Best products from r/djiphantom

I've had my Phantom 2 Vision Plus for a little over a month, so I am in no way an expert, but I would be happy to share what little experience I have so far.

I have three batteries, and they do take about an hour to charge. I would say between 1:10 to 1:20 on average. I'm just using the standard charger that shipped with the Phantom.

Since I have the vision plus kit, as far as I know the extender is necessary to interact with the camera to get live video and adjust settings. The GoPro setup is going to be different so I can't help much there, sorry.

I tried out a friends FPV goggles on his quadcopter (not a phantom) and I must say, although pretty cool, very disorientating for me. It was super easy to lose track of were the drone was compared to my location. That is something that is going to take some practice and getting used to. So, I personally don't use FPV, and I don't have any plans to in the near future. I keep everything line of sight.

As far as a case, I ended up getting one made by Red Rock that looks to have a similar shell as the one you linked (Here). The outer shell is very flimsy, so keep that in mind. The latches are also really flimsy. I really like the case because it keeps everything neatly in one place. I feel that it really doesn't do much in the way of protection though. I always store it flat and only carry it by the handle for a short distance when I have to. The whole thing just feels like it's going to fall apart if I jostle it too much. Some of the more expensive cases I've seen ($200+ range) seem like they would be a lot more durable and provide some water resistance.

I'm in a similar situation and not sure which way I'm going to go. The Polar Pro Drone Trekker looks like a great bag but the Think Tank bag also looks really good. Both have a positive reviews and are priced similarly. Have you looked at the Think Tank? It is also a popular bag to use.

Might have to exercise the Amazon Prime free returns to see which I like best.

The first blades I linked, the self tightening ones are very close. However slightly different. More to the point they aren't made by DJI. You can get either type really (DJI or 3rd party) but I've had great luck with the MayTech blades. The DJI ones are labeled as 9" and the MayTech ones are labeled as 9.4", they may be different sizes in which case you'd not want to mix them. If I were you I'd just grab about 4 pairs (2 full sets) or more of 9"+ blades (either self-tightening or normal with prop nuts). If you get prop nuts now you can get cheaper blades more easily and have more options later.

While the ones I've linked I've had good luck with I'd urge caution when buying generic blades from cheapo unknown brands. Some of them are really good and some of them can come extremely imbalanced. If they come imbalanced your quad will vibrate harder putting the internals under greater stress, making your video blurry or shaky and reducing thrust efficiency mitigating battery life.

If you're going to try out different blades a Prop Balancer would be a good investment. Basically you clamp the propeller on to it and its super low friction bar will cause the heavy blades to hang lower. You take it off the stand and use a fine grain sand paper (I prefer a sanding sponge) to slowly remove material from the heavier side. Then put it back on, weigh it and repeat until it basically has no side heavier than another. There are a lot of tutorials on YouTube about this.

Just the yesterday when I was taking off a strong gust pushed my Phantom over and my carbon fiber blades ground against the concrete leaving ugly frayed rough edges unbalancing the blades and causing increased wind resistance at the tip. When I got back home I sanded out the rough edges and re-balanced them. They aren't perfect anymore but they are close and I've extended their usable life. Once you've got some substantial pits in your blades or they are super-imbalanced it's time to replace them.

I got

• This Vid Rx/Tx set
  
• This Camera
  
• This Gimbal
  
• This control lever
  
• This landing gear
  
• This video tx mount
  
  From a range perspective I haven't taken it past 1,200' away. When I got out that far with the stock antennas I started getting static/snow in the picture. I plan on replacing the tx antenna with a skew plannar antenna. I recently purchased a 200mw 1.3Ghz tx for a 250mm FPV quad which I put this skew plannar antenna on. I'm going to evaluate that setup and decide what to do with my phantom. I think I may replace the 800mw tx on my Phantom with a 200mw instead and upgrade the antenna. I want to do this for 2 reasons, the 200mw is much much smaller and it draws less power. I noticed a dramatic decrease in flight time (12 minutes down to 5 minutes), which i attribute to power draw and additional weight. I'm hoping to get flight times back up to between 7-10 minutes (running 2200-3000mah batteries) with a new tx.
  
  Gimbal works well after some tweaking in the software and the camera takes superb video.
  
  Good luck!

That's the setup I have, except I have a GoPro Hero 3. Return to home function put my P2 in a tree and then the fall to the ground bent the gimbal so I can't use my FPV right now but when I had it it worked great. I'd recommend buying a plug n play cable so you don't have to solder anything.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00LDX65OS/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

PolarPro Dronetrekker Travel Backpack for DJI Phantom 4, DJI Mavic, and GoPro Karma https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01G73Z2U6/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_LIHLybRBYZZKZ


I got this for my phantom 4 and I like it so far. It has room to pack any and all phantom accessories, a laptop, chargers, etc etc. it also will hold a tripod on the back of it if needed. It's got a nice chest buckle and hip buckles to help support the weight. Also worth mentioning is that it comes with zipper locks! All in all I like the backpack, one downside is it is a tad on the bulky side

Blackmagic Display, iOSD, & Immersion is the setup i'm working with and i'ts been great so far. Here's everything I bought for mine.

I'm sure someone here will probably be able to point out something better, but i'm happy.

• https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FKZZQQS/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
  
• https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BW7HS00/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s02?ie=UTF8&psc=1
  
  
• https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00LGCYHWI/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s03?ie=UTF8&psc=1
  
• https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00LDX65OS/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
  
• https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GLJ7UVQ/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s02?ie=UTF8&psc=1
  
• https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00EYYX9NS/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The location of more open fields.

1. Set-up was not bad, but it took me awhile to find a nice way of toting everything around.
   
   
2. With the Phantom, at first it was just trying to keep in mind all of the procedures and 'what-to-do-ifs' it's quite a lot to take in at first. Flying smoothly in general took practice. I learned to fly on a very tiny Estes Proto X and crashed it about 500 times. It's so small and unstable that it's a really tricky quadrotor to learn on, but it's so lightweight that it can generally take a beating. When i was good at flying it in nice smooth figure-8s, jumping to the Phantom was a piece of cake.
   
   
3. Learning to fly low, and be a better camera-man. Every shot should have a focal point and tell a story. Learning to pan left/right slowly enough took time too. Quick turns are pretty vomit-inducing in video!

I'd go with one of the GoProfessional hard cases. [This] (http://amzn.com/B00I8UCVZQ) one for a regular P2 (with or without gimbal) or [this] ( http://amzn.com/B00H6BU3J4) one if you have a Vision. I'm not being paid by GoProfessional to say this but their cases are hands down the best out there. I've seen and checked out pretty much every hard case on your list and something that I immediately disliked about all of them was that the foam wasn't hard enough. It was mushy and the phantom would rock around in the case. The GoProfessional foam is rock solid but still provides protection for the phantom.

I have this one, which seems to be rather popular. It works fine, although I wish it had more support on the sides.

Yes.. get the iOSD mini, gives you info like distance, height, battery levels, and flight modes. It helped alot with flying, esp. knowing how much battery you have with out using a stopwatch or bringing it back to you to check the level. I would suggest the Black Pearl monitor for viewing : http://amzn.com/B00KR69WHY and getting a ImmersionRC sender: http://amzn.com/B00M36XKHE. There is even a cable you can get pre-made on Ebay from people that will hook up the P2 to the iOSD to the Immersion, making it easy to setup (on amazon - http://amzn.com/B00LDX65OS ). I had pretty much that setup. I put the iOSD mini inside the shell and left the ImmersionRC outside hanging off the back. If you do get it, never power up the ImmersionRC without an antenna on it, it will fry the transmitter chip. This sort of setup only gives you SD resolution though.

As for the H3-3D, if you poke it a little does it stop making the noises? You should never start that thing without a GoPro installed. It's weighed to very specific values, mine complained when i tried to use a hairband to secure the GoPro instead of the plastic retainer and screws. Seems the plastic added the right amount of weight.

if you want something a little more discrete, I would recommend using the Amazon Basics DSLR backpack. I use it for my P3S, and love it

http://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-DSLR-Laptop-Backpack-interior/dp/B00CF5OGP8/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1463598740&sr=8-2&keywords=amazon+basics+dslr

If you REALLY want to use the GoPro, then the 3D Robotics Solo w/ Gimbal is the way to go. The Solo was designed specifically for using a GoPro, so you get features like FPV, camera control, and stabilization right out of the box.

The problem with using a GoPro on a drone is that to get good photos or videos, you want to be able to see what the camera is seeing, and ideally control the camera settings from the ground. Otherwise, you're basically flying blind. And to do that, you need a First Person View system, or FPV, which typically adds another $100 or more to the cost of your drone setup if it's not already built-in. Plus, if it's not built-in, you're piecing together a lot of different systems, which introduces the chance for compatibility issues.

The reason people don't recommend a Phantom for flying a GoPro is that the cost of a Phantom 2, plus everything you'd need to connect the GoPro, is going to cost a lot more than a more current Phantom 3, and the features of the drone and camera aren't going to be as good.

DJI dropped the prices on the Phantom 3 so much when the Phantom 4 came out that it don't make sense to piece it all together yourself when you can just get a high quality drone, high quality camera, and FPV setup for less than $500. The Phantom 3 Standard for < $500 will outperform anything you can mount a GoPro to for less than $1,000 and the Phantom 3 Professional for ~ $850 has a camera that will outperform basically every GoPro on the market, and you won't have to post-process out the fisheye effect from the final video.

Basically, it comes down to budget:

• $500 - Phantom 3 Standard
  
• $850 - Phantom 3 Professional
  
• $1,000 - 3DR Solo w/ Gimbal
  
• $1,400 - Phantom 4

it's possible, but the amount of extra equipment you'd need would outweigh and outprice the cheaper LCD option i mentioned earlier. You can get a 7" lcd on amazon prime for like <$25 like this http://amzn.com/B007SLDF7O and hook it up to the boscam reciever. Power everything with a 3s lipo.

If you have a GoPro4 you might want the one with the H4-3D ... They are almost the same, but the GoPro4 has a slightly different balance on the gimbal and some cut out for a new side button on the GoPro4. You can reconfigure the H3-3D in software to compensate for the balance, but might need to put in a shim to prevent the side button from being hit. Some people have no issue with GP4 on the H3 gimbal, others do. Some people don't mind tinkering ... other's want turnkey simplicity.

http://www.amazon.com/DJI-Phantom-Quadcopter-Bundle-Zenmuse/dp/B00SHUEPBK/

Other than that for time delay photography or basic video, you are set.

Only if you also want a live preview feed to frame your shots will you need to do anything else. If not, just turn on the camera, take it up in the air and point it at your subject.

For live SD preview:

• You'll need a monitor
  
• 32Ch Generic - http://www.amazon.com/FlySight-Black-Pearl-Diversity-Integrated/dp/B00KR69WHY/
  
• 7ch ImmersionRC - http://www.amazon.com/FlySight-Diversity-Monitor-Integrated-Battery/dp/B00LGCYHWI/
  
• Video Transmitter
  
  • 32ch Generic - http://www.amazon.com/AUTO-VOX-Boscam-600mw-Wireless-Transmitter/dp/B00L31LI0Q/
    
• 7ch ImmersionRC - http://www.amazon.com/Immersion-600mw-5-8-GHz-Transmitter/dp/B00BW7HS00/
  
• Optional but recomended if you are going through the trouble... On Screen Display module that overlays important info such as battery and GPS status on the video feed.
  
• DJI iOSD Mini - http://www.amazon.com/DJI-iOSD-Mini-Real-Time-Information/dp/B00FKZZQQS/
  
• Might also need a monitor mount - http://www.amazon.com/Hobbypower-Monitor-Bracket-Support-Transmitter/dp/B00JFU47O6/
  
• Likely want upgraded cloverleaf antennas.
  
  Technically ... Due to the power of those video transmitters, you'll also want to get yourself an entry level HAM radio license if you are operating this in the US.
  
  For live HD preview ... Buy yourself an Inspire 1. The cost of the included HD stream system alone ($1400 DJI Lightbridge) makes the Inspire 1 a better buy then adding it a Phantom 2. Crazy, but that's the state of live HD wireless feeds right now.

The phantom comes with some wires coming out of the bottom that you can solder to the TX cable, I just spent 8 bucks and got an all in one cable that ties in the iOSD, and immersionrc TX. So it goes Zenmuse cable provides video out to the Phantom, Phantom out to TX.
Like this, but found it cheaper, don't recall where.
http://www.amazon.com/Plug-Play-Cable-ImmersionRC-Transmitter/dp/B00LDX65OS

If you're happy with it then it's a good deal.

That said, it's hard to say anything objectively without knowing the state of the p3p. Are there problems with it? Are there cracks in the shell? etc, etc?

But, cheap batteries go for [around 112]
(http://amzn.to/1U87d9L) on Amazon at the moment while the cheapest P3P there is (new) about 831 (plus shipping), (links are aff links).

I highly recommend this as its lightweight and very subtle. Not obvious at all that you have a drone, which I appreciate. However, you would have to remove the props.

Atomik RC Universal Drone Backpack Case Fits: 200/250/350/DJI Phantom/FPV Quadcopters https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00W536W9I/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_0NrHxbY1DC2N4

Ahh, nice to see one of the older models once for a while here.

I would toss out the receiver part and look for a display which includes the receiver and antennas, this one is merely an example, the one I used. As per transmitter antenna, those should do fine. I don't know much of the specifics though.

I also recommend something to mount the screen with.

Regarding the CAN, I have no clue.

here it is
the video goes from the gopro up the zenmuse cable, into the phantom, and back out the plug n play cable to the tx. You don't actually plug anything into the gopro, it just goes through the zenmuse

thanks. I ordered this one an hour ago:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00LDX65OS/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
this one should connnect the iosd and the transmitter fine without soldering. I prefer the plug way over the soldering.

I soldered 6 wires together. There is a cable on amazon Like this that makes it solder free.
Monitor Mount Not happy with it though. With stock antennas I'm getting 200m. The upgraded antennas will be here by thursday and I can report back then.

And if portability is a concern look at the atomic backpack. Got this for my advanced and it's incredibly portable and looks like your carrying a bag around for school while protecting your drone

https://www.amazon.com/Atomik-RC-Universal-Drone-Backpack/dp/B00W536W9I

Finally, something I have the answer to!

These changed my video abilities completely:

Hobbypower Tall Landing Gear for DJI Phantom 1 2 Vision Quadcopter Wide & High

www.amazon.com/dp/B00IGRYODS/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_yfXXub0SWSJBJ

> How high can I fly it exactly? I flew 50m and was scared to go any higher..

I think it is limited in the software. I got mine up to 400' and it wouldn't go higher. The display on my phone said 'Maximum altitude reached'. I believe you can set that higher (800'?) but I haven't checked into it yet.

> Is anyone else having problems with removing the battery? I have to pull like crazy and then it still doesn't go smoothly, I don't like applying much pressure to the phantom.

Same here. I have to pull hard enough that I'm afraid I'm abou8t to break something.

> Carrying it around: any tips? At first I thought I'd just unscrew the propellers and carry it in the original box, but that doesn't quite work when there's a gimbal hanging under it..

I got a $200 case on Amazon, with pre-cut foam for the drone and all its parts. I still have to take off the props every time I store it, but that just takes a minute. The thing I like about this box is that it is a bit tight, but it DOES fall under the requirements to be able to carry on to an airplane. Some boxes made for the Phantom do not.

http://www.amazon.com/Professional-Cases-Hard-Phantom-Vision/dp/B00H6BU3J4/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1420405112&sr=1-1&keywords=Go+Professional+Cases+Hard+Case+for+DJI+Phantom+2+Vision

The one thing I dind't think about ahead of time what that it will NOT fit in the box with the prop protectors on, and they aren't quite so easy to take on and off... so I really won't be using the box much until I can safely fly without the prop guards!

Take a look at this £35 amazon basics backpack. https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00CF5OGP8/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It's not designed for a drone in the slightest but I can tell you that the P3S will fit. Check out the customer review images for one I put up of my P3A inside of it.

The picture does, not you. The the Turnigy is about 65 bucks and the DJI is $120. The turnigy is twice the voltage and same amperage. and thus twice the size. Pretty much when you throw everything together it turns out to be 4x as much per watt.

I was going with no solder option, specifically this cable - http://www.amazon.com/Plug-Play-Cable-ImmersionRC-Transmitter/dp/B00LDX65OS/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1426863369&sr=8-2&keywords=phantom+fpv+cable
but some reviews about defective cables shorting out/burning gopro got me scared....

Though if I buy that cable then I wouldn't need to solder?

@theprez98 yeah I saw that package you mentioned but I'd prefer to stick with Amazon as it is easier to buy things from them as I am outside the USA, some sites don't accept my CC.

https://www.amazon.com/DJI-Phantom-Professional-Quadcopter-Camera/dp/B00VSITBJO
I am not the seller , I found a deal and shared it here.

not really, the built in FPV on the vision is crap, and the camera isn't that great, you made the right choice setting up your own rig and getting a go pro that you can actually use without your phantom. this is the monitor and i have it wired up to this battery pack. I spent about 170 total and have 3x the range and better quality than a vision or vision+

Yep, just about everywhere.

http://store.dji.com/product/phantom-3-standard

http://www.amazon.com/DJI-Phantom-Standard-Quadcopter-Camera/dp/B013U0F6EQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1454173045&sr=8-1&keywords=Phantom+3

You see my struggle then! Last night I wound up finding a good deal on this: Go Professional Cases Phantom 2 and GoPro Accessories Hard Case. And just this morning I again had a second thought about a backpack because of your reply! I'll check into that exterior frame hiking pack you mentioned. But I will probably just strap it to a regular backpack if I find the need.

I bought this one from Amazon. Its their own DSLR backpack but there is plenty of room in there for the P3S and all its accessories. Even space for a laptop/tablet! and its only $40 AmazonBasics Backpack

If you take a look at the pictures there are a few people who posted how they store their drone inside.

FlySight 7 Ch Black Pearl 5.8Ghz 7" Diversity Monitor with Integrated Battery (RC801) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00LGCYHWI/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_RGiWub147NFBV



This is the one I purchased. I can check the LED in the morning.

I was thinking amazon.com

But then I stumbled upon this beauty. - $600 for the full setup, can that be right?