First Day...The good, the bad and the questions....Edit: New Problem!!

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So following my last post where I mentioned I bought a P3A with extra battery package to replace my aged FC40. (Thanks to all who posted starting pointers there!)

So today was the first day I was able to put the new P3 to use.
To start I first ran to a small park a couple blocks from my house and gave it a quick 10 minute try out to just make sure everything was good. Went great so went back home, charged battery and gathered my stuff for my real flights.

After I was charged I went to my usual flying place (over the ocean btw) and put tit through its paces.
The (very) good...
1 Wow this thing is stable and easy to fly!
2 I wasn't even trying to do any special filming but the video I grabbed was way beyond my expectations. Makes my FC40 seem so ancient!! (I guess it really is!)
3 I was between 1200 and 1400 feet away before I even realized it...and had great signal! Amazed...really amazed.
4 The controller with all the extra controls...fantastic!!!
The bad
1 The thing I hate most...still there. That's glare. Even with my PadHat Hoodivision, standing under palm tree, new Acer Tablet maxed out, the video feed was hard to see any details. Nice though, all the DJI Go App numbers and controls were easily seen.
I'm thinking of trying one of those chairs with the built in shade next.

The questions
1 I watched many videos and read the manual...but still am unsure on how to tell which direction the bird is going when its far away. I clicked on the telemetry in the bottom right and watched the red arrow but it didn't seem to point the way the P3 was going? What am I missing?
2 When I first connect to the app it takes a couple tries to get 'ready to fly'. I have to either cycle the RC or the P3 before it says connected. Ideas?

Thanks again everyone...
 
Question 1- you should see the map in the lower right corner of the screen. The bird is shown in red. One thing I do is turn on "show flight route" in general settings. This will give you a line on the map that you can use to orient yourself to your home point. The other way is to use the radar in the lower left. The bird will orient its nose to whatever direction you are going. The middle of the "bullseye" is your home point.
Question 2-The bird takes a couple of minutes to warm up. Connect your tablet to your rc.Turn on your rc. Turn on the bird. Open the Dji go app, wait for the "aircraft disconnected" message to clear and the yellow "imu warming up" to change to green "ready to fly". Patience!
 
Question 1- you should see the map in the lower right corner of the screen. The bird is shown in red. One thing I do is turn on "show flight route" in general settings. This will give you a line on the map that you can use to orient yourself to your home point. The other way is to use the radar in the lower left. The bird will orient its nose to whatever direction you are going. The middle of the "bullseye" is your home point.
Question 2-The bird takes a couple of minutes to warm up. Connect your tablet to your rc.Turn on your rc. Turn on the bird. Open the Dji go app, wait for the "aircraft disconnected" message to clear and the yellow "imu warming up" to change to green "ready to fly". Patience!

Thanks for the tips...especially about the patience...I think that's my problem!!
 
Question 1- you should see the map in the lower right corner of the screen. The bird is shown in red. One thing I do is turn on "show flight route" in general settings. This will give you a line on the map that you can use to orient yourself to your home point. The other way is to use the radar in the lower left. The bird will orient its nose to whatever direction you are going. The middle of the "bullseye" is your home point.
Question 2-The bird takes a couple of minutes to warm up. Connect your tablet to your rc.Turn on your rc. Turn on the bird. Open the Dji go app, wait for the "aircraft disconnected" message to clear and the yellow "imu warming up" to change to green "ready to fly". Patience!

Ok...little bit of a problem with 1.
I don't have the map in the right hand corner like is shown in the manual. Its in the left corner and switches between map and telemetry...no option to have both.
Am I missing a setting somewhere?
I am running android and the latest version from the play store.

Thanks
 
Just went out for my second trip out with it and found a new problem...2 batteries are not enough!! I could have stayed out there shooting/flying for hours if I had more batteries. Guess I will have to order one...maybe 2 more before next weekend.

Still having the same issue with not knowing which way the craft is flying when its far away. I tried using the map in the bottom left corner...tried making sure the front point of the red arrow was facing towards the H (home point) but found that it was actually the opposite sometimes. Putting the back end of the red arrow facing home allowed me to fly back.
Looks like I have some research to do.
 
I don't have the map in the right hand corner like is shown in the manual.
The software changes occasionally, but they don't keep up with the changes in the manual. I think you'll find over time that the DJI documentation is not very accurate. It gets stale quick and rarely gets updated. It's one of my chief complaints about DJI.

Chris
 
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Just went out for my second trip out with it and found a new problem...2 batteries are not enough!! I could have stayed out there shooting/flying for hours if I had more batteries. Guess I will have to order one...maybe 2 more before next weekend.

Yup. I have six.

Also, consider having a remote charger out in the field. There are several ways, from a cigarette lighter DC outlet (accessory found in the DJI store) or even remote battery-based chargers with AC outlets (from several manufacturers).

Chris
 
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The software changes occasionally, but they don't keep up with the changes in the manual. I think you'll find over time that the DJI documentation is not very accurate over time. It gets stale quick and rarely gets updated. It's one of my chief complaints about DJI.

Chris
Thanks...I'll bet that's the problem.

As far as my issue with the red arrow being backwards to the home point, I think it may have been user error.
Sitting here on my couch and thinking about it I have a feeling that even though the arrow point was aimed at Home I 'may' have been pulling the right hand stick towards me instead of pushing it up.
Ill have to pay more attention next time.
 
So following my last post where I mentioned I bought a P3A with extra battery package to replace my aged FC40. (Thanks to all who posted starting pointers there!)

So today was the first day I was able to put the new P3 to use.
To start I first ran to a small park a couple blocks from my house and gave it a quick 10 minute try out to just make sure everything was good. Went great so went back home, charged battery and gathered my stuff for my real flights.

After I was charged I went to my usual flying place (over the ocean btw) and put tit through its paces.
The (very) good...
1 Wow this thing is stable and easy to fly!
2 I wasn't even trying to do any special filming but the video I grabbed was way beyond my expectations. Makes my FC40 seem so ancient!! (I guess it really is!)
3 I was between 1200 and 1400 feet away before I even realized it...and had great signal! Amazed...really amazed.
4 The controller with all the extra controls...fantastic!!!
The bad
1 The thing I hate most...still there. That's glare. Even with my PadHat Hoodivision, standing under palm tree, new Acer Tablet maxed out, the video feed was hard to see any details. Nice though, all the DJI Go App numbers and controls were easily seen.
I'm thinking of trying one of those chairs with the built in shade next.

The questions
1 I watched many videos and read the manual...but still am unsure on how to tell which direction the bird is going when its far away. I clicked on the telemetry in the bottom right and watched the red arrow but it didn't seem to point the way the P3 was going? What am I missing?
2 When I first connect to the app it takes a couple tries to get 'ready to fly'. I have to either cycle the RC or the P3 before it says connected. Ideas?

Thanks again everyone...
I have the same issue with pointing the remote at the bird at a distance...If that is what you mean..I will go out like 10000ft and start dropping signal only to find when I watch the video of it RTH that I was pretty far off with aiming...I think you are supposed to unlock the map in the left hand corner of the go app and use that to aim somehow...I tried it but I have a shield k1 tablet and the compass is off by a few deg when it is working at all so I think that is my issue but I'm not really sure...
 
Ok...little bit of a problem with 1.
I don't have the map in the right hand corner like is shown in the manual. Its in the left corner and switches between map and telemetry...no option to have both.
Am I missing a setting somewhere?
I am running android and the latest version from the play store.

Thanks
In the bottom right corner look for a small square and tap it. It should open a map. To see the map full size, press the left button under the rc. This will switch between map and Fpv
 
I have the same issue with pointing the remote at the bird at a distance...If that is what you mean..I will go out like 10000ft and start dropping signal only to find when I watch the video of it RTH that I was pretty far off with aiming...I think you are supposed to unlock the map in the left hand corner of the go app and use that to aim somehow...I tried it but I have a shield k1 tablet and the compass is off by a few deg when it is working at all so I think that is my issue but I'm not really sure...
As far as your second question..It happens to me if I don't follow this order...
1 turn the RC on
2 then the Bird
3 plug in the tablet
4 start the Go app...
waiting a few seconds in between each step...
 
I have the same issue with pointing the remote at the bird at a distance...If that is what you mean..I will go out like 10000ft and start dropping signal only to find when I watch the video of it RTH that I was pretty far off with aiming...I think you are supposed to unlock the map in the left hand corner of the go app and use that to aim somehow...I tried it but I have a shield k1 tablet and the compass is off by a few deg when it is working at all so I think that is my issue but I'm not really sure...
Different issue but something I'll look out for when I get up the nerve to try long distance!!
 
I have flown at the beach more than a few times and yes the glare sucks. However I usually post up next to a LARGE rock (NorCal/Oregon coastline) and there is usually plenty of shade one way or another. Sometimes you just gotta deal with it if you can't get a good reliable source of shade. Thankfully though you don't need to be facing the P3 for it to fly.. so even if it's behind you as you use your body as shade - it'll still go a healthy distance!!

Does your tablet have a GPS chip/compass in it? Not all tablets do. This is why I picked my tablet because it had these features so I could hotspot from my phone and that was it (vs buying a tablet with LTE service that would naturally come with the extra goodies).

If no compass on your tablet - it won't point you in the right direction!

LakeT%20InWtr%20330ft_zps7kaemhki.jpg
 
All the screens are crap in bright light. Some are better than others but none are as good as they need to be.
I find a big help is to tilt the camera down a little. Then the display brightens up a lot as it meters off the ground not the sky.
 
I don't have the map in the right hand corner like is shown in the manual. Its in the left corner and switches between map and telemetry...no option to have both.
That is the difference between the Apple and Android versions.
To get your orientation, learn to use the radar display which clearly shows you the direction to your Phantom and the direction it is pointing.
If it appears to point the wrong way, you need to calibrate the compass in your tablet (google for instructions)
Another thing to help is you can initiate RTH and the Phantom will turnaround and start to come back.
Then cancel RTH and fly home yourself.
 

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