... why are there so many 'discount kitchen units' posts in these forums? Serious question. I know it's spam, and I've seen a lot of boards, but I've never seen these 'kitchen' posts like this anywhere. Why DJI? It's just weird.

Anyways, it's only been a couple days since I flew my Phantom 2 for the first time (without any external equipment) - waiting for the seller to re-send the correct mounting equip for the Zenmuse HD-3D (they forgot the damn securing pins) - but I'm practicing, and so far so good. Today I'm pretty sure my drone automatically landed itself at the approx location I lifted it off in the park b/c of low battery status.  Scared the shit out of me for about 10 seconds when it happened - I had no control of it as it slowly lowered itself to the ground.  If I'm not mistaken, I believe this is the failsafe "return to home" maneuver it performs when battery level is super low and/or GPS is lost in a no-fly zone?  Still trying to catch up on all the technicalities this thing has. Lots of 'em.

Really excited to explore the opportunities this thing will give me with my new GoPro Hero 4 Black.  Especially in San Diego.  Now I just need to figure out where I can fly where I can get max altitude without the no-fly zone restrictions of SAN.  I live close to SAN and Balboa Park - and if you live in, or are familiar with San Diego - you know those civilian planes fly right above the park and buzz some of our north downtown condos.  Looks like Pacific Beach is all clear, as well as most of the North County shores.

Great forum, great product.  I've been reading and researching on here, and I have a strong feeling this will soon be an addictive hobby of mine.

Hi there,

just a thought on those securing pins. You might want to rather use cable ties instead. The securing ping often hit the gimbal during (rough) flight. Another useful tip, when fail safe kicks in, you can flick the S1 switch to ATTI mode, then youv'e got controll back. I once had my P2 going into failsafe, but the Quad was a couple of feet off and almost landed in a little stream, I would have lost it had I not been able to move it.

Anyway, have loads of fun with ur Phantom

Welcome to the world of Phantom flight. I am sure you will be amazed many times over as you learn and explore the use of the "Flying camera". Please take time to read as much as you can find. There is a lot useful information available that will answer many of your questions and even questions you did not know you will have. We look forward to hearing more about your flying.
Nice to have heard from you.

As indicated by the others, welcome to the forum, and the world of Phantom flying. I have been enjoying my P2V+ since early November - a birthday gift from my wife. I completely agree with the advice to spend lots of time reading the manual and other available materials, and watching the many video resources. Most important for me was to develop a very strict pre-flight routine...it is critical to let your Phantom establish adequate satellite connections and home position, and for you to orient the compass.

I did upgrade my V2 to the new compass, and purchased the V3 controller with the thumbwheel for the gimbal, but mainly I wanted to get away from the AA batteries in the previous controller and have a radio that is rechargeable, and shows battery status. Ultimately I advanced to NAZA mode...Home Lock is a really good feature to be able to use when you simply want to get your Phantom back home without using Fail Safe.

Anyway, enjoy, and fly safe!

Thanks for the welcome, everyone.  

Before I install the H33D, can anyone tell me what's best to avoid jello and vibration?  Should I use the softest 40 degree dampers, should I put some sort of cushioning (like Sorbothane) between the hull and the H33D, should I use zip ties instead of securing pins?  I'm seeing lots of info out there about jello and how to fix it, but I'd rather try and remedy it before it happens.

Thanks in advance for the suggestions and help.

Like seen in my avatar, I'm now using the white dampers with zip ties. I tried them all and had best results with those. I found that the softest ones cause jellow themselves. The securing pins also vibrate and cause a horrible sound during flight. And like I said in my previous post, the front pin often hits the gimbal and prevents it to pan all the way. These are just my thoughts, I guess you'll have to go through trial and error yourself, Perhaps they work for you? But remember, you will have to break the securing pins in order to remove them, and you've only got 4.

Alright.  Did my first test flight today with a fully fucnctioning GoPro Hero 4 Black.  Previously I had a shit memory card in the GoPro which would shut the camera down as soon as I lifted off.  So, with new approved memory card in, I took it out to the downtown outskirts of San Diego, and flew while recording.  Results?  Pretty sure it's close to perfection.  I'm using the Black 50 Dampers, the provided securing pins, and no Sorbothane, 4K video, 30fps.  No vibration, no jello - and it was somewhat windy in the airspace between the tall condo buildings.  So for right now, I'm happy.  Granted, I still get very, very nervous when I turn on this gear and get it in the air (hopefully this will go away in due time w/ more experience - I've had my Phantom 2 for 4 days), so right now I'm a very conservative pilot.  Even after required compass calibration.

The 4K video looks amazing on my 4K TV, and as I mentioned I was glued to the TV watching the footage I got because the video was so good.  I can already tell this hobby is going to take up most of my free time.  I think I'll try the securing pins for the time being until I get more experienced with flying and capturing video, then see what the zip ties do for me.  The Black 50 Dampers seem to be fine for me (so far).

Now I just need to study the DJI Phantom 2 Manual to really get comfy with everything, and I really need to study the GoPro editiing software.  Already tried it tonight (adding music, titles, etc) to the clips, and it's going to take some patience and time on my part.

Thanks again for the help and responses.  Happy and excited to be a part of this experience.

P.S. - does the nervousness go away when flying this thing?  Eventually?  I'd be heartbroken if what I've seen on YouTube re: accidents / failures / fly aways / crashes happens to me.  So far this has been a pretty big $$$ investment.  And I already know it'll only go up in dollar signs.