This is gonna be fun! (Distance tests)

[SZNJ732]

Every model has their own redeeming qualities and right now I have most of them and have modded them! If I crashed a different one all this week and was only left with one, right now, I would hope it would be the standard.because I'm having the most fun with it right now. It's the model the I expected the least out of, that's why took me so long to get one because I had no interest in it. But it is proven to be a very challenging but worthy aircraft.

yeah i agree! i feel like with Adv or Pro model its not as much fun to mod, its easier to get better distance because of lightbridge.
standard is more challenging and im having a great time messing with it.
I use my Pro if i just want to buzz around and grab some nice 4K footage, and its really a pleasure to fly because its more stable and no interference BS,
and i use Standard to experiment and mod etc, plus if i lose it i wont feel so bad ( i mean i would still cry quietly in my pillow for days and give it a proper closed casket burial at my drone cemetery),
but i would be more upset if i lost my Pro.
So this Standard/Pro combo is perfect for me for right now.

 

[Mark The Droner]

lol this is a great thread

Now I want a p3S

 

[dirtybum]

lol this is a great thread

Now I want a p3S

You would be impressed Mark, they are underrated machines.
But its the dji model that flytrex DOES NOT support[emoji41]

 

[Mark The Droner]

Hmm. So you just fly naked?

 

[dirtybum]

Naked as a jaybird, and I do not like it one bit. Obviously being that far out on a Wi-Fi machine can get a little sketchy!The only comfort I have is knowing that I've strapped on a battery that can go the distance if it were to need to come back home all by itself really slow[emoji41]

 

[Mark The Droner]

Yeah it's the really slow thing that worries me.

 

[dirtybum]

Its nice when you lose your app/signal & can flip open the flytrex app & actually fly home w/ that map if you really need!

Or in my case this morning, it was too windy to fly any distance runs so I decided to fly a signal run with the P3P, go out past 10 miles and see how my signal strength is, knowing I would have to autoland in a safe crop field, it was real convenient to open up the flytex app, go to last seen and watch my phone literally walk right up to its downed location. On top of that the fact that it still showed that I had a live flight after it auto landed let me know that it landed fine and safe and was just sitting out there waiting for me[emoji41]

 

[Mark The Droner]

Yeah the flytrex app is awesome. I've even used it to fly with. It's a range-free connection! What's cooler than that?

 

[BeauS]

I do wish the PIII shell wasn't so **** hard to crack open. I can pop open a P2 shell make adjustments and put it back together before I even have the top off the PIII shell

Dude you kick ***, your results back it up. I'll post some pics of my updated setup, should have it done tonight.

I can't wait for the 15 turn to get here, so you're at 18,600 with the 15 turn and FPVLR V2 so far? Hopefully it will work for me!

 

[dirtybum]

Dude you kick ***, your results back it up. I'll post some pics of my updated setup, should have it done tonight.

I can't wait for the 15 turn to get here, so you're at 18,600 with the 15 turn and FPVLR V2 so far? Hopefully it will work for me!

This is : 15 turn for control and that FPVLR (V-1) for wi-fi, I have the V-2 , but the V2 half helis use (1) lhcp&(1)rhcp and since the 15 turn is in RHCP stacked right above them I thought it be best to keep it separate. Although it would be interesting to try it with the V2!
That day I lost signal at 18,000, with that set up, but that flight path is really disruptive for signal. So I'm waiting for calmer days to try it on a different flight path.
For example I took my P3P on that path this morning and between 15 and 19,000 feet, right where I lost signal standard , I was getting disruption with the light bridge . I fought my way through it and once I was past 20,000 feet I had full signal out to 53,000 feet! So it is obvious that flight path has some interference from the two cell phone towers and one water tower I fly right next to between three and 4 miles.Will let you know when we test it in a better area [emoji41]

 

[BeauS]

Hey dB, does my two 2.4's use just lhcp do you know?If not just test it out with the 15 turn and see how it flies?

Long Range kit for P3Standard - FPVLR

 

[dirtybum]

It's hard to tell from the picture, but it looks like the 2.4 Half helis are both left hand on yours and the 5.8 his right hand. When you're looking straight at, it like staring down the barrel of a gun, starting at the tip of the barrel,which way to they spiral down, to the left or right

 

[SZNJ732]

so i had a pretty interesting flight last night. it was at night around 1am. Very calm night, almost no wind, forecast showed maybe 2-3mph from the south.
i flew in the same direction as the day before.
so i get to 20,270', at that point im at 69% battery, but my wifi signal begin breaking up, so i turn around and go home and then lose wifi signal for about a 1-2 minutes..
i then get the signal back, i look at my screen and see that im still 17,000' away from home with only 55% battery left!! And im maxing out at 17mph!!! No matter what i do i cannot go any faster!
so i give it full gas and begin to drop altitude, but im scared if i go too low i will lose signal again and will have no idea of where i am or whats goin on and have no alt/speed readings.

i realize that there is no way im going to make it home.
So i get to about 1,700 feet from home and 10% battery left, and the "critical low batt-a/c landing now" message comes up. Great!
Im looking at the map and see that im passing over our local cemetery and about to go into heavy residential area.. So i decide , fk it, im not gonna make it home and i dont want to crash-land on someones roof or fly thru someones window, im gonna have to land now. so i stop, back up a little, and let it auto land right in the middle of the cemetery. I grab my flash light, jump in the car and drive over there to get my bird.. I run thru the cemetery in the middle of the night with a flashlight in my hand, i see my bird upside down, lights flashing. i pick her up and run home.
I get home and inspect her and she seems fine, no damage, just some dirt on props.

Now im trying to understand what happened here... It was the exact same flight and same weather/wind as the night before. How can 2mph wind slow me down so much, to 16-17mph?
Maybe i got caught up in a jet stream or something... but how do you plan for that?
Just yesterday i wrote how i wouldn't get upset if i lost my standard. I take it all back!
I also wrote something about burial and drone cemetery, and that same night i land where? At the cemetery. Weird..
I really gotta hook up the extra batteries to give me some confidence in long distance flights.

 

[dirtybum]

Just by the speed #'s alone my first impression is wind shifted and you had it all wrong and thats not an insult because certain times of day the wind shifts completely in the matter of an hour! It could be the time from when u pop open which ever resource you use to check wind to the time it takes you to walk/drive out and get setup. But the fact that you was goin out over 30 and back under 20 is a sure indication you were fighting wind !

Also download klm file on HD via google earth and see what happened on the way down cause unless it hit a power line, clipped a tombstone or caught a tree branch it should not be on its back in that smooth of an area!! Unless power shut off 15 feet up

 

[SZNJ732]

Just by the speed #'s alone my first impression is wind shifted and you had it all wrong and thats not an insult because certain times of day the wind shifts completely in the matter of an hour! It could be the time from when u pop open which ever resource you use to check wind to the time it takes you to walk/drive out and get setup. But the fact that you was goin out over 30 and back under 20 is a sure indication you were fighting wind !

Also download klm file on HD via google earth and see what happened on the way down cause unless it hit a power line, clipped a tombstone or caught a tree branch it should not be on its back in that smooth of an area!! Unless power shut off 15 feet up

no you are absolutely right pal. i learn something new every day lol.
i checked the weather right after i got home. UAV forecast reported 5mph head winds at 400ft.
it just hard to imagine that 5mph would slow me down like that. lesson learned. i usually try and plan my flights so i dont come up short and avoid emergency landings.
and its just recently that i started getting to 20K and beyond, so never really had that problem before.
on the way down a clipped a tombstone unfortunately. i feel bad and this was just an accident. gotta be more careful in the future.

when you get to 10% and come up short, what do you do? try and get as close to home as possible or look for a place to land right away?
Generally how far can you go once you get to 10%? i know its cant be far, but its possible to squeeze out a few more feet?
I dont really have any place to practice near me, but this something thats good to know in just in case.

 

[dirtybum]

Yeah, I knew you must've clipped something to be on yer back w/ that smooth grass[emoji41]
Heres a good example on my last run cause I landed at my feet @1%. So you see what kinda distance you can do! Its stressful & you have to steady up on the ascend stick bout half way to maintain altitude but you can usually pull off a mile. In your case my first thought was "he coulda made it" but it was in the dark and its harder to guide in on autoland in the dark even when youre used to it[emoji41]
When its completely clear that there is no way your gonna make it to your feet, you have to make a emergency landing, most the time if you would just be realistic and sensible instead of being frantic,
you will be able to land it in a clear safe place , camera facing down, a nice smooth slow autoland[emoji41]

 

[SZNJ732]

View attachment 50815
Yeah, I knew you must've clipped something to be on yer back w/ that smooth grass[emoji41]
Heres a good example on my last run cause I landed at my feet @1%. So you see what kinda distance you can do! Its stressful & you have to steady up on the ascend stick bout half way to maintain altitude but you can usually pull off a mile. In your case my first thought was "he coulda made it" but it was in the dark and its harder to guide in on autoland in the dark even when youre used to it[emoji41]
When its completely clear that there is no way your gonna make it to your feet, you have to make a emergency landing, most the time if you would just be realistic and sensible instead of being frantic,
you will be able to land it in a clear safe place , camera facing down, a nice smooth slow autoland[emoji41]

No effin way! A mile! wow, yea im a tool. i could've def made it then.
I've read about people landing at 1%. just not to clear about that 10% to 1% a/c behavior.
When i got to 10%, in my head it was a 50/50 decision.
a part of me thought- go for it. there is a baseball field next to my house. can land there.
the other part- dont do it, play it safe. its my first time coming in 1,700' short at 10%, im 130' high, and there are a bunch of houses & roads coming up, what if i cant maintain altitude long enough to clear them.. she gonna start descending and will def clip a roof or two...

so i stopped, backed up a little and let her autoland herself. i pointed the camera down but it was pitch black and i couldn't see a thing.
thanks for sharing the screenshot, now i have a better idea of what i can expect.

 

[Mark The Droner]

DB what do you have your critical battery / auto land set at? Mine is still default 15% which I'm thinking might be too high.

 

[dirtybum]

Both critical and warning are as low as it can be set. You can keep the stick up to keep from landing but it chews on battery power thats why its best to be already up above 300 ft when critical hits. Then it can coast down a little on its own.

 

[dirtybum]

You did the right thing this time NJ, if your gut has ANY doubt at all then ALWAYS play it safe and fly again later. Plus I was goin 33 mph you was goin under 20[emoji41] big diff!