DBS Mods … itelite Phantom Menace ... mods and tips

DBS · Mar 3, 2015

Got my new V3 yesterday... (Thank you itelite and B&H Photo)

Man... It's been over 2 months but this was a cool moment

Wasn't sure if I wanted to get into this whole deal again but I couldn't resist when I heard from itelite that it was about to go down... Couple days later and I had tracking... And now I'm doing the old routine ... Charging batteries and getting ready for dawn patrol...

Went out for some hovering and break in this morning and all is well... Don't know if I wanna go thru the whole list and do the mods suggested here lately to make the V3 more reliable... Or just leave it the hell alone and rely on warranty for any problems that may arise in the near future...

On one hand , I like the idea of making everything solid and reliable... On the other hand, if something goes wrong... There's no better story than "I never touched a **** thing... Never even took the cover off!!"

I guess we'll see as this goes along...

As for "why" I got a freebee?

Spy Photos... Testing will begin shortly... Public release in a couple weeks I guess... itelite not giving me dates

Here we go again... Wish me luck
Looking forward to getting some FPV range out there!!! ...... (Missed you guys)

BlackTracer · Mar 3, 2015

Re: I'M BACK!!! .... but cautiously optimistic .... :-\

That antenna is boss. Is that an itelite antenna? And if so which one? Their website mostly has no pictures at the first level listings. Looks like dual 5.8 and 2.4 with twin 2.4s inside.

DBS · Mar 3, 2015

Re: I'M BACK!!! .... but cautiously optimistic .... :-\

This one is not listed on their site yet... but will be soon I'm told... they just wanted me to fly with it and see what kind of range it gets out there in the real world.

I will create an antenna thread about this once it gets going... don't wanna turn this into a thread that gets moved to another sub...

This one's all about me and what I'm doing with the new V3 :lol:

general01 · Mar 3, 2015

Re: I'M BACK!!! .... but cautiously optimistic .... :-\

The v3 of the vision plus doesn't need the gps sheilding mod

Fplvert · Mar 3, 2015

Re: I'M BACK!!! .... but cautiously optimistic .... :-\

Welcome back DBS!

Enjoy your new bird!

MHL

ToThePoint · Mar 3, 2015

Re: I'M BACK!!! .... but cautiously optimistic .... :-\

Hello DBS WB.
I wish you all the luck with the V3.
I got mine 3 mounts but due to weather sits mostly on the shelf.
I wonder what range you're getting out of it.
I did some testing in the freaking cold to the point the hands were numb.
Forecast look promising here. Hope it gets airborne soon.

DBS · Mar 3, 2015

Re: I'M BACK!!! .... but cautiously optimistic .... :-\

general01 said:
The v3 of the vision plus doesn't need the gps sheilding mod

Yupp ... Read up on all that... Mine sure does well with sat lock... Had 11 SATs inside my bedroom on the dresser last night :shock:

Fplvert said:
Welcome back DBS!

Enjoy your new bird!

MHL

Thanks man... I sure will... I've been keeping busy with mini's and micro's but it just ain't the same :ugeek:

ToThePoint said:
Hello DBS WB.
I wish you all the luck with the V3.
I got mine 3 mounts but due to weather sits mostly on the shelf.
I wonder what range you're getting out of it.
I did some testing in the freaking cold to the point the hands were numb.
Forecast look promising here. Hope it gets airborne soon.

Thanks bro... Cold is a tuff one... I can't stand out there and freeze like that either... But luckily we don't have many days like that over here...
I don't expect any type of massive range from these new antennas... Just a solid boost for a good price with an easy mount and a clean look.

So back to what I been doing for 2 months...

I got all into duration/endurance flights... Just taking different models of this and that and rebuilding them for light weight and big batteries and seeing how long I could keep them up in the air.

I did this solid rebuild of an RC Logger Eye One Xtreme ... Ended up with an astounding 31 minute flight out of this baby.

Then I got interested in micros (already had a couple lying around) ... And did the same deal... Rebuild and see how long they would stay up.

Hubsan X4 H107L , inverted pusher style , 750mAh NanoTech... 19 minutes 51 seconds... (So close to breaking 20minutes)

Hubsan X4 H107D , CG022 props , 1150mAh EOX ... 18minutes

Eachines X6 micro , Chaoli 0820-15 motors , Picnic Quad poly frame , 2600mAh LiPo... 21minutes 30 seconds

So now I got this mini fleet that all has to move out of the way for the V3... (Or I gadda get a bigger desk :| )

Need to make room to mod this controller and extender... Really like the new controller and camera tilt wheel... I thought I would hate the low battery setup in the new software updates but I found mine to be pretty cool... Alarm sounds at 20%... Altitude starts dropping at 14%... But the slightest little input on the throttle keeps it in the air instead of having to bury the stick at 90% full up just to keep it in the air... Still has decent climb rate while auto descend is initiated as well... I can live with all this stuff I guess... Wasn't looking forward at all to flying with the newer firmware but I'm pleasantly surprised that it ain't quite as bad as I thought it would be.

Of course I ain't really flown much at all besides break in runs this morning but so far so good... :ugeek:

nhoover · Mar 3, 2015

Re: I'M BACK!!! .... but cautiously optimistic .... :-\

Welcome back! That antenna setup looks very interesting.

flyNfrank · Mar 3, 2015

Re: I'M BACK!!! .... but cautiously optimistic .... :-\

Good to see you back Big Chuck! I also got my new V3 last week but haven't had the time to tell the dreadful story yet. I would not even fly mine until yesterday. I told my wife I now feel complete once again having my quad.

Btw, 1st thing I did out of the box was pull the cover for a inspection since this quad was to be decked out above what comes off the production line.

DBS · Mar 3, 2015

Re: I'M BACK!!! .... but cautiously optimistic .... :-\

nhoover said:
Welcome back! That antenna setup looks very interesting.

My thoughts exactly... first thing I wanted to do was rip it apart and see what's inside... but jeezzzz... it's so cool looking right?!? I just can't bring myself to mess it up.

flyNfrank said:
Good to see you back Big Chuck! I also got my new V3 last week but haven't had the time to tell the dreadful story yet. I would not even fly mine until yesterday. I told my wife I now feel complete once again having my quad. Btw, 1st thing I did out of the box was pull the cover for a inspection since this quad was to be decked out above what comes off the production line.

Decked out beyond? What's that all about?

Still on the fence about what to do with mine on the inside... should I do the mods to fix what is "supposedly" wrong with DJI's design? Or just leave it alone? :roll:

Just happy to have one again... one more thing to take with me on Sunday mornings

Luap · Mar 3, 2015

Re: I'M BACK!!! .... but cautiously optimistic .... :-\

Cool that you are back! Looking forwards to your mods and stories!

DBS · Mar 3, 2015

Re: I'M BACK!!! .... but cautiously optimistic .... :-\

Luap said:
Cool that you are back! Looking forwards to your mods and stories!

Thanks bro... All these familiar user names... Feels like I been gone a lot longer :geek:

I dunno if I'll live up to the mods and stories from last year... I got sponsored on this one so I'm trying not to be a ******* about it :lol:

DBS · Mar 4, 2015

I'M BACK!!! .... and I almost got taken out by a Deer!!

This morning went out and went through all 3 batteries... mellow flying and hovering still breaking in and cautiously watching for problems... very stable and smooth... I think more so than my original model I got on pre-order almost a year ago now.

Digging all the new features I was missing out on last year from never upgrading the firmware past 3.0... and the app for that matter... cool stuff... nothing pissing me off yet.

So I had no problems at all with the bird this morning... but I almost had a big problem with the deer...
yeah... I said deer

I was driving out to my usual spot going about 60 on a rural 2 lane hiway... AND THIS FRIGGIN DEER RUNS OUT IN FRUNNA ME LIKE SHE WAS TRYIN TO COMMIT SUICIDE!!!
Well not today Lil deer *****... I went full on dukes of Hazzard style sideways in the dirt to avoid her ... Multirotors bouncing all over the interior of the car !!!

No casualties....

The rest of my morning was fairly uneventful :ugeek:

happydays · Mar 4, 2015

Re: I'M BACK!!! .... but cautiously optimistic .... :-\

Did you blow the airhorns and slap Daisy on the thigh while avoiding the deer?

flyNfrank · Mar 4, 2015

Re: I'M BACK!!! .... but cautiously optimistic .... :-\

DBS said:
Decked out beyond? What's that all about?

Still on the fence about what to do with mine on the inside... should I do the mods to fix what is "supposedly" wrong with DJI's design? Or just leave it alone? :roll:

Just happy to have one again... one more thing to take with me on Sunday mornings

The Accounts Receivable Manager called me, in getting me to agree to buy a refurbished V3 he said it would better then what comes off the production line. Not only would I swear it was a brand new quad, but that it will have all the most latest tweaks and stuff that had not yet made it to the quads coming off the line.

I still had to do the GPS Connection mod because them still using the same ole plug & connector.

Great Pumpkin · Mar 4, 2015

Re: I'M BACK!!! .... and I almost got taken out by a Deer!!

Hey DBS, are you flying with the 3.12 firmware upgrade?

DBS · Mar 4, 2015

Re: I'M BACK!!! .... but cautiously optimistic .... :-\

flyNfrank said:
it will have all the most latest tweaks and stuff that had not yet made it to the quads coming off the line.

So what do you see in there that's worth noting?
Did you take any pictures etc...?
I would like to go thru mine and make sure I'm all safe and cozy with this thing before I send it 2 miles away testing these antennas on Saturday :ugeek:

Great Pumpkin said:
Hey DBS, are you flying with the 3.12 firmware upgrade?

No sir... I always wait for the problems to shake out on the forums before I update any firmwares...
same with phones and tablets and other such things... let other people do the shakedown... I don't need the hassles.