new member, need advice!

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hello guys, I been lurking this forum for weeks and its been very helpful! I had one RC chopper in the past but thats about the only experience i have. i really love FPV and RC flying i want to invest in this platform.

been debating on getting on getting the FC40, but i realized that its really outdated and hard to find locally, online stores are selling them way above retail. i can get the vision 2 on amazon for 800 which is a deal.

the only think that scares me is the flyaway problem i see all over the web! even ones with experience and have done all the preflight checklists have lost their drones. i would be devastated if that happened to me. i have read many "how to avoid fly away' articles and find that you cannot avoid everything. so is phantom drones the only ones having this problem? can some one give me some positive feedback ?

i was also thinking about getting a hubsan FPV just for practice but if its a waste of time and money i want to get straight for the vision and take it very easy in an open area. again the main thing that scares me is the flyaway problem, otherwise i would have ordered it already. what do you guys think?

thanks in advance
 
Most fly-aways are due to pilot error. If you really dig into the threads discussed here, it's pretty clear a lot of times that the pilot did something wrong. Sure, there are some legitimate looking cases. It doesn't seem to be a massive problem though -- otherwise, we'd see hundreds of posts about it here.

Amazon does have great deals on the Phantom 2 Vision+. And, they have a great return policy if needed too.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/search/ref=as_ ... BT6K4EAY2T
 
Hey moswissa..I fly a p2v+ not the v3. It's been great except for crashing it into a tree on my 3rd flight and my gimble separating, luckily I was able to fix it myself..if only I'd known to put a couple zip ties on it to prevent the seperation ..anyway. .in my opinion amazon is the place to buy..they're the big fish in the sea..also do yourself a favor and get an dromida ominus for a practice droid. .otherwise you're probably going to crash ..happy flying. .
 
Me personally, if I just wanted to fly and not have a camera, I wouldn't spend more that $200.
To me, having a camera on a gimbal is worth the $1800 that I spent. But that's just me.

As for fly-aways.. like has been said, if you follow procedure, it's very unlikely to happen.

And if you haven't yet bought, here's one tip. Buy extra props and batteries.
 
msinger said:
Most fly-aways are due to pilot error. If you really dig into the threads discussed here, it's pretty clear a lot of times that the pilot did something wrong. Sure, there are some legitimate looking cases. It doesn't seem to be a massive problem though -- otherwise, we'd see hundreds of posts about it here.

Amazon does have great deals on the Phantom 2 Vision+. And, they have a great return policy if needed too.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/search/ref=as_ ... BT6K4EAY2T


great well i just went ahead and bought the vision 2 non plus from amazon. it will be here tomorrow

i feel like flying this thing is rocket science. i been watching loads of videos and they all seem so different. i seen ppl just take it out the box put it together, do the compass calibration then fly. then i see others that connect to a computer and calibrate the transmitter and make sure its up to date. i think its smarter to do that first.

also do i have to do the compass calibration every time i fly in a different place? some say every couple months?
 
moswissa said:
msinger said:
Most fly-aways are due to pilot error. If you really dig into the threads discussed here, it's pretty clear a lot of times that the pilot did something wrong. Sure, there are some legitimate looking cases. It doesn't seem to be a massive problem though -- otherwise, we'd see hundreds of posts about it here.

Amazon does have great deals on the Phantom 2 Vision+. And, they have a great return policy if needed too.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/search/ref=as_ ... BT6K4EAY2T


great well i just went ahead and bought the vision 2 non plus from amazon. it will be here tomorrow

i feel like flying this thing is rocket science. i been watching loads of videos and they all seem so different. i seen ppl just take it out the box put it together, do the compass calibration then fly. then i see others that connect to a computer and calibrate the transmitter and make sure its up to date. i think its smarter to do that first.

also do i have to do the compass calibration every time i fly in a different place? some say every couple months?

Do yourself a favor and download the manual and read it tonight.
Update all the firmware for the battery, the controller, and the phantom first...
Yes you need to calibrate the compass before you fly the first time... After that you only need to calibrate after a crash, if it starts behaving oddly or when you fly at a completely different location

Some people calibrate the compass every time they fly... DJI doesn't require this... But they don't discourage it either,
 
Buckaye said:
moswissa said:
msinger said:
Most fly-aways are due to pilot error. If you really dig into the threads discussed here, it's pretty clear a lot of times that the pilot did something wrong. Sure, there are some legitimate looking cases. It doesn't seem to be a massive problem though -- otherwise, we'd see hundreds of posts about it here.

Amazon does have great deals on the Phantom 2 Vision+. And, they have a great return policy if needed too.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/search/ref=as_ ... BT6K4EAY2T


great well i just went ahead and bought the vision 2 non plus from amazon. it will be here tomorrow

i feel like flying this thing is rocket science. i been watching loads of videos and they all seem so different. i seen ppl just take it out the box put it together, do the compass calibration then fly. then i see others that connect to a computer and calibrate the transmitter and make sure its up to date. i think its smarter to do that first.

also do i have to do the compass calibration every time i fly in a different place? some say every couple months?

Do yourself a favor and download the manual and read it tonight.
Update all the firmware for the battery, the controller, and the phantom first...
Yes you need to calibrate the compass before you fly the first time... After that you only need to calibrate after a crash, if it starts behaving oddly or when you fly at a completely different location

Some people calibrate the compass every time they fly... DJI doesn't require this... But they don't discourage it either,


you got it! Im downloading it now and i will read it.

i thought the compass calibration lets the craft know its home location.

i hope I'm not rushing anything because I'm that type of person and i really want to get this thing flying. lol
any other advice you have for me or any good videos u can direct me to?

thanks a lot man
 
moswissa said:
great well i just went ahead and bought the vision 2 non plus from amazon. it will be here tomorrow

i feel like flying this thing is rocket science. i been watching loads of videos and they all seem so different. i seen ppl just take it out the box put it together, do the compass calibration then fly. then i see others that connect to a computer and calibrate the transmitter and make sure its up to date. i think its smarter to do that first.

also do i have to do the compass calibration every time i fly in a different place? some say every couple months?

Do yourself a favor and download the manual and read it tonight.
Update all the firmware for the battery, the controller, and the phantom first...
Yes you need to calibrate the compass before you fly the first time... After that you only need to calibrate after a crash, if it starts behaving oddly or when you fly at a completely different location

Some people calibrate the compass every time they fly... DJI doesn't require this... But they don't discourage it either,[/quote]


you got it! Im downloading it now and i will read it.

i thought the compass calibration lets the craft know its home location.

i hope I'm not rushing anything because I'm that type of person and i really want to get this thing flying. lol
any other advice you have for me or any good videos u can direct me to?

thanks a lot man[/quote]

This is definitely something you want to take your time with and fully understand before you jump right to flying. People here want to be helpful... But you'll get little to no sympathy if you don't do your homework and you wrap your phantom around a tree or lose it...

The compass calibration helps set the orientation of the Phantom. GPS is what sets the home location... You MUST ensure you have full satellite lock before you take off. The manual will tell you exactly what you need to know.

I don't want to understate it... You'll get a lot of grief here if you don't read the manual and follow the instructions... Clearly your excited (we all were)... But you've just spent a good chunk of cash on something that can be lost in a second if you don't know what you're doing.

Have fun... But take your time.
 
I don't know what happened to my post! Did I say something wrong, mods?

A shorter version: Welcome to the forum! We are glad to have you and I look forward to getting to know you!

I said a lot more, but I only have three more suggestions for you - all must haves!

# 1: Write your name, phone number and reward offered, on your Phantom. Perhaps using a label maker.

#2: Buy a GPS tracker! Since you are concerned about fly always, and so am I, this is very cheap insurance. I bought a RF- 16, available on EBay for under $50. Not only will it show you, on a virtual map, where your drone is. You can also call it and listen for the sound. There are more, very neat features. It claims to be the world's smallest and it only weighs 29 grams!

#3: Your downloaded manual is a difficult read! Not only does it have small print and almost all of the diagrams are hard to read. So, read it multiple times. I still refer to mine.

#4: Someone posted here, with a re-written manual for your Phantom. I hope they will speak up with the link. If not, I have it saved, somewhere! So, I will look for it and I'll post it here. Although, I would rather the one who posted it, to post again, so they can get credit for it. I think I may know who posted it, but I don't want to give credit to the wrong person!
 
cool you guys are great! phantom will be here tomorrow!!

i have read the manual a few times and it is very self explanatory.. i know I'm scratching the surface of everything but I'm getting more confident.
ill definitely invest in a GPS tracker! but what about the tracker on the APP??

I'm going to a park tomorrow with no trees and will conduct a basic flight, i won't do anything crazy. I'm going to be leaving both S1 and S2 switches up the entire time!! I'm trying to understand if that means you are in ready to fly mode?

does anyone know of an app that can tell you were the cell phone towers are or where there is magnetic activity such as power lines. i live in LA and I'm afraid its everywhere lol
 
PhantomFanatic said:
I don't know what happened to my post! Did I say something wrong, mods?

A shorter version: Welcome to the forum! We are glad to have you and I look forward to getting to know you!

I said a lot more, but I only have three more suggestions for you - all must haves!

# 1: Write your name, phone number and reward offered, on your Phantom. Perhaps using a label maker.

#2: Buy a GPS tracker! Since you are concerned about fly always, and so am I, this is very cheap insurance. I bought a RF- 16, available on EBay for under $50. Not only will it show you, on a virtual map, where your drone is. You can also call it and listen for the sound. There are more, very neat features. It claims to be the world's smallest and it only weighs 29 grams!

#3: Your downloaded manual is a difficult read! Not only does it have small print and almost all of the diagrams are hard to read. So, read it multiple times. I still refer to mine.

#4: Someone posted here, with a re-written manual for your Phantom. I hope they will speak up with the link. If not, I have it saved, somewhere! So, I will look for it and I'll post it here. Although, I would rather the one who posted it, to post again, so they can get credit for it. I think I may know who posted it, but I don't want to give credit to the wrong person!

ok cool i seen the rf 16 on ebay selling for a good price, my question is where did you mount it and how? does it interfere with anything?

I want to fly my phantom outside my house but i live in a busy area, i see a lot of telephone poles/powerlines? and there happens to be a busy freeway 200 feet away not kidding. would it be safe to fly it here? also do you know if an APP that shows you where cellular towers are? i want to stay away from those too!

my phantom is out for delivery and i should be getting it anytime now!
so excited!!!
 
moswissa said:
cool you guys are great! phantom will be here tomorrow!!

i have read the manual a few times and it is very self explanatory.. i know I'm scratching the surface of everything but I'm getting more confident.
ill definitely invest in a GPS tracker! but what about the tracker on the APP??

I'm going to a park tomorrow with no trees and will conduct a basic flight, i won't do anything crazy. I'm going to be leaving both S1 and S2 switches up the entire time!! I'm trying to understand if that means you are in ready to fly mode?

does anyone know of an app that can tell you were the cell phone towers are or where there is magnetic activity such as power lines. i live in LA and I'm afraid its everywhere lol

If you can't see the cell phone tower or the power lines... you are most likely fine. Even if you CAN see them - just don't fly right up to them.

there are magnetic rocks and/or rebar reinforced concrete etc that can cause issues...but for the most part, you should be ok as long as you're using some common sense.

One absolute No-No is flying through or near an MRI ;)
 
moswissa said:
PhantomFanatic said:
I don't know what happened to my post! Did I say something wrong, mods?

A shorter version: Welcome to the forum! We are glad to have you and I look forward to getting to know you!

I said a lot more, but I only have three more suggestions for you - all must haves!

# 1: Write your name, phone number and reward offered, on your Phantom. Perhaps using a label maker.

#2: Buy a GPS tracker! Since you are concerned about fly always, and so am I, this is very cheap insurance. I bought a RF- 16, available on EBay for under $50. Not only will it show you, on a virtual map, where your drone is. You can also call it and listen for the sound. There are more, very neat features. It claims to be the world's smallest and it only weighs 29 grams!

#3: Your downloaded manual is a difficult read! Not only does it have small print and almost all of the diagrams are hard to read. So, read it multiple times. I still refer to mine.

#4: Someone posted here, with a re-written manual for your Phantom. I hope they will speak up with the link. If not, I have it saved, somewhere! So, I will look for it and I'll post it here. Although, I would rather the one who posted it, to post again, so they can get credit for it. I think I may know who posted it, but I don't want to give credit to the wrong person!

ok cool i seen the rf 16 on ebay selling for a good price, my question is where did you mount it and how? does it interfere with anything?

I want to fly my phantom outside my house but i live in a busy area, i see a lot of telephone poles/powerlines? and there happens to be a busy freeway 200 feet away not kidding. would it be safe to fly it here? also do you know if an APP that shows you where cellular towers are? i want to stay away from those too!

my phantom is out for delivery and i should be getting it anytime now!
so excited!!!

I had planned to mount the tracker on a landing leg. I really haven't looked into it as when I got this tracker, I realized that besides being a tracker, it is essentially a cell phone. So, I'll be setting it up, for her, soon and then I'll buy another for my Phantom.

A few neat things: The location on a map will get you close. But, if you don't see it, call the tracker and listen for it! You can also hear audio from it. So, if someone stole it, you can listen in and plan your attack! Say if my mom is wearing it and she fell down and needed me, she only has to press one button and it will call my cell phone. I had bought a pair of GMRS radios, but it was a hassle for her to take it outside.

You probably didn't care about that, but is ideal for many purposes. Put one on your dogs collar!

I don't know of a single map that shows ALL cell towers, but some cellular companies do have their towers marked on a map that you can access via the net or by going into their office. It wouldn't be too hard to combine the maps, from all carriers in your area.

But, you would also need maps of all radio station antennas, microwave towers, business communication towers, ham radio antennas, etc. so, it might be best to just scout out your flying areas, visually first. Google maps might help to some extent.

I don't think we are far away from having drones with on-board collision avoidance measures. See, I just gave away a secret to the drone I will build! I'm sure the FAA would love such a feature, perhaps they might even require it for all personal and private drones.

And, don't even think about it as it is patent pending!
 
PhantomFanatic said:
moswissa said:
PhantomFanatic said:
I don't know what happened to my post! Did I say something wrong, mods?

A shorter version: Welcome to the forum! We are glad to have you and I look forward to getting to know you!

I said a lot more, but I only have three more suggestions for you - all must haves!

# 1: Write your name, phone number and reward offered, on your Phantom. Perhaps using a label maker.

#2: Buy a GPS tracker! Since you are concerned about fly always, and so am I, this is very cheap insurance. I bought a RF- 16, available on EBay for under $50. Not only will it show you, on a virtual map, where your drone is. You can also call it and listen for the sound. There are more, very neat features. It claims to be the world's smallest and it only weighs 29 grams!

#3: Your downloaded manual is a difficult read! Not only does it have small print and almost all of the diagrams are hard to read. So, read it multiple times. I still refer to mine.

#4: Someone posted here, with a re-written manual for your Phantom. I hope they will speak up with the link. If not, I have it saved, somewhere! So, I will look for it and I'll post it here. Although, I would rather the one who posted it, to post again, so they can get credit for it. I think I may know who posted it, but I don't want to give credit to the wrong person!

ok cool i seen the rf 16 on ebay selling for a good price, my question is where did you mount it and how? does it interfere with anything?

I want to fly my phantom outside my house but i live in a busy area, i see a lot of telephone poles/powerlines? and there happens to be a busy freeway 200 feet away not kidding. would it be safe to fly it here? also do you know if an APP that shows you where cellular towers are? i want to stay away from those too!

my phantom is out for delivery and i should be getting it anytime now!
so excited!!!

I had planned to mount the tracker on a landing leg. I really haven't looked into it as when I got this tracker, I realized that besides being a tracker, it is essentially a cell phone. So, I'll be setting it up, for her, soon and then I'll buy another for my Phantom.

A few neat things: The location on a map will get you close. But, if you don't see it, call the tracker and listen for it! You can also hear audio from it. So, if someone stole it, you can listen in and plan your attack! Say if my mom is wearing it and she fell down and needed me, she only has to press one button and it will call my cell phone. I had bought a pair of GMRS radios, but it was a hassle for her to take it outside.

You probably didn't care about that, but is ideal for many purposes. Put one on your dogs collar!

I don't know of a single map that shows ALL cell towers, but some cellular companies do have their towers marked on a map that you can access via the net or by going into their office. It wouldn't be too hard to combine the maps, from all carriers in your area.

But, you would also need maps of all radio station antennas, microwave towers, business communication towers, ham radio antennas, etc. so, it might be best to just scout out your flying areas, visually first. Google maps might help to some extent.

I don't think we are far away from having drones with on-board collision avoidance measures. See, I just gave away a secret to the drone I will build! I'm sure the FAA would love such a feature, perhaps they might even require it for all personal and private drones.

And, don't even think about it as it is patent pending!


haha for sure thanks for the input. i may consider buying one.

so.. i got my phantom and went to an empty baseball field, calibrated it, set up the camera... AND IT DID NOT FLYAWAY!!

i had such a blast! I felt like a little kid, my wife was taking pics of me because of how happy i looked lol

It gets scary once i get really high or far away i cannot see or hear it. how would i know if my fpv cuts out? will the phantom just return home?

i wanted to fly around the park but i kept it within 100ft radius until i learn how to manage it. i did have 10 satellites around according to the app.

for now I'm going to figure out how to upload the videos i took because I'm using a mac and there is no SD slot lol
 
PhantomFanatic said:
moswissa said:
PhantomFanatic said:
I don't know what happened to my post! Did I say something wrong, mods?

A shorter version: Welcome to the forum! We are glad to have you and I look forward to getting to know you!

I said a lot more, but I only have three more suggestions for you - all must haves!

# 1: Write your name, phone number and reward offered, on your Phantom. Perhaps using a label maker.

#2: Buy a GPS tracker! Since you are concerned about fly always, and so am I, this is very cheap insurance. I bought a RF- 16, available on EBay for under $50. Not only will it show you, on a virtual map, where your drone is. You can also call it and listen for the sound. There are more, very neat features. It claims to be the world's smallest and it only weighs 29 grams!

#3: Your downloaded manual is a difficult read! Not only does it have small print and almost all of the diagrams are hard to read. So, read it multiple times. I still refer to mine.

#4: Someone posted here, with a re-written manual for your Phantom. I hope they will speak up with the link. If not, I have it saved, somewhere! So, I will look for it and I'll post it here. Although, I would rather the one who posted it, to post again, so they can get credit for it. I think I may know who posted it, but I don't want to give credit to the wrong person!

ok cool i seen the rf 16 on ebay selling for a good price, my question is where did you mount it and how? does it interfere with anything?

I want to fly my phantom outside my house but i live in a busy area, i see a lot of telephone poles/powerlines? and there happens to be a busy freeway 200 feet away not kidding. would it be safe to fly it here? also do you know if an APP that shows you where cellular towers are? i want to stay away from those too!

my phantom is out for delivery and i should be getting it anytime now!
so excited!!!

I had planned to mount the tracker on a landing leg. I really haven't looked into it as when I got this tracker, I realized that besides being a tracker, it is essentially a cell phone. So, I'll be setting it up, for her, soon and then I'll buy another for my Phantom.

A few neat things: The location on a map will get you close. But, if you don't see it, call the tracker and listen for it! You can also hear audio from it. So, if someone stole it, you can listen in and plan your attack! Say if my mom is wearing it and she fell down and needed me, she only has to press one button and it will call my cell phone. I had bought a pair of GMRS radios, but it was a hassle for her to take it outside.

You probably didn't care about that, but is ideal for many purposes. Put one on your dogs collar!

I don't know of a single map that shows ALL cell towers, but some cellular companies do have their towers marked on a map that you can access via the net or by going into their office. It wouldn't be too hard to combine the maps, from all carriers in your area.

But, you would also need maps of all radio station antennas, microwave towers, business communication towers, ham radio antennas, etc. so, it might be best to just scout out your flying areas, visually first. Google maps might help to some extent.

I don't think we are far away from having drones with on-board collision avoidance measures. See, I just gave away a secret to the drone I will build! I'm sure the FAA would love such a feature, perhaps they might even require it for all personal and private drones.

And, don't even think about it as it is patent pending!


so i came back from a night flight at the park. ill have to say this think is a blast but I'm not impressed with the FPV range. it would cut out in less than 100ft ! idk if something is wrong. it felt like a regular wifi connectivity. i really thought this phantom 2 had longer range due to the extender. it was blinking green so I'm sure it was working. ill do more research on it. also i heard there was an app for longer range for like 9 bucks are u aware of that?
 
Did you have the flat part of the extender pointing at the Vison?? If not then that might be why you lost fpv so quickly.
 
Cyclone said:
Did you have the flat part of the extender pointing at the Vison?? If not then that might be why you lost fpv so quickly.

yeah i followed the guidelines that were given on this website, had the antenna pointing up and extender pointing the vision. it did help a little. i do tend to fly it pretty high like around 200 ft. and like i said this is my first drone so its probably normal. i was expecting a lot more range though. what FPV are you running? I can still return it if I'm unhappy and get the vision2+.

Im really having a great time despite that, i attract an audience at the park lol I'm learning more maneuvers i can do by combining the sticks. what scares me though is when the FPV cuts out and i cannot see my drone i panic. I haven't tried turning the remote controller off for RTH. what do you do in that case ?
 
I had problems with my wifi extender so invested in the RE700 (as have a few others on here). Admitedly I dont send it too far but I dont have any major issues with video.

I think using the RE500, the video will cut out before the controller will. If you get a return to home make sure it raises high enough to avoid and trees, buildings etc. You can connect the Vision to pc via the assistant and change the height.
 
Cyclone said:
I had problems with my wifi extender so invested in the RE700 (as have a few others on here). Admitedly I dont send it too far but I dont have any major issues with video.

I think using the RE500, the video will cut out before the controller will. If you get a return to home make sure it raises high enough to avoid and trees, buildings etc. You can connect the Vision to pc via the assistant and change the height.

yeah i was thinking of changing height to 1000ft, do you think the stock setup i have can handle FPV at 1000ft??
 

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