Back in the Saddle...

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So after having P1 and a crash. I sat on the fence for awhile. Looking at buying a P3S soon. Any issues to be aware of? has the fly away issue disappeared or diminished.

Any other gear I should get ;)
 
Most important piece of gear if you buy a P3S: the P3S owner's manual. I'd guess that people who read and comprehend the manual before going out and trying for distances will be much happier and less prone to episodes of unanticipated flight drama.

Make the DJI Go app your best friend. Study on it well. Understand home lock and course lock. Understand how RTH works and make sure your bird's return path is obstacle free below your RTH height.

Good flights,
 
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You guys had manuals with the P3S??

All I had was a 2 page leaflet with pictures, nothing really informative, but I figured it out easily.

Other than that, have extra batteries and have fun.

I have the P3S and a P3A and for the money the P3S is an awesome buy.

Even stock, the signal is great within LOS distances and battery life is better than my P3A.

You might however get an aftermarket smartphone/tablet holder to replace the stock 'arm'. It is too flimsy and weak to support anything more than a smartphone.
 
Price wise it was my choice to get back into a unit compared to my missing P2 V+ I bought the P3s in August in a hurry to help me look for the missing. I am now just getting to fly it after sending for repair.

The reports of different distances of the remote control signals is crazy. Be prepared of having to send it in. Amazon did not have these units when I bought mine. I would have returned it and bought another because it failed in two weeks.

Just did a test, I got 3800' when RTH triggered I was at 270' I have no problem with that test!

I bought a Marco Polo, I will never fly with out it. Very impressed with my testing, would saved my a lot of grief.

RC Model Tracking and Recovery - Pet Tracking Made Easy | Marco Polo The Pet Tracking System
 
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Happytreefriends, can you give me a link to where I can find an iPad mini mount for my P3S?

Thank you
 
Price wise it was my choice to get back into a unit compared to my missing P2 V+ I bought the P3s in August in a hurry to help me look for the missing. I am now just getting to fly it after sending for repair.

The reports of different distances of the remote control signals is crazy. Be prepared of having to send it in. Amazon did not have these units when I bought mine. I would have returned it and bought another because it failed in two weeks.

Just did a test, I got 3800' when RTH triggered I was at 270' I have no problem with that test!

I bought a Marco Polo, I will never fly with out it. Very impressed with my testing, would saved my a lot of grief.

RC Model Tracking and Recovery - Pet Tracking Made Easy | Marco Polo The Pet Tracking System

Rod, if you could humor me, can you show how your device is mounted on your RC when you achieved that range? I'm wondering if people's vastly differing range results with the P3S could be a product of wifi interference between the RC and device, and RC and copter.
 
Rod, if you could humor me, can you show how your device is mounted on your RC when you achieved that range? I'm wondering if people's vastly differing range results with the P3S could be a product of wifi interference between the RC and device, and RC and copter.

I am confused the Marco Polo is tracking device, I have done nothing with the replacement unit. I just did a distance test.
 
I am confused the Marco Polo is tracking device, I have done nothing with the replacement unit. I just did a distance test.

Sorry I wasn't clear, i meant whatever device you run the DJI Go app from; smartphone, tablet, etc.
 
Sorry I wasn't clear, i meant whatever device you run the DJI Go app from; smartphone, tablet, etc.

Asus ME173X Tablet, its is the only thing I have to operate the P3s. I was under the impression that my Ipad II would work same as it did on my P2. Not impressed with screen compered to the Ipad. Have not had time to price or look for what I am going to go with.
I am hoping to borrow Ipad Air from a friend Sat-Sun.

Signal distance would have nothing to do with your device.
 
Signal distance would have nothing to do with your device.

Correct, the device itself does not, in a perfect world. Let me explain what i'm driving at here...

The display device you are using connects to the controller via 2.4ghz WiFi. The controller then connects to the copter via 5.8ghz for control and 2.4ghz for video downlink. The theory i'm trying to establish here is that the mobile device design and the orientation of the device on the controller can all impact the RF performance of the system.

let's start with purely blocking theory. Because of how the mobile device mount orients your device on the controller, it's easy to obstruct both the 5.8ghz aerial antenna and the 2.4ghz patch antennae inside the controller. For example, if i hold my phone 10 feet from my router, i can run repeated speedtests that usually land +/- 5% of eachother. If i grab my windows surface tablet and space it two inches from the phone, between the router and the phone, my results become more erratic, ranging from the same to +/- 20%. There's no black magic in the P3S controller setup, it's susceptible to the same types of interference.

Couple the RF blocking with interference from your mobile device constantly searching for 2.4ghz and 5.8ghz networks, RF and EMF from poorly shielded electronics, etc, there's huge potential for the phantom RF system to be impeded. If you're using something larger like a 7 or 8 inch tablet, assuming you hold the RC parallel to the ground, with the phantom directly above you, you basically have an 8-inch RF-emitting metal plate obstructing RF signal to the copter.

The point i'm trying to make here is that these are important variables to keep in mind while evaluating and attempting to maximize the range of the P3S. One user very clearly noted that his range doubled when he removed his device from the mount and had someone else hold it, which all but confirms my theory.

Sorry for hijacking your thread with this, i'll post it elsewhere as well, but i think it's something the community should look out for and try to mitigate as best they can for best performance.
 
My wife was holding the device about three feet to my left, It has no cellular and wasn't in airplane mode.
 
I am also sorry for taking over the thread. I had made a Windsurfer antenna trying to test my bad unit. I tested it last night, wife was not at home, so I had the tablet on the remote. Flying the same direction I got 7200' distance at 330' altitude before RTH triggered.

IMG_1218.JPG

Battery had one light second was blinking when it landed, it had a head wind on the way back, I could only tell by the sound. Five more minutes it probably wouldn't have made it back.
 
Am I wrong...doesn't the aluminum foil go on the concave (valley) side? That just looks like cardboard on yours and foil on the other side. Wonder if that is a little secret?
 

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