Confused (a bit)

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I am going round in circles a bit trying to decide which drone to get.

Is the FC40 a version 1 phantom ?

What other than the battery / flight time /blades/range main difference with 1 and 2 phantoms. ?

Is there any performance / flight characteristics or big improvements that warrant the extra money other than above.

Those that have purchased the FC40 do you should have got the 2, if so why ?

For me FPV is one of the must have features.

thanks
 
I think the FC40 is a version 1, but it is an updated one with self tightening props, and the newer (higher) frequency.

I personally believe the Phantom 1 is the better buy and it's what I went with ($429 delivered next day @ B&H camera).

That being said, I've already upgraded a few components. Got a spare 2700mA battery ($24), another memory card ($5), Flytrex ($50), another mount ($11), and an SJ4000 ($100).

I "think" I'm still ahead of the game, but I was able to do my mod's to what suited me best. I'm probably going to pick up a wifi extender as I only get about 300-500' with the current setup, so in the end maybe it would have been better to go with a Phantom 2, lol.
 
Thanks

Yes I have been looking at all the add ons and it takes it up close to the P2 price.

I am going to ponder it a bit more I think.
 
I got the FC40 for $499 at amazon.com. I thought it was the best deal.

It uses 5.8 Ghz for control and 2.4 Ghz for the camera. The normal Phantom 1 uses 2.4 Ghz for control and some people add FPV video with systems that use 5.8 Ghz for the camera.

You can put a GoPro on the FC40, and I have made a bracket that lets me use a GoPro and the stock camera at the same time.

The range of the camera depends a lot on the sensitivity of the phone or tablet device you use with it. My iPhone has pretty short range, my Kindle Fire has a range of about 400 yards with the camera.

The reported range of the FC40 itself is 500 yards, 300 yards for the camera. The Phantom 1 has a much longer range for control and no camera.
 
Thanks

What range are you getting with the iPhone ?

I have an iPhone 5 which I would be using.
 
I did a test walking with my iPhone and the camera looking out of my porch window and could only get 200 feet before I lost my signal - a little over 65 yards. My iPhone has lousy reception on wifi.
 
The FC40 is a Phantom 1, and the vision is a P2.
If you're doing any video or serous stills, you'll need a gimbal and I don't think it works on the P1 / FC40
 
There is a lot of FC40, with gimbal. Here is my FC40 with Gopro, Gimbal (60$, with pitch tilt) and 4000mah battery.
DSC_6738_zps34b25e41.jpg
 
HeliTV said:
The FC40 is a Phantom 1, and the vision is a P2.
If you're doing any video or serous stills, you'll need a gimbal and I don't think it works on the P1 / FC40

Actually, there are many gimbals that work quite well with the Phantom1.
 
HeliTV said:
The FC40 is a Phantom 1, and the vision is a P2.
If you're doing any video or serous stills, you'll need a gimbal and I don't think it works on the P1 / FC40


Using a Zenmuse H3-2D with Hero 3+ Black on a FC-40 - no problem. Also able to use WiFi control any time I need to.

The 3+ let's me shoot 1080p@30fps while taking a still every 5 seconds; I am unaware of any difference in a GoPro performance between a P1 and P2.
 
darwin-t said:
The reported range of the FC40 itself is 500 yards, 300 yards for the camera. The Phantom 1 has a much longer range for control and no camera.


Is that 500 yards in CE mode? I've gone almost 3 times as far (LOS) before it stopped hearing the controller and went into FS. I'm using FCC mode.

The camera i don't like very much. The recordings are quite nice, but as for using it for FPV i found it disappointing. So now i've got a dedicated FPV system fitted to it. Much better in usability and range.
 
I recently bought the FC40 from Maplin in the UK (£370 / $500). I would have ideally bought a Vision 2+, but as someone new to the hobby, I couldn't justify the price.

I've been very pleased with the FC40 so far, and think it represents excellent value for money. I've been able to buy two extra batteries (£15 / $20 each) to give me around 30 minutes flight time. Bear in mind that the custom batteries on the Phantom 2 models are very expensive. I have to land to swap the batteries, but that's no problem.

The camera is good enough for hobbyists, but wouldn't be good enough for professional use, but I can always upgrade the camera if I feel the need. At the moment, I'm still trying to work out how to fly well enough to make interesting videos, so a better camera wouldn't help!

For beginners like me, I think the FC40 is ideal. You can find out whether you enjoy the hobby without spending $1000 up front, and as far as I can see, with the exception of the long-life battery, you can always upgrade to give you almost all of the capabilities of the P2 models.
 
FCPhantom said:
There is a lot of FC40, with gimbal. Here is my FC40 with Gopro, Gimbal (60$, with pitch tilt) and 4000mah battery.
DSC_6738_zps34b25e41.jpg

How much flight time are you getting with the 4000mah if I may ask?
 
Is that 500 yards in CE mode? I've gone almost 3 times as far (LOS) before it stopped hearing the controller and went into FS. I'm using FCC mode.

on mine fc40 when it was in CE mode and the trim pot all way to the right I was abel to get about 420meters. When I swithced it in to Fcc mode threw the rc assistant was able to get out past 700 meters flight range. with the stock antenna. But now that I swapped that out with a better antenna i got 1450 meters (1585ys or just over 9/10ths of a mile. ) last night. and it could of went further because it never lost the signal from the transmitter..

The camera i don't like very much. The recordings are quite nice, but as for using it for FPV i found it disappointing. So now i've got a dedicated FPV system fitted to it. Much better in usability and range.

Ya the wifi range sucks the big one. But is very dependent on what is being used to receive it. My smart phone drops out at about 200 meters. inless I use a repeater and that still only gets me out a bit past 300m or so. BUT my kindle fire with an ap installed to let me use the video ap I can get video till about 350 meters. as long as I'm not trying to use the repeater. with it its limited to the repeaters range of about 300 meters. tho if using a directional panel antenna and a signal booster between the repeater and antenna I can get about 450m FPV. But its to much stuff for so little gain and such short range. My next attempt is going to be to one or both of two options first on is to add an external antenna connector to the kindle and try it with it hooked to a better antenna and the signal booster. directly in to the kindle.
and the other option is to tap in real antenna in to the camera which has a very very crappy and poor designed antenna. That is so poorly designed that I think some one spent a lot of time and effort to make sure it was not going to cause any competition with any higher end models. Or some one got the list of what not to do to make a good antenna and some how in translation thought it said how to make a good antenna. Tho it don't think it was by mistake. Because it seems to be the cameras only real limiting factor when I was poking around inside it and looking at some stuff they filed with the FCC



The camera i don't like very much. The recordings are quite nice, but as for using it for FPV i found it disappointing. So now i've got a dedicated FPV system fitted to it. Much better in usability and range.
 

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