Waiting for my fc40 to arrive

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After what could be described a a cursory overview I thought the fc40 would be the best value for a limited budget newbie with a little rc helicopter experience. It seems to offer some capabilities but obviously has been superceeded by newer models so the price is more reasonable for a beginner, I think. My question is: with all the hindsight available on this board, what should I be doing/thinking/reading/purchasing?
A couple things seem obvious----prop guards, spare props, extended skids, extra batteries. What am I missing? Thanks in advance.
Al
 
al short said:
After what could be described a a cursory overview I thought the fc40 would be the best value for a limited budget newbie with a little rc helicopter experience. It seems to offer some capabilities but obviously has been superceeded by newer models so the price is more reasonable for a beginner, I think. My question is: with all the hindsight available on this board, what should I be doing/thinking/reading/purchasing?
A couple things seem obvious----prop guards, spare props, extended skids, extra batteries. What am I missing? Thanks in advance.
Al

Save up a few more bucks and buy a used V2 that has been updated
 
I have one. My first quad.
I'd say get a decent charger and a couple of batteries, a lipo sack to charge them in. Definitely get a case for it, I use a pellicase copy that's great.
Prop guards don't fly too well so I wouldn't bother.

The fc40 camera is OK, but I've fitted a Chinese gimbal and an sj4000 for video and it's excellent. I found I didn't really use the fpv too much but might fit a proper fpv camera and goggles next.
 
Welcome to the forum! I've had my FC40 for a little over half a year and I still love it and I'm sure you will too. As for extras, I recommend just going for extra props, extra batteries (I really like the maddog 2700 batteries but I'm sure there's better ones out), and a fireproof container to store/charge your batteries in. Also if you plan on getting several batteries, it wouldn't hurt to get an extra charger or two if you have the extra money, it's not a (must have) item, but it's always nice to be able to charge several batteries at once so you can get out and fly more. As for the longer landing gear, I wouldn't worry about it unless you plan on getting a gopro/gimbal soon. If you're worried about tipovers, just ziptie some chopsticks to the landing gear and that should do the trick or you could just hand catch it. As for prop guards, they really seem to be more trouble than they're worth so I wouldn't even bother with them unless you plan on flying inside. The camera on the FC40 really isn't all that bad, and in the right conditions, you can still get some amazing shots. From my experience, your best looking videos will be during the spring/summer when the sun is still up high. Winter shots just have a dull look to them in a way, and if you fly close to sunset, you'll get a lot of unwanted sun glare in your shots. I also recommend setting your camera up so that it tilts down slightly, and the way I do mine is to turn it so that when you try to push it back (as if you were trying to make the camera point down towards the ground), the plastic part on the camera mount stops it from going all the way back. That plastic part also helps prevent your camera from moving back on you if you're flying fast and the camera mount gets a little loose as well. Oh, and as for other things you should be doing/thinking/reading/purchasing, I strongly recommend that you just read over the manual a few times, watch every video on youtube about setup procedures, tips and tricks, and even crash videos so you can see what other people did wrong and maybe even learn a few things from their mistakes. As for flight practice, I'd start off with getting very familiar with your orientation control. Just do things like make cw and ccw circles, and then do the same with some figure 8s. Once you get those down and feel confident, try to do those circles and figures 8s with the phantom facing left or right, and then do it all backwards. After that, work on flying backwards while recording yourself, and try to keep your whole body in the frame and centered the best you can. Once you get the hang of that, try to do it again while flying a circle around yourself while trying to keep yourself in the frame and centered the best you can. After that, you should be feeling like a boss at flying, but wait... there's more! After all that, you can try some trickier flight skills such as flying through tight spots or around trees, landing on small areas such as trash cans, chairs, steps, and if you're feeling really ballsy, you can even try to land on a swing which combines the flying through and landing skills. Well, I think I covered just about everything I can think of at the moment. Oh! One more thing you can do to make your life easier, if you ever plan on doing a long range flight, and you're not using the fpv on your phone, just push the record button on the camera instead of doing it on the phone. If you go too far out and you're connected to your phone, you could lose signal and your camera will stop recording, but if you hit the record button on the camera, it'll keep recording no matter how far out you go. OK, so I think that covers just about everything I can think of for now. If you ever have any questions about something I forgot to cover, don't be afraid to ask. Some of the people here probably know more about the phantoms than DJI themselves. :lol:
 
Wow, I am impressed! Exactly what I was hoping for. This helps my confidence now that I have some ideas on how to proceed and have fun whilst
being appropriately careful of my soon-to-be toy/instument.
With gratitude.
Al
 
Hi ,
I have just got the FC40 myself and therefore still a quad 'Virgin,
What I found really useful is the NAZM assistant software installed on either the PC or laptop, as I didn't think it was totally clear in the manual how to set up the two small toggle switches (small silver ones) on the RC transmitter. Once the FC40 is linked to the software you can set the toggle switches up as follows.
Left toggle
When fully away from you - the IOC is off
When back into the middle position - course lock is on
When back toward you - home lock is on

Right toggle
When fully away - GPS is on
When back into the middle position - ATTI is on
When back toward you - fail safe mode is engaged.

All sounds complicated but the NAZM assistant allows you to set this up. Additionally you can set the service height and range.
I have set mine at 120 metres for height and 500 metres distance it can travel away, and I believe that is the UK legal maximums to stop you having to have a licence and therefore getting prosecuted.......
I still waiting for some decent weather to fly mine fully - had a few test flights , but nothing too serious,but have been running it indoors with props off just to see how the motors respond to the control sticks - sad really but keeps me amused...
Hope the above makes sense and as the other guys mention...... Lost of YouTube videos to see how to fly and how not to fly.....
Cheers
Eric
 

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