Should I update my phanton 3 advanced to the latest firmware 1.50030

[yobdab]

Updated everything out of stock... was skeptical on updating since so many aerrors on P3A.... everything worked, its insanely stable now and hell it was windy outside but my live feed lags... First time im using an Ipad, just bought it just to fly it as it "should"... Ipad mini 2... i used to use Samsung s5 never had a problem (never updated tho). Now everything is up to date and video lags 20 feet away from me and on... pretty afraid on flying, any sugestions?

 

[max2206]

Next limitation, 500m maximum distance. Per FAA rules you have to fly LOS. Since nobody can see that far that will be next.

You lucky basterds as from 01/01/2016 (if the laws comes thru) i can only fly 10m height in my country.
I can only add that i'm very happy with the new firmware.
I can say that my Phantom 3 can hold his position better in heavy wind and also the motors are much quieter.
I have no problems with the GEO and NFZ restrictions.
To many pilots are giving a bad name to multicopter pilot

Marnix

 

[JamesBandes]

Wow! Just put on some climbing gear, walk for a mile through thick woods and underbrush with no roads anywhere nearby and no trails, climb through the thicket up 1500 feet and hope to find an opening in the trees big enough to launch from then take it 1500 feet down, start filming, go back to where I was, then 1500 feet up, then get it back through the trees to my little base camp in the middle of the mountain, then hike all the way back to the nearest road.

I see nothing wrong with that plan!

All because of an arbitrary height restriction put in to stop stupid people from breaking the rules. And on top of that, the height at which they set the restriction, is not the height for any regulation I have ever heard of.

I do see the wink at the end of your line, so I am assuming that you said that with a bit of sarcasm, but I did want to point out that this is a real problem.

Also, the extra flight modes that someone else had mentioned which have been added since the new firmware were already available in third party apps and the ones from Litchi and Ultimate flight as well as others are not crippled the way DJI restricts them. The DJI GS version makes you fly manually to each waypoint to set the point, go through the entire mission, then you can come back and tell it to fly what you just did automatically. All the third party apps allow you to set waypoints and all their parameters from a map, the way DJI used to allow it.

I understand that this restriction is just one or two small things now, but I foresee many more coming down the line like GEO for instance. I also see them further restricting and limiting the live stream video to force you to only fly within line of sight, since your video will drop out before you lose physical sight of the bird.

Once they suck you in with the new firmware, there is no way to roll back and the Go App will continue to update you without asking as long as you allow it access to the internet, so it sure sounds to me that they are very interested in making sure you don't have a choice, since none of the older apps without these restrictions will work with the new Firmware which you can't reverse.

This is my opinion, which is based on the way they have been rolling this out, and the subsequent restrictions that have come with each new release of the Go app and firmware so far.

I can't say with certainty, how far they will go with future restrictions, but it sure seems like they will continue to block anything that allows a foolish pilot to do anything that can get them in trouble in an attempt to avoid litigation down the road. They do this even when these restrictions stop people from being able to do things which are perfectly legitimate and within regulations that they were able to do before. It also forces people in other countries to conform to these regulations even if they have no such regulations in their countries.

Sorry. I am staying with FW version 1.4.10 with an Older DJI Pilot app and with Litchi v 2.3.1 all of which are blocked from internet access and the ability to update themselves. I will stay that way until there is a compelling reason for me to voluntarily give up the functionality that I have in favor of some new feature that I can't live without. I don't see that day coming any time soon.

I find it ironic that each new 'upgrade' now takes something away, and there's no telling where it will stop and no turning back once you start.

I do understand about bug fixes, and that's great, but I am not experiencing and issues, and my current configuration is very stable. I am staying put.

That, again is my opinion based on what I have seen so far. Every member of this board and every owner of a Phantom or any DJI product is free to decide for themselves what they are willing to give up and what is important to them. Foe me, this is the way to go. I hope that by my posts, others that were unaware of the restrictions, might save themselves from blindly upgrading only to lose something forever that was important to them.

Interesting post. As I mentioned in the past. This started because of irresponsible fools. One took off in New York cities Times Square and crashed into the Morgan Stanley building another flew it over the balloons and millions of people in the thanksgiving day parade. Can you really blame them for tightening the restrictions. The truth however is that if they go too far the market Wil stop buying them and buy something else. The completion is very large. There are also many very smart people that will review the firmware and just modify the firmware as they have done on many other products like routers. On a separate note the 15 firmware bricked my bird and I needed to send it back to DJI.

 

[TC Malker]

You lucky basterds as from 01/01/2016 (if the laws comes thru) i can only fly 10m height in my country.

Marnix

What's country are you from? I'm afraid the U.S. will be joining you too. Too many liberal politicians ruining this once great country with them limiting our freedom.

 

[JamesBandes]

Yes, update.

If you find yourself needing to fly up and over a tall mountain...launch from within 500m of the top, fly down one side, start your video and fly up and over.

Try holding down the RTH button and while holding it increase your altitude. It used to work was it removed ?

 

[GadgetGuy]

There is an equivalent group among drone owners, who, despite a lack of supporting evidence are convinced that DJI and the government wants to take away your flying freedom.

There is overwheming evidence that government wants to take away our current flying freedom as hobbyists. FAA Guidelines are soon to be codified into Rules, registration of all drones or drone owners is impending, state and municipal laws are being enacted daily to prohibit or further restrict drone flying, etc.! That DJI wants to be proactive, to remain in compliance and protect their business interests, by removing features we currently enjoy requires no paranoia nor any conspiracy theory. It's just business and common sense, as illustrated by their actions to date. Their actions speak for themselves.

 

[Blue Skies Media]

I've just upgraded mine today. Zero problems at flight time.

 

[GadgetGuy]

Since this conversation has taken a turn towards insurance (Although I am pretty sure the $1000.00 per year figure introduced was not meant to be taken seriously) I thought I would toss this option into the mix.

https://www.neary-aerial.com/home.html

It's not exactly insurance or a warranty. As far as I can tell, it's better.

Any insurance policy or warranty for a drone is going to be loaded with clauses about what is covered and what isn't and since negligence is never covered, you are almost always not going to be covered. No matter how you crash or what causes it, some kind of negligence can always be found on the part of the pilot. There is always some calibration that should have been done, some weather report that should have been read, or the way you charged or stored your battery, or something that can be blamed on the pilot and void your warranty or insurance claim.

This is a service contract. He is betting that more people will buy this contract and not use it, then the number of people who crash and need repair. From what I understand, the circumstances don't even come into play.

Here's how it works (from a conversation with the owner of the company):

1. Something happens and your drone is damaged.
2. Send it in
3. They repair or replace it and send it back.
4. Done.

You pay an annual fee for this. For a Phantom 3 Professional for the Gold package (Best offered package) it costs $239.00 per year.
It covers all these things (Shows both Silver and Gold Packages):

I believe the only expense you will incur other than the annual fee is shipping charges. For the Gold package, there is no deductible. Everything is covered. If you have no claim in your first year, your second year fee will be reduced by 25%. If you have one claim, they will still reduce your second year's fee, but by 20%.

With the Silver package, diagnostic fees are not covered and there is a $75.00 deductible. Percentage discounts for the second year are lower.

This is something I plan to do very shortly, as soon as I get past my Christmas bills. It is peace of mind.

I am just tossing this out there as an alternative option to an insurance policy that only covers you under certain circumstances with lots of small print. It may be pricier, but the no questions asked approach seems better to me.

Hope this helps someone.

You neglected to factor in the unrecovered drone! No done left, no coverage! That's the 0 and 00 for the house every time, and 100% loss for the owner!

 

[GadgetGuy]

Be SURE to read their flying rules! If you're not following every single one of them, they'll most likely fight any claim. Which I can't really blame them.

+1. Devil is always in the details. No handcatching, spotter required, LOS only, no night flying, etc. Find me a single drone owner who has ever collected a dime from this AMA coverage and I'll eat my hat!

 

[GadgetGuy]

They also do a good job of lobbying for the hobby in DC

They do a good job of lobbying for their hobby, which does not represent our interests which are far different from theirs...

 

[TC Malker]

Looks like a scam. I'm cancelling my $75 membership.

 

[GadgetGuy]

Looks like a scam. I'm cancelling my $75 membership.

They are always happy to take your money, though, under the guise of offering free insurance with membership that you'll never be able to collect on! That doesn't make them villains, but also isn't good for our wallets. They have their agenda, and we have ours.

 

[bobmyers]

They do a good job of lobbying for their hobby, which does not represent our interests which are far different from theirs...

Well their hobby is my hobby and a lot of my friends who fly RC airplanes which includes me have and fly P3's and we are all members of the AMA and have been for years. So don't make the mistake of using the broad paint brush to paint the AMA as villians when you really don't know. "Our interests is the AMA's interest"

 

[Oso]

Do Not need to leave or should leave the BIN file on the card after update. The P3 harbors this now in its own on board memmory which will update the batteries.

I have not seen or heard that battery updates no longer require the SD card / bin file. Is this confirmed?

 

[bobmyers]

I have not seen or heard that battery updates no longer require the SD card / bin file. Is this confirmed?

not after 1.3.2

 

[Oso]

not after 1.3.2

Thanks Bob. Wow, I have no idea how I missed that one.

 

[GadgetGuy]

Well their hobby is my hobby and a lot of my friends who fly RC airplanes which includes me have and fly P3's and we are all members of the AMA and have been for years. So don't make the mistake of using the broad paint brush to paint the AMA as villians when you really don't know. "Our interests is the AMA's interest"

Not meaning to demean the AMA as a group of RC airplane flyers, nor portray them as villains in any way. However, the primary reason P3 flyers are encouraged to join the AMA is for the free AMA insurance, which is worthless for a drone flyer, unless already flying by 333 exemption restrictions, and even then it won't cover you, if you are flying commercially. Many veteran AMA members here have confirmed the disdain many of the local AMA clubs have for drone flyers. I'm taking them at their word. Their interests and ours are quite different. I have no desire to follow or be bound by AMA Rules, other than no reckless flying, and I certainly don't support the AMA lobbying Congress to impose their AMA Rules upon us!

 

[aka1ceman]

I might have better luck checking into adding it to my homeowners insurance. That may be another interesting thread in itself.

 

[Meta4]

There is overwheming evidence that government wants to take away our current flying freedom as hobbyists. FAA Guidelines are soon to be codified into Rules, registration of all drones or drone owners is impending, state and municipal laws are being enacted daily to prohibit or further restrict drone flying, etc.! That DJI wants to be proactive, to remain in compliance and protect their business interests, by removing features we currently enjoy requires no paranoia nor any conspiracy theory. It's just business and common sense, as illustrated by their actions to date. Their actions speak for themselves.

Your government may or may not want to reduce your flying freedom but I still haven't seen anything to indicate that DJI are "removing features we currently enjoy".
My Phantom still flies as far and as fast as when they first released the P3 and despite hearing this many times in forums, I'm not aware of any features that have been removed.

 

[bobmyers]

Not meaning to demean the AMA as a group of RC airplane flyers, nor portray them as villains in any way. However, the primary reason P3 flyers are encouraged to join the AMA is for the free AMA insurance, which is worthless for a drone flyer, unless already flying by 333 exemption restrictions, and even then it won't cover you, if you are flying commercially. Many veteran AMA members here have confirmed the disdain many of the local AMA clubs have for drone flyers. I'm taking them at their word. Their interests and ours are quite different. I have no desire to follow or be bound by AMA Rules, other than no reckless flying, and I certainly don't support the AMA lobbying Congress to impose their AMA Rules upon us!

I understand what you are saying, but not all AMA clubs disdain drone flyers,-- not any that I know of-- we fly our drones at the Fly- in events in the air and flying FPV along with the planes. There are spotters required for every flight and drones are kept in line of sight. It is not many clubs-- . The AMA is concerned with flying safely and that is stressed in all clubs. That is a message that they try to covey to the FAA in the lobbying activities and they do have good communications with the FAA.