Hi everyone,
I thought I would share my experiences with you as although I am new to the Phantom I have had lots of experience with 250 size FPV quads and decided to dip my toe in the water with a second-hand P1 back in December.
Within an hour I made sure the P1 armed and at least wanted to take off by setting it up indoors but not flying it - all was good! The weather here in the UK hasn't been good and with the short daylight hours and work commitments I knew I wouldn't be able to truly test it for a good few weeks (months actually!), so I invested in a used 3-axis gimbal, an upgraded potentiometer and knob for the transmitter along with self-tightening 9" props and taller landing legs.
Physically fitting these wasn't an issue, getting the gimbal to work correctly was a real pain but it now works fine and the independently made control knob/pot is a dream, seemingly much better and harder wearing the the original (now unavailable) lever for the back of the transmitter. Currently I have an SJ4000 camera in the gimbal which seems to be pretty good for the money, the next step is to fit FPV to the P1 via the live video-out feature on the camera and a 25Mw Tx mounted nicely in the shell somewhere.
Interestingly, when I connected the P1 to NAZAM the other night to check settings, it gave me an instant alert saying that my transmitter settings were out of range - panic! When I checked the throttle/aeleron/rudder commands, the rudder wasn't being recognized at all so I had to open-up the transmitter and check for faulty connections etc. Not sure exactly what was wrong but when I re-assembled it and checked again it worked fine, the only problem was the drone wouldn't arm..! An advanced IMU calibration sorted the issue but I will have to keep an eye on the rudder control in case it's a fault that comes back mid-flight.
So - all this before the P1 has even truly been flown! From starting with a second-hand drone and buying the bits off EBay (total cost so far less than £230 including the P1) to being where I am now - about to start flying!
Seems to me to be a great way to start with DJI products and I have gleaned so much info from this site I just wanted to let people know my progress so far and to say thanks to all who have posted. Happy flying!
I thought I would share my experiences with you as although I am new to the Phantom I have had lots of experience with 250 size FPV quads and decided to dip my toe in the water with a second-hand P1 back in December.
Within an hour I made sure the P1 armed and at least wanted to take off by setting it up indoors but not flying it - all was good! The weather here in the UK hasn't been good and with the short daylight hours and work commitments I knew I wouldn't be able to truly test it for a good few weeks (months actually!), so I invested in a used 3-axis gimbal, an upgraded potentiometer and knob for the transmitter along with self-tightening 9" props and taller landing legs.
Physically fitting these wasn't an issue, getting the gimbal to work correctly was a real pain but it now works fine and the independently made control knob/pot is a dream, seemingly much better and harder wearing the the original (now unavailable) lever for the back of the transmitter. Currently I have an SJ4000 camera in the gimbal which seems to be pretty good for the money, the next step is to fit FPV to the P1 via the live video-out feature on the camera and a 25Mw Tx mounted nicely in the shell somewhere.
Interestingly, when I connected the P1 to NAZAM the other night to check settings, it gave me an instant alert saying that my transmitter settings were out of range - panic! When I checked the throttle/aeleron/rudder commands, the rudder wasn't being recognized at all so I had to open-up the transmitter and check for faulty connections etc. Not sure exactly what was wrong but when I re-assembled it and checked again it worked fine, the only problem was the drone wouldn't arm..! An advanced IMU calibration sorted the issue but I will have to keep an eye on the rudder control in case it's a fault that comes back mid-flight.
So - all this before the P1 has even truly been flown! From starting with a second-hand drone and buying the bits off EBay (total cost so far less than £230 including the P1) to being where I am now - about to start flying!
Seems to me to be a great way to start with DJI products and I have gleaned so much info from this site I just wanted to let people know my progress so far and to say thanks to all who have posted. Happy flying!