well took the plunge new drone arriving tomorrow

gingerbloke · Oct 31, 2017

If you can find an experienced phantom 3s owner nearby to help with initial flights I would do that.

Newbieguy · Oct 31, 2017

Yep. Normal

station five · Nov 1, 2017

leave it in "beginner mode" and made sure the right switch (S1) on the controller is in the upmost position (for GPS mode, beginner mode may possibly have GPS mode on no matter what position that switch is in though, not sure).

my 1st flight was just up to 10 feet then immediately land. then up 20 and out 20, and so on. just take it slow. as others have said make sure RTH height is high enough to clear anything around you, mine is at 30 meters.

just have fun, these things are way cool. when in trouble best bet is usually LET GO OF THE STICKS. the bird will hover in place while you figure the situation out.

John Tarvin · Nov 4, 2017

bigjohn71 said:
can the values be changed in the app ie metres-feet?

If you get around to flying with the Litchi app, yes....Max Alt and RTH Alt can both be set in feet.

Henry Matias · Nov 4, 2017

LarBear360 said:
Download the manual from the DJI website and read it several times. Understand what all the controls are for. Also on the DJI website you will find training tutorials. There is an "Unpacking Your Drone" tutorial I found useful.
Watch those while waiting for your drone.

There are literally hundreds more videos on YouTube produced for beginners. Skip over the guys flying distance tests and making modifications. Feel free to check off the "Watch Later" box for those and look for Drone Valley. This guy is pretty good with straight forward education. There is another "kid" I found, Carson Miller, who has some great down to earth basic information. Lastly, look for Phantom Film School and Laurence Seberini. He has free videos plus an on-line course(s) you can purchase for a lifetime.

Don't jump off the deep end too quickly. Make sure this hobby is for you before you shell out a few hundred more on accessories which you may or may not need. All you need for now is in the box. I know at least a few people who found aerial photography just wasn't for them and sold their drone on E-Bay after just a couple weeks.

Yes good old Drone Valley ... great speaker and educator but I wish I had never watched him!

Henry Matias · Nov 4, 2017

John Tarvin said:
If you get around to flying with the Litchi app, yes....Max Alt and RTH Alt can both be set in feet.

Just think 3 feet is

msinger said:
No.

USA and Liberia is the two only Countries on the Planet earth that use feet. To help think it out, remember, 1 meter is 3 feet.
Here in Canada growing up several decades ago in School everything was imperial too, what a mistake learning that cause shortly after probably right after, it changed. I'm still more comfortable with imperial and not Metric when it comes to measurements. It didn't help that I've been working in the Aerospace industry for 40 years which it's tooling is still imperial.

Alan Dee · Nov 4, 2017

bigjohn71 said:
as above I have a new phantom 3 standard arriving tomorrow through Amazon
This is my 1st dji drone is there anything I need to look for when I open it
ie faults or know issues?
going to be like Christmas day tomorrow!!

Great purchase, Its a great feeling, Just do what everyone else has suggested and you're in for a lot of fun.
Happy other Christmas !!!!

ImACarbonCopy · Nov 4, 2017

I have a p3s I watched this video a couple time before I got started. He does a good job of getting started.
Also I would spend a few more bucks a get the Litchi app to fly with.
Litchi for DJI Mavic / Phantom / Inspire / Spark - Android Apps on Google Play
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct...9218666?mt=8&usg=AOvVaw2qyOujtt4SUu4JGV4OQIT_

gutterboy2ca · Nov 4, 2017

Henry Matias said:
Just think 3 feet is

USA and Liberia is the two only Countries on the Planet earth that use feet. To help think it out, remember, 1 meter is 3 feet.
Here in Canada growing up several decades ago in School everything was imperial too, what a mistake learning that cause shortly after probably right after, it changed. I'm still more comfortable with imperial and not Metric when it comes to measurements. It didn't help that I've been working in the Aerospace industry for 40 years which it's tooling is still imperial.

I know you were saying 3 ft/ meter as a reference only,since I also live in Canada.There's actually 39"/meter, not 36".. But who's counting eh"" lol

ShadowCrabb · Nov 4, 2017

also make sure your RC is the first on and last off
don't panic on the metric system... just multiply your set meters by 3 and you"ll be close enough for government work
I broke my teeth on a P3S. She's a fun bird.

drvrbobob · Nov 4, 2017

I love mine, hope you enjoy yours just as much. I would suggest keeping the settings to beginner and maybe even changing to keep drone closer till you get used to it. The hardest thing I have to learn is when it gets 200 yards or more from me and you start turning knowing which direction it is pointing to ( I hover and rotate drone around looking at the view and forget which way I need it to continue...lol).. Just having to learn to trust the display. I also practiced a lot on changing drones course as it flies to me since left is now right and vice versa.