Newbie Help

[Lonewolf]

I just got my Phantom fc 40 and need some help before my 1st flight. I realize the battery flight time is around 7-10 minutes. I just need to know if the transmitter will alert me that the battery is low on the aircraft or is the blinking warning light on the aircraft itself? This concerns me because if I'm out some distance I don't think I can see the warning light on the aircraft. Please bear with my being new to the hobby. Thanks in advance, Lonewolf

 

[dragonash]

I just got my Phantom fc 40 and need some help before my 1st flight. I realize the battery flight time is around 7-10 minutes. I just need to know if the transmitter will alert me that the battery is low on the aircraft or is the blinking warning light on the aircraft itself? This concerns me because if I'm out some distance I don't think I can see the warning light on the aircraft. Please bear with my being new to the hobby. Thanks in advance, Lonewolf

I had a similar question. The instructions are a bit ambiguous.

The answer is no.
The transmitter will only signal a low battery for itself. You will have to pay attention to the FC40's light while its in the air.

You can do some things to get used to it.
Fly it around and get an average time before you start to get flashing reds. That way you can just use the timer on your camera app to determine when to come down.

Or you can buy one of those alarms that will tell you when you are low.

 

[Lonewolf]

That's what I was afraid of...I've flown battery RC planes for some time but they've always been in line of sight and easy to land when power was low or cut.

Since the Phantom is capable of distances and altitudes beyond line of sight, I'll have to follow your advice. I don't think just "floating it around" passively will provide me an accurate flight time though. I'll have to give it some aggressive flight time to enable a more accurate flight timeframe.

Another question though. If the battery is low and it begins to land, will it land ANYWHERE, of come back to RTH if it has GPS home saved??
Thanks so much for your help. Watching some youtube vids of flyaways was a major concern.
Lonewolf

 

[mb_guy]

That's what I was afraid of...I've flown battery RC planes for some time but they've always been in line of sight and easy to land when power was low or cut.

Since the Phantom is capable of distances and altitudes beyond line of sight, I'll have to follow your advice. I don't think just "floating it around" passively will provide me an accurate flight time though. I'll have to give it some aggressive flight time to enable a more accurate flight timeframe.

Another question though. If the battery is low and it begins to land, will it land ANYWHERE, of come back to RTH if it has GPS home saved??
Thanks so much for your help. Watching some youtube vids of flyaways was a major concern.
Lonewolf

You may find it's not that easy to fly the fc40 beyond line of sight without having real FPV. Probably not the best thing to do when just learning the quad.
You are correct when a low battery triggers landing it is anywhere, it's just coming down
I use a countdown timer app on phone as a warning (7 min), You can also use on of these, buzzer is quite loud. You set to the voltage you want (trial and error)

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_kw=LiPo ... onitor+LED

 

[darwin-t]

It lands quickly wherever it happens to be when the battery hits that second alarm.

I do my far or high flying first, than bring it in closer and lower for the last part of the flight so I can see the LED.