Hello, would like to give my point of view on the P3P experience so far, as i started my journey using this amazing drone, i have set the following points as the things i learned during this period:
1- started with no break in process for my battery that eventually failed after 14 flights showing a huge gape 0.08+ on cell 1, not assuming that break in was the solution but after replacing my battery the new ones performed much better and still holding on after a breaking in process. ( 40 flights +)
2- zip ties on the arms of my phantom helped dramatically reduce the possibility of having stress cracks which, with a bit of care, never had so far. So yes zip ur bird well and this will help it absorb more vibrance and sustain hard turns/stops in flight.
3- balancing props, yes and yes again balancing props indeed is a small effort to avoid much stress on the arms/motors and helped me achieve so far long time flights with zero issues. My setup in du bro balancer + aluminium rod. From Amazon.
4- gimbal guard 3D made, have to thanks ebay user dwet6162 for his efforts and commitments producing lots of modes / accessories to maximise productivity and efficiency with the P3 setup, in general there's no dedicated effect for the guard itself but it is a great way to provide security for such a sensitive gimbal, mine did protect it few times during landings.
5- ND fliters from nicolas photography, also great product for the price you wont be able to tell the difference your self unless you try it, its an advice for those who never uses a filter, in my own experience the impact was surprising on a 3 stop fliter, and i had amazing results using it.
6- windsurfers DiY or 3D made, well yes as i first used it i thought the same way we all thought first, how much will it increase the range....? How can I tell if its really working well i have experienced it my self and i can say it worked well increasing right arround an extra 500 meter clear reception, on my 2000meter standard range. So a total of 2.5k meter clear signal decreasing to 3.5k but still acceptable.
7- turning off the ultrasonic sensor + camera, helped avoiding unwanted behaviors of the drone like the ones several mentioned ( drop downs and lapses in close range flights and low altitude ones) well for long range flights I had it always off.
8- carbon fiber spacer gimbal guard, got this one from a chinese store, but eventually worked quite well, I have ziped tide it also to the landing arms on my phantom and actually i realised doing helped a lot increasing structure integrity for hand catch landings, most of the time a single pilot is forced to catch it one handed from one side of the arms so this will contribute in some stress on the interior chassis causing some cracks next to the battery housing, this solved and in general feels much more stable while catching it one handed.
9- carbon fiber props, well i have replaced mine for the hell of it, the carbon ones for sure felt more durable and less bendable, but in performance i felt like the phantom fights wind better with faster forward speed in case of moderate winds, the only draw back is the flight sound, its noisier then the plastic ones. But actually recommend them for long range.
10- 25% was my dead line landings on mid range flights 1.5k meter range, i never missed this mark and this helped me preserve my batterys quite well, 2.5k meter was back at 15% to 20% with some media pauses.
11- always performed updates, after each one ( cold imu calibration), gimbal auto calibration, and one time compass calibration i always fly in a diameter of 30km so i never actually needed to calibrate it each time.
12- cleaned it every 10 flights from dust and sticky stuff.
13- one important thing is that i never flew it next to metals and other magnetic interference spots, always care not to calibrate it next to cars, and machinery even if it succeeded i never could have trusted it.
14- as for the transmitter always used it until the first battery light then fully charged, it lasts arround 7 to 10 flights usually.
So far that's my recap on some of the things I used to last that long with no issues hope it helps u guys out there, feel free to comment or advice, in the end its one big growing hobby that needs everyone's help and experience. Cheers
