New FC40 Owner

[Alan Tochterman]

Hello, and please allow me to introduce myself.

I'm from Northern California and recently purchased a used FC40. It was in excellent shape and I have been following the posts and using this site as a resource until I was confident enough that I could begin to speak intelligently about my Phantom.

There has been much needed rain up here so I have not been able to fly my quad, however I love to tinker so in the off hours I made the following upgrades to my FC40:

T-motors
9450 Propellers
Flytrex 1 (original model)
Modified NPVT581 (I upgraded the antenna and took the control lock off the left controller)
FiTech Mini 2D Gimbal
A knock off of the knock off of the GoPro
Detachable prop guards (I modified the mounts to allow use of my Phillips screwdriver)

Next on the list:
BosCam 2.4ghz transmitter
Enlarge the door for a MulitStar 4000mah
and Lastly,

2.4ghz datalink and PMU2

My ultimate goal will be to take arial photographs of my home town, Chico California.

With all that weight, the t-motors are a must. I am curious to see what my flight times will be with the new battery. For now I will keep the original door, but I have a Big Battery Door in red from Germany ordered as well

As a newbie, I just want to say how helpful this website has been in educating me on my drone.

I am sure that I will have questions as time goes on, assuming I can get the drone off the ground.

 

[Beario]

Hey Alan enjoy your quad! The FC40 room is not as busy as it used to be, but I can definitely say I still fly mine like the first day and the upgrades make it awesome to fly.

 

[Tallyrver]

Hey Alan enjoy your quad! The FC40 room is not as busy as it used to be, but I can definitely say I still fly mine like the first day and the upgrades make it awesome to fly.

The FC40 is what started my addiction. I still fly my FC with a Walkera G2 and Sj5000 . Loads of fun.

 

[Scottwillo]

Hi Tallyrver welcome aboard, I too am a new FC40 owner and will be taking mine out on its maiden flight tomorrow, well I'm it's second owner so it's my maiden flight. Not done anything as of yet to mine but I'm only at the moment lookin at a new camera.


Sent from my iPad using PhantomPilots mobile app

 

[Alan Tochterman]

The camera is only okay. There are several GoPro knock-offs with much better technology. One of the threads showed the FC40 camera Velcro-ed to the battery door for use as an FPV camera only. Not a bad use. I tried it, but after 50 feet or so, I lost my signal.

 

[Scottwillo]

I'm looking for something like the GoPro but not as expensive


Sent from my iPad using PhantomPilots mobile app

 

[Alan Tochterman]

Dear Scottwillo:

There are a plethora of GoPro knock-offs out there. Not to mention knock-offs of the knock-offs. The one I purchased has a 2" viewing screen on the back and is capable of 4K at 15 frames per second. I use 2.7K at 30 frames per second and am quite happy. I purchased it on E-Bay and here is a listing for it.

WIFI 4K 1080P HD 16MP 170°Waterproof Sport DV Video Action Camera Camcorder LV8Z

You can find similar ones on E-Bay and Amazon at all kinds of prices. The High End GoPros go up to 4K at 30 Frames per second. That is not as important as the 2.7K rate or the 1080i rate. Some are rated at 1080i at 60fps, but they actually are running 30fps and making two shots of each. For the money the $49.00 was the best I could find.

 

[Scottwillo]

Hi Alan Tochterman
I'm watching a couple like that in eBay. The cheapest I've found is £17 , only thing is can I still connect my phone when flying my fc40 so I can see what the camera is seeing???


Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots mobile app

 

[Alan Tochterman]

Yes, there is a an app that works with the camera. Finding it is not always easy. As the instructions that come with the camera are in very poor English. Mine were in Spanish.

The camera will create its own virtual network and you can use an iPhone, iPad, or Andriod device to connect, which is the same way the FC40 camera connects. The problem with them is that the range is incredibly short. The stock camera is better for this purpose, but not great. There is a mico-USB port on the camera that will allow for connection to an FPV transmitter. The port on the FC40 camera is only for charging and transferring data. You will need to obtain a small monitor and receiver and you will be in business.

Most FPV systems run on 5.8ghz, so you will need to find one on a different frequency so as not to interfere with the operation of the FC40. 2.4ghz is your best bet. There are some 1.3ghz out there, but I don't know much about them. I ordered the units separately, and am still waiting for the transmitter.

Somewhere on this site, there is a fellow who used the FC40 camera for FPV by attaching Velcro to the battery door and attached a GoPro for actual filming with a gimbal. Quite clever. As I mentioned, I tried it, but I was not satisfied with the range.

Lastly, the GoPro uses a mini-USB and the knock-offs use a micro-USB. You will have to order a connector. They are very inexpensive.

 

[Scottwillo]

Cheers Alan some great advice there cheers


Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots mobile app

 

[Alan Tochterman]

What time its it in Great Brittan ?

 

[Alan Tochterman]

I might add, that tinkering with the quad has been as much fun as flying it.

 

[Scottwillo]

It's 12:40 lunch time, battery all charged again so off for another flight lol


Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots mobile app

 

[Alan Tochterman]

Enjoy !

 

[Scottwillo]

Well another fun flight but only getting about 13 mins flight. Haven't put the stock camera on but only using the 8045 blades is this why I'm not getting more flight time??


Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots mobile app

 

[Alan Tochterman]

13 minutes is excellent with a stock battery.

If you purchased the unit used, there is no idea how much use the battery had, so I would say that is really good time. Extra batteries are a must with these early units. I noticed an immediate improvement in performance with the 9450 propellers. I recently purchased a 4000mah battery from HobbyKing for $19.99 (not sure what the exchange rate is today, but they do ship to the UK). I made some minor modifications to the door, which are not noticeable, but have not yet flown long enough to see the results. The bigger battery is significantly heavier so what you may gain in extra power you may loose in drag. Bigger props will definitely allow for larger payloads. I had to perform an advanced calibration after installing the battery. Not sure why, but the quad started to fly backwards with the bigger battery. It was fine with the regular one. Either the battery created an electromagnetic disturbance with my compass or the weight shifted the angle of the quad just enough to put it into reverse. It is fine now.

There are some threads dealing with 2800mah batteries that will not require any modification to the door. But again 13 minutes is excellent time.

One advantage of the series 1 Phantoms is the ability to use generic batteries. The proprietary ones are expensive.

 

[Scottwillo]

Thanks Alan I had a feeling that a combination of the props and my phantom having 1 previous owner may have been the reason why I wasn't getting more time in the air. Should I charge the battery fully even if I'm not flying for a day or so?? Thanks Alan for all your advice


Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots mobile app

 

[Alan Tochterman]

I have read that for long term storage a 50% charge is the best for this type of battery, but have no clue how to get to that point. If you only have one battery, you definitely should buy a second and have them both charged on the day of flight. Again, 13 minutes is outstanding time. My unit is weighted out with gizmos and I have two last things to install. By the time I am done, I will be well over 1200 grams with the battery. That is why I ordered the T-Motors. They are significantly more powerful. If used carefully, they can be more efficient on battery drain. But again, I have not had enough flights to test that out.

 

[Scottwillo]

Lol that's a lot of gadgets Alan. I'm lookin at getting another 2 batteries over the next week.


Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots mobile app

 

[Alan Tochterman]

Here is a link on how to modify the door if you wish to use the larger battery.

I used a Dremel tool, and only needed to shave the top and the bottom but not the side.