Waiting is finally over....

Speedmeister · Nov 20, 2017

I received my P4PO over the weekend. I had a chance to fly the bird in beginner mode for 31 minutes with 2 charges. It was a stable flight out of the box. No firmware update taken and no calibration done. Camera gimble checked and no humming sound detected. I have not taken any video footages yet. Gradually checking and learning the flight modes. I’m using iPad Pro 10.5 with latest IOS 11 and DJI GO 4. The screen is viewable in direct sunlight. I can read the flight information with no problem. I’m currently only flying VLOS so all I’m looking at are flight info. I’m doing all my testing in my front yard. Self limited to how high and how far to fly. DJI GO 4 warns me that I’m within class C airspace.

Seawolf · Nov 20, 2017

What did you use for a mount for the iPad?

Dirby · Nov 20, 2017

re set your coumpas.

John Locke · Nov 20, 2017

Dirby said:
re set your coumpas.

I think you mean "calibrate your compass".

This is a good thing to do when you get your new drone, but make sure it's done outside in an open field. After that you shouldn't have to calibrate again. Even when prompted to calibrate, be skeptical. Just move your launch location, as many times that's all you need to do to get away from any magnetic disturbances like metal in concrete or other metal nearby.

Speedmeister · Nov 20, 2017

Seawolf said:
What did you use for a mount for the iPad?

No external mount needed. It snaps in at the maximum height setting. The pressure from the felt tape on the mount keeps the ipad in place.

Speedmeister · Nov 20, 2017

John Locke said:
I think you mean "calibrate your compass".

This is a good thing to do when you get your new drone, but make sure it's done outside in an open field. After that you shouldn't have to calibrate again. Even when prompted to calibrate, be skeptical. Just move your launch location, as many times that's all you need to do to get away from any magnetic disturbances like metal in concrete or other metal nearby.

It hovered rock steady. If it needed calibration it would have exibited some drifting. I try hovering again today and see if there are any changes. I will open up pmode and try it at same location.

John Locke · Nov 20, 2017

Speedmeister said:
It hovered rock steady. If it needed calibration it would have exibited some drifting. I try hovering again today and see if there are any changes. I will open up pmode and try it at same location.

It's very possible your craft is OK without calibration, it's just good practice to calibrate when you get it, and also to become familiar with the process. What you will see with a bad calibration is the craft won't fly exactly straight, facing exactly forward, it will act as though it's flying a bit sideways. The craft typically won't prompt for a calibration unless the two compasses don't agree with each other for a period of time. So if both compasses are identically out of sync from a calibration in China, the craft may act strange, flying slightly sideways. A poor compass calibration has nothing to do with hovering stability, unless you totally lose both compasses somehow, which can happen, but rarely. In such a case of losing your compass, you will be notified in the screen you have lost your compass, if it were to ever happen. This results in automatically switching to ATTI mode, and you'll be drifting in the wind. Also, without a compass the craft cannot auto-RTH as normal, because without a compass it can't find it own way home. GPS is not enough, it needs a compass too.

As a beginner it's advised to learn to fly in ATTI mode so you feel competent. Do this in an open field you can get use to how the craft responds with no braking, drifting with the wind, etc. This will prepare you for the unexpected, if you ever lost your compass and ATTI is all you have.

Speedmeister · Nov 20, 2017

John Locke said:
It's very possible your craft is OK without calibration, it's just good practice to calibrate when you get it, and also to become familiar with the process. What you will see with a bad calibration is the craft won't fly exactly straight, facing exactly forward, it will act as though it's flying a bit sideways. The craft typically won't prompt for a calibration unless the two compasses don't agree with each other for a period of time. So if both compasses are identically out of sync from a calibration in China, the craft may act strange, flying slightly sideways. A poor compass calibration has nothing to do with hovering stability, unless you totally lose both compasses somehow, which can happen, but rarely. In such a case of losing your compass, you will be notified in the screen you have lost your compass, if it were to ever happen. This results in automatically switching to ATTI mode, and you'll be drifting in the wind. Also, without a compass the craft cannot auto-RTH as normal, because without a compass it can't find it own way home. GPS is not enough, it needs a compass too.

As a beginner it's advised to learn to fly in ATTI mode so you feel competent. Do this in an open field you can get use to how the craft responds with no braking, drifting with the wind, etc. This will prepare you for the unexpected, if you ever lost your compass and ATTI is all you have.

Thanks, i will keep this in mind.