Question - ATTI vs GPS

m0j0 · Jan 17, 2016

Ok,

I'm on flight 20.. Still new to this hobby. I have been reading the boards and have been very conservative flying. This has been an awesome experience but I have a few questions. I went to an open field so that I could flip the switch to attitude mode (training) and fly it a little harder. There is a ton of open space in NM. So found a good spot with about 2000 meters clear in every direction. I did a site survey did not notice any overhead telephone or power lines and launched. Thus far I have been landing at 50%. Now that I have more than 10 charges on the battery I will be more aggressive with the battery. So today I'm tooling around and get the warning at 35%... The voltage on the battery is fine but I want to touch down. So I turn it around and come directly back. No problem. Land...

I did the same thing with the second battery except this time I hit RTH at 50% from about 1100 meters. Seems like it was taking absolutely forever. There is a bout 5mph - 8mph winds crosswind. Hmm. Took off return to home and hit full forward on the sticks.. Came back faster. Anyone have any idea why that would be? Did I miss that in the manual? Maybe I'm just imagining that it was faster? My other question is does it fly faster in ATTI mode? Not because I care about flying fast but because if I need to get it back and I'm flying into a headwind every bit of speed counts.

Thanks

msinger · Jan 17, 2016

m0j0 said:
Anyone have any idea why that would be?

I'm not sure what speed the Phantom RTH's at, but it's not full throttle.

m0j0 said:
My other question is does it fly faster in ATTI mode?

Yes.

m0j0 · Jan 17, 2016

Another thing... Even in attitude mode in 6-8 mph winds.. I had no problems flying and controlling the P3. I do have another concern.. I have noticed that sometimes when I have the P3 at around 8-10 feet that it sometimes comes down a few feet.. It is locked down with 18 sats.. Is that normal.

I will add that I completed a compass calibration before I flew today. My previous calibration was more than 200 miles away. When I checked the mod values they appeared fine just above 1400.. Calibrated and they were just above 1500.. I have noticed this before and after the calibration.

The wind was not bad but it was gusting.. Thoughts?

m0j0 · Jan 17, 2016

msinger said:
I'm not sure what speed the Phantom RTH's at, but it's not full throttle.

Yes.

Thanks Mr Phantom Encyclopedia... I mean msinger.. Can't tell you how much knowledge you guys have given me.. Crazy before reading here I thought you plugged the battery in and flew.. LOL. I think you can just pick up the sticks charge and fly but... man knowing what I know now. Thats a dangerous proposition. Those guys usually come in here with ... Flight #1 bird flew away into a tree.

Anyway thanks all! This hobby is more addictive than some prohibited substances.

msinger · Jan 17, 2016

m0j0 said:
I have noticed that sometimes when I have the P3 at around 8-10 feet that it sometimes comes down a few feet

That's in VPS range. If you have VPS enabled, try disabling it to see if that resolves the issue.

beeline · Jan 17, 2016

I've read here that RTH is about 20mph. Add to that the pregnant pauses while it thinks, then ascends to rht altitude, thinks some more, then takes it's sweet time coming home, the sphincter muscle can get very active.

If time is of the essence, atti is definitely the way to go.

m0j0 · Jan 17, 2016

msinger said:
That's in VPS range. If you have VPS enabled, try disabling it to see if that resolves the issue.

I disabled VPS in the app before I flew and noticed it was off currently off in the app. I did not check it during flight. Will check next go around

m0j0 · Jan 17, 2016

beeline said:
If time is of the essence, atti is definitely the way to go.

It wasn't but I'm imagining it could be.....

Meta4 · Jan 17, 2016

m0j0 said:
RTH ... Seems like it was taking absolutely forever. There is a bout 5mph - 8mph winds crosswind. Hmm. Took off return to home and hit full forward on the sticks.. Came back faster. Anyone have any idea why that would be?

Testing in still air shows that normal full speed = 15 metres/sec
But RTH = 10 m/s
I'm not sure why it's designed that way but it's something to keep in mind if you ever attempt RTH in a headwind situation.

Wibble · Jan 17, 2016

beeline said:
I've read here that RTH is about 20mph. Add to that the pregnant pauses while it thinks, then ascends to rht altitude, thinks some more, then takes it's sweet time coming home, the sphincter muscle can get very active.

If time is of the essence, atti is definitely the way to go.

RTH does 30 - 35mph on mine depending on wind speed but I have never updated it so maybe it was faster on earlier software versions?

Solar Deity · Jan 17, 2016

It "cruises" on the return trip. It even says it in the green top middle status bar. Cruising and the distance from the home point. It's about 20-21 MPH from my experience. You can increase and decrease the RTH speed with the elevator about 7 mph either way.

SD

m0j0 · Jan 17, 2016

Solar Deity said:
It "cruises" on the return trip. It even says it in the green top middle status bar. Cruising and the distance from the home point. It's about 20-21 MPH from my experience. You can increase and decrease the RTH speed with the elevator about 7 mph either way.

SD

Ahh very good to know. Did know that you could yaw the p3 while returning. Pretty cool.