The General Drone-Related Thread

nigpd said:
Am in Frodsham (J12 M56), but don't mind travelling to get a good safe site. I've got Drone Zones, so will be checking out the local sites. Thanks for the tip
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if it just to practice/learn flying, any local open area will do (as long as its not restricted), remember when training you will be with max 10-20 meters out anyway, I have seen so many people send it 400ft high and 500 ft out and then realise they cannot fly one nose in or cannot see it or panic and it all goes tits up.
 
if your 100% new to this the biggest thing to get your head around is pre flight stuff, check, check and check again, then check again. I destroyed a S800 by putting the top section on the gear out by 45 degrees, at the time I looked and thought I need to check that, plug into computer and check everything, bla bla bla............... I didn't and the result was 20 mins of finding the bits
 
Studio488 said:
Its more for public liability, not sure anyone covers flyaway's or crashes. (if they do let me know) when we tried we could not get public liability insurance unless we were qualified via the usual channels, as it was something we decide did not make business sense we didn't want to get certified, so the only option was BMFA for public liability.
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The only ones that do that I have discovered are those for professional operators.
 
Studio488 said:
Its more for public liability, not sure anyone covers flyaway's or crashes. (if they do let me know) when we tried we could not get public liability insurance unless we were qualified via the usual channels, as it was something we decide did not make business sense we didn't want to get certified, so the only option was BMFA for public liability.
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Exactly my thinking
 
Studio488 said:
if it just to practice/learn flying, any local open area will do (as long as its not restricted), remember when training you will be with max 10-20 meters out anyway, I have seen so many people send it 400ft high and 500 ft out and then realise they cannot fly one nose in or cannot see it or panic and it all goes tits up.
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Sound advice, thanks. I'll just keep thinking "that's £3700 flying around up there, walk before you run"
 
nigpd said:
Sound advice, thanks. I'll just keep thinking "that's £3700 flying around up there, walk before you run"
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hahah your already running, a £400 phantom would have been the first step ! be prepared for some butt clenching moments, each and every time you fly.....
 
Studio488 said:
hahah your already running, a £400 phantom would have been the first step ! be prepared for some butt clenching moments, each and every time you fly.....
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I don't know I went right for the top phantom :p from just having a short flight with another phantom one afternoon on a TP meet confirmed I needed it in my life ...now having more experience I really want the inspire pro...sadly the bank manager says no right now :LOL: :LOL: :LOL:
 
I have the the DJI P3 and am loving it, I obviously need more practice but here is my best short video to date.
 
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michael23 said:
How easy are these to fly? Is there a training mode on them to stop you getting to excited? Saw a couple being flown at Ribblehead this morning
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Very easy to be honest, any yes there is on the newer DJI Phantoms there is both the simulator mode and there is also a restricted flight mode that limits the speed of operation and distances it will actually fly

If you fancy having a play we can meet up somewhere :)
 
MWHCVT said:
Very easy to be honest, any yes there is on the newer DJI Phantoms there is both the simulator mode and there is also a restricted flight mode that limits the speed of operation and distances it will actually fly

If you fancy having a play we can meet up somewhere :)
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Yes Matt, that would be great, anywhere you would think would be ideal? Would moat probably be a Sunday.
 
michael23 said:
Yes Matt, that would be great, anywhere you would think would be ideal? Would moat probably be a Sunday.
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I'm not sure, best if we find somewhere nice and open and easy for both of us to get to :)
 
MWHCVT said:
I don't know I went right for the top phantom :p from just having a short flight with another phantom one afternoon on a TP meet confirmed I needed it in my life
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I seem to remember I did warn you at the time Matt!
 
morfis said:
I seem to remember I did warn you at the time Matt!
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You did indeed buddy, it's all your fault :p they are a lot of fun though...the only problem is I now want the inspire :(
 
Well that's a ball ache, was hoping that I would be back in the air this week as the weather was looking up, so recharged everything, and updated all the firmware as with a couple of months of storage since last use, everything needs updating, all updates completed successfully per the bin log file...result being now I have connection error, and no camera feed, also the camera just drops down to an off position following normal initialisation

So after working through possible solutions for a hour with the online support the conclusion is that it has to be returned to DJI for repair :(
 
MWHCVT said:
Well that's a ball ache, was hoping that I would be back in the air this week as the weather was looking up, so recharged everything, and updated all the firmware as with a couple of months of storage since last use, everything needs updating, all updates completed successfully per the bin log file...result being now I have connection error, and no camera feed, also the camera just drops down to an off position following normal initialisation

So after working through possible solutions for a hour with the online support the conclusion is that it has to be returned to DJI for repair :(
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DJI have a history of getting updates wrong, carp customer service, poor availability of spare parts. One of mine has three screw posts snapped internally which means the main board can move (they put the ESCs on the main board too, so a new mainboard if one of those gets fried!) and you can't buy the piece...DJI answer - buy a 3 Pro without remote, battery, gimbal or camera for £575. At some point I'll dismantle the other one and do a 3D scan of the part then spend a couple of quid on plastic!
 
MWHCVT said:
Well that's a ball ache, was hoping that I would be back in the air this week as the weather was looking up, so recharged everything, and updated all the firmware as with a couple of months of storage since last use, everything needs updating, all updates completed successfully per the bin log file...result being now I have connection error, and no camera feed, also the camera just drops down to an off position following normal initialisation

So after working through possible solutions for a hour with the online support the conclusion is that it has to be returned to DJI for repair :(
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That is a right PITA :(
 
morfis said:
DJI have a history of getting updates wrong, carp customer service, poor availability of spare parts. One of mine has three screw posts snapped internally which means the main board can move (they put the ESCs on the main board too, so a new mainboard if one of those gets fried!) and you can't buy the piece...DJI answer - buy a 3 Pro without remote, battery, gimbal or camera for £575. At some point I'll dismantle the other one and do a 3D scan of the part then spend a couple of quid on plastic!
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I have heard their service can bit a bit bad, but I've also heard it's improved, this will be my first contact with them, but it's also part of the reason why I opted to buy from WEX so that if things go too wrong I've got the back up option to have them deal with the issues

nigpd said:
That is a right PITA :(
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Isn't it just :( was looking forward to getting back out with it after being grounded for bad weather for so long
 
MWHCVT said:
I have heard their service can bit a bit bad, but I've also heard it's improved, this will be my first contact with them, but it's also part of the reason why I opted to buy from WEX so that if things go too wrong I've got the back up option to have them deal with the issues



Isn't it just :( was looking forward to getting back out with it after being grounded for bad weather for so long
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You could always try Heliguy? They're DJI approved.

They were very helpful when I spoke to the guy on the phone.

https://www.heliguy.com/pg/Contact-Us
 
MWHCVT said:
Well that's a ball ache, was hoping that I would be back in the air this week as the weather was looking up, so recharged everything, and updated all the firmware as with a couple of months of storage since last use, everything needs updating, all updates completed successfully per the bin log file...result being now I have connection error, and no camera feed, also the camera just drops down to an off position following normal initialisation

So after working through possible solutions for a hour with the online support the conclusion is that it has to be returned to DJI for repair :(
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That's such a shame. As I mentioned earlier in the thread I was running my Inspire on 1.4, and the current is 1.6. I keep reading update horror stories in various Facebook groups, but I updated to 1.5 without problem, then 1.6 without issue. I hope you get it sorted soon.
 
Ricardodaforce said:
That's such a shame. As I mentioned earlier in the thread I was running my Inspire on 1.4, and the current is 1.6. I keep reading update horror stories in various Facebook groups, but I updated to 1.5 without problem, then 1.6 without issue. I hope you get it sorted soon.
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Thanks, it's one of them unfortunate situation I'm just the unlucky one this time...I'm sure I'm very much in the minority..I never really worry about the horror stories as normally it's a small minority who are affected :D
 
I'm grounded for a while until my knee repairs itself.
 
I've not flown my since October 8th. Once this weather settles down I'll get put and do some practice. Got a couple of jobs to do with it in March.
 
MWHCVT said:
Well that's a ball ache, was hoping that I would be back in the air this week as the weather was looking up, so recharged everything, and updated all the firmware as with a couple of months of storage since last use, everything needs updating, all updates completed successfully per the bin log file...result being now I have connection error, and no camera feed, also the camera just drops down to an off position following normal initialisation

So after working through possible solutions for a hour with the online support the conclusion is that it has to be returned to DJI for repair :(
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Did just wonder if you did the Controller update.
Depending what version it's on now, it's likely to be via the app.
You could also attempt relinking but I guess DJI suggested that.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNIqifYefow
 
On the plus side I did get the automatic landing gear to work on the S550 hex :)
 
4wd said:
Did just wonder if you did the Controller update.
Depending what version it's on now, it's likely to be via the app.
You could also attempt relinking but I guess DJI suggested that.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNIqifYefow
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Sadly everything is fully up to date, linked, calibrated the works :( but thanks for thinking of it, DJI are of the opinion that something on the camera has got fried some how (I'm nowhere near technically minded as to say how this could be caused by a firmware update) but alas I fear it is only going to be solved by changing parts :( still I guess it means I'll get a full service out of it...kind of didn't expect to need one with out 4 hours or so on the clock
 
Ricardodaforce said:
I've not flown my since October 8th. Once this weather settles down I'll get put and do some practice. Got a couple of jobs to do with it in March.
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For me it's beginning of November for me when I used it on the outskirts of my village to have a go with fireworks, was an interesting if a little fruitless exercise
 
Had an interesting idea for nearer the summer, a TP drone meet up somewhere Ideally on private land and a nice big open space so any one interested can come along and have a chat and see some different drones up close and personal, what does everyone think
 
mho said:
Had an interesting idea for nearer the summer, a TP drone meet up somewhere Ideally on private land and a nice big open space so any one interested can come along and have a chat and see some different drones up close and personal, what does everyone think
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I'd be up for that depending on distance of course :D
 
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mho said:
Had an interesting idea for nearer the summer, a TP drone meet up somewhere Ideally on private land and a nice big open space so any one interested can come along and have a chat and see some different drones up close and personal, what does everyone think
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MWHCVT said:
I'd be up for that depending on distance of course :D
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+1 on that depends on what I've got on work wise and the distance, would be certainly up for it. :D
 
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There have been some reports of DJI refusing to honour warranty if there's any incident while using third party apps - to be fair it's not unreasonable since they have no control over how they work or deal with changes following firmware update etc.
With my previous Vision Plus I did try a couple of alternatives but after initial enthusiasm minor issues seemed to keep cropping up so I haven't been tempted to try other than DJI Go.
The most popular one Litchi seems a bit pricey too, and the initial payment only unlocks some basic stuff - so once committed you end up paying even more!
 
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