Ordered my Phantom 2!! Excited but nervous at the same time!

[xgeek]

Hi guys,

Been having a hard time deciding between the Vision and a P2 with zenmuse. Well today in a fit of madness I pressed the checkout button on a P2 + zenmuse With any luck it will be here tomorrow .

Feeling very nervous even though I have read the manual many many times and been reading posts here since before Christmas. Have also watched nearly every video going (that Colin is a very slick chap, shame he is not with DJI anymore as I learnt a lot from his videos :lol: )

My plan for tomorrow is to update all the FW if needed and give it a visual inspection inside to check for any solder issues. After that do a full calibration with the RC assistant and Phantom assistant and will probably switch it in to Naza mode from the get go, but keep it in Phantom mode for the first few flights (S1 & S2 up) before testing IOC, atti and failsafe modes .

Have already planned out my first 2 flights for Saturday (weather permitting) to verify correct system operation and to test both batteries. If everything goes well will add on the zenmuse and FPV stuff later next week once I am comfy the Phantom is working okay.

A big thanks to the members here for posting up and answering questions. It has been a great help to me in deciding which way to go and what to buy. I hope once I am up and running I can also contribute back to the forum to help others.

Cheers and many thanks.

 

[bernardb]

Re: Ordered my Phantom 2!! Excited but nervous at the same t

I feel your excitement!

I have only had my P2 for about 3 weeks now and am totally jazzed every time I fly...

It is a gem in the air and so easy to fly...BUT, always be aware of what mode you are in, don't take chances, go easy at first...

Have fun!

 

[freyjoel]

Re: Ordered my Phantom 2!! Excited but nervous at the same t

A little advice. Be very careful not to strip screws if you decide to open it up. I didn't bother checking solders and all has been fine in more than 50 flights so far. But I did open the shell when I decided to add the custom made cable for Immersion transmitters. I was super careful and I can easily see how you could strip a screw and put yourself in a world of hurt.

The P2 with zenmuse was the right choice in my opinion. The Video and range of the P2 non-vision is nothing short of amazing. Have fun!

 

[atoms]

Re: Ordered my Phantom 2!! Excited but nervous at the same t

Congrats and relax!

There's nothing you can do to it that can't be fixed!

 

[Jaybee]

Re: Ordered my Phantom 2!! Excited but nervous at the same t

Take it very steady and make sure you buy a GPS tracker asap! : )

Good luck.

 

[NEILS]

Re: Ordered my Phantom 2!! Excited but nervous at the same t

Congrats on your choice, you'll love it

 

[xgeek]

Re: Ordered my Phantom 2!! Excited but nervous at the same t

Take it very steady and make sure you buy a GPS tracker asap! : )

Good luck.

Have a TK102B sitting here ready and waiting . Ordered that before I decided on the Phantom to get.

 

[Jaybee]

Re: Ordered my Phantom 2!! Excited but nervous at the same t

Take it very steady and make sure you buy a GPS tracker asap! : )
Good luck.

Have a TK102B sitting here ready and waiting . Ordered that before I decided on the Phantom to get.

Good work, enjoy!

 

[av8inglife]

Re: Ordered my Phantom 2!! Excited but nervous at the same t

Take care to follow instructions EXACTLY as written in the release notes when updating firmware!!

Many Gimbals and transmitters have been bricked, X1 channels frozen or rendered semi-useless due to incorrect installations of firmware.
Some suppliers have recommended even not updating the firmwares at the moment due to some of the results that have been experienced.

 

[dtdyer01]

Re: Ordered my Phantom 2!! Excited but nervous at the same t

xgeek where are you from?
I found it comforting going out with a fellow member of the forum for my first flight.
Since then, I now alway fly with him.

 

[xgeek]

Re: Ordered my Phantom 2!! Excited but nervous at the same t

xgeek where are you from?
I found it comforting going out with a fellow member of the forum for my first flight.
Since then, I now alway fly with him.

I am in North London mate. Am happy to drive out of London for a meet up sometime.

 

[xgeek]

Re: Ordered my Phantom 2!! Excited but nervous at the same t

Well it all arrived before noon

Phantom 2 with Zenmuse, iOSD mini & spare battery from Heliguy
Fatshark 5.8GHz 250mW Transmitter & Black Pearl monitor from First Person View

The Phantom was smaller than I expected (only ever seen photos and videos), but looks very well made. Checked the FW and calibrated the controller first. FW was on 1.0.1.12 and did not need updating (The website release notes shows 1.0.1.11 as the latest version?) http://download.dji-innovations.com/dow ... tes_en.pdf.

Next fired up the Phantom without props and went through stick calibration and a basic IMU calibration. Also switched to Naza and enabled IOC while I was in there. Again all the software was already up to date.

Popped the top off to check solder joints and was very impressed with the build quality inside. Really neat and tidy and the solder joints were perfect. Took loads of photos of inside just incase I ever unplug anything and forget where it went lol (been there done that before)

Went outside without props and did the compass dance a few times to familiarise myself with the procedure and light sequence. also did half a dozen switch ons so I could see the warm up and GPS lock sequence lights.

Have not fitted the zenmuse yet as I don't have a Gopro!!. All the FPV stuff can wait until next week after I have had a few test flights. Was itching to get out this afternoon as its such a nice day, but I promised myself I would read the manual again tonight and do my first flight on Saturday. Lets hope the weather stays good!

 

[dtdyer01]

Re: Ordered my Phantom 2!! Excited but nervous at the same t

xgeek where are you from?
I found it comforting going out with a fellow member of the forum for my first flight.
Since then, I now alway fly with him.

I am in North London mate. Am happy to drive out of London for a meet up sometime.

Well me and another forum member are meeting up tomorrow near Brighton at 12:15.

You are welcome to join.
Glad you got it and are happy

 

[xgeek]

Re: Ordered my Phantom 2!! Excited but nervous at the same t

Took it out today for the first flight and boy was I scared before I got it into the air :lol: Did not mount the zenmuse or FPV stuff. Only had a GPS tracker on it just in case .

Went to an empty football field (soccer for you yanks ) and setup dead in the centre. Powered up and waited for sat lock and home lock and then did the compass dance. Once that was done I powered down the unit and put it back on the centre spot and powered it up again. Waited again for sat lock and home lock and then spooled up the motors. Sat looking at it for a few minutes in idle before I had the nerved to take off as I kept thinking "what have I forgot to check" lol. Anyway gave it full thrust and after a few seconds up she went. Got to about 10 feet and I just let it hover.

Boy was it stable. Just sat there parked in the sky. I waited a few minutes and then tried all the stick controls to make sure everything work okay and then let it hover again for another few minutes. I had set the Phantom pointing across the football field (down the white line) when I set home lock as I wanted to test that it stayed parallel with the line going forwards and backwards. I went up and down a few time and it tracked pretty well from one end to the other.

Next tried out home and course lock and they both worked okay. Took it up to about 30 feet and switched to atti and watched as the wind slowly blew it along. Flipped back in to GPS mode and she stopped dead. Last thing I wanted to test was failsafe, so switched S1 to FS and waited. After a few seconds she rose up high (much higher than I had flown it!) and slowly came back to me and landed

Happy that she was working okay I used up the rest of the battery going around the field until I got the first battery warning and then I landed her. Popped the second battery in and and basically repeated what I had done on the first battery.

I know it does not sound very exciting but I am so happy it all worked :lol: Will do a couple more flights tomorrow and then will try with the zenmuse and Gopro. Happy days

 

[Jermz]

Re: Ordered my Phantom 2!! Excited but nervous at the same t

That's more or less what I did my first go at one. I flew my friends phantom. He had already gone through all the sat and home locks, and the compass dance. He explained all the lights. He flew it a bit, and let me fly it. I didn't go very high or do a lot with it, but it was pretty cool.

I'm going to be getting one, and will have to familiarize myself with all the lights and pre-flight checks. I wasn't sure if I'd get one until I flew his, now I gotta have one.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Fink]

Re: Ordered my Phantom 2!! Excited but nervous at the same t

Took it out today for the first flight and boy was I scared before I got it into the air :lol: Did not mount the zenmuse or FPV stuff. Only had a GPS tracker on it just in case .

Went to an empty football field (soccer for you yanks ) and setup dead in the centre. Powered up and waited for sat lock and home lock and then did the compass dance. Once that was done I powered down the unit and put it back on the centre spot and powered it up again. Waited again for sat lock and home lock and then spooled up the motors. Sat looking at it for a few minutes in idle before I had the nerved to take off as I kept thinking "what have I forgot to check" lol. Anyway gave it full thrust and after a few seconds up she went. Got to about 10 feet and I just let it hover.

Boy was it stable. Just sat there parked in the sky. I waited a few minutes and then tried all the stick controls to make sure everything work okay and then let it hover again for another few minutes. I had set the Phantom pointing across the football field (down the white line) when I set home lock as I wanted to test that it stayed parallel with the line going forwards and backwards. I went up and down a few time and it tracked pretty well from one end to the other.

Next tried out home and course lock and they both worked okay. Took it up to about 30 feet and switched to atti and watched as the wind slowly blew it along. Flipped back in to GPS mode and she stopped dead. Last thing I wanted to test was failsafe, so switched S1 to FS and waited. After a few seconds she rose up high (much higher than I had flown it!) and slowly came back to me and landed

Happy that she was working okay I used up the rest of the battery going around the field until I got the first battery warning and then I landed her. Popped the second battery in and and basically repeated what I had done on the first battery.

I know it does not sound very exciting but I am so happy it all worked :lol: Will do a couple more flights tomorrow and then will try with the zenmuse and Gopro. Happy days

I had the same experience with mine. So nervous but also so excited.

I just got home from my second flight and it went equally well - bigger area this time. Empty soccer field.

Are you guys doing the compass calibration after GPS lock, before, or does it really matter? I do mine as soon as it's powered on and then I'll usually flip the phone into Airplane Mode, get the case out of the way and get the transmitter strapped and ready to go. GPS lock is generally done by the time I'm all set to fly. Haven't had an issue yet and I also haven't experienced the drifting issues that some have reported, although I've only flown it about 100m in a straight shot so far.

Got pretty high today, I'd guess about 100m or so. Got really nervous as a huge flock of birds came over to it to check it out. Boy...I have learned that descending too quickly can definitely cause some aerobatics as the GPS tries to compensate for it. I'll be practicing that the next time I fly. Today I worked on keeping the front of the Phantom pointed at an object while flying in circles around it, as if I was filming something and wanted to get a 360* view of it.

Sorry to monopolize your thread - just wanted to share my experiences and get an opinion on the order of the GPS lock and compass calibration. Weather here in Orlando is amazing today and is supposed to be tomorrow also - hoping to get at least four more flights in this weekend. Might just need to get a second battery...this whole driving home to charge in between flights thing is for the birds.

Fink

 

[xgeek]

Re: Ordered my Phantom 2!! Excited but nervous at the same t

I am not 100% sure on which to do first, so will be interested to hear how others do it as well.

 

[Fink]

Re: Ordered my Phantom 2!! Excited but nervous at the same t

I am not 100% sure on which to do first, so will be interested to hear how others do it as well.

Have you found out anything on this yet? I've continued to do it immediately following the beep sequence at power-on and so far, fingers crossed, no issues.

Just curious if you have heard anything.

Fink

 

[xgeek]

Re: Ordered my Phantom 2!! Excited but nervous at the same t

I have not seen anything definitive. But if you enter in to compass cal as soon as you switch on does the rest of the boot up sequence pause until compass cal is finished?. I would hate for home point and direction to be acquired while in the middle of a compass cal

I don't plan to compass cal every flight, so have not had a chance to test your way. I have only had 5 flights and always do a 60 second 10 foot hover to check for any drift and to test the controls are all working okay. Then I fly out a bit rotate 180 and flip to HL and make sure she comes back in my direction. Once all that is done I am happy to fly. I lose a couple of minutes of flying time running through the tests but it gives me peace of mind that I am good to go.

 

[Big Ben]

Re: Ordered my Phantom 2!! Excited but nervous at the same t

You DO NOT pick up the Phantom right after you've powered up. Especially in NAZA mode. First of all you run the risk of the "IMU abnormal data" flashes. You leave it there because after 30 seconds (in NAZA mode) it will register its orientation for Course Lock. A GPS lock is also much quicker achieved when stationary. Only after having seen TWO series of rapid green flashes (in NAZA mode) for CL and HP setting you can pick it up for a compass calibration. You don't have to do a compass dance for every flight or even every new flight day unless you have a reason to do it, like having moved a considerable distance from your last flight location or are not sure the compass sensor has not been exposed to strong magnetic fields.