I'm on the fence.....Solo vs Phantom 3

[DBS]

Product promotion like that is a double edged sword... you need to be where people will see it... but flying around people is sketchy when things aren't working properly.

And where there are people... there are buildings ... cars ... electrical ... underground piping/sewer/drainage utilities etc...

Tough position to be in.

 

[Dirby]

I don't know Dirby. I wouldn't have been comfortable flying around all those people, kids, congestion. Fly in wide open spaces.

this is where i fly.
can't see much for the first 6 min.
waiting for sats to come up.

/www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zjd_3_i4bs4

 

[Raybro]

this is where i fly.
can't see much for the first 6 min.
waiting for sats to come up.

/www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zjd_3_i4bs4

Haven't had any issues with mine other than a silly mistake which we won't discuss. I managed to avert disaster.
The good thing about it, if there is a bug and we crash the Solo because of it, 3DR will replace it.

 

[thefrog]

Do you have any documentation on this? Not sure what you mean standard WiFi protocols. Please elaborate.

I have no doubt this is the case on the Controller to Tablet/Phone.

Details in this group:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/363840837156620
And you can actually get whole system image to see it's all build from open source components on top of standard wifi stack. Not very elegant but working.

 

[rrmccabe]

Thanks Frog. Will check it out.

 

[prowler9]

I am in the fence as well.. I was just about to order a P3 till my friend said to check this out.

I already have the gopro so its only a little more then the P3 for me. I really like the range I am reading the P3 gets vs the solo. Thing that scares me the most about the P3 is the flyaway and customer support. I really like the look of the Solo the features it has and being able to upgrade. One thing that concerns me is the range people are getting with the solo. Do you think it will get better over time or will we have to upgrade antennas etc?

Thanks for the any reply

( I will be using this mainly for fun and to record jeep events I go to)

 

[rrmccabe]

I would say antenna upgrade for sure. I have made it 4200' with my Solo but I think 1200 to 2000 is typical.

Basically for $100 I can add a DBS Itelite panel which is still small and go 2 to 2 1/2 miles with it. That should be good enough.

FPVLR sells long range antennas as well but I prefer the DBS clean setup. I would say the FPVLR is going to go a little first if you need more than the 2 to 2 1/2 miles.

Keep in mind you wont see a gimbal for the Solo for probably 6 weeks if you order now. They are not out of development yet.

Your customer support concern with DJI is a valid one

 

[Raybro]

I am in the fence as well.. I was just about to order a P3 till my friend said to check this out.

I already have the gopro so its only a little more then the P3 for me. I really like the range I am reading the P3 gets vs the solo. Thing that scares me the most about the P3 is the flyaway and customer support. I really like the look of the Solo the features it has and being able to upgrade. One thing that concerns me is the range people are getting with the solo. Do you think it will get better over time or will we have to upgrade antennas etc?

Thanks for the any reply

( I will be using this mainly for fun and to record jeep events I go to)

I see all kinds of things coming for the Solo. It being open source I would bet in 6 months time there will be a wide range of things available. I really like the look of the Solo, as I said in a previous post it is One bad looking mofo. Much easier to see as well since it is black. There are some mods in work for the antennas. 3DR support is good as well as the warranty.

 

[prowler9]

Yeah I have been reading a ton! I read someone saying DJI is like Apple and 3DR like Android.. I remember when the first Android phone came out (I have been working for Verizon Wireless for about 12 years) It had bugs and I kind of feel this is the same. After updates come I feel the Solo will be bad ass.

As for the gimbal I am aware and will prob just order everything at once just want the extra battery.
I am waiting a few more days before I order but I am leading more toward the Solo.

 

[Victor K]

I am in the fence as well.. I was just about to order a P3 till my friend said to check this out.

I already have the gopro so its only a little more then the P3 for me. I really like the range I am reading the P3 gets vs the solo. Thing that scares me the most about the P3 is the flyaway and customer support. I really like the look of the Solo the features it has and being able to upgrade. One thing that concerns me is the range people are getting with the solo. Do you think it will get better over time or will we have to upgrade antennas etc?

Thanks for the any reply

( I will be using this mainly for fun and to record jeep events I go to)

You gotta read up more about those "flyaways" with the P3... There has not been one true flyaway reported on the P3. People don't seem to understand that it is usually but not always... pilot error
Like loss of gps signal, switching over to manual mode, weather... Etc etc the list goes on and on. When I read about P3 flyaways it is guaranteed that it was not a true flyaway but a pilot mistake or something like a low battery voltage...etc
Yes the p3 has been reported by some pilots to have flown away by its self... But you usually don't get enough info on what really happen, or you find out what he/she were doing with the drone while it flew away.
All drones will have a "flyaway" but it usually is not a real flyaway.

 

[thefrog]

I see all kinds of things coming for the Solo. It being open source I would bet in 6 months time there will be a wide range of things available. I really like the look of the Solo, as I said in a previous post it is One bad looking mofo. Much easier to see as well since it is black. There are some mods in work for the antennas. 3DR support is good as well as the warranty.

Full SOLO Open source was exactly what I was hoping for, until 3DR told us - SOLO is NOT Open Source, and instead one day some limited API will be published for developers. Seems Chris Anderson's Freemium is gone with all the venture capital being poured into 3DR. The only open component is the Pixhawk 2, where 3DR was forced to leave it completely open source as it all based on the original PX4 of ETH Zurich. But seems we can hack it and add new great Python flight and fun scripts regardless of what managers and marketers at 3DR wants. I see a lot of fun yet coming with SOLO.

 

[prowler9]

I have read on the flyaway and from what

drones will have a "flyaway" but it usually is not a real flyaway.

I most definitely believe that!! A lot I think is pilot error for sure. I used to demo the Parrot AR Drone all the time at work. When I flew it the thing was fine when other reps flew it they were all over and said it did it all by its self. Very easy to blame someone / something else then to take blame yourself.

 

[rrmccabe]

Full SOLO Open source was exactly what I was hoping for, until 3DR told us - SOLO is NOT Open Source,

Hey Frog I don't remember 3DR ever saying it was going to be full open source? Every video I watched said it would have open source however you could not touch part of the flight controller and make it crash.

Honestly this is a consumer ready drone. A large portion should be locked down to keep stupid people from doing stupid things. This includes me some days !

If I want open source I will build a custom Pixhawk machine .

 

[dmassphoto]

I'm seriously considering the Solo, but there are a lot of issues that I am wary of. I've never flown a drone before, but want to make this my first, and I will mainly be using it as a platform for aerial photography.

1. I've heard the controller uses wifi and not a traditional radio signal like rc planes use? Is that true, and if so, is it stable? Doesn't seem so, especially when I read posts all over stating not to fly it around areas with competing wifi signals. Seems to be very limiting to me.

2. Is a GPS signal required to fly the machine? I've read where there are serious issues with GPS, so what if I lose satellites?

3. How does the GoPro connect to the tablet/phone? Through the wifi in the Gopro? I've used my Gopro wifi and it displays about a second behind on my phone. Plus it doesn't go but somewhere near 100yds.

4. Can I program something like waypoints into the software for it to follow while I film?
Thanks.

 

[thefrog]

Hey Frog I don't remember 3DR ever saying it was going to be full open source? Every video I watched said it would have open source however you could not touch part of the flight controller and make it crash.

Honestly this is a consumer ready drone. A large portion should be locked down to keep stupid people from doing stupid things. This includes me some days !

If I want open source I will build a custom Pixhawk machine .

SOLO is beautiful because it is RTF, it is unbelievably robust, has expansion port and I hope the code will be open sooner or later. I can't really judge how far it works as consumer drone - time will tell. If we assume DJI P3 to be a prosumer level drone, I would expect SOLO be much lower in price. DJI will never be as hackable as SOLO is and we can expect DJI will add features like orbit and real waypoints quickly with all the usual marketing hype. I like both P3 and SOLO and both have very specific advantages, which may or may not work for everybody.

 

[prowler9]

Just ordered the Solo... ;-)


Time to hurry up and wait...

 

[Ben Adelson]

Just ordered the Solo... ;-)


Time to hurry up and wait...

Did you order yours with a gimbal or no?

 

[Peter Klimon]

Smoother...

Lightbridge has a stronger connection and will give longer distances... but many folks are having troubles with device handling the stream and presenting it smoothly... so there are many threads about which device to use and tips and tricks to make the device handle the app better so the stream doesn't have frame rate problems. Jerky and stuttering video feed is a common conversation over on the P3 and Inspire forums and I have dealt with it myself and cleaned mine up quite a bit but it still shows up more than a few times during each battery cycle in the air.

The Solo, on the other hand... absolutely flawless... not one frame drop... not one glitch... from close range with it right in front of me... all the way out to two and a half miles out and back again... utter perfection. I've been flying FPV since back in 2011 and the Solo video stream is hands down the best I've ever seen... period.

If DJI gets their app running better on android ... all they will do is match what Solo already does.

I do not know where you read that but P3 video is flawless even up to max distance! Solo cannot come anywhere near the DJI when it comes to performance, distance and capabilities. I own both and I can state categorically that the Solo turned out to be a real disappointment. I would have expected 3DR to at least match P3 but they obviously could not. The fact that 3DR could not even have a quality gimbal available at release is telling. Obviously 3DR is having problems since they cannot even manufacture a simple 3 axis gimbal - technology that is over two years old already - shows they have manufacturing issues. The thing that concerns me the most is the large number of reported system failures. Frankly I am surprised that 3DR did such a poor job in build quality and testing. It is very obvious to me that they released the Solo before adequate testing...

 

[Freebird]

Just ordered the Solo... ;-)


Time to hurry up and wait...

Just ordered the P3A

 

[thefrog]

Well, I have no slightest live video problem with neither P3 or Solo at least not for short distances I'm flying. I got Solo primarily as a platform I can play with as it's code is partially open and you can write cool Python scripts to make Solo do whatever you want. Of course, if anyone expect the same level of video quality without the gimbal on Solo, it will disappoint. For the price P3 is hard to beat.