First Flight for new Phantom 2

[Phantom2inVA]

I've been flying an indoor helicopter for several years but I'm a newbie to the Phantom. I've watched videos many times read through the user manual several times and thought I knew everything there was to do correctly. I waited for the GPS to find satellites I calibrated the compass and was all set the fly but then when I gave it for throttle there was no power for lift off. There was power if I were to go forward or back left or right but no power with the throttle all the way up. It just would not lift up off the ground.

I'm thoroughly confused.

Help!

 

[thongbong]

I've been flying an indoor helicopter for several years but I'm a newbie to the Phantom. I've watched videos many times read through the user manual several times and thought I knew everything there was to do correctly. I waited for the GPS to find satellites I calibrated the compass and was all set the fly but then when I gave it for throttle there was no power for lift off. There was power if I were to go forward or back left or right but no power with the throttle all the way up. It just would not lift up off the ground.

I'm thoroughly confused.

Help!

Are your props spinning at all?

 

[Phantom2inVA]

Yes the props are spending fine. There just does not seem to be enough power to give it a lift off.

 

[thongbong]

Are you updated to firmware 3.0? You might be in a flight restricted zone.

 

[Phantom2inVA]

No, 2.0. So many people have said that things about 3.0 so I'm not upgraded.

I'm nowhere near the airport.

I'm going to try to upload the video to YouTube see you can see it.

 

[Phantom2inVA]

Here's the video I took-

http://youtu.be/o02XebvCR5c

 

[shartlza]

Calibrate your RC in the Phantom Assist and in the RC assist and see if that helps. Also what are you gains?

 

[QYV]

Here's the video I took-

http://youtu.be/o02XebvCR5c

I'm by no means an expert but as someone else who recently had his first flight, I can assure you those rotors are NOT spinning up like a normal takeoff. The first time I throttled up I was a tad surprised at the amount of wind and sound that were generated, and immediately understood why all the phantom videos people post with audio have a loud sound in the background.

Hopefully it's something simple like the gains as someone else said. it's like you're pushing the throttle but it's definitely not powering up the engines.
\
fwiw, I upgraded straight from the out-of-box firmware version 1.something to 3.x and I'm perfectly happy with it. The only other option is what thongbong mentioned it somehow thinks it's in a restricted zone and won't allow takeoff, make sure you understand the restricted zones and how they work by watching this video from DJI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YoXAMRQoIAA
even if that's not your current issue, it's best to understand
good luck!

 

[xgeek]

As others have said it looks like the controller needs to be calibrated with the RC assistant and then calibrate again in the Phantom assistant.

Good luck.

 

[Madwak]

Might be a stupid question but did you try using the right stick to lift off in case the remote has somehow been set to mode 1?

 

[SARC]

Yep, I'm with Madwak. It looks like the controller is in Mode 1. Try pushing the right hand stick up.

I changed mine to Mode 1 because for some reason I thought that was the standard (1 being the smallest number after all) and I had the same issue.

 

[Phantom2inVA]

No I did not try the right stick for power but I will. If it is and mode 1 how do I change it to mode 2?

 

[Phantom2inVA]

Also, does anyone have specific directions for calibrating the sticks?

Turn on rc, plug in and then just move the sticks in circles? Is that all? Also do it in the Phantom assistant?

 

[Phantom2inVA]

I have calibrated sticks in rc assistant but when open Phantom assistant the green and blue lights are not coming on. I can't calibrate the sticks in Phantom assistant.

This is so frustrating. Someone pls help!

 

[BigBadFun]

Turn controller on.
Plug in controller, open RC assistant.
Choose your mode 1 or mode 2.
Calibrate sticks.
Turn off controller.
Unplug.

Turn on controller.
Turn on phantom.
Plug in phantom, open DJI assistant.
Calibrate sticks.
Do advanced calibration.
Turn off phantom.
Turn off controller.
Unplug.

 

[QYV]

Turn controller on.
Plug in controller, open RC assistant.
Choose your mode 1 or mode 2.
Calibrate sticks.
Turn off controller.
Unplug.

Turn on controller.
Turn on phantom.
Plug in phantom, open DJI assistant.
Calibrate sticks.
Do advanced calibration.
Turn off phantom.
Turn off controller.
Unplug.

This should be a sticky post somewhere, I went through and learned all that stuff independently last night, including the fact that if you upgrade Phantom firmware before RC firmware it makes your X1 gimbal control stick all wacky until you fiddle with it during RC calibration.
anyway what BigBadFun said was totally correct. You should be able to turn on the RC, plug in the RC usb to computer, run RC assistant and get good communication with the controller (blue/green lights at bottom left, voltage, etc). From there you do whatever you need.. upgrade firmware via the Info tab, calibrate, etc.

 

[Phantom2inVA]

Thanks everyone. I think that was the problem. I had not calibrated it that way prior to first flight. The directions from DJI were not as detailed as the ones you all provided

I believe it was set in mode 1.

Hopefully I am all set. I will let you know tomorrow.

Thanks again!

 

[Fink]

Thanks everyone. I think that was the problem. I had not calibrated it that way prior to first flight. The directions from DJI were not as detailed as the ones you all provided

I believe it was set in mode 1.

Hopefully I am all set. I will let you know tomorrow.

Thanks again!

Good to hear it! Definitely select Mode 2 and run through all of the calibration steps as listed above. As long as at full throw in each direction of each stick the Assistant software shows the same, you should be golden.

Fink

 

[Phantom2inVA]

Hell yeh! It's working and this is a blast....wow! Thanks BigBadFun, QYV, Fink and everyone else for helping me figure it out. It was in mode 1 originally. Seriously, flying this Phantom 2 is the s..t

Thanks, thanks thanks!