Took the plunge and ordered a few "peace of mind" add-ons

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Well after much debate and research I "bit the bullet" and ordered a few things widely recommended by others.

1.) the Getterback, since i fly over water 75% of the time

2.) Trackimo, just in case it flys to Never-neverland.

3.) Neary Aerial insurance (gold) plan, so Im not completely screwed if I crash.

Now, in order for #3 to save my tail, I'm am relying on #1 and #2 to function as advertised. Yes, I am aware #2 will likely be useless if I crash into the lake. Hopefully I never have to use any of these
 
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Getterback - $20 to get a waterlogged, likely useless drone - you would probably be able to retrieve your pics, though.
Trackimo - $140 to find it (assuming you have cell phone coverage and assuming it's not too wet where you land it). Plus yearly fees.
Nearly - $380 for two years.

Around $280 / year for no actual guarantee that you will have a working craft or data. That's about a three year payout (assuming an $800 P3P).

Pretty pricey, but it's certainly an option. Pretty much Applecare territory.
 
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Personally, I think a gimbal saver is what you should have. Costs anywhere from $4 up to $50. In the case of a hard crash it can save the camera from separating.
 
Getterback - $20 to get a waterlogged, likely useless drone - you would probably be able to retrieve your pics, though.
No necessarily; a lot of water crashes can have at least $100-200 of useable parts (shell, cam/gimbal, etc) along with the SD card (another $20-40) since microSD cards are waterproof.
 
You'll most likely can lose the battery in a water crash. If fresh water, then there is a good chance you can just dry the bird out and fly again next week
 
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I'm not sure that is a cost effective approach considering the cost of buying another P3. When the 4 came out I abandoned any thoughts of paying to secure my investment against crashes etc. You can use that money to get a used P3 or upgrade to the next iteration.


Phantom 3 Pro / iPad Air 2
 
I plan on flying this thing with the attitude of not giving a **** anymore. I've been too hung up on triple checking everything, worrying about all the "what ifs" and more or less not getting much enjoyment out of each flight fearing if it crashes, i won't be replacing it.

If my drone gets a compass error or flings off a prop and crashes, I don't care. More importantly, my wife won't be able to tell me "sorry honey, you aren't spending another $1000."

All that said, in reality I am totally depending on this cheap little Getterback to actually work I my P3 plunges to the bottom of my lake. If I can find it, I can claim it.
 
I got DJI care 1 year and a trackimo, I don't plan flying near water but if I did I defiantly would put 2 geterbacks on my Phantom 3 pro. Sorry tho I dont trust a small insurance company that will void my warranty when they fix, I rather deal with DJI. Only thing they don't cover is water damage and being lost, and has no deductible. Anyone who has a P3 can get DJI care regardless when the Phantom 3 was purchased. That's just my opinion due to experiences I've had, I'm sure neary is a great provider.
 
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I got DJI care 1 year and a trackimo, I don't plan flying near water but if I did I defiantly would put 2 geterbacks on my Phantom 3 pro. Sorry tho I dont trust a small insurance company that will void my warranty when they fix, I rather deal with DJI. Only thing they don't cover is water damage and being lost, and has no deductible. Anyone who has a P3 can get DJI care regardless when the Phantom 3 was purchased.

Yeah I have some concerns about my small time insurance plan too. Truthfully, I think all coverage plans are suspect, including DJI's plan. Better than nothing I guess.

Btw, are you happy with your Trackimo? I saw mixed reviews on all of the different tracking options
 
Yeah I have some concerns about my small time insurance plan too. Truthfully, I think all coverage plans are suspect, including DJI's plan. Better than nothing I guess.

Btw, are you happy with your Trackimo? I saw mixed reviews on all of the different tracking options

Trackimo is great so far but it's 2g so make sure your area still has 2g network as in the USA they have been taking them down. Here in Canada most old tech the government and companies are still using 2g so it should be here in Canada for at least 5 more years. Some places in the usa, especially At&t areas don't get 2g. Some rumors are that it works on 3g but I haven't had firm confirmation on this. I choose trackimo because it was the easiest to setup as other gps units require a monthly paid cell phone number to work while the trackimo comes with a sim card and a year subscription, so no need to deal with cellphone network providers.
 
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I plan on flying this thing with the attitude of not giving a **** anymore. I've been too hung up on triple checking everything, worrying about all the "what ifs" and more or less not getting much enjoyment out of each flight fearing if it crashes, i won't be replacing it.

If my drone gets a compass error or flings off a prop and crashes, I don't care. More importantly, my wife won't be able to tell me "sorry honey, you aren't spending another $1000."

All that said, in reality I am totally depending on this cheap little Getterback to actually work I my P3 plunges to the bottom of my lake. If I can find it, I can claim it.

I've been there.... Totally agree. :)
 
I have a pretty simple insurance policy. If I crash and burn, I have an extra controller [emoji3]
 
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Trackimo is great so far but it's 2g so make sure your area still has 2g network as in the USA they have been taking them down. Here in Canada most old tech the government and companies are still using 2g so it should be here in Canada for at least 5 more years. Some places in the usa, especially At&t areas don't get 2g. Some rumors are that it works on 3g but I haven't had firm confirmation on this. I choose trackimo because it was the easiest to setup as other gps units require a monthly paid cell phone number to work while the trackimo comes with a sim card and a year subscription, so no to deal with cellphone network providers.


$140 for a 2G tracker ??????

I paid about $20 for a 2G tracker that works a treat !! .... OK they are a bit more expensive now but here's one for about $25 with free shipping :

GPS Flight Control Lost tracker Tool Black Box with Case for DJI Phantom 3 New | eBay

Even has a special mount included that fits direct to the Leg mounts of the P3 ....

$_3.JPG


I just went and bought a PAYG sim ... put it in ... entered as described and it sent the required back to my phone. Because its pure text based - a $5 PAYG will last as long as the card does !! It only transmits IF you request it to. It will even video / photo where it is.

I am always amazed at money people spend on items ... sorry to be blunt.

Nigel
 
I recently tracked my bird down with my RC and my iPhone. It was zero fun but I did get her back.
 
I recently tracked my bird down with my RC and my iPhone. It was zero fun but I did get her back.

Exactly ... BUT it relies on the AC still sending back its GPS co-ords and your RC still receiving to display on the tablet last position as it went down. As I showed in my 'famous' P3S into the river incident. The last known position got me to her ...

If you lose contact completely - then your displayed position is only a good place to start from ... it is not final location unfortunately.

Nigel
 
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Very true. I was lucky that I still had transmission. It was still 20M away from the shown location. I ran out of battery, it was horrific. I knew I would be returning with a head wind and headed back with 70% battery. A storm front was coming in and the wind doubled at the exact wrong moment. I was down low trying to get out of it and lost power and auto landed. Last image was the edge of a blurry pond. It was my lucky day she came down in a soybean field. It took about 1.5 hrs to find her. Zero damage except to my ego and some bean plants. Major lesson learned.
 

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