I had planned on flying and doing some aerial shots last weekend and it just never worked out. We had some guests at our little weekend retreat and I really didn’t do much of anything but relax. So far this has been a long week and I am ready for the weekend without a schedule and having to entertain anyone. Today being Thursday and Friday eve for us working folks I started getting a game plan on what I wanted to do this weekend – texting buddies back and forth etc. Eventually we came up with a plan on doing some shots with the Phantom on a local river and some well-planned action shots in the early morning hours so as to avoid the crowd.
With my batteries still at full tilt from last weekend I wanted to check on things and do some calibration and such, I had also seen on here that there is new firmware so who knows what adventures this evening could bring… I watched a dvr’d episode of CSI with the wife and once it was over I grabbed a cold beer and headed to screen porch to relax and tinker.
Anyone that does any filming for fun or even for profit knows that there is a lot of prep that goes into things – charging batteries – making sure you have everything needed and the like. Anyway I unlocked my case and placed the Phantom on the table and began playing with the ground station on the PC – which isn’t much fun at all so I grabbed the wife’s iPad and cracked open my cold beer.
I tinkered around with things for a bit and had recalled reading on several posts that folks had questioned what the hole was below X1 on the controller – some had said it was access to a potentiometer to calibrate the controller for use in areas that didn’t allow so much power etc. Turn it all the way to the right for use in the USA. I can’t recall the exact words. (Lesson 1 - research and dont speed read) As I was looking thru items on the iPad referring to this my Phantom sat quietly at an idle on the glass table.
The beer was cold and I started thinking well “My controller doesn't beep twice when turning it on” – Hmmm maybe I haven’t been getting maximum range and my controller wasn't set up for use in the US. I took a sip of the beer and grabbed a small screwdriver and poked it in the hole – attempting to turn a something..
Faster than you I have ever seen my bird take off it flew straight upwards at full throttle and slammed into the drywall ceiling. I can’t describe how loud this was but the bang itself was enough to wake my wife. The whining of the motors sounded like a kitchen blender on steroids as small flakes of paint started to come off the knockdown on the ceiling. I yelled a few expletive’s very loudly and jumped up in my underwear like a mad man. The controller did nothing… Within a few seconds I realized even if it did, I would not be able to land safely now with all the objects around and full of adrenalin. So I reached up and grabbed the landing gear while holding the controller in the other hand.
My wife slowly raised the blinds on the French doors to watch the show. The sound was changing pitch as I was trying to hold onto the bird and it was trying to stay level, all I could think of, is not only am I going to damage my toy, but I might just lose an eye or a finger. I tried pressing and screwing whatever was in that hole on the controller in my left hand to no avail. Normal motor shutdown with the sticks also did nothing. Well, I thought for a few seconds... I could just let the battery die.. Not… My wife cracked the door and reminded me that it’s late and that we have neighbors.
Within about a 45 seconds (Seemed like an hour) I finally realized that if I hold the bird with two hands my index finger could reach the battery button and power it down. With the motors shut down I inspected everything thinking that with that hard of a hit on the ceiling I had to have cracked something.
I then spent the next 20 minutes back on here and nosing around other places trying to figure out what happened. After re-binding the transmitter to the Phantom I took the props off and gave her the startup command. In the re-bind process nothing was mentioned about the mysterious hole but something went way wrong that’s all I know.
All seems ok, except the assistant software indicates advanced calibration is needed. No damage, except my pride and spilled beer. Moral of this lesson is don’t stick anything in strange holes I guess..
With my batteries still at full tilt from last weekend I wanted to check on things and do some calibration and such, I had also seen on here that there is new firmware so who knows what adventures this evening could bring… I watched a dvr’d episode of CSI with the wife and once it was over I grabbed a cold beer and headed to screen porch to relax and tinker.
Anyone that does any filming for fun or even for profit knows that there is a lot of prep that goes into things – charging batteries – making sure you have everything needed and the like. Anyway I unlocked my case and placed the Phantom on the table and began playing with the ground station on the PC – which isn’t much fun at all so I grabbed the wife’s iPad and cracked open my cold beer.
I tinkered around with things for a bit and had recalled reading on several posts that folks had questioned what the hole was below X1 on the controller – some had said it was access to a potentiometer to calibrate the controller for use in areas that didn’t allow so much power etc. Turn it all the way to the right for use in the USA. I can’t recall the exact words. (Lesson 1 - research and dont speed read) As I was looking thru items on the iPad referring to this my Phantom sat quietly at an idle on the glass table.
The beer was cold and I started thinking well “My controller doesn't beep twice when turning it on” – Hmmm maybe I haven’t been getting maximum range and my controller wasn't set up for use in the US. I took a sip of the beer and grabbed a small screwdriver and poked it in the hole – attempting to turn a something..
Faster than you I have ever seen my bird take off it flew straight upwards at full throttle and slammed into the drywall ceiling. I can’t describe how loud this was but the bang itself was enough to wake my wife. The whining of the motors sounded like a kitchen blender on steroids as small flakes of paint started to come off the knockdown on the ceiling. I yelled a few expletive’s very loudly and jumped up in my underwear like a mad man. The controller did nothing… Within a few seconds I realized even if it did, I would not be able to land safely now with all the objects around and full of adrenalin. So I reached up and grabbed the landing gear while holding the controller in the other hand.
My wife slowly raised the blinds on the French doors to watch the show. The sound was changing pitch as I was trying to hold onto the bird and it was trying to stay level, all I could think of, is not only am I going to damage my toy, but I might just lose an eye or a finger. I tried pressing and screwing whatever was in that hole on the controller in my left hand to no avail. Normal motor shutdown with the sticks also did nothing. Well, I thought for a few seconds... I could just let the battery die.. Not… My wife cracked the door and reminded me that it’s late and that we have neighbors.
Within about a 45 seconds (Seemed like an hour) I finally realized that if I hold the bird with two hands my index finger could reach the battery button and power it down. With the motors shut down I inspected everything thinking that with that hard of a hit on the ceiling I had to have cracked something.
I then spent the next 20 minutes back on here and nosing around other places trying to figure out what happened. After re-binding the transmitter to the Phantom I took the props off and gave her the startup command. In the re-bind process nothing was mentioned about the mysterious hole but something went way wrong that’s all I know.
All seems ok, except the assistant software indicates advanced calibration is needed. No damage, except my pride and spilled beer. Moral of this lesson is don’t stick anything in strange holes I guess..
