New to quads and looking for advice

[chuddly]

I bought a Phantom (should be the 1.1.1 but i will know for sure once i have it in my hands) and I should have it this week. Its all bone stock right now and new in the box. I can never leave anything alone so i will be wanting to do some upgrades right away im sure . First off i plan on putting my gopro on it and playing with it that way most of the time. I will probably leave it off though for the first few flights until i get used to it. I see alot of guys do the P2V props and i will probably as well. I also have a 3D printer so i will design and print my own taller landing gear and most likely some prop guards. Im not really worried about fast flying and hard banking but would MUCH rather have longer flight times (I would like to be at least 10 min or more is possible). I will be putting a gimbal on it at some point in the near future (just a cheap one at first) as I have a few people that would be interested in paying for some video footage. I would like to do a FPV set up as well but thats not a NEED right off the bat and more of a want down the road a bit. Im trying to plan out my mods/upgrades so i know what order i should be looking to do things and this is where i need your guys help. Can you guys help me set up a "road map of mods"? I want to be able to fly the Phantom while doing mods so i dont want to do 1 thing that has to be undone for another. Or that causes me a BUNCH of work that will just be thrown away later. Basically what do i need to get to my desired goal?

The good news for me is I live on 90 acres and about 50 acres of it is field (10 acres of mowed grass and the rest in hay). So i have plenty of room to fly it. Like i said earlier I also have a 3d printer so i can just print out new/test parts at almost no cost (the landing gear for instance will cost me about $.50 with electricity).

The bad news is I work alot (50-55 hours a week plus an hour drive each way). And i have 2 kids in sports, and i sing in a band with weekly practices/sets.....so my time is very limited.

Thanks in advance guys...the little bit i have lurked around here it seems like this is a pretty active place with alot of helpful people and i look forward to learning all i can and then helping others once i get my feet under me.

 

[kydan]

Here is what I did:

A1. Buy a better charger for this hobby. Stock charger sucks. I already had a thunder ac6 from my previous 2 years RC heli experience which in turn made flying the DJI a piece of cake compared to collective pitch flying)
1. Bought bigger batteries (Maddog 2700mah) that still fit in the stock compartment
2. Did a makeshift moongel anti-jello mod to the included (crappy) gopro holder
3. Learned real quick that I want a solid gimbal for shooting video
4. Installed a gimbal (my recommendation would be to skip the cheap stuff and go for the zenmuse)
5. Installed FPV setup (get a 250mw transmitter instead of what I did)
6. About to buy more batteries and install vision props (waiti for my original props to bite it)

 

[GreenMarine]

Great to see another Phantom v.1.1.1 owner (just bought mine today too!)...

kydan:

- Why do you recommend a 250mw FPV transmitter rather than the one that you bought (600mw according to your signature)??
- Are there certain batteries that just produce great results with the Phantom v.1.1.1? If so, what are the best brands, sizes and retailers?

Question for ANYONE: I saw that the new Phantom Vision+ has an update (or whatever it is) which prevents it from taking off when you are within a certain distance from an airport and limits you to a specific height at other times.
**as seen here on DJI's website** http://www.dji.com/product/phantom-2-vi ... us/feature

My Question is, since the Phantom v.1.1.1 is the newest Phantom 1, does it also receive the same capability as the Phantom Vision +? My initial thought would be "Yes" as it seems to have the requirements (GPS, Magnetometer, firmware)...

Thanks very much!

 

[kydan]

I bought my 600mw because I read a few posts that had positive reviews so figured I'd be set. Come to look after I received the 600mw, there have been several tests that prove a 250mw tx can be even better than the 600mw. Plus, the 600mw does not interface well at ALL with my Boscam RX-LCD5802. It gets a little fuzzy at a mediocre distance. Oddly my wifi at home gets knocked out too (I have a dualband 2.4ghz and 5ghz wifi so that makes sense when you think about it getting knocked out with the 5.8ghz tx).

The two best batteries I've seen taht don't require battery compartment mods are the Maddog 2700 mah (off 2dogrc.com) and the other battery off of viewtopic.php?f=29&t=15739.

The Phantom 1.1.1 firmware is not the same as the Vision +. You won't be limited from where you can fly from. Just be sure to read future firmware notes before upgrading. If the next one for the 1.1.1 does the limitation, I'll never upgrade it!

 

[Fishdawg]

Im looking into getting a DJI phantom but not sure if it is worth buying the Phantom 2 over Phantom 1?
I have a Gopro already so not looking at the vision. The Phantom 2 batteries are expensive so leaning towards a phantom 1.
Are the Phantom 2 features worth the extra money and will you use all the features?
I will be using it to film sports and motocross with gimbal and gopro. FPV would be nice but very expensive.
Any advice on my setup would be much appreciated!!!
Thanks,
Fishdawg

 

[kydan]

Im looking into getting a DJI phantom but not sure if it is worth buying the Phantom 2 over Phantom 1?
I have a Gopro already so not looking at the vision. The Phantom 2 batteries are expensive so leaning towards a phantom 1.
Are the Phantom 2 features worth the extra money and will you use all the features?
I will be using it to film sports and motocross with gimbal and gopro. FPV would be nice but very expensive.
Any advice on my setup would be much appreciated!!!
Thanks,
Fishdawg

I'd buy the phantom 2 non vision. Since you're filming sports and motocross you probably won't like changing the batteries every 8-10 minutes on the phantom 1.

Eventually you will probably want FPV so u have a better idea of what you are filming. It's hard to gauge what you are filming without it.