Polar Pro LED Kit Review

shockwave199 · Apr 12, 2016

I finally got a chance to fly these at night. Long time coming, lol! They work well at night- as effective as the phantom LED'S. I turned the Phantom reds off to see how the light kit did. As I said earlier, I put the red in the front and the white in the back to stay consistent with the phantom. The only thing I don't like is when the bird flies sideways out there for a while in front of me, I lose a good deal of any orientation light at all- just a hint of green in the back from the phantom. The phantom red LED's are down facing and do help with orientation when they are on, in most any direction the bird faces. Also at faster flying speeds the red glare from the light kit can wash up onto the bottom of the props and throw some red glare into the shot. This was mostly at faster full throttle flying. I was interested in this kit to help eliminate that very problem when videoing at night- that nasty red wash that can get into a shot up at the corners. I think this helps that at slower speeds. The trade off is a bit less orientation light at certain flight angles. I also prefer them steady on, not blinking. The brilliance of the LED's- the brightness- is there. That is great. I'm gonna see how I like them as I continue night flying.

NRJ · Apr 12, 2016

J0ck0 said:
i'm confused as to why they would put the white LEDs on the front with the existing red lights on the arms, and the red LEDs on the back with the existing white/yellow/green LEDs. it seems backwards.

Just turn them around, they fit either way. I too didn't want the weird mixture. I turned them around and they're fine. But I know what you mean by white. Can't figure it out.

Don Wilson · Apr 16, 2016

I bought a set of these LED lights. They are fun for short range flight in the dark, but I get a lot of radio interference from the wires to the LED paralleling the antennas on the aircraft. No lost signal with them off, lost signal with them on. The good part is they are super easy to remove when you don't need them. I just got lazy once and took a 1500 feet flight to the "boundary" and lost signal. Also the video was pixelating.

shockwave199 · Apr 16, 2016

Don Wilson said:
I bought a set of these LED lights. They are fun for short range flight in the dark, but I get a lot of radio interference from the wires to the LED paralleling the antennas on the aircraft. No lost signal with them off, lost signal with them on. The good part is they are super easy to remove when you don't need them. I just got lazy once and took a 1500 feet flight to the "boundary" and lost signal. Also the video was pixelating.

I haven't noticed that ever happening.

What I really wish they had done is make a mode that allows only white on or only red on. That would be very useful to have. Lights on in the front of the phantom will create problems filming at night. The phantom handles this well with the ability to turn the front leds on or off at will. With the polar pro kit, you're stuck with them being on. However, since I installed mine reverse so the white color is in the rear, I very much like that extra light for orientation. I know I'd miss that. So, I'm gonna probably black out the front of the polar pro which for me is red and just keep the white on in the back. Or, I may try and re-orientate the front ones. I really think they'd be more useful for orientation lighting if they were positioned to be seen from the sides and not the front. That would be the ultimate for night filming.

Reed L · Apr 16, 2016

You might try mounting them on the bottom of the landing gear facing straight down or if you have the Polar Pro landing gear to mount them to, that would keep them off of the ground and should give you great orientation

Don Wilson · Apr 16, 2016

shockwave199 said:
I haven't noticed that ever happening.

What I really wish they had done is make a mode that allows only white on or only red on. That would be very useful to have. Lights on in the front of the phantom will create problems filming at night. The phantom handles this well with the ability to turn the front leds on or off at will. With the polar pro kit, you're stuck with them being on. However, since I installed mine reverse so the white color is in the rear, I very much like that extra light for orientation. I know I'd miss that. So, I'm gonna probably black out the front of the polar pro which for me is red and just keep the white on in the back. Or, I may try and re-orientate the front ones. I really think they'd be more useful for orientation lighting if they were positioned to be seen from the sides and not the front. That would be the ultimate for night filming.

You actually CAN mount them on the side. I accidentally did this when I first got them and NO INSTRUCTIONS. Then I figured how to roll them in the mount correctly. SO my dumb mistake allows you to get them on the side as you wish. But the hanging wires are indeed interfering with radio reception. Not only the red loss of signal warniong, but the pixel video.

shockwave199 · Apr 16, 2016

Don Wilson said:
You actually CAN mount them on the side. I accidentally did this when I first got them and NO INSTRUCTIONS. Then I figured how to roll them in the mount correctly. SO my dumb mistake allows you to get them on the side as you wish. But the hanging wires are indeed interfering with radio reception. Not only the red loss of signal warniong, but the pixel video.

Unless you see a consistent improvement with the kit off the bird, I'd say your signal and pixelation problem is from something else. It seems the legs on the phantom are rounded on the sides so it doesn't look like the lights can mount very well that way. I'll have to take a further look.

shockwave199 · Apr 17, 2016

So, I installed the reds on the front sides to see how this goes. I like this already because it creates a nice blackout in front of the bird and I will have orientation lights when the bird is flying sideways. Plus I get to keep those awesome white lights in the rear, which for me increases rear orientation brightness by a lot. This should give me very decent orientation coverage while keeping the phantoms red leds off. I'll try flying this shortly and see.

shockwave199 · Apr 19, 2016

^^^ Did a test video tonight. Side mounting the way I showed above completely solves any LED wash into video footage. Very, very nice. It's also really nice to see lights when flying sideways for orientation. The only time my bird looks dark now is when I'm nose in, but if that gets uncomfortable I can always pop on the phantom LED's on the front. If you just want to light up your bird more at night, these of course are great. If you need them more for orientation and producing clean video as well, It's more of a rig to get worked out and the way I have it now, I highly recommend to try if you need that.

DB4Tim · Apr 19, 2016

So you can turn the lights on the bird on and off????

DB4Tim · Apr 29, 2016

Hum Tough CROWD

li2099 · May 1, 2016

Just saw these today on B&H Video. Going to order them.

MasterBlaster · May 1, 2016

I ordered them some time ago and love them. I really like how much further I can see the bird at night now. I have tried various positions and each has their advantages. I even have flown with them angled down so you can see them from directly below. One recommendation I would make is to secure each light to each leg with one tie wrap for safety. Yes they snap on the legs, but for me they seem to snap off too easy for my liking. If one came off in flight, it would likely take the bird down. I saw in the pics above that others have used a tie wrap on each leg as well. For safety I am sure.
Since I have been flying with them I have seen posts on my neighborhood message board of sightings of strange lights in the sky....lol
I love them.
*I was at a BestBuy here in GA last weekend and they had a pair for sale next to the Phantom products. First time I have seen them there.

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johng724 · May 20, 2016

How do you snap the lights on? Mine keep sliding off in flight!!!

MasterBlaster · May 20, 2016

I can take a pic tonight if that would help.
I tie wrap mine for safety.
Lucky it didn't cause you to crash!

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shockwave199 · May 20, 2016

In my pics above you can see I use white gaffer tape. I even tape the module on the top of the bird. I think it's a must. If any one of those pieces comes off during flight it can easily be catastrophic.