DJI Phantom Dealers

[motobtn]

Has anyone had any luck finding a decent one.
I went with ALl E RC, and really am not impressed with the owner Kirk.
Anyone else have any good experiences with another dealer. Location doesn't matter to me too much as I am in MN and we don't have any local dealers at this point.
Thanks!

 

[Adam]

I have purchased my Phantom and F550/Naza from Robert @ UAVProducts.com. No issues at all, and he has always responded to my emails.

 

[Sac D]

My guy is Mark Knirr at NetworkCameraSupply.com

They are new at the game as well... but he is very good about replying in a timely manner and in communicating with DJI. They are going to meet with DJI some time in the next month to discuss issues and problems that we users have reported. He's also going to advance my position that things like smacking the side of the Phantom to clear the "stuck accelerometer" or ERR(25) is a fix, but it certainly is not a long-term solution to that problem!

 

[MRSpyder2U]

The people at Atlanta Hobby http://www.atlantahobby.com/store/pc/home.asp are very friendly and knowledgeable, and have always gotten back to me quickly.

 

[motobtn]

Great! Thanks everyone, and I agree there are some things that need to get communicated to DJI.
To clarify, All e RC has been just fine for buying stuff, well all I bought so far was the Phantom, but their repair service is a different story. I just really didn't mesh with the guy, and then after saying it took 6 hours to change out the shell of my phantom, granted he only charged me for 4 hours @ $50 an hour since we had pre-agreed on a $200 limit, he wanted to be paid with a money order and won't accept a CC! Maybe I am out of line, but stuff like that just frustrates me.
Anyways, just looking for someone else who's personality maybe works better for me as I am new to the RC world and would like to form somewhat of a relationship with a dealer.
Thanks again!

 

[Sac D]

Since NetworkCameraSupply.com is so new at this, they don't do repairs so far. So that makes me wonder what will happen if and when that time comes...

 

[Gizmo3000]

Great! Thanks everyone, and I agree there are some things that need to get communicated to DJI.
To clarify, All e RC has been just fine for buying stuff, well all I bought so far was the Phantom, but their repair service is a different story. I just really didn't mesh with the guy, and then after saying it took 6 hours to change out the shell of my phantom, granted he only charged me for 4 hours @ $50 an hour since we had pre-agreed on a $200 limit, he wanted to be paid with a money order and won't accept a CC! Maybe I am out of line, but stuff like that just frustrates me.
Anyways, just looking for someone else who's personality maybe works better for me as I am new to the RC world and would like to form somewhat of a relationship with a dealer.
Thanks again!

It kinda seems that most dealers are either hobby stores with little tech knowledge, or they're small shops working out of garages of a sort and not too savvy with dealing with people returning products or needing them fixed.
My local dealer here in LA (dslrpros.com) doesn't even have a storefront,. (I wanted to stop by on my way home from work rather than wait a few days for delivery!). My experience with them has been so-so. I inquired about a replacement shell and was given a link by them to order it, charged for it, but only discovered later on that it was on backorder. But I will give them credit for selling me a slightly used shell after I inquired about the delay.

hate to put salt it he wound Motobtn, but your dealer kinda screwed you if all he had to do was swap/replace the shell.

Up until i got my Phantom I had zero copter experience and Zero RC experience.
tho somewhat ok with screwing and unscrewing stuff.
and it took ME less then 2 hours to swap the guts of my damaged Phantom into a new shell.
if I knew what I was doing, I bet I could have done it in under an hour and a half or less.

 

[motobtn]

Oh, you aren't pouring any salt in a wound, I new it was simple, but the only way I could get the shell was to pay him to do the work and I didn't want to wait another 3-4 weeks...So I agreed to $200, in the end he charged $250 claiming he agreed to $200 in labor...which is ridiculous anyways and for $50 he's better be able to do it in 3 hours TOPS...but yes, I am discovering the same thing.
Thanks to the poster who suggested Atlanta though...I called them and they verified 2 hours or so at $35 an hour and were much nicer to speak to...so I will be giving them a shot next!

 

[motobtn]

and that is very interesting about DSLRpros...because I had the same experience with buying a shell, but decided to call to verify after my order since no one else had one...and sure enough, they had none as well.

 

[Sac D]

I just think it's unnerving that we either have to fix these ourselves or pay for questionable repairs on NEW PRODUCTS. I mean, most anything you buy these days has an expressed warranty or replacement policy for a period of time. Apparently though, it's "Good Luck Chuck" immediately upon receipt! What's up with that?
I mean, I have no fears of taking apart a relatively simple piece of equipment (there aren't really that many parts!) but we've all been trained for years that doing something like that would invalidate any warranty!

I can understand that a crash should be on the customer. You drive your new car off the lot and get in an accident, you better have insurance. But if the manufacturer of the car has recalled it for a sticky gas pedal... well, you get the idea. Let's say the IMU on my Phantom was screwy when it left the factory. Or the box fell off a stack at the dealer. Or got roughed up in the air cargo or truck on the way to my house. And then it randomly takes off all crazy and uncontrollable, veering off at an insane angle until it hits a tree or tries to dig a hole in the ground. Is that my fault? It's done this about about 1 of every 10 takeoffs.

Anyway, I think DJI has a lot of questions to answer. And it seems like they are trying to hide behind their new, inexperienced dealers.

 

[Adam]

@sac d

Not sure if this is what's causing your problems with the veering, but for what it's worth when I got my Phantom it was veering hard, even in GPS mode. It wouldn't sit still at all, and I had done multiple compass/imu calibrations. Turned out I had a faulty transmitter, and it was giving the Phantom right rudder all the time, even when I was not inputting commands. It was a very frustrating problem to solve. You can check to see if it is doing this by hooking it up to Naza assistant and looking at the transmitter calibration screen. If a stick other than the throttle is not centered, you may have an issue with the transmitter giving your Phantom bogus commands.

 

[Sac D]

Man! I wish it was that easy. All of the readings have always shown A-OK.

 

[auck]

@sac d

Not sure if this is what's causing your problems with the veering, but for what it's worth when I got my Phantom it was veering hard, even in GPS mode. It wouldn't sit still at all, and I had done multiple compass/imu calibrations. Turned out I had a faulty transmitter, and it was giving the Phantom right rudder all the time, even when I was not inputting commands. It was a very frustrating problem to solve. You can check to see if it is doing this by hooking it up to Naza assistant and looking at the transmitter calibration screen. If a stick other than the throttle is not centered, you may have an issue with the transmitter giving your Phantom bogus commands.

section A5 of the advance manual also gives you directions on how to calibrate the transmitter. maybe this will help?

A5 Transmitter Calibration
If the control mode of the transmitter is changed or calibration has not been carried out for a long time,
transmitter calibration is necessary.

1. Set the switch S2 at the OFF position, and the switch S1 at the GPS position
2. Push the Throttle stick to the top position, and push the Pitch stick to the top position. Keep the Pitch
stick at the top position manually since it can return to the central position when released.
3. Turn on the Power Switch of the transmitter, you should hear the indicator sound of “Di—Di Di” from
the transmitter repeatedly. Toggle the switch S2 to the CL position, you should hear an indicator
sound of “Di” from the transmitter, in this case, the transmitter has entered the calibration mode.
(During this period, the Throttle stick and the Pitch stick must be kept at the top position all the time.)
4. Release the Pitch stick and pull the Throttle stick to the central position. Toggle the switch S1 to the
ATTI position; you should hear an indicator sound of “Di” from the transmitter. Then move all of the
sticks throughout their complete range several times. After this, put the Throttle stick to the bottom
position, and toggle the switch S2 to the HL position, you should hear an indicator sound of “Di” from
the transmitter, in this case, the transmitter has been calibrated successfully

 

[Gizmo3000]

just imagine if these things were priced half as much and everyday consumers started buying them for their kids.. and running into such difficulties. :roll:
these Phantoms might come "ready to fly" , but they're not "ready for non-technically savvy users"

Another thing that's really absurd about the whole dealership thing . *many* of us bought our Phantoms with the promise of getting a "Free extra Lipo Battery".. only to discover once the package arrives that it was missing the battery.
..and THEN after contacting the dealer that the batteries were on backorder and would "arrive soon".

that was about 2 MONTHS ago.
thats truly bogus. I know it's not the dealers fault that the batteries haven't arrived, but why not just sell the Phantom for a few bucks less in the first place?
or start taking some of those Phantoms they DO have in stock and start stripping them down for parts.

 

[auck]

just imagine if these things were priced half as much and everyday consumers started buying them for their kids.. and running into such difficulties. :roll:
these Phantoms might come "ready to fly" , but they're not "ready for non-technically savvy users"

Another thing that's really absurd about the whole dealership thing . *many* of us bought our Phantoms with the promise of getting a "Free extra Lipo Battery".. only to discover once the package arrives that it was missing the battery.
..and THEN after contacting the dealer that the batteries were on backorder and would "arrive soon".

that was about 2 MONTHS ago.
thats truly bogus. I know it's not the dealers fault that the batteries haven't arrived, but why not just sell the Phantom for a few bucks less in the first place?
or start taking some of those Phantoms they DO have in stock and start stripping them down for parts.

one word ---

ECONOMICS

 

[Sac D]

A5 Transmitter Calibration
If the control mode of the transmitter is changed or calibration has not been carried out for a long time,
transmitter calibration is necessary.

1. Set the switch S2 at the OFF position, and the switch S1 at the GPS position
2. Push the Throttle stick to the top position, and push the Pitch stick to the top position. Keep the Pitch
stick at the top position manually since it can return to the central position when released.
3. Turn on the Power Switch of the transmitter, you should hear the indicator sound of “Di—Di Di” from
the transmitter repeatedly. Toggle the switch S2 to the CL position, you should hear an indicator
sound of “Di” from the transmitter, in this case, the transmitter has entered the calibration mode.
(During this period, the Throttle stick and the Pitch stick must be kept at the top position all the time.)
4. Release the Pitch stick and pull the Throttle stick to the central position. Toggle the switch S1 to the
ATTI position; you should hear an indicator sound of “Di” from the transmitter. Then move all of the
sticks throughout their complete range several times. After this, put the Throttle stick to the bottom
position, and toggle the switch S2 to the HL position, you should hear an indicator sound of “Di” from
the transmitter, in this case, the transmitter has been calibrated successfully

Ah! We may be on to something here! I forgot all about that section! So I just tried it, and the transmitter refuses to cooperate!
Steps 1 to 3, no problem. But when I get to step 4, no more beeps from it. I wonder if taking out the batteries for a while would make a difference. Or new batteries. Hmmm...

 

[Sac D]

just imagine if these things were priced half as much and everyday consumers started buying them for their kids.. and running into such difficulties. :roll:
these Phantoms might come "ready to fly" , but they're not "ready for non-technically savvy users"

Another thing that's really absurd about the whole dealership thing . *many* of us bought our Phantoms with the promise of getting a "Free extra Lipo Battery".. only to discover once the package arrives that it was missing the battery.
..and THEN after contacting the dealer that the batteries were on backorder and would "arrive soon".

that was about 2 MONTHS ago.
thats truly bogus. I know it's not the dealers fault that the batteries haven't arrived, but why not just sell the Phantom for a few bucks less in the first place?
or start taking some of those Phantoms they DO have in stock and start stripping them down for parts.

Amen to that, brother!