Lets start by saying that I have been flying Phantoms for over 4 years - P1, P2, PV+ and P3A. Hundreds of hours, mostly trouble free.
On the P3 there have been no incidents in two years until recently. I was beginning to experience FPV lag, and thought I had it tracked to a faulty SD card - I'm on all the latest firmware.
I live by the sea, and there is a harbour nearby where commercial ships dock. Every day we have two ferries that dock morning and evening. I thought this would make a nice subject for a short clip. Tonight was perfect, lovely sunny evening - I could see the ship coming down the lough on my vessel tracker app so I got ready to go out and film. The plan was to fly out about a mile or more and film the ferry coming into port from behind, then return, change batteries and get it turning around in the harbour and reversing into the berth. Nothing too dramatic.
I chose a spot where I had flown from not two weeks ago but got a compass error when hooking up, so I moved away down the beach from the path I was on in case there was rebar under the concrete. Green lights and away I go. Flew out about 400m (1200') and the screen went black. Telemetry ok, but no FPV. So no way of framing up my video. RTH, then cancelled it and took her in manually, hand caught as usual.
Turned everything off and back on again and green lights again, so I thought, pity to miss the lovely weather so I took off again. By now the ferry was in the harbour and I got some great shots. A bit of FPV break up, quite a bit of red bar along the top saying signal disconnected, but it soon came back in again. I'm ou about 750m (2200') and at heights up to 200m (600'). Finished when the low battery warning sounded, turned for home and I landed again with no issues.
I have a second full battery, its a nice evening, so I thought I'd go a few miles away and film a short clip of an ancient church and graveyard that I have just discovered.
Take off with no issues, until I try to fly up and I get a warning that I have reached maximum altitude. Strange, on the last flight I was over 200m up. Ok, low level it is then. A bit of FPV lag, but it soon cleared. I set up a POI over a tower and that worked fine. Over I fly to the old church and I get a maximum distance reached warning. Now I haven't adjusted anything in the app since the harbour flight, the only difference is the battery. Same phone, GO app etc. So I land and try again.
Same thing, maximum height reached. I take it in and turn everything off and back on and try again. Maximum height warning again. I go into the app and switch on and off beginner mode, but same thing again, maximum height reached. I switched to an iPad that I have just updated Go on. It wouldn't even connect. Just sat there saying disconnected.
Back to iPhone 7 - and take off using Litchi. No height restrictions, great. Off I go back over to the church, but the screen goes black again. Take her back in and land. Switch everything off and back on again. Now she flies perfectly, no lag, no height restrictions, no distance restrictions and I get all the footage I want.
Really strange, I can't figure it out. Hope the footage is good!
On the P3 there have been no incidents in two years until recently. I was beginning to experience FPV lag, and thought I had it tracked to a faulty SD card - I'm on all the latest firmware.
I live by the sea, and there is a harbour nearby where commercial ships dock. Every day we have two ferries that dock morning and evening. I thought this would make a nice subject for a short clip. Tonight was perfect, lovely sunny evening - I could see the ship coming down the lough on my vessel tracker app so I got ready to go out and film. The plan was to fly out about a mile or more and film the ferry coming into port from behind, then return, change batteries and get it turning around in the harbour and reversing into the berth. Nothing too dramatic.
I chose a spot where I had flown from not two weeks ago but got a compass error when hooking up, so I moved away down the beach from the path I was on in case there was rebar under the concrete. Green lights and away I go. Flew out about 400m (1200') and the screen went black. Telemetry ok, but no FPV. So no way of framing up my video. RTH, then cancelled it and took her in manually, hand caught as usual.
Turned everything off and back on again and green lights again, so I thought, pity to miss the lovely weather so I took off again. By now the ferry was in the harbour and I got some great shots. A bit of FPV break up, quite a bit of red bar along the top saying signal disconnected, but it soon came back in again. I'm ou about 750m (2200') and at heights up to 200m (600'). Finished when the low battery warning sounded, turned for home and I landed again with no issues.
I have a second full battery, its a nice evening, so I thought I'd go a few miles away and film a short clip of an ancient church and graveyard that I have just discovered.
Take off with no issues, until I try to fly up and I get a warning that I have reached maximum altitude. Strange, on the last flight I was over 200m up. Ok, low level it is then. A bit of FPV lag, but it soon cleared. I set up a POI over a tower and that worked fine. Over I fly to the old church and I get a maximum distance reached warning. Now I haven't adjusted anything in the app since the harbour flight, the only difference is the battery. Same phone, GO app etc. So I land and try again.
Same thing, maximum height reached. I take it in and turn everything off and back on and try again. Maximum height warning again. I go into the app and switch on and off beginner mode, but same thing again, maximum height reached. I switched to an iPad that I have just updated Go on. It wouldn't even connect. Just sat there saying disconnected.
Back to iPhone 7 - and take off using Litchi. No height restrictions, great. Off I go back over to the church, but the screen goes black again. Take her back in and land. Switch everything off and back on again. Now she flies perfectly, no lag, no height restrictions, no distance restrictions and I get all the footage I want.
Really strange, I can't figure it out. Hope the footage is good!
