I just received my new P3S via UPS today and I'm just finishing charging the spare battery. Excited to get out flying, but we're expecting a little snow tonight so it might not happen until Friday. I'm going to try getting everything connected tonight yet. I already purchased the Litchi app, but I believe you have to start with the GO App first...correct? I know most of these questions have been answered many times, but I'm REALLY new to this and I don't want to screw it up.

Another question I have is...would you start flying in the GO app? It seems like the Litchi app is also fairly user friendly, but I'm looking for the best way to get started. ANY other suggestions would be greatly appreciated as well. Thanks!!!  

Try learn to fly first. Baby steps, fly the sims and/or toy copter before you go off to the deep end.

I would start with Go - just about any guide/information you find on the Internet is going to be geared towards that.

You generally have have to work pretty hard to crash these things, short of negligence or hardware failure. Start in an open area on a calm day (< 10 MPH wind), I think you'll be surprised at how easy it is to fly if you have calibrated everything and have a solid GPS lock. My 10 year old nephew can do it, so can you.

Make sure you get a good IMU calibration first. Use a level on the tops of the prop shafts to make sure the Drone is as close to level as possible prior. Use folded up sheets of paper or something similar to level it out. The table, floor, etc you think is level, is probably not. Then calibrate the gimbal. Once you're out in the field, calibrate the compass and prepare for your new addiction . . .

The GO app is necessary to activate your Phantom and to calibrate the IMU.  It is fine for starting out.   The Litchi app has a few more features, primarily the ability to use FPV goggles and the offline waypoint feature.  I switch between them as needed.  However, make sure only one is running at a time.  If using GO, make sure Litchi is not running in the background and vice-versa.  Make sure you know how to use ALL of the features, especially be sure to understand what RTH is and what causes it and what it does when activated.  That's probably the single most misunderstood feature of the Phantom, and likely the one that is involved in most crashes.  Fool around in the simulator for as long as you have the patience to.  Have fun.

Fly the GO APP it is pretty much like Litchi APP (both use the DJI developer toolkit) I am also pretty new but I have the advantage of being a licensed pilot so I know that learning to fly is risky.  With that mind set.  Establish a procedure for pre-flight and starting the Phantom.  After takeoff (manual or initiated from the APP) hover for a few moments, check that the Home Point has registered and how many satellites are registered, use each axis of the two sticks to ensure the Phantom is responding as you expect.  For many flights, stay within about 100 meters and learn to make the Phantom go where you want it to go.  When you no longer have to think about which stick to use then fly further away.  In a large open field learn to fly figure eights and practice keeping the camera pointed at an object as you fly around it.  Yes, I know there is a POI mode that does this, but doing it manually teaches you a lot about control of the Phantom.  Learning to control the Phantom first will reduce the likelihood of a "panic error" later.  The effort is worth it.

Thanks all. I'm going to play with the simulator tomorrow. Not much else to do with the snow coming in. A couple of more questions...Do the batteries seem to hold their charge if stored at room temperature if you don't get out much? And...should the batteries be taken down to a certain level, and what is that level, before they're recharged?

Ice Viper Posted at 2017-3-29 18:11
Thanks all. I'm going to play with the simulator tomorrow. Not much else to do with the snow coming in. A couple of more questions...Do the batteries seem to hold their charge if stored at room temperature if you don't get out much? And...should the batteries be taken down to a certain level, and what is that level, before they're recharged?

Both the manual and multiple threads here will tell you about batteries and charge levels. Have a look at them as well as the simulator. LiPo batteries lose very little charge over time unless you have triggered self discharge.

I've been playing with the simulator, as well as watching some videos on using it. The one thing I noticed in the videos is that everyone had either a google map or a google earth map in the lower left corner. I have the box for it, but no map of any kind. Is anyone else having this problem?

Ice Viper Posted at 2017-3-30 10:16
I've been playing with the simulator, as well as watching some videos on using it. The one thing I noticed in the videos is that everyone had either a google map or a google earth map in the lower left corner. I have the box for it, but no map of any kind. Is anyone else having this problem?

You need to make sure before you fly, that you are connected to a WiFi and use the maps to scroll around a bit so it caches the data. The when you connect to your phantom, you should see the map. You understand that with the standard you are connecting through the phantom's WiFi to control it right? When you are connected to your phantom, it cannot also be connected to let's say you home WiFi at the same time and keep the maps updated. It is one or the other.

I'll try that. Thanks...

Hmmm...I went back to my home WiFi and I did get the street map, scrolled around on it for a few minutes, but when I connected the device and went into simulator once again no map. Also, yesterday when I first connected everything, I had the satellite image of my house. I don't get that now either. Am I missing something?

Ice Viper Posted at 2017-3-30 12:04
Hmmm...I went back to my home WiFi and I did get the street map, scrolled around on it for a few minutes, but when I connected the device and went into simulator once again no map. Also, yesterday when I first connected everything, I had the satellite image of my house. I don't get that now either. Am I missing something?

I don't know about the simulator. If you are connecting to the phantom and go into the app, you should see a map there for sure. I haven't played with the simulator much at all. Sorry.

Ice Viper Posted at 2017-3-30 12:04
Hmmm...I went back to my home WiFi and I did get the street map, scrolled around on it for a few minutes, but when I connected the device and went into simulator once again no map. Also, yesterday when I first connected everything, I had the satellite image of my house. I don't get that now either. Am I missing something?

As the P3S connects to the remote control via WiFi and not via cable, you will not have life map view while remote control is being connected (via WiFi) to the drone.
It's been some weeks ago that I had my P3S in the air but I think you must first download HERE maps for your region in order to take advantage of map viewing.

I figured it out and have the satellite view now. Pretty cool just flying with that map. Nice weekend expected. Might take her out tomorrow morning.

I tried looking for some posts about charging the LiPo's. Are you supposed to drain them down first or can you charge them when they still have about 50%?

Ice Viper Posted at 2017-3-31 16:58
I figured it out and have the satellite view now. Pretty cool just flying with that map. Nice weekend expected. Might take her out tomorrow morning.

I tried looking for some posts about charging the LiPo's. Are you supposed to drain them down first or can you charge them when they still have about 50%?

For a new battery they don't recommend running it way down, at least for the first few times. Yes you can and should always top off the battery especially before flying. Many opinions, but they used to recommend after 20 flights or so you should then take them down (Deep discharge) to 5%-8% and then fully re-charge. Some do, some don't. A lot info on this forum if you look. I will top off my batteries even if they are 90% before a flight. Doesn't hurt a bit.

Ice Viper Posted at 2017-3-31 16:58
I figured it out and have the satellite view now. Pretty cool just flying with that map. Nice weekend expected. Might take her out tomorrow morning.

I tried looking for some posts about charging the LiPo's. Are you supposed to drain them down first or can you charge them when they still have about 50%?

Just a heads up. When my batteries get below 20% it gets hard to control so make sure you are close in and land it immediately. That is with 2 different batteries. As mentioned the Go app will be set to discharge the battery over time so make sure you charge them fully before flight. Also if you get in trouble and need to bring it back the S2 switch on top left of controller will trigger RTH (Return to Home) by just toggling it several times. Make sure your RTH altitide is set high enough to fly over anything in your area. Just remember when you kick in RTH it is going to go UP to RTH altitude so make sure you not in a bunch of trees. When she coming back and you want to cancel RTH just switch S1 upper right to mid position. After it stops I just switch S1 back to P which is up then bring it back in.

Thanks Maxxpsoft. I plan to head out in a couple of hours to try my first flight. Cant wait!!!

One more note, make sure that when you first power every on and you're ready to take off that you hear the app tell you that "The home point has been updated, please check it on the map" and that you do check it. Just to make sure. I know that JackA referred to it earlier but I just wanted to remind you. Have fun , these things are a blast!

Finally got her up in the air and you were right Michgolden...these things are a blast. I had no trouble flying it at all. Everything I tried worked well. The auto take-off, RTH, forward, backward, left, right, yawing, etc. However...I was not impressed with the video. It seemed pretty jittery, like quick little jerks. I'm trying to upload the video now to youtube so I can edit it down and put a small clip on here to see if I can get some answers. It is taking FOREVER to upload it. Is there a better way?

If you download using the SD card it's way faster than downloading from the AC camera using a cord.

OK...here is some of my first flight. I know..I know..I need to brush up on my editing skills, but this was my first time using this software. Hate the watermark as well, but not paying the $59.00 right now. Anyone know of some EASY to use, FREE editing software...please let me know. Anyway...the video seems jerky to me. I did a gimbel calibration, but not until I had returned home because I didn't realize the video was like this. Any suggestions?

How do you have the video set up?  The You Tube clip here plays at 360 (low resolution)  I use 720 for most of my Phantom video as this is High Definition and runs well on most small video devices.  With the GO APP on, tap the settings button in the Camera window and check how the video is set.

OK...here are my settings:

Shutter-Auto
ISO - 800
Shutter - 30
EV - +0.0

Camera
Video Size - 2.7k
Video Format - MOV
NTSC
White Balance - AWB
Style - None
Color - Normal

Settings
Histogram - OFF
Over Exposure Warning - OFF
Video Caption - OFF
Grid - None
Center Points - None
Anti-Flicker - 50 Hz
File Index Mode - Reset

Gimbal Settings
Configuration 1
Pitch Speed - 50
Upward Tilt - OFF
Pitch Smoothness - 5
Synchronized Pan Follow - ON

I think the low resolution may have been in the edit because it asks where it is being exported to, as in youtube, and then it came out as an AVI but probably at a lower res to make it more web compatible.