First real flight

[bullerman1946]

Made my first real flight up at the school today. Didn't get far away and about 50' high which was what I wanted to do. There was little wind not much. I took a few pictures and a little video. Can I use the controller to download the pictures and video to my computer with the charge cord. If so how do I do it. I had rather not take the sd card out if I don't have to. I read where someone couldn't get theirs out.
Also I few for about 15 minutes and still had plenty of battery life left. Should I put the controller and drone battery back on charge and charge them up fully again. Any information appreciated.

 

[AeroMirage]

I remove / replace my SD card all the time. But if you do not want to do that, plug the bird into your computer with Micro - Micro cord and download images. You won't want the ones on the RC as they are low resolution.
On charging, it is recommended to store batteries at 50% and recharge right before flying.
Personally, I recharge mine right away so they are ready to go as I typically fly every day or every other day, weather permitting.

 

[microlinux]

You can plug into the micro USB port on the drone (not the controller) to retrieve the pictures and videos.

Store batteries (and remote) around 50% if you won't be flying for a few days. Lipo batteries don't like being stored for long periods of time with low/high charges.

By default, the batteries will start to auto-discharge to storage level after 10 days. I have mine set to 3 days.

 

[MotorCycle-Man]

I Think we will all "Remember out first flight".......I sure do and i remember how nervous i was to energize the drones battery and walk back 20 feet a do the app things....Then to start the motors and s l o w l y push the left stick forward and see that drone take to the air....I still get that same excitement after 100s of Drone flights.....I know how you felt too see that drone take off and THINK......hey i'm taking Off and flying my Drone......I'm so happy that you got the very 1 st flight and i know like i was after my very first flight that One Battery was sure not enough !...have a great time flying that drone and keep in touch with your ever question...even IF you think its silly.....these guys here all over the world have all started out Just Like you did...this PH site is great.......Thanks for ALL the GREAT Mods and Admins.....They work hard to make it the way it is....Hats Off too them all....".BigAl....Dirkclod.....Msinger.....And Clackey...and Love My TJ ".....CHEERS hope i never missed any one ? (hope this is not too far off topic)

 

[bullerman1946]

Ended up taking the sd card out. Had one of the card readers. Put it in the reader and it took me through the same steps as if I was taking pictures off my camera. Didn't have any trouble at all. I guess that's the way I will do it from now on.
About the battery. Should i try and run it down to around 50% on just the battery in the drone and they recharge it. Is there a good thread on here about how to maintain the battery. Thanks

 

[umanbean]

Is there a good thread on here about how to maintain the battery.

Hundreds! The forum search tool is a good way to find them.

 

[koipondscum]

Made my first real flight up at the school today. Didn't get far away and about 50' high which was what I wanted to do. There was little wind not much. I took a few pictures and a little video. Can I use the controller to download the pictures and video to my computer with the charge cord. If so how do I do it. I had rather not take the sd card out if I don't have to. I read where someone couldn't get theirs out.
Also I few for about 15 minutes and still had plenty of battery life left. Should I put the controller and drone battery back on charge and charge them up fully again. Any information appreciated.

I use a Smart Powercharge P4
I am real happy.
SmartPowerCharge.com Site Product Detail Page

 

[Cobra!1]

As for batteries I set mine to discharge after 2 days. That way they will reach 50% storage charge. Before I fly I always make sure batteries are charged to 100% night before. Enjoy, have fun, make sure you always have Rth height set before each flight. Trigger rth a few times to get confident on how it works.[emoji4]

 

[bullerman1946]

I just flew one of my batteries down to 34%. Can I just take it out and leave it alone not knowing whether I am going to fly tomorrow or not or the next few days. If I do decide to fly do I just go ahead and charge it up fully before I fly.

 

[MotorCycle-Man]

Just remember...."Never pull a hot battery out of the drone and put it right on the charger".....when i slip mine back in the case after a flight..and all that foam is around it..even when i get home they are still pretty warm...let them cool to room temp and get her charged back UP...Any more IF i'm not going to fly for a week.....i charge my battery to where the 3rd lite starts blinking and pull it off charger !..Your question : I have read here that its OK for a few days not to recharge a battery thats at 30% or more...I might be wrong...I'm open for more instruction !.Thank you.

 

[microlinux]

I just flew one of my batteries down to 34%. Can I just take it out and leave it alone not knowing whether I am going to fly tomorrow or not or the next few days. If I do decide to fly do I just go ahead and charge it up fully before I fly.

A few days at that level shouldn't hurt the batteries, but it's good to get in habit of charging back up to ~50% right away when you're done. If you don't end up flying soon you might forget about charging the batteries back up to storage level. Do the same thing every time when possible, consistency helps eliminate problems.

 

[bullerman1946]

Great advice and that's what I will do. Let me ask about the controller. If I go out and fly and I am down to 75% should I go ahead and charge it back up when I get home? I haven't seen anybody mention much about that. Thanks

 

[piee]

Great advice and that's what I will do. Let me ask about the controller. If I go out and fly and I am down to 75% should I go ahead and charge it back up when I get home? I haven't seen anybody mention much about that. Thanks

Li-ion is best if stored at 30%, have mine set to 1day to start auto trickle discharge, storing fully charged can make batt swell, used to start trickle after 3 day storage but changed to 1day, sooner the better for me, as I only fly once a month. Li-Polymer batteries aren't as good for storage as they are made for fast discharging like on my XMAXX RC Truck(beast). Enjoy, My P4P steady as a rock, even with 1 compass after crash rebuild (showing off in speed mode to low hit branches), everything is fixable on drone (did it myself, youtube P4P dissassembly(watched 5 times), you can also get insurance with State Farm $60yr, covers crashes. Have P4P for 1.5yrs and still get thrilled. Goes real far and high, check youtube vids, Enjoy.

 

[Russ43Phantom]

I always remove my SD chip. It is easy and it reads faster into my computer then a wire connection from my controller. It is almost impossible to jam the chip. You read about a very rare situation about a chip getting stuck because someone forced it into the chip slot on the drone upside down.

I generally only fly to the point when my battery is at about 25-30% remaining charge. Then I charge them up to 100%. That has worked for a long, long time with no issues.