I want to takeoff my camera and the gimbal off of my drone, is that possible? Are the antennas in the gimbal for the camera or for flight controls?

Hello and good day Zero_Kule. Thank you for reaching out and for the inquiry. The antenna of the DJI Phantom 3 Standard is located on the legs of the said drone. Please refere to the photo presented below to see where the antenna of the DJI Phantom 3 Standard is located. Just a friendly reminder  DJI we do not recommend doing a DIY or modifying the said drone to avoid any issues while operating and flying the drone. Thank for your understanding and for your support.

Why are you removing the camera and gimbal?



RedHotPoker

The two antennas in the legs are for the 5.8 ghz flight control signal.  I don't have a P3S, but if you see antennas somewhere else such as in the gimbal, they have to be for the wifi transceiver.  Good luck.

https://fortunedotcom.files.wordpress.com/2015/08/p3s_side.jpg

The gimbal and camera can be taken off together very easily.  There are several repair videos online with good instructions.

I like to know why they are being removed, if not damaged from a hard or inadvertent landing.




RedHotPoker

I have removed the camera and gimbals because I never use the camera and I wanted to reduce the weight of the aircraft. I use my Phantom 3 only for fishing.
My bad.
I have now discovered that most of the functions such as battery level, set geo fence etc don't work with the camera gear off.
So put it back on !
Not so simple, when popping off the connector on one of the video/wifi ? wires the connector came free of its board. I have the connector and was looking at reinstating it using some solder glue but everything is so tiny in there.
If I don't get the connector back on to its board successfully/properly, (it's the one 90 degrees to the multipin connector) what functionality should I expect to lose ?
Thanks, Bruce

Mark The Droner Posted at 9-16 12:49
The two antennas in the legs are for the 5.8 ghz flight control signal.  I don't have a P3S, but if you see antennas somewhere else such as in the gimbal, they have to be for the wifi transceiver.  Good luck.

https://fortunedotcom.files.wordpress.com/2015/08/p3s_side.jpg

The WIFI pad is in the rightside of the battery plug box. The wire leads directly to the Gimbal motherboard where the WIFI modulke is located.

brucenz Posted at 9-17 21:48
I have removed the camera and gimbals because I never use the camera and I wanted to reduce the weight of the aircraft. I use my Phantom 3 only for fishing.
My bad.
I have now discovered that most of the functions such as battery level, set geo fence etc don't work with the camera gear off.

Seems to me you would be turning your P3S into a P1 - the original Phantom - with no camera and no wifi.  I believe it would still behave like a Phantom, but you'd be left with an extremely basic and fundamental drone.  I think you can still calibrate the compass.  I don't think you'll be able to calibrate the IMU though.  You can fly it just as you always had, but you'd have to rely on the rear lamps for info.  Satellites, home point, GPS/ATTI mode, low battery, critical battery, etc, all that info would be sent to you via the lamps.  So you should learn to watch the lamps and learn the lamp codes.  Battery level can be viewed by looking at the battery lamps during flight.  I don't see a way to resolve geo map problems though, since the wifi connection is gone.  Updating FW is going to be a challenge as well.  Can the P3S FW be updated with an SD card?  Probably not since the SD card slot is in the gimbal and the gimbal is gone.  Disclaimer:  I don't own and have never have owned a P3S, but it's a lot like a P2V+.  Good luck.

Peterx Posted at 9-18 02:19
The WIFI pad is in the rightside of the battery plug box. The wire leads directly to the Gimbal motherboard where the WIFI modulke is located.

What do you mean by "wifi pad."  Are you referring to patch antennas?  Thanks

Edit:  Nevermind, here it is explained.  It's the same as the P2V+.  Thanks very much.  

brucenz Posted at 9-17 21:48
I have removed the camera and gimbals because I never use the camera and I wanted to reduce the weight of the aircraft. I use my Phantom 3 only for fishing.
My bad.
I have now discovered that most of the functions such as battery level, set geo fence etc don't work with the camera gear off.

I have now reassembled the camera and gimbal on the aircraft and test flown. Even though I was unable to reconnect the "black wire" there seems to be full functionality on the app and test flight went well. So I don't know what the black wire does at this stage but everything seems alright with just the grey wire attached.

brucenz Posted at 9-21 15:40
I have now reassembled the camera and gimbal on the aircraft and test flown. Even though I was unable to reconnect the "black wire" there seems to be full functionality on the app and test flight went well. So I don't know what the black wire does at this stage but everything seems alright with just the grey wire attached.

The two antennas switch automatically at the transceiver in an effort to find the best signal.  So if one is attached and one is disconnected, the one that's disconnected won't work.  So you'll likely see a single red line at the signal strength indicator and your screen will freeze for a few secs until it switches back trying to find the best signal.  If you're at your kitchen table, you won't notice the screen freezing.  

Good luck