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I'm new to flying drones and bought a used Phantom 3.
It's operating fine hovering around in the yard.
I want to calibrate the compass and set the RTH point without attaching it to a phone before this thing takes off for a point in another state.
Does anyone know how to do this on the Phantom 3?
Watched a lot of youtube videos and see no reference to it.
The Phantom 3 controller doesn't have the toggle switches in the same place as the Phantom 2.
If the "Aircraft Indicator" lights blink green, as the manual says for phone app use Flight Test (pg. 47), does that mean the Home Point has been recorded where I am, or where the previous owner set it?
Don't want to find out the latter as I watch it sail off into the sunset.
Thanks for helping a newbie.
 
I'm new to flying drones and bought a used Phantom 3.
It's operating fine hovering around in the yard.
I want to calibrate the compass and set the RTH point without attaching it to a phone before this thing takes off for a point in another state.
Does anyone know how to do this on the Phantom 3?
Watched a lot of youtube videos and see no reference to it.
The Phantom 3 controller doesn't have the toggle switches in the same place as the Phantom 2.
If the "Aircraft Indicator" lights blink green, as the manual says for phone app use Flight Test (pg. 47), does that mean the Home Point has been recorded where I am, or where the previous owner set it?
Don't want to find out the latter as I watch it sail off into the sunset.
Thanks for helping a newbie.
There's a phantom 3s online manual which explains everything or we be here all day writing it,,,everytime you turn drone and remote on a home point is set,your phone or device just confirms all this info,,also you sort of need device conected to app for some settings especially RTH height ,because obstacle height vary you can change to have a safe return,,strongly suggest reading this manual more than once so info comes without thinking or a panic attack,,
 
Without attaching the phone or the tablet you can fly it by a visual contact, but you won't see any data that's necessary.
It is impossible to set up the RTH altitude as you can't see it on the screen. And you also can't input anything else as the RC has no input interface to do that.
Otherwise the question seems a bit unreasonable about not having a mobile device.
 
THANKS for the great info!
Shouldn't have a problem with the RTH altitude if I'm using it LOS in a big field.
Not taking pics with it, just flying for now.
Don't want to put the app on my current phone.
I'm getting an old phone activated to put the app on and use for this purpose, but want to practice flying the thing before I will get a chance to do so.
Realizing, as usual, this is a little more complicated than just charging the batteries and buzzing around the yard.
Will take Ian's advice and read the manual before I bu$t it.
Great forum!
 
There's a phantom 3s online manual which explains everything or we be here all day writing it,,,everytime you turn drone and remote on a home point is set,your phone or device just confirms all this info,,also you sort of need device conected to app for some settings especially RTH height ,because obstacle height vary you can change to have a safe return,,strongly suggest reading this manual more than once so info comes without thinking or a panic attack,,
HA!
Good info AND advice!
I have the written manual that came with it.
Is this the on line manual you recommend:


... or is there a more in depth one?
Thanks
 
Flying around just for practicing is OK until you're not further than 100m. As you've noticed it is not a big deal to fly Phantom as almost everything it does by itself. Once you'll get familiar with that, you can try to fly in ATTI mode. It is very usefull to know that beacouse phantoms can for various reasons automatically switch to this mode during the flight. It's a bit heavier as you must control the wind drifting (it won't hold the position in ATTI, it only maintains the algtitude). Start to practice that when there is very little wind or no wind. After that you can try with a bit stronger wind but do that in an open place without any obstacles. Enjoy it!
 
Flying around just for practicing is OK until you're not further than 100m. As you've noticed it is not a big deal to fly Phantom as almost everything it does by itself. Once you'll get familiar with that, you can try to fly in ATTI mode. It is very usefull to know that beacouse phantoms can for various reasons automatically switch to this mode during the flight. It's a bit heavier as you must control the wind drifting (it won't hold the position in ATTI, it only maintains the algtitude). Start to practice that when there is very little wind or no wind. After that you can try with a bit stronger wind but do that in an open place without any obstacles. Enjoy it!
Thanks Andy!
Still learning to not get my right and left crossed up when the bird is coming at me, so I have a ways to go before I'm any good with this thing. The days I got to fly it were very low winds in huge field so no problems with wind yet. I'm cautious because I have seen them operated where, once above the building, the wind was more than the drone could compensate for and the wind just took it. Didn't work out too well for his machine. I'll try what you recommended without the ATTI next time out. These things are a blast to fly!
 
maybe its his choice do you agree?
Thanks for sticking up for the liberties of others, JoBe, no matter how odd they may seem at the time!
I didn't want to put the Chinese app on my phone with all my contacts in it, but since then I found an old phone and use it just for flying these things.
It does provide a tremendous amount of info, and I do feel better about being able to set the max altitude on the screen since small aircraft are over my house quite often.
Do you suggest getting an iPad like I see you have to run these?
The screen on a phone doesn't seem like it will be sufficient for anything other than learning to maneuver the bird.
 
There's a phantom 3s online manual which explains everything or we be here all day writing it,,,everytime you turn drone and remote on a home point is set,your phone or device just confirms all this info,,also you sort of need device conected to app for some settings especially RTH height ,because obstacle height vary you can change to have a safe return,,strongly suggest reading this manual more than once so info comes without thinking or a panic attack,,
In case anyone with the same questions looks at this thread later, Ian is correct on all points.
RTH worked as advertised without the phone, returning to the last launch point.
As Ian and Andy said, you need the phone to set your RTH height.
Unless you are using it only in beginner mode (restricted range bubble) in an open field, you want to set these parameters or risk your machine eating a tree as it makes a bee line for the launch point.
 
Excellent, the more you'll fly the more confidence and skills you'll get.
About flying back to you facing the HP even with a few years of flying you can easily push the right stick into the wrong way. Nothing wrong if you're at open place but can be catastrophic in narrow places.
About the wind. You already know that the higher you go the stronger wind you get except if there is no wind at all. It is useful to have an application which shows you the wind speed at different levels. But the last decision must be yours and depends on how you fill about the weather in that moment. You can elevate the drone to a few m and observe how it can handle the wind.
But if you might fall into the strong wind the principle is - down, down(!) to the lowest possible height and switch into the sport mode.
Happy flying.
 
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Excellent, the more you'll fly the more confidence and skills you'll get.
About flying back to you facing the HP even with a few years of flying you can easily push the right stick into the wrong way. Nothing wrong if you're at open place but can be catastrophic in narrow places.
About the wind. You already know that the higher you go the stronger wind you get except if there is no wind at all. It is useful to have an application which shows you the wind speed at different levels. But the last decision must be yours and depends on how you fill about the weather in that moment. You can elevate the drone to a few m and observe how it can handle the wind.
But if you might fall into the strong wind the principle is - down, down(!) to the lowest possible height and switch into the sport mode.
Happy flying.
Yeah, the reason I am starting out with the less expensive Phantom 2 and 3 is a friend plowed his $3k machine into a tree line returning to his house an did just what you said. It didn't end well for the machine or his wallet.
Thank you for the weather/wind tips!
Been away from flying for a bit and can't wait to get back to it.
 

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