I have the phantom 4 .. I see youtube videos of people flying phantom drones with only the controller and no device like a phone or pad.  I have searched everywhere and tried to take off witout a device/app but i cant figure out how to to take off.    can it be done?

I want to know why you want to fly it without smartphone ?

manatas2 Posted at 2016-5-6 03:22
I want to know why you want to fly it without smartphone ?

Just want to know thats all.  I see other people in videos and wonder how they are doing it.

I believe you are mistaken about seeing videos of people flying without some sort of monitoring device. Why would you want to? You'd have no idea about the drone's status. Is there anything "off" with it? your battery levels, etc. Not a good idea, even if it is possible.

Yes, absolutely you can fly with the app, (As long as you have activated your aircraft when new)
You just have to wait until the home point is recorded and then preform a CSC and off you go.
You need to read the manual so you know what the aircraft LED's mean since you are not getting any information from the app.

DJI-Ken Posted at 2016-5-6 03:32
Yes, absolutely you can fly with the app, (As long as you have activated your aircraft when new)
You ...

whats a csc?

srmmedia Posted at 2016-5-5 15:53
whats a csc?

A CSC is known as Combination Stick Command
This is used on the controller to start the motors and also stop the motors.
Back in the day before tablets were used for FPV (first person view) the controller was used to start and stop the motors.

If you can fly without the app, but is not advisable. You can start your Phantom pressing down and diagonally to the center of the RC with the two joystick. From here ... Lift it and control it. Remember ... not at all recommended.

BouldersDad Posted at 2016-5-6 03:30
I believe you are mistaken about seeing videos of people flying without some sort of monitoring devi ...

That is how we all used to fly multirotors before there were cameras on them.

frank.dellaert Posted at 2016-5-5 16:11
One of the many many reasons why you can fly the Phantom in any way you want, upside down, under w ...

Oh he just went there!


It's OK srmmedia, we all have been new to Drone flying, but do please read the manual.
https://www.dji.com/product/phantom-4/info

Not recommended

DJI-Ken Posted at 2016-5-5 16:02
That is how we all used to fly multirotors before there were cameras on them.

I stand partially corrected. I doubt many people fly their P4s this way.

DJI-Ken Posted at 2016-5-5 16:02
That is how we all used to fly multirotors before there were cameras on them.

I stand partially corrected. I doubt many people fly their P4s this way.

In fact,  you may at some point in time,  HAVE to fly without the device. What if the app crashes or the battery dies in your device?   If you don't know about this,  or if you panic because you think the device is required for the Phantom to work,  you will likely either crash or lose your Phantom.  So,  it is a good idea to get used to flying blind,  as it were.  The status lights on your Phantom will tell you what you need to know,  so long as it is in visual range of you.  You can still take pictures and record video,  those features are built into the controller,  unless you have a Standard.  It can not be stressed enough,  if you want fun, trouble free flying from your Phantom,  READ THE FLIGHT MANUAL,  as well as everything on this forum you can.  There is very little chance that you will have a problem that someone else has not already had. In fact , probably hundreds of people have already had. Most of them did not bother to read the manual.

let me make your life easy, and answer your question. none of my business why you want to. you must have your own reasons
yes you absolutely can fly without a table/phone.
just remember you need to setup a few parameters for safety, and monitor certain others while in flight such as
rth altitude
what to do in case of signal loss, eg: return to home or hover or land etc.
checking the value of sensors before take off
radio channel,
battery levelAnd a few others
Good luck

I've had to fly my P3P without the tablet....it was -20*C and the tablet shut down because it was too cold, this is why it's a good idea to actually learn to fly. Micro drones are cheap and take a beating, lots of fun and a great tool to practice with as you never know when you'll need to fly without your tablet or if you loose satalites etc.

Phantoms have to be able to fly without a secondary device. Like Keenpuck and Cale262 said what happens if the tablet or phone malfunctioned during mid flight? It's like a airplane pilot who lost his/her instruments while flying, do you crash because there is no instrumentation? Or do you keep flying?  

I would not even attempt it with a phantom 4. How are you going to set a home point, fly home altitude, object avoidance on/off??? I wouldn't and it may not even be possible

BouldersDad Posted at 2016-5-6 13:08
I stand partially corrected. I doubt many people fly their P4s this way.

Correct, since there's a app to see video and control many features, there's no reason not to use it.
My suggestion is to fly it a few times and know how to fly without the app just in case. Also, learn how to fly in ATTI mode so in case you lose GPS, you won't panic when your aircraft goes drifting with the wind.

I have done it. I went to fly and the battery was dead on the Tablet. It will fly and you will have audible tones for warnings from the RC but you won't really know what it is telling you. I would imagine that there are different patterns for different functions. I will say that I did this in a regular area of my flying and I never let it get  more that 80 feet away from me.
Also, it is very uncomfortable!!!

It's easy to take off without a device attached...   Arm the craft by pushing the sticks down and to the center.  Once the props are spinning, press the left stick up.   That's it!

For landing manually... Position the craft over the desired landing spot and press the stick down until the craft touches the ground.  

This is actually 'flying' the drone

I'm 47 flights in so far and I've never used the landing or take off buttons on my device.  (I learned to fly on a 'dumb' drone with no GPS or computer control of any sort).

jwt873@gmail.co Posted at 2016-5-6 22:11
It's easy to take off without a device attached...   Arm the craft by pushing the sticks down and to ...

As advanced as these things are, everyone still should to learn how to manually operate all the functions as well.

DJI-Ken Posted at 2016-5-6 11:14
As advanced as these things are, everyone still should to learn how to manually operate all the fu ...

electronics and sensors can fail.  but if you have learned how to handle your craft in case of a failure things will not be that bad.      people in general don't read manuals, or know what to do if a problem arises.   By people being uneducated in what they need to do they get stupid and do everything wrong.   

quickpoint Posted at 2016-5-7 00:48
electronics and sensors can fail.  but if you have learned how to handle your craft in case of a f ...

Agree, everyone should read the manual (and the entire manual)
We get a lot calls and emails from new users that say the aircraft is broken and it will not start. We say "You are doing the CSC to arm the motors right" and they say no, what is a CSC"

DJI-Ken Posted at 2016-5-6 12:51
Agree, everyone should read the manual (and the entire manual)
We get a lot calls and emails from  ...

my thread with the insurance adjuster that lost his drone.  he brought his third drone over for me to update his firmware.   second one is still mia in a tree somewhere.     he also gave me his first drone he crashed, TWICE!    first time battery was too cold.   he just CSC took it off before it was done fully starting up.     after 15-20 seconds in the air the battery shut off because it was too cold (15f or so) and crashed to the ground.      threw new props on it,   put the battery on the dash of his truck and let it warm up.      after warmed he took it back up and smashed into the chimney and ripped the camera off....

if he read the manual he would know about cold and lipo.   also would know not to fly with broken prop guard which broke a prop and caused second to kinda flyaway uncontrolled.

I dont have a Ipad I have a android phone ,from  T Mobile 3 YEARS AGO IT COST ME $600 it works just fine you mean to tell me I need  A I phone or pad in order to fly this drone ?

I have been buying cheaper drones and it works just fine ,im ready to get the PH4 but you guys are scaring me with the feed back ,this is a big investment for me and im not in position the piss away 1300 dollars si is this drone worth the money or what ??

DJI-Ken Posted at 2016-5-5 16:02
That is how we all used to fly multirotors before there were cameras on them.

lol

easy and fun without camera.
stay VLOS

know what the lights are telling you.
know how to engage RTH via switch's and other similar functions.

It was only 2.5 years ago the vision plus was the first real FPV drone like this.
all till then no video and fun

fwiw you can still buy p2 no cameras etc and have a ball.

no harm flying bare!

good luck and have fun flying

DJI-Ken Posted at 2016-5-6 12:51
Agree, everyone should read the manual (and the entire manual)
We get a lot calls and emails from  ...

far to often  sadly

jwt873@gmail.co Posted at 2016-5-6 10:11
It's easy to take off without a device attached...   Arm the craft by pushing the sticks down and to ...

I agree on the auto stuff, tested when new to see them work
then no more..

back to flying myself via RC
landing is half the fun sometimes...

WillBapta Posted at 2016-5-6 09:39
I would not even attempt it with a phantom 4. How are you going to set a home point, fly home altitu ...

home point is set in the aircraft with its onboard GPS and the cpu (FC)internal.

you do nothing to set this unless you choose to..
once those are setting are set(stored in FC) via app they will stay until reset or changed...

BouldersDad Posted at 2016-5-5 15:30
I believe you are mistaken about seeing videos of people flying without some sort of monitoring devi ...

it is possible!

it is fun, when no extra gear on phantom they are very nimbal.

I never fly past 15 minutes on a full 100% new charge so battery is not an issue.

Just because one chooses to not do something does not make it bad or dangerous for others that KNOW what they are doing

good luck and have fun flying!

1- p1
2 p2's
3 p3's

flown with and without,,,,
easy and if you think about it a great way to learn.
by not worrying about video so much you watch the drone and see it respond and get the feel for fine control better.

How do you make the copter spin up without the app? Mine does nothing but beeps at me. I tried to make a new thread here but its not posting, I cant get it to do anything but come on and connect with the controller. It won't connect with an ipad mini or a iphone 6 or a note 4.

DJI-Ken Posted at 2016-5-6 23:14
As advanced as these things are, everyone still should to learn how to manually operate all the fu ...

That doesn't do anything for mine

brb Posted at 2016-10-24 10:23
That doesn't do anything for mine

I hope I get to fly mine someday. I've decided to work on getting it in the air all this week and if I can't get it to fly by then I'm going to send it back.

davidthecloser Posted at 2016-10-24 01:43
I dont have a Ipad I have a android phone ,from  T Mobile 3 YEARS AGO IT COST ME $600 it works just  ...

No you don't need an iOS device in order to use the Go app, it's just a commonly used platform. For your Android device, it should have at least 2 GB of RAM in order run the Go app properly. The minimum Android OS requirement is v4.1.2 or later.

brb Posted at 2016-10-23 22:26
I hope I get to fly mine someday. I've decided to work on getting it in the air all this week and  ...

I suggest you go to main page of forum find your phantom model and pick it

then start a new post with your specific info and issues with as much detail as possible.

that way others will see it and help

good luck.

have you tried using CSC stick to start you phantom?

DJI-Ken Posted at 2016-5-5 13:32
Yes, absolutely you can fly with the app, (As long as you have activated your aircraft when new)
You ...

Let's please be perfectly clear. DJI-Ken, Didn't you mean fly without the smart device?
Just a thought... How can you fly with the app, and only the RC? Which was his question. ;-)


RedHotPoker

RedHotPoker Posted at 2016-10-24 14:05
Let's please be perfectly clear. DJI-Ken, Didn't you mean fly without the smart device?
Just a th ...

I had to look up my post, it'a was over 5 months ago.
Sorry. I meant you can fly the Phantom without the app

quickpoint Posted at 2016-5-6 10:02
my thread with the insurance adjuster that lost his drone.  he brought his third drone over for me ...

ROFLMAO. The insurance adjuster needs to investigate himself. I just cannot believe the aptitude of these people.

DJI-Ken Posted at 2016-10-24 08:51
I had to look up my post, it'a was over 5 months ago.
Sorry. I meant you can fly the Phantom witho ...

Haha, you gotta love it when folks dig up old threads and bring them back to life. Sorry, I guess I should have checked the date on the original post. Anyway, nothing wrong with correcting a simple error. Be well. Have a great week.

It's a cold and rather dark dismall day here today. And I have dr appointment at 1:00pm, and definately aren't looking forward to leaving the warmth and comfort of my abode. Oh well, duty calls. . .

RedHotPoker