We bought a drone!!! New to the drone world!

DroneLyfe2016 · Aug 1, 2016

Hey guys! My wife and I bought a Phantom 4 and thought we'd join the discussions on here. We are newbies in the drone world! Looking to learn all we can! Until then here is our unboxing video:

CEEJAY · Aug 1, 2016

Have you ever flown a drone before?
If you are new to the drone scene I suggest you see as many videos and read as much information as you can before you even start it up !!
The biggest mistake people make is not understanding how complicated it can be to fly properly one of these Phantom 4's.
I have 3 Phantoms now and had never flown one before buying the Vision 2 plus, then a 3 advanced and now the 4.
but my sound advice is go to a BIG wide open space and practice, practice practice , until you are confident in how ALL the controls work.
It will save you a lot of heartache, rather than bury you shiny new drone into the nearest tree or the ground.
Good luck and happy flying!
they are great fun, but ,in serious way.
I have just come back from a trip to a Chateau in France (Chateau de Montvillargenne) and grabbed some footage taken at dusk of the Chateau's garden and rear view.

Château de Montvillargenne - Hôtel de luxe 4 étoiles près de Paris
While I had a eye in the sky, they had cameras on me !! (CCTV)
But I kept my drone a good distance so as not to spoil anyone's privacy.
Enjoy and have great fun !!

DroneLyfe2016 · Aug 1, 2016

CEEJAY said:
Have you ever flown a drone before?
If you are new to the drone scene I suggest you see as many videos and read as much information as you can before you even start it up !!
The biggest mistake people make is not understanding how complicated it can be to fly properly one of these Phantom 4's.
I have 3 Phantoms now and had never flown one before buying the Vision 2 plus, then a 3 advanced and now the 4.
but my sound advice is go to a BIG wide open space and practice, practice practice , until you are confident in how ALL the controls work.
It will save you a lot of heartache, rather than bury you shiny new drone into the nearest tree or the ground.
Good luck and happy flying!
they are great fun, but ,in serious way.
I have just come back from a trip to a Chateau in France (Chateau de Montvillargenne) and grabbed some footage taken at dusk of the Chateau's garden and rear view.

Château de Montvillargenne - Hôtel de luxe 4 étoiles près de Paris
While I had a eye in the sky, they had cameras on me !! (CCTV)
But I kept my drone a good distance so as not to spoil anyone's privacy.
Enjoy and have great fun !!

Thanks for the advice. Been looking at a ton of drone videos and plan on going to a wide open space to test it out. We bought the Phantom 4 because everyone online said it was the easiest to operate for beginners. So we shall see. Just registered it with the FAA. Hoping to hit thee state park today if weather permits

Bckmstr · Aug 1, 2016

First off Welcome to the site, second congrats on your new P4 , lots of great people here for advice and tips.

DroneLyfe2016 · Aug 1, 2016

Bckmstr said:
First off Welcome to the site, second congrats on your new P4 , lots of great people here for advice and tips.

Awesome! Thanks!!! Let's hope this drone stays in one piece after the first flight!

CEEJAY · Aug 1, 2016

I am sure you will enjoy the Phantom 4 , just be sensible, walk before you run, (so to speak)
And welcome to the best place in the "Phantom World" for advice and answers !.
I have found this forum the place to ask all your questions and get great advice.
Welcome to you and the good lady to the world of the Phantom 4, and to the look of life from 400 ft up !!
P.S. just make extra sure your props are fitted correctly and I am sure you will be fine.

apex1 · Aug 1, 2016

You guys will have a lot of fun. I recommend that you do the firmware updates on your computer using the DJI assistant, rather then doing them through the app. Also, when you set the return to home parameters, pick an altitude that is higher than anything around, measured from the original takeoff point. That is how it is calculated. If you are in open surroundings, you can override the drone climbing to your preset altitude simply by moving the left stick when return to home is engaged. I use 150m to make sure that I climb to a high enough altitude to clear everything before the drone flies to the home point and starts it's decent.

DroneLyfe2016 · Aug 1, 2016

CEEJAY said:
I am sure you will enjoy the Phantom 4 , just be sensible, walk before you run, (so to speak)
And welcome to the best place in the "Phantom World" for advice and answers !.
I have found this forum the place to ask all your questions and get great advice.
Welcome to you and the good lady to the world of the Phantom 4, and to the look of life from 400 ft up !!
P.S. just make extra sure your props are fitted correctly and I am sure you will be fine.

We plan to take very small steps. A little nervous but I'm sure everything will come in time. Super excited! Glad i sprung for the 4 and not the 3 like I planned on

DroneLyfe2016 · Aug 1, 2016

apex1 said:
You guys will have a lot of fun. I recommend that you do the firmware updates on your computer using the DJI assistant, rather then doing them through the app. Also, when you set the return to home parameters, pick an altitude that is higher than anything around, measured from the original takeoff point. That is how it is calculated. If you are in open surroundings, you can override the drone climbing to your preset altitude simply by moving the left stick when return to home is engaged. I use 150m to make sure that I climb to a high enough altitude to clear everything before the drone flies to the home point and starts it's decent.

just did the firmware updates last night. Should be good to go there. Good recommendation about the RTH. I'll get that set. Super excited to get out there and try it. Waiting to see how the wife does! A bit weary in that department but I'll keep her on beginner mode until she is comfortable

CEEJAY · Aug 1, 2016

Just use small movements of the sticks, until you feel confident.
And definitely be aware of the CFC (motor turn off mid air)
You will find that several settings cannot be set until you have the Phantom fired up, some cannot be set until you are actually airborne.
Good Luck, and let us all know how your first flight goes

apex1 · Aug 1, 2016

I think beginner mode is a complete waste of time. if you are just a little bit careful, there are so many autonomous protections built into the drone that you guys will be fine.

CThruU · Aug 1, 2016

apex1 said:
I think beginner mode is a complete waste of time. if you are just a little bit careful, there are so many autonomous protections built into the drone that you guys will be fine.

Agree. I had absolutely zero drone or RC experience. I turned beginner mode off after the first 10 min flight. Just pick an open area, practice slowly at first and always remember that letting go of both sticks will put you in a hovering position while you pause and regain composure when something goes awry.

John Locke · Aug 1, 2016

DroneLyfe2016 said:
Hey guys! My wife and I bought a Phantom 4 and thought we'd join the discussions on here. We are newbies in the drone world! Looking to learn all we can! Until then here is our unboxing video:

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That was the sexiest unboxing I've seen for P4. Why do you need a drone? Are you and your wife going to take some videos?

DroneLyfe2016 · Aug 1, 2016

Where2fly said:
Welcome hope u like your drone! If your looking for good places to fly check out this app.
IOS where2fly on the App Store
Android https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=c...

Awesome thanks. Was looking for something like that!!!

DroneLyfe2016 · Aug 1, 2016

CEEJAY said:
Just use small movements of the sticks, until you feel confident.
And definitely be aware of the CFC (motor turn off mid air)
You will find that several settings cannot be set until you have the Phantom fired up, some cannot be set until you are actually airborne.
Good Luck, and let us all know how your first flight goes

Just got home from flight testing. Worked out great....no mishaps! Still learning the features though. Didn't get a chance to test them all out because we got rained out but still hopefully got some decent beginner footage.

DroneLyfe2016 · Aug 1, 2016

apex1 said:
I think beginner mode is a complete waste of time. if you are just a little bit careful, there are so many autonomous protections built into the drone that you guys will be fine.

What I did like about the beginner mode is you can go full throttle up and it doesn't just launch in the air, it took a gradual takeoff which was good for me since I've never flown anything. Even for my wife she found it quite simple. I kept beginner mode on for her and put mine in regular mode....takes off like a rocket! But I just moved the sticks a bit slower and got the hang of it. Lost signal mid stream so I got a chance to test the RTH function and it came straight home!. Really impressed so far...the wife loves it! Happy wife, happy life!!!

DroneLyfe2016 · Aug 1, 2016

John Locke said:
That was the sexiest unboxing I've seen for P4. Why do you need a drone? Are you and your wife going to take some videos?

HAHA! She loves her tah tahs!! But we all know I'm the sexy one in the video HAHAHAHAHA! And only drone videos

DroneLyfe2016 · Aug 1, 2016

CThruU said:
Agree. I had absolutely zero drone or RC experience. I turned beginner mode off after the first 10 min flight. Just pick an open area, practice slowly at first and always remember that letting go of both sticks will put you in a hovering position while you pause and regain composure when something goes awry.

I just a lot of "letting go the sticks" so I can figure out where the camera was. Will take some time getting used to moving when I'm facing the opposite direction. A lot of fun!. Now time to edit this stuff! The dread of having a YouTube channel. I'll post when I'm done

gosports1 · Aug 1, 2016

Make sure it is Legal to Launch from any of the State Parks.I got a Big NO from a State Park in Florida.
I posted this before i watched your Box Unpacking. Looks like you have been studying .before your 1st Flight.

Jason Weston · Aug 1, 2016

John Locke said:
That was the sexiest unboxing I've seen for P4. Why do you need a drone? Are you and your wife going to take some videos?

Sure was, to be honest if she loves drones as much as you then you may have found a "Unicorn" keep her, my wife is not interested at all so buying anything is painful. Let's just say when i purchased my inspire 1 yesterday she was not entirely happy.