Not sure whats going on....Phantom FC40

[Viking1955]

Hi guys - new to the forum, and hope you can help.
I have just purchased the Phantom FC40 and had a gentle play around with it - how ever I have the following issue which I hope you can help with.

1) I live in the UK and I am unsure if the transmitter should be set to CE compliance (one beep once turned on) or FCC Compliance (Two beeps when its turned on - which mine currently does)
2) I flew it shortly the other day - all was fine but a gust of wind took it sideways into a garden bench which broke one of the prop guards and nothing else so it seems. It had gone through the start up sequence fine, and after that I went through the GPS location process and the LED flashed in the correct sequence for that as well
3) Downloaded the NAZA-M assistant to help set the transmitter and fine tune the 'copter but noticed that at start up ( ie transmitter on - battery pack in - connect up) the LED is flashing Three Red in quick succession and One Green and nothing else. The manual mentions not to connect to the PC until the 'start up' sequence has completed - but this has been sitting there with the three red - one green scenario for about five minutes and nothing else is happening.

I do not want to connect to the PC - and really not sure what to do as the manual does not seem to mention this sequence. I have even shut both down and fitted a fully charged battery to see if it was that - but no change.
I appreciate this will be under warranty should it be an equipment failure but unsure if the 'bump' has caused issues............. HELP PLEASE

Thanks
All the best

Viking(Quadcopter virgin !!!! :lol: :lol: )

 

[noiseboy72]

FCC is higher power level, so you shouldn't really use it but lots do...

Have you flown the quad since you crashed it?

I normally connect my P2 before I power it up, so I don't think you will damage anything by doing this. It will also tell you about some errors once connected.

Oh, and you might be best to remove the prop guards, as the cause more problems than they cure. They add weight, reduce thrust and increase the possibility of Vortex Ring State (VRS) - leading to sudden and unexpected rapid decreases in altitude...

 

[J.James]

"FCC is higher power level, so you shouldn't really use it but lots do..." the CE and the FCC power settings are a legality thing. I guess in Europe and other places they dont allow a tx to put out more then 25mw But FCC mode puts out 125 mw of power. and basically doubles your range. But a lot of people still use the fcc power mode as long as they dont care about any nanny state EU laws telling them what kind of fun they can or cant have.

The manual mentions not to connect to the PC until the 'start up' sequence has completed - but this has been sitting there with the three red - one green scenario for about five minutes and nothing else is happening.

The start up sequence is when you first plug in the battery and it turns on and you get the bleep bleep thing that it does and the rabid sequence of leds the first few seconds that its turned on. Tho you can plug in the USB before or after even and it will not harm any thing. you can even turn it off and back on while its hooked up. such as when you up date it and it says to power cycle it.

and the red flash and the 1 green is because you are in side and its only seeing like 1 or 2 gps satellites. (i forget off hand what the count is based on how many reds and greens you see in the steady red red red green flash. Some times it will see more other times it wont see any gps satellites in side a building.

 

[landwomble]

Three red and a green means you're not picking up enough GPS satellites for a proper lock. Are you doing it somewhere with a clear view of open skies? Usually it's quick and under 30s but sometimes it can take a few minutes.

You should hook it up to your PC though. install the drivers, naza assistant and away you go. Main reason is you can enable IOC flight (home lock and course lock) on the left hand switch and return-to-home on the right hand switch. Also you can apply any updates that are available.

 

[J.James]

From the way I read the post it seems like he is getting the gps all good to go greens when out side and just was not getting them when hooked to the naza assistant. Which I am assuming is when inside.

But if getting even one green inside means the gps modules ceramic antenna more then likely survived the crash in to the garden bench. Cause when they bust you dont get any greens even in a nice clear open space

 

[Viking1955]

Thanks for the advice guys...... It appears you are all correct , I had the quadcopter inside to hook it up to the PC, and when I took it outside it took about 5 minutes I suppose to sort itself out.

I have now connected it to the PC through the NAZ thing software and set it up with the fail safe modes, return home etc.etc. the software is really good and really user friendly even for an old bloke like me.....

Not been able to fly it again as yet due to 60-70mph winds down here at the moment, and really need to take it to a field rather than my back garden..... Which I am hoping to do on Sunday this week.

I will give you some feedback either good or bad to be honest.

Thanks again - really do appreciate all your replies

All the best
Eric (Viking)

 

[landwomble]

Good stuff! I'm in windy Manchester and no chance of flying today:-(

 

[Viking1955]

As you may have seen, I'm in Dover on the South Kent Coast and it's mental down here at the moment high winds and heavy rain...Sunday is supposed to be better..... Fingers crossed....


Don't know if you guys have a copy, but there is some free software you can get for your smart phone or I-pad called
UK Air Space Avoid.

As the title says, it gives you all the areas you cannot fly your drone and obviously the areas you can.
Good geeky bit of kit... If you have not tried it have a go......