Newbie questions and remarks

[djivinz]

Hi guys,

Just bought the 3 a couple of weeks ago, was itching to try it but I took time to read stuff and watch videos...

1/ I can't see the point of the simulator to be honest. Why does it need to be connected to the Phantom. Anyway. Nice to learn the apps, functions and controls but more skeptical about learning to fly with it.

2/ My plan is to make a video of a little waterfall. If I place myself on top of it, i'll have to take off, go towards the fall and go down, in terms of altitude, the Phantom will be lower than when it took off, any issue with this? I don't want it to cut the engine if he thinks he's on the ground. On RTH would this be tricky? I'd be tempted to take altitude and then RTH.

3/ Does it survive to a fall in the water?

4/ The built in SD is enough for a filial battery cycle in 4k or not?

5/ Landing gear and propellers can be seen on a lot of videos, how to avoids this?

6/ still don't get the difference between FPV and Follow mode of camera, you can adjust the view yourself, can't you?


I might go for a maiden flight tomorrow just to test, nothing fancy, excited and scared!

Cheers,
V.

 

[Meta4]

2/ My plan is to make a video of a little waterfall. If I place myself on top of it, i'll have to take off, go towards the fall and go down, in terms of altitude, the Phantom will be lower than when it took off, any issue with this?

No problem with negative altitude - makes no difference to the Phantom, and it knows it's still flying. It won't shut down because you have neg altitude.
Just watch out if you are blocking a lot of sky and so losing GPS satellites .. eg in a narrow canyon.

3/ Does it survive to a fall in the water?

No .. keep it dry

4/ The built in SD is enough for a filial battery cycle in 4k or not?

16GB holds about 30 mins of 4K video

5/ Landing gear and propellers can be seen on a lot of videos, how to avoids this?

No big deal. It's easy to avoid props and landing gear in frame.

6/ still don't get the difference between FPV and Follow mode of camera, you can adjust

Follow mode = smooth video
FPV mode = jerky video

Just make sure you do your early flights in a large, open area, well away from trees, buildings etc.
Obstacles like these are the number 1 threat to Phantoms.

 

[djivinz]

Thank you very much indeed.

I am struggling to put my phone as well on the remote. I push the button on the top right and pull the head of the support but it only goes up half a centimetre, shall I pull stronger? Scared to brake it

I will do all the firmware update before flying as well... Despite the horror stories.

Might buy a second battery as well to increase my flight time, I have hard the battery need to be cold before recharging, is that it? Basically with one battery this is only one flight on the morning and one flight at night.

I'll shoot nature and animals mostly. Nature in follow mode and then I begin to understand FPV, flying after a sheep could be fun in FPV

 

[N017RW]

Simulator allows testing of manuevers without the risk of loss.

It may not map perfectly into the real world but the overall action(s) can be observed.

My problem is the depth perception in the 2D graphics.

 

[rockydog]

The phone/pad holder should spring open when you push the button (about 3 inches) , you shouldn't have to pull it at all.
If you're on 1.1.9 firmware you would be daft to upgrade to 1.2.6,,,,,as you say, you've seen the horror stories!

(Chasing sheep doesn't sound like a good idea!).

 

[msinger]

2/ My plan is to make a video of a little waterfall. If I place myself on top of it, i'll have to take off, go towards the fall and go down, in terms of altitude, the Phantom will be lower than when it took off, any issue with this? I don't want it to cut the engine if he thinks he's on the ground. On RTH would this be tricky?

The motors will only shut off if you do a CSC or hold the left stick in the full down position and your Phantom stops descending for 3-5 seconds.

3/ Does it survive to a fall in the water?

It's not waterproof. If you do not crash in salt water, you should be able to dry it out and most (if not all) of the electronics will be in working order.

4/ The built in SD is enough for a filial battery cycle in 4k or not?

You can store about 2 minutes of 4k video per 1GB of memory.

5/ Landing gear and propellers can be seen on a lot of videos, how to avoids this?

The landing gear and props should only show if you're flying very fast or it's windy. In both scenarios, your Phantom will tilt which sometimes allows the props or landing gear to be in the camera's view.

 

[Dronebow]

Ok, I'll throw in my hat here too.

I was just in your boat. Brand new to this 'sport'. Prior to this $1k+ rig I had an X5C (about $50) and learned to fly that around pretty well. It's light and survived many crashes courtesy of me. I'm going to credit that experience a lot to helping me have some confidence with this P3. I'll also share that I let my brother fly the P3 and he has never flown anything. But before I did, I let him get used to the X5C. He crashed it several times and when he could hover and fly it around better I let him fly the P3. Made a difference I think.

BUT, this thing is very easy to fly. Landing can be tricky but it's not hard. Still I think this may be where accidents happen. Or flying into stuff.

I wouldn't upgrade the firmware. I was also advised not to and I did it anyway. Too much frustration. Yours is obviously very new so I bet it's fine.

I agree, wide open fields for first flight. Do all your pre-calibrations. IMU and Compass will be important. Don't be afraid to use the auto land feature if you arent' sure on the landing yet. But once you get it down you can land much softer on your own than the unit will. And HAVE FUN!! This is awesome!!

 

[MoreGone]

5) Fly backwards to avoid the props getting into the shot. When you fly forward, the craft tilts forward bring the props into the shot. Flying backwards will prevent this. I have never seen the landing gear in a shot but I am pretty new

 

[djivinz]

Thxs for the tip guys... Might try a maiden flight in the desert toorrow, it will be rubbish bit I'll share the video.

I must add I have flew a few times race stuff and flew more than a few times a real plane, so I hope this will prevent me to crash what is an expensive toy let's admit it...

 

[TAZ]

I am struggling to put my phone as well on the remote. I push the button on the top right and pull the head of the support but it only goes up half a centimetre, shall I pull stronger? Scared to brake it

There is plastic wrap around the top of the holder. Remove that..and you'll be fine. It isn't immediately obvious.

 

[djivinz]

It was not indeed... What a muppet...