A little confused with LED and battery warnings/levels

[amrflyingdude]

Flying the Phantom vision spoiled me rotten when it comes to battery status, having the amount of battery left in % is awesome, now when I fly my P1 I am always confused.

Should I land as soon as I get the first level warning or I still have some more flying time on the battery? the reason I ask is because sometimes when I push (not necessarily hard) on the left stick to go up I get the 1st level warning but as soon as I level off or move the phantom around it goes back to green (normal).

What I have been doing is keep going until I get to the 1 level warning in steady flight.

Is that how it is meant to be interpreted?

 

[OI Photography]

The next few times you fly, when you get the first level warning bring it home but don't land...just hover at 6' or so and wait. You'll see the auto-land kick in at the 2nd warning, and you can just let it land or take over before it reaches the deck and finish however you wish. A few tests like that, and you'll have a fair idea of the best-case scenario for how much time you have left once you see the first warning.

Are you using the stock voltage settings?

 

[amrflyingdude]

The next few times you fly, when you get the first level warning bring it home but don't land...just hover at 6' or so and wait. You'll see the auto-land kick in at the 2nd warning, and you can just let it land or take over before it reaches the deck and finish however you wish. A few tests like that, and you'll have a fair idea of the best-case scenario for how much time you have left once you see the first warning.

Are you using the stock voltage settings?

Yes stock voltage settings.

I really want to have a better understanding of this, when should I start heading back once I start flying FPV? Is it safe to start heading back home on 1st level warning Or plan to be on the ground by the time 1st level warning kicks in?

By the way "OI Photography" I wanted to thank you for all the answers you have posted on all my questions here you are truly a resource!

 

[OI Photography]

It's my pleasure! I've found that helping others learn about something always enriches my own understanding of it.

Tell me this, will you be using an OSD when you fly FPV? If you use one that shows the system battery voltage (incl the iOSD mini), then as soon as you see that you've hit the voltage set in your 1st-level warning start heading back, but once you get it back to you, just wait a minute instead of landing it immediately. However much time passes between when you first hit that voltage and when auto-land kicks in (at the 2nd-level final voltage) is the outside range of the time frame you'll have to get it home on future flights.

If you use an OSD like that, after a few short-range test flights where you watch the voltages in real-time closely, you'll quickly get sense of how much time/distance you have left at various voltage levels. That's a much better way to be conscious of your remaining flight time than just waiting for the Phantom to remind you. Just takes some practice.

 

[amrflyingdude]

It's my pleasure! I've found that helping others learn about something always enriches my own understanding of it.

Tell me this, will you be using an OSD when you fly FPV? If you use one that shows the system battery voltage (incl the iOSD mini), then as soon as you see that you've hit the voltage set in your 1st-level warning start heading back, but once you get it back to you, just wait a minute instead of landing it immediately. However much time passes between when you first hit that voltage and when auto-land kicks in (at the 2nd-level final voltage) is the outside range of the time frame you'll have to get it home on future flights.

If you use an OSD like that, after a few short-range test flights where you watch the voltages in real-time closely, you'll quickly get sense of how much time/distance you have left at various voltage levels. That's a much better way to be conscious of your remaining flight time than just waiting for the Phantom to remind you. Just takes some practice.

Yes I will be using OSD. EZOSD is my plan (thoughts?)

I think that is a great idea, I will get back to you on this,

 

[amrflyingdude]

Well... If I was confused when I originally posted this I am now even more confused!

I went ahead and set my EZOSD Voltage alarm to the same number as the 1.1.1 1st level warning which is 11.3. Shorlty after Take Off the alarm went off on my goggles and the LED on my phantom was green so that was not the magic number. Then on my second battery I set the EZOSD alarm to AUTO and got to the level 2 alarm and the alarm on the EZOSD never went off.

What would be the right value for the EZOSD alarm and for me to bring the bird back and land?

With my current setup I flew 2 minutes before level 1 and outoland, so I know I have apron 2 minutes to come back. Finding that number is my struggle

 

[OI Photography]

I've run in to that with the voltage sensor on another telemetry system I use (FrSky)...what it reports and what the NAZA reports are 2 different numbers, which at this point I'm guessing has to do with their relative locations in the power chain.

The best way to get around it is to just do a couple of test flights where you have the Phantom in visual range, and see what voltage your EZOSD is displaying at the time the Phantom's LED starts to blink yellow (1st-level warning). Do that a couple of times, and the average number you end up with is where you should set the EZOSD's voltage warning.

 

[amrflyingdude]

I've run in to that with the voltage sensor on another telemetry system I use (FrSky)...what it reports and what the NAZA reports are 2 different numbers, which at this point I'm guessing has to do with their relative locations in the power chain.

The best way to get around it is to just do a couple of test flights where you have the Phantom in visual range, and see what voltage your EZOSD is displaying at the time the Phantom's LED starts to blink yellow (1st-level warning). Do that a couple of times, and the average number you end up with is where you should set the EZOSD's voltage warning.

Awesome Idea! Thanks again!