New Solo-ist!

Ketchup · Mar 14, 2016

Hi all.
I just ordered a Solo w/gimbal using the 20% coupon. This is going to be fun!
I have been flying R/C for 40 year. Self-taught @ 10. I fly gliders, helicopters, quads, electric power planes of all types.

I have a year-old QX3 quad no gimbal for my GoPro Hero 3+ BE. Just never was able to get the videos and images I wanted. Looking forward to "almost" autonomous flight using Tower and the Solo app. The videos from the GoPro under the Solo look really good.

I was looking at the other hobby quads like the Yuneec and Chroma. Being able to use my GoPro and the open-source stuff made me make the leap.

SteveReno · Mar 14, 2016

Welcome Ketchup,

You bought Solo for all the right reasons.
Not for sure about the GPHero 3+, you need to search to see if all available features are compatible?

Enjoy your new bird...

Ketchup · Mar 14, 2016

It is the 3+ Black Edition.
People on this forum said all functions work with it. The non-black edition doesn't have all of the controls.

Chuck · Mar 14, 2016

Welcome, Ketchup. I, also, have the 3+ Black, and it all works great. I will probably upgrade sometime later on, but for now, why? Safe flying....

Griffin Umbrella Co · Mar 15, 2016

Welcome Ketchup!

Ketchup · Mar 15, 2016

Thanks!
I just thought of something...does it come with a holder for phone or tablet? (I see the sun shield is a separate thing. Probably just fabricate one)
Thanks!

Soul Patch Films · Mar 15, 2016

It does include tablet/ phone holder

Griffin Umbrella Co · Mar 15, 2016

Soul Patch Films said:
It does include tablet/ phone holder

Yep, the stock phone/tablet clamp will fit tablets up to 8" comfortably. You may have trouble fitting the 10" or larger tablets though.

Ketchup · Mar 18, 2016

So I unboxed the beast last night. I felt like a kid at Christmas! Was giggling the entire time. What a cool piece of tech. (Anyone notice the tones sounded kinda like Close Encounters movie music?)

The first thing I noticed was how heavy it is compared to my Blade QX3!
I got the system all updated, the gimbal installed and the GoPro mounted. I also tested the camera out. Live video is going to be a hoot.

Does the solo battery have a balancing circuit inside of it? I noticed the battery & charger doesn't have enough connections for that. If I can charge it from my other charger this would be great as I can do 4 at a time (only have 2 batteries now)

And the legs...do they think we all fly off of a flat, hard surface? Sure looks sleek, but the clearance from the bottom of the gimbal to the ground is almost nothing. Going to have to make them longer. (I see antennae in a couple of legs.)

I am so looking forward to Saturday for the maiden flight.
Thanks all!

pyrate · Mar 18, 2016

there are leg extensions available for very cheap
also register it, 3Dr is hit and miss but were sending them out free for a while.

Relish and IMP Concepts are the two that are fan favorites
search this forum for leg extenders

Chuck · Mar 18, 2016

The Solo battery charger has overcharge protection built in. I don't think it is recommended to use other chargers, although some people on here are working on that. I have 6 batteries and I bought an extra OEM charger to speed things up, as well as a 2000w power inverter for my truck to charge in the field. Works out great for me. Also, there are quite a few 3rd parties who have come out with leg extenders for replacing the stock feet on Solo. 3DR used to send you some for free when you register your Solo with them. I am not sure if they are still doing that or not. You can use the search function on this forum to check out previous posts on leg extenders. I know Relish 3D has some foldable ones that look cool. Good luck and be safe.....

Ketchup · Mar 20, 2016

So the first flight was a "bust". It was super foggy at my local field and the visibility was about 50-75 feet. Grrr.
I flew anyway and only tried out the "selfie". As it was going up and out it started to disappear into the fog. Ahhh! Quickly pressed [Pause] and then [Home]. I forgot for a moment that it needed to climb then RTH. Up higher into the fog it went. Fortunately I could just make out the lights and saw it was coming home. It landed without issue. So I took off again and just buzzed around to get a feel of it.

It was a big slug on the slow settings. I moved the speed slider to the middle...ahhh, I had good control. Did some circles and spins to get a feel for it. Flies great. I wasn't able to get out today (Sunday) to fly so have to try next weekend.

Here's a short foggy clip...

Chuck · Mar 21, 2016

Boy, that was foggy. We sometimes get the tule fog in my area, and you can't see 10 feet in front of you. I don't know if it is a concern, but I would worry about moisture getting in the motors. Seems to me like flying in fog might be worse than flying in falling snow, though I may be wrong. It is not like I haven't been wrong before....

PdxSteve · Mar 21, 2016

The motors themselves are actually waterproof. You can run them underwater!

It's the electronics attached to the motors (ESC's), and the rest of the internals of the solo that won't do well if they get wet.

Ketchup · Mar 21, 2016

Thanks...I was able to dry everything off with paper towels. I did a test hop on Sunday evening and everything worked fine so no water incursion!

deathsandwich · Mar 30, 2016

Hi Everyone! New Solo-ist here. I had an Iris+ but it had an unplanned water landing on a lake in Maine last summer. The gopro survived (although the wifi on the gopro no longer works). I had three great flights last weekend and planning on from the top of a hill in Connecticut this weekend.
Happy flying!