NEWBIE Homelock-Should I or Shouldn't I

[pianoflyer]

Hi,
I am brand new to the Phantom, and just purchased a Phantom 2 (non-vision). I am still nervous about flying due to all the "Fly-away" news online. I have gotten conflicting info about enabling HomeLock and Courselock. The guy at the store and a friend who's been flying for a while told me to ONLY fly in Phantom mode and DO NOT go into NAZA settings. If I'm in trouble, I can just turn off radio and it will return to home. BUT, in reading info online and watching YOU TUBE videos, some people say it is HIGH ADVISED to enable HOME LOCK in the event I lose orientation and want to make sure it flies back to me.
For a while, I intend to keep it close and in visual range, but I don't understand why you WOULDN'T enable HOME LOCK.
Thanks so much,
Steve

 

[Monte55]

Naza mode and IOC is great. Just because you have them available to you doesn't mean you have to use them until you understand how they work.

 

[pianoflyer]

Thanks for the reply. Is there any reason I am been told not to go into Advanced NAZA settings. Ie can I still fly in basic GPS Phantom mode with both switches set to top position...there is nothing "more advanced" about opening the NAZA settings when it comes to that position?
Also is ATTI, right switch position 2, a good thing to use, if the Phantom starts trying to flyway?
Thanks again,
Steve

 

[Monte55]

Maybe the people telling you this don't understand it themselves. You will see a lot of bad info from others. Until you test this for yourself and learn how it works, you make take bad info as gospel. Read and try each option for yourself. that's what I did. I got so much cross info at first, it drove me nuts. Atti doesn't stop fly aways. Atti flying is just without the aid of gps so it will drift with wind. If you lose gps, it will go to atti mode without you changing your S1 switch. If it can lock onto sats again...it will go back to gps. Atti will let you fly a little more agressive also. It will also use less battery because it is not constantly making little corrections. It will also give you smoother flight for video.

 

[SteveMann]

I am still nervous about flying due to all the "Fly-away" news online.

How many Phantoms are out there? DJI claims they are selling 30,000 units a month (http://fortune.com/2014/10/08/drone-nation-air-droid/), so there's probably a half-milion of them in the wild. How many fly-aways have you read about? two dozen? even three dozen only represent .01% of the fleet. And how many of them were operator error?

The Phantom mode is for people who don't know left from right and aren't too sure about up and down. If you select the NAZA mode and leave the two switches up, away from you, then you are for all practical purposes in the Phantom mode. The biggest problem with the NAZA mode is remembering the LEd code patterns. If you wait for a good GPS (first flashing green) before you lift off, then watch for a second series of flashing green (Home Position), then the Phantom knows where 'home' is.