Who flies out-of-the-box stock, & why?

[Adjday]

With owning a P3P (my first drone and ony quad) i have not found to need any mods. In the beginning i was interested in the battery mod but with the added weight and only a little longer flight time, that got nixed.

Soon i might go the FPV route and get the modual for using the goggles. But being a heli flyer is where i get the rush from having the benefits of mods. With that being said you also learn very quickly what mods can be a benefit or detriment.

What mods i would like to see from the community.... (that im not brave to do myself)

1. Unlock (hack) the pcb board in the lipo (or phantom) so we can use non DJI lipos!
2. Be able to use a better camera and do a swap out with the better ones when available.
3. Unlock the proprietary software so we can use the phantom without forced updates!
4. Mod the hell out of DJI's customer service division and make it use full, productive, helpful, and make servicing your Phantom something that you should learn to do your self upon owning one and only send in if all else fails!

Rant over

 

[tevek]

Love it!!! The thought of using it for casting... I have two boys that love fishing, they'd get a kick out of that! But what's the coat hanger trick?!!

You get a piece of coat hanger or similar wire, bend it roughly into a Y shape, attach it to the front of the quad. Put a loop in your fishing line maybe ten metres back from the hook/bait, sit that on the front of Y piece of the coat hanger. Fly out to your fishing spot and use your camera to spot a whale or similar, crowd the quad forward and drop the line off. YouTube has videos showing how it is done and I'm pretty sure I've seen them for sale over here. Traditional fisherman will hate you for it.

 

[Deleted member 62848]

It can be fun to mod, but also intimidating & warranty voiding, but gain distance... lots of pros and cons.

Who flies bone stock, and WHY? Do you intend to continue to leave it stock?

Stickers and windsurfers aside (because they aren't permanent), just curious what you fly and why you don't mod.

Me:
P3S. I'm intrigued by DBS but plan to leave it stock for the duration of my store's all-perils warranty.
I have goodies like a windsurfer, OEM batteries, I put an Inspire tablet holder on it but did NOT drill the hole, I have prop guards coming but have decided not to use them because I don't want to touch the motor mount screws. I changed the camera/gimbal guard and attached a Getterback but so far that's it and probably will be until I go through a summer. All of that is removable and reversible.
For me there is probably a fear factor of messing up a pricey purchase while it's still as new as it is, and I purchased the warranty so I don't want to undermine it.

Yip p3s is stock still goes well,,,,p34k got argtec upgrade straight away wouldent even go 150ft before signal loss,,,p4 good havent had to mod yet

 

[AlecW]

You get a piece of coat hanger or similar wire, bend it roughly into a Y shape, attach it to the front of the quad. Put a loop in your fishing line maybe ten metres back from the hook/bait, sit that on the front of Y piece of the coat hanger. Fly out to your fishing spot and use your camera to spot a whale or similar, crowd the quad forward and drop the line off. YouTube has videos showing how it is done and I'm pretty sure I've seen them for sale over here. Traditional fisherman will hate you for it.

Reeling it back in 1/2 hour later with no fish will still be traditional based on some of my fishing trips

 

[jwmcgrath]

That is the coolest feeling. You're like ok, I know it's turning round and coming back any second, ok any time now, ok whew re-connected

The FIRST time... "oh God, I paid how much this thing? And I have no idea where it is? My wife is going to kill me. My kids are going to be so sad… I haven't even looked into how to check flight logs yet. I wonder if it's wet… why was I so stupid to send it so far away?

Wait...

What's that sound?

Could it be?

Ha! I knew there was nothing to worry about!"

 

[tevek]

Reeling it back in 1/2 hour later with no fish will still be traditional based on some of my fishing trips

I'm hearing you, I live on a lake full of fish and usually get nothing. The local pub does fish and chips, sometimes it just makes more sense to let someone else overcapitalise with rods and reels, boats etc.

 

[jwmcgrath]

...you also learn very quickly what mods can be a benefit or detriment.

That is EXACTLY what all this info is going to help with! I already have directions I'm leaning in but the differing opinions are always helpful.

 

[jwmcgrath]

You get a piece of coat hanger or similar wire, bend it roughly into a Y shape, attach it to the front of the quad. Put a loop in your fishing line maybe ten metres back from the hook/bait, sit that on the front of Y piece of the coat hanger. Fly out to your fishing spot and use your camera to spot a whale or similar, crowd the quad forward and drop the line off. YouTube has videos showing how it is done and I'm pretty sure I've seen them for sale over here. Traditional fisherman will hate you for it.

Kids love fishing... me, meh. But this gives us a way to enjoy two hobbies at once, everyone's happy!

 

[jwmcgrath]

Yip p3s is stock still goes well,,,,p34k got argtec upgrade straight away wouldent even go 150ft before signal loss,,,p4 good havent had to mod yet

I know... It's your ArgTEK story that scares me 'cause that's what would happen to me.

Honestly, part of the question is to help me decide if I should eventually mod for range and signal, or just upgrade. I see you've done the best of three worlds!

 

[tevek]

Kids love fishing... me, meh. But this gives us a way to enjoy two hobbies at once, everyone's happy!

Sounds like a plan, as to you original query, I have a P4 with a FPVLR unboosted antenna mod. Mainly for penetration through the trees and some pretty useful distance gains. I wasn't concerned about the warranty aspect as having to wait twelve months and put up with pretty average performance with the OEM setup wasn't worth it.

 

[jwmcgrath]

Sounds like a plan, as to you original query, I have a P4 with a FPVLR unboosted antenna mod. Mainly for penetration through the trees and some pretty useful distance gains. I wasn't concerned about the warranty aspect as having to wait twelve months and put up with pretty average performance with the OEM setup wasn't worth it.

Again, great info! My opinion may change as I read more before summer hits, but maybe I should've included "if you've done mods, would you do them again?" Sounds like you're happy with yours, glad to hear it.

 

[AlecW]

I know... It's your ArgTEK story that scares me 'cause that's what would happen to me.

Honestly, part of the question is to help me decide if I should eventually mod for range and signal, or just upgrade. I see you've done the best of three worlds!

In small text so no one will notice A stock P4 is good for a mile in suburbia in pretty much any direction and 1.5 miles is doable. That's far enough for me.

 

[jwmcgrath]

In small text so no one will notice A stock P4 is good for a mile in suburbia in pretty much any direction and 1.5 miles is doable. That's far enough for me.

Would be for me too. I wasn't prepared to drop what here would be $1200 until I knew if I'd enjoy the hobby.

I'm not sorry for getting the entry level P3S at all... I still haven't come close to testing it's limits. But I can see the extra range becoming nice at some point...

 

[AlecW]

Would be for me too. I wasn't prepared to drop what here would be $1200 until I knew if I'd enjoy the hobby.

I'm not sorry for getting the entry level P3S at all... I still haven't come close to testing it's limits. But I can see the extra range becoming nice at some point...

Yeah the us is a bit cheaper, mine was $999 USD no tax because the way out cross state commerce works. I almost got a P3S but they were $799 at the time and the obstacle avoidance sold me. The OA is more hype than help however, we will get the same pictures and both are great drones to learn areal photography. P4P was out of my beginner range, I can find the cash but like you I'm not dropping $1500 into something I may not get into.

 

[jwmcgrath]

Yeah the us is a bit cheaper, mine was $999 USD no tax because the way out cross state commerce works. I almost got a P3S but they were $799 at the time and the obstacle avoidance sold me. The OA is more hype than help however, we will get the same pictures and both are great drones to learn areal photography. P4P was out of my beginner range, I can find the cash but like you I'm not dropping $1500 into something I may not get into.

I got my P3S on sale for $499 at Christmas. Between that, 13% tax, insurance $150 for full coverage, a couple of batteries, a case... that's enough for new hobby!

I was disappointed I wasn't getting obstacle avoidance but that just makes me want to be a better pilot, and like you said it doesn't seem to be everything the marketing makes it out to be.

 

[jwmcgrath]

And I don't have a 4K TV (I know right? Lame!) so I wasn't too desperate for 4K video.

 

[KayJay]

Apart from antenna mods and landing gear mods what els can be done to the current line up of phantom quads? I have a ton of fpv gear and it's useless now I own a phantom.

 

[jwmcgrath]

Apart from antenna mods and landing gear mods what els can be done to the current line up of phantom quads? I have a ton of fpv gear and it's useless now I own a phantom.

From what I've read, mostly RC side antenna mods, with two different types seemingly the forerunners, battery mods, bird side antenna mods, but even drilling for a tablet mount counts...

But there is always something new and interesting out there too!

 

[Jeremy_S]

Both of mine are stock. I can get 1800 feet at work with careful aiming of the remote on the P2 and really I don't have a reason to go further, I just got the P3A because I wanted a better camera. I like sunrise/sunset photos over the desert and the P2 camera just doesn't do that great of a job.

This was taken with the P2 as the sun barely started lighting up the horizon behind it. I'll copy it this week with the P3 because it just does a better job.

 

[jwmcgrath]

This was taken with the P2 as the sun barely started lighting up the horizon behind it. I'll copy it this week with the P3 because it just does a better job.

Post the "after" pic!

This is your cryo hobby place? What happens here?