i did a search so please don't blast me but I have what seems to be a pretty basic question.

1. How High can the Phantom 2 Vision plus Version 3.0 on:

A. Manual mode with me pushing the up toggle before it loses signal or stops?
B. Programmed mode sending it out on waypoints

2. How far can I send the Phantom 2 Vision Plus Version 3.0 on:

A. Manual mode with me pushing the toggle forward and the drone flying away
B. Programmed mode (I am guessing the circles extended around my launch location in the Ground Station Apple) sending it to waypoints.


Thank you

The limit on height in the U.S. is set to 400 feet within the assistant software by order of the FAA....waypoint or manual. You would have to override this in the assistant software.  Distance.....how much battery do you have? With waypoints it will go as far as the battery will take it. There was an earlier post about someone who flew a 4 mile waypoint mission. I asked how much battery was remaining and have not heard back. It was probably 2 miles out, then back. Manual mode...line of sight is 2 km I believe. Someone else will chime in and clarify.

Well I'm not in the US. Indonesia actually, they don't have any buffers around the airport even here.

I would be careful about going very high, beyond visual contact. The winds are much different up there than being closer to ground.

I have not done any waypoint flights so cannot help there,
Max height, some have claimed much higher than 1,000'+ but not many would mention going any higher than 400' due to FAA restrictions..I am not in the US and have been up reasonably high before signal lost and as for distance I have been out as far as 2,700' once and 2,900' one other time but those were pristine conditions, nice and cool...on any given day I can reach 1,500'+ before an RTH was enabled. I have ordered an itelite panel which I hope to get distances of 4-5,000'.

Raybro Posted at 2015-4-9 21:13
The limit on height in the U.S. is set to 400 feet within the assistant software by order of the FAA ...

Ray,

I did a 1+ mile leg on a 2.5 mile round trip. Unfortunately, I was so amped up that I didn't remember what the battery level was but I have the alarm set for 30 percent and I don't remember it going off. The guy that did a, I think it was 5.4 mile, 2.5 miles on one leg a few days ago still had 38 percent of his battery left.

Jerry

jtrjr@yahoo.com Posted at 2015-4-9 23:25
Ray,

I did a 1+ mile leg on a 2.5 mile round trip. Unfortunately, I was so amped up that I didn't ...

Jerry,
I have a secret mission planned over a high fence area. It's actually a public area but is kept locked up. Round trip is 2.5 miles. They have security guards in at night. Haven't done it yet. Most of it will be done in the blind because of trees. Little hesitant about doing it.....hoping battery will hold up. Also the area is 100 feet higher than the takeoff point so I built in a waypoint midway to climb. Wife says "you're gonna get in trouble with that thing"

Ray,

Yeah, you might be pushing it a bit with that one. Is it possible the the Wife is right? Nah, couldn't possibly be! I can't wait to see the video! Hope it's from the link you post and not from the newsfeed!

Jerry

Right.........Gotta get my nerve up. The area is where they recently built a brand new propane powered electrical plant. All I want is some pictures of it, a little video. If it makes it back, I'm not sure if I will publicly post the video.

while i get your interest in getting some good video, if anything went wrong (you get caught, it has a flight problem and fails in any way, it causes any damage to any property on the plant premises, etc) then you run the risk of adding just another bullet to the ammunition pile of people who hate on our hobby.  i personally think that when dealing with infrastructure, like power plants and such, we shouldnt be flying around things like that because it just isnt the right thing to do (i wont go into the moral reasons but suffice it to say that i could easily think of scenarios, regardless of how likely, that you could really impact someone by an accident around something like that).  

Raybro Posted at 2015-4-10 00:01
Right.........Gotta get my nerve up. The area is where they recently built a brand new propane pow ...

I would be worried about the EM interference along with other things but you might want to fly it around some high voltage power lines and see if anything happens

I was planning on staying on the outside edge of the area. The power plant is pretty big so I am thinking even at a distance it will still make for a good picture. There are power lines I can see on the google earth map so I know to stay away from them.

Just go to YouTube and you will see some unbelievable claims about distance records.  The P2 is sold as a flying camera but people are into the weird challenge of distance.  Some of the videos I find too far fetched and I think are fake but many of them are surely real.  My favorites are these 3 from the same guy in Miami.
Cruise Ship Chase:
Total Distance:
Lastly 3km stock antenna on Inspire 1: