Maxx UAV - Secret Battery Mod!

RémyHeli · Sep 1, 2016

What about having a run/demo with beta mod and report results. Looks like possible at this stage no?

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Kern_Fly · Sep 1, 2016

Maxxuav is really one of the best company on the market ! Guys do the phantom 3 mod i will get one for sure !!!!!!

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GadgetGuy · Sep 1, 2016

JakeMaxxUAV said:
50 minute flight time is on the extreme side, I'll admit, but I wouldn't say it's out of the question. People are constantly finding ways to increase flight times. Someone got 50 minutes with a P3, and yes, I get it, it's a different bird. It all depends how far you're willing to go.

Also, as far as the price and the reason for this survey, it's not about "how much can we increase our profits". It's getting an idea how much people are willing to pay for the mod. That will determine our manufacturing process. If people really want it and are willing to pay a premium, it will be a premium product. If only a few want it, then we'll choose a cheaper manufacturing process. Right now, parts are 3D printed. Material and upfront costs are very cheap, but also a very slow process. We are looking into injection molding, but upfront and manufacturing costs are high, but also very fast. So please, don't get the wrong idea about this survey. Our goal has always been and will always be to offer the highest quality products and service at the cheapest price. We're always looking for ways to reduce prices and improve our products.

I would love to see a link to how someone got 50 minutes with a P3!
My point above is the cost of the mod is a small fraction of the total investment necessary to actually use the mod, and it is very misleading to conduct the survey without fully disclosing what additional expenses will be required to actually use the mod. Your survey results will not be accurate without fully disclosing that information before the survey. Promising completely unrealisic 50 minute flight times for the P4 will also badly skew your survey results. At best, a 50% increase in their current flight times is realistic, and no one is currently getting the advertised 28 minutes! Let's keep it real, and underpromise and overdeliver! 30 minute flight times will be the average with the most expensive, lightest, and highest mAh external batteries. I am only getting 27 minutes with two external 2800 mAh MaxAmps, with the aircraft mod, which adds no additional weight, unlike the cartridge sleeve in your mod. I'm generously adding 10% to my 27 minutes, in case someone flies with OA on all the time. YMMV.

neven · Sep 1, 2016

I'm sorry but why are we talking time as a measure and not distance? The m in mpg is miles not minutes right?

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KyleMaxxUAV · Sep 1, 2016

Time = battery
Distance = connection (antenna etc )

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TheLightSpeedz · Sep 1, 2016

Gadget Guy is always the pessimist in these threads. P4's are horrible, they should be sued for lying to us blah blah... But.... He got one anyway!

Is 50 minutes lofty? Yes! But nothing is impossible!

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TheLightSpeedz · Sep 1, 2016

Also Jake, I don't like the 3D printed stuff. I live in Arizona now and it's hard to keep it from Melton all the time

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neven · Sep 1, 2016

KyleMaxxUAV said:
Time = battery
Distance = connection (antenna etc )

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I should've wrote range instead of distance. Battery = fuel and unless we are talking about a motor that always operate at same speed, range you can get with a single charge is more relevant then time.

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GadgetGuy · Sep 1, 2016

TheLightSpeedz said:
Gadget Guy is always the pessimist in these threads. P4's are horrible, they should be sued for lying to us blah blah... But.... He got one anyway!

Is 50 minutes lofty? Yes! But nothing is impossible!

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I'm a realist. I never said the P4 was horrible. It isn't. It is a major upgrade from the P3P with the same mods I use on the P3P: antenna mod and battery mod. The advertised range and battery times with stock equipment were grossly exaggerated. I solved both problems. I'm happy. However, there is nothing about this "secret" battery mod that will do anything that the birdside battery mod hasn't already done. It simply allows adding two external batteries, which P4 owners have been doing since March by various other means. Their flight times speak for themselves, as do mine. Show me a single existing P4 flight using external batteries that has ever achieved a 50 minute flight time! I have close to 100 P4 flights that average between 25 and 27 minutes, always flying in P mode with OA off at speeds of 31-33 mph, which is the "sweet spot." I have one single P4 flight that was almost 30 minutes with OA on. Very boring flying at 15mph with the P4.

JakeMaxxUAV · Sep 1, 2016

GadgetGuy said:
I never said the P4 was horrible. It isn't. It is a major upgrade from the P3P with the same mods I use on the P3P: antenna mod and battery mod. The advertised range and battery times with stock equipment were grossly exaggerated. I solved both problems. I'm happy. However, there is nothing about this "secret" battery mod that will do anything that the birdside battery mod han't already done. It simply allows adding two external batteries, which P4 owners have been doing since March by various other means. Their flight times speak for themselves, as do mine. Show me a single existing P4 flight using external batteries that has ever achieved a 50 minute flight time!

I think maybe there's a misunderstanding. I didn't mean that this mod somehow adds even more flight time than the other mod. If anything, it decreases the flight time due to the added weight. But it's a simple mod that is easy for the consumer to do on their own without risk. 50 minutes may be a stretch, you're correct. But impossible? Nah. Especially with the new lithium batteries that are being developed, they're lighter and hold double the capacity. I do get where you're coming from though. I can see how that may be a little misleading and it was definitely not my intentions. I think the survey has given us what we needed though, so thank you to everyone for taking the time to provide feedback and take the survey!

GadgetGuy · Sep 1, 2016

JakeMaxxUAV said:
I think maybe there's a misunderstanding. I didn't mean that this mod somehow adds even more flight time than the other mod. If anything, it decreases the flight time due to the added weight. But it's a simple mod that is easy for the consumer to do on their own without risk. 50 minutes may be a stretch, you're correct. But impossible? Nah. Especially with the new lithium batteries that are being developed, they're lighter and hold double the capacity. I do get where you're coming from though. I can see how that may be a little misleading and it was definitely not my intentions. I think the survey has given us what we needed though, so thank you to everyone for taking the time to provide feedback and take the survey!

I like the mod, and depending upon the additional weight it adds over the aircraft battery mod, it's certainly a viable option, depending upon the price. Thanks for clarifying. How much additional weight will it add? Can you provide a link to the P3 thread where they managed a 50 minute flight? I'm always looking to improve!

TheLightSpeedz · Sep 1, 2016

GadgetGuy said:
I like the mod, and depending upon the additional weight it adds over the aircraft battery mod, it's certainly a viable option, depending upon the price. Thanks for clarifying. How much additional weight will it add? Can you provide a link to the P3 thread where they managed a 50 minute flight? I'm always looking to improve!

Well I disagree Gadget, you went up one side and down the other on anyone claiming to love their P4 and claiming to get anything north of 15 minutes flight time.

But innovation happens everyday by guys like you telling guys like Jake it's impossible. Has it ever occurred to you that you don't know everything or haven't tried everything to achieve 40 minutes? Or more?

Until this everyone thought you had to drill holes in your bird to add batteries. What if Jake said "oh well everyone says that's the only way".

Be open minded. Encourage innovation and change and see what happens.

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JakeMaxxUAV · Sep 1, 2016

GadgetGuy said:
I like the mod, and depending upon the additional weight it adds over the aircraft battery mod, it's certainly a viable option, depending upon the price. Thanks for clarifying. How much additional weight will it add? Can you provide a link to the P3 thread where they managed a 50 minute flight? I'm always looking to improve!

If you're on Facebook, Patrik Agcoili, from the SQUADRONE group, hit 50 minutes on the P3P.

JakeMaxxUAV · Sep 1, 2016

Just saw this on Facebook.

That's about as simple as it gets!

WWK888 · Sep 1, 2016

Jake, stop posting here and get out there and get this thing tested! LOL! Aloha...Bill

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JakeMaxxUAV · Sep 1, 2016

WWK888 said:
Jake, stop posting here and get out there and get this thing tested! LOL! Aloha...Bill

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Haha! I'm still waiting on mine to test!

GadgetGuy · Sep 1, 2016

TheLightSpeedz said:
Well I disagree Gadget, you went up one side and down the other on anyone claiming to love their P4 and claiming to get anything north of 15 minutes flight time.

But innovation happens everyday by guys like you telling guys like Jake it's impossible. Has it ever occurred to you that you don't know everything or haven't tried everything to achieve 40 minutes? Or more?

Until this everyone thought you had to drill holes in your bird to add batteries. What if Jake said "oh well everyone says that's the only way".

Be open minded. Encourage innovation and change and see what happens.

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I think you misunderstand me. Three different topics. 1. My criticism of the P4 marketing (28 minute flight times and 3 mile range with the GL300C). 2. Jake's clever battery mod. 3.Current maximum flight time on a P4 with externals
1. Undisputed that the P4 marketing claims were gross exaggerations. Being the realist I am, I "adjusted the sails" instead of complaining only about the wind. The P3P modded transmitters (DBS-02 that Jake also sells) fixed the 1 mile range (6+ miles now) and a birdside battery mod (from FPVCustoms.com) fixed the 18 minute flight time (27 minutes now).
2. Nothing I have said was intended to discourage Jake's innovation. I commend Jake for finding an alternative, as all other attempts to modify the P4 battery itself, like the P3 battery mods, have failed miserably. Jake has already made it clear that he is providing an alternative to the birdside battery mod which only facilitates using eternal batteries. The extended flight times fully depend upon which external batteries are used, and Jake is not supplying or selling any at this time. Jake also fully acknowledges that his mod will necessarily suffer decreased flight times over the birdside mod because of the additional weight used in his mod. None of that diminishes Jake's innovation, nor should it discourage anyone from considering or buying Jake's innovative and clever battery mod. I applaud Jakes's integrity on setting the record straight about the potential flight times.
3. All external battery mods for the P4 will only be as good as the externals used with the mod. Realist that I am, I am only using known flight times, from existing P4 battery mods, tested with all currently available external batteries, to provide realistic expectations for anyone considering investing $500 in battery mod setups for the P4. Speculating on what future flight times could be, based upon futuristic batteries currently in development by R&D elsewhere, that have never been tested on a P4, is exciting, but unproven. I'll believe them when they are proven, and I'll look forward to that day! In the mean time, we have to use and buy what is available to purchase today!

I am open minded and I enthusiastically encourage innovation and change, but I am also a realist.

GadgetGuy · Sep 1, 2016

JakeMaxxUAV said:
If you're on Facebook, Patrik Agcoili, from the SQUADRONE group, hit 50 minutes on the P3P.

Unfortunately (or fortunately, since the FAA seems to be trolling Facebook lately for potential FAA violations

) I am not on Facebook, but which external batteries did Patrik Agcolli use in this 50 minute P3P flight, or was this a single brick LiHV battery mounted below the VPS unit?

RémyHeli · Sep 2, 2016

Ok mod does clearly enable the use of new gen external batteries for improved flight time. This would be a definitive positive criteria for almost doubled flight time. Great if MaxxUAV can allow end user doing this.

Gadjet comments were certainly based on the use of current gen batteries, therefore challenging mod performance, the famous (or infamous) 50 min.

But there is more to consider and wondering why not discussed: using current gen batteries, is that okay for you to eventually damage the ESC's more overloaded than usual or eventually the motors or shell cracks. Just asking if someone considered possible impacts.

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GadgetGuy · Sep 2, 2016

RémyHeli said:
Ok mod does clearly enable the use of new gen external batteries for improved flight time. This would be a definitive positive criteria for almost doubled flight time. Great if MaxxUAV can allow end user doing this.

Gadjet comments were certainly based on the use of current gen batteries, therefore challenging mod performance, the famous (or infamous) 50 min.

But there is more to consider and wondering why not discussed: is that okay for you to eventually damage the ESC's more overloaded than usual or eventually the motors or shell cracks. Looks like the case, transforming to F1 car made for performance, not lasting long time.

Disclaimer required!

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This mod simply allows connecting external batteries. Any other discussion about new gen external batteries' potential flight times belongs in a completely different thread, unless such entirely futuristic discussions are deliberately being posted here to mislead people into buying this mod, implying that there is something special about this mod which will double flight times! It won't. It can't. Jake even said so himself!