I found a movie on YouTube
Unfortunately I don't remember what movie it was which inspired me.
However, there are literally hundreds of them on YouTube.
Of course, the main part of the fun comes in, when the flights can be documented
in a movie.
It turns out, that the new GoPro Hero 3 video camera is the state of the art,
so I ordered that as well via
This page is about assembling the whole system, i.e. the quadcopter, the action camera, and some additions, and it also documents the first successful test flights and some ideas for overall system improvements, like better propellers and a damping kit to reduce the jello effect.
Soon, a First Person View system will be added; I will document that as well. I'm not sure yet, which FatShark system I'm going to use, the Dominator or the Predator V2. I will test both, but it might take a while, until they arrive from Spain and Honh Kong, resp.
Let's see what's in the box of the quadcopter DJI Phantom. Note, that the required four AA batteries for the remote control are not included. There's no manual either, just some leaflets, one with the Internet address to the manual in PDF.
DJI provides several adapters, among them one from US to EU. Being in Switzerland, and lacking an US to Switzerland adapter, I have to add an EU to Switzerland adapter at the wall socket end. The cable between the balance charger and the LiPo battery is included. The other cable from the LiPo battery goes into the 3S slot of the charger. The battery is full, when the red LED turns into green.
Mounting the two landing skids is straight-forward, the needed screws are shipped with the box. Just pay attention to the compass cable and the antenna (they go threw the hole in the middle), and don't forget to plug in the compass cable into the compass in the end.
Care must be taken to attach the propellers to the proper rotors: there are two left-turning propellers and two right-turning ones; check the signs on the quadcopter's arms close to the rotors. Fasten the propellers tightly with the included tool.
Now let's check out the box containing the video camera GoPro Hero 3 Black Edition. It's a quite complicated packaging, but it's also stylish. The camera is already in its watertight casing, itself already on one of the provided fastening bases.
I for one decided to use the fastening base provided with the quadcopter, not one of those provided with the GoPro: it is flatter. It fits the bottomside of the Phantom perfectly, and the GoPro in it's casing can be attached perfectly well to the fastening base with the help of the provided screw.
Removing the camera from its watertight casing turned out to be more tricky than expected. Contrary to what the forward pointing arrow suggests, one has to actually lift that part while sliding the left pointing arrow to the left. Once one is aware of this, opening can be done with one hand.
I plan to make my first flight movies at a resolution of 1080p with 24 frames per second. The camera is able to do much more, though, at 1080p it can reach 60 fps. Since the camera is attached upside down below the quadcopter, it is convenient, that the GoPro features an orientation setting which can be set to "upside down". For the initial tests I don't need WLAN, so I shut that down (to check: it is down, when the blue LED is not blinking anymore). Charging the accumulator can be done with the provided USB cable. If used, it takes approx. 2 hours to completely charge the battery. When charged, the LED goes out.
The landing skids seem not to be too shock-resistant: I would not want to experience broken skids when going down too fast during the first experiments with the new device (there are no replacement parts in the original box). Also, I doubt they are very scratch-resistant: landing on the street might make them look ugly quite soon. So I decided to wrap them in some soft pipe insulation, leaving enough space for the compass. This protection provides also some more space between the camera and the floor: maybe convenient when there should happen to be an obstacle, e.g., a stone.
After the
The original DJI propellers are quite flexible,
and thus a likely cause for unintentional
Also, it might be a good idea to rebalance the propellers, especially after changes like drilling larger holes.
To further reduce the risk of an unwanted jello effect, a damping kit is mounted between the quadcopter and the camera.
During the first test flight, three questions shall be answered: Will the quadcopter take off and can I navigate it? Will the movie camera take a movie? Will I be able to land the quadcopter safely without crashing it or the camera? Luckily, everything worked out well. After 10 minutes of flight experience I can say: it's fun!
A short 1 minute footage of the first manoeuvres is available on
Two minor problems need to be addressed.
Firstly, the landing skid protections are visible in the movie.
And secondly, the quadcopter does not maintain its vertical position too well.
Also, during straight flights the device tends to lose height over time
The answer to the first problem is obvious: the protections will be removed. I just need to take care to land on soft underground, until I'm experienced enough. This also helps with problem number 2, as it removes 12.2 grams. Additionally, I will exchange the camera's watertight cage with the original cage delivered with the quadcopter. Since it is a bit too deep for the Hero 3, I needed to add some foam rubber to hold it in place firmly. All in all, I exchanged 100.0 grams for 13.7 grams, which I hope should make a difference.
Now with less weight, the device holds its vertical position very stably.
There's effectively no need to protect the landing skids,
landing is not too difficult if done on grass.
However, 10 minutes flight time is just not enough:
going to order some more accumulators.
Update: Meanwhile, the two additional accumulators have arrived,
giving a total flight experience of about half an hour.
Time to update the firmware to the newest version. By doing so, I also enabled DJI's feature named Intelligent Orientation Control, which allows for the two additional flight modi Home Lock and Course Lock, which I will test soon.
Everything is going smooth now, with one exception:
if the device is flown away pretty far,
it becomes difficult to determine, in which direction it is heading.
This is quite inconvenient, especially when one wants to fly it back home.
Possibly a FPV transmitter would help a great deal with this issue:
after checking out some reviews I ordered the
FatShark Predator V2 from
After doing some more research, I am not absolutely convinced yet,
that the Predator V2 is the choice to make,
probably the Dominator from the same manufacturer is a better bet.
To compare the two, I ordered that as well, this one from the guys of
The Predator V2 from Hong Kong arrived first, but it still took 3 weeks until I could pick up the goggles at the customs office. Unboxing and laying-up all contents.