My mind is numb

[phantomoftheopera]

I have been reading every topic in every forum for the past week in an effort to determine which mods will yield the best increase in battery life.

This is the setup I have:
DJI Phantom 1.1.1
Zenmuse gimbal
GoPro Hero 3+

These are the upgrades that I think will achieve the best battery life:
Dual Mad Dog 2700mAh batteries
Vision Props.

Can anyone provide input regarding which upgrades, i.e. battery, props, have given them the best flight times with the above setup?

I would appreciate any help!

Thanks!

 

[OI Photography]

A number of us who have tested multiple other options for both (batt and props) have come to the conclusion that that combo is about the best off-the-shelf upgrade available to increase flight times in the P1. A couple of nights ago I managed to milk a 16min flight out of that setup, and although I was using a nearly-naked Phantom it's a good indicator of the impact they can make.

I actually discovered that my maddog batt rated at 2700mAh was comfortably delivering closer to 2900mAh.

If there's any better bolt-on methods for increasing flight time, I haven't seen them. And I've been looking.

Beyond that, your best bet is to focus on keeping total weight to a minimum, and even getting adept at Atti mode which can be more energy-efficient than GPS mode depending on the conditions.

 

[ElGuano]

I have been reading every topic in every forum for the past week in an effort to determine which mods will yield the best increase in battery life.

This is the setup I have:
DJI Phantom 1.1.1
Zenmuse gimbal
GoPro Hero 3+

These are the upgrades that I think will achieve the best battery life:
Dual Mad Dog 2700mAh batteries
Vision Props.

Can anyone provide input regarding which upgrades, i.e. battery, props, have given them the best flight times with the above setup?

I would appreciate any help!

Thanks!

What is your goal? Is it to hit a certain time in the air? To carry a certain payload? Go a certain distance? Or just to get the longest flights you possibly can?

Vision props and a strong battery choice are a great start.

The #1 by a country mile best way you can increase your flight times is to reduce weight. If you keep that in mind, you'll be posting up record flights. You've already got the lightest gimbal out there. Are you running the upgrade board (I don't recall if the 1.1.1 ships with it) or the PMU/GCU combo inside the shell? If the latter, remove all that and get the upgrade board. That saves 60g (you can't find weight savings like that with any gear until you get serious with battery mods). Are you running the stock landing gear? You can drop 20g with lighter legs. Plastic props? CF is 10g lighter. Even prop nuts can save 4-5g. Replacing the USB cable with a shell-mounted port saves 6-8g. I cut out 10g by optimizing wiring (but some of that was my own doing). Bottom line, every gram you save positively impacts every other flight-time mod you do, be it bigger batteries, more efficient props, lighter components.

I'm not a huge fan of "dual battery" mods btw. They usually take quite a bit of extra hardware that really ends up eating away at the benefit of the additional power. But that's certainly the brute force method and it works. Someone strapped 4 batteries to their Phantom and got 26 minutes. That's a long flight, but for all the effort to mount 8800mah, a bone-stock Phantom Vision can best that with its stock battery.

 

[phantomoftheopera]

A couple of nights ago I managed to milk a 16min flight out of that setup, and although I was using a nearly-naked Phantom it's a good indicator of the impact they can make.

and even getting adept at Atti mode which can be more energy-efficient than GPS mode depending on the conditions.

You got 16 minutes on dual mad dogs and vision props? Would that be about 12 minutes with the Zenmuse?

I definitely need to become a more skilled pilot so that i am comfortable in atti mode.

Thanks for the info!

 

[phantomoftheopera]

What is your goal? Is it to hit a certain time in the air? To carry a certain payload? Go a certain distance? Or just to get the longest flights you possibly can?

Vision props and a strong battery choice are a great start.

The #1 by a country mile best way you can increase your flight times is to reduce weight. If you keep that in mind, you'll be posting up record flights. You've already got the lightest gimbal out there. Are you running the upgrade board (I don't recall if the 1.1.1 ships with it) or the PMU/GCU combo inside the shell? If the latter, remove all that and get the upgrade board. That saves 60g (you can't find weight savings like that with any gear until you get serious with battery mods). Are you running the stock landing gear? You can drop 20g with lighter legs. Plastic props? CF is 10g lighter. Even prop nuts can save 4-5g. Replacing the USB cable with a shell-mounted port saves 6-8g. I cut out 10g by optimizing wiring (but some of that was my own doing). Bottom line, every gram you save positively impacts every other flight-time mod you do, be it bigger batteries, more efficient props, lighter components.

I'm not a huge fan of "dual battery" mods btw. They usually take quite a bit of extra hardware that really ends up eating away at the benefit of the additional power. But that's certainly the brute force method and it works. Someone strapped 4 batteries to their Phantom and got 26 minutes. That's a long flight, but for all the effort to mount 8800mah, a bone-stock Phantom Vision can best that with its stock battery.

Thanks for the reply!

I am really looking for increased flight time for my peace of mind and it would allow for a more relaxed flying experience and allow me to focus on my flying/shots instead of watching the clock.

I think this is the most I will ever carry. I do not anticipate myself getting into FPV.

How do I know if my Phantom has the upgraded board?

Sounds like its time for me to trim the fat!

Thanks!

 

[OI Photography]

You got 16 minutes on dual mad dogs and vision props?

Nope...I got 16 minutes on ONE maddog batt and vision props The Phantom had almost nothing else on it so it was a best-case type of result, but even when I usually fly with the gopro and (heavier) gimbal mounted, I can hit 12 min.

 

[phantomoftheopera]

You got 16 minutes on dual mad dogs and vision props?

Nope...I got 16 minutes on ONE maddog batt and vision props The Phantom had almost nothing else on it so it was a best-case type of result, but even when I usually fly with the gopro and (heavier) gimbal mounted, I can hit 12 min.

Wow, that's awesome! I am ordering props and batteries tomorrow! Where did you get the vision props? I see a lot of options out there but not sure which ones are authentic.

Thanks!

 

[OI Photography]

I ordered mine through Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GRA ... UTF8&psc=1

Looks like they have 3 vendors you can choose from currently, RedRocket Hobby Shop is the one that fulfilled my order (and is one of the three there now).