Phantom 2 advise?

[Baldrick]

Hey all,
I have enough money for a Phantom 4... but I won't buy another drone for a very long time (hopefully).
I have a Phantom 2, and it still works fine - I love it and it works with my GoPro3+ Black. The one thing I do not have is FPV. People have told me not to invest any more money into the P2, as it's on its way out. This is obviously true, but it is still just as great a bird as the day it released, so I personally think that since I cannot justify buying a new drone (I will spend the money on other things) I should buy the kit necessary for FPV?
Do you agree with me?
PS. If you ARE upgrading please tell me if you wish to sell any of your gear; I would buy second hand FPV kit as long as it is still mint. For example if your bird is smashed but the iosd mini is fine etc.

Thanks!

 

[cjac2879]

I just bought a used P2, and plan on upgrading it to FPV... Call me crazy but it will cost me less to turn it into what i want than it would be to buy a p4, and it flies great, and is very reliable.

 

[DroneGolfer]

When you say turning it into a FPV, are you meaning for use with an iPad, or with use for a Diversity/Black Pearl monitor where you can read all of the pertinent information for flying?

I just know this, I rather love my two P2's. Oe is a Ver.1 and the other a Ver. 2 and the Ver1 is awesome since I've upgraded it and started to learn to work on it thanks to this site! (Mind you I took that brave step on my own by fixing it after what looked to be a end of life crash!)

Right now, I'm picking up more stuff for this drone at clearance prices, that it would be stupid to try to either sell it or scuttle it for the P4, because you just know in 8 Months there is going to be a P4 Ver. 2 and then soon after that, a P5! I like the GoPro better then the DJI camera. I hate the fact that DJI has basically taken a bird that is less then a year old and made it obsolete for the customers who bought and are making parts unavailable due to a stop in manufacturing.

 

[Baldrick]

I just bought a used P2, and plan on upgrading it to FPV... Call me crazy but it will cost me less to turn it into what i want than it would be to buy a p4, and it flies great, and is very reliable.

Absolutely my thoughts! Glad I'm not alone


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[Baldrick]

Right now, I'm picking up more stuff for this drone at clearance prices, that it would be stupid to try to either sell it or scuttle it for the P4, because you just know in 8 Months there is going to be a P4 Ver. 2 and then soon after that, a P5! I like the GoPro better then the DJI camera. I hate the fact that DJI has basically taken a bird that is less then a year old and made it obsolete for the customers who bought and are making parts unavailable due to a stop in manufacturing.

Ah genius - I want black pearl diversity. Do you have any cheap links for items to go with? Immersion RC/iOsd mini etc?
PS CAN it be done with an iPad? Thought it had to be 5.8 frequency not 2.4 (the controller's frequency)



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[cjac2879]

Ah genius - I want black pearl diversity. Do you have any cheap links for items to go with? Immersion RC/iOsd mini etc?
PS CAN it be done with an iPad? Thought it had to be 5.8 frequency not 2.4 (the controller's frequency)



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I am interested in knowing this about the iPad too.

 

[Baldrick]

I am interested in knowing this about the iPad too.

Yeah because I have an iPad... But I do know that the best fpv is with black pearl and immersion rc and various other components.
I found a good video if you want to see it cjac

 

[cjac2879]

Yeah because I have an iPad... But I do know that the best fpv is with black pearl and immersion rc and various other components.
I found a good video if you want to see it cjac

Yes definitely. ..I was just doing some reading, and unless things have changed you can't do fpv on an iPad since both are on 2.4ghz

 

[Baldrick]

exactly. Here are 2 great links in order:
The parts:

The making:

 

[Baldrick]

Hey again! Can you guys please confirm this site? It's cheap and I think I'll be buying from them:
FlySight Black Pearl 7" FPV Monitor (5.8ghz, 32 Channel) - Without PSU
Does it look good? What is "Without PSU"? And at the bottom it says the sun hood now comes attached. I hope it's removable like other versions, because I don't want it stuck on.
Anyways, does that look reliable? And I should get 32ch not 40, right?...

PS. What's raceband? The much-more-expensive 40ch versions say they are compatible.

 

[jason]

Hey again! Can you guys please confirm this site? It's cheap and I think I'll be buying from them:
FlySight Black Pearl 7" FPV Monitor (5.8ghz, 32 Channel) - Without PSU
Does it look good? What is "Without PSU"? And at the bottom it says the sun hood now comes attached. I hope it's removable like other versions, because I don't want it stuck on.
Anyways, does that look reliable? And I should get 32ch not 40, right?...

PS. What's raceband? The much-more-expensive 40ch versions say they are compatible.

If you open the first video from IFTI'S (tech corner) in youtube and open up the SHOW MORE below the video he has links to all of the equipment you'll need.

Yes definitely. ..I was just doing some reading, and unless things have changed you can't do fpv on an iPad since both are on 2.4ghz

That is correct. You cannot use an iPad

 

[jason]

Hey again! Can you guys please confirm this site? It's cheap and I think I'll be buying from them:
FlySight Black Pearl 7" FPV Monitor (5.8ghz, 32 Channel) - Without PSU
Does it look good? What is "Without PSU"? And at the bottom it says the sun hood now comes attached. I hope it's removable like other versions, because I don't want it stuck on.
Anyways, does that look reliable? And I should get 32ch not 40, right?...

PS. What's raceband? The much-more-expensive 40ch versions say they are compatible.

Total prices for all that equipment back in 2014 came to £347.96 but probably less in today's market.

 

[Baldrick]

I got it all for less than £200


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[Baldrick]

Oh and what do you think is the best position for Immersion RC? Most have it so aerial comes out to one side of battery. I have also seen it going across the bird with aerial parallel to legs, and some people do internal install. What do you think? (Standard antennas for now but tell me whatever antenna)


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[jason]

Oh and what do you think is the best position for Immersion RC? Most have it so aerial comes out to one side of battery. I have also seen it going across the bird with aerial parallel to legs, and some people do internal install. What do you think? (Standard antennas for now but tell me whatever antenna)


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All the other equipment is inside such as mini iOSD and interference board.

 

[regdawg]

Hey all,
I have enough money for a Phantom 4... but I won't buy another drone for a very long time (hopefully).
I have a Phantom 2, and it still works fine - I love it and it works with my GoPro3+ Black. The one thing I do not have is FPV. People have told me not to invest any more money into the P2, as it's on its way out. This is obviously true, but it is still just as great a bird as the day it released, so I personally think that since I cannot justify buying a new drone (I will spend the money on other things) I should buy the kit necessary for FPV?
Do you agree with me?
PS. If you ARE upgrading please tell me if you wish to sell any of your gear; I would buy second hand FPV kit as long as it is still mint. For example if your bird is smashed but the iosd mini is fine etc.

Thanks!

I bought a used P2 back in October 2015. I upgraded to FPV and love it. I like the fact that I can use my GoPro's since I already have them. Not all of us have $$$$ of dollars to spend every year to upgrade each time a Phantom is released. I personally went with the P2 because at the time they had great deals on Ebay because the P3 was still new and popular. For me, I fly for fun. I shoot video of the kids at the park and stuff like that. Not looking to make money out of it. The P2 w/FPV set-up does what I like. Plus any phantoms after the P2 you can no longer use the GoPro anyway. I believe the Phantom's are just going to get more sophisticated and more expensive with all the new tech they'll add to it each year. I like my phantom simple. Besides, here in the USA, there's alot of noise about drones here with the FAA registration and the different laws/regulations that different cities have or will have in the future. At the end of everything, people might have to buy licenses to fly in only designated areas certain days of the week. Thats an exaggeration of course but it could happen.

I just got myself the DJI Osmo though. Been shooting with it the past couple of weeks and its pretty awesome.

 

[Baldrick]

All the other equipment is inside such as mini iOSD and interference board.
View attachment 49090 View attachment 49091 View attachment 49092

Thanks you drone photos are interesting. I will probably just install it all like iftibashir, but I might upgrade to mushroom antennas (probably actually) some time, and so may tie them to a leg?
PS. can you turn on Black Pearl THEN add antennas?

 

[jason]

Thanks you drone photos are interesting. I will probably just install it all like iftibashir, but I might upgrade to mushroom antennas (probably actually) some time, and so may tie them to a leg?
PS. can you turn on Black Pearl THEN add antennas?

Well it would better with the antennas installed on the monitor then power it on but it will not do any damage if turned on first then add the antennas

 

[Baldrick]

Well it would better with the antennas installed on the monitor then power it on but it will not do any damage if turned on first then add the antennas

That's good... So just the transmitter to worry about then!
(I'll be using the blackpearl as a monitor for not just the drone but also DSLRs)

 

[jason]

That's good... So just the transmitter to worry about then!
(I'll be using the blackpearl as a monitor for not just the drone but also DSLRs)

If your DSLR has a HDMI output the Black Pearl has an input for HDMI as well.