Couple of questions for the more experienced...

Joined
Jun 25, 2014
Messages
13
Reaction score
0
That was a nice way of saying I'm a Noob...

I got my P2V+ about a month ago, and I have had a blast with it. This forum has been very helpful, but rather than spend hours trying to search for answers, I thought I'd just come out and ask.

(1) The MAN! Has anyone had issues flying above the 400' FAA guideline? Before I knew of this "guideline", I have been well above it. I would rather not go to jail and be raped....

(2) My video down link seems to go out often, or is "choppy". I've turned off all other signals in my phone, except WiFi, and I still seem to have issues. Suggestions?

(3) How often should I replace the batteries in my RC? I've had 3 return to home events within 1000' radius. It is a great feature, but I'm running out of clean underwear. I'd like to avoid it if I can.

(4) What can disrupt the RC signal? What is usually the cause...?

Just for fun, my first video of the Rio Grande in Albuquerque:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yhf_AqcHK8

Thanks in advance!

Michael
 
1 - The 400' limit is a guideline, NOT a law. I was 1500' up on my maiden flight, and half a mile+ the same night. Be aware of where you are and anticipate air traffic. I'd say the risk to aircraft from relatively rare Phantoms is dwarfed by the billions of birds navigating around the planet. ;)

2 - I don't have the video choppiness problem so I can't comment.

3 - Controller batteries, or Phantom batteries? The controller LED will flash red and it will exhibit an audible slow beep when you need to replace the batteries. The Phantom pack, if I recall correctly, was promoted as having 300 cycles. In the Assistant, checking the battery info will show the % of life. This isn't hard and fast though. Some will last longer, and some less. Li-Pos are odd and how long they last depends on how you treat and store them. Don't over discharge, don't charge them immediately after a flight. Allow them to cool a bit. Watch for bloat. If you start experiencing odd behavior (auto-landing when charge level is above your Level 2 Warning setting) then you may have an issue.

4 - I have not experienced issues with the RC signal interference. (Not to be confused with signal loss due to range)
 
Very nice video. MM, the only time I've experienced loss of signal is when I'm at 700 feet or above and I think I know why. Dirty Bird, can I ask you when you hit 1500' at about what angle was the Phantom to you? With 90 degrees being directly above. Thank you.

Best wishes,
J.
 
Directly overhead at 90 degrees...same for the 2600+' flight. I had the extender pointing straight up and the 5.8 ghz antenna parallel to the ground to maximize my signal to the Phantom..
 
You should paint a giant white circle with a "Q" inside of it on that custom landing pad that's in the yard!
 
Hey MM, I've been there! You were north of I-40 weren't you? That is about the same place I took this (below) four years ago. The river was cropped out of the foreground because my interest was the Sandias.

Strawberry-5a3a-2612x778_zps2865b47f.jpg
 
Yes, I was just north of I40 back in the Oxbow neighborhood. Best view in Albuquerque!

Thanks for all the help.

Just took it out for a test flight of my homemade sun hood, and the **** gimbal stays tilted. I just reloaded the firmware, and it didn't help. Any suggestions?
 
Looks like I may have fixed it...I removed the ribbon cable connection on the back gimbal motor and replaced it...must of had a bad connection.
 
By the way, you asked what interferes with the signals. This info may be of significance. It is from a cordless phone company regarding range (but very ambiguous because of all the factors affecting signals and range);

"2.4 GHz w/spread spectrum - 300 to 2000 feet
5.8 GHz w/spread spectrum - 300 to 2000 feet"

These are the newest bands that the cordless phones are using. So any time you are within a couple thousand feet of a housing area, you probably should be ready for interference.
 
After posting that, it occurred to me that another 5.8GHz or 2.4GHz might not represent an interruption, after all with multiple cordless phones in the same area, they don't interfere with each other (primarily because the 5.8GHz band has a lot of space for separate channels. The higher the frequency, the wider the relative communications space - and more channels (frequencies) available. Bottom line, don't take my input as gospel.
 

Members online

No members online now.

Forum statistics

Threads
143,066
Messages
1,467,358
Members
104,935
Latest member
Pauos31