Colour me unhappy - at least with the P4P - Friday should be better with the MP when it gets here.
(This is a copy of a post I put on PhantomPilots and not reflective of what should be a much better experience with the MP so please don't blast me too much).
Edit: also found this in the outer box.
Got the goggles and did the various rituals to set them up (new Assistant s/w, installed the "Android" comms pak that allows a Mac to talk to the Android based f/w in DJI products, re-booted, updated the goggle f/w, registered the goggles to my account).
Now the impact of the fact that these are not friendly things to use with a P4P (never mind legally - more below). With the goggles connected to the P4P controller, you no longer have the tablet for a/c state information. The displayed info in the goggles is quite sparse.
Took my SO to a spot to try them out. I took off with them and flew around FPV while she kept the bird in view. Then she tried them. Everything was awful. Of course. She touched the side of the goggles various times while putting them on and menus covered the screen. Cleared that. Everything was awful. Of course. She's far sighted. Dig in her purse for reading glasses.
Ah. Nice and sharp. So, I buzz around, now having lost VLOS to the stupid bird. So she's verbally telling me what she's seeing and I'm navigating on that. "There's the cell tower", turn "You're near the filtration plant", turn ... actually effective navigation as long as I stayed at 90m height ... explained the controls to her and let her move it around, but she wasn't comfortable with that. So I took over and she verbally navigated me back to where I could see the bird. At that point she was feeling unsettled like a bad car ride. Landed the bird and waited for her son to show up.
He misunderstood where to go, so during this wait I tried a few FPV approaches and landings. The approach is fine but the final metre or so to the ground is hard to judge so just hovered and then pulled the down lever until the earth rose up and hit the bird. Shut rotors. Takeoffs are painless and easy. Spotter tells me that she is bored to tears with this.
SO's son arrives. Change the battery, select S mode. Full blast take off. But, he didn't get the benefit of that due to the menus all over the screen. Again. Arghhhh. Cleared those. Managed to keep the bird VLOS this time. He loved it. Hovered and explained the controls to him (and switched to P mode) and let him buzz around. Of course he quickly went out of VLOS (for me) but could describe where he was, so no big deal. Another round of verbal navigation and don't fly over the freeway and so on.
He attempted a FPV approach but was still rough so I had him take off the goggles to land the bird.
Anyway, the Goggles with the P4P is not a practical thing unless you're working with a spotter. Too easy to fly out of VLOS but for the person flying and using the goggles it's quite easy. Need to spend some time using the menus in the goggles while flying. Some other day. Spotters are not easy to come by - never mind keep interested while you get your flying rocks off.
Will get the allegedly perfectly repaired (new SERNO again...) MP back this Friday. Should be a better experience with that.
Another note. I need a haircut. You cannot wear these things with long thick hair in the back. Tend to slip all the time.
Another note. My SO confirms that I looked like a total nerd goofa$s wearing these. (I look like a nerd goofa$s normally, so this just completed the circle).
Another note. Bring mosquito repellent stupid.
Another note. Close the car doors lest it fill with mosquitos while flying.
(This is a copy of a post I put on PhantomPilots and not reflective of what should be a much better experience with the MP so please don't blast me too much).
Edit: also found this in the outer box.
Got the goggles and did the various rituals to set them up (new Assistant s/w, installed the "Android" comms pak that allows a Mac to talk to the Android based f/w in DJI products, re-booted, updated the goggle f/w, registered the goggles to my account).
Now the impact of the fact that these are not friendly things to use with a P4P (never mind legally - more below). With the goggles connected to the P4P controller, you no longer have the tablet for a/c state information. The displayed info in the goggles is quite sparse.
Took my SO to a spot to try them out. I took off with them and flew around FPV while she kept the bird in view. Then she tried them. Everything was awful. Of course. She touched the side of the goggles various times while putting them on and menus covered the screen. Cleared that. Everything was awful. Of course. She's far sighted. Dig in her purse for reading glasses.
Ah. Nice and sharp. So, I buzz around, now having lost VLOS to the stupid bird. So she's verbally telling me what she's seeing and I'm navigating on that. "There's the cell tower", turn "You're near the filtration plant", turn ... actually effective navigation as long as I stayed at 90m height ... explained the controls to her and let her move it around, but she wasn't comfortable with that. So I took over and she verbally navigated me back to where I could see the bird. At that point she was feeling unsettled like a bad car ride. Landed the bird and waited for her son to show up.
He misunderstood where to go, so during this wait I tried a few FPV approaches and landings. The approach is fine but the final metre or so to the ground is hard to judge so just hovered and then pulled the down lever until the earth rose up and hit the bird. Shut rotors. Takeoffs are painless and easy. Spotter tells me that she is bored to tears with this.
SO's son arrives. Change the battery, select S mode. Full blast take off. But, he didn't get the benefit of that due to the menus all over the screen. Again. Arghhhh. Cleared those. Managed to keep the bird VLOS this time. He loved it. Hovered and explained the controls to him (and switched to P mode) and let him buzz around. Of course he quickly went out of VLOS (for me) but could describe where he was, so no big deal. Another round of verbal navigation and don't fly over the freeway and so on.
He attempted a FPV approach but was still rough so I had him take off the goggles to land the bird.
Anyway, the Goggles with the P4P is not a practical thing unless you're working with a spotter. Too easy to fly out of VLOS but for the person flying and using the goggles it's quite easy. Need to spend some time using the menus in the goggles while flying. Some other day. Spotters are not easy to come by - never mind keep interested while you get your flying rocks off.
Will get the allegedly perfectly repaired (new SERNO again...) MP back this Friday. Should be a better experience with that.
Another note. I need a haircut. You cannot wear these things with long thick hair in the back. Tend to slip all the time.
EDIT: Got my hair seriously cut today. Much better fit of the goggles.
Another note. My SO confirms that I looked like a total nerd goofa$s wearing these. (I look like a nerd goofa$s normally, so this just completed the circle).
Another note. Bring mosquito repellent stupid.
Another note. Close the car doors lest it fill with mosquitos while flying.
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