Used copter advice

[ohthatdodson]

Hey guys ! i recently bought a original phantom so i thought it may be time to join the boards ! however, i do have a few questions for all of my new friends!
I bought the copter new and have been wary to connect it to my computer incase i do something wrong software wise, youtube seems to be helpful, everything on my copter seems to be in good working order , but i am not sure exactly if it is at 100% ,
I am asking what exactly should be done to a phantom that is in seemingly good working order after being bought pre-owned?
it seems like it only moves slightly in gps mode when there is a large gust of wind or if it gets extremely high into stronger winds, and i have yet to try the come home feature or anything to technical because i am still on the careful side of flying!
any advice, tips , previous experience is much appreciated !
thank you !

 

[RDCF550]

Welcome.

If you've already turned it on and put her in the air, then you're way past the careful side of flying, as that's the side where you only watch it being done from a distance. Issues, possible fly-aways and sometimes expensive crashes are all part of the hobby that a lot of people getting into this don't really understand. The best RC pilots in the world will all have a few crash stories for you, it comes with both the territory or learning to get better and then under the headings of 'simple mistakes made' and 'crap happens'. Just keep going like you are, small steps and looking up info before trying something new and you'll get along as good as anyone else wold with that same bird. You can take every precaution on the planet, but that's still no guarantee at all that crap isn't just waiting around the corner to happen when you put it in the air next time. If you just accept now at some point you're going to ditch it and it's not going to be pretty or cheap to fix, then you'll have way more fun flying and trying out new things with it until it does happen, plus not be really bummed when it does.

It's going to 'wander' a little bit, as it's not mil-spec GPS and wasn't designed to do so, plus the wind will do whatever it likes then the quad what it can to correct it. It should stay in the close area that you put it, which varies from location to location and quad to quad, but it's not going to hover like a rock even if there's no breeze at all. If it goes wandering off or doing something screwy, then something needs looked at, but if you put an imaginary area around it (again different for everyone) and it stays within that area, it's working exactly as it should.

It's really difficult for you to mess something up software wise, aside from pulling out cables and such while it's updating or changing settings when you have absolutely no idea what they mean. YT, loads of forums and the net in general have more than enough info to get anyone started that's willing to learn, and asking questions isn't the sign of a stupid person, that's one that gets the correct answer but ignores it time after time.

 

[ohthatdodson]

Awesome thanks a lot for all the helpful tips! I'm unsure why i wasn't notified that i got a response, sorry for the delay! it seems that my copter is in good working order ,as i have had no problems as of yet ! hopefully everything stays the same !