Hi everyone

I got my P4 last week, and have put ten flights in so far. nothing beyond 600m distance. - what range have you all been having? I want to test it tonight and fly across town (3400 people) and I will be up high and hopefully have a line of sight the whole time.

I tried to take off from on a basketball court in front of the metal sided school, and the compass wouldn't calibrate. has anyone had issues with metal buildings and rebar in concrete?


I also have a question about flight control. I had a hard landing near the school, but the P4 is still good. it started to fly away on me, is there a way to switch flight modes to gain manual control?

If you're interested in taking a look at some of the shots I have got so far, they are on my website
www.neverlow.ca/aerials


Thanks!

It would seem from your questions that you have not read the manual or studied any of the posts here, because you are asking questions that are answered in the manual and are discussed regularly on this forum.

In answer to your questions, distance when flying across town will be limited by the amount of radio interference in your area, urban areas are full of competing signal sources.

Calibration. Yes, you most certainly do not try to calibrate near any metal, concrete or such. It is VITALLY important not to try and calibrate where there is any metal around you. You need to go out in a field somewhere to perform the compass calibration.

And yes, you can switch to manual or ATTI mode at any time diring flight, but if you do you better know how to fly manually or you may very easily crah your aircraft. Manualy control is something that needs to be practised in a safe, clear area.

Hearing people ask these questions scares me.  Please take the time to read the entire manual prior to your next flight. I also suggest if you haven't done so, to take a USA ground school .  Please do this for your safety and for the safety of those around you.

Geebax Posted at 2016-9-27 19:03
It would seem from your questions that you have not read the manual or studied any of the posts here ...

+ 1

definitely needs to study a bit quickly

If you're going to be flying up in the Great White North you may want to check out the NOAA Geomagnetic website.  Thinks can get a little wonky depending of how much of a magnetic deviation there is in your particular location.  http://maps.ngdc.noaa.gov/viewers/historical_declination/

Totally a lot to learn, and it's happening. thanks for the concern. I took it out almost 980meters, but it was going uphill. I could have had better reception with a better line of sight I think.

can't wait for more!

I have flown a phantom 1, and many smaller consumer models as a part of my learning how to pilot quadcopters. this one is much easier, I am eager to fly ATTI as well, and learn manual control in case of fly aways again

It's very important to calibrate the compass away from any metal above ground and below. I almost lost mine to a lake when DJI GO said the compass needed calibration. I should have known there was a problem as my P4 had been flying great. Turns out there was metal ore in the ground. I re-caled based on the metal ore and as soon as I was in the air the compass failed causing the bird to fly in circles.

Now I run a compass app on my tablet that shows me the uT value before I fly. 50uT is the norm in my area of the country.

I still haven't determined if the compass is being used in the ATTI (non GPS) mode. I think it is as it still needs to know what direction it's pointed.

Roadstar1700 Posted at 2016-9-29 13:16
It's very important to calibrate the compass away from any metal above ground and below. I almost lo ...

'I still haven't determined if the compass is being used in the ATTI (non GPS) mode. '

The compass is always used in all modes.