Dear 3DR I love pixhawk FC and used it for years,, But Solo *********

Actually I've found that a complete Solo ensemble runs closer to $4,000 all in. That's Solo , gimbal, camera, 4 batteries, backpack, extra blades, extra legs, leg extensions, camera accessories, long range antenna, iPad mini, iPad shade cover, laser range finder, wind speed meter, prop balancer and a back up camera and several SD cards. I have two such set ups for redundancy.
 
Well, as long as it's just experience that counts...
.....<snip>....
Could great experience flying various types of craft actually be detrimental to your performance as a drone pilot? You might, for instance, be directly contributing to the severity of perceived problems?
Just sayin'.

I can agree with the points Marich made, but do respect Rodney's opinion to how he sees it...
 
Actually I've found that a complete Solo ensemble runs closer to $4,000 all in. That's Solo , gimbal, camera, 4 batteries, backpack, extra blades, extra legs, leg extensions, camera accessories, long range antenna, iPad mini, iPad shade cover, laser range finder, wind speed meter, prop balancer and a back up camera and several SD cards. I have two such set ups for redundancy.
Please do not let my wife read this.
 
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Actually I've found that a complete Solo ensemble runs closer to $4,000 all in. That's Solo , gimbal, camera, 4 batteries, backpack, extra blades, extra legs, leg extensions, camera accessories, long range antenna, iPad mini, iPad shade cover, laser range finder, wind speed meter, prop balancer and a back up camera and several SD cards. I have two such set ups for redundancy.

Your right I too have about that into mine but the same is going to be said for inspire or any bird if your like one of us and buy everything available to get the best possible setup. Really it boils down to the prices discussed before as that's going to be where most folks end up dollar wise at least at first. If I buy a new anything I'm likley to upgrade it and spend a lot more than Joe consumer but you can get a equipped solo for around 2 or inspire at around 3 grand give or take. Solo is basically in between p3 and inspire for the useable setup I'd say and honestly that seems about right to me even though I'd rather have solo today.

Would be kinda cool to see 3dr make an inspire priced setup next for a more professional build. Make it more geared toward dslr maybe, a bit larger and maybe use carbon fiber parts as well. Just to offer a couple options at different price points more than anything.

Likley won't happen unless they have a game changing design cause I'm not sure there's as large of a market when solo can do the same things just not with a better heavier camera but wel see.

I've asked before but what other than size or looks and retractable gear does inspire do that p3 doesn't? Serious question I've not flown one but actually plan to rent one of each new dji offering to do a comparison and find out if I made the right choice for me after all this craziness.

Is their anything that p3 or inspire does that a solo with fpvlr and a rectilinear hero 4 can't? Again I'm really asking I'd like to know if I'm right cause as of now I'm mainly comparing solo to all I've watched and read combined with my p2 h3-3d experience as for dji offerings.

I realize that's not fair exactly but honestly being solo is ver. 1 from a company that just jumped into this huge market and all the issues are compared to version 10 or so from dji, solo has stacked up pretty well for being years behind in R&D and experience. Mine has fewer issues than those with p3s that are talking of horizon issues, cracks or other unfixed things in such a long time proven design. I also realize mine could be the exception or not, it seems like results are still iffy on the percentages of good solos vs those needing repair, wel see soon enough I'm sure.

Ok another too long post here but now I'm heading out to fly, everybody have a great day hopefully flying. It's finally beautiful here so I'm going to see what I can get into with this setup finally.
 
Is their anything that p3 or inspire does that a solo with fpvlr and a rectilinear hero 4 can't?

Well currently of course full camera control which is promised by 3DR someday. And as far as FVLR that defiantly is going to help the range of the Solo but a stock P3 will still out distance a Solo/FPVLR combo in 'most' cases.

My Phantom 3 with Litchi setup is doing a lot of the stuff Solo promised with smart shots but I am not 100% happy with it yet. I assume the Solo will do better but I never did get to fly one with a gimbal. I have not seen any Solo video doing what I am looking for either.

If 3DR gets the Solo straight before the hardware is obsolete or the P4 hits the streets its going to be one kick ass rig.
 
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X ray vision at the beach :)

No really my main issue is cable cam with a POI. I assumed and possibly incorrectly you can do a flyover with a POI close to below and get the bird to tilt and rotate smoothly. The DJI SDK has some limitations (I am told) and you need to plan your POI carefully. The rotation is not as smooth as I like but I have seen some of the same annoyances in the Solo videos.

I think the Phantoms are maxed out as far as memory and processor for doing shots like this so there is a good change it may never work. Course I have it from a good source that the next DJI product will have over double the capabilities the pixhawk does. Time will tell.

I just want two button no messing around cable cams with a good POI.

Good chance I need to adjust my expectations :) If 3DR gets this perfected I will buy another Solo so I can do it. DJI has a fantastic orbit setup but not liking the cable cam yet.
 
The thing is, I honestly don't know - and from what posts I've read in the last couple of days I'm not alone - what all the crying's about. My Solo flies great - it's never given me a single moment of grief. It has worked the way I wanted it to on every single flight I've made.
EVERY SINGLE ONE.

My experience to date exactly.
 
Rodney I just had a chance to run a pack through, I only went down to 15% but I got a good 16 minutes to my suprise. It's really windy today and I actually would have pushed a bit longer but a huge hawk was swooping around solo and with my luck solo would be carried off in a first actual solo "Flyaway", not just a crash.

I actually pushed it fairly hard aside from the wind as well so I'll report back later when I get to a better area to get some video and use it how I normally would. 16 in these conditions isn't ideal but I'd bet that goes up closer to 18 in less wind and going to 10% which is about the same as before the gimbal. That seems really strange to me, also odd that my battery initially seemed to last a bit longer in higher performance settings when I got solo. I'll experiment a bit with settings to try and find a sweet spot for filming and battery life both and to see if things like smart shots or stopping the gopro seem to affect these numbers much.

Without a doubt we're still well below the advertised times but I can live with 17 or 18 minute flight times and they threw in the extra battery free, so I can't complain too much just yet.
 
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Ok more odd findings in testing, this pack still in windy conditions and still with my new huge hawk friend looming but apparently camera shy, I ran it all the way to 10% just because I was way out when it alarmed at 25%. Weird thing is I ran it down further and really flew less aggressive on medium setting same as before and I only got just under 15 minutes from takeoff to landing, well a few seconds under. I did use a lot of smart shots and didn't fly manually like I did a good amount earlier and it seems fly mode and smart shots do burn up a good amount of power.

I'd still bet if it was calm I'd get better numbers but 15 or 16 mins is along way from their claims. There are times even in medium fov with the stock lens that my extensions show in the left corner still. So they do still have work to do but the gimbal itself is nice and beside the shaky selfie I like the smart shots and very smooth easy to handle controls and delay adjustments. Perfect no but it's still in my mind one of if not the nicest comparable multi out, so still impressed overall.
 
No really my main issue is cable cam with a POI
Could be done in tower. 2 waypoints and a ROI. The camera would stay locked onto the ROI from beginning to end.

If you wanted to start with camera pointed at a subject, switch to a ROI as it does a flyover, then end by pointing camera at yet another subject, it might not work as well. The mission would have 3 ROIs and two waypoint. (ROI 1, waypoint A, ROI 2, Waypoint B, ROI 2). You might have to tinker with it to get exactly what you want. Maybe insert some extra Waypoints in before and after the first and last ROI. Even then I'm not sure how smoothly it would adjust between waypoints.

What I want is cable cam plus follow me/watch me. So the drone/camera would follow/watch the target (someone carrying a phone), but stay on the cable. This could be handy for follow missions in canyons, etc.
 
Could be done in tower. 2 waypoints and a ROI. The camera would stay locked onto the ROI from beginning to end.

If you wanted to start with camera pointed at a subject, switch to a ROI as it does a flyover, then end by pointing camera at yet another subject, it might not work as well. The mission would have 3 ROIs and two waypoint. (ROI 1, waypoint A, ROI 2, Waypoint B, ROI 2). You might have to tinker with it to get exactly what you want. Maybe insert some extra Waypoints in before and after the first and last ROI. Even then I'm not sure how smoothly it would adjust between waypoints.

What I want is cable cam plus follow me/watch me. So the drone/camera would follow/watch the target (someone carrying a phone), but stay on the cable. This could be handy for follow missions in canyons, etc.

Both seem very doable I'm sure we're likley to see more smart options like these put into updates. Hopefully we get at least a couple by years end. You can bet wel have some before or right at launch time for any other offerings from dji, just to try to keep folks from converting to a new bird.
 
Just ran a test. On a new battery, with gimbal, go pro, recording with camera, ran battery down to 8%. 15.5 minutes.
Medium work, not easy, not aggressive. Threw in some smart shots and turned the record button on and off a few times. Pretty real world test. I'd comfortably say expect only 15 minutes on a battery.
 
Just ran a test. On a new battery, with gimbal, go pro, recording with camera, ran battery down to 8%. 15.5 minutes.
Medium work, not easy, not aggressive. Threw in some smart shots and turned the record button on and off a few times. Pretty real world test. I'd comfortably say expect only 15 minutes on a battery.
Did yours RTL at 10%, mine did and started heading back up as I was trying to land. Yea 15 is a fairly accurate number it seems overall, I'd guess best case with no wind and flying manually mostly I may get 17 with my batts both having near 50 cycles and charge to 97 or 98 now. So yea flight time is kinda disappointing, it's fine for most of my uses but really makes missions with mp or tower seem less useful. Hope upgrades are out before I need to replace mine but wel see if that's the case.
 
Could be done in tower. 2 waypoints and a ROI. The camera would stay locked onto the ROI from beginning to end. .

I did not get to try the new tower but would have to be easier to use than the old version. I am hoping for full camera controls and easy place on map waypoints. Hope 3DR includes that with the app.
 
Did yours RTL at 10%, mine did and started heading back up as I was trying to land. Yea 15 is a fairly accurate number it seems overall, I'd guess best case with no wind and flying manually mostly I may get 17 with my batts both having near 50 cycles and charge to 97 or 98 now. So yea flight time is kinda disappointing, it's fine for most of my uses but really makes missions with mp or tower seem less useful. Hope upgrades are out before I need to replace mine but wel see if that's the case.
Yes, I was hovering at 5 feet and started to bring it down when it when RTL and started climbing! I hit Fly real quick and brought it in at 8%.
 
One of the reasons I avoid posting on RC Groups are the posts that always try to validate a view with I have x years in RC, it makes me cringe every time. A viewpoint or opinion is just that, if it's valid is doesn't get any more validated by any number of years experience...

I've built and flown DJI and 3DR gear for years, there are pros and cons to both.

For me with a software engineering background (oh and customer service), 3DR appeals to me as the bugs are on GitHub, along with the release information, in comparison DJI is a closed shop, they have release notes so poor, I've never come across any in software that are so bad; bugs are recorded often as enhancements. I've seen alarmingly bad version control, this was most apparent on the A2 controller, for a time ARPAS (a trade body for professional fliers in the UK) had members openly saying the A2 wasn't fit for commercial use, this stemmed wholly from bad firmware. Then add the Phantom's project Drunken Sparrow into the mix and the history of DJI with software quality is very poor indeed. Given software is at the heart of each copter and the complexity is increasing year on year, the importance of quality software testing increases. I know DJI are improving and have beta tests on the Inspire, nonetheless they're still a long way behind open source in testing and transparency.

Whilst the Solo isn't bug free, any bugs there are, are on GitHub for the World to see, the testing is evident from the time bugs are fixed to them being released and I know if a bug loses or smashes my Solo, gimbal and/or camera then 3DR will do the right thing and replace it, without quibbling. That to me is worth a lot...

The Solo has done what it said on the tin, when I've used it, I've got the smart shots I've needed for video, I can walk with it in a bag, have it up and flying in relatively little time and capture the shots I need.

The Solo gets me the photos and video I need, when I need them, here's a photo from yesterday evening, the results deliver for me and I'm very happy.Facing Cow and Calf.jpg
 
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One of the reasons I avoid posting on RC Groups are the posts that always try to validate a view with I have x years in RC, it makes me cringe every time. A viewpoint or opinion is just that, if it's valid is doesn't get any more validated by any number of years experience...

I've built and flown DJI and 3DR gear for years, there are pros and cons to both.

For me with a software engineering background (oh and customer service), 3DR appeals to me as the bugs are on GitHub, along with the release information, in comparison DJI is a closed shop, they have release notes so poor, I've never come across any in software that are so bad; bugs are recorded often as enhancements. I've seen alarmingly bad version control, this was most apparent on the A2 controller, for a time ARPAS (a trade body for professional fliers in the UK) had members openly saying the A2 wasn't fit for commercial use, this stemmed wholly from bad firmware. Then add the Phantom's project Drunken Sparrow into the mix and the history of DJI with software quality is very poor indeed. Given software is at the heart of each copter and the complexity is increasing year on year, the importance of quality software testing increases. I know DJI are improving and have beta tests on the Inspire, nonetheless they're still a long way behind open source in testing and transparency.

Whilst the Solo isn't bug free, any bugs there are, are on GitHub for the World to see, the testing is evident from the time bugs are fixed to them being released and I know if a bug loses or smashes my Solo, gimbal and/or camera then 3DR will do the right thing and replace it, without quibbling. That to me is worth a lot...

The Solo has done what it said on the tin, when I've used it, I've got the smart shots I've needed for video, I can walk with it in a bag, have it up and flying in relatively little time and capture the shots I need.

The Solo gets me the photos and video I need, when I need them, here's a photo from yesterday evening, the results deliver for me and I'm very happy.View attachment 1237

Nice shot Ian have to agree on most of what you mentioned here.


I'm pretty happy as well and again today I had another great experience with solo and the public. A large group of kids young to teens gathered about ten or so plus mom and asked every question in the book, apparently one of the kids is in a robotics class already and they all were great. Had a good time showing and telling all I could and they all loved it. Another guy also came up with the only other quad I've seen locally flying and says he's doing real estate work not far from here, he was flying a little white cheap hhjc copter got it stuck in a tree, then told the mother before I showed up he paid 500 bucks for it, but he was nice enough as well. Take that for what it's worth but did have a good night and another great response to solo and me flying it at a local park. Stayed over the ball fields to be safe and not above folks more to be polite than anything and all went very well. Still a great record of no complainers or issues in a year and a half, just taking time to be polite and approachable and show what we're actually doing flying these things.

Fly safe
 
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I've seen alarmingly bad version control
Exactly. DJI finally lost me last fall when they tried to slip a patch into their desktop software without incrementing the point release version number. It took an incredible amount of effort to figure out. I can only conclude someone at DJI was embarrassed that they needed to fix a bug and so they made the fix and uploaded the new software under the same version number. At the time, the only way to get the newly released controller with a built in gimbal tilt wheel to operate was to re-download the desktop software again. At the time people were chalking it up to a cultural thing about saving face, but I reject that. I do think it's a sign of a bad corporate culture though.
 
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