- Joined
- Apr 13, 2014
- Messages
- 594
- Reaction score
- 98
Finally replacing my P2V+ which was lost due to a compass/GPS error, I have been gradually stretching the P3 Pro’s legs. Today I felt it was ready for a real test.
Flying firmware 1.6 and with DJI GO 2.4.3. Calibrated R/C, IMU and compass. No antenna mods done, but I did add a Polar Pro gimbal guard, ND filter, Killer RC gimbal clamp, a Trackimo and a Getterback. Not one of things would have helped me much if the Phantom decided to land/crash on the ice.
I looked up the weather on uavforecast.com, all was green except kp index, which was a 5 (higher than I usually see), so I was concerned about interference with GPS, but it proved to be no issue. I flew out from the shoreline of mainland Toms River, New Jersey out across the frozen bay to the barrier island town of Lavallette, NJ just shy of 2 miles across the water.
I flew at an altitude of 50-100 feet. Even at this low altitude, I never lost signal (not even a stutter) and the bird flew beautifully, with none of the vibration or oscillations I have read about (It is a newer model with the –A designation).
The gimbal performed well, with no shake or jello, but it does have that DJI “loss of level” when turning… disappointing. I haven’t calibrated the gimbal, but I plan to and will try and get it better. We’ll see what the forums have to say about this.
I’m not usually a distance flyer and I do like to stay in LOS, but the bay at this time of year is devoid of anything to hit, and I did want to test the distance limit to fail, but I never reached a distance that provided any stutter or loss of signal! I still can’t believe it went 2 miles away out of the box! The battery was over 52% when I landed back on shore after the round trip.
All that is left is to play with the camera settings until I find the sweet spot for editing… I’m going to upgrade my graphics card to allow better editing of 4K… I guess I’ll shoot in 4K now so that I will have it as time goes on, though I did record the flight today at 1080P 60fps, which my old Premiere Elements likes. I might have to upgrade that to Premier CC, but $29/mo is steep. We’ll see what the forums have to say about this.
All in all, I have to say I am pretty impressed with the P3 Pro platform, I just hope DJI doesn’t screw up this GEO implementation, and that FAA goes after all the local municipalities trying to restrict the airspace. Adventure awaits!
Flying firmware 1.6 and with DJI GO 2.4.3. Calibrated R/C, IMU and compass. No antenna mods done, but I did add a Polar Pro gimbal guard, ND filter, Killer RC gimbal clamp, a Trackimo and a Getterback. Not one of things would have helped me much if the Phantom decided to land/crash on the ice.
I looked up the weather on uavforecast.com, all was green except kp index, which was a 5 (higher than I usually see), so I was concerned about interference with GPS, but it proved to be no issue. I flew out from the shoreline of mainland Toms River, New Jersey out across the frozen bay to the barrier island town of Lavallette, NJ just shy of 2 miles across the water.
I flew at an altitude of 50-100 feet. Even at this low altitude, I never lost signal (not even a stutter) and the bird flew beautifully, with none of the vibration or oscillations I have read about (It is a newer model with the –A designation).
The gimbal performed well, with no shake or jello, but it does have that DJI “loss of level” when turning… disappointing. I haven’t calibrated the gimbal, but I plan to and will try and get it better. We’ll see what the forums have to say about this.
I’m not usually a distance flyer and I do like to stay in LOS, but the bay at this time of year is devoid of anything to hit, and I did want to test the distance limit to fail, but I never reached a distance that provided any stutter or loss of signal! I still can’t believe it went 2 miles away out of the box! The battery was over 52% when I landed back on shore after the round trip.
All that is left is to play with the camera settings until I find the sweet spot for editing… I’m going to upgrade my graphics card to allow better editing of 4K… I guess I’ll shoot in 4K now so that I will have it as time goes on, though I did record the flight today at 1080P 60fps, which my old Premiere Elements likes. I might have to upgrade that to Premier CC, but $29/mo is steep. We’ll see what the forums have to say about this.
All in all, I have to say I am pretty impressed with the P3 Pro platform, I just hope DJI doesn’t screw up this GEO implementation, and that FAA goes after all the local municipalities trying to restrict the airspace. Adventure awaits!