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Is the Typhoon H Plus worth the upgrade?

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I've been flying the H since they first came out and I'm trying to talk myself into (or out of) making the plunge on the H plus.

I really want to understand how significantly different it is than the H.

I know it handles wind better, but what else does it really give you? Is the video that much better than the H? Does it have issues like the H? (like the problems with retracting landing gear, for example). Does it do a better job of keeping its video synch as you fly it further away than the H does? Does it have any other benefits over the H?

I plan to pursue commercial work more aggressively this summer and want something along with the Phantom 4 Pro - something I can rely on even when winds are pretty strong. I also have a drone Youtube channel - I'm not sure how much interest there is in Typhoon H plus episodes so that's another factor as well.

It's a lot to spend on an upgrade - I would probably want to find a used one to bring the price down some if I could. Just trying to decide if the upgrade is cost-justified.

I'm really interested in your thoughts.
 
I’ll presume your first name is Jeff, and if so I know of your channel.

I do not have a Plus, although I have closely followed its development from the beginning. From that perspective the image product, which we can see from user posts, is worth the cost differential. All reports have ability to fly in high winds superior to any other drone in class. Flight time has improved over the original H as well.

Initially, the Plus was lacking some of the more important flight features that are included with the original H but those have been provided in firmware upgrades. If the Plus has a significant negative, and it does, it’s found in firmware upgrades, which appear to be inconsistent in successful uploading and prone to unpublicized bugs. The crew here is pretty diligent in finding ways to deal with them.

There are some independent modifications being done to the GPS and compass unit that significantly improves stability when near structures while minimizing magnetic interference. Like the original H, the truly professional operator can obtain software that removes NFZ restrictions.

One of the problems with the Plus has been a failure by Yuneec to effectively advertise and promote it. Should you obtain one you might help correct that oversight through your YouTube channel.
 
Your videos have been posted and recommended in this forum hundreds of times.

I echo PatR's comments. Many, or perhaps most, of the upgrade problems reported recently have with beta software. Since I am a slow learner I tend to lag behind in doing updates.
 
Hi Pat - yep, you know my channel. If anyone else is wondering, it's Jeff Sibelius. LOL I should have just used that as my user name here in the first place.

I have tried and tried and tried to get Yuneec to talk to me. I probably did as many training videos on the Q500 and Typhoon H than any other Youtuber. I have owned at least 8 Yuneec drones, paid for out of pocket. And I can't get them to return my calls. When I finally reach someone in their marketing agency (an outside firm, incidentally) they tell me they will copy me on their press releases (which they don't) and couldn't be bothered to send me their own promotional pictures so I can do new product announcements on things like the Mantis.

I don't get it - I honestly don't. But I've given up hope they'll ever talk to me. And they wonder why they struggle to sell their products . . .

Anyway, as to the original topic . . . it's frustrating to hear there are firmware issues but it's good to know there are workarounds. I typically use so few of the advanced features, so as long as the issues don't affect the basic safe operation of the drone they probably wouldn't be an issue.

But are the enhanced features and capabilities worth spending $$$ to buy the plus? Is there a real improvement to the video quality? Is the aircraft more reliable than the H? Is the video synch more reliable?

The ability to fly in higher winds is realllllllly enticing, that's for sure. Especially if I'm going to use it for commercial work when I have to be able to fly when I need to.
 
Your videos have been posted and recommended in this forum hundreds of times.

I echo PatR's comments. Many, or perhaps most, of the upgrade problems reported recently have with beta software. Since I am a slow learner I tend to lag behind in doing updates.

Thanks Steve, I appreciate that. And I appreciate your involvement in my facebook group - you really do go out of your way to help people who have questions about the drones.

LOL I've learned to be one of the LAST to do firmware updates. I just can't afford to brick a drone when I need it to do commercial work or shoot an episode.
 
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I bought an H+ after flying DJI for some time. Never had an H. I have to echo all of the above. It really is a great flying machine. The imagine quality is outstanding from both the camera and video. I've flown mine in some pretty stiff winds and it acted like it was nothing more than a light breeze. I have not had any issues with mine.

If you plan on doing any mapping the 520 would be a better choice. Same basic airframe/powerplant.

This video is a great demonstration of the wind handling ability. This is a 520, but like I said it is very similar to the H+ airframe wise.

 
I'm sure you'll get a flurry of responses from you query, there is much to comment on here, but people who have had a Plus longer than I have will be in a better position to thoroughly answer your questions.

I own both so it's easy to see the differences. In a nut shell, the most significant difference of the Plus is its superior handling and the level of precision in responding to the controls. As @Ty Pilot stated in a video, you could fly it down the hallway in your house. And I second that. From a pilots point of view its flight characteristics and behavior are stellar.

The CG23 video color depth and clarity is remarkable, the 1" sensor is very evident in the final product compared to the CGO3+. With 20mp the DNGs are stunning, but the jpegs are lousy compared to the CGO3+. Hopefully future Firmware updates will remedy that.

The C23 antenna placement is truly omni directional and mounted away from the camera. The CGO3 antenna is mounted on its chin, offset to the front and tilted up which degrades the signal to the rear. This alone is a big improvement in video link reliability.

H Plus Firmware is a work in progress with mixed results so far. You'll find many posts on the subject here. I assume in time they get all the bugs ironed out. Since the Plus is relatively new, there are some issues still being resolved, and I do not believe there is much available in the way of replacement parts yet.

All in all if you will be earning money with it, it would be worth the investment. The H480 is a proven aircraft that provides professional results over and over again, as seen by many Part 107 pilots earning a living with it. However the professional feel of H Plus and the C23, makes the H480 feel more like a high end consumer product.

The biggest hurtle you will experience is the transition to the new flight control system, and how the advanced modes like CCC, POI and other functions operate a little differently, and just enough to make them confusing and not intuitive. The learning curve is not necessarily smooth or straightforward, and many here are still pioneering new frontiers!

Like Steve and Pat, I too have watched and enjoyed many of your videos. Hope you keep em comin', and looking forward to seeing future videos shot with a Plus!
 
I bought an H+ after flying DJI for some time. Never had an H. I have to echo all of the above. It really is a great flying machine. The imagine quality is outstanding from both the camera and video. I've flown mine in some pretty stiff winds and it acted like it was nothing more than a light breeze. I have not had any issues with mine.

If you plan on doing any mapping the 520 would be a better choice. Same basic airframe/powerplant.

This video is a great demonstration of the wind handling ability. This is a 520, but like I said it is very similar to the H+ airframe wise.


Thanks for the post . . . Steve had shared that link with me earlier this evening. It's a pretty dramatic comparison between the 520 and the P4P, isn't it?

That feature is what has me thinking of the upgrade from the H to the H plus. There are too many times when I want to fly but the winds are just a little more than I'm comfortable with. I'm just struggling with the price tag and if getting the ability to fly in higher winds is cost justified. And there are some things that irritate the heck outta me about the H . . . chronic problems with landing gear going up and down, one of the arms gives me trouble when I try to lower it to put it in the backback, other little quirks that pluck my nerves. So I'm trying to figure out if the H plus is more reliable along those lines.

But when it's behaving I really love flying the H - just being able to see it at 1200 feet away, unlike the WHITE Phantom 4 Pro (I absolutely despise white drones). And I love the fact that the screen is built in and I don't have to battle the wonky Go 4 app.

So I do appreciate everyone's inputs on this. It's remarkable how little there is on Youtube about the Typhoon H plus - not a lot of good sample footage, etc. That makes your opinions even more valuable.
 
I'm sure you'll get a flurry of responses from you query, there is much to comment on here, but people who have had a Plus longer than I have will be in a better position to thoroughly answer your questions.

I own both so it's easy to see the differences. In a nut shell, the most significant difference of the Plus is its superior handling and the level of precision in responding to the controls. As @Ty Pilot stated in a video, you could fly it down the hallway in your house. And I second that. From a pilots point of view its flight characteristics and behavior are stellar.

The CG23 video color depth and clarity is remarkable, the 1" sensor is very evident in the final product compared to the CGO3+. With 20mp the DNGs are stunning, but the jpegs are lousy compared to the CGO3+. Hopefully future Firmware updates will remedy that.

The C23 antenna placement is truly omni directional and mounted away from the camera. The CGO3 antenna is mounted on its chin, offset to the front and tilted up which degrades the signal to the rear. This alone is a big improvement in video link reliability.

H Plus Firmware is a work in progress with mixed results so far. You'll find many posts on the subject here. I assume in time they get all the bugs ironed out. Since the Plus is relatively new, there are some issues still being resolved, and I do not believe there is much available in the way of replacement parts yet.

All in all if you will be earning money with it, it would be worth the investment. The H480 is a proven aircraft that provides professional results over and over again, as seen by many Part 107 pilots earning a living with it. However the professional feel of H Plus and the C23, makes the H480 feel more like a high end consumer product.

The biggest hurtle you will experience is the transition to the new flight control system, and how the advanced modes like CCC, POI and other functions operate a little differently, and just enough to make them confusing and not intuitive. The learning curve is not necessarily smooth or straightforward, and many here are still pioneering new frontiers!

Like Steve and Pat, I too have watched and enjoyed many of your videos. Hope you keep em comin', and looking forward to seeing future videos shot with a Plus!


Great thoughts, DCH! I like what you said about the antenna placement - I've found the video synch on the H to be less reliable than I'd like. If they've improved that, it would be a good thing.

I'm gonna have to spend some time digging back on this forum about the firmware issues. They keep cropping up in people's comments.

The only advanced mode I've used is CCC, which I really like. I should play more with the others, but so far I've got all the shots I wanted by flying manually (which is probably dumb, I know). So if the firmware issues involve the autonomous flight modes in particular, they probably wouldn't impact me that much.

And thanks for watching my videos - I love hearing that!
 
Great thoughts, DCH! I like what you said about the antenna placement - I've found the video synch on the H to be less reliable than I'd like. If they've improved that, it would be a good thing.

I'm gonna have to spend some time digging back on this forum about the firmware issues. They keep cropping up in people's comments.

The only advanced mode I've used is CCC, which I really like. I should play more with the others, but so far I've got all the shots I wanted by flying manually (which is probably dumb, I know). So if the firmware issues involve the autonomous flight modes in particular, they probably wouldn't impact me that much.

And thanks for watching my videos - I love hearing that!
Hi Jeff, Great channel on YT.
PM Sent..
 
The marketing for the Plus says it is larger. The specs show it as larger too. I wonder if this is the because all they have done is extend the length of the arms? Don't know.

Also, batteries are an issue. The picture they show of the stock battery is still a 5200 mAh battery. So I wonder how they are claiming 30+ minutes of flight time? Also, I have a small fleet of H, and not being able to use my other batteries is a big investment. SO maybe I need to look into an after market battery solution, like a battery cradle.

Another question I have is about how long this model will be out. When did it actually come to market? Is it really their "latest and greatest" or is it just a stop gap model and another model is in the wings ready to be debuted? If so, it wouldn't be a wise investment right now.
 
Hi Pat - yep, you know my channel. If anyone else is wondering, it's Jeff Sibelius. LOL I should have just used that as my user name here in the first place.

I have tried and tried and tried to get Yuneec to talk to me. I probably did as many training videos on the Q500 and Typhoon H than any other Youtuber. I have owned at least 8 Yuneec drones, paid for out of pocket. And I can't get them to return my calls. When I finally reach someone in their marketing agency (an outside firm, incidentally) they tell me they will copy me on their press releases (which they don't) and couldn't be bothered to send me their own promotional pictures so I can do new product announcements on things like the Mantis.

I don't get it - I honestly don't. But I've given up hope they'll ever talk to me. And they wonder why they struggle to sell their products . . .

Anyway, as to the original topic . . . it's frustrating to hear there are firmware issues but it's good to know there are workarounds. I typically use so few of the advanced features, so as long as the issues don't affect the basic safe operation of the drone they probably wouldn't be an issue.

But are the enhanced features and capabilities worth spending $$$ to buy the plus? Is there a real improvement to the video quality? Is the aircraft more reliable than the H? Is the video synch more reliable?

The ability to fly in higher winds is realllllllly enticing, that's for sure. Especially if I'm going to use it for commercial work when I have to be able to fly when I need to.
What's the important features for your task or work?
I think Yuneec will continue improving the TH+ in the following months, there is another thread in the top of this board, please have a look and add your comments if something is not there.
Maybe you could wait for 3 months to see if all your wishlist included, $2000 is not cheap.

And may I have your youtube link? Thanks a lot!
 
What's the important features for your task or work?
I think Yuneec will continue improving the TH+ in the following months, there is another thread in the top of this board, please have a look and add your comments if something is not there.
Maybe you could wait for 3 months to see if all your wishlist included, $2000 is not cheap.

And may I have your youtube link? Thanks a lot!

Hi Linson -

The kind of work I've done has been construction progress videos and finished building videos. I don't do mapping or surveying, just videos for progress, documentation and communication with project owners, and then videos to promote buildngs for developers or the construction company.

As such, the important features for my needs are pretty straight forward:
1 -- Reliable video synch
2 - quality video - stills aren't important for me. I can extract stills from the videos if they're needed.
3 - Reliable range of 1200 to 1400 feet, and be large enough that I can actually see it from that distance (to remain legal)
4 - Gotta handle wind - it gets pretty windy here in Texas. On one project I had to stand on top of a five story building to launch and - get the shots, and that was very windy for launches.
5 - I do like CCC - I've got a few terrific shots of concrete panels being stood with CCC.
6 - It needs to work reliably.
7 - I must be able to unlock any geofencing as there is a lot of controlled airspace around DFW.

Pretty simple list, isn't it? Of the above list, the Typhoon H succeeded with 2, 3, kinda 4, and 5. The video synch was iffy for me past 1100 feet or so. It handled wind as long as I didn't fly when winds were at or below 15mph. It had too many minor issues for me to rely on it for commercial work. I ended up using the Phantom 4 Pro as my primary because it just didn't give me the bothersome issues. And for whatever reason I never was able to get the geofencing firmware unlock to work for me. Fortunately, I was never tasked to fly in a place where that kept me grounded.

Thanks for asking about my channel - it is at Jeff Sibelius
 
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Hey guys, been a while since I have been on here. I personally own 4 Typhoon Q500 4K UAVs that I use for video production. Do any of you have experience with intercutting 4K video footage from the Typhoon H Plus with CGO3 4K footage from the Q500 assuming both are running at 30 FPS??
 
Hey guys, been a while since I have been on here. I personally own 4 Typhoon Q500 4K UAVs that I use for video production. Do any of you have experience with intercutting 4K video footage from the Typhoon H Plus with CGO3 4K footage from the Q500 assuming both are running at 30 FPS??

Hi JBAndrew. I've done quite a bit of matching Q500 4K and TH video when I was transitioning from one platform to the next. I had no problem blending the two. I've worked with footage from DJI, Yuneec, Autel and Parrot drones, and my favorite to work with by far is the Yuneec. TH footage will be a little better, but I think the basic color values are pretty consistent between the two drones, to the point that I dont think the end user will be able to see the difference - especially if you're going to downsample it to 1080p or put it on Youtube anyway.

oops - my bad. I just saw you were asking about the TH plus.
 
Hi Linson -

The kind of work I've done has been construction progress videos and finished building videos. I don't do mapping or surveying, just videos for progress, documentation and communication with project owners, and then videos to promote buildngs for developers or the construction company.

As such, the important features for my needs are pretty straight forward:
1 -- Reliable video synch
2 - quality video - stills aren't important for me. I can extract stills from the videos if they're needed.
3 - Reliable range of 1200 to 1400 feet, and be large enough that I can actually see it from that distance (to remain legal)
4 - Gotta handle wind - it gets pretty windy here in Texas. On one project I had to stand on top of a five story building to launch and - get the shots, and that was very windy for launches.
5 - I do like CCC - I've got a few terrific shots of concrete panels being stood with CCC.
6 - It needs to work reliably.
7 - I must be able to unlock any geofencing as there is a lot of controlled airspace around DFW.

Pretty simple list, isn't it? Of the above list, the Typhoon H succeeded with 2, 3, kinda 4, and 5. The video synch was iffy for me past 1100 feet or so. It handled wind as long as I didn't fly when winds were at or below 15mph. It had too many minor issues for me to rely on it for commercial work. I ended up using the Phantom 4 Pro as my primary because it just didn't give me the bothersome issues. And for whatever reason I never was able to get the geofencing firmware unlock to work for me. Fortunately, I was never tasked to fly in a place where that kept me grounded.

Thanks for asking about my channel - it is at Jeff Sibelius
hi, Jeff
Yes, it's simple and clear, H+ should be better than H in terms of video quality, stable, range and so on , and good user experience with software upgrade. How do you handle #7 with H?
Personally I think would be a better version for your task in 3 months.
 
hi, Jeff
Yes, it's simple and clear, H+ should be better than H in terms of video quality, stable, range and so on , and good user experience with software upgrade. How do you handle #7 with H?
Personally I think would be a better version for your task in 3 months.

If you contact Yuneec they can send you a form to request an unlock on the geofencing. You fill it out and send it in with a copy of your part 107 and they send you a firmware update that is tied directly to your drone's serial number. You install it and then use the GUI to go in and disable the geofencing.

that's how it worked in 2017 anyway, and for some reason it didn't work for me even after installation. I'd still get stopped by the geofence when I got too close to Alliance Airport, for example. Other people had no problem with it.

They may do it differently now, but that's how it was a couple years ago.


So what do you think will change in the next three months that will make it more functional for what I'm doing?
 
Like a lot of folks, I had a few specific things I desired over the standard Typhoon H. The Plus, seemed to have nearly all the boxes checked so I got one early on. I have been a Yuneec owner for over two years as well as a member of this forum for that time so I knew the risk and what to expect. I was, and still am, using my Typhoon's for work - mainly real estate photography, and while the DNG's from the Typhoon are very good and can produce excellent pictures for a 12 mega pixel camera, when we turn in our work, there is a clear difference in terms of quality between our ground cameras (DSLRs) and the aerials. On top of this, I wanted to begin doing some videography and for that the CG03+ is rather lacking. I will also mention, having a lot of RC experience and coming from DJI, I found the flight characteristics of the 480 to be well; tolerable, I mean after all, I fly to a spot, hover, then aim the camera and snap the picture. But it was the camera that checked the boxes as I felt the flying could not get worse.

The C23, lived up to all the Hype and immediately justified the purchase in my opinion. The DNG's are stunning while in all fairness the JPGs are rather useless in comparison. If you're not doing professional stills, frames from video look slightly better than the JPGs. The video from the C23 is on another level, the color depth is far superior, the lens distortion; while still visible is far less than the CGO3+ and, the image if far cleaner and doesn't have that magenta cast in the mid tones that are the hallmark of the CG03+

The hidden bonus of the Plus was the flying. In none of Yuneec's literature or video's did they convey the massive difference in flying, the control is far superior in every respect. It is simply a refined version of the Typhoon H in terms of flying. I have hundreds of flights, and have logged close to 50 hours and can say in that time; I have not had one loss of video signal nor has the RC ever been disconnected except to say that when I flew though a densely forested area, the IPS kicked in as expected. The Plus will handle any wind the H will and then some, it is a far more powerful craft. All the flight modes are functional, albeit with some slight operational differences, most of which are a positive - once you learn them.

I would tell any current Typhoon H pilot to find a friend who has a Plus and ask if you could take it for a flight, but do so only when you have about 1800 bucks lying around because when you're done, you will be sold. I think the value of the Plus is well worth it, while there will be newer drones spit out every few months for years to come, the camera technology to advance past the level of something like the Plus or P4P is always going to be a higher end of equipment and therefore cost more. While we may see BVLOS operations in the near future, how many will need to run out and get certified for that and then need to buy a drone that can do it? So the flying parameters we currently operate under will be the same for years to come. The Plus can fly that mission day in and day out and the C23, can produce images that rival DSLRs. To me even with it's drawbacks - the Plus is at the top of the sub 2000.00 class.
 
It’s really quiet too......surprisingly so......
 

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