Just received my new P4P but you guys are making me nervous... What to check?

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K guys,

Just received my brand spanking new P4P.

Not new to quads but this is definitely my first DJI product. I've read the manual before I bought the thing, watched the videos, and researched it to death (on multiple forms). My problem is with the latter; mainly the posts of the occasional lemons that seem to crop up < you guys are making me hell-of-a nervous :confused:

What are some of the obvious things I should check / set ? Before taking her out on her maiden flight?

Also, I'm going to analyze the **** out of this thing after the first / second flight so what are some of the errors I need to watch for?

Thanks! :)
 
Ya know, Spartacus, it sounds like you have your ducks in a row. If you have read a lot of the posts here you are probably in good shape. What I see is people getting bitten by Return To Home ,forgetting to set the height above the nearby trees and buildings, and just being dumb thinking they have a F-18 at their command with several mission computers talking to NASA when it is just a very smart glorified toy.

Use common sense, which it sounds like you have in abundance. If there is a NorEaster blowing in, don't fly up to meet it. If things look iffy, they probably are, and you should find something else to do. And you are probably better by yourself for a while. IE: "Hold my beer...Now watch this...."

Good Luck, don't over think it and you will be a pro before you know it.
 
You're over-thinking this. Its far more simple than you think, and you will be surprised.
What I did, before my first flight is:

Connect P4P to my pc and download DJI Assistant 2. Check firmware and update drone/radio if needed. While connected to the PC, I went ahead and calibrated the IMU & Gimbal.
Set up all of my DJI GO 4 Settings to my preference
Recharge Battery
Go outside, calibrate compass
Let drone set home position
FLY!

Besides that, I only calibrate the compass if I change my flying spot. If I go to a different location, then I will calibrate the compass. If I don't, then I just hook it up and fly. There really isn't anything else you need to do besides make sure props are locked in, and have no damage. You can also check to see if the 2.4 or 5.8 frequency is going to be your most stable connection.

Besides that, have fun. It's truly amazing to fly and you will quickly release you made a great decision buying this thing. I have been flying drones and rc planes for 6-7 years now and have custom built everything. My drones especially have been made from scratch using top notch parts. This P4P is the most fun/easiest/smoothest drone I have flown to date. Especially with the features of the drone/app.
 
Ya know, Spartacus, it sounds like you have your ducks in a row. If you have read a lot of the posts here you are probably in good shape. What I see is people getting bitten by Return To Home ,forgetting to set the height above the nearby trees and buildings.
Since you mentioned RTH. Isn't that the Phantom 4 should avoid the obstacles when flying autonomously?
 
should is keyword here, small things like branches and wires could wind up going unnoticed to the detection system and foul your props to an unrecoverable state. Admire the tech, test the tech, use the tech, but never TRUST the tech.


Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots
 
You're over-thinking this. Its far more simple than you think, and you will be surprised.
What I did, before my first flight is:

Connect P4P to my pc and download DJI Assistant 2. Check firmware and update drone/radio if needed. While connected to the PC, I went ahead and calibrated the IMU & Gimbal.
Set up all of my DJI GO 4 Settings to my preference
Recharge Battery
Go outside, calibrate compass
Let drone set home position
FLY!

Besides that, I only calibrate the compass if I change my flying spot. If I go to a different location, then I will calibrate the compass. If I don't, then I just hook it up and fly. There really isn't anything else you need to do besides make sure props are locked in, and have no damage. You can also check to see if the 2.4 or 5.8 frequency is going to be your most stable connection.

Besides that, have fun. It's truly amazing to fly and you will quickly release you made a great decision buying this thing. I have been flying drones and rc planes for 6-7 years now and have custom built everything. My drones especially have been made from scratch using top notch parts. This P4P is the most fun/easiest/smoothest drone I have flown to date. Especially with the features of the drone/app.
According to your other post you forgot to mention that you have to be careful when setting the maximum altitude limit. You should not mix metric and imperial units ;)
 
should is keyword here, small things like branches and wires could wind up going unnoticed to the detection system and foul your props to an unrecoverable state. Admire the tech, test the tech, use the tech, but never TRUST the tech.


Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots
Oh thanks. I'm just thinking to switch from P3P to P4P just because of the obstacle detection. I mostly fly in the mountains where no trees are. I hope that would work.
 
should is keyword here, small things like branches and wires could wind up going unnoticed to the detection system and foul your props to an unrecoverable state. Admire the tech, test the tech, use the tech, but never TRUST the tech.


Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots
Oh and BTW. I usually fly high in the mountains. My maximum altitude is set to 450 meters / 1476 feet. But I'm hearing there are some limitations with altitude. Can P4P go over 500 meters / 1640 feet? I actually never tried to go over 450 meters / 1476 feet.

This is a typical altitude that I fly at:
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yeah it works well for larger obstacles, i've tried to run mine (slowly) into walls, cars, evergreen trees/bushes, myself and it has picked them all up, That being said my brother managed to clip a small branch in beginner mode when obstacle detection is at its most cautious.
Just understand and prepare for its limitations and you'll be fine.


Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots
 
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Don't worry, you normally only read the tales of woe on forums, people eager to get their gear running ok, you will be fine, just read on how to set your p4p up, take it to a nice flat open place when you first fly, if you can, if someone is local to you ask them for help, 99 % of drone owners are all very helpful, it does help on your first set up and flight.
 
Look carefully at the screen prior to take off to ensure all is ready to go. Believe the "ready to fly" notification, do an assisted take off, let it hover for a few moments, wait for the home point recorded message, ensure its stable then slowly increase the altitude. You will be amazed! Don't get over-confident. Watch the bird more than the screen when in flight. Oh, and do all the other pre-flight checks mentioned above.


Sent from my iPad using PhantomPilots
 
Yeah, I figured I'm over analyzing - thanks for confirming.

Crappy weather here today so I'm grounded for now. Will take my sweet time updating firmware, test the gibal, video quality, app setting ETC... While it sits on my desk (without props).

If something comes up I'll share it with you peeps here (best community out of the ones I lurked in).

Cheers,

Post Edit: What's up with all the shitty reviews for DJI GO APP 4? Should I load 3 instead? Got a Pixel XL (Droid) - will wait a bit before I get a dedicated device.

Post Post Edit: Nevermind... DJI GO vs. DJI GO 4
 
Last edited:
Yeah, I figured I'm over analyzing - thanks for confirming.

Crappy weather here today so I'm grounded for now. Will take my sweet time updating firmware, test the gibal, video quality, app setting ETC... While it sits on my desk (without props).

If something comes up I'll share it with you peeps here (best community out of the ones I lurked in).

Cheers,

Post Edit: What's up with all the shitty reviews for DJI GO APP 4? Should I load 3 instead? Got a Pixel XL (Droid) - will wait a bit before I get a dedicated device.

Post Post Edit: Nevermind... DJI GO vs. DJI GO 4
No, keep 4. I haven't had a single problem running on nvidia shield k1. Have used it about 6 times on my Samsung note 4 when I had my mavic and didn't run into any problems either.
 
Oh and BTW. I usually fly high in the mountains. My maximum altitude is set to 450 meters / 1476 feet. But I'm hearing there are some limitations with altitude. Can P4P go over 500 meters / 1640 feet? I actually never tried to go over 450 meters / 1476 feet.

This is a typical altitude that I fly at:
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Wow! Cool location man! Where is this? And where did you take off from?
 
Read the owners manual from Dji front to back. Understand how RTH works. Go through settings to turn on OA etc. Do not calibrate anything out of the box unless it's not flying right.
 
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Try to use IOS over Android. 10 mph winds on the surface may mean 15-25 mph at higher altitudes. If you must fly on windy days make sure your outbound trip is into the wind and fly back with tailwinds. Get a GPS or cell tracker. Make sure your props and batteries on right and tight. Keep it VLOS if you must -above all possible obstacles on Long flights .


Sent from my iPad using PhantomPilots
 
Yeah, I figured I'm over analyzing - thanks for confirming.

Crappy weather here today so I'm grounded for now. Will take my sweet time updating firmware, test the gibal, video quality, app setting ETC... While it sits on my desk (without props).

If something comes up I'll share it with you peeps here (best community out of the ones I lurked in).

Cheers,

Post Edit: What's up with all the shitty reviews for DJI GO APP 4? Should I load 3 instead? Got a Pixel XL (Droid) - will wait a bit before I get a dedicated device.

Post Post Edit: Nevermind... DJI GO vs. DJI GO 4
You may have trouble with the Pixel. I've heard others complain that it doesn't work well with the GO4 app. It's not on the approved list from DJI. If you prefer android, the Nvidia Shield K1 is a good value. Otherwise iOS devices work flawlessly if you get one with cellular (for GPS homepoint reset and follow me support).
 
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