Just a thought and solution about the Phantom 4 in 2020

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Hey everyone I just wanted to put something out there for anyone that may benefit from this. I had been struggling with my P4 flying extremely slow. Specifically in the forward direction. We're talking 5 or 6mph. At times it would suddenly speed up to about 9mph but that wouldnt last long at all. I researched like crazy but couldnt really find any helpful info anywhere. I'd hear about gimbal guards being a problem. I'd hear to turn off the OA sensors(which i wasnt a fan of), I'd hear about recalibrating the sensors via DJI assistant and I'd hear about downgrading the firmware. I even adjusted the sensitivity on the throttle but nothing worked. My right stick was all the way up my entire flights. I did all those things saving downgrading the firmware for last. I just figured why not have the latest. It must be for a good reason. Anyways, I finally just went ahead and did the downgrade and now my P4 flies perfectly. No issues at all for the moment at least.

Now whether I should have the gimbal guard on or not or the OA on or off is another question. I think i'm going to just leave the guard off for now. I came from a P3 Pro so that was a common thing. Now with sensors underneath it may be a different situation.

So again im just hoping this may help anyone having speed issues on their P4. All my search results never really seemed to apply to me regarding this. Downgrading the firmware in 2020 seems to be ok and will at least fix speed issues. Id put the firmware version up but i dont have it handy. I do know it was the latest that was released in 2019.

That's it everyone. Ya'll be safe!

-RP
 
When you say gimbal guard are you referring to the plastic clip that attaches to the gimbal to protect it while transporting the machine? If so that should always be removed prior to powering up your drone.
 
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When you say gimbal guard are you referring to the plastic clip that attaches to the gimbal to protect it while transporting the machine? If so that should always be removed prior to powering up your drone.

No. Not that. The guard that connects on each side of the landing gear. Not the one that holds the camera in place while transporting.
 
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Glad for you. Most here give advice based on past experience but often you just have to figure it out yourself. ?
Thank you for more good advice.
 
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Now whether I should have the gimbal guard on or not or the OA on or off is another question. I think i'm going to just leave the guard off for now. I came from a P3 Pro so that was a common thing. Now with sensors underneath it may be a different situation.
I advise leaving the gimbal guard OFF! I also had one one my P3P, no problem. But putting one on P4 interfered with the sensors. The craft would yoyo up and down at altitude when in a hover. If you were moving forward, no problem, but in a hover it would go up and down all by itself (hands off the sticks!) as much as 40' ! It acted like it was possessed. So I took it off and never put it back on. You really don't need it on the P4 as much, if you don't crash it.
 
A problem that's sometimes seen with gimbal guards partially blocking the downward view of VPS sensors, is a drone that goes up but won't descend.
It's very alarming for the flyer when/if that happens.
Unless they think to disable the VPS, it's a real problem.
 
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I advise leaving the gimbal guard OFF! I also had one one my P3P, no problem. But putting one on P4 interfered with the sensors. The craft would yoyo up and down at altitude when in a hover. If you were moving forward, no problem, but in a hover it would go up and down all by itself (hands off the sticks!) as much as 40' ! It acted like it was possessed. So I took it off and never put it back on. You really don't need it on the P4 as much, if you don't crash it.
Totally agree. Those downward facing sensors need to be turned off when you hang any kind of guard , camera mount , or light mount below the gimbal/camera area.
 
Hey everyone I just wanted to put something out there for anyone that may benefit from this. I had been struggling with my P4 flying extremely slow. Specifically in the forward direction. We're talking 5 or 6mph. At times it would suddenly speed up to about 9mph but that wouldnt last long at all. I researched like crazy but couldnt really find any helpful info anywhere. I'd hear about gimbal guards being a problem. I'd hear to turn off the OA sensors(which i wasnt a fan of), I'd hear about recalibrating the sensors via DJI assistant and I'd hear about downgrading the firmware. I even adjusted the sensitivity on the throttle but nothing worked. My right stick was all the way up my entire flights. I did all those things saving downgrading the firmware for last. I just figured why not have the latest. It must be for a good reason. Anyways, I finally just went ahead and did the downgrade and now my P4 flies perfectly. No issues at all for the moment at least.

Now whether I should have the gimbal guard on or not or the OA on or off is another question. I think i'm going to just leave the guard off for now. I came from a P3 Pro so that was a common thing. Now with sensors underneath it may be a different situation.

So again im just hoping this may help anyone having speed issues on their P4. All my search results never really seemed to apply to me regarding this. Downgrading the firmware in 2020 seems to be ok and will at least fix speed issues. Id put the firmware version up but i dont have it handy. I do know it was the latest that was released in 2019.

That's it everyone. Ya'll be safe!

-RP

I've been pushing firmware v1.3.509 on this forum for years. Now you know why.

D
 
I've been pushing firmware v1.3.509 on this forum for years. Now you know why.
It's unlikely that the OP's issue had anything to do with firmware.
If it was a simple as firmware making the drone fly slowly, there would have been a mass outcry when that firmware was released as it would have affected a very large number of flyers, not just the odd one or two.
We'd have to see recorded flight data to find out what the real issue might have been.
 
It's unlikely that the OP's issue had anything to do with firmware.
If it was a simple as firmware making the drone fly slowly, there would have been a mass outcry when that firmware was released as it would have affected a very large number of flyers, not just the odd one or two.
We'd have to see recorded flight data to find out what the real issue might have been.

Whatever it was the downgrade corrected it.
 
It's unlikely that the OP's issue had anything to do with firmware.
If it was a simple as firmware making the drone fly slowly, there would have been a mass outcry when that firmware was released as it would have affected a very large number of flyers, not just the odd one or two.

How do you know there wasn't?



We'd have to see recorded flight data to find out what the real issue might have been.

I'm going to guess a default settings issue whose default setting changed with the FW change. But who knows...

D
 
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I guess you didn't notice that I quoted your previous post. Yes, I read it. Twice.
My question still stands.
It's unlikely that the OP's issue had anything to do with firmware.
If it was a simple as firmware making the drone fly slowly, there would have been a mass outcry when that firmware was released as it would have affected a very large number of flyers, not just the odd one or two.
We'd have to see recorded flight data to find out what the real issue might have been rather than simply guessing.
 
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It's unlikely that the OP's issue had anything to do with firmware.
If it was a simple as firmware making the drone fly slowly, there would have been a mass outcry when that firmware was released as it would have affected a very large number of flyers, not just the odd one or two.

I'll re-ask the question in a different way. "How do you know that a large number of people didn't freak out? Thus prompting the next generation of firmware to be pushed out quickly."

The thing is, this community represents a fraction of the drone-flying population. So a large number of complaints could have been launched at DJI without being noticed here. The problem of the OP is threefold:

1) We don't know which firmware the OP was having a hard time with.
2) We don't have a log of the entire P4P firmware history, as DJI doesn't really publish that information (among other information they should publish, but don't).
3) Even if we did nail it down to which FW version the OP had, his bug might be due to a combination of factors not experienced by other pilots. Read: Not a massive outcry to fix it.


As you can see, I've collected .bin files, but that list is far from exhaustive.

You can check release notes for a bug fix. But unfortunately DJI release notes are notoriously, horribly incomplete.


We'd have to see recorded flight data to find out what the real issue might have been rather than simply guessing.

OR...know which firmware version the OP had and research it. The bug could have been laying dormant in that particular firmware / software combination, only to be brought to life by a combination of settings from the OP. Later versions of the firmware may have purged that bug or changed a default setting that was causing the bug. Or it could have been a combination of firmware and software that triggered that bug. Firmware and software are vastly complicated. Stumbling across a bug combination isn't always easy to do or seen by all users. Often times bugs are NOT "reproducible."

I don't consider myself a world's expert on DJI firmware, but I probably know more about it than 99% of the UAV pilots out there. I spent hours researching and testing different firmware / software combinations to come up with the perfect cocktail for my P4P, Inspire 1 and Mavic Pro. Even then, modifications had to be made to fix some problems.

All 3 birds are rock-solid and have been for years. No loss of control. No erroneous behavior. No flyaways. No tests. No logins. No fuss, no mess. That's no accident or luck. That's hours of R&D paying off.

D
 
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The thing is, this community represents a fraction of the drone-flying population. So a large number of complaints could have been launched at DJI without being noticed here.
Without seeing the recorded flight data to see what was the actual cause of his flight issue, guesses are all anyone can come up with.
And having analysed data from hundreds of flight incidents, I know that most guesses are completely wrong.

If DJI released firmware that made your drone fly at a snail's pace it would definitely show up here and every other drone forum.
I don't think I'm going to get through to you whatever I say.

btw .. How did that cheaper than cheap scam drone turn out?
 
Without seeing the recorded flight data to see what was the actual cause of his flight issue, guesses are all anyone can come up with.
And having analysed data from hundreds of flight incidents, I know that most guesses are completely wrong.

Copy that. I didn't know you were that experienced with flight data. I see TONS of flight logs posted here that don't always lead to resolution. Someone with your experience would definitely have an advantage in this regard.



If DJI released firmware that made your drone fly at a snail's pace it would definitely show up here and every other drone forum.

Only IF the issue occurred every time in every drone to every customer. If you read what a wrote, often times it takes a combination of settings, FW and software to produce anomalies that are often not REproducable. So while I concede that having the flight logs would be of greater help than I originally asserted, you would have to concede that this might be a FW / software / settings COMBINATION that may have not been seen by millions, thousands or even hundreds of users. Thereby, not being "popular."


I don't think I'm going to get through to you whatever I say.

Actually, you just did.


btw .. How did that cheaper than cheap scam drone turn out?

Got my money back. Piece of cake. If you read the thread, you would know that. You would also know that I purchased the thing risk-free. It was all well thought out and very calculated. I took a RISKLESS GAMBLE that the deal might be real. It wasn't. Now EVERYBODY knows about that guy/vendor. Not all super heroes wear capes. You're welcome.

D
 

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