How to fly longer, and for a lot less money!

[LuvMyTJ]

My bad, thanks for the clarification.

On Tapatalk the posts just show up a one long list. I didn't notice there was a vendor forum.

No worries. At this time there is no dedicated 'vendor area' but it is allowed in the 'Classified' area.

 

[J.James]

the Nukerc batteries are about $100 shipped (on the slowboat from China) and they are getting decent reviews.

one of the pepole here that did a review on the nuke rc battery's said he only got about 10minutes of flight time before it died.

 

[Diesel31]

Yeah, saw that last night. Haven't tried the Nuke batteries myself. I've got 5 DJI batteries working very well so I haven't had to invest in anymore.

 

[locoworks]

Back to the topic at hand, this is not marketed towards the 1 or 2 battery, weekend flier or the pilot who wants to fit everything into a back-pack. This is marketed towards the small businesses, that run multiple Phantoms, with each Phantom having 6, 8, or 10 DJI batteries who fly days on end, every single week and want to save money! Extended flight time was a by product, in the effort of saving cost.

We just had some new batteries shipped to us, for us to test and I think we are leaning towards offering the kit with 3300mah batteries instead of the 2800mahs. We will have conclusive weight comparisons and flight time data, along with video after the weekend.

Stay tuned!

Hi mike , I'm not sure if I understand this correctly . Are you suggesting that if I pay 258$ and send you my battery for my Phantom 2 Vision + . It will enable 50 minutes of flight time?

If you sent us your battery and $250, we would send you back a Smart Cap, with brackets, and (6) batteries [3 sets of 2] that you would run in tandem at a time vs. if you bought 3 of DJI's batteries, you would pay $387 for less flight time. Does that make better sense? Extended flight time was not the objective when we set out to do this, it was in effort to not spend [then] $1,590 on 10 DJI batteries! Like I said, it just so happened that longer flight time was a by product, but who doesn't want extra time in the air?

doesn't look like the loss of a DJI battery has been factored in?? no problem if you've cooked a pack and it is now worthless, but would the cap components survive a cooking?? for 8 bucks more than your 250 it gives you 3 stock batteries, admittedly with slightly less capacity ( which wasn't your aim but a happy bonus ) , but still 3 flights worth of battery packs without the wires and plugs and velcro or rubber bands holding it all together. once you want more than 3 stock batteries it becomes financially viable and the slight fiddle of plugs etc becomes the cost of saving money.. a plus i see with the batteries slung a bit lower, is a lower CG so in theory a more stable aircraft? not that it rocks about much anyway.

a nice product to come up with would be a way to use a single 'normal' 3 cell battery pack inside the phantom that plugged into the stock cap. maybe an extended cap combined with a 3D printed cage to go inside the phantom to hold the battery in place but still leave room to fit a stock battery too? sort of a cross between P1 and P2 battery methods.

 

[Mike Wright]

Locoworks,

Good assessment and feedback, I like it! Our original plan was to fit it all inside the battery compartment but with the mods that have to be done to the cap in order to use 3rd party batteries, the batteries wouldn't fit. An extended cap was thought about as well, but then costs goes up when you include the components needed to extend the internal power supply. This solution requires only the use of a screwdriver on 4 screws, and the stock battery can still be used at anytime!

 

[locoworks]

Locoworks,

Good assessment and feedback, I like it! Our original plan was to fit it all inside the battery compartment but with the mods that have to be done to the cap in order to use 3rd party batteries, the batteries wouldn't fit. An extended cap was thought about as well, but then costs goes up when you include the components needed to extend the internal power supply. This solution requires only the use of a screwdriver on 4 screws, and the stock battery can still be used at anytime!

Mike,

what you have come up with looks like it works well, that is the important thing, kudos for getting round DJI''s 'our expensive battery only' setup. ( i see they have dropped a few bucks off the stock battery price recently )

i was thinking a new cap would be 1 - 1.5 inch deeper but leave the power connections on the cap where they are so they just fit as normal. what i asssume?? is a PCB with the 4 battery indicator lights and power on/off button would be re-mounted in the base of the cap leaving in theory a 1 - 1.5 inch deep void to fit in a coil of wire and a connector. alternatively make a new cap so the lights and power button are above the battery but still on the end rather than the top so you can see the battery status without having to land. but without actually stripping out an expensive battery to check the guts of it like you did i was just guessing at the viabillity of it.

 

[LuvMyTJ]

THIS IS SOME STUPID SH@T

Take it easy there friend. No need to earn yourself a warning tonight.

 

[witold]

Is there a regular lipo out there that has more power but same weight as Phantom2 battery that we could use to get longer flight times?

 

[locoworks]

Is there a regular lipo out there that has more power but same weight as Phantom2 battery that we could use to get longer flight times?

if there is it is likely to be unviable down the cost vs extra flight time route. i wonder how long continuous use the motors are rated for?

 

[vinniejura]

Re: Motor City Drone Co.

I kinda figured that. I saw a guys video on YouTube and his posting about loosing and relocating his phantom 2 after his first FPV flight that this Motor City Drone Company sold and configured for him. The guy did not even say a thing bad about them just where he got his Phantom and the fact that it was his first FPV flight. This dude from Mtr City Drone Co. posted a comment after that that was outrageous. He accused the guy of slandering the company and threatened to sue him etc. You could tell by the context of his posting that this guy from Motor City was pissed off and he was way over-reacting. I made a mental note to stay away from this company because of this dudes demeanor.

 

[ATC Drone Flyer]

if there is it is likely to be unviable down the cost vs extra flight time route. i wonder how long continuous use the motors are rated for?

I don't know that the "offical answer" to that question is, but I have personally flown 5 stock batteries back to back to back with only enough time on the ground to swap batteries and obtain GPS lock.
So 5 Batteries X 20 minutes per battery = 100 minutes. The air temperature (on the ground) was around 80 degrees. After the last flight, the motors were very warm to the touch, but not hot.

 

[J.James]

Most of the heat from the motors are from the bearings So a lot of it is going to depend on the condition of the bearings. and if you are running the stock motors or stock bearings.

 

[helishmeli]

The two 2800 mah batteries would equate to about 7.5% more energy than the stock 5200 mah. That would equate to about a minute more flight time if currently getting 15 minutes. I would stick with the convenience of the stock battery setup.

as a Phantom 1 flyer, where I get maybe 6 minutes a flight all loaded up, I fly around, get the shots, and land
I'd have to say that 15 minutes is a bountiful amount to fly.

you really have to say "how long is long enough?"
unless you're really planning to fly deep over water or long distances, .. there's no point in loading up a Phantom or Phantom 2 with dual batteries, . you'll get longer total flight times with single batteries. just land and insert another battery.
Also makes it a bit easier to deal with movies as well.. having multiple flights and movies makes it easier to manage in a way.

ehhh I don't know about that. If you get longer flight times with single batteries, it is still super inconvenient to land and take off again. If it takes me 2 minutes to land (depending how high I am) then I just don't know if it's worth it. I also think the multiple movie thing is preference.

Like you said, some people need to fly long distances. My main goal before I bought the Phantom 2 was to fly to my highschool and back from my house, but I do not know if I will ever do that due to wifi interference and stuff.

Another situation is filming fireworks or something that is timed, if I land and insert another battery then I miss out on footage.

 

[helishmeli]

John,
I wasn’t going to respond to your other posts on this forum but since you are now publicly slandering and attempting to defame my character (both chargeable offenses mind you), I’m going to give everyone the links so they can follow the story in its entirety, and not your paraphrased version here.

Here is the link where Detroit [John] tells everyone that we answered the phone for him on a Sunday night at 9pm.
http://www.phantompilots.com/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=18567&p=169361&hilit=motorcitydroneco#p169361

Here’s the link to where John is saying “he honestly doesn’t blame the Phantom” after he loses signal in a cornfield. And that we “met” him (meaning we drove an hour to pick his Phantom up and an hour to deliver it, 3 days later with FPV, where he flew in an IKEA parking lot over parked cars and people to test the FPV.) And that he spoke to Aaron, right after he flew it out of range and lost sight of his Phantom.

http://www.phantompilots.com/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=20225&p=184683&hilit=motorcitydroneco#p184683

Of course he is not blaming the Phantom, he is blaming you.

 

[helishmeli]

THIS IS SOME STUPID SH@T

Take it easy there friend. No need to earn yourself a warning tonight.

What's the warning situation here? How many freebies do you get? I know it's off topic but I am curious because I'm new to the hobby and the site.

...Do I have any warnings?

 

[witold]

Is there a regular lipo out there that has more power but same weight as Phantom2 battery that we could use to get longer flight times?

if there is it is likely to be unviable down the cost vs extra flight time route. i wonder how long continuous use the motors are rated for?

I'm getting 19-21 minutes on an unloaded P2 with stock battery. If I could pay $250 for a battery that brings me up to 25 minutes, I would.

Long flying time gives you range and more freedom/options. I don't want to land my P2 ever 7 minutes and deal with 10 batteries like my little Hubsan X4. And for travel/moving around, fewer batteries are much easier to take care of.

 

[helishmeli]

Is there a regular lipo out there that has more power but same weight as Phantom2 battery that we could use to get longer flight times?

if there is it is likely to be unviable down the cost vs extra flight time route. i wonder how long continuous use the motors are rated for?

when I was shopping for my P2, I asked an employee of my LHS if the motors need a break or if I can swap out the battery. he said they are self-cooling so it's fine.

I don't know how long this is good for like you asked, but doesn't the self-cooling help a lot?

 

[locoworks]

Is there a regular lipo out there that has more power but same weight as Phantom2 battery that we could use to get longer flight times?

if there is it is likely to be unviable down the cost vs extra flight time route. i wonder how long continuous use the motors are rated for?

when I was shopping for my P2, I asked an employee of my LHS if the motors need a break or if I can swap out the battery. he said they are self-cooling so it's fine.

I don't know how long this is good for like you asked, but doesn't the self-cooling help a lot?

possibly not a potential problem then. i just know first hand some motors ( not phantom stuff ) can only run so long continuously.