Help me please

Mrscubatank · May 12, 2016

Excellent forum, looking forward to getting involved with like minded people. Generally being a geek as my wife would say.
Ok, quick question; i have Parrot drones before, very good, but now need an upgrade. I was intending on the Bepbop 2 but the camera isnt that good. So I thought the Phantom 3. But which model...?
Is it a big issue not having the sensors (i dont intend to use it indoors) and Glonass, provided you get 4+ Sat. (GPS) fixes your positoning / location is sorted. Would not having Glonass make any difference..? I suppose out i the middle or nowhere it would, but i don't intend in taking it outsode the UK.

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firestars · May 12, 2016

Don't be fooled by Glonass. I have a high end Garmin GPS for Geocaching (I am also a geek) - Oregon 650 and Glonass brings nothing to the party. I have it switched off. As for for what model of Phantom, I don't go in for all the maximum distance nonsense, so it boils down to budget.

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rockydog · May 12, 2016

You need at least 6 satellites for RTH to function properly.

Although firestars says Glonass brings nothing to the party, I find I normally acquire 30% more satellites than my friend who doesn't have it.

Mrscubatank · May 12, 2016

But, providing GPS gives you 6 plus ???

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rockydog · May 12, 2016

No problem.

JamesG2571 · May 12, 2016

Hello and welcome

hope we're able to help you in this matter.

I've had two P3's a Standard and I currently have an Advanced.

The standard is an incredible device, I had a lot of fun with mine, I did all the mods ie tablet mount and DBS mod, really enjoyed flying it. But every now and again I would fly 200-300m away and the signal just vanish and I'm greeted with a black camera screen due to interference but I did also get some amazing flights. The gps in the standard is good, I averaged about 9 in the Uk and that's fine.

For the price the P3s is a great quad but the range isn't the best in the UK... In some areas even 500m is a push and you will have laggy video.

I also found that when you RTH the video would drop out and go black which was not great.

At the end of the day, it's your cash and your choice! You decide what you thinks best for you.

Standard
1. Great price
2. Stunning camera
3. Best battery life out of all the p3's
4. Great fun!

Advanced
1. Same camera as Standard. Although it shoots 1080p at 60fps and the standard shoots at 1080p at 30fps.
2. Really great controller
3. Lightbridge.

So hope my rambling nonsense made sense and hopefully helped.

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Mrscubatank · May 12, 2016

Hi there, thank you it did. Photos are going to be my main use, well after the flying anyway. I have a portable range extender should i have a range issue, it worked on my AR Drone quite well, so no reason why it shouldn't work on the P3.
Just comes down to cost. I can £400 above that I think my wife would be in a separate bedroom..lol.
Whats the DBS mod..? I looked at the retractable landing gear too, that looked cool.

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JamesG2571 · May 12, 2016

Mrscubatank said:
Hi there, thank you it did. Photos are going to be my main use, well after the flying anyway. I have a portable range extender should i have a range issue, it worked on my AR Drone quite well, so no reason why it shouldn't work on the P3.
Just comes down to cost. I can £400 above that I think my wife would be in a separate bedroom..lol.
Whats the DBS mod..? I looked at the retractable landing gear too, that looked cool.

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When you say portable range extender what do you mean??

Mrscubatank · May 12, 2016

Wifi range extender, its a Netgear Trek N300 powered by a powerbank. I don't think it will work on the P3S as its on 2.4 and 5.8...? Although i will stand corrected.

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JamesG2571 · May 12, 2016

Mrscubatank said:
Wifi range extender, its a Netgear Trek N300 powered by a powerbank. I don't think it will work on the P3S as its on 2.4 and 5.8...? Although i will stand corrected.

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I feel that the range extender wont work with the P3s

You are correct the P3s uses 2.4ghz for wifi and 5.8ghz for control!

heres a video I made with my P3 using a windsurfer -

and heres a video shot with a P3s -

marc312 · May 12, 2016

I have both a P3S and a P3P. The P3P is a real upgrade to the P3S. The one problem I have with the P3S is the range. Here in the city, I run out of range very quickly. The area is very congested with WiFi networks. The P3P gives me more confidence to fly farther.

And then, there are all the small upgrades you get with the P3A or P3P. Some of them can be done via a mod, like the tablet mount but they cost money, closing the price gap.

JamesG2571 · May 12, 2016

Mark312 is right, the p3s does lack range in urban or small towns with wifi interference, also in the UK the power of the remote is 75% less powerful than our cousins over the pond (FCC vs CE)

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Mrscubatank · May 12, 2016

JamesG2571 said:
Mark312 is right, the p3s does lack range in urban or small towns with wifi interference, also in the UK the power of the remote is 75% less powerful than our cousins over the pond (FCC vs CE)

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Cool videos, the windsurfer looks an easy mod...!!!
I do have to draw the line somewhere, this started with a Bebop 2 (£300) to a P3S (£400) then to a P3A (£600) so more than twice my original budget..
The BB2 is good, but i need better camera / video, so P3S sorted all that, then you introduce the P3A.....lol, give me a break... hahah ha.....

Mrscubatank · May 12, 2016

Although the windsurfer mod would reduce the distance issue a little...
Cost wise, the P3S is really good and keeps me in budget, does the P3A give me that much more or (no disrespect intended) is it a case of my P3A is better than you P3S....?

JamesG2571 · May 12, 2016

Mrscubatank said:
Although the windsurfer mod would reduce the distance issue a little...
Cost wise, the P3S is really good and keeps me in budget, does the P3A give me that much more or (no disrespect intended) is it a case of my P3A is better than you P3S....?

I found that most p3s owners after a month start trying to improve range and connection (I was one of those) looking at buying ARGtek and DBS Mods which close the gap between the p3s and the p3a. I think the p3s is amazing! For the price it's #1!!! Definitely better than a Parrot drone.

I got the p3a because I was fed up with having to disconnect and connect the antenna mod every-time I wanted to fly. Also it didn't boost my range as much as I hoped and I still lost connection and stuff.

There is a jump, for one the controller is a lot better and lightbridge is very good.

You won't be disappointed with either tbh if your not bothered about range.

look on YouTube for reviews and stuff!

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Bob Langlois · May 12, 2016

I have the Standard and am more than happy with it. It's a toy for me. I don't get to fly often enough to justify spending any more money than I need to get in the air and take great videos and photos. I may have gotten a good one as I usually get pretty good distance before signal loss. 1500 feet is normal, and I have flown as far as 2500+ feet. That is with the stock set up. I'll try to post the Healthy Drones log of my longest flight.

HealthyDrones.com - Innovative flight data analysis that matters

knipfer · May 12, 2016

Bob Langlois said:
I have the Standard and am more than happy with it. It's a toy for me. I don't get to fly often enough to justify spending any more money than I need to get in the air and take great videos and photos. I may have gotten a good one as I usually get pretty good distance before signal loss. 1500 feet is normal, and I have flown as far as 2500+ feet. That is with the stock set up. I'll try to post the Healthy Drones log of my longest flight.

HealthyDrones.com - Innovative flight data analysis that matters

How much WiFi interference was there in this location? Pretty decent flight from the looks.

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Bob Langlois · May 12, 2016

knipfer said:
How much WiFi interference was there in this location? Pretty decent flight from the looks.

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I was just starting to lose the video feed. I never lost control of the AC. Obviuosly, it's an industrial park. Lots of machine shops, medical device manufacturers and electronics outfits. A lot of potential for interference, but I've had my longest flights there. I love the location because all of the buildings are single story and the largest parking lot is on a currently unused property. The sight lines are great in all directions.

Mrscubatank · May 14, 2016

Well that's it, taken the plunge and got myself a P3A. Is the additional expense justified....... Hopefully. Thank you for all the advice. James, your a star, thank you.

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