Hi all,

I`ve recently bought a P3S. I`ve read a lot on web forums, and watched a lot of videos, but the information on some of those topics is different. Can you share your experience?
1. "strong interference"

tested it a couple of times in GPS mode(right stick in upper position) in city environment:

- one time I was in a parkinkg between small buildings (2-4 floors):
https://www.google.bg/maps/place/As...4bdc6f496!8m2!3d42.0133722!4d24.8784393?hl=en

- the other time I was in a big park, but in the very center of the capital city, surrounded by many buildings, closest one a Shopping Mall at 200m.
https://www.google.bg/maps/@42.6781549,23.3172827,3a,75y,211.79h,98.22t/data=!3m8!1e1!3m6!1s-CWv_NXCd3hs/V8F1O6rRAKI/AAAAAAAAEqY/Uqy-4Nwbcdo03LvKyH-9HJaszFIYfgF9wCLIB!2e4!3e11!6s//lh4.googleusercontent.com/-CWv_NXCd3hs/V8F1O6rRAKI/AAAAAAAAEqY/Uqy-4Nwbcdo03LvKyH-9HJaszFIYfgF9wCLIB/w203-h100-k-no-pi-0-ya294.46643-ro-0-fo100/!7i8704!8i4352?hl=en

So in both cases, when I got to altitued of about 15-16m, I got a warning on my app: Strong interference Detected. I checked in other topics and noticed its pretty common, especially in urban areas. My questions is-what is considered "long distance" by this warning? Can I rely on the RTH to bring it back if it loses signal? Is RTH working 100% of the times (I`ve set it to max 400m)

So should I just ignore this?
Please share what altitude and horizontal distance do you keep your P3S when in city area?


2. Jello - is ND filter absolutely necessary? If so ND4 or ND8 is more usable? I got ND4 for my Nikon camera and allows me to go even lower than f2.8 on sunny days, so maybe ND8 is too dark for f/2.8 lens...

I got the jello effect in my videos, its slight but annoying. It was in both flights' videos (morning and afternoon)...the first time it was on auto settings, and second time the shutter speed was about 600-800 I think...I didnt try to remember the exact settings because I didnt know jello effect would appear, and at that time I didnt know high shutter speed can cause it.
- the rubber parts and anti drop pins seem fine to me
- I didnt calibrate the gimbal (I did it afterwards, when I noticed the jello, but havent flown since)
- the plastic foam around gimbal is removed, as it should be

here is my first ever video with it, the jello is pretty visible, especially when static. Can I fix that kind of amount jello with an ND filter or its caused by something else?

On the jello effect, do you have two drop pins or four installed? If you have four installed, yeah that is why most only use two and why two are generally installed.

they are two and dont seem broken.

The Phantom three standard uses normal Wi-Fi for its telemetry and video feed and it is very susceptible to interference from home wifi, security camera wifi , and cordless phone noise in built up areas. Sometimes you can get up above all that stuff and fly interference free and other times it will cut your range back to 100m. Normal houses you can usually get up high enough to get out of the radio noise but in high rise areas eg city some times all you can do is look for somewhere else to fly.

RE: ND filters there is no one size fits all. The filter is going to vary depending on the conditions and weather and time of day. Early morning I might use a 2 stop filter. Mid morning out could be 8 stops then come late afternoon I could be back to 4 stops. And that's just for video if your using the ND filters for photos to get different effects you might want something completely different.
With the video I think you want a shutter speed approx twice the frame rate since we can't control the aperture you will need to use the right ND filter to get that speed.

thanks for your answer. by watching the video above-do you think that amount can be eliminated with a filter, going for a slower speed?

Hello keeponrollin, did you fly against the wind?
In addition, please check the propeller if it's damaged.
Please try to do a IMU calibration on a completely flat surface, then calibrate the gimbal again.

As Mindy says if you have checked for any excess vibration from loose items or damaged propellers etc then the use of ND filter to drop the shutter speed may help.
When hovering in front of your self does the gimbal appear to vibrate much?

hm, I dont think its vibrating when hovering.

I did a gimbal calibration but haven flown ever since. this weekend I will have time during daylight to test it, and will check. There wasnt wind in any of the flights.
Theres a small crack in the element that is holding the whole gimbal to the drone: - the one on top of the image.....can that cause the jello too? I believe this can be easily changed? And if I go to the company that sells the drone (I bought it from a guy, but he bought it from there, they are the biggest company in my country selling drones) they can change this part, and also I have spare rubbers so they can change them too. Also I believe they can balance my propellers.

Balancing the propellers can sometimes make a big difference. Generally the DJI ph3 propellers are pretty good but aftermarket is a different story. It only takes one propeller to be out for it to vibrate , . A hub that is off centre can make nasty vibes as can a twisted or warped blade.
How did the gimbal mount get cracked? Does it effect its ability to hold the gimbal rubbers etc. ?

I bought it like this from the guy-it doesnt seem to hang on one side or something like that, its just a 1mm crack in one of the four "arms" of this element, I will post a photo later today.

So a little update from today. I still havent got any free time to go into the wilds, so I tested again in city center:

- set the shutter speed to 1/60 (double the fps) to check if there will be jello at such slow speed, and ofcourse the footage was overexposed, but when I checked it on my laptop later I couldnt see (yes, only the darkest objects we visible so its kinda tough to sya, maybe in the overexposed area there still is some) any jello...so thats a very good sign if it really wasnt any-that means a ND filter will fix it for me.

- I went like 15-20m infront and went up for about 40m...the "weak signal" warning was coming and going, and the radio bars were full at one time, and 2/6 the next moment, so it wasnt very stable...at one moment the signal was lost and RTH activated-it came home safely, I canceled the RTH after it was like 5m from me at a safe altitude, just to test if RTH is working fine...which is a big relief.

The weekend I`ll test it in the open fields and will update again. Now I cant wait to get a ND filter


By the way I charged the controller until the green started flashing and when I powered it only 3 out of 4 lamps were green...I understand 1 RC battery cycle is enough for my 2 drone batteries, but still-is it worth it replacing the RC battery ? Its like it thinks its 100% charged, but it isnt

RTH wont be effected by weak signal or heavy interference. RTH is a geolocation marked by the gps in the phantom and is stored in the memory in the phantom when you take off, therefore interference wont effect your rth unless your compass was not calibrated or unless you fly by a massive metal structure or large magnet. Jello wise, no settings will change it. Jello is caused from vibrations acting on the camera. The baseplate crack could be the issue but If I were you I would unhook the camera from the baseplate and check each rubber dampener. They can rip and tear without you noticing as the tears can be very small. I would also check every prop or try putting on a spare set of props and see if the jello changes. ND filters are for changing your shutter speed so you don't get a rolling shutter effect (a fast rolling shutter makes your video look like it was shot at a very low frame rate).

I`ll go to the company that sold the drone to its original buyer to check.

Although I have bigger problems: weak/lost signal. Today, for the first time I went our of the city to test, so far I flew a couple of times in city center and ofcourse there was strong interference and couldnt get it higher than 40m. So...I started it, and again-at 40-50m distance and 30-40 altitude it was losing signal-1/2 bars, and going in RTH I am very disappointed as its so much fun flying but I want to lift it atleast 80-100m otherwise its useless. I will ask them for new antennas or antenna modifiers cause I dont think thats right. On startup it said again STRONG interference,, wtf I was in middle of nowhere...there were powerlines/posts but I believe they were atleast 500-1000m away....

MrPinaColada Posted at 2016-12-23 18:44
RTH wont be effected by weak signal or heavy interference. RTH is a geolocation marked by the gps in the phantom and is stored in the memory in the phantom when you take off, therefore interference wont effect your rth unless your compass was not calibrated or unless you fly by a massive metal structure or large magnet. Jello wise, no settings will change it. Jello is caused from vibrations acting on the camera. The baseplate crack could be the issue but If I were you I would unhook the camera from the baseplate and check each rubber dampener. They can rip and tear without you noticing as the tears can be very small. I would also check every prop or try putting on a spare set of props and see if the jello changes. ND filters are for changing your shutter speed so you don't get a rolling shutter effect (a fast rolling shutter makes your video look like it was shot at a very low frame rate).

Huh? I am a retired electronic engineer and I could see RTH being effected by heavy interference. As both GPS and the compass could become worthless due to heavy interference. And without GPS at least, RTH isn't going to work.