P3S - CAMERA - LEGS = FUN.

[drone-z]

Just did some experiements with my phantom 3 standard. I took off the camera and legs. I took it for a flight and it's pretty fun. It's like flying an RC Quadcopter. There is no more GPS and WIFI signal. WIFI signal is part of the camera for the P3S.

It's fun to fly, because it feels a bit faster.

 

[gvsukids]

Just did some experiements with my phantom 3 standard. I took off the camera and legs. I took it for a flight and it's pretty fun. It's like flying an RC Quadcopter. There is no more GPS and WIFI signal. WIFI signal is part of the camera for the P3S.

It's fun to fly, because it feels a bit faster.

Have a pic? I didn't think it was possible to fly the p3s without gimbal

 

[drone-z]

I found screws on the camera that gives access to the wifi antenna ports. The camera is also the wifi unit. I placed the antenna wires into the body of the birs. When I detached the camera I lost wifi signal with the bird, but I can still fly it. I dont take it far, because I dont know if it will RTH without being connected to the app. This makes for a nimble drone that can only bw flown LOS. Its pretty fun, but dangerous without the legs. I have to csc 3 inches from the ground to land it.

 

[RodPad]

If the bird is not receiving GPS it wouldn't know where it is or where RTH is.

 

[Procharged97]

Any pics? I'd like to see that!

 

[Phantomic]

Would be something like this?

 

[drone-z]

Yes, except I tucked my antennas into the body. I'm going to take her out for another spin.

 

[OrlyP]

The compass is in one of the legs. Did you also tucked it inside the shell?

 

[drone-z]

TBH, once you take out the camera, you've gutted the WIFI. For the standard, they are integrated. So, you lose GPS and many other things. It pretty much becomes a drone without a camera.

I'm been sensing that it lasts longer. The flights don't seem to drain as much battery. If I keep about 150ft from myself, there hasn't been a hiccup. That's nothing compared to 16,000ft I got in FEB, but if you don't have a camera and wifi connection to your phone, why do you even need it??

In any case, I've lost it, I'm living with it, but I have a plan. I'm thinking of taking the camera apart and placing the main board into the shell and connect it to see if wifi will be revived. Then I think I can get RTH back.

 

[Dronego]

Please keep us up to date with your progress. It's fun playing around to see what you can do with mods


Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots mobile app

 

[Procharged97]

Can you post a vid of it flying??..is it more nimble..faster?

 

[Phantomic]

TBH, once you take out the camera, you've gutted the WIFI. For the standard, they are integrated. So, you lose GPS and many other things. It pretty much becomes a drone without a camera.

I'm been sensing that it lasts longer. The flights don't seem to drain as much battery. If I keep about 150ft from myself, there hasn't been a hiccup. That's nothing compared to 16,000ft I got in FEB, but if you don't have a camera and wifi connection to your phone, why do you even need it??

In any case, I've lost it, I'm living with it, but I have a plan. I'm thinking of taking the camera apart and placing the main board into the shell and connect it to see if wifi will be revived. Then I think I can get RTH back.

I have already integrated the wifi transmitter from the gimbal inside my phantom 3 standard. If you want i can start a seperate topic and post all the pictures i've made during the mod, and give some info about the small problems you may encounter.

I started with this:

 

[N017RW]

If money is no object, look for a used P2.

Then you can have Manual Mode!!!

 

[drone-z]

I have already integrated the wifi transmitter from the gimbal inside my phantom 3 standard. If you want i can start a seperate topic and post all the pictures i've made during the mod, and give some info about the small problems you may encounter.

I started with this:

That's exactly what I needed to see. I was wondering if that bottom camera came off. Does this mean that you get gps coordinates on your dji app, but no camera view?

Also, did you put the legs back on? Landing it was pretty scary in manual mode.

 

[drone-z]

omg. I was stunt flying around my factory roof and I clipped the drone on a lamp post going high speed. It straight up looked like a frizbee in the air. It was spinning so fast. Then it dropped on sheet metal roofing. I brought it back with a large pipe I found. The battery partially came out. I turned her on and off she went. This thing is beast. I'm glad there was no camera on there, because the drone is GTG.

 

[Phantomic]

That's exactly what I needed to see. I was wondering if that bottom camera came off. Does this mean that you get gps coordinates on your dji app, but no camera view?

Also, did you put the legs back on? Landing it was pretty scary in manual mode.

Yes, the app keeps receiving and showing all the telemetry as it would normally do. Also you will be able to start the IMU and compass calibration, and that is not a bad thing either. Besides losing camera view, you also lose ability to upgrade the firmware because of the missing SD-card slot. But who needs new firmware when the old is working fine?

Originally my plan was to remove the legs, but i cancelled that out of fear of bad reception and not seeing a good alternative to place the compass free of disturbance.

When you want more pictures from the inside, let me know.

 

[drone-z]

Thanks for the offer. Please share what you have.

I'm interested in adding the wifi, but I've found that I enjoy my p3s at this moment. I think the absence of wifi saves alot of battery. I find myself flying it for 2 bars and I feel like I flown it for a long time. I'll record it to find out the truth one day.

Secondly, It put it against my p3p today in the air at different altitudes and let them drag race. It was alot of fun seeing both drones full speed ahead, but I saw differences in the p3s & p3p in terms of their flying style.

The p3s with no camera, gimbal and wifi was faster than the p3p from a dead stop. The p3s would continually gain distance. It was faster.

But, then you go forward and suddenly move backwards, the p3p is very quick and responsive. It moves in the opposite direction quickly. The p3s on the other hand looked like it was tokyo drifting 20 feet.

In any case, for some odd reason, now that I know my p3s is faster without the camera, legs, wifi, I decided to keep it that way. I'm also going to see if I can find a body that is smaller and transfer the internals over and keep it bare.

edit: of course, for science.

 

[Phantomic]

The wifi board is very light weight, and when build inside the shell it doesn't add to the air-drag everything external produces. It does use power (not sure how much) but i'm happy with the flight times i have now, from 100% to 15-20% gives me about 30 minutes.

I always fly my P3S in ATTI mode, so that may contribute to the lower power consumtion, since it doesn't actively airbreak when i let go of the sticks. Still i like the ability to turn it in GPS mode during flight to make it hover at one place, especially when it is already far away and almost out of sight.

All put together, i think the good points of having telemetry outweigh the bad, although my original idea was to remove the legs to get the true aerodynamic shape of the phantom. Also thought about adding real short ones to make landing a little easier, like this:

I will soon start a seperate topic about the complete mod, there is more to it you may think because of the limited space inside the Phantom 3 (S).

 

[drone-z]

The wifi board is very light weight, and when build inside the shell it doesn't add to the air-drag everything external produces. It does use power (not sure how much) but i'm happy with the flight times i have now, from 100% to 15-20% gives me about 30 minutes.

I always fly my P3S in ATTI mode, so that may contribute to the lower power consumtion, since it doesn't actively airbreak when i let go of the sticks. Still i like the ability to turn it in GPS mode during flight to make it hover at one place, especially when it is already far away and almost out of sight.

All put together, i think the good points of having telemetry outweigh the bad, although my original idea was to remove the legs to get the true aerodynamic shape of the phantom. Also thought about adding real short ones to make landing a little easier, like this:

I will soon start a seperate topic about the complete mod, there is more to it you may think because of the limited space inside the Phantom 3 (S).

Nice legs!!!! Custom?

Im always on atti, but yesterday nighy the gps locked on. I guess I dont need the wifi for GPS, but it isnt stable. Il going to begin dismantling the camera to place the wifi system inside. Afterwards, I will add the terminator dbs to my remote and do some range tests with the extended battery time.

 

[Phantomic]

Someone on ebay sells them. They are 3d printed, but the seller doesn't know if they will fit on the Phantom 3.

DJI Phantom Quadcopter Low Profile landing gear low skid