New(bie) member, first post & some ?'s

[Jesse_M]

Hello guys/gals!

I wanted to do a quick intro on myself, I live in Colorado (born here too) and just recently became a Phantom 1 owner. I frequent some other forums, all car/truck related. In order of most interest I am involved in: Motorcycles (dirt-CR250 & street-Buell XB12), Subaru's (WRX on e85), downhill mtn biking, my truck (Toyota Tundra) and of course my Phantom. That of course is moving it's way up in between my car and bikes. This thing is such a blast.

I don't have any history in RC other than a few small Syma gyro copters. Those just weren't cutting it so after a couple weeks of research I bought a P1. Currently I'm flying with the anti-jello mount with an original gopro. I hope to soon do the gimbal with a higher quality gopro.

Here are a couple photos I took:

I'll admit I made some mistakes during the first few weeks that could have been really bad, but I've been reading and re-reading as much as I can to make sure my flights go well. As most of you know though the internet has SO much advice, it's hard to pick through what's right/wrong. So that's what brings me here. I trust a forum community for advice and I hope to get some good feedback here. That being said I do have some questions that I'd like to clarify. Searching all over has proved confusing.

Currently I have IOC off in Naza but I'd like to have it on. Correct me if I'm wrong but it seems like a good idea to have the ability to use Home Lock available in addition to the normal 'failsafe' under the GPS flights. Course lock seems confusing to me and doesn't seem like anything I'd use. I've read hundreds of posts around the internet about the dreaded 'fly away' however I do feel more comfort knowing that most of these were operator error. But to be honest it is still freaking me out when I fly which is why I'm asking about IOC. I want all my bases covered to be safe. I'm getting a good home point saved and waiting till I go all green before I fly. Doing the IMU cailb. after mishaps as well compass calib. when needed.

So HL works for if you take the Phantom too far way to tell what direction you are going, you switch to that mode and hold the right stick down and it will fly close enough back to your start point to fly normally again correct? So really the RTH function (turning off transmitter) is purely when the phantom is unresponsive or completely out of sight and even before that you can try to switch to Attitude mode to gain control? Do I have those basics down correct?

The other thing I'm interested in doing is lowering the distance it can travel. Do a lot of you do this? I'm purely flying by line of sight so I don't need it to fly 2000meters away or whatever the default parameter is. I think closing that gap some would make me feel a little safer.

Thanks in advance to those who read and can help out.
Jesse

 

[jerrymac12000]

Hi,
Go into the software and select the limits tab. There you can set both the vertical and horizontal flying distance from you. When the quad hits the limit it stops like hitting a fence.

 

[Jesse_M]

Thanks Jerry! Do you notice the pics of Manitou Springs?
I'm right up the hill from you in Woodland Park!

 

[moe3754]

I am just across town in Briargate and the pictures of Manitou are nice but how did you get permission to fly there? When I spoke to the Manitou Police Dept. about flying in soda springs park they were not to crazy about any Quads flying in Manitou!

 

[ProfessorStein]

While I'm a huge proponent of IOC modes, and use them all the time, I would be very careful about thinking of them as any sort of savior for fly-aways. it does seem reasonably clear that a lot of the reported fly-aways are due to some sort of GPS error (either the GPS was not locked properly, or it's flying in an environment in which it's adversely affected, or...). And since both of the IOC flight modes - Home Lock and Course Lock - use that very same GPS data, they are going to be just as affected as the normal GPS ATTI mode.

That's why the recommended method to recover from a fly-away is to switch to ATTI mode (effectively disengaging the GPS... and it's errant data).

Home Lock is, however, an excellent way to recover from the other situation you described where, for whatever reason, you've lost track of your Phantom's orientation and just need to bring it back to you.


Course Lock, by the way, is highly useful if you're filming moving objects - sprinters, drag racers, trains, etc - that tend to run in a straight line. You set up Course Lock, and your Phantom will act as if it's on a dolly... following a straight line... while you can use the yaw of the bird to keep the object in the frame. I've started to use it a lot more than I thought I would in the beginning.

 

[Damon]

Re: New(bie) member, first post & some ?'s

Be aware Home Lock does not work in ATTI mode. It will fly backwards and not back to home.

Thus making a bad situation worse and then called a fly away when its actually pilot error.

 

[Jesse_M]

Good info Professor & Damon, thanks! After more reading and youtube videos I'm feeling more confident about the features of IOC. I'm going to enable it to allow use of the HL function in case I lose sight and then lower my distance parameters a bit for some added safety...



Moe-it's awesome to know there are a few people in the Springs area. As for shooting in Manitou, I didn't get permission. I was up and back down in just a couple minutes. Didn't think I needed permission to be honest. I stayed right over public areas and was just hovering for a couple shots.

Has anyone from Colorado ever set up a meet?

 

[GMarsh75]

Hey Jesse_M,
I'm up in Firestone and flying a PV2+ and a total noob still. Flew up in Estes Park a few weeks ago right in front of the Stanley Hotel...very cool!

I'd love to see a fly-in for us all in the I-25 corridor!