GadgetGuy's Second P4 Flight Impressions

GadgetGuy's Second P4 Flight Impressions

Good to hear! Because It's official for me that the range on the p4 sucks! . Was about to take it back to the " lemon store "
Now I need to find me a P3P or P3A transmitter .:grinning:

I suspect that the reason you are not getting a decent flight time is due to the charging. I just noticed today that I was starting at 96% . I turned the battery on and plugged it back to the charger . That solved. Got 20mins with 30% left on battery 50/50 on sport mode.

Were you able to get the 32channel hack into your app ? My Nexus 7& Galaxy Note 4 are not taking the config file with the new app update. :disappointed:
 
I purchased a P3P (my first drone) approx. a month ago. Loved it and decided to go for P4 so bought one just a couple of days ago from Apple Store here in Australia.
I am learning now. Flying but nothing fancy as you can expect.

My longest flight times can be seen below with P3P and P4 in same field and similar conditions. The batteries started out at 95% remaining till 10%.

Total flight time with P4 was 23 minutes and 27 seconds
Total flight time with P3P was 21 minutes and 16 seconds
So, your very longest P3P flight time was only 1 minute and 45 seconds less than DJI's 23 minute rating, while your longest P4 flight time was 4 minutes and 33 seconds less than DJI's 28 minute rating. What does that tell you about DJI's claim of 28 minute battery life for the P4?
 
Excellent point. Quick question - what does "gimbal smoothing" do?


So, your very longest P3P flight time was only 1 minute and 45 seconds less than DJI's 23 minute rating, while your longest P4 flight time was 4 minutes and 33 seconds less than DJI's 28 minute rating. What does that tell you about DJI's claim of 28 minute battery life for the P4?
 
OK so im kinda interested in a P4...
I have a couple P3P(s)...
The two things im most interested in is the improved stability when hovering etc.
&
The activetrack.

With that said I know there is VerticalStudio for the P3 and had high hopes for it but I tested it a few times shooting my brother inlaw who is a pro skater and it got wonky enough to say it needs improvement.

Im looking to GadgetGuy and dirty bird to comment on this.
My thought process is that perhaps the activetrack uses the new front facing optical sensors as means to help track.
If this is the case then the VerticalStudio app will never be as good as it simply lacks some of the hardware involved to do it as well.
If the P4 only uses the camera to do this, then clearly it would be possible for the P3 to track as well and would only take a good developer to get this going (or good hacker perhaps, wink wink).

The improved stability is interesting to me as well as I have had some issues with hovering stability on some hovering videos and the videos clearly show the quad floating around.

Everything else about the P4 is just meh to me. I mean the props seem nice, the double IMU / Compass etc all adds a nice feel good confidence in the product but is all of that worth the upgrade.
That is the question that I am on the fence about.

Please anyone with very objective comments please comment...
Especially @GadgetGuy & @Dirty Bird. ;)
 
So, your very longest P3P flight time was only 1 minute and 45 seconds less than DJI's 23 minute rating, while your longest P4 flight time was 4 minutes and 33 seconds less than DJI's 28 minute rating. What does that tell you about DJI's claim of 28 minute battery life for the P4?

My longest flight times show that I reach 92.46% of potential 23 mins flying time with P3P and 83.75% of potential 28 mins flying time with P4. I believe that I can reach 90% with P4 soon if I turn Obstacle Sensing System off with some more battery cycles. We"ll see...

More importantly, I should fix the stabilisation issue first:)
 
Glad to see you're not considering a P4. ;)

I said I'm not getting a P4 if it can't be modified to meet or exceed the current performance criteria of my P3P.

So far, it's not looking very promising --- flight times less than or equal to my P3, and equivalent range needs heavy amplification and booster antennas. So a hyped-up and under-performing P4 is getting all your panties in a wad? Weird.
 
Good to hear! Because It's official for me that the range on the p4 sucks! . Was about to take it back to the " lemon store "
Now I need to find me a P3P or P3A transmitter .:grinning:

I suspect that the reason you are not getting a decent flight time is due to the charging. I just noticed today that I was starting at 96% . I turned the battery on and plugged it back to the charger . That solved. Got 20mins with 30% left on battery 50/50 on sport mode.

Were you able to get the 32channel hack into your app ? My Nexus 7& Galaxy Note 4 are not taking the config file with the new app update. :disappointed:
Two of the P3P and P3A transmitters, GL300A and GL300B, without a mod are only 20% stronger, and the P3P and P3A GL300C transmitters are the same as the P4, so unless 7,500 feet is enough for you with a GL300A or B, you'll still need a mod to get the promised 3 miles.

32 Channel hack in place and working on all comparison tests on P4 and P3's.

There is an issue with the P4 charging, because mine won't top off properly to regain the last 5%, once charged to 100%. Mine was at 96% after making some app changes. I plugged it into the charger to turn it on and top it off. Every time I turned it on, it turned itself off again. I could not top it off. Nevertheless, I launched with 96% and landed with 13%. That 4% is the same as landing with 17%. It might have made at most a 1 minute difference in flight time, if I had launched today at 100%. The real problem is DJI is grossly inflating real life flight times by 10-14 minutes (almost 100%) purely for marketing purposes, and hyping 1.3 mile control as 3.1 miles.
 
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I've only played with the ActiveTrack feature once while flying at my cousin's place. I first tracked his wife which it did flawlessly. I then tracked one of their dogs. This turned out to be rather funny. The P4 started following the dog around. Everything was fine until the dog got paranoid & started weirding out & running from it. The P4 was doing a good job of keeping a fix & even avoided a shed in the process before I disengaged. The dog has since been institutionalized. o_O

I don't know for certain but I rather doubt the P4 uses the CA cameras for ActiveTrack. I believe the CA cameras are single-purpose. AT seems to use only the main camera & relies on the processor's ability to recognize a targeted area & direct the P4 to follow & keep it in the field of view. This is actually very complex because it has to recognize a moving object that changes appearance from various angles, then it has to coordinate the P4's movement, along with the camera tilt, to maintain focus on the target. Can you imagine how sophisticated this stuff will be in 10 or 20 years? Has me wondering if they'll let me fly the Phantom 24 from a Hoveround? :)

All of my Phantom's maintain reasonably good precision during hover, but the P4 is probably a step above. I'd say the P4's hover accuracy is measured in inches, where as the Vision+ might bob around a foot or two.

Im looking to GadgetGuy and dirty bird to comment on this.
My thought process is that perhaps the activetrack uses the new front facing optical sensors as means to help track.
If this is the case then the VerticalStudio app will never be as good as it simply lacks some of the hardware involved to do it as well.
If the P4 only uses the camera to do this, then clearly it would be possible for the P3 to track as well and would only take a good developer to get this going (or good hacker perhaps, wink wink).

The improved stability is interesting to me as well as I have had some issues with hovering stability on some hovering videos and the videos clearly show the quad floating around.
@GadgetGuy & @Dirty Bird. ;)
 
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My longest flight times show that I reach 92.46% of potential 23 mins flying time with P3P and 83.75% of potential 28 mins flying time with P4. I believe that I can reach 90% with P4 soon if I turn Obstacle Sensing System off with some more battery cycles. We"ll see...

More importantly, I should fix the stabilisation issue first:)
Clearly, your flying is delivering closer to the specs for the P3P than mine, which means you are more likely to get closer, as you have, than I have to 28 minutes. I think we can both agree, however, that the 28 minutes is unobtainable without manipulating and turning off every advertised feature that consumes battery power. Most will see at best the same flight times as their P3 batteries. Perhaps a minute more. I suspect your eventual average flight times, instead of your best, will be almost identical between the P4 and P3. If the user has to turn off all the features they bought the P4 for in order to just try and get closer to the advertised 28 minute flight time, then it isn't a realistic number.
 
I've only played with the ActiveTrack feature once while flying at my cousin's place. I first tracked his wife which it did flawlessly. I then tracked one of their dogs. This turned out to be rather funny. The P4 started following the dog around. Everything was fine until the dog got paranoid & started weirding out & running from it. The P4 was doing a good job of keeping a fix & even avoided a shed in the process before I disengaged. The dog has since been institutionalized. o_O

I don't know for certain but I rather doubt the P4 uses the CA cameras for ActiveTrack. I believe the CA cameras are single-purpose. AT seems to use only the main camera & relies on the processor's ability to recognize a targeted area & direct the P4 to follow & keep it in the field of view. This is actually very complex because it has to recognize a moving object that changes appearance from various angles, then it has to coordinate the P4's movement, along with the camera tilt, to maintain focus on the target. Can you imagine how sophisticated this stuff will be in 10 or 20 years? Has me wondering if they'll let me fly the Phantom 24 from a Hoveround? :)

All of my Phantom's maintain reasonably good precision during hover, but the P4 is probably a step above. I'd say the P4's hover accuracy is measured in inches, where as the Vision+ might bob around a foot or two.
Yes, the hover accuracy of the P4 is very promising, and spot on. The 0.3 meter hover accuracy seems very accurate. I feel very comfortable standing next to it for a handcatch, instead of grabbing the P3P before it wandered away! This is very promising for long exposure aerial night shots and long exposure motion blur shots of waterfalls and surf.

Poor dog! :(
 
Excellent point. Quick question - what does "gimbal smoothing" do?
I'm not sure, but I believe it's intended to be some form of in camera video stabilization best done in post. I didn't like the results, and the P3P doesn't have it, so until I better understand it, it's staying off.
 
Clearly, your flying is delivering closer to the specs for the P3P than mine, which means you are more likely to get closer, as you have, than I have to 28 minutes. I think we can both agree, however, that the 28 minutes is unobtainable without manipulating and turning off every advertised feature that consumes battery power. Most will see at best the same flight times as their P3 batteries. Perhaps a minute more. I suspect your eventual average flight times, instead of your best, will be almost identical between the P4 and P3. If the user has to turn off all the features they bought the P4 for in order to just try and get closer to the advertised 28 minute flight time, then it isn't a realistic number.

I will be very happy with P4's flight time when I reach 90% (plus 10% remaining means 100%). I don't really expect but it would be great if I reach 90% with Obstacle Sensing on...

P3P is great, I am going to keep it but honestly P4's video and photo quality is far better which you cannot get with P3P.

So people can use P3P for long range and proud with it's flight time but P4 gives longer (not advertised) flight time, better photo and video quality plus other extra features like Active Track & TapFly (both very useful and work great IMO). Obstacle Avoidance System is something very useful for new pilots like me but I already sort of don't need always.
 
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OK so im kinda interested in a P4...
I have a couple P3P(s)...
The two things im most interested in is the improved stability when hovering etc.
&
The activetrack.

With that said I know there is VerticalStudio for the P3 and had high hopes for it but I tested it a few times shooting my brother inlaw who is a pro skater and it got wonky enough to say it needs improvement.

Im looking to GadgetGuy and dirty bird to comment on this.
My thought process is that perhaps the activetrack uses the new front facing optical sensors as means to help track.
If this is the case then the VerticalStudio app will never be as good as it simply lacks some of the hardware involved to do it as well.
If the P4 only uses the camera to do this, then clearly it would be possible for the P3 to track as well and would only take a good developer to get this going (or good hacker perhaps, wink wink).

The improved stability is interesting to me as well as I have had some issues with hovering stability on some hovering videos and the videos clearly show the quad floating around.

Everything else about the P4 is just meh to me. I mean the props seem nice, the double IMU / Compass etc all adds a nice feel good confidence in the product but is all of that worth the upgrade.
That is the question that I am on the fence about.

Please anyone with very objective comments please comment...
Especially @GadgetGuy & @Dirty Bird. ;)
I'm in agreement with DirtyBird that the front facing cameras are only used for obstacle avoidance, and only the main camera is used for Active Track. I haven't tried Active Track yet, but from all accounts, it seems to work pretty well for the right types of subjects that stand out from the background. The horizontal hover accuracy is for real, and isn't just marketing hype. It is significantly more stable. DJI says 0.3 meters v. 1.5 meters on the P3P. Vertical stability is the same 0.1 meters with VPS active, but VPS now works up to 10 meters, instead of just up to 3 meters AGL on the P3P, which really helps with hover stability close to the ground on any aerial shots, in good light, with a pattern or texture to work with, so it can see and correct lateral movement. It's not recommended around dogs, though. ;)
 
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I will be very happy with P4's flight time when I reach 90% (plus 10% remaining means 100%). I don't really expect but it would be great if I reach 90% with Obstacle Sensing on...

P3P is great, I am going to keep it but honestly P4's video and photo quality is far better which you cannot get with P3P.

So people can use P3P for long range and proud with it's flight time but P4 gives longer (not advertised) flight time, better photo and video quality plus other extra features like Active Track & TapFly (both very useful and work great IMO). Obstacle Avoidance System is something very useful for new pilots like me but I already sort of don't need always.
The P3 flight time can be almost doubled from 15 minutes to 30 minutes with a battery mod. I'm hoping we can do the same mod with the P4, splitting a second P4 battery and using its two halves as 2 external batteries hooked up in parallel with the internal P4 battery. Midwest Horizon just completed such a battery mod for me using two new P3 batteries. I'll be asking them about doing the same with two new P4 batteries.

Just realized that DJI's quoted 28 minute flight time is WITHOUT SATELLITES. It's supposed to be in Atti mode to get 28 minutes. Who knew? :rolleyes:
 
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Seems the p4 spec's are not at all what they are quoting .If it can only do 1.3 miles standard then no way would i uprade from a p3p or p3a.
 
GadgetGuy: I have major trouble with the GL300A, fpvlr and 3W Sunhans, but my RC has old firmware. What firmware does your GL300A have? With old firmware both the A and B show a weak signal error every 10 seconds, no matter where the bird is. With and without amps or mod...
 
I will be very happy with P4's flight time when I reach 90% (plus 10% remaining means 100%). I don't really expect but it would be great if I reach 90% with Obstacle Sensing on...

P3P is great, I am going to keep it but honestly P4's video and photo quality is far better which you cannot get with P3P.

So people can use P3P for long range and proud with it's flight time but P4 gives longer (not advertised) flight time, better photo and video quality plus other extra features like Active Track & TapFly (both very useful and work great IMO). Obstacle Avoidance System is something very useful for new pilots like me but I already sort of don't need always.

Another flight with the P4 after couple of more battery cycles. This time I pushed bit more and fly more aggressively. Reached 24mins (started 97% and landed 9%) so I think I am getting there slowly :)

Long story short more battery cycles gives longer flight time regardless aggressive or calm fly.
 
Great review.

I noticed when I look at the flight logs, under locations it says "Map Loading". Anyone else having that issue?
 

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