Newbie needing advice

[CThody]

Hi. I am new to the Phantom (it arrived this weekend). I am totally confused by the start up indications of the LEDs. Should I switch everything on and leave it until only green is showing (in GPS mode)? I lost the will to live waiting (quite a few minutes) after callibrating compass, so took off and then just got green flashes. Seemed to work OK, but not sure I am following the correct procedure. Any advice very welcome

 

[mercillus]

Sounds like you did everything right. Instead of me typing it all out I would get online, go to YouTube.. Look up DJI instructional vids for Phantom.. So much easier to watch it IMO.... They have first flight and pre check vids that really help out.

 

[CThody]

Thanks for that reply - I've looked at them but the initilisation seems to be very fast in the videos but doesn't seem to happen on mine in real time. Do I need to update software or something like that?

 

[Bart1]

Hi and welcome to the world of Phantoms!

My Phantom takes about 2 to 3 minutes to warm up each time I fly it. Patience is a virtue...

 

[CThody]

Hi Bart1, thanks. When it is warmed up what does the LED show?

 

[FangsCPO]

Hi and welcome to the world of Phantoms!

My Phantom takes about 2 to 3 minutes to warm up each time I fly it. Patience is a virtue...

Patience is the key to success with the DJI Phantom. Mine takes some time also but once it's ready, it's a fun 8-10 minutes (carrying a HERO3 in the protective case) of flying around before I come back done and switch out the battery for some more fun.

 

[Gizmo3000]

always, always wait until you get the single slow green blink.

there are many stories of users who take off prematurely and end up crashing or even losing their Phantoms.

learn what all the LED flashes mean.
scroll down on this page and it will tell you what some of them are
http://www.helipal.com/dji-phantom-gps-drone-rtf.html

 

[tanasit]

The best situation will be after a few minutes in GPS mode, you will get slow single GREEN, then take off in ATTI mode and enjoy your flight. But if you get a single GREEN followed by 1 or 2 RED, then you are not getting 6 satellites required for the GPS to work BUT you can still fly in ATTI mode albeit without RTH function but the IOC will still work in CL but not HL because the CL uses the compass not GPS like the HL.

 

[Gizmo3000]

The best situation will be after a few minutes in GPS mode, you will get slow single GREEN, then take off in ATTI mode and enjoy your flight. But if you get a single GREEN followed by 1 or 2 RED, then you are not getting 6 satellites required for the GPS to work BUT you can still fly in ATTI mode albeit without RTH function but the IOC will still work in CL but not HL because the CL uses the compass not GPS like the HL.

umm,. not so sure about that one.
as I believe GPS is stilled used with CL so that the Phantom remains on the same course.
(I've yet to try flipping the switch to ATTI while flying in HL or CL tho,. maybe next time)

 

[tanasit]

The best situation will be after a few minutes in GPS mode, you will get slow single GREEN, then take off in ATTI mode and enjoy your flight. But if you get a single GREEN followed by 1 or 2 RED, then you are not getting 6 satellites required for the GPS to work BUT you can still fly in ATTI mode albeit without RTH function but the IOC will still work in CL but not HL because the CL uses the compass not GPS like the HL.

umm,. not so sure about that one.
as I believe GPS is stilled used with CL so that the Phantom remains on the same course.
(I've yet to try flipping the switch to ATTI while flying in HL or CL tho,. maybe next time)

That is why DJI came up with CL, which does have to NOT rely on the unstable GPS signal, unlike compass which will always be there for you.
Wanna test, cover the GPS antenna with foil or carbon sheet and see if even without satellite signal, the CL will still work??

 

[mercillus]

Thanks for that reply - I've looked at them but the initilisation seems to be very fast in the videos but doesn't seem to happen on mine in real time. Do I need to update software or something like that?

I bought a few batteries for this very reason. First one I use to get the craft ready to fly, maybe a calibration if needed, and some pre checking. Then about 5 or so minutes with that battery while reading the LED's. Then I come in and put a newly charged battery on it for the actual flight.. I have three batteries now and I am about to order a few more.

 

[darkhorse]

What kind of flight time do you get after you swap in your fresh battery? I don't think warm up, compass calibration, waiting for GPS lock, etc consume much battery. Don't you have to go through all that (well, probably not compass calibration) after putting in the fresh battery anyway?

 

[mercillus]

The IMU is already warm when you swap batteries, so it will give your one green blink (or orange) about 5 seconds after plugging in the new battery. I only do a compass cal when I start out for the day in the area I am flying in. If I am at home I don't re-cal unless I did it out on one of my journeys then I might re-cal it back to my home environment. Now that may not be the perfect scenario but hasn't failed me yet.


Oh and flight time. Due to high windws etc hard to say.. At about 7 minutes in I might swoop in front of me so I can see the diff between orange and red. Then I do a hard lift. If its red I land and swap. It wont be fully dead but its safe this way...

 

[pwright]

The IMU is already warm when you swap batteries, so it will give your one green blink (or orange) about 5 seconds after plugging in the new battery.

Your GPS will still take some time to reacquire satellites and I don't think I would trust that it had a good home lock immediately after swapping batteries.

The warm up time for me is under a minute which means I would still have 9-10 minutes on a stock battery.

 

[Gizmo3000]

The IMU is already warm when you swap batteries, so it will give your one green blink (or orange) about 5 seconds after plugging in the new battery.

Your GPS will still take some time to reacquire satellites and I don't think I would trust that it had a good home lock immediately after swapping batteries.

The warm up time for me is under a minute which means I would still have 9-10 minutes on a stock battery.

But it doesn't take that long for a GPS to acquire satellites. (otherwise the Phantom will blink green+red's until it's got all the Sat's acquired).
A single green blink = good to go!
If you ensure home-lock has been set the first time, it shouldn't have to be reset either.
but I still do it manually just to reassure myself!

 

[pwright]

Not sure I get what you're saying Gizmo (probably because I was less than clear).

The OP was saying that he lets the Phantom warm up and then swaps batteries so that he starts off his flight with a nearly full battery. I don't see the point and, IMO, it adds more potential for things to go wrong.

The warmup and GPS acquire takes very little time. Under a minute for me which still gives nearly the full flight time (8-9 minutes).

Swapping batteries means the Phantom has to re-initialize everything including GPS. I haven't seen any documentation that suggests that home lock is preserved in some non-volatile storage on the Phantom. If it isn't then then there is no telling what the home location will be if you take off immediately after swapping batteries.

Making sure you have home lock after swapping batteries just seems prudent to me.

 

[darkhorse]

Right... warm up and GPS lock doesn't use up much battery live, compared to getting the motors spinning and flying. I don't see any benefit in doing the battery swap.

 

[mercillus]

The IMU is already warm when you swap batteries, so it will give your one green blink (or orange) about 5 seconds after plugging in the new battery.

Your GPS will still take some time to reacquire satellites and I don't think I would trust that it had a good home lock immediately after swapping batteries.

The warm up time for me is under a minute which means I would still have 9-10 minutes on a stock battery.

Tested this last night. I get Sat hook up within seconds. Before I can get back to where I set the radio down..

 

[mercillus]

Right... warm up and GPS lock doesn't use up much battery live, compared to getting the motors spinning and flying. I don't see any benefit in doing the battery swap.

Many years of RC. I want a full battery before I leave the area.. Only benefit is personal preference and confidence I wont have as many possible issues arise.

 

[tanasit]

But it doesn't take that long for a GPS to acquire satellites. (otherwise the Phantom will blink green+red's until it's got all the Sat's acquired).
A single green blink = good to go!
If you ensure home-lock has been set the first time, it shouldn't have to be reset either.
but I still do it manually just to reassure myself!

Agree to ALL that you said above.