Hey guys a little mountain help please

[DrewFlies]

I'm from Florida and visiting North Carolina, Tennesee. I'm not use to flying around or near mountains. Do they cause interference with GPS or Compass?

Also, if I were to launch my P3 off the top of the mountain will going off the cliff have any effect on the VPS. I heard some stories where people have had their drone plummit to the ground after flying off the cliff. Should I keep VPS on or off? Any advice counts and please only give advice if you have experience flying near or on mountains. Thanks!

 

[msinger]

I heard some stories where people have had their drone plummit to the ground after flying off the cliff.

This is not an issue. I've never seen anyone mention it either -- other than asking if that would happen.

Should I keep VPS on or off?

Either way is fine. I always keep it off when flying outdoors though.

 

[DrewFlies]

This is not an issue. I've never seen anyone mention it either -- other than asking if that would happen.

It was within the first month of release. Someone I believe from California was flying around the beach and once he went over the ledge it dropped into the water and was not able to recover it.

 

[SteveMann]

You call those little dirt mounds in Tennessee "Mountains"?

 

[Chuck Young]

I'm from Florida and visiting North Carolina, Tennesee. I'm not use to flying around or near mountains. Do they cause interference with GPS or Compass?

Also, if I were to launch my P3 off the top of the mountain will going off the cliff have any effect on the VPS. I heard some stories where people have had their drone plummit to the ground after flying off the cliff. Should I keep VPS on or off? Any advice counts and please only give advice if you have experience flying near or on mountains. Thanks!

The only way it could effect GPS is if it put the Phantom in a shadow, that is while descending near the cliff, the cliff block the LOS to the GPS satellite. Since they are spread all over the sky that chance that happens to all satellites is very small.

For the Compass, well you would have to be flying near some pretty large deposits of ferrous materials, the large machinery that should be mining the iron ore should give those places away, and probably cause a bigger problems than the mineral deposits.

 

[tcope]

GPS runs on a clear line of sight to the satellites, which are in the sky. The signal will bounce a little but not much. As long as the P3 can "see" a good portion of the sky then you will be fine. Of it loses signal it will warn you and switch to manual mode. You can still fly but it will drift and glide side to side.

 

[DrewFlies]

Ok so my next question is what happens if Im on top of mountain, launch it up 50 feet and then go over the ledge. Will the VPS still read 50 feet even though I'm 4,000 + feet in the air once over the ledge?

 

[Chuck Young]

Ok so my next question is what happens if Im on top of mountain, launch it up 50 feet and then go over the ledge. Will the VPS still read 50 feet even though I'm 4,000 + feet in the air once over the ledge?

yup

You would need a radar altimeter and you ain't got one.

 

[dspear237]

You should be ok flying over mountains, just make sure to start ascending a little when you near the edge of a drop-off.

VPS comes in handy if you want to "follow" the incline up a trail or something.

 

[Chris Vedeler]

I love flying near mountains! I seek them out as it is much more interesting flying than flat ground. Just be careful with your altitude. 400 feet from where you took off could be ground level just a short distance away.

Here is my most spectacular mountain flying:

If you are flying where there are trees, that can be pretty tricky.

 

[Meta4]

Ok so my next question is what happens if Im on top of mountain, launch it up 50 feet and then go over the ledge. Will the VPS still read 50 feet even though I'm 4,000 + feet in the air once over the ledge?

The VPS only has a range of about 3 metres.
The Phantom does not get its altitude from the VPS system.
Instead it uses a barometric altimeter and gives all heights relative to the takeoff position (zero).
Up in the air, your Phantom has no idea what is below it.

 

[Chuck Young]

I'm from Florida and visiting North Carolina, Tennesee. I'm not use to flying around or near mountains. Do they cause interference with GPS or Compass?

Also, if I were to launch my P3 off the top of the mountain will going off the cliff have any effect on the VPS. I heard some stories where people have had their drone plummit to the ground after flying off the cliff. Should I keep VPS on or off? Any advice counts and please only give advice if you have experience flying near or on mountains. Thanks!

So I took off on the road about 10 feet up and flew out about 100 feet.
It was a long ways down. Right into water, or worse. Nice flight though.

 

[nhoover]

The only time I had trouble in the mountains was with a P2V+ in deep gorges in Nepal (sometimes 10,000' deep or more). I had a tough time getting even 6 satellites there and didn't fly in a number of places I wanted to. I bet it would've worked better with the P3. I found even at altitudes of close to 4000m above sea level (about 13,000') the P2V+ performed perfectly. Again, the P3 is even better in this regard.

 

[DrewFlies]

Awesome guys, just the advice I was looking for. So far I have had great flights.