Hi,

I need to fly aver a river, and sometimes over the sea with my Phantom 4.
Reading some topics here, it's impossible to disable VPS system on Phantom 4, right? Only in attitude mode, but in this way no GPS signal and I need the GPS system.
Which altitude I need to fly to avoid throubles over the sea? With my old Phantom 3 Standard I could fly over the sea with no problems.
Is there already a way to disable VPS without GPS? If I lose only the obstacle avoidance and keep the GPS it will be very nice.
Thanks..

Juliano

Your sonar in the VPS is working all the time in VPS range (0-30ft) and the VPS limitations are in the user manual (in the app and online).

I am curious as to what people's experiences are flying over water and low to the ground with VPS. When I first purchased my P4, I never noticed the effects of VPS when flying over water or low to the ground. The only time I can remember witnessing the system functioning is over a pool.

I recently crashed my P4 and had it sent to DJI for repair and since its return, the VPS is extremely sensitive to low flying. The aircraft is very unstable when flying low to the ground and constantly adjusts altitude.

t.lynch7@Yahoo. Posted at 2016-7-1 02:04
I am curious as to what people's experiences are flying over water and low to the ground with VPS. W ...

Can you post a video of flying across a small distance and showing the aircraft not holding altitude.

t.lynch7@Yahoo. Posted at 2016-7-1 02:04
I am curious as to what people's experiences are flying over water and low to the ground with VPS. W ...

Very strange behavior flying over water, very scary. I no longer fly low over the water with my p4, however my inspire pro has no problem flying 10ft off the surface at 30 mph. Just goes to show that new is not always better.

I fly over salt water all the time, but not below 50 feet.  Are you having these issues at very low altitudes?
I only received 2 errors when I was holding the P4 at a vertical angle, while walking, and then placing it to rest in front of my window's horizointal blinds. I thought it was weird, but the error went away after I bebooted it.

I was just in Coco Beach and was flying over the water at about 40 feet over the water using active track on a surfer I had no issues. After reading the manual and knowing that you should be at least 30 feet above water I don't try to make the Phantom 4 do something it intended to do. I flew multiple time with no issues, I did however notice issues if I went below 30 feet the aircraft would change pitch. I am sick of people complaining that the Phantom 4 doesn't work correctly when almost all the issues they complain about is because they didn't read or understand the manual.

stussyredhat@st Posted at 2016-7-1 04:52
I was just in Coco Beach and was flying over the water at about 40 feet over the water using active  ...

Many of us have had previous versions of the Phantom which would fly very well at low heights over water, we kind of expected the P4 to be the same (or better!), and if you watch the official DJI trailer video for the P4 they are flying close to the water.

aerialphotograp Posted at 2016-7-1 09:05
Many of us have had previous versions of the Phantom which would fly very well at low heights over ...

It is capable of it, it just has limitations and you need to be prepared for them.

I've flown over water a lot with my p3 .. Kept Vps on and never an issue. But, always had good gps .. Few times it went to a mode, but I practice that so its no big deal. I'd expect the p4 to do okay as well, just be very safe.

I fly over the water all the time.  I've flown over the ocean and lakes at speed and low altitude to get a better shot.  My Vision+ was much easier to fly low to the water (8-12 feet) while videoing.  The Phantom 4 is very stable as you move quickly at a low altitude (8-12 feet) but as soon as you take your hands off controls it will become unstable with drops and increases in altitude in hover unlike the Vision+.  In testing the VPS over a lake I find the sensitivity seems to be lost at 35-40 feet.  It should remain rock steady in a hover at 50 feet over a body of water for photos and long exposures.

Litchi app ver 1.9.1 (iOS): added ability to disable VPS.It works with all aircraft models except P3 Standard.

Domenico Panace Posted at 2016-7-1 13:07
Litchi app ver 1.9.1 (iOS): added ability to disable VPS.It works with all aircraft models except P3 ...

That's great if they added that.

DJI-Ken Posted at 2016-7-1 16:01
That's great if they added that.

I'll fly later to try VPS off

Domenico Panace Posted at 2016-7-1 02:07
Litchi app ver 1.9.1 (iOS): added ability to disable VPS.It works with all aircraft models except P3 ...

That's great!!! I'll try it. If Litchi can do it why DJI Go cannot?

Juliano Cruz Posted at 2016-7-1 23:53
That's great!!! I'll try it. If Litchi can do it why DJI Go cannot?

I have many requests in to be able to disable it, time will tell if it will be added in an update.

DJI-Ken Posted at 2016-7-1 02:29
Can you post a video of flying across a small distance and showing the aircraft not holding altitu ...

Is there a way to export the flight replay from the app as a video? If so, I can show another occasion last night, where without any input on the sticks, the P4 losing and gaining altitude about +/- 25 feet.

t.lynch7@Yahoo. Posted at 2016-8-13 23:40
Is there a way to export the flight replay from the app as a video? If so, I can show another occa ...

If you give me your login email I can view the flight the same as you play it back in the flight records. I cannot see video but the same as you see with the map overlay with all the telemetry so I can see if there are altitude fluctuations.

DJI-Ken Posted at 2016-8-13 23:54
If you give me your login email I can view the flight the same as you play it back in the flight r ...

Ok I will message you now.

Thanks.

DJI-Ken Posted at 2016-8-13 23:54
If you give me your login email I can view the flight the same as you play it back in the flight r ...

Do you need my password or just my login email? My login email is t.lynch7@yahoo.com
If you look on the latest flight log, between Flight time minute 1:01 and 1:40, you will see the altitude varies from 354 ft to 383 ft without any input.

t.lynch7@Yahoo. Posted at 2016-8-14 00:27
Do you need my password or just my login email? My login email is t.lynch7@yahoo.com
If you look on ...

I do not need your password, It says their are no flight logs synced on the server.
You synced them to the cloud by tapping the cloud icon on the top right correct?

t.lynch7@Yahoo. Posted at 2016-8-14 00:25
Ok I will message you now.

Thanks.

We cannot take messages.

DJI-Ken Posted at 2016-8-14 02:13
I do not need your password, It says their are no flight logs synced on the server.
You synced the ...

syncing them now. sorry, missed that part.

t.lynch7@Yahoo. Posted at 2016-8-14 00:27
Do you need my password or just my login email? My login email is t.lynch7@yahoo.com
If you look on ...

I am not seeing that altitude in the latest flight. Iy is also very possibly an updraft.
If you can resync and tap the favorites star then sync  and I will see the extact flight.

Two weeks ago I had my phantom 4 and launched off the back of my boat and landed it on the back of my boat. I was hovering 2-3 feet off the water to come in for a landing on my sun deck. It was stable but the water wasn't so that's why I had to hover till the boat quit rocking

DJI-Ken Posted at 2016-8-14 04:36
I am not seeing that altitude in the latest flight. Iy is also very possibly an updraft.
If you ca ...

I tried those steps. See if you are able to see the flights now.

Thanks.

I wish I knew how to upload the video so you could see the waves and the boat and how stable the drone was

rheaps@mts.net Posted at 2016-8-14 05:01
I wish I knew how to upload the video so you could see the waves and the boat and how stable the dro ...

You just have to upload a video to YouTube and post a link

t.lynch7@Yahoo. Posted at 2016-8-14 04:55
I tried those steps. See if you are able to see the flights now.

Thanks.

No, I do not see any flight that is starred.
What is the date, distance, time, and max altitude and I'll find it.

DJI-Ken Posted at 2016-8-14 06:17
No, I do not see any flight that is starred.
What is the date, distance, time, and max altitude an ...

date is 12/08/2016 distance is 2453 ft time is 5 min and max altitude is 433 ft

DJI-Ken Posted at 2016-8-14 06:17
No, I do not see any flight that is starred.
What is the date, distance, time, and max altitude an ...

FYI..for some reason on my profile I have 4 different aircraft records. The flight I am referencing is under the profile named "t.lynch7"

t.lynch7@Yahoo. Posted at 2016-8-14 06:43
FYI..for some reason on my profile I have 4 different aircraft records. The flight I am referencin ...

To make things simple, just go fly again and only go to about 50ft or so and see if you see an altitude difference.
You can also video the flight record with your cell phone and post a link to it.

t.lynch7@Yahoo. Posted at 2016-8-14 06:37
date is 12/08/2016 distance is 2453 ft time is 5 min and max altitude is 433 ft

There are no flights in August on the servers with that email.

I'd a really bad experience with my P4 almost crashing against some trees because of the P4 gaining altitude even in sport mode when overing over water. Drone seems to "think" that altitude was negative when fliying over the water and that probably caused the elevation. I'm thinking about a mixing of failure in the barometer an VPS readings.

Last week I tried to do a hand release from a fiberglass boat and I couldn't release the dron because it was acting weird (I could feel the drone triying to move sideways). In a second try same behaviour plus a "Visual Failure" or something like that pop up on the status screen. Therefore I honestly suggest not to fly from a boat if you don't have enough space to take off/land.  

Some users claimed not having issues fliying close to water, but my opinion is that I'll loose my dron eventually if I keep trying to fly over water. Saddly I can't stop trying, since I work in waterbodies and I don't have any recreational use for this drone. It's a shame because I don't even need VPS and we're FORCED to use it.

By the way, I wasn't aware of the limitations until my dron arrived (Reading the manual). A priori info from DJI should advice this erratic behaviour when fliying over water, but they seem more worried about fake publicity and make the dron look perfect. It is kind of weird thad DJI tries to avoid make a VPS off mode available, maybe they are triying to hide a desing failure because otherwise it doesn't make sense.

fly over water all the time with no issues at all. P4 with lates upgrade.

Anybody know if DJI is already allowing to disable the VPS mode?