Some have more, some less, but the dream of wings sits in every person. For most people, acquaintance with the sky will take place on board passenger aircraft, where it doesn’t smell like real flight sensations: here you are just a passive spectator, and another person is sitting at the helm. Of course, you can jump with a parachute or catch a similar dose of adrenaline on a motor hang glider, but not everyone can overcome primitive fear - after all, we are earthly people and we ourselves are not allowed to fly.
But as a good substitute for real flights, and most importantly - a safer alternative to getting thrills for life, you can be advised to look in the direction of radio-controlled models, namely quadrocopters (drones). The latter lead to wild delight not only children and adolescents, but also adult consumers, so this area is so rapidly gaining momentum.
Today we will talk about one such device - the quadcopter DJI Phantom 3 Professional. Instructions, specifications, advantages and disadvantages of the drone will be discussed in this article.
Versions
As such, the Phantom platform does not change at all, that is, we have a drone with four (quad) rotors and a body with a "filling". Visually distinguishing one version from another is almost impossible, but if you look at the instructions in Russian for DJI Phantom 3 Professional, Advanced or Standard, you will see some differences.
Standard ≈ 50 000 rub.
This is a basic model that differs from its more serious counterparts in limited functionality. The communication between the remote control and the drone is carried out using Wi-Fi protocols, so the range of the transmitted signal varies within one kilometer.
Also, the quadrocopter does not have GLONASS support and Vision positioning system. The first, again, limits the operator to the range of the drone, and the second greatly improves the quality of piloting.
As for shooting, the maximum that the Standard version can overpower is a resolution of 2.7K with 30 frames per second. The remote turned out to be modest: there are no buttons to start shooting for photos and videos, as well as for working with the camera’s exposure.
Advanced ≈ 60 000 rub.
Here we already have a complete set of technologies: LightBridge, GLONASS and piloting with Vision. The manufacturer left the camera matrix unchanged in this version, but significantly expanded the functionality of the control panel.
All the necessary buttons for recording photo and video content were added, as well as an interface for changing the exposure, Playback and a couple of free keys to which you can assign any function.
Professional ≈ 70 000 rub.
This is the top version of the series, significantly different from the "Standard", but very little from Advanced. Judging by the instructions in Russian for DJI Phantom 3 Professional, the only difference from the extended version is the ability to record footage in ultra-high resolution, i.e. 4K. Moreover, the frame rate does not fall below 30 FPS.
Consider the features of the professional version.
Equipment
The drone comes in a massive white cardboard box. The front part shows the device itself and its name, and on the back there is a brief instruction in Russian for DJI Phantom 3 Professional with warnings, as well as the most “delicious” characteristics of the model. At the ends you can see the usual dealer surroundings, such as barcodes, labels and stickers.
Contents of delivery:
- DJI Phantom 3 Professional itself;
- instruction in Russian;
- rechargeable lithium-ion battery;
- remote control;
- mains charger;
- a set of spare screws in the case;
- USB cable
- warranty obligations of the seller.
The package bundle is not the richest, but the drone can be used, as they say, out of the box. Some revisions can be additionally equipped with memory cards and combined chargers (it feeds both the remote control and the drone).
Beginning of work
In order to fully reveal the potential of the drone and get maximum pleasure, you need to connect any mobile gadget with a screen to your control panel - a smartphone or tablet. Of course, you can do without them, but why then buy a professional version, when you can fly blindly and on the standard?
The drone synergizes with mobile devices both on the Android platform and on iOS. Before proceeding directly to the flights, they will need to install proprietary software (can be found on the official DJI website).
After installing special software, the setup wizard carefully guides you through all the necessary points before starting the flight. After that, the picture from the camera of the quadcopter DJI Phantom 3 Professional should appear on the screen of the mobile gadget. Even a novice in this business will get used to the management: the hints are universal, and the functionality itself is utterly simple. Nevertheless, it is better to take the first steps on earth, and not immediately embark on a heavenly adventure.
Flying
The characteristics of the DJI Phantom 3 Professional quadrocopter allow it to move away from the pilot by no more than two kilometers, with a vertical ceiling of 500 meters. The last parameter defaults to a hundred meters, but in the settings you can remove the restriction.
It should be noted right away that information about places where it is forbidden to fly is sewn into the “brains” of the device. The latter include some state, military and other institutions, as well as airports. The data is constantly updated for a specific flight area of the drone, so do not be surprised that your quadrocopter suddenly refuses to visit some "unfriendly" place for it.
Climbing speed is about 5 meters per second, landing - only 3 m / s, and the maximum flight speed - 16 m / s. The existing characteristics of DJI Phantom 3 Professional allow you to work wonders in the sky, while competing counterparts have much more modest capabilities (in this price category).
Of the minuses, one can note a short flight range in cities with a population of over one million, because the frequency ranges are jammed and, for example, in the center of Moscow the drone will not fly further than 500 meters, while in Samara it calmly overcomes the threshold of almost two kilometers. Accordingly, to shoot videos and photos on DJI Phantom 3 Professional in megacities at a great distance also fails.
Standalone time
The drone and the control panel are equipped with intelligent rechargeable batteries, that is, the battery has a dynamic indicator of the charge level and perfectly keeps its rating. And if the last indicator is absolutely unimportant for smartphones, then for such a technique as a quadrocopter - this is the most important moment, because a voltage loss is fraught with a fall of the device.
DJI Phantom 3 Professional received on board a battery of 4480 mAh (15.2 V). Some revisions are equipped with a more capacious 6000 mAh battery, so here is how lucky. There is a spare battery in the package, so there should not be any serious problems with autonomy.
In good and calm weather, the drone will calmly hold out in the sky for about half an hour. If you fly it in the autumn, that is, when the temperature is close to zero and with gusts of wind, then for more than 15 minutes one battery will not be enough.
The battery is fully recharged in about an hour. It is easy to calculate that for continuous flights you need three batteries, so fans of non-stop entertainment will have to buy another battery.
In general, if we compare the battery life of the drone with competing counterparts, then our respondent is doing well. The model does not differ in long flights, but the pleasure of the latter (in half an hour of time) can be obtained in abundance.
Summarizing
Devices of such a plan remain toys. Yes, they can find themselves in a professional environment, but there will be only a few. Entrepreneurial figures can offer, for example, to rent your house from all angles for a certain fee or to track a child playing in the yard, but the drone still remains a toy.
Children are simply delighted with such a tech gadget as a quadrocopter. They consider it a serious and adult device, even despite the intuitive controls and uncomplicated functionality. If you decide to buy a Phantom series drone, then it is better to pay attention to the last two generations - Professional and Advanced. They will be able to unleash the full potential of the concept of “quadrocopter” and will deliver many pleasant hours of flight.
The only thing that stops the average consumer from buying is the cost of the device. You certainly cannot call such a “toy” mass. Of course, you can find something much cheaper, but it will already be a regular radio-controlled helicopter, as they say, without brains. And he will not provide such adrenaline as a real drone.