don't over think this...

All batteries have temp range/limits where they perform best.

In warmer climates they need to be kept cool(er).

In colder climates they need to be kept warm(er).

The DJI batteries are likely low-tier, low-bid, and likely under spec-ed (IMO).
This was exacerbated by the lower temps.

I see you're new here. Do you remember folks having to wait until they cooled down to be allowed to charge them???
 
Don't over think this...

All batteries have temp range/limits where they perform best.

In warmer climates they need to be kept cool(er).

In colder climates they need to be kept warm(er).

The DJI batteries are likely low-tier, low-bid, and likely under spec-ed (IMO).
This was exacerbated by the lower temps.

I see you're new here. Do you remember folks having to wait until they cooled down to be allowed to charge them???

Roughly our batteries best operating temp is near 100 degrees.
 
I wish someone would explain the safe range. If it turns red should we land?
If it turns red definitely land ! Also you may be aware that u need to recharge ya batteries back up to 40- 50 percent after your flight. Especially if you're not flying for a while, otherwise your batteries will be knackered in no time! Voltage will turn red as soon as it drops below 3.50V , I've had a battery for 35 flights and it's knackered already! Takes the piss when you consider how much they are new!! I will never buy from DJI again, unreliable and not safe & crap firmware updates. For me personally I feel always worried when I'm flying that copter & it should be fun lol, just put simply theirs to many issues with em.
 
I wish someone would explain the safe range. If it turns red should we land?

The safe reading is in play due to dji setting it up that way. Apparently if it reaches the set amount it must have an ability to cause permanent damage to the aircraft. The red is going to only appear when the voltage reading reaches in the 3.4 range. There is likely two possibilities you will see this happen. It would be either from remaining charge, or one of the battery cell's is bad not allowing it to maintain the supplied power. Full throttle will give the fastest way to reach the red. Flying into a headwind and trying to maintain a higher speed, or full throttle while climbing in altitude are both drain power the most.

If you see red, or are close to reaching it, all you have to do is back off the lever and not ask for as much power.
 
If it turns red definitely land ! Also you may be aware that u need to recharge ya batteries back up to 40- 50 percent after your flight. Especially if you're not flying for a while, otherwise your batteries will be knackered in no time! Voltage will turn red as soon as it drops below 3.50V , I've had a battery for 35 flights and it's knackered already! Takes the piss when you consider how much they are new!! I will never buy from DJI again, unreliable and not safe & crap firmware updates. For me personally I feel always worried when I'm flying that copter & it should be fun lol, just put simply theirs to many issues with em.

So what battery setup are you using now?
 
So what battery setup are you using now?
I have 2 phantom3' s and 4 batteries, 2 of Batteries are knackered! Always been discharged to 50%. I fly slowly all the time but the voltage will show Orange and sometimes red after about 5 mins of flight time . All I seem to do when flying these birds is constantly stare at the voltage levels, kind of ruins the experience! Don't fly them anymore selling both of em, and getting the new typhoon H with obstacle avoidance, maybe slower and less distance but better peice of mind!
 
I have 2 phantom3' s and 4 batteries, 2 of Batteries are knackered! Always been discharged to 50%. I fly slowly all the time but the voltage will show Orange and sometimes red after about 5 mins of flight time . All I seem to do when flying these birds is constantly stare at the voltage levels, kind of ruins the experience! Don't fly them anymore selling both of em, and getting the new typhoon H with obstacle avoidance, maybe slower and less distance but better peice of mind!

I understand what you're saying. It's not fun watching to see if you're reaching a limit. But I will guarantee you find the Typhoon H has it's issues as well. And before you know it, you may realize all drones have issues, regardless.

Have you tried contacting dji about the two batteries with issues? I would think if handled properly they may replace them for you. Especially with all the recent battery related problems going on.
 

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