before i lose ANOTHER one

[heredium]

Im still trying to get a feel for the fc40, namely, the max distance laterally and vertically. without setting limits, how far/high can i fly it, and when it reaches the max, does it just fall out of the sky?

how do i read live/post flight altitude?

 

[J.James]

Im still trying to get a feel for the fc40, namely, the max distance laterally and vertically. without setting limits, how far/high can i fly it,

The max range is about 800meters out of the box give or take 100 or so depending on slight variations in the manufacturing process for the antennas and the remotes output power as well as conditions were you are flying. So mileage will vary as they say.

and when it reaches the max, does it just fall out of the sky?

not inless you run out of battery power. You can set a max range away from you and the from the home point and also can set the max height in the software..When you hit the set distance or height it just will not let you fly past it. But if you go out of range of the transmitter and it loses signal it will go in to fail safe mode and try to return to home. Providing its got enough battery power left to make it all the way back. and you can also set a battery level trigger were it will just try to auto land its self if the battery gets to low. which in some ways is good cause it can land its self and if you ever get lucky enough to find it again if it ever auto lands some place you can see it or not over water at least it wont be busted.

how do i read live/post flight altitude?

unfortunately There fc40 dont have any OSD(on screen display) or any way to send you any flight data. With out haveing to add a bunch of stuff like an Iosd module and some kind of an fpv transmitter along with a camera and monitor that will work with what ever system you were to add. and useally most fpv systems use 5.8ghz to transmit the video and the osd info. Tho in the fc40's case that also happens to be the frequency the fc40 uses for its flight control so You either have to find a 2.4ghz video transmitter and a receiver. OR you need to swap the fc40s remote controller and also the control receiver board to be 2.4Ghz like a phantom 1 uses. (basically you would be converting it to a phantom 1if you swap the remote and the receiver to be able to work on 2.4ghz control signal.

If that is the case you would be better off to just get a p1 being they are cheaper then the fc40s Tho if you were going to buy either with the intent of dropping a few 100 more just to get the stuff you would need to have osd as well as a camera and monitor and all the other stuff its a heck of a lot cheaper to just buy a Phantom vision and will also have a much better system right out of the box. and also twice the flight time per battery then even a stripped down p1 or fc40 and actually more then 2x the flight time of one that is loaded down with lots of add ones. and some other features the p1s fc40s and p2s dont have even even if you add a bunch of stuff.

 

[IflyinWY]

Welcome to the forum heredium.
Seemed like you asked a short question but got a long answer. Get used to it, there are very few short answers when it comes to the Phantoms. Whenever you're lucky enough to get an answer from J.James, you should take the time to understand everything he touches on.

The only thing I could add is the P2 seems to be having issues these days with it's "so called" smart batteries. They stop working and the bird plummets to earth. That being said, if folks keep selling the P2 for less each day, I'll probably get one and take my chances.

My FC40 is almost bulletproof. I've beat the daylights out of it and it keeps on ticking. I really like it but the added features of the P2 are very attractive.