Battery vs distance p3p advice

[Tony Cowan]

Hello all. So I took my new p3p for a spin today and wanted to see the real comparison to my standard. I got 8k from same spot with my standard so I was thinking surely I will hit 20k with the pro. Then It happened. At about 12k feet out and 68% power left I got message battery is low. Come home. I could have kept going but I got chicken. Funny thing is. I had head wind going out about 15mph. Could only get about 31mph in speed. And I knew it would be tail wind coming back. Anyway. I just came back without going the distance as it was scared. It actually arrived back with 48% power. What gives? Is it because of wind ? How do I ignore this warning? Also on the return trip it was only moving 25mph on its own. So I hit the throttle and it got up to 39.1 mph. So it returned relatively fast. Any advice from the pros how I can achieve the 20k ft distance without being scared it will drop out the sky. I think it took off at about 94% batterie. I also used goggles the first flight so no flight log recorded with the fpv app. 2nd trip I used dji go app and also go 12k feet but got warning again. Not sure how to push it so far or maybe it was just the wind? Any advice welcomed.

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[Ed209]

You can cancel the return home. That is what we do when we know there is going to be a helpful tailwind. Just keep pushing further little by little. This will help you estimate and calculate your risk. For example, if you're flying out with a 10mph headwind, you know you can turn around lower than 50% because you're going to come back faster. That's why you landed at 48%. Also, depending on your firmware version, your speed might be locked to max 35mph in GPS mode. ATTI you will go faster but it's not always more efficient. ATTI is more aggressive angle and so more surface area producing drag when moving. It also sounds like you were letting auto RTH fly home for you. Don't do that because it does not fly at max speed. I think it goes 22mph. Take you time in getting comfortable. You will learn the conditions and how the bird handles in each. Always fly out against the wind. Always do some test runs with another battery first. I suggest flipping to ATTI during these tests to measure wind speed.

 

[shorttimer]

Congrats on your flight with your new Pro Tony. Glad it is working well and the weather is finally starting to cooperate.

 

[Air Ontario]

Do you have Smart Go Home toggled "on" in Go app?

 

[GadgetGuy]

Do you have Smart Go Home toggled "on" in Go app?

The advisory message can still show up with it toggled "off".
At least it did for me. Personally, I think there are still some undiscovered bugs in the DJI GO app where some of the toggles can display one setting, when, in fact, the other is actually still being used! If you discover this, toggling them on and off again usually properly resets them.

 

[Tony Cowan]

Do you have Smart Go Home toggled "on" in Go app?

Yes


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[Tony Cowan]

You can cancel the return home. That is what we do when we know there is going to be a helpful tailwind. Just keep pushing further little by little. This will help you estimate and calculate your risk. For example, if you're flying out with a 10mph headwind, you know you can turn around lower than 50% because you're going to come back faster. That's why you landed at 48%. Also, depending on your firmware version, your speed might be locked to max 35mph in GPS mode. ATTI you will go faster but it's not always more efficient. ATTI is more aggressive angle and so more surface area producing drag when moving. It also sounds like you were letting auto RTH fly home for you. Don't do that because it does not fly at max speed. I think it goes 22mph. Take you time in getting comfortable. You will learn the conditions and how the bird handles in each. Always fly out against the wind. Always do some test runs with another battery first. I suggest flipping to ATTI during these tests to measure wind speed.

When I started wind was 2mph. As I was testing it jumped to about 18mph next to water. I knew I could have went further. And I knew I had plenty of room. Just did not want to chance it as it was dark out. The 22mph was rth. But even with rth. I hit the throttle and got it up to 39 mph. Fastest i think was 41mph


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[Tony Cowan]

Congrats on your flight with your new Pro Tony. Glad it is working well and the weather is finally starting to cooperate.

Almost cooperated. It got windy fast as the sun went down. Yikes!!! The main thing was. I reached the island I was try to get to forever. I will for sure go early one morning and explore the island fast. My goal. Fly out there. Look around about 5mins. Then come back like the wind before battery is too low.


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[Hondo76251]

I can get about 17-19 min on a battery. That's what I use to determine how far out I can go. In no wind I can go out about 8 min and have 8-10 min to get back. Of course, it takes some practice to get good at guessing how the wind will affect your flight times. In a light breeze I can head into the wind maybe going 15 mph, but when I head home I'll be much faster. Just today I hit 61.4 mph coming back! lol Doesn't take long at all to cover distance at that speed!

 

[PrecisionAeroworks]

The advisory message can still show up with it toggled "off".
At least it did for me. Personally, I think there are still some undiscovered bugs in the DJI GO app where some of the toggles can display one setting, when, in fact, the other is actually still being used! If you discover this, toggling them on and off again usually properly resets them.

The dual HDMI out toggle does exactly that. And, toggling it on and off properly resets it.
Back to your regularly scheduled LD flight thread.
Nice flight, Tony Cowan.

 

[GadgetGuy]

Yes


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Turn Smart Go Home OFF, as it is way too conservative!
Instead, rely upon the remaining battery flight time at the top, and the time needed to go home, keeping them relatively close together, and use the battery percentage as a better gauge, using your past experience. Also keep an eye on the current distance from the Home Point so you know you'll always have enough juice to get home as the crow flies. Best to push the limits by flying circles around your launch point than flying long distance out and back.

 

[Tommymonkey]

Hello, Guys just done my personal best 20,800ft out so nervous coming back lol here the video

DBS mods and stock phantom battery.

 

[Tony Cowan]

Hello, Guys just done my personal best 20,800ft out so nervous coming back lol here the video

DBS mods and stock phantom battery.

Outstanding. Love how you did not waste time going high. Just went straight out. How did you get all this data on the. Video? Using dashware maybe? And how did you upload the video directly to the forum. Wow. This is impressive to say the least. 2 thumbs up


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[PrecisionAeroworks]

I saw you cross the Mersey, but not sure where you are? Whose Football stadium is that where you turned around?

 

[Tony Cowan]

Looking at your entire
Video. You are more ballsy then I am for sure. I would have been turned around. Your battery is red at70% power. Yikes !!!!


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[ddh1313]

What island Tony? Egmont? I started from the north side of ft desoto and had all the time in the world to explore. In fact it would have been an easy flight if not for one of those beach advertising planes pulling a geico insurance banner behind it at about 300 ft. That was fun not knowing where he was heading in relation to me.

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[Tony Cowan]

I will try egmont. So you had no issues flying from ft desoto ? When you say from north side. What part of the island were you. I went from the hidden beach on the actual skyway and made it to ft desoto. I guess I will drive there tomorrow and let it rip.


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[liketogethigh]

Hello all. So I took my new p3p for a spin today and wanted to see the real comparison to my standard. I got 8k from same spot with my standard so I was thinking surely I will hit 20k with the pro. Then It happened. At about 12k feet out and 68% power left I got message battery is low. Come home. I could have kept going but I got chicken. Funny thing is. I had head wind going out about 15mph. Could only get about 31mph in speed. And I knew it would be tail wind coming back. Anyway. I just came back without going the distance as it was scared. It actually arrived back with 48% power. What gives? Is it because of wind ? How do I ignore this warning? Also on the return trip it was only moving 25mph on its own. So I hit the throttle and it got up to 39.1 mph. So it returned relatively fast. Any advice from the pros how I can achieve the 20k ft distance without being scared it will drop out the sky. I think it took off at about 94% batterie. I also used goggles the first flight so no flight log recorded with the fpv app. 2nd trip I used dji go app and also go 12k feet but got warning again. Not sure how to push it so far or maybe it was just the wind? Any advice welcomed.

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When you compare the distance of a P3P to a P3S, how much further are you expecting to go? Twice are far? Further?

 

[Tony Cowan]

When you compare the distance of a P3P to a P3S, how much further are you expecting to go? Twice are far? Further?

No. Already proven it will go 3-4 times further easily.


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[ddh1313]

Tony, nope no problems at all from the park staff, just a few older ladies that apparently thought I was "spying on girls in bikinis" from 200 ft in the air. I wanted to show them the video feed to effectively disprove that but left it be. So after looking at the satellite it's actually the west side at the L bracket of the island. It was not very busy the day I flew so I went to the parking lot for the fishing pier and went straight out which puts you in a path for the light house and the fort a little further out. I guess there's some ruins in the water somewhere but I couldn't find them. I chickened out and landed with about 40% remaining but my normal rule of thumb is that if if I'm doing more than 35mph out I keep it within a 1/2 mile or so. I know my P3P will do almost exactly 32mph in no wind and GPS mode so any thing over or under that means unknown conditions in my mind. I don't subscribe to the "I'm going slow out so I'll come back fast" because in my experience that's not always the case. Depends on wind direction and how consistent it's being. Good luck.


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