How far?? And what happens if...

[vxooxv]

Got a P3A and have only been able to reach around a distance of 1500ft where I live. Houses & Trees and such.

Took it to the lake house where in good area is completely flat, barely any cell service, no trees etc. I flew 3500 ft w/o any week signal though I will admit I was super nervous as I was flying over lake.

A couple questions:
1. With no mods (just the copper antenna back shields) how far could I go?

2. Generally speaking do folks just go as far as starting to get week transmission?

3. If you start off and continue flying in GPS mode, in theory what happens if you bust past week transmission and lose signal?

4. The map plotter radius only goes to about 1500 ft. If I can fly much further than that can I expand that - or can it be set to the actual radius - or does it have any intelligence to indicate how far I can go?

5. Does flying vision simply mean it can't receive GPS or is there any advantage to flying in Vision mode?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Meta4]

3. If you start off and continue flying in GPS mode, in theory what happens if you bust past week transmission and lose signal?

Try it yourself in a big open area.
Fly out 100 ft or more and switch off the controller to simulate losing signal.
Watch what happens.

 

[vxooxv]

Ah - good point I will test that and watch what happens. Any comments on the other questions?

Thanks for the quick responses! Awesome forum!

 

[PaulSouthport]

With no mods, not even a parabolic reflector, my old P3A would go 4.2 km without any serious weak signal - battery was the reason to return. distance is highly dependent on conditions, in other circumstances signal could start to degrade much sooner - around 1500m.
If you go past weak transmission, eventually you will RTH. That's why it's important to check the home point when you take off, and not to reset it in flight.
Depending on where you are, there are rules restricting VLOS flight, so generally speaking, you want to avoid flying those distances anyway.
The map will continue to expand as long as you fly out.

 

[solentlife]

1) Today I went 4593m still with signal - I initiated RTH manually to avoid over-runing batterty. If there was no wind and no worries about getting back - I put range max at about 5000m .... which also agrees with my P3S which hit over 5000m ....

2) Many folks do go to limit and let auto RTH kick in ...

3) If you lose signal connection then the Drone initiates RTH if you have that set in APP. It works !

4) Map - you need to cache via home WiFi the area you wish to have displayed. You can cache as much and as far as you like.

5) Vision mode ... makes no odds ... if GPS signal there ... Home Point is noted.

NOTE : If you test RTH - make sure you are MORE than 20m from take off point ... if not - then loss of signal initiates auto-land at that position.
Second - make sure RTH altitude is greater than any obstacle in the area.

Nigel

 

[Jiggly-Wiggly]

I have the P3P and not the P3A --- but you can safely fly out 2 miles and make it back with RTH on one battery. Even a slight headwind on the way back should be OK even though the horizontal speed will be slower than usual.

Like others have said --- it's a good idea for a beginner to practice RTH a bunch of times to get familiar with how it works. Setting the default return height is important since you dont want it flying into a cell tower or power lines on the way home. Also it gets you comfortable with a blank screen saying "No signal" and avoiding that "soiled diaper" anxiety as you wait to hear the comforting sound of those props approaching you and your birdie is arriving back home safely!

 

[solentlife]

Range capability for battery is pretty well same for all the P3 models .... in still air with no winds to counter, no fancy moves / flight antics - max is about 5000m to be safe.

What people do not consider is that using slightly less than full stick to get range - can actually get you further ... takes longer but the power draw on the battery is less demanding .... Its a point to consider - BUT not to rely on ... as you shouldn't push limits too hard ... a slight change in wind and you can look pretty silly !

Why ? If you push the battery hard with full power / stick ... the battery temperature goes up ... this makes internal resistance increase ... further raising temperature .... This then creates a voltage drop which reduces run-time of the battery ... until the temperature reduces on the pack - you will lose flight time ... ALL displays and calculations done by APPS, Drone are based on detected voltage AFTER voltage drop ... this then gives you % left etc. etc.

I know there are some on this site that disagree with this ... but the above is universal facts in battery use.

Nigel

 

[Borocay]

I took my stock P3P out 3.41 miles (18,000) last weekend. I specifically flew it over farmland so ensure there was minimal interference because it was distance run. I was surprised I got that far since the most I had done in the past was about 2 miles. I was at about 34% signal strength on my remote controller when Smart RTH kicked in and brought her home. The battery was at about 60% at 18,000ft and about 18% when she landed. I wanted to reach 20,000 feet but I couldn't override the Smart RTH.

 

[NickCopter]

Got a P3A and have only been able to reach around a distance of 1500ft where I live. Houses & Trees and such.

Took it to the lake house where in good area is completely flat, barely any cell service, no trees etc. I flew 3500 ft w/o any week signal though I will admit I was super nervous as I was flying over lake.

A couple questions:
1. With no mods (just the copper antenna back shields) how far could I go?

2. Generally speaking do folks just go as far as starting to get week transmission?

3. If you start off and continue flying in GPS mode, in theory what happens if you bust past week transmission and lose signal?

4. The map plotter radius only goes to about 1500 ft. If I can fly much further than that can I expand that - or can it be set to the actual radius - or does it have any intelligence to indicate how far I can go?

5. Does flying vision simply mean it can't receive GPS or is there any advantage to flying in Vision mode?

Thanks in advance!

1) I have seen stock flights up to 15,000'+ before.

2) If folks are pushing for distance, we usually push until we completely lose signal.

3) RTH should enable and bring your bird back into signal range, which will allow you to control it again.

4 / 5) not sure

If you want to see 2 / 3 in action, check out the video in my signature.

I went almost 20,000' each way, lost video signal, the bird tried to initiate RTH, etc.

 

[John28]

I had my p3 1.7 miles out then it lost signal and returned to home point no problems

 

[solentlife]

I took my stock P3P out 3.41 miles (18,000) last weekend. I specifically flew it over farmland so ensure there was minimal interference because it was distance run. I was surprised I got that far since the most I had done in the past was about 2 miles. I was at about 34% on my remote controller when Smart RTH kicked in and brought her home. The battery was at 18% when she landed. I wanted to reach 20,000 feet but I couldn't override the Smart RTH.

After losing my P3S after a too long run and winds ... I would not want to have 38% battery out at 3.41mls !!

In all honesty - I think you were extremely lucky ..... remember that about 13% - the Auto-Land kicks in but can be cancelled ... at 10% it kicks in again and cannot be cancelled .... you can only adjust the point it lands !!

Nigel

 

[NickCopter]

After losing my P3S after a too long run and winds ... I would not want to have 38% battery out at 3.41mls !!

In all honesty - I think you were extremely lucky ..... remember that about 13% - the Auto-Land kicks in but can be cancelled ... at 10% it kicks in again and cannot be cancelled .... you can only adjust the point it lands !!

Nigel

Have they updated firmware such that you can't cancel autoland at 10%?

It used to be you could make it so the bird never tried to auto land.

 

[Borocay]

The signal strength on the remote controller was at 34% when Smart RTH kicked in. The battery was at about 60%. The worse thing that could have if the battery got too low is that I would have landed it in the field, climbed over the fence and retrieved it. That was the purpose of flying it over farm land in the first place.

 

[solentlife]

Have they updated firmware such that you can't cancel autoland at 10%?

It used to be you could make it so the bird never tried to auto land.

Page 13 of manual .... Auto Land will kick in and you can only adjust landing point ... it cannot be cancelled outright. Manual is vague on the actual % ... but my P3 was lost at 10% into the river ...

Nigel

 

[NickCopter]

Page 13 of manual .... Auto Land will kick in and you can only adjust landing point ... it cannot be cancelled outright. Manual is vague on the actual % ... but my P3 was lost at 10% into the river ...

Nigel

dang. what a stupid feature

 

[Borocay]

Have they updated firmware such that you can't cancel autoland at 10%?

It used to be you could make it so the bird never tried to auto land.

You have the ability in the app to adjust the critical battery limit to below 10%. Mine was set to give a warning at 25% and auto land at 10%. You have limited maneuverability when the drone reaches its critical battery limit, but it will auto land no matter what you do. I could have returned faster had I put the drone in ATTI mode, but I let the drone return using auto return. I was watching it closely on the way back to make sure there were no headwinds. I can guarantee that I would have taken control of the drone and returned it faster if I saw there was a problem.

 

[Numone]

I've only ever tried a distance test once, which was in Jan this year. I managed to get 3.05 miles with a CE P3A using an aluminium windsurfer, which completely amazed me. I stayed at 300' altitude all the way and at the max distance I still had full signal, but then smart RTH kicked in at 66%. Got back home with 28%, but I admit, I was still a bit twitchy as I monitored the battery on the way back.

 

[Jiggly-Wiggly]

You have limited maneuverability when the drone reaches its critical battery limit, but it will auto land no matter what you do.

Not sure what you mean by this?

I can still over-ride my P3P auto land feature even when battery is down to 1% --- just push up on the left stick and it will continue to hover until the battery dies and it drops like a rock.

 

[solentlife]

Not sure what you mean by this?

I can still over-ride my P3P auto land feature even when battery is down to 1% --- just push up on the left stick and it will continue to hover until the battery dies and it drops like a rock.

And you actually did that ?

Once the AC battery hits CRITICAL ... you CANNOT over-ride the auto-land feature ...

The only action you can do is slow the descent and / or deflect the AC from its dead vertical location ...

Page 13 of manual makes this clear ....

The matter of auto-land is based on (again as per Page 13) where only enough battery remains to allow descent from the present location.
Remember that any action you then impose will INCREASE power drain and can cause power failure BEFORE landing out ...

OK - the myth of ATTI vs GPS mode and speed .... yes you can fly faster with ATTI ....BUT that means you are drawing more power from the battery to fly faster ...
Power drain is not a linear matter as throttle increased. Why ?

a) As you fly faster - drag increases and resistance to movement - increases power required.
b) Motors have efficiency curves and most efficient power point is never at 100% ... it is much lower in the usually 70 - 80% region.
c) Power draw ratio to output increases exponentially as you increase demand. Based on increased heat production in motor, in the battery itself, friction and drag in the motors.
d) As speed increases propellers enter into high speed areas especially at tips and their efficiency and conversion of power to speed reduces. As in b) Propellers have their prime efficiency point.

ATTI mode also means you are flying totally manually and not in a nice straight line ... I've been flying models for over 50yrs and I cannot fly as straight as P-GPS mode on RTH .... therefore any tiny saving you have in mA from P-GPS will be outweighed by your not so straight path home.

In P-GPS as well as ATTI mode - you can affect flight path ... and best is to leave P-GPS so you have straight line flight ... but add a slow descent so you are losing height in a gradient to your Home Point ... this avoids the large vertical element over Home Point, saving power.

I know there are some who will argue about the above ... fair enough ... each entitled to own PoV.

Nigel

 

[Jnnyr]

Ah - good point I will test that and watch what happens. Any comments on the other questions?

Thanks for the quick responses! Awesome forum!

The most important aspect of return to home feature that some beginner Pilots may not think about is your return to home altitude. Think about the highest obstacle between you and the Drone and make sure to set the altitude higher than that.