Finally some flyable weather this morning so I took advantage of it to give the Vision as thorough a test as I could on one battery's worth of flight. I was specifically looking for flight time and range (both wifi and control) given the issues some people have reported. I've tried to give as much info as possible, hope this is of use/interest to some.
Hardware
Stock aircraft/Tx as delivered. I haven't even connected the Vision or the Tx to a computer. Android Vision app, latest version, running on a Nexus 4 phone. Camera set to 1080p/30, wide. Preview quality set to 640x480/15. Fully charged Wifi extender. Vision battery reporting 95% charged. AA batteries in the Tx had approx 40mins use before this flight. Compass calibrated before take-off. 11 satellites found.
Conditions
Surface winds calm. Air temp 10 degrees C. Take-off point approx 130ft above sea level. Open farmland, but there was a large metal-clad barn 30ft from where I took off and was controlling. There were some lower voltage transmission cables nearby (440v). Line of sight at all times.
Flight Report
I flew until I got the first battery low warning, at rotors off I was reading 27% charge. At rotors on I was reporting 95%. I was recording video from rotors on to rotors off, there was no intermediate landing. My video shows 19 minutes and 19 seconds flight time. Ratio of hover/slow moving to faster flight probably over 2 to 1.
When flying at 180ft height, I was able to have full control out to over 1000ft - so far I couldn't see the aircraft. Video was occasionally glitchy at this distance but I didn't lose picture completely or get the "connection lost" report
I decided to see if I could get a loss of control by flying high, the weak point of the antennas. I lost control at 200ft distance, more than 800ft height and it started to return to home. I couldn't cancel the RTH until the aircraft came down to below 400ft height, at which point a flick of S1 and I could bring her in. By this time the aircraft was directly overhead, descending slowly as per RTH procedure.
At all times I had the wifi extender pointing broadly towards the aircraft, and the whip antenna at it's full 90 degrees compared to the Tx orientation. This meant that rather than pointing perpendicular to the ground when I was holding the Tx it was actually pointed slightly backwards, towards me.
Conclusions
Wow. This was the first time I've been able to really push the Vision out in the open. I had full control and wifi downlink at over 1000ft horizontal range without issue. The issue of control disconnect seems to be exacerbated by going up high, up close. I didn't test specifically but I suspect if you move the Vision 2 or 300ft away from you before ascending you would be get the max height you're going to get.
That battery really is phenomenal. Bearing in mind I started at 95%, to get just under 20 minutes and still have 27% on the clock given the amount of hovering I was doing was superb. The GPS lock was rock solid (I did have sight of 11 satellites, mind you) and I did have a go at a bit of low and fast flying above a field - the downlink picture is more than adequate for hooning around about 6 feet off the deck and 30+mph... but I still had to glance up now and again to make sure I wasn't closer to the ground than the image gives the impression.
I think that's about it. If I've forgotten anything you want to know just ask.
Hardware
Stock aircraft/Tx as delivered. I haven't even connected the Vision or the Tx to a computer. Android Vision app, latest version, running on a Nexus 4 phone. Camera set to 1080p/30, wide. Preview quality set to 640x480/15. Fully charged Wifi extender. Vision battery reporting 95% charged. AA batteries in the Tx had approx 40mins use before this flight. Compass calibrated before take-off. 11 satellites found.
Conditions
Surface winds calm. Air temp 10 degrees C. Take-off point approx 130ft above sea level. Open farmland, but there was a large metal-clad barn 30ft from where I took off and was controlling. There were some lower voltage transmission cables nearby (440v). Line of sight at all times.
Flight Report
I flew until I got the first battery low warning, at rotors off I was reading 27% charge. At rotors on I was reporting 95%. I was recording video from rotors on to rotors off, there was no intermediate landing. My video shows 19 minutes and 19 seconds flight time. Ratio of hover/slow moving to faster flight probably over 2 to 1.
When flying at 180ft height, I was able to have full control out to over 1000ft - so far I couldn't see the aircraft. Video was occasionally glitchy at this distance but I didn't lose picture completely or get the "connection lost" report
I decided to see if I could get a loss of control by flying high, the weak point of the antennas. I lost control at 200ft distance, more than 800ft height and it started to return to home. I couldn't cancel the RTH until the aircraft came down to below 400ft height, at which point a flick of S1 and I could bring her in. By this time the aircraft was directly overhead, descending slowly as per RTH procedure.
At all times I had the wifi extender pointing broadly towards the aircraft, and the whip antenna at it's full 90 degrees compared to the Tx orientation. This meant that rather than pointing perpendicular to the ground when I was holding the Tx it was actually pointed slightly backwards, towards me.
Conclusions
Wow. This was the first time I've been able to really push the Vision out in the open. I had full control and wifi downlink at over 1000ft horizontal range without issue. The issue of control disconnect seems to be exacerbated by going up high, up close. I didn't test specifically but I suspect if you move the Vision 2 or 300ft away from you before ascending you would be get the max height you're going to get.
That battery really is phenomenal. Bearing in mind I started at 95%, to get just under 20 minutes and still have 27% on the clock given the amount of hovering I was doing was superb. The GPS lock was rock solid (I did have sight of 11 satellites, mind you) and I did have a go at a bit of low and fast flying above a field - the downlink picture is more than adequate for hooning around about 6 feet off the deck and 30+mph... but I still had to glance up now and again to make sure I wasn't closer to the ground than the image gives the impression.
I think that's about it. If I've forgotten anything you want to know just ask.
