Tower- no camera

Waveriderz · Mar 7, 2018

New to Solo and am curious if Tower can be used to fly Solo without a camera attached? Obviously no fpv, and camera functions, however would like to play around with some of the flight functions within los until i get a camera. Anyone tried this? If so, anything i should be aware of?..Thanks

EZL · Mar 7, 2018

Waveriderz said:
New to Solo and am curious if Tower can be used to fly Solo without a camera attached? Obviously no fpv, and camera functions, however would like to play around with some of the flight functions within los until i get a camera. Anyone tried this? If so, anything i should be aware of?..Thanks

You can use just the controller but to me flying like that is like flying blind since I'm use to flying FPV. My first flight was using the GitUp Git1 but there are
better cameras than it and cheaper like the Hawkeye Firefly 7s 4K.
Hawkeye Firefly 7S 4K 120 Degree 7mm Lens CMOS WIFI Real Time Playback Preview Camera

Ebay might have one cheaper but I did buy another 4K knockoff for $40 that was recommended and it didn't work, either the hdmi circuit is bad or the
wired connector is not working or wired right? The Git1 has a terrible menu system on it and I don't know if the Git2 is any better? The FireFly was
reviewed on YouTube and looked good for a cheap camera but you might get lucky and find a GoPro Hero 4 black/silver cheap on Ebay? Good Luck.

Waveriderz · Mar 7, 2018

EZL said:
You can use just the controller but to me flying like that is like flying blind since I'm use to flying FPV. My first flight was using the GitUp Git1 but there are
better cameras than it and cheaper like the Hawkeye Firefly 7s 4K.
Hawkeye Firefly 7S 4K 120 Degree 7mm Lens CMOS WIFI Real Time Playback Preview Camera

Ebay might have one cheaper but I did buy another 4K knockoff for $40 that was recommended and it didn't work, either the hdmi circuit is bad or the
wired connector is not working or wired right? The Git1 has a terrible menu system on it and I don't know if the Git2 is any better? The FireFly was
reviewed on YouTube and looked good for a cheap camera but you might get lucky and find a GoPro Hero 4 black/silver cheap on Ebay? Good Luck.

Thanks EZL.. gonna pick up a Hero 4 at some point. Have a large area out back i can fly line of sight in. Would like to get a little familiar with the Tower App prior to mounting a camera.

Bought the Solo used and need to check what parameters/missions might have been uploaded to it previously.

XevetS · Mar 7, 2018

yes you can run missions using tower or mission planner you can see a birds eye view of the solo using GPS tracking overlaid on google maps works quite well, here is a tutorial it's not mine just a random video off youtube that gives you the basics No Camera needed...I've done this plenty of times and it works quite well

Waveriderz · Mar 7, 2018

XevetS said:
yes you can run missions using tower or mission planner you can see a birds eye view of the solo using GPS tracking overlaid on google maps works quite well, here is a tutorial

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it's not mine just a random video off youtube that gives you the basics No Camera needed...I've done this plenty of times and it works quite well

Awesome...thanks XevetS!

Didzis ( Diddy boy ) · Mar 9, 2018

You can fly. Like I was done first when I got SOLO. I was use Velcro strap to attach my Sony Xperia Z3 to SOLO and used Galaxy s7 edge with SOLO app. I did fly like rc models without camera and laret watched mobile phone video. Tower are more like for missions to get photos of area

Sent from my SM-G935F using Tapatalk

XevetS · Mar 9, 2018

Didzis ( Diddy boy ) said:
Tower are more like for missions to get photos of area

This is correct Tower, QgroundControl, Mission Planner, and Side Pilot are all mission based planners, but You can still use these apps for real time GPS tracking. which gives you a top down real time (although is off by a few milliseconds) view of the position of the solo The Solo app and Solex does this as well no camera needed.

Didzis ( Diddy boy ) · Mar 9, 2018

XevetS said:
This is correct Tower, QgroundControl, Mission Planner, and Side Pilot are all mission based planners, but You can still use these apps for real time GPS tracking. which gives you a top down real time (although is off by a few milliseconds) view of the position of the solo The Solo app and Solex does this as well no camera needed.

But I did like normally in sight of view flying to feel that control. And others I suggest the same in line of sight.

XevetS · Mar 9, 2018

Yes but if you read the original post he's asking if you can use Tower to fly without a camera, maybe he does not have a camera or he wants to fly beyond LOS? My answer was directed towards him, I too flew with just a camera plugged into the Solo and no camera just LOS, I hear Ya...

You need nothing but the Solo and controller to Fly it..LOS

Didzis ( Diddy boy ) · Mar 9, 2018

And yes can fly but best option has LOS if no camera. You can't see then what you are doing and can crash the SOLO easy.

XevetS · Mar 9, 2018

Didzis ( Diddy boy ) said:
And yes can fly but best option has LOS if no camera. You can't see then what you are doing and can crash the SOLO easy.

Yes correct If you are a noob at flying the Solo practice first by flying LOS, secondly program one of the controller buttons to "Manual" mode and make sure you practice not only in "Fly" mode but "Manual" mode with no GPS and just stay LOS. This way not if but when you do lose GPS you will still be able to control the Solo in "Manual" mode. This subject it's extremely important, and will save you from a bad experience..see here >>Learn To Fly Manual...

EZL · Mar 9, 2018

Didzis ( Diddy boy ) said:
But I did like normally in sight of view flying to feel that control. And others I suggest the same in line of sight.

Have you thought of trying the 3dr Solo Simulator program since all you need is a IOS or Android to run the 3dr Solo Simulator program plus the controller to practice. That way you can get a feel for the control sticks, FPV or just LOS flying without messing up the Solo in case of a crash. The graphics aren't the
best in the program and it is meant for beginners so it's not as fast or responsive.

Didzis ( Diddy boy ) · Mar 9, 2018

EZL said:
Have you thought of trying the 3dr Solo Simulator program since all you need is Windows 7 or 10, the 3dr Simulator program and the controller to practice.
That way you can get a feel for the control sticks, FPV or just LOS flying without messing up the Solo in case of a crash. The graphics aren't the best
in the program and it is meant for beginners so it's not as fast or responsive.

I was doing that when i started. But now I'm ok .

XevetS · Mar 9, 2018

EZL said:
Windows 7 or 10, the 3dr Simulator program and the controller to practice.

Please point me to this program for windows I'm curious?

Waveriderz · Mar 9, 2018

..thanks for the replies everyone. Was just asking if the Tower app. would perform autonomous missions without a camera attached. Won't need any of the camera features of Tower until i get a camera. Am new to Solo and Tower, however i currently fly a DJI and Xiaomi Mi and understand some of the limitations of not having a camera attached... Thanks again!

XevetS · Mar 9, 2018

Waveriderz said:
..thanks for the replies everyone. Was just asking if the Tower app. would perform autonomous missions without a camera attached. Won't need any of the camera features of Tower until i get a camera. Am new to Solo and Tower, however i currently fly a DJI and Xiaomi Mi and understand some of the limitations of not having a camera attached... Thanks again!

Yeah that's what I thought you were asking, answered in post 4...

EZL · Mar 10, 2018

XevetS said:
Please point me to this program for windows I'm curious?

Not for Windows I got that tangled up with Yuneec's Q500, but the simulator is available on the Google play store for IOS and Android
users free. The one for Yuneec is tricky to use and requires a $30+ dongle that has to be purchased separately. The 3dr simulator is a
lot easier to use.

XevetS · Mar 10, 2018

EZL said:
Not for Windows I got that tangled up with Yuneec's Q500, but the simulator is available on the Google play store for IOS and Android
users free. The one for Yuneec is tricky to use and requires a $30+ dongle that has to be purchased separately. The 3dr simulator is a
lot easier to use.

Yeah I have that one, you get to fly around in a no fly zone lol 3dr thinking outside the box again..

EZL · Mar 10, 2018

XevetS said:
Yeah I have that one, you get to fly around in a no fly zone lol 3dr thinking outside the box again..

Hey, on the 3dr Solo flight sim I managed to land on the boat while it was moving and getting the motors shutdown was the problem. I wanted to see
how far I could get on the boat.