Inside P3 STD RC

Onemanshow · Aug 30, 2017

Hi guys
just sharing for the curious minds .

Next step today or tomorrow is an antenna booster to find out if it improves my ongoing range/distance issue , video coming soon with Litchi screen recording for MAx altitude or flight distance before RTH auto engage .

epicdoom · Aug 30, 2017

you got lucky that your connections are not loaded with silicone mine had enough to hold the wings on a B17 Bomber no bolts or rivets just silicone lol

Onemanshow · Aug 30, 2017

epicdoom said:
you got lucky that your connections are not loaded with silicone mine had enough to hold the wings on a B17 Bomber no bolts or rivets just silicone lol

come on , because your bird need to be super safe but Light too .

epicdoom · Aug 30, 2017

lol I am thinking of doing something about the single 18650 battery cell in the controller. I have 8 flight batteries so my RC charge is blinking on the last light by the time I'm done flying for the day. I think this may fit in there https://www.amazon.com/Battery-Pack...04129995&sr=8-12&keywords=li-ion+battery+3.7v if it wont then Il buy two flat packs and solder them together in parallel. If these drones work like some RC stuff I have then the transmission power decreases as battery power is consumed. I plan to buy two more Flight batteries so I'm definitely going to have to do something about the RC Battery drain. I work with li-ion 18650 cells a lot so the one in the RC is probably between 2000 and 2500mAh doubling the mAh will be great

Onemanshow · Aug 30, 2017

epicdoom said:
lol I am thinking of doing something about the single 18650 battery cell in the controller. I have 8 flight batteries so my RC charge is blinking on the last light by the time I'm done flying for the day. I think this may fit in there https://www.amazon.com/Battery-Pack...04129995&sr=8-12&keywords=li-ion+battery+3.7v if it wont then Il buy two flat packs and solder them together in parallel. If these drones work like some RC stuff I have then the transmission power decreases as battery power is consumed. I plan to buy two more Flight batteries so I'm definitely going to have to do something about the RC Battery drain. I work with li-ion 18650 cells a lot so the one in the RC is probably between 2000 and 2500mAh doubling the mAh will be great

That would be awesome if you can come up with that modd and validated and tested

epicdoom · Aug 30, 2017

Onemanshow said:
That would be awesome if you can come up with that modd and validated and tested

I've had to do it to several RC plane RC's mostly due to weak signal near the end of the batteries cycle definitely going to do it for the Phantom just need to work out how. The pack I linked would be great if it will fit and will be the least amount of work. I'm pulling my RC apart later this evening to measure the space inside. Its not a big deal to solder some flat packs up though if need be.

Onemanshow · Aug 30, 2017

epicdoom said:
I've had to do it to several RC plane RC's mostly due to weak signal near the end of the batteries cycle definitely going to do it for the Phantom just need to work out how. The pack I linked would be great if it will fit and will be the least amount of work. I'm pulling my RC apart later this evening to measure the space inside. Its not a big deal to solder some flat packs up though if need be.

I Admire you on that , my dream would be to have longer time on my P4 AC to fly further away , i do 12kms ( roundtrip) can do a bit more, but too scared of encountering an issue while flying , i am hoping that some upgrade batt are released for the Phantoms birds .

N017RW · Aug 30, 2017

epicdoom said:
lol I am thinking of doing something about the single 18650 battery cell in the controller. I have 8 flight batteries so my RC charge is blinking on the last light by the time I'm done flying for the day. I think this may fit in there https://www.amazon.com/Battery-Pack...04129995&sr=8-12&keywords=li-ion+battery+3.7v if it wont then Il buy two flat packs and solder them together in parallel. If these drones work like some RC stuff I have then the transmission power decreases as battery power is consumed. I plan to buy two more Flight batteries so I'm definitely going to have to do something about the RC Battery drain. I work with li-ion 18650 cells a lot so the one in the RC is probably between 2000 and 2500mAh doubling the mAh will be great

The assertion that RF power decreases with batt. voltage is just not true with any contemporary radio system. They are typically regulated down to 3.3vdc as voltage sag would create many issues with power drop being the least significant.

Your batt upgrade may provide you otherl benefits, personal and otherwise, but consistent TX power will not be one of them. It simply is a non-issue in this equipment.

epicdoom · Aug 30, 2017

I fly out to around 2500 ft mostly with my phantom I like being able to see it even if its just a tiny dot. I take it out to 7K to check my property. but I'm always paranoid it wont come back one day lol. I did the antenna mod more for signal strength then for distance. I do know there are mods for the AC's battery, folks are adding extra packs to they're drones should be able to find that info here someplace and on youtube. My guess is right now the current packs are the limit. as mAh increases so does batteries size and weight looking at the pack it wouldn't be a problem to go larger and eliminate the battery housing add a flip type door with a latch to the AC to hold the battery in place but the rewards would be minimal as weight increases so does battery consumption to move the extra weight. For now adding a spare battery is the only option.

epicdoom · Aug 30, 2017

N017RW said:
The assertion that RF power decreases with batt. voltage is just not true with any contemporary radio system. They are typically regulated down to 3.3vdc as voltage sag would create many issues with power drop being the least significant.

Your batt upgrade may provide you otherl benefits, personal and otherwise, but consistent TX power will not be one of them. It simply is a non-issue in this equipment.

good to know I haven't measured the phantom RF output to know for sure, Im an old man so I have a lot of old technology type planes including 27 and 72 MHz AM and FM equipment as well as some 900MHz equipment I built myself

N017RW · Aug 30, 2017

For sure the older stuff would sag with batt voltage as I too flew with that type of equipment in the 70s and 80s. But yea you'll get more glad flight time with more batt. capacity but not range or the like.

daveisim · Aug 31, 2017

epicdoom said:
I am thinking of doing something about the single 18650 battery cell in the controller. I have 8 flight batteries so my RC charge is blinking on the last light by the time I'm done flying for the day.

Why not just plug in an external portable battery charger pack? The kind used to charge iPhones & such. It will charge even when the RC is on. Of course the battery level lights do flash but a piece of black tape will take care of that

epicdoom · Sep 1, 2017

I have several of those packs for cell phones never been worth a crap IMO. if I can get the extra battery in the case it will help balance out the controller a little bit more. Wont be much but every little bit helps. With my Tablet and the DBS mod installed the controller wants to fall forward even with a neck strap it wears on the wrists after awhile. I do like the tape idea though have some on a check engine light in my truck lol

LuFer70 · Sep 6, 2017

Onemanshow said:
Hi guys
just sharing for the curious minds .

Next step today or tomorrow is an antenna booster to find out if it improves my ongoing range/distance issue , video coming soon with Litchi screen recording for MAx altitude or flight distance before RTH auto engage .

Hello, very interesting work ! how much range did you got after the mod?

I wonder if you could possibly help me to find out this resistor value? In order to repair my broken controller.

Phantom3-standard-teardown 2

LuFer70
Aug 31, 2017

Parts value needed, detail

More details about it here:

Standard - P3 Std Controller, Charging circuit parts values please?

Thanks !

-LuFer

epicdoom · Sep 6, 2017

unfortunately unless someone opens an RC and measures the value of the resistor and capacitor there is no way to know as those tiny SOT23 size devices don't have values written on them. Maybe someone will do that I would but my Standard drone is lent out ATM for about a month

LuFer70 · Sep 6, 2017

epicdoom said:
unfortunately unless someone opens an RC and measures the value of the resistor and capacitor there is no way to know as those tiny SOT23 size devices don't have values written on them. Maybe someone will do that I would but my Standard drone is lent out ATM for about a month

Yes you are right, the only way to know this it's with manual readings... I even ask directly to DJI tech dept but they don't handle schematics about it.

For anyone interested, this resistor it's the one that controls the charging current rate.

Anyway all this was caused by the useless "X" hole in the back of the controller. A friend of mine thought that it was to adjust the camera angle range

Regards !

epicdoom · Sep 6, 2017

yeah that hole on mine does have a POT that controls the gimbal up and down I made a device for it on the 3D printer so it can be used but it doesn't do anything that the roller wheel cant. If I get my controller back before you get the values Ill measure them for you

LuFer70 · Sep 6, 2017

Thanks, that would be great. If I get them somewhere or have the time to calculate the value, I'll post it here too.

So there's some board versions with the POT installed, I thought that this back cover (with the X hole) came in mine by mistake.