Phantom v1 vs v2 flight time & possible hacks.

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Without a question one of the best features in Phantom 2 & Vision is the prolonged flight time (20-25 minutes) due to its huge battery. The battery must have a good capacity/weight ratio to enable flight times up to 25 minutes.

In other hand you can change the motors and propellers from V1 to match with P2&Vision, but it still requires a battery with larger capcity to flight as long.

So far I've seen "hacked" Phantom V1 to carry 2-3 batteries, but as everyone knows the capacity/weight ratio makes the efficiency quite poor. Having two batteries instead of one, may increase your flight time only like 33%. And having three batteries has even worse efficiency. Is there something unseen on the Phantom 2/Vision battery, that makes it light weight and theres nothing like it on the market yet?

Questions
-What's the longest flight time you've been able to achieve and how did you achieve it with Phantom 1 & what was the payload (I'm interested on payloads including a GoPro, gimbal & video transmitter)
-Does anyone have good tips or tricks to hack your Phantom so it can fly up to 20 minutes with a large payload?
 
The main thing that's new on the Phantom vision are the props. The Vision has the same motors as the v1, and the same amperage on the ESCs. Normally, when I'm running a zenmuse, fpv, and gopro, I can get 14 minutes with a dual battery setup (2x2400mAh). With those props and the same setup, I get 18 minutes.
 
netphreak said:
With those props and the same setup, I get 18 minutes.

What are the specs of the props? Stocks ones on the phantom are 8045 (8inx4.5in).

I'm getting around 12min flight time with the stock phantom. With all my stuff (zenmuse, gopro, pmu, iosd, video tx and gps tracker) I get around 7-8minutes. Total weight is 1203g so I'm only 3g overweight.
 
llavalle said:
netphreak said:
With those props and the same setup, I get 18 minutes.

What are the specs of the props? Stocks ones on the phantom are 8045 (8inx4.5in).

I'm getting around 12min flight time with the stock phantom. With all my stuff (zenmuse, gopro, pmu, iosd, video tx and gps tracker) I get around 7-8minutes. Total weight is 1203g so I'm only 3g overweight.

Hi,
How are you getting 7-8 minutes with all that payload? Are you using stock lipo or bigger. I maidened my phantom last weekend with a gopro 3 black and Fatshark FPV gear on board and was getting less than that. If honest I was a little disappointed with my flight time.
Cheers, Rich
 
three6ty said:
How are you getting 7-8 minutes with all that payload?

I'll dig the video to make sure of the time. AFAIK (and it was yesterday night) It was around 7:20 before blinking red light. It was pretty cold outside (2-3 celcius so around 35 fahrenheit) so I think that might have helped. Had a stock lipo freshly charged on my Hyperion 606i charger. Also had freshly charged my GoPro... This seems to make a difference : since the gimbal is feeding the gopro, it reduces flight time.

I did not do heavy flying... mainly slow pans and such to test the gimbal.

Have you put your Phantom on a scale? Small things make a huge difference. I started by installing my Garmin tracker using a purpose build bracket built on ebay (30g). Same thing with the video transmitter (35g). I then placed everything on a scale and realized it was over weight. I dropped both mounts and replaced them with velcro strips (garmin and video) and also removed the USB cable from inside the Phantom. I flipped my led PCB around so the connector is now facing downward. I made a notch under the LED so I can connect the USB cable from outside the Phantom. I saved close to 85g just those 3 things.

Except for the notch for the USB cable (and removal of the cable), my Phantom is completely stock. I could save 30g more by replacing the board with the upgraded one but I'd loose my CAN port for the iOSD.

Here's what the flight looked like : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujth0cH3Yqc . If you want I can upload the full video on Youtube and you can see for yourself.
 
My all up weight is 900g at the moment. No gimbal. Just gopro and fatshark tx. Stock lipos charged on my iCharger 306b.
 
I was getting a solid 11-12 minutes of flight time without anything on the phantom except a GoPro (no TX, no GPS tracker, no nothing).

What version of the firmware are you running? My Phantom came with 3.16 but I upgraded right away to 4.02. Did you wait for the warning red light to land? Did you check your battery voltage right after landing? I was getting around 3.71v on each cell after the 7-8min flight with all the gear on.

You can change the warning level on the Naza and also change the calibration of the voltage. Check those out.
 
llavalle said:
I was getting a solid 11-12 minutes of flight time without anything on the phantom except a GoPro (no TX, no GPS tracker, no nothing).

What version of the firmware are you running? My Phantom came with 3.16 but I upgraded right away to 4.02. Did you wait for the warning red light to land? Did you check your battery voltage right after landing? I was getting around 3.71v on each cell after the 7-8min flight with all the gear on.

You can change the warning level on the Naza and also change the calibration of the voltage. Check those out.

Hi,
I went straight to 4.02. Not quite sure on red warning light as I had FPV goggles on but set a timer for 6 or 7 minutes to test initial flights, can't remember which but I tested the lipo straight after landing and had 25% left. I was expecting a lot more left than this to be honest.
 
Ok, total flight time was about 7minutes from engine start (takeoff was 2sec after that) to low battery warning and landing. I know I was near the end of my battery by looking at the voltage on my FPV so I started a low altitude hover to land immediately on the warning to check the battery.

Here's the full video : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpWjnvp67QM&hd=1

It's currently being processed by Youtube but should be available shorty.

I'll do another test tomorrow night, if weather permits it!
 
llavalle said:
netphreak said:
With those props and the same setup, I get 18 minutes.

What are the specs of the props? Stocks ones on the phantom are 8045 (8inx4.5in).

I'm getting around 12min flight time with the stock phantom. With all my stuff (zenmuse, gopro, pmu, iosd, video tx and gps tracker) I get around 7-8minutes. Total weight is 1203g so I'm only 3g overweight.

The props are 9040, I think. I'm also well over weight, close to 1300g. I can't wait to see those props in carbon.
 

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