Should i fly my drone from home?

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Hey, I have Phantom 3 FC 40 (without any upgrades) and I wanted to know if I should fly the drone from the balcony to outside.
Once I tried to turn on the drone in the balcony and the LED indicator showed that below 5 satellites are found even thought when it'll be outside it will have a connection. I'm worrying that the GPS won't work well and the compass as well and as a result it won't be stable or will return to home in case of emergency.
Is the GPS issue is that a problem and do you think you should try to fly it from the balcony?
 
No.
 
Not to hijack but I did a fly through of my shop in a 100'X600' steel building with a special extra reinforced concrete floor. I noticed getting bumped around by wind passing a side door and some serious drift after I made it back around the building during landing. I got a "strong interference" warning, was that the building or the multiple big wifi routers and VHF/UHF radios the loggers next door use?
 
I would suspect the rebar in the concrete first

Maybe the half mile of 1" steel cables on the floor the other structural steel and tons of cast iron as well?

I have countless VLOS hours so i just flew instead of suggesting and letting the Phantom figure out my intentions, I would want to avoid automated modes int this setting though, right?
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Hey, I have Phantom 3 FC 40 (without any upgrades) and I wanted to know if I should fly the drone from the balcony to outside.
Once I tried to turn on the drone in the balcony and the LED indicator showed that below 5 satellites are found even thought when it'll be outside it will have a connection. I'm worrying that the GPS won't work well and the compass as well and as a result it won't be stable or will return to home in case of emergency.
Is the GPS issue is that a problem and do you think you should try to fly it from the balcony?

You pays yore money and you takes yore chances. BUT, NO, don't do it!
 
I've been flying from my covered deck for more than a year with no problems. I prefer using it because I have line of sight for miles. Below there are too many trees to see around.
My launch pad is an aluminum table that is next to a wrought iron railing. The aluminum is ok, but the wrought iron could certainly present a problem. In my case, it has not. I always confirm there are no odd readings before takeoff, then up and away from all the metal. I then reset my home point mid air for a clear landing area (remember it's a covered deck.) Upon returning, I hover in front of the deck and hand catch it. Easy peasy, hundreds of times. Never if it's windy though.
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I've been flying from my covered deck for more than a year with no problems. I prefer using it because I have line of sight for miles. Below there are too many trees to see around.
My launch pad is an aluminum table that is next to a wrought iron railing. The aluminum is ok, but the wrought iron could certainly present a problem. In my case, it has not. I always confirm there are no odd readings before takeoff, then up and away from all the metal. I then reset my home point mid air for a clear landing area (remember it's a covered deck.) Upon returning, I hover in front of the deck and hand catch it. Easy peasy, hundreds of times. Never if it's windy though.
View attachment 84401 View attachment 84402
LOS is key! Whatever it takes to get it! :cool:
 
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By the way, isn't the compass of all the Phantom drones that it uses for navigation is a gyroscopic compass?
if so than metal shouldn't effect it at all, unlike magnetic compasses that you are probably confusing with.
Balcony's are full of rebar, not a good idea, affect the compass.
 
By the way, isn't the compass of all the Phantom drones that it uses for navigation is a gyroscopic compass?
if so than metal shouldn't effect it at all, unlike magnetic compasses that you are probably confusing with.
Strictly magnetic, using Hall effect elements to sense the magnetic field. Gyro compasses such as used in manned aircraft are manually set to the magnetic compass reading. Gyros are used in manned aircraft because they fluctuate less in turns, etc. than do mag compasses. But they drift over time and have to be periodically reset to the mag compass. Not really a practical system for UASs
 
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