[ Last edited by olo In 2017-4-27 09:20 Editor ]\n\nWhen DJI finally offered the P3S in the beginning of 2016 for 599 Euro there was nor reason anymore not to try the world of flying up into the air and looking down without the hazzard of crashing the airplane (ultralight) and getting killed in the worst case.
1000 meter reach and a 720p downlink video - wow. Got mine from an authorized DJI dealer here in Spain.
The first expreriences were horrible. The software wanted to be updated but the drone was just beeping for over half an hour quite loud (whoever activated the beeper during the update time must have won the moron of the year award) and then it would not stop.
I finally figured out with the help from here that the alternative way with downloading the firmware and putting it on the sd card in the camera was the way to solve this. Beeping happily again - this time it worked. Why does a brand new product with a working software has to be updated, the was the promise of flying out of the box, just screw on the propellers. From screwing the customer was nothing mentioned.
The Galaxy S5 worked fine with the drone and was even bright enough to see in direct sunlight. - kind of
I am living in a rural area, with just free fields behind my house and from the top of the tool shed I have an unobstructed view over the fields.
The first flights were full of argh and trembeling to crash the little gem.
But I managed and the P3S was rock stabile in the air and with the GPS always came home.
Sadly the 1000 meter distance I learned was cut in half by living in the wrong part of the world. Here only 500 meters were possible.

Must have been in the fine print and not on the sales page.
Oh well lets try for 500 meters. Since there is nothing in the way and no interference from orange trees, lets see.
After 250 meters I lost the siganl an panicked - but the drone came home.
I read of windsurfers and reflectors,and boosters and a lot more and knew then that I should have gone with the stronger P3A.

One day I put a CD through the antenna hole and it worked as a reflector with me reaching finally 400 to 700 meters.
I liked the result.





Now I wanted to have a bigger screen than the 5" S5 but had no Idea how to mout my 8" tablett. I tried different aproaces and looked in the internet but there was nothing what worked for me.
We had then a several months long periode of very stong wind 30 to 50 km/h and the drone got grounded and kind of forgotten since the overall experience was so so.

When fall 2016 the hype with the Mavic pro started my dream of flying like a beagle (you can scratch the b if you want - but I don´t fly that gracious) was rekindled. Can you imagine in the first youtube months there was nobody doing a real range test? A gazillion videos and no one in "half range only" Europe was showing how far the Marvic pro realy could go.
After the bad experience with my P3S and usable range I wanted to know exactly what to expect before MAYBE spending more money on a DJI product again,
Then all the little problems started to appear and a Woody Allan type of guy with curly hair and glasses fronm NY who was doing fine with his Mavic pro was bitterly sad because of a fly away and I decided to wait until the Mavic pro is finished and without hard and software bugs.

I remembered that I have a working drone somwhere in the house and after 2 days found where it was hidden away. I had not used it for 9 months.

So I tried for a second approach. Fire up, try the tablett and the Note 3, everythig worked but wanted to be updated or no flying.
ARGH ARGH ARGH.
Forum told me about versions with GPS problems and that DJI uses the user again as beta tester without giving them a choice not to do this.

Well the 2 Samsung note 3 phones updated well and this was the first time the P3S was updating direct from the internet without going over a seperate download and installing via SD card.
Jay
After updating the tablett to the newst GO 3.10 or so there was no video feed any more. And this just when I had figured out a way to mount the tablett on the RC.
ARGH
2 days searching through the internet I finely found the right post.
How to: Fixing the forced upgrade in DJI Go for Android
and a nice feller put that even in a doc on google:
How to: Fixing the forced upgrade in DJI Go for Android

Now my Samsung tab 3 8" works with DJI Go 2.4.2 and will not be prompted to update
I have a good video feed and the Samsung Note 3 is happy with the newest version.

After several tries to mount and find the ideal position for the 8· tablett my configuration looks this way:

front view with neck strap

side view

[size=14.6667px]Now I just needed to boost my range and flying would be fine finally.
[size=14.6667px]I looked around the tool shed and found a old tin lamp.
[size=14.6667px]It was a hollow metal cylinder I was looking for and this 65 mm diameter lamp looked just about right.
[size=14.6667px]

It is made from stainless steel and took my rotary tool 2 blades to cut it roughly in half and get the sharp edges not so sharp anymore.
I needed a 13 mm hole and my 10 mm drill and the rotary tool with a grinder did the job

the above picture [size=14.6667px]It looks a bit crocked but that is just the photo angle.
[size=14.6667px]This is the position of the antenna I use to get the best range.

[size=14.6667px]Guess how much range I can get now?

So 20%, 50%, 80% or even 100% more?
How about over 300% more just with a piece of tin the right shape and the antenna tip in the chenter of the reflector.

Don´t belive me? (I would not, sounds too much like snake oil salesman)
Well step closer folks and see for yourself.
Here are the logs of my last 4 flights.
Curtesy of the website formerly known as healthy drones.

flight 2 1200 meter

flight 3 nearly 1800 meter !!!

flight 4 1400 meter

[size=14.6667px]So my max is now 1780 meters where before often 500 meters was not possible.
[size=14.6667px]That is 5839 feet and I an very happy with this modification.

[size=14.6667px]These are all with the DJI GO 2.4.2 version and the Samsung tab 3
[size=14.6667px]If there is a difference with the version 3 point someting on the Note 3 phones I will post it here.

So with these modifications I learned to love my P3S end enjoy her so much more now.
And yes I also made a sunshade for the tablett from a plastic food storage container painted black and with holes for all the buttons and ports of the 8" tablett.
Will not win a design award, but until I find something nicer it will do well.

To oprimize the experience, I put a bench on top of our roof to see even futher and the drone start and landing spot is a 6x6 meter roof (covered in thick green astro turf).

So I upgraded the view from this

to this:
(and since the upgrade had nothing to do with DJI it worked flawless ;)
pictured: rooftop with bench, pilot, flight controller and drone retriever (all in black coat) and spectator.

I like to thank all you wonderful people who shared your knowledge to brought me this far.
Thank you
olo

olo Posted at 2017-4-27 11:01
to this:
(and since the upgrade had nothing to do with DJI it worked flawless ;)
pictured: rooftop with bench, pilot, flight controller and drone retriever (all in black coat) and spectator.

Thanks olo, great story

Glad you never gave up . Turned out great in the end. Definitely a nice spot .



BadBob

Hats off to you olo! Persistence, foresight, willingness to try, and a reward in the end. That's about as cool as the view in the pics.

olo Posted at 2017-4-27 10:59
So with these modifications I learned to love my P3S end enjoy her so much more now.
And yes I also made a sunshade for the tablett from a plastic food storage container painted black and with holes for all the buttons and ports of the 8" tablett.
Will not win a design award, but until I find something nicer it will do well.

It must be usable and not so beauty. Hats off. I´ll have look for the progress after that. I think,i can make "gold from scrap" as you did.

olo Posted at 2017-4-27 11:01
to this:
(and since the upgrade had nothing to do with DJI it worked flawless ;)
pictured: rooftop with bench, pilot, flight controller and drone retriever (all in black coat) and spectator.

Thanks olo. Inspiring...