Tips & Tricks ONLY

[DodgeP]

I would like this thread to be for tips and tricks only. Not tricks as in stunt or acro mode tricks but things that may help you out with your Solo.

I'll begin; I thought I may have been the only person who experienced this but I just watched a youtube video where this dude said he was trying to land his Solo but even with the throttle all the way down and Solo on the ground, the motors wouldn't stop and if he were to let go of the throttle and it went back to center, Solo would try to take off again.

TIP & TRICK

Emergency Motor Kill Switch
(Only do this when Solo is on the ground, if Solo is in the air it will fall out of the air and crash)

Hold down these buttons all at the same time: A+B+Pause Solo

 

[Raston Warrior]

I'm surprised there haven't been more posts here..! How about:

Wireless interference can really jack with flight when going through residential areas, but as long as you have GPS lock you can still fly through them - power up the Solo in spot B, determine max height and return home heights, leave a friend there, drive to spot A, lift off and tell the Solo to go home.

 

[Christopher Schlumpf]

I'm looking for tips on Orbit. I just tried it and had a hard time setting the anchor where I wanted it. When I pressed the "set target" icon, it jerked about 20 degrees left and anchored there. hmm.

 

[Raston Warrior]

Can't fly below freezing, ambient humidity and condensate will get in the motor pods and cause a lockup.
Can't fly when it's too hot, it affects propellers, battery life and health of the drone because it'll overheat.

But NOTHING will mess with things more than sand! I "dusted off" today from a fine, mica-type sand covered clearing and it went everywhere, it didn't occur to me the dustcloud that would blow up around the launch site. In my hair, my teeth, my nose... and my controller, the motor pods.. It's a real pain, and that fine grit gets into everything and is really annoying to clean out, but it's crucial to keep it dust free (not house dust, rock / dirt dust).

Otherwise, it'll slowly get into the finer parts of the motor pods and at best grind away the parts, but at worst actually prevent proper rotation of the props and it could really cause a bad day when you're hundreds of feet up a couple weeks from a dust off you didn't clean up from!

So, trick - watch your launch site and don't launch from places with super-fine dust if it can be avoided. Otherwise, do the best you can but clean up with a vacuum cleaner ASAP afterwards.

 

[Del]

Can't fly below freezing, ambient humidity and condensate will get in the motor pods and cause a lockup.
Can't fly when it's too hot, it affects propellers, battery life and health of the drone because it'll overheat.

But NOTHING will mess with things more than sand! I "dusted off" today from a fine, mica-type sand covered clearing and it went everywhere, it didn't occur to me the dustcloud that would blow up around the launch site. In my hair, my teeth, my nose... and my controller, the motor pods.. It's a real pain, and that fine grit gets into everything and is really annoying to clean out, but it's crucial to keep it dust free (not house dust, rock / dirt dust).

Otherwise, it'll slowly get into the finer parts of the motor pods and at best grind away the parts, but at worst actually prevent proper rotation of the props and it could really cause a bad day when you're hundreds of feet up a couple weeks from a dust off you didn't clean up from!

So, trick - watch your launch site and don't launch from places with super-fine dust if it can be avoided. Otherwise, do the best you can but clean up with a vacuum cleaner ASAP afterwards.

It definitely makes sense !!
Thanks for the tip

 

[DeltaRomeoMike]

Can't fly below freezing, ambient humidity and condensate will get in the motor pods and cause a lockup.
Can't fly when it's too hot, it affects propellers, battery life and health of the drone because it'll overheat.

But NOTHING will mess with things more than sand! I "dusted off" today from a fine, mica-type sand covered clearing and it went everywhere, it didn't occur to me the dustcloud that would blow up around the launch site. In my hair, my teeth, my nose... and my controller, the motor pods.. It's a real pain, and that fine grit gets into everything and is really annoying to clean out, but it's crucial to keep it dust free (not house dust, rock / dirt dust).

Otherwise, it'll slowly get into the finer parts of the motor pods and at best grind away the parts, but at worst actually prevent proper rotation of the props and it could really cause a bad day when you're hundreds of feet up a couple weeks from a dust off you didn't clean up from!

So, trick - watch your launch site and don't launch from places with super-fine dust if it can be avoided. Otherwise, do the best you can but clean up with a vacuum cleaner ASAP afterwards.

I have found that using a inexpensive Harbor Freight tarp as a launch site in places where there is a lot of loose dirt or sand can help minimize motor contamination and infiltration. Take along some cheap tent stake to anchor the corners.

 

[Raston Warrior]

Wireless interference is more important drone-side than controller-side; if possible, do a wireless check where you want to fly to, not where you're flying from.

For example, I was flying across a huge park and whenever I reached the building on the other side I'd loose contact too early and it would return home. Drove over to where I was flying to and found that they had a very powerful wireless access point on channel 6. I audited the drone to find it was sitting on 6 as well; I launched from the building and it auto-negotiated channel 11, I ended up being able to fly significantly further from that direction out toward where I originally took off.

(I use "WiFi Analyzer" for Android - great app).

Also - replacing the stock antennas with "Alfa 2.4Ghz booster panel 2 pack" on Amazon (after installation, point text side out) - absolutely fantastic. They're cheap, compatible and will give you a very significant gain in distance (not radical, just significant). For the price it's a basic upgrade I think everyone should do out of the box.

 

[DodgeP]

I'm looking for tips on Orbit. I just tried it and had a hard time setting the anchor where I wanted it. When I pressed the "set target" icon, it jerked about 20 degrees left and anchored there. hmm.

No hard data yet on how to set the perfect orbit target. I tried today myself and was very frustrated with it.

 

[Raston Warrior]

Oh - and the BACKPACK, seriously... Nevermind who you buy it from, where it's available, cost, etc, not a sales pitch but a true tip - get it.

This thing has enabled me, kept all the pieces in once place and safe.
- I've been able to hike in, unpack and go for a flight in just a couple minutes
- Been able to pack out and bail before the rain hit, just as fast. Got to my car in the rain and the Solo was dry as a bone.
- Needed to change my control location, I just slung the pack over my shoulder and moved. No grief, no "did I get all my stuff..?", worried about leaving anything behind... just left for the new location and when I was done packed out, went home.
- Once home, all the controller material, chargers, cables,, all stored in one place. Set up, recharge, pack up again and put the pack on a screw in the wall by the door. When the sunset is beautiful or I have a spontaneous urge to drive to the mountains... grab it and go.
- Time for a business trip. Charger, cables and everything I need is safe in the pack. put a TSA-cheesy-for-your-protection-BS lock on the zipper, check it and go. No problem.

The thing is great, much more functional than hard cases available and more reliable then cheaper, custom built solutions, it's worth every penny.

- R

 

[DodgeP]

Oh - and the BACKPACK, seriously... Nevermind who you buy it from, where it's available, cost, etc, not a sales pitch but a true tip - get it.

This thing has enabled me, kept all the pieces in once place and safe.
- I've been able to hike in, unpack and go for a flight in just a couple minutes
- Been able to pack out and bail before the rain hit, just as fast. Got to my car in the rain and the Solo was dry as a bone.
- Needed to change my control location, I just slung the pack over my shoulder and moved. No grief, no "did I get all my stuff..?", worried about leaving anything behind... just left, packed out, went home.
- Once home, all the controller material, chargers, cables,, all stored in one place. Set up, recharge, pack up again and put the pack on a screw in the wall by the door. When the sunset is beautiful or I have a spontaneous urge to drive to the mountains... grab it and go.
- Time for a business trip. Charger, cables and everything I need is safe in the pack. put a TSA-cheesy-for-your-protection-BS lock on the zipper, check it and go. No problem.

The thing is great, much more functional than hard cases available and more reliable then cheaper, custom built solutions, it's worth every penny.

- R

I don't think anything out there is better suited for Solo than the 3DR Bag. I have it and it's the best.

 

[Raston Warrior]

No hard data yet on how to set the perfect orbit target. I tried today myself and was very frustrated with it.

I've been having great luck with Orbit. I've had to preload the GPS maps for where I want to go and ensure I have a strong GPS sat lock (10 min, 12 preferred), and it's only been off a few feet on the circumference but otherwise works perfectly...?

If it jerks ~20 degrees, I think you have a GPS issue. There was another post on this board regarding wires in the wrong place in the battery bay, apparently the battery bay is easy to disassemble (YouTube) - you might open it up and ensure all the wires are to the side, away from sensitive circuits. If all else fails, you might send the logs to 3DR for evaluation, they might determine you have a bad GPS unit.

- R

 

[michaelturner19982002]

Tips. take em or leave em.
1: Check FFA flight map if going to a new location.
2: Review your flight plans once at location for possible errors in design.
3: Follow a flight pre-check and post check plans.
4: Tools/Apps that are nice to have, Phone compass, Level launch table or platform, Phone Level App, Small screw driver set, craftsmen filter wrench the one with the rubber strap.
5: FFA knowledge flyer about UAS rules to hand out to unruly by standers.
6: Land before getting in a conversation and distracted.
7: If its windy don't take the chance, Stay on the ground.
8: Have fun and share that fun.

 

[Ljubo]

Oh - and the BACKPACK, seriously... Nevermind who you buy it from, where it's available, cost, etc, not a sales pitch but a true tip - get it.

This thing has enabled me, kept all the pieces in once place and safe.
- I've been able to hike in, unpack and go for a flight in just a couple minutes
- Been able to pack out and bail before the rain hit, just as fast. Got to my car in the rain and the Solo was dry as a bone.
- Needed to change my control location, I just slung the pack over my shoulder and moved. No grief, no "did I get all my stuff..?", worried about leaving anything behind... just left for the new location and when I was done packed out, went home.
- Once home, all the controller material, chargers, cables,, all stored in one place. Set up, recharge, pack up again and put the pack on a screw in the wall by the door. When the sunset is beautiful or I have a spontaneous urge to drive to the mountains... grab it and go.
- Time for a business trip. Charger, cables and everything I need is safe in the pack. put a TSA-cheesy-for-your-protection-BS lock on the zipper, check it and go. No problem.

The thing is great, much more functional than hard cases available and more reliable then cheaper, custom built solutions, it's worth every penny.

- R

Also I'm using back pack as a lunching platform to avoid gras and dust interfering with gimball and solo.

 

[cameraguy]

For a pack, I use this LowePro. The LowePro drone guard kit.

Lowepro DroneGuard Kit LP36910 B&H Photo Video

I can put everything I need in it and head out, and for $91, it's a steal.

No you can't pack for a trip on a plane, or a big hike, but that's not how I roll

 

[franknitty69]

• Using an sd card reader can import videos about 60% faster than connecting your GoPro to your computer
• if you press the Camera Angle paddle in, you can take pictures or start/stop recording
• angle presets button, don't forget that its there
• after setting angle presets, if you move your gimbal past the preset and press a preset button, you get an extra preset sweep
• in the home screen, click on the Plan Your Flight overlay to get to access plan your flight
• in the planning screen you can
  • click on a circle to get more info
  • you can center the map on your current location
  • you can see all the notifications in a list view
  • you can search
  • filter the notifications displayed on the map
  • you can switch the map between standard, satellite and hybrid
• in the main screen if you tap on any of the telemetry data on the top bar, advanced telemetry is displayed underneath. this adds air speed, sat count/hdop, volt/amps and rssi
• in the main screen you can swipe map view over partially so that live view and map view are displayed at the same time. if you swipe over fully, live view will shrink to a small pip in window. click the live view to return.
• to cache the map on an ios device simply swipe to display map view and scroll, pan and zoom the area you want to cache. ios can cache alot of data.
• to cache the map on an android device, you need to change the map provider in settings to mapbox first. then return to the mapview, press the download button, scroll, pan and zoom the area you want to cache and then press the bar at the bottom of the screen to actually download the map tiles.

 

[franknitty69]

• Selfie can be used for more than a selfie. use a selfie to fly from up close to far out to reveal a location. the viewer won't know what it is and adds anticipation as solo flies out to reveal the location.
• You can adjust the distance, altitude and speed of selfie
• Cable Cam...try Free Look
• During Orbit, the orbit center can be adjusted after setting it. if you find that your orbit is center is off slightly simply drag the map to fix it
• During Orbit use gimbal paddle to adjust the subject 'altitude', this will adjust the framing of the subject without adjusting solo's altitude
• During Orbit, use the left and right sticks at the same time to adjust solo's altitude and the orbit radius. this makes for dynamic and fluid orbits that are non circular.
• During Follow, solo works best if you give it some distance
• During Follow, altitude can be controlled with the left stick and follow distance can be controlled with the right stick
• During Follow solo can orbit too
• Follow...try Free Look
  
• With Free Look enabled, altitude is now controlled with the gimbal paddle, the left stick controls the camera and the right stick moves solo
• Try Follow with Free Look enabled while solo is following you in car, while the car is following the subject

 

[jaylitton73]

Moongel in the vibration dampeners.[emoji1303]

 

[99203jack]

In mission planner disable RTL at low battery. Cuz nobody needs an RTL when your just trying to finish off a battery flying LOS, maybe under power lines and such.