So do I buy a new solo? Would love to hear from all you new owners of Solos your un bias opinions on this quad.
Thank you!
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So do I buy a new solo? Would love to hear from all you new owners of Solos your un bias opinions on this quad.
Thank you!
You need to be a member of diydrones to add comments!
Replies are closed for this discussion.
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End of the month the inspire and p3 will have autonomous flight capabilities,Its actually in the dji pilot planner already plus the new DJI Matrice 100 has crash avoidance technology which im sure will be rolled out with new models. Also the inspire will have a firmware upgrade soon to implement head tracking control of the camera gimble thru hi definition goggles. Very cool. Think I will wait a month or so to see what comes out.
I think they said that the Solo is open source so developers can add different capabilities for it.
I've been waiting for Solo since NAB. Anxiously waiting, ha ha. The Smart Shots are what set it apart from the entire industry right now. Compare it to anything you want and that's the trump card. It also means that cool shots are within reach of the average pilot. I've seen professional, two operator, setups that can't do what Solo (with a gimbal) can do smoothly. I can do it by myself with a couple of button presses.
Kinda what Rob said. Out of the box to into the air is very quick once you have done it a couple of times. I turn on the controller first as it boots up the slowest. Then put the props on and turn on Solo. Then connect my iPhone 6+ and the app. In an open area Solo gets a good GPS signal fairly quickly and you're in the air!
The app is great and user friendly. Setting up the Smart Shots is easy especially once you've done the process a couple of times. On iOS you can record the video stream, on Android you can't yet but I'm sure it's coming soon. I use my iOS device to stream video and control Smart Shots and I got a cheap Android tablet to run Tower for mission planning. It's a pretty sweet combo.
Honestly the only bummer right now is the lack of a gimbal for stabilized footage. They're saying that we should see the gimbal in July sometime, hopefully that is true. The backpack would be great as well. They give you a case but mine is already starting to wear and it's really not meant to be a long term solution.
In the mean time I'm having fun playing with the shot modes and just getting more comfortable flying in general. I still haven't gotten brave enough to go into the advanced modes but they have a nice progression to fully manual. The drift mode sounds cool, not fighting the wind is a great way to get smooth shots.
Right now my only mild complaint is the range. I've flown 650' over open sports fields before losing signal with the stock antennas. Upgraded to 6db antennas then gotten 850' of range on the same field with enough signal strength left to go even further. But then I have lost signal in a housing development with the upgraded antennas only 350' away. The other three letter company (cough cough :) ) will get more range consistently from what I see on other forums.
Personally I will upgrade to some directional antennas to get a more reliable and consistent connection. I'm not trying to go miles, just a couple hundred feet to safely perform orbit modes and fly far enough away that I'm not in the shot.
All that to say it's a great quad and the video will be amazing when the gimbal comes out. There's also a 30 day money back guarantee (although the Best Buy receipt says 14 days) so there's really no risk in trying one out for yourself.
Hey Rich
How many flights on your Solo? Any problems to note? Thanks
Hi Gregg!
Nope, Solo has been great! I have almost 5 hours on mine so far. Free flying, Smart Shots, autonomous missions from Tower, all work awesome. I have to say the software side of things is pretty amazing and easy.
Yesterday I was playing around with autonomous flights from Tower and trying out survey grids. Worked awesome and switching between manual flight, Solo app controlled flights, and Tower app controlled flights is very seamless.
Other than anxiously waiting on the gimbal to be able to take any real usable video my only beef would be the range. Either the DJI stuff is just plain illegally overpowered or the Solo's range is wimpy. I'm working with my RF engineer buddy to beef up the controller antennas. I don't want to fly miles away, I just want to see a better connection for peace of mind.
I already put on 5 db antennas in place of the factory ones. In an open field (with nearby RF congestion) I gained several hundred feet of range, almost out to 1,000 feet which is plenty for me. But then in another area with more RF congestion I lost connection to Solo only 350' away. I get the manufacturers can't control the environment but I was well within LOS so it should work a little better. That said that's the only time that has happened so far and it's kind of a worst case scenario.
Some people complain about GPS drift and there's a little. That said the error on a RTH is about the same as DJI stuff. One guy posted a great video of a P3 and Solo side by side in hover, flying around, and RTH. The DJI stuff with the extra bottom sensors will hover very well at low altitude with very little vertical drift but up higher those sensors can't be used. But both did RTH about the same distance away from the actual home point.
I think drift will always be an issue. For $1,000 you simply won't get military grade GPS with surveyor level accuracy that it would take to have these aircraft be perfectly still in the air. Your buddy's long exposure inspire picture is possible because of the gimbal. That same shot without a gimbal and it's not usable.
When the DJI stuff is working correctly with the gimbal it's great. Hang out on the forums though and they have their fair share of problems. Guys with Inspires and have nothing but praise. One post later is another Inspire with problem after problem and months of time waiting for repair. That's why I didn't purchase one. Plus relatively short flight times for something so expensive.
Anyway, read review and make your own decision. I still think that with the money back guarantee there's nothing to lose by trying other than some money if you keep it :)
I think I may buy one and give it a real test between the phantom 3. inspire and solo. I love the idea that within 30 days you can return it..or so they say. After researching a bit further, I found that the new gps in the p3 and inspire uses GLONASS gps which uses not only american satellites but Russian sats too, for a total of 16 satellites locked into. I think with most gps systems it lockes on to like 10 or 11 at the most.
Be interesting to see if the Solo has an upgrade to tap into the GLONASS satellite system.
Hey thanks Rich for your input and im glad you are having success! I feel bad for some of the pilots out there struggling with their Solos.
Wow that range in vtx is horrible! the phantom and Inspire's range with the lightbridge is over a mile! Does the Solo have the sonar in the bottom of it for indoor stabilization? For me being a video producer I need something that is dependable indoors. How does the Solo act in a indoor environment?
Currently no sonar or optical flow so if you want to fly indoors it's fully manual only.
I started on quads with the developer Iris model...and then there were two Iris+ (upgraded models)...and now, added the Solo on 6/15. It is one VERY awesome machine. I haven't flown any DJI product, so won't try to make any comparisons...but, the Solo is head-and-shoulders above the Iris+. I can have this bird safely in the air in under 3 minutes. Spin on the props, turn on the Solo, turn on the controller, usually, by the time I've done this, my phone has already connected to the Sololink wifi. Then turn on the GoPro and within seconds, I usually have GPS lock. Hold down the fly button and props start spinning...hold it down again, and Solo is airborne, hovering at approx. 10 foot height. I can fly manual, do a dronie, an orbit, a cable cam, etc. Or, I can fly an automated mission via Tower or MP (although I haven't done this yet waiting on 3DR blessing this as being within the warranty parameters...hoping this will be soon). And yes, the gimbal is back ordered, so not getting the greatest video, but still adequate and with good editing skills, can put together a decent video from clips. Once the gimbal comes out, I can't imagine any quad being competition. This thing is SOOO smooth...when I demo it, I've NEVER gotten the type of response I'm getting now. I'd say better than 50% sound as if they will be heading to buy one as soon as they can. I am solid on this quad. I thought Iris was pretty awesome (well, still do), but this is so far superior it is almost unreal.
Thanks Rob..im still waivering. Just bought the DJI inspire and very impressed with the stability and agility..never flew anything as stable as it! Hefty price tag though. I have an x8 and just sold my Iris. I wasnt impressed with the gps holding its position and thats why I was holding off on the Solo. Sounds like they may have improved the pixhawk in the Solo to where it holds a solid hover. I will hold onto the x8 for its set up for mapping and I really have no need for a steady hover. Hope to hear some more feed back before I buy another 1400. quad.
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