Hi guys
New to the forum,  and really enjoyed reading all the posts,  so now time for my first post.

Got my Phantom2 Vision Plus v.3 for xmas but due to time restraints, weather, reading up and watching you tube videos have not been flying yet. The stories of esc failures and flyaways makes for a nervous situation before flying. I have 12 months warranty from my uk retailer and should a fault occur,  it's covered by replacement or refund. So that eases the esc issue a little.
So my bigger concern is a flyaway - no drone no replacement.
I have read that most pilots in a loss of gps situation will switch to atti mode to regain control. My understanding is that in Phantom mode none of the switches work other than S1in the uppermost position. And the only other option then is to turn off transmitter to effect a failsafe condition. Assuming GPS is good enough for this to work.
So this leads me to the logic that Naza-M mode is safer based on the fact that GPS Atti is effectively the same as Phantom mode,  but with the added benefit of having the option of Atti in the event of lost GPS. Add this to having a failsafe switch,  together with the extra option of course lock and home lock on the S2 switch then there are more options to get the drone back under control and back to me.
I suppose I am looking for opinon on whether Phantom mode or Naza is best for first flight with the Phantom.  If in Naza, GPS Atti gives me a Phantom mode anyway, then surely it makes sense to have those extra options in the event of any issues.
What are your thoughts guys.

I'm in the same position, though it will be with P2/GP4 setup. I'm very interested in people's comments on this question...

I'm certainly no expert with this quad, but mine too is new, and I elected to activate the Naza-M mode for the reason you mention.  It gives me more options if something goes wrong.

Mine have finally been up in the air, after getting the one ESC replaced, which the hobby shop told me about 1 in 20 quadcopters are having issues with the an ESC.  When I would first start the motors, one was going slower than the others.  When I tried to get it off the ground, it would just tip over.  When you turn on the motors, and they look and sound like they are all going the same speed, you should be fine.

I was amazed with how easy it was to fly in GPS mode.  Very smooth in the air.

The only odd thing I noticed was the rear LEDs, they were mostly off, and would blink green only for a split second.  From all the videos I have seen so far, they should be mostly green, and only turn off for a split second!  When you get yours in the air, I would be curious to hear what the rear LEDs on your new V3 quadcopter does?

jtrager@carolin Posted at 2015-1-17 20:51
I'm certainly no expert with this quad, but mine too is new, and I elected to activate the Naza-M mo ...

The only odd thing I noticed was the rear LEDs, they were mostly off, and would blink green only for a split second.  

Does the LEDs flash ALL 3 colors (Red, Yellow, Green), when it initlizes.  You might have an issue with the LEDs.

I went straight to Naza-M mode as I agree that you do seem to have much more control overall. I think especially useful to someone new to RC vehicles (i.e. me) is the course lock which makes it much easier and safer for guiding around smaller areas.
I have a small Syma X5 which I am using to get used to manual flying but I think it'll be a while before I try the Phantom in manual mode. In fact I don't even have that as an option at the moment as S1 bottom switch is set to failsafe

Naza-M gives you more options if you need to resort to them. With both S1 & S2 sticks up, it's just like flying in Phantom mode even when you are in Naza-M mode.

Mark, as cautious as you are, and are familiarizing yourself with the Phantom, I would say go Naza.  The Phantom mode is designed for those users who really just skim the manual and don't take the time to completely educate themselves before flying.  I would say you are not in this class.

i am certainly competent enough with both flying and preflight stuff and the controller config to use naza.  my nervousness comes from how clutzy i am, i worry i might inadvertently go into atti mode with the s1 switch when it is hundreds of feet away and have it start drifting in the wind and have an issue before i can realize or switch to rth/s1bottom.  but what i dont like about phantom mode is that there is no way to force rth without controller off which is just as concerning.

but what i dont like about phantom mode is that there is no way to force rth without controller off which is just as concerning

When in Naza-M mode, you'll have the option to set the bottom S1 switch position to fail safe.

mike@singerscre Posted at 2015-1-17 23:53
When in Naza-M mode, you'll have the option to set the bottom S1 switch position to fail safe.

You also have the HOME LOCK in NAZA mode on the S2 switch by just pulling the right stick to you.

When I selected a Phantom I assumed that if I was 50 feet high and 100 feet away that I could just flip a switch and it would come back and land at it's home point. It seems that in Phantom mode the only way to do that is to turn off the controller. Now as someone who has flown RC airplanes for 42 years that totally goes against my nature. I guess I am going to have to study more on NAZA. That seems to have a lot more options

mike/gerry, yes i know the advantages of naza mode, but the down side to naza mode is inadvertent midflight switch changes.  those switches are easy to move positions so the up side to phantom mode is that i can accidentally end up in atti mode 500ft away and my point was, sure naza has responses to that, but just as an example, lets say i have it in naza mode, i accidentally switch to s1mid/atti and it immediately starts drifing in wind and before i know it, it does behind a set of trees and i lose LOS.  i thought that if i then went with s1down it couldnt tell it to go into rth mode since ive likely lost LOS and now it is just drifting.  does the transmitter loss (either LOS loss or TX power off) also cause automatic RTH in naza mode?

gnixon2015 Posted at 2015-1-18 01:54
mike/gerry, yes i know the advantages of naza mode, but the down side to naza mode is inadvertent mi ...

I thought of that also, inadvertently hitting a switch and not realizing I did it.  This morning I was just looking at it and dreaming of the day I might be able to actually fly again and came up with the idea of switch guards.  Got on EBAY and found this.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/18063961 ... =STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

Three sets are now on order and it seems like I will have plenty of time to make the mods.

LOS will always trigger RTH in either mode.  Phantom or NAZA.

switch guards are good.  im also thinking of putting a small rubber band (one end on the switch and the other on like the post of the wifi repeater or phone arm) that way if i want somehting other than s1 up, i have to 'flip the rubber band off'.  not a professional sort of mod bu tsomething that will keep my from hitting it accidentally.

good to know tho that naza has auto rth with los loss, so i guess there isnt really any downside to naza versus phantom, only upsides (assuming you are at least somewhat well versed in things).

gnixon2015 Posted at 2015-1-18 01:54
mike/gerry, yes i know the advantages of naza mode, but the down side to naza mode is inadvertent mi ...

I am not worried about hitting a switch while flying. Some of the transmitters used for RC airplanes have 8 switches. The concern would be the switch getting moved while you are not flying and handling the controller. But there is solution for that, it is called

PREFLIGHT

Do it before every flight.

Capt. Bill Posted at 2015-1-18 02:30
I am not worried about hitting a switch while flying. Some of the transmitters used for RC airplan ...

I do the preflight before I even turn on the transmitter, but I have hit the switch before during flight and not realized it right off.

Gerry1124 Posted at 2015-1-18 02:34
I do the preflight before I even turn on the transmitter, but I have hit the switch before during  ...

I agree there is a slight difference with the Phantom. With airplanes or helicopters your thumbs usually stay on the sticks unless you want to flip a switch. Airplanes don't have a hover in place mode.

bill, im not saying ill inadvertently hit the switch with my thumbs, id probably notice that.  im talking about hitting it with the lanyard, the huge ipad that is swiveling around 1 inch from it (the ball joint only gets 'so tight' so there is SOME move when laying down or picking up), my sleeve when reaching around it doing things on the ipad iphone.  that sort of thing.  so for me at least im not paying THAT CLOSE ATTENTION to my personal space, why?  because i am focused on the bird.  so if i get in atti mode it will take me a min of a few secs to realize that.  my concern was somehting bad would happen before i both realized and corrected.  but i feel much better knowing that los loss will result in rth, so that makes me consider the risks on both sides and believe the risk i mention of accidental s1 toggle is less overall of a risk than only getting rth in phantom with power off versus s1 toggle.  im sold. thanks for the discussion guys.

In Naza-M (what does that stand for?) mode if anyone is concerned that they might accidentally hit Failsafe with the S1 down switch then just set it to ATTI, same as mid position. That's then the same as Phantom mode but in Naza-M you will have the benefit of S2 for Course Lock and Home Lock which I think is really useful for novices (like me) especially

How practical would it be to fly in ATTI as a default, and switch to GPS only when needed (and if sufficient satellites are available at the time)? Sorry if that's a naive suggestion - I'm new to this too!

JerryLaurence Posted at 2015-1-18 04:19
How practical would it be to fly in ATTI as a default, and switch to GPS only when needed (and if su ...

ATTI mode will keep your altitude set, but the Phantom will drift with the wind.  GPS will keep it in 1 position and not drift with the wind if you have 6 sats.  If you have less than 6 sats, the Phantom will automatically go into ATTI mode and drift.

But, unless you want to hover or ascend in a fixed position, you're flying the machine aren't you? So presumably you'll be compensating for the wind as you fly?

JerryLaurence Posted at 2015-1-18 04:27
But, unless you want to hover or ascend in a fixed position, you're flying the machine aren't you? S ...

In GPS mode if you let go of the stick controls, you will hover and not drift with the wind.  The flight controller on board will make adjustments to keep you in 1 position.
In NAZA mode when you are in ATTI switch position, you will keep altitude when you let go of the control sticks, but you will drift with the wind.

basically you are just getting POSITION CORRECTION when not touching sticks in GPS mode and not getting that in ATTI mode.  other than that, the two modes are really not different as far as i can tell.

Thanks Gerry. Forgive me for my ignorance but I was wondering why you would let go of the sticks unless you intend to hover or ascend vertically. I guess I'll find out the answer to that question when I actually get to fly my Phantom!

Here is one time I was just hovering and getting some video.

heck, i was hovering the other day while showing the iphone app to a passerby, basically, if you have tons of sats (i had 12 at the time), you can allow (at least a bit without being too ignorant) your focus to be shifted away from the phantom and not wonder 10 secs later , where is it?  when i do turn my attention away tho, im usually within earshot so that i can always tell if the pitch of the motors change then it is likely moving etc.

gnixon2015 Posted at 2015-1-18 04:58
heck, i was hovering the other day while showing the iphone app to a passerby, basically, if you hav ...

In the picture at the drive in, I could not hear it or see it, but I knew it was still there because of what was on the screen.  I'm in the picture to the left of the building.

The more I read the more I get confused. If you are in Phantom mode and you lose signal will it land after it returns home?

Capt. Bill Posted at 2015-1-18 06:11
The more I read the more I get confused. If you are in Phantom mode and you lose signal will it land ...

Yes, it will land.

Page 27 of the Phantom 2 Vision + manual
Failsafe Function

guymacdonald@ip Posted at 2015-1-18 06:36
In Phantom you have Fail-safe / Return to Home to bring it home. This is activated by switch 1 (ri ...

Guy did I miss something, I thought you could not activate RTH in Phantom mode

Capt. Bill Posted at 2015-1-18 07:45
Guy did I miss something, I thought you could not activate RTH in Phantom mode

In Phantom working mode, you can activate RTH by turning off the Transmitter (Tx).

If you have optionally changed the working mode from "Phantom" working mode to "NAZA-M" working mode via Phantom Assistant, you can program Switch 1, bottom position, as FAILSAFE (RTH).  You can also activate RTH by turning off the Tx.

Jamie Hellmich Posted at 2015-1-18 08:40
In Phantom working mode, you can activate RTH by turning off the Transmitter (Tx).

If you have op ...

The S1 switch will only activate the RTH in the bottom position IF you still have a connection to the Phantom.  If you have lost all connection to the Phantom, the switches will not work because no instructions are getting to the Phantom.  This is why the RTH command will activate in either Phantom or NAZA mode automatically.  Once it is within range to regain control by putting the S1 switch down, then up and reacquire control, then the switches will be good to use.

Gerry1124 Posted at 2015-1-18 08:53
The S1 switch will only activate the RTH in the bottom position IF you still have a connection to  ...

You are absolutely correct, but I think Capt Bill was referring to activating it intentionally within Phantom working mode.
S1 position has no function in Phantom working mode.  It's only purpose in Phantom working mode is to enter Compass Calibration by toggling rapidly 6 times top to bottom and back.

Jamie Hellmich Posted at 2015-1-18 08:58
You are absolutely correct, but I think Capt Bill was referring to activating it intentionally with ...

Yes I was but I understand RTH can only be activated with switch 1 if you are in NAZA mode.

Capt. Bill Posted at 2015-1-18 09:07
Yes I was but I understand RTH can only be activated with switch 1 if you are in NAZA mode.

Your are correct.  To intentionally activate RTH while your Phantom is still in range of your transmitter, and you are in control of your Phantom with your transmitter, see the comments below this line:

In Phantom working mode, you can intentionally activate RTH by turning off the Transmitter (Tx).  Period.

If you have OPTIONALLY CHANGED your control system Working Mode by means of Phantom Assistant software on your computer from Phantom Working Mode to NAZA-M Working Mode, you can program Switch 1, bottom position, as FAILSAFE (RTH).  Placing Switch 1 in the bottom postion (if you selected that option in Phantom Assistant) will activate FAILSAFE / RTH, or you can turn off the Tx to activate RTH as well.

Jamie Hellmich Posted at 2015-1-18 09:17
Your are correct.  To intentionally activate RTH while your Phantom is still in range of your trans ...

I am trying to decide. Some say start in Phantom mode and others say start in NAZA mode

Bill, you will have no problem.  I switched it to NAZA-M working mode before my first flight, and haven't looked back.  That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Jamie Hellmich Posted at 2015-1-18 09:53
Bill, you will have no problem.  I switched it to NAZA-M working mode before my first flight, and ha ...

Thanks Jamie. Nice Cub by the way