Frank's Story

[Frankc]

Well its arrived. My eagerly awaited Phantom 3 Pro. On previous threads I have done on forums over the years I have gone back through them and pieced together my story e.g work on the car etc. I like forums because they always have guys with a wealth of knowledge to draw upon and if I get stuck there is someone who always looks on the problem from another angle or says 'that happened to me' etc.

So this time I will put all my observations etc into one place.

Starting today............

Well the courier arrived with a box, smaller than expected. But it was soon in my little office. Wrapping paper off. Me delving into the depths of the box. Having watched so many videos, including unpacking videos, on Youtube etc I knew exactly what was in each box before I even opened it.

So the first thing I noticed as I drew out the Phantom from the box was that the Gimbal guard had fallen off. 'Just' stick that back on I thought. Ye gods who designed that thing. Rather that just sticking it back in place it took me, what felt like, ages to work out what went were in what orientation. Got it to fit again but it does feel flimsy for the job. I expected it to snap in place. Anyway its back in.

Next job check the batteries. Main battery 1 bar. Controler dead, no lights at all. So out with the charger. Plugged it in. Fiddled with the black top of the charger and got that off. Good thing I watched all those videos. Plugged in the main battery...... charging. So I then plugged in the controller ........ nothing. Sugar (or words to that effect) I have a dud controller. Darn (or words to that effect) Pondering my next move. Had a cuppa. Looked at it again. Hmmmm Pushed it in really hard. Something moved. Its charging.

To be continued.

(hope I am not boring you guys to death)

FrankC

 

[happydays]

Don't charge both at the same time! DJI reckon this can cause the charger to overheat.

 

[Flying Dutchman]

Great story, I now what you mean with the gimble gard. But believe me, in one ore two days you put it on with your eyes closed. [emoji4] Looking forward at your adventure. As we speak im updating my new Phantom also. Beep..beep..beep..beep, aaah beeep, bebeeb its ready. I'm gone fly.

 

[Frankc]

I have heard of this. There seems to be differing opinions. Personally I think the problem would occur one one item is fully charged and the other isn't. So I am keeping an eye on both. When one is charged it will get unplugged. No abnormal overheating etc at the moment. Thanks for the advice though, appreciated.

Dutchman you posted as I was writing my first reply. Yep the gimble guard will become second nature I am sure. Once you know which way in it should be its much easier. But honestly you would have thought after spending so much on R & D they could have come up with something better. It feels like an after thought.

Connor. Just been watching your videos, very good mate! I hope I can produce something like those one day.

 

[ukglyn]

I fell for the charger plug needing a good hard push as well when I first got mine. You are not charging the battery & the controller together are you? For some reason DJI don't recommend doing that.
Welcome to ownership & addiction.

 

[Frankc]

Getting expensive. I wanted a means of transporting the P3P around that was not too obvious what was inside it. Plenty of 'suitcases' about but I walk the dog a lot on the hills, I live in the Malverns, and need something comparatively easy. I have ordered one of these Anbee® Backpack Rucksack for DJI Phantom 3/Phantom 2 Vision/ FC40 Quadcopters: Amazon.co.uk: Toys & Games I can also use it for my camera gear etc. Something else on its way.

Battery now fully charged. Took 45 mins from 1 bar. Controller still charging, on its own. Main battery disconnected.

 

[m0j0]

Getting expensive. I wanted a means of transporting the P3P around that was not too obvious what was inside it. Plenty of 'suitcases' about but I walk the dog a lot on the hills, I live in the Malverns, and need something comparatively easy. I have ordered one of these Anbee® Backpack Rucksack for DJI Phantom 3/Phantom 2 Vision/ FC40 Quadcopters: Amazon.co.uk: Toys & Games I can also use it for my camera gear etc. Something else on its way.

Battery now fully charged. Took 45 mins from 1 bar. Controller still charging, on its own. Main battery disconnected.

Getting Expensive??? HAHAHAHAHA... This hobby starts expensive.

 

[Frankc]

Ok a good two hours have passed. Controller charged now. I assume the controller has to last several times the battery life of the aircraft therefore logically it has to take longer to charge up to capacity.

So I went through everything. Connected the batteries. Turned on aircraft and controller. First message "No SD Card" strange. I looked yes it was in the aircraft. Did they mean on the phone? Na... so I took out the SD card in the aircraft stuck it back in.............Yep it found it. Next it told me the compass needed calibrating. After two attempts did that. Failed first attempt because it was too close to computer.

Now have message "Ready to fly Non GPS" that must because I have a terrible signal around here. So about to fix my props on. Black goes anti clock wise. Must remember that.

My mate says its ok to use his private field. So guess where I am going?

 

[m0j0]

Calibrate the compass outside away from anything metal. If you are going to a field to fly. Calibrate the compass there. Empty your pockets of anything metal including keys, phones and remove things like belt buckles...

Have fun

 

[stuartbp]

Ok a good two hours have passed. Controller charged now. I assume the controller has to last several times the battery life of the aircraft therefore logically it has to take longer to charge up to capacity.

So I went through everything. Connected the batteries. Turned on aircraft and controller. First message "No SD Card" strange. I looked yes it was in the aircraft. Did they mean on the phone? Na... so I took out the SD card in the aircraft stuck it back in.............Yep it found it. Next it told me the compass needed calibrating. After two attempts did that. Failed first attempt because it was too close to computer.

Now have message "Ready to fly Non GPS" that must because I have a terrible signal around here. So about to fix my props on. Black goes anti clock wise. Must remember that.

My mate says its ok to use his private field. So guess where I am going?

Calibrate your compass outside when you get to your flying location. Sounds like you make have calibrated it snide.

 

[Frankc]

Getting Expensive??? HAHAHAHAHA... This hobby starts expensive.

You should see my other toy.............. perhaps you will too. Love to see it from the air.

 

[m0j0]

You should see my other toy.............. perhaps you will too. Love to see it from the air.

Do tell.. Can't throw something like that out without telling the whole story. Anyway sharing is caring and we are all friends here.

What is it? Suspense is killing me,

 

[m0j0]

I'm guessing it's a boat? Maybe a yacht!!!

 

[fastsmiles]

There are a lot of gimbal locks on the market that are way better than the stock one that falls off easily.

 

[Frankc]

ok guys. I know what you mean about calibrating outside. I just wanted to go through the procedure inside in the warm first, also having your help nearby if I needed it.

Just put the gimbel cover back on. For newbies trying to work it out here are a few tips. Insert the gimbel lock/lump of plastic from the side which has the SD card in it. The camera lens has to be up pointing forward. Parallel with the floor. The thinner J bit is at the bottom. So the J bit will end up holding the square of the camera. Will post a picture when I get the time.

 

[Frankc]

Ok been for a flight. Must admit I now have the bug. As I write this the drone is downloading to the computer the film taken on the SD card. Being a micro SD in the machine and me not having an adapter I wondered how I could transfer files. Then I thought USB on aircraft to USB on computer? So I got the long charging lead from the Samsung 6 phone and plugged both ends in.......... It worked! So now I am just awaiting the transfer to finish. A none edited video I think so record my first ever RC flight.

Now I have to find out how to get out of beginner mode etc. It does give you re-assurance when you start but I soon found it quite restrictive.

Is there anyway I can turn off that loud noise the drone makes when it starts up?

 

[Frankc]

Well I have to admit I am disappointed. The video play back or the recording is slightly 'jerky' if you know what I mean. Of course it could well be the Card on my computer that's the problem. So currently I am downloading a bit of software to change the format to see if I can get a cleaner, smoother bit of video.

 

[nhoover]

If you download from your Samsung mobile device you are getting a very downsampled 1280x720 version of your video. The true video is on the micro SD card. You will need a card reader. Buy a new micro SD card (bigger one) - many come with an adapter that is the size/shape of a standard SD card so you can just slip it in and read it easily.

 

[stuartbp]

Well I have to admit I am disappointed. The video play back or the recording is slightly 'jerky' if you know what I mean. Of course it could well be the Card on my computer that's the problem. So currently I am downloading a bit of software to change the format to see if I can get a cleaner, smoother bit of video.

I suspect your computer can't play the 4K smoothly due to lack computing power. Try recording in 1080p.

I play my 4K stuff on my Nvidia shield k1 for now. My current computer can't handle it. I am getting a new one this coming week.

 

[stuartbp]

I suspect your computer can't play the 4K smoothly due to lack computing power. Try recording in 1080p.

I play my 4K stuff on my Nvidia shield k1 for now. My current computer can't handle it. I am getting a new one this coming week.

I've also uploaded my 4K videos to YouTube. Takes a while for it to process, but when it's done it will play on devices that can handle 4K. For the devices that can't handle 4K just select 1080p during playback in YouTube and it'll play that way.