What is wrong with my phantom

[phantom pilot 3]

I have had a p3s for about 3 years. It has worked quite well until Just recently. When I am flying it it will not go above about 140 feet with out completely loosing the signal and returning to home. It also seems less stable while hovering. I am flying it in the same location I have for the past 3 years and it used to go to a height of 400 feet with full bars. Does anyone know what the problem might been or how to fix it?

 

[tcope]

Move to another location and test the distance.

 

[crash1sttime]

I have had a p3s for about 3 years. It has worked quite well until Just recently. When I am flying it it will not go above about 140 feet with out completely loosing the signal and returning to home. It also seems less stable while hovering. I am flying it in the same location I have for the past 3 years and it used to go to 400 feet with full bars. Does anyone know what the problem might been or how to fix it?

2 issues here

loss of distance is an issue with the standard, reason why most people sell them within a few months, its been suggested that the connectors inside the transmitter come loose, without access to another transmitter it would be hard to diagnose.

stability issue, run an IMU calibration, check the props arent damaged

 

[RunningWithScissors]

I have had a p3s for about 3 years. It has worked quite well until Just recently.

The question I want to ask is, has ANYTHING changed between when it flew well and when you noticed a problem? Updates? Crashes? Location?

 

[phantom pilot 3]

2 issues here

loss of distance is an issue with the standard, reason why most people sell them within a few months, its been suggested that the connectors inside the transmitter come loose, without access to another transmitter it would be hard to diagnose.

stability issue, run an IMU calibration, check the props arent damaged

I have a Mavic controller would it be compatible with a phantom?

 

[phantom pilot 3]

The question I want to ask is, has ANYTHING changed between when it flew well and when you noticed a problem? Updates? Crashes? Location?

No crashes but I have updated it several times.

 

[crash1sttime]

I have a Mavic controller would it be compatible with a phantom?

No mate, the Standard is standard WIFI and the Mavic uses OcuSynch tehnology

 

[crash1sttime]

No crashes but I have updated it several times.

Might want to try an earlier version of the app

 

[phantom pilot 3]

How do you downgrade it?

 

[phantom pilot 3]

On apple that is

 

[RunningWithScissors]

No crashes but I have updated it several times

Just taking a swag at this but, if it flew perfectly fine before you did any updates, and NOTHING else has changed, then the first area I'd focus on would be the updates. There have been anecdotal reports of Phantoms performing perfectly before updates, and then assorted problems appearing after the updates. I tend to see that as a possible "smoking gun". I'd suggest rolling it back to the version that worked fine to see if that's your problem before you attack any other potential possibilities. Just my two cents. Seriously, good luck.

 

[RunningWithScissors]

loss of distance is an issue with the standard, reason why most people sell them within a few months,

I might tend to agree with that statement, as the Phantom does operates on wi-fi based transmission and does offer less range as a result, but I know there are other issues that can and do contribute to poor range with that model. My P3S can and has outperformed the advertised range without any significant issues. I can routinely get 6000'+ before signal drops and RTH kicks in. My best personal distance was 9000'+. I owe much of that to only having done one initial update when I bought it 2 years ago. So, I'm very satisfied with that performance and have no plans to get rid of it. It's certainly no match for my P4 but, then, I don't expect it to be.

 

[captainmilehigh]

Just taking a swag at this but, if it flew perfectly fine before you did any updates, the first area I'd focus on would be the updates. There have been anecdotal reports of Phantoms performing perfectly before updates and then assorted problems appear after the updates. I tend to see that as a possible "smoking gun". I'd suggest rolling it back to the version that worked fine to see if that's your problem before you attack other potential possibilities. Just my two cents. Good luck.

Agree with downgrading the firmware. I’ve been running 1.5.70 for many years now with no issues. To help with signal I added a Itelite DBS mod, that gets me out way farther than I need to be. I don’t update the GoApp either. I’d suspect that the Birds firmware and the GoApp versions play off each other somehow.....but that’s just a guess on my part. Both of my P3S’s have the same 1.5.70 firmware and are trouble free. None of that GeoFencing garbage either. GoApp version I’m running now is 3.0.0

Good luck getting your bird back to it’s ‘old self’ [emoji106].

 

[phantom pilot 3]

Thanks. I will definitely try downgrading the firmware. Do you do that with DJI assistant or is it in the go app?

 

[crash1sttime]

. I can routinely get 6000'+ before signal drops and RTH kicks in. My best personal distance was 9000'+.

I would most definately have to see some kind of proof to believe that statement mate, there is no way the Standard gets that kind of distance, the DJI specs show
Max Transmission Distance FCC: 1000 m (3000ft)
CE: 500 m (1500ft)
(outdoors and unobstructed, aircraft's altitude at 400 feet (120 m)

your saying you can get double the distance and nearly three times on one occasion, call me a doubting thomas but im happy to be proven wrong

 

[captainmilehigh]

Thanks. I will definitely try downgrading the firmware. Do you do that with DJI assistant or is it in the go app?

Suggest you go to msinger’s site ‘phantomhelp.com’ From there, select P3S Standard section, go to “How to’s” .....and select “Firmware”. There you will see many tutorials explaining how to downgrade to various firmware versions.