Question about the Phantom Vision controller

[jeffrg270]

Hi There,

I'm new to aerial photography but I finally decided to try the Phantom Vision so I ordered one from Amazon just the other day after watching a lot of the Youtube tutorials and also reading some of this forum...

One brief question I have is about the controller...from my understanding, it sounds like the early editions had the microUSB socket required to upgrade the firmware within the controller so you had to take it apart, but the newer editions have it accessible externally?

I guess I'll find out soon enough, but if I ordered a new one from Amazon a couple days ago is it likely to have an external plug or will I probably have to dismantle the controller - I just would rather not have to risk voiding the warranty just to upgrade the firmware.

Thanks,
Jeff.

 

[Seahorse]

Mine is a month old with no external socket, so it's hard to know but there are plenty of video guides showing you how to do it - mine did not need updating regardless!

 

[jeffrg270]

Thanks - so is there a way to know what version of firmware is in the controller without dismantling it and plugging it in?

Thanks,
Jeff.

 

[Pull_Up]

When you go to update the aircraft (which does have an external socket!) if you are required to update the receiver firmware you will need to open up your transmitter and update that. If your aircraft reports latest receiver version already installed then the tx will not need updating as the tx and rx firmware were a matched pair and would therefore have been applied at the factory.

 

[jeffrg270]

Ok, so basically if the aircraft arrives out of the box up to date, then the controller also is up to date?

That's good to know so I don't have to potentially dismantle the controller for no reason. Are any of them shipping with an external connector on the controller yet? Maybe not, I guess.

-Jeff.

 

[Pull_Up]

Jeff, if you look here: http://www.dji.com/product/phantom-2-vision/download towards the bottom you'll see the list of current firmware. When you plug in the aircraft, if you don't have the latest of anything it will prompt for update. If you see that you are running receiver firmware 1.0.1.3 then you must be running the paired "remote controller" firmware 1.0.2.22, both released back on 5th November.

Unless buying from a small seller with very slow stock movements you'll probably be all up to date.

I've seen one person get a transmitter with a usb on the outside, but that came as a replacement transmitter rather than with the aircraft package, so we still don't know for sure what's going on with them. But nevertheless, you're almost certain not to need it.

 

[MikeySoft]

I just got my P2V about 5 days ago but not from Amazon. It is not very hard to open the pack for the controller. However, all the firmware including the controller, the Phantom, and the camera where the latest when it arrived. I don't know if the dealer did it or it came from the factory that way. My controller did not have an external usb connector so apparently it was an older one. I also checked the number of times the batteries were charged this weekend. The were 1 and two, the number of times I charged them. I was a little paranoia the free one may have been used but it was not.

 

[w0by]

I spoke to DJI over the phone and via email. They stated that the DJI Phantom 2 (non camera) does come with the usb port on the bottom of the controller due to the gimbal needing to be updated more often, the DJI Phantom 2 Vision (camera version) does not have a usb port on the bottom of the controller, which he said it shouldn't ever need to be updated anyways.

 

[jeffrg270]

w0by,

That's a strange response from DJI...I guess I don't understand why the Phantom 2 would need to have it's controller updated but that the Phantom 2 Vision would not.

-Jeff.

 

[CJ31]

w0by,

That's a strange response from DJI...I guess I don't understand why the Phantom 2 would need to have it's controller updated but that the Phantom 2 Vision would not.

-Jeff.

I assume it's because of the X1 channel for gimbal control on the back of the controller.

 

[MikeySoft]

w0by,

That's a strange response from DJI...I guess I don't understand why the Phantom 2 would need to have it's controller updated but that the Phantom 2 Vision would not.

-Jeff.

I assume it's because of the X1 channel for gimbal control on the back of the controller.

Maybe not to update the firmware so much but to update the gain and distance travel of different gimbals?

 

[jeffrg270]

Well you guys were right,

There's no external USB port on the controller, but it looks like the aircraft's firmware is up to date so I'm assuming the controller's is too.

Two questions:

Is there a way to determine the Camera's firmware and whether or not I have to update that?

Also, what is the difference between using the software assistant to set the Phantom 2 Vision to Naza-M mode or Phantom mode?

In reading the flyaway prevention thread, it seems like the best thing to do if it starts taking off is to switch to "ATTI" mode, but not manual mode using the S1 switch, but it also says "if ATTI mode is available."

How do I configure the S1 switch to make sure ATTI mode is available, and which of the three positions will it be?

Ok I guess that's more than 2 questions, but I appreciate your help!

-Jeff.

 

[Pull_Up]

Hi. Camera firmware is listed in the app when you are connected to the Vision - go to Settings>About and it will tell you there.

Have a search on here for NAZA mode - there are MANY posts about it. As a beginner I would forget about it until you've got at least several flights under your belt and have learnt the basics of controlling the aircraft and the app. Once you are confident with the basics then you can add some extra switches to play with on there. It's not inherently complicated or dangerous, it's jst extra things to think about at a time when you just need to be acquiring some good fundamental skills - plus all the info in the manual is written assuming you are in stock Vision mode.

Re: flyaways, I really wouldn't worry about it. Most of them can at least be partially attributed to user error, so the important thing is to get your pre-flight routines sorted and wait until you have a good satellite lock before taking off; again plenty of good posts on here about that. If a flyaway is going to happen to you in your first 20 flights then even if you have the full gamut of options available to you you are unlikely to have the skills or reactions yet to be able to react to it successfully anyway. And adding an additional layer of complexity with LED indicator signals that are not in the user manual, etc, is just going to confuse more than assist in the early days.

For what it's worth my advice would be to concentrate on finding an excellent place to do a first-time compass calibration, make sure you hover the aircraft in front of you for a minute after take-off and if it isn't pretty **** stable then land it and ask for help. After a minute if it's looking good it will be good, then go practice some gentle manoeuvres and report back to us about how big a grin you've got on your face.

Good luck, don't worry and have fun!

 

[jeffrg270]

Pull_Up,

I took it out for it's first flight this evening - everything went smoothly, thanks for your advice! took it to the center of a field, calibrated the compass, then got it up into the air about 5 meters and after letting go of the sticks it hovers really nicely. Hardly any movement at all. 9 GPS satellites.

The responsiveness of this thing and the stability of it even with some wind blowing is incredible! Brought it back in after several minutes just because it started to get really cold.

Is there a certain number of satellites (6 or less or something) where it's just not very safe to fly because of it drifting too much or not being able to return home if connection is lost?

Thanks,
Jeff

 

[Pull_Up]

Yes. Now you've got the adrenalin of the first flight out of the way go and read the manual again. Lots of key info in there, including how many satellites to have and how you know when the aircraft is ready to fly and had locked its home location...