Waiting for my Phantom. I have a question.

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Hi,

Waiting for my FC40 to arrive. This will be my first Phantom, coming from an AR Drone 2. I originally got the AR drone to see if I would like flying a quad, and 2 weeks later it was apparent I loved it, and was apparent the limitations of the Drone, so bought the FC40.

Now I don't have it yet and this question might sound incredibly stupid, but I am uncertain and don't want to damage it on first flight.

LAUNCHING:

Living in North America it seems the controller will be in MODE2, with throttle on the left. To launch the Phantom, I need to push in the sticks in lower adjacent corners at the same time to start the props.

Now the question.
To lift it up, do I use the throttle (left stick), or the right stick?? Logically I would assume it would be the right stick which controls up and down movement, but reading on this it seems you must use the throttle to lift it, but throttle would control forward and back...

Looking at videos just didn't help because half of the people were using MODE 1.

Landing it is the same question. Once it is on the ground, which stick do I push all the way down to turn it off?

Any help appreciated.

Thanks everyone!
 
In Mode 2

The right joystick controls left, right, forward, backward. The left one controls the rotor speed and, therefore, altitude, as well as the horizontal orientation of the craft ( which way the front is pointing)

There is a DJI manual somewhere on their site with diagrams and suggested things to do when you start to learn to fly
 
Ok, thanks.

So with this configuration, I would pull up the left stick to elevate the Phantom during launch?

Same thing to land, once landed, push all the way down the left stick to shut off the engines?

Thanks and sorry for the basic questions, I just don't want to dig in ground on first launch like I've seen in some videos.

Eric
 
When you pull the throttle all the day down, after landing-the engines will keep running for about 3 seconds....
This is the default setting in the "intelligent engine control", or some such thing in the Naza Software. Basically, it's set right in the middle-leave that alone.
You can such off the engines immediately-sometimes, by doing the CSC(Cross Stick Control)....I hold my left stick all the way down, then move it all the way to the left/down, and move the right stick down, and right....so both sticks are down, and away from each other.

Sometimes this works, and they shut down immediately. Usually, when the aircraft tips over, is when it doesn't work :oops:

But, it's something you can try.
Remember-to start the engines, you need to do the CSC first. Then just raise the throttle a little, then back down, and do another CSC and see if they stop immediately.
It sucks when it tips over on landing, and just sits there spitting gravel for 3 seconds.....dunno how I know that :oops:
 
"When you pull the throttle all the day down, after landing-the engines will keep running for about 3 seconds...."

Ok, that helps. Hard to grasp with nothing in front of me right now.

For a landing by holding it with the left hand vertically, once firmly held, I would push down the right stick (throttle) with the other hand until the engines stops? The controller would be held with a lanyard.
 
Not exactly. I understand what you say, by holding the left throttle stick all the way down-because your controller has a self-centering spring on the throttle.
What I'm saying is; once you hold the throttle all the way down-the engines may continue to turn for about 3 seconds. There is a "safety" built in, that supposedly even with full down throttle, while in flight, the engines shouldn't shut off. You don't want to test that though ;)
If you want the engines to shut-off immediately when you close the throttle, there is a setting in the Software that enables that. Don't!!
Try this;http://wiki.dji.com/en/index.php/Naza-M-V2_Start_&_Stop_Motor
That is the CSC. You will also need to do that to start your engines to fly.
Occasional, we see posts from brand new Phantom owners saying; help, can't get my engines to start.......well, you need to do the CSC(usually only in one direction).
Also-before you start the engines, you need to watch the rear LED light. Flashing yellow means it's warming up, then you'll start seeing green, and some red(finding satellites), and finally, after about a minute(less if you recently flew), you will see a rapidly flashing green light...that means "home point" has been recorded. Then you will just see green-green, flashing. You are ready for Take-off-just execute the CSC, move the throttle to 50%, and the aircraft should lift off to a hover.

Don't forget, when you first get your Phantom, to hook it up to your PC(Windows), open Naza-M Assistant, plug in the USB cable from the aircraft to the PC, turn on the remote(Always turn the remote on before power up your Phantom, and always power down you Phantom before turning your remote off), then plug a battery into the aircraft.
From there, you can tab through the pages in the software, and see if there are any firmware updates.

Also-you can go to the Gains page, and "calibrate" your remote. it's pretty simple-push calibrate on the bottom, move the sticks through their ranges, hit done.
Another thing you want to check is one of the safety features-that if Signal is lost from the remote, you want "return home and land" checked....not "land".

Last-when the aircraft has warmed up, to to Advanced, and find "IMU Calibration". That button may be greyed out-wait for it to not be...then push it. You may not need calibration at this time....but it doesn't hurt to check.
Finally, power down the Phantom by removing the battery, turn off the remote, disconnect from the computer-go outside, and do the Compass Dance, watch your rear LED, and when you see green-green, you're ready to fly.
 
Thanks guys for the great info. I have read most of it and understand it, and flew a quad before and I am confortable with the concept, but it was an AR drone, which the controller is software based and I believe it was different. In a post above it was said:

"In Mode 2

The right joystick controls left, right, forward, backward. The left one controls the rotor speed and, therefore, altitude, as well as the horizontal orientation of the craft ( which way the front is pointing)"

Am I wrong from this description to think that forward and backward is on the right stick, and up, down is on the left?

Why I am so confused is that on the DJI wiki page it seems to say the contrary:
http://wiki.dji.com/en/index.php/Phanto ... alibration

So I get now we have to throttle up to lift the Phantom off the ground, which seems to be the up and down stick, but yeah right now which stick is that???

Oh and yeah feel free to give me a virtual slap in the back of the head if I'm overanalyzing this type of stuff. :(
 
It's a helicopter/quad....throttle(left stick) controls up/down. Right stick controls forward/back and rolling left and right.
Left stick left and right controls Yaw axis. Pretty basic.
 
After some more reading , I can confirm now that I am used to flying mode 1. Crap now I have to swap the modes on the remote when I get it, I'll do it while the batteries are charging.
 
ericdes said:
After some more reading , I can confirm now that I am used to flying mode 1. Crap now I have to swap the modes on the remote when I get it, I'll do it while the batteries are charging.
No, you want to be in mode 2....left stick controls throttle and yaw, right stick controls flight direction.
Also, there is S1 and S2, and a few other settings; you might be getting confused.
There's also GPS mode(use that first), Attitude mode, and manual mode.
There's a users guide somewhere on here....read that. Watch some video's on youtube and hopefully that will help explain it better.
 
Since I flew an RC plane years ago, I also found the switch between modes a bit confusing. I started out "flying a grid" - going forward then stopping to yaw. Not very interesting. When I got in an open field, it dawned on me that I just had to concentrate on two controls - and that they were simply reversed from a plane. Since the Phantom maintains a constant altitude all by itself, I just thought of the right stick fore/aft movement as "go fast" and the left stick left/right movement as turn. I was zipping around the park in no time. With a plane, it's left stick forward to go fast and right stick left or right to turn.

BTW, I don't think of the left stick fore/aft as throttle. It's really ascend/descend. The Phantom is doing throttle all by itself - and each motor has it's own "throttle". It's more like the elevator on a plane but opposite. I'm still tempted to pull my thumb back to climb.
 
Yes, throttle is very confusing and got my head turning when used in conjunction with a quadcopter.

The reason why I am saying I need mode 1 is that I am used to going forward, back with the left stick, and up, down vertically with the right stick. I was trying to picture myself doing the opposite today and it didn't register. I will probably crash it on take off.
 
When you pull back on the stick of an airplane, but you don't add throttle-what happens?? The airplane stalls.
So, with a helicopter, you add power, the aircraft goes straight up-assuming you don't add forward stick. So, you take that added power, and direct to forward, and the quad moves in that direction.
You could benefit from a simulator......There's one out there, don't remember the name, it's X something or other.....

But, this is a helicopter....so, left stick/hand is always going to be collective(throttle), and yaw.....
It's your quad-fly it however your comfortable. But, most use Mode 2=left stick throttle/yaw.
 
I also must say here that I am left handed, so mode 1 is more natural to me.

Ill still try mode 2 when I get it, you never know.
 
Wow, upon further reading it seems that for god knows what reason I got familiar to flying in mode 3...

I'll just try mode 2 and get used to it. Back to square 1.
 
There are actually 4 modes for an rc controller. Mode 3 is the mirror of mode 1, and mode 4 is the mirror of mode 2 (sticks are inversed).
 
ericdes said:
There are actually 4 modes for an rc controller. Mode 3 is the mirror of mode 1, and mode 4 is the mirror of mode 2 (sticks are inversed).
Learned something new then.......
Like I said-use whatever you're comfortable with. When in doubt, release both sticks(in GPS mode), and the aircraft should stop and just hover-this gives you time to sort out your orientation-which way the nose is pointed, etc.
Also, learn about Home Lock.....that can get you out of trouble if/when you become disoriented. Just select Home Lock on your IOC switch(you have to set this up on the software), pull back on the stick and the aircraft will return to you-no matter which way it's pointed.
Also, always remember UP is your friend. The ground is hard and it hurts....so in an emergency, climb, release sticks, home lock, pull back. OR, enable one of your switches to Fail Safe, and just flip that switch. The aircraft will stop, hold altitude and/or climb to 60 feet, whichever is higher, return, and if necessary, land. You can flip to Attitude mode momentarily to regain control and cancel fail safe, once you're oriented.
Trust me, you will get disoriented...so, have a "plan" of exactly what you will do when it happens....and practice.
 

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