Old newbie learning to fly

[Olduffer]

Hiya all
Well, just got my new fc40 this last week, and I've had it out a couple of times, and it was fun! Dang thing takes halfway decent videos too. Now , heres where you all can help an Olduffer like me out-lol.
I have 3 questions I need advice / help with.
1. When I take it out quite a distance, I lose orientation of which way it's facing, traveling. Is there a trick to help with keeping visual orientation of the thing when you can barely see it?
2. I got the camera to link into my droid phone and lg tablet just fine, but quite honestly, fpv is about useless because I can't see the dang screen in bright daylight well enough to see what's going on. Any suggestions??
One more last question...I've been itching to turn the remote off to see if it really will come back to home point. How has that worked for you all??

Thank you very much for your replies and knowledge!
Olduffer

 

[sergekouper]

I don't want to be rude or anything, but all your questions have been covered, recovered, and re recovered..
I kindly suggest you search a bit the forum and you'll get all your answers.
Cheers.

 

[jerrymac12000]

If you have internet access, checkout the YouTube videos on the subject. Just enter FC40 quad. There are hours of video to watch. And when you get time try to read the FC40 forum. The short answer is if the quad is at least 30 feet in the air and 30 feet away from you and it the quad looses the signal from the transmitter, it will return to where it took off from.

 

[Olduffer]

Thank you for the replies.

 

[scole]

The short answer is if the quad is at least 30 feet in the air and 30 feet away from you and it the quad looses the signal from the transmitter, it will return to where it took off from.

are you sure about the 30 feet?

 

[Mandrake]

It its less than 30 feet ( 10 metres ) it will be in ATTI mode and should just land not RTH... M

 

[mb_guy]

Hiya all
Well, just got my new fc40 this last week, and I've had it out a couple of times, and it was fun! Dang thing takes halfway decent videos too. Now , heres where you all can help an Olduffer like me out-lol.
I have 3 questions I need advice / help with.
1. When I take it out quite a distance, I lose orientation of which way it's facing, traveling. Is there a trick to help with keeping visual orientation of the thing when you can barely see it?
2. I got the camera to link into my droid phone and lg tablet just fine, but quite honestly, fpv is about useless because I can't see the dang screen in bright daylight well enough to see what's going on. Any suggestions??
One more last question...I've been itching to turn the remote off to see if it really will come back to home point. How has that worked for you all??

Thank you very much for your replies and knowledge!
Olduffer

Save you some time:
1) I have painted my prop guards red. I also have an led headlight, even in bright sunlight you can see the bright spot.
2) I have made a sun guard (tube from black construction paper) to shield the glare
3) Most folks suggest you never turn off the remote, rather program the 3rd position to manual or return to home.

 

[jerrymac12000]

According to Colin Guinn (remember him), and several YouTube videos along with my tests. It worked for me. That's all I can say.

 

[mb_guy]

According to Colin Guinn (remember him), and several YouTube videos along with my tests. It worked for me. That's all I can say.

Hey, I with you on reading the manual and watching every utube you can find. I'm not about tempting fate and purposely breaking contact with the phantom when it's not a real occurrence. Read too much about fly aways.

 

[jerrymac12000]

That is understandable. I just did it to have a better understanding of the controls on the quad. I hate the panic mode should something really go wrong.

 

[Wedeliver]

Hiya all
Well, just got my new fc40 this last week, and I've had it out a couple of times, and it was fun! Dang thing takes halfway decent videos too. Now , heres where you all can help an Olduffer like me out-lol.
I have 3 questions I need advice / help with.
1. When I take it out quite a distance, I lose orientation of which way it's facing, traveling. Is there a trick to help with keeping visual orientation of the thing when you can barely see it?
2. I got the camera to link into my droid phone and lg tablet just fine, but quite honestly, fpv is about useless because I can't see the dang screen in bright daylight well enough to see what's going on. Any suggestions??
One more last question...I've been itching to turn the remote off to see if it really will come back to home point. How has that worked for you all??

Thank you very much for your replies and knowledge!
Olduffer

Old aye? I be 65 this year, I used to think it was great being born in the '40s but now I just feel old. Anyway I digress, arn't ya having a blast? Myself, having fun is great but the video is what makes me able to sell it to my budget and my wife. That I can now take pictures from an angle that formally was very expensive or impossible. Now is incredibly easy.
About your questions.. Part of my background is building models, so I took and painted my prop guards a bright red, and it does help. Otherwise I fly a little and see if I can tell which way it is going. Sometimes nothing works and I can't tell if it is getting closer or further away and that leads into your third question. When I do the calibration on the computer I set up IOC so in the field when I am worried that I am going the wrong way, I flip the left switch down and pull back on the right stick and she just comes back to me like it was meant to be. I have never tried failsafe, or turning off my controller but I did loose connection with my Phantom when it was at 770' I think my transmitter batteries might have been a little weak, but even though I could not control the quadcopter as far as direction etc, i was able to decrease throttle I think and she landed next to me.

so, there is my answer to your first and last question, now to being able to see the screen. I went and bought a Kindle Fire HD 7" and I made a cover (just like I had with my phone) and I can now see FPV much better. Before it was useless, now depending on shade, angle of the sun etc, I can fly just looking at the screen, which I did the other day as I followed my son as he drove around my property. No trees in that area and I stayed maybe 30' to 50' away from him.

Now, I also am in the process of addressing the issues I have like you. Such as where I am when I am flying, how much battery life is left, height off the ground, heading etc... So I have gone with building this
viewtopic.php?f=20&t=13890

and I am almost finished and think I will be testing it tomorrow. Why do I have prop guards, cause the darn thing likes to tip over sometimes and if it does, when taking off or landing, now there is no damage to anything.

 

[RedRyderMedia]

The issues you raised were the same ones I used to buy the P2V+ rather than the FC40 or another quad. The P2V+ does all those things. As for the screen and seeing the display, try using an iPad rather than a phone, and then get a Hoodi to shield the screen. You didn't say how old is old, but I'm pretty sure you're not even close to being the oldest on the forum.

 

[Olduffer]

Thank you all so much for your input and ideas. Will try some of them today. Wedeliver, yes you have me beat by 4 years. When I was a young boy, we lived on a farm and was dirt poor. I remember nailing some 2 x 4s together and making a plane, running around the yard like crazy with it pretending to fly-lol. My how times have changed!

Thanks again everyone!

 

[darwin-t]

1. I have the same problem. You can buy "headlights", basically bright LEDs, while or colored. Use Velcro to attach it to the battery door. You can stop it, let it hover and push the stick one way or another until you can see it move left or right. If it is far away, you may not be able to tell easily. Otherwise, try to keep it close enough to see which way it is pointing.

Another trick, if you have connected it to a computer, run Assistant program and turned on IOC, put the left switch in the center position (home lock) and pull the right stick toward you. In home lock, the quad moves the way you move the stick regardless of which way it is pointing.Pulling the right stick back always brings it toward you, pushing it left makes it turn left, etc. Home lock only works if the quad is at least 30 feet from home position.

One more trick is to turn off the controller, give it a few seconds to get ready to come home. Turn the controller back on and push the stick away from you. The quad turns to face home position to return home.

You can also set the right switch so the bottom position activates Return To Home. I like that better than turning off the controller.

2. Make a shade for your phone or tablet. Get some cardboard like a pop case or something similar. Measure the width you need, bend it at both locations, giving yourself extra room on both sides. Place the back edge even with the back edge of the tablet and angle the front edge up until you get it right. Make marks along the bottom edges of the tablet onto the flaps hanging down. Bend the flaps there and figure out what you need to cut off. Use Velcro to hold it on.

Even this doesn't help a LOT unless I turn the brightness up all of the way on my tablet.

Read the manual a couple of times and watch videos on Youtube. Search for things like DJI FC40 home lock, stuff like that.

 

[quadcopter]

Olduffer, this was posted the other day and is a good technique to getting your bird home. Don't stop asking questions because some posters know it all. I have tried numerous times to use the search engine on this site and to be honest it is sometime useless as wet toilet paper..

Check this out, makes perfect sense to help figure out orientation....

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=17052

 

[Olduffer]

Thanks again everyone. I did paint the front prop guards red(looks nice too) and read the post on orientation/flying it back home. Thats awesome info to have and to try.
I did successfully get the phantom to link to the computer and the software seemed to work, but I didn't change anything till I read some more. I could NOT however get the transmitter to link to the rc assistant. Tried everything I have been reading on here(change usb ports, cable, fresh batteries) still no luck. I get the audio beeps when I connect to computer, but the software simply won't pick the controller up. I does fly fine, no problem there. I'll keep reading to see if there is another solution.

Fly safe!

 

[darwin-t]

I wouldn't worry about linking the transmitter to the computer. Just be sure to have it turned on EVERY time you turn on your FC40. And remove the propellers when you turn it on when hoked to a computer. It is possible that it will decide to Return To Home and that is not something you want to happen inside. A guy nearly lost the tip of his thumb when it happened to him.

When you have the FC40 connected to the computer, look in the lower left corner. The blue "light" will be blinking if it is connected properly and your FC40 and computer are communicating.

Do you get one or two beeps when you turn on your controller? It should be two. If you get only one, turn your transmitter over. You will see 2 holes. If you look in them with a flashlight, you will see a "screw" in the bottom of each. These are actually adjustable resistors. Turn the one in the hole furthest from the antenna clockwise as far as it will go. The sets it to FCC mode, when has a higher transmitter output. They are normally set for Europe.

 

[IrishSights]

I can see which way mine is facing 100's of metres away. Dayglow orange works!
viewtopic.php?p=159088#p159088

Sent from my Galaxy Note 8

 

[Lonewolf]

1. When I take it out quite a distance, I lose orientation of which way it's facing, traveling. Is there a trick to help with keeping visual orientation of the thing when you can barely see it?
Olduffer

Watching youtube vids are most helpful.

One trick I've learned early on was when I lost orientation of my quad but was still pretty close to see it was to push or pull the 'fwd' or 'rev' stick and watch which way the quad moved in the sky. If I pulled the 'rev' and it moved right, I knew the nose was pointed left. Of course, this is when it was in 'PERFECT' N,S,E,W orientation. So it may be very difficult to see proper movement if it's pointed in an orientation of say, SSW. Now it would appear to be moving in a right 'rev' movement. But actually it would be moving NNE.

In a seriously lost orientation lowering altitude and using the HL (Home Lock) option will bring it back for you to be able to see it better.

Others have brought up very good suggestions such as the LED headlight. These are really good options and are very bright even in sunlight.