Flying without camera

[User Name]

So I just received my order - Solo, extra battery, props and, yes, even the gimbal. Have the Solo, controller and phone all charged up and ready to go. I slapped my 250 quad back together so I can practice before taking the Solo up. Just have a few questions:

Am I correct in assuming there's no issues (balance or otherwise) in flying the Solo sans-camera? Until I'm comfortable with all the controls, I'd prefer not to have an additional $400-$800 up in the air if not necessary. It's killing me not attaching the gimbal, but I think it's the smarter way to go.

As long as I haven't enabled advanced modes, all flight modes require a GPS fix and, should, ensure fairly tame flying. I'm comfortable flying the 250 in all orientations, and it has no GPS, it's just a basic CC3D controlled scratch built. But there will be the added stress that the Solo is $1000 up in the air as opposed to $200.

Any recommended procedures? I've updated everything, did stick, level and compass calibrations, and I'll probably balance the props before taking it up. Anything I'm missing?

Thanks!

 

[Jubalr]

So I just received my order - Solo, extra battery, props and, yes, even the gimbal. Have the Solo, controller and phone all charged up and ready to go. I slapped my 250 quad back together so I can practice before taking the Solo up. Just have a few questions:

Am I correct in assuming there's no issues (balance or otherwise) in flying the Solo sans-camera? Until I'm comfortable with all the controls, I'd prefer not to have an additional $400-$800 up in the air if not necessary. It's killing me not attaching the gimbal, but I think it's the smarter way to go.

As long as I haven't enabled advanced modes, all flight modes require a GPS fix and, should, ensure fairly tame flying. I'm comfortable flying the 250 in all orientations, and it has no GPS, it's just a basic CC3D controlled scratch built. But there will be the added stress that the Solo is $1000 up in the air as opposed to $200.

Any recommended procedures? I've updated everything, did stick, level and compass calibrations, and I'll probably balance the props before taking it up. Anything I'm missing?

Thanks!

With your 250 experience I'm sure you will do great. No problem flying without a camera either. Before you go, assign A or B to manual just in case you see any unwanted behavior. Even manual mode will be more stable than the 250 was.
Fly Safe..
Jubal

 

[Chuck]

I flew mine the first few times with no GoPro in the mount, and had no problems at all. It helped with my being so nervous taking it up for the first time. Enjoy your Solo. It is a great bird.

 

[lurch68b]

By default the performance settings are at their lowest settings, that will make the solo fly extremely tame so you should not have any issues with control. Even with the settings maxed the Solo has been very stable. I also set my max altitude to around 60'. Fly like that till you get comfortable with how it flys then bump up the performance setting till you max them out,

 

[Maddog]

I flew mine the first few times with no GoPro in the mount, and had no problems at all. It helped with my being so nervous taking it up for the first time. Enjoy your Solo. It is a great bird.

Ditto!

 

[User Name]

Thanks everyone. I'll be taking it out as soon as weather permits.

 

[User Name]

Ok, just got back from my first flight. Wow, I didn't need to be so nervous. I kept it set to the lowest performance setting, so it was very slow, but it gave me a chance to start trying out the options. Did RTH several times, and every time it came back and landed exactly where it took off from.

Really impressed, and I haven't even scratched the surface. Going to do a flight or two with the camera in the fixed mount and then I'll attach the gimbal.

Oh, so another question after the first flight. It wouldn't allow a takeoff until it got 8 satellites, and I waited a little bit longer and got 12. Is 8 the minimum, or does it just depend on the orientation the satellites it's picking up? (spread out is better than if many are in the same general direction). And if the minimum is 8, and you take off with 8, is that just asking for it to loose one and have it kick you into manual mode? Or does it maintain a fix down to 4, which is what I thought the minimum was for a 3D position fix (best case scenario, of course).

It would be nice to get a screen showing the location in the sky of the satellites it's picking up. I had an old handheld GPS that had that, and I'd always know how accurate and reliable the position fix was just by glancing at how the satellites were distributed.

Anyway, thanks again for the previous comments. I'm hooked now!

 

[nacjr]

If your using Android, GPS Status is an app that will show you sat positions.

 

[User Name]

If your using Android, GPS Status is an app that will show you sat positions.

Thanks, I'll check that out.

Well, excitement got the better of me and last night I attached the gimbal. I took it to the local school yard this morning and went through 2 batteries. Experienced a few common issues which I'm sure will be straightened out in due time, but none of them took away from how impressive this thing is. So easy to fly and operate.

The issues were all ones people have mentioned - gimbal faces about 10-12 degrees to the right at all times. I checked and double checked the wiring, removing the battery tray, did stick, level and compass calibrations to no avail. Hopefully the October update will address it, if not, I'll contact support. I'm sure they're inundated at the moment, no need to add to their workload for a known problem.

Had the gimbal flop twice, again, known problem I'm sure will be solved.

And attempts at orbit had the Solo pointing it's rear end at me instead of the camera. I didn't take it personally.

Won't bother posting the video I took, as it's nothing special. Once I get a little more confidant, I'll take it to the local nature preserve and try to get something decent.