Woohoo!   I finally bit the bullet and took the P3P out for a long distance joy ride yesterday!  Ran outside for lunch and it was sunny and reasonably calm  winds.  Healthy drones says I got to 10,025 ft which is where I lost  signal.  Hit RTH and let it come home a few hundred feet and then took  over again for the return trip.  Still had enough battery for a quick  drive around the work building here to get some video of the front at  low altitude (<10').

First  thing I did was run it straight up to see how it reacted at 400'  Then  back down and along a major highway not over, just along.  It got out to  10k and thats when the video started breaking up.  So I got cold feet  and came home    On the way back, I browsed over a residential neighborhood.  Still had  some battery life so I took her for a spin around to the front of my  work to get some video of the front of our building.  Peeked in the  windows for grins.  Hopped up over the roof and to the parking lot with  38% left.  Still not willing to push the battery low mark.  Yet.  I just  don't have the stones some of yall have to fly it on vapors.

This  makes me feel a lot better about this bird's capabilities.  I am  thinking I may 3D print one of those reflectors and see if I can get her  a bit farther out.

Light winds, around 8 and 34F.

Here is the flight:
HealthyDrones.com - Innovative flight data analysis that matters

Ok, new videos up.  With and without gauges, take your pick:

I would also get a GPS tracker if you plan on flying far away. I use this one and love it.
http://trackimo.com/index.php/en/

How do you get the gauges on the video ?

Flipperman Posted at 2016-1-26 17:29
How do you get the gauges on the video ?

He probably used Dashware:
http://www.dashware.net/

Flight Raptor Posted at 2016-1-26 23:38
He probably used Dashware:
http://www.dashware.net/

How do you get the data file from the phantom for dashware.

aw man, that's a big deal 10K is very impressing!

cacollins0220 Posted at 2016-1-27 01:21
How do you get the data file from the phantom for dashware.

Not having taken the time to try it out myself yet, according to the link in the Dashware "How it Works" page, there is an app for DJI phantoms:
http://www.dashware.net/faq-items/data-logger-supported/


Key line item from that page:
DJI Phantoms (using Flytrex or Vision Plus Utility iOS/Android apps)


I know others have used Dashware, so they may have a more direct answer to the procedure.

DJI-Tim Posted at 2016-1-27 04:25
aw man, that's a big deal 10K is very impressing!

Without ANY antenna boosters, that is phenomenal - especially if I am reading that correctly and that was only 1/2 the trip (the maximum OUT distance....need to double it for total distance with return path)

DJI-Ken Posted at 2016-1-26 13:42
I would also get a GPS tracker if you plan on flying far away. I use this one and love it.
http://tr ...

Plan to use Marco Polo.

cacollins0220 Posted at 2016-1-27 00:21
How do you get the data file from the phantom for dashware.

I used dashware.

I plugged my phone into my PC and downloaded the CSV file from LItchi's flight log folder.

Flight Raptor Posted at 2016-1-27 11:04
Without ANY antenna boosters, that is phenomenal - especially if I am reading that correctly and th ...

No antenna boosters.  Bone stock.  1.1.9 firmware.

Total round trip distance has no bearing on the RF signal.  Its the max distance from the RC that is important and that was 10,025' out at its maximum point.

Where the round trip distance plays is with battery life.  I went out and back (22k feet) with enough reserve battery left to fly around the building just because I could.  That wasn't a planned part of the trip.  I had gas in the tank when I got home, so I used it

Wolfiesden Posted at 2016-1-27 12:44
Plan to use Marco Polo.

That's the one I have

Luckily haven't needed it yet!

Flight Raptor Posted at 2016-1-27 15:07
That's the one I have  

Luckily haven't needed it yet!

Its sorta like airbags in the car.  You pray you never need it but thank God when you do.

Wolfiesden Posted at 2016-1-27 12:45
I used dashware.

I plugged my phone into my PC and downloaded the CSV file from LItchi's flight l ...

thanks. I downloaded dashware. just didn't know where to get the data logs.

I have you now WAA HAAA

Flight Raptor Posted at 2016-1-28 05:07
That's the one I have  

Luckily haven't needed it yet!

did you just stocked one with a glue?

DJI-Tim Posted at 2016-1-28 02:14
did you just stocked one with a glue?

Nope....used the 3M picture hanging strips I picked up at the local dept store.

They are very similar to velcro strips except they have solid plastic 'fingers' that lock together as opposed to the hook and loop fastener idea of velcro.   By 'clicking' together, the connection is very solid and does not wobble like a velcro connection.

I bought a black set and a white set - can handle up to 12lbs.    I put 1 white strip on the quadcopter (so it blended in) and put one black strip on the back of the marco polo transmitter and clicked them together - easy to remove for charging and very stable.

Example of strips I used

Flight Raptor Posted at 2016-1-28 09:18
Nope....used the 3M picture hanging strips I picked up at the local dept store.

They are very sim ...

I like this solution  - the Marco Polo - as it does not require a subscription/service.  

nrgwise Posted at 2016-1-28 08:33
I like this solution  - the Marco Polo - as it does not require a subscription/service.

And its cheap.  And you can convert the pet version to the RC version with a slight antenna change.  That will give you days of battery life instead of hours.  Or you can buy larger batteries and solder them on and then re-shrinkwrap it.

Wolfiesden Posted at 2016-1-28 10:39
And its cheap.  And you can convert the pet version to the RC version with a slight antenna change ...

no conversion...just purchased the unit for RC use.

nrgwise Posted at 2016-1-28 13:58
no conversion...just purchased the unit for RC use.

Right.  The dog unit has a larger battery and can run for days without charge.  The RC unit has a smaller battery but longer antenna giving it longer range.  What lots of folks are doing is getting the pet unit, and for a modest fee, getting it modded with the RC antenna so you get the larger battery of the pet unit with the longer range of the RC unit.

Either one seems to be one of the best solutions for the money.

Wolfiesden Posted at 2016-1-28 15:07
Right.  The dog unit has a larger battery and can run for days without charge.  The RC unit has a  ...

I haven't tested mine at any huge distance....only about 100', but it worked pretty well...especially really homing in on the transceiver as you got closer.   Have you tested any large distance yet?

Flight Raptor Posted at 2016-1-28 14:39
I haven't tested mine at any huge distance....only about 100', but it worked pretty well...especia ...

Don't have it in hand yet.

Wolfiesden Posted at 2016-1-28 15:07
Right.  The dog unit has a larger battery and can run for days without charge.  The RC unit has a  ...

I thought about it but really, if I lose the quad, I am finding it that day or never so long battery life is not critical to me for this unit.  I have flown for years without anything like this.  Never even thought about it for the P2.  For some reason wIth the P3P I I just wanted a bit more piece of mind.

nrgwise Posted at 2016-1-28 14:58
no conversion...just purchased the unit for RC use.

That was the route I took.   I was lucky and found a seller on ebay that actually sold a CASE with the RC system, so all the tracker components are neatly transportable.

I also don't keep the transceiver on all the time.  It is part of my pre-flight checklist (turn on transceiver).........helps with battery life.

nrgwise Posted at 2016-1-28 14:58
I thought about it but really, if I lose the quad, I am finding it that day or never so long batte ...

Unless you were flying at night and can't find it at night and need to come back the next day to search in daylight...and now the battery is dead

For a few grams of extra weight, I think the long battery life is a good tradeoff.

Wolfiesden Posted at 2016-1-27 12:45
I used dashware.

I plugged my phone into my PC and downloaded the CSV file from LItchi's flight l ...

what profile did you use.

Wolfiesden Posted at 2016-1-28 16:37
Unless you were flying at night and can't find it at night and need to come back the next day to s ...

Like I said, I am not worried at all about the lifespan of the battery on the device.  I generally don't fly at night so that is not a concern either.

From mfg. website:
Tag Battery and Charge Capacity

• Rechargeable Li•ion battery, included (non-user serviceable)
• 10 days idle mode
• 3 days tracking mode
• 30 days monitor mode
  

Seems good enough for me.