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Beginner Quad copters (Drones)

Been looking a lot at drones, was going to splurge and go all out on a more expensive Phantom or Bebop but some of the cheaper ones actually do look fairly decent. Could always upgrade them over time too, like add bigger motors and stuff. Probably would want to add more battery power too. 7 minutes is kinda meh especially if it takes 100 minutes to charge. Can probably buy cheap lithium ion cells off Aliexpress and make your own battery packs too.

I want something with FPV though, but I've seen some of the cheaper ones that actually have it. Downside is it seems so many now require to use a mobile device, I rather not take that chance and find out my phone is not compatible or something.
 
Red Squirrel said:
Been looking a lot at drones, was going to splurge and go all out on a more expensive Phantom or Bebop but some of the cheaper ones actually do look fairly decent. Could always upgrade them over time too, like add bigger motors and stuff. Probably would want to add more battery power too. 7 minutes is kinda meh especially if it takes 100 minutes to charge. Can probably buy cheap lithium ion cells off Aliexpress and make your own battery packs too.

I want something with FPV though, but I've seen some of the cheaper ones that actually have it. Downside is it seems so many now require to use a mobile device, I rather not take that chance and find out my phone is not compatible or something.
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If your just learning this is the perfect quad copter. I hated the 7-8 mins to but I ended up buying these for $20 http://www.amazon.com/BTG-680mAh-Ba...3?ie=UTF8&qid=1454202794&sr=8-13&keywords=x5c increase flight time x6
 
I took my Quad over to my Brother in Laws over Thanksgiving and showed it to him. He bought one. He just bought the addon that has a better camera with live feed to his iphone.
 
I'm eventually going to lay down $1500 on a quad-copter with GPS. But I wanted a basic one to learn from. You can fly it in the house and outside on calm days.
 
Recently purchased a DJI Inspire 1 Pro -- my first quadcopter/drone. Not cheap, but as a serious photographer you pay more for a better camera. For me, the Inspire 1 and drones in general are merely aerial camera platforms.


Brian
 
Red Squirrel said:
Been looking a lot at drones, was going to splurge and go all out on a more expensive Phantom or Bebop but some of the cheaper ones actually do look fairly decent. Could always upgrade them over time too, like add bigger motors and stuff. Probably would want to add more battery power too. 7 minutes is kinda meh especially if it takes 100 minutes to charge. Can probably buy cheap lithium ion cells off Aliexpress and make your own battery packs too.

I want something with FPV though, but I've seen some of the cheaper ones that actually have it. Downside is it seems so many now require to use a mobile device, I rather not take that chance and find out my phone is not compatible or something.
Click to expand...

Check out the Blade 350 series from Horizon Hobby if you don't want to drop the cash on a phantom - and particularly if you already own a gopro. The blade series have most of the same features as the phantom. The only thing they really lack relative to the phantom is an excellent camera (though the one that it can be packaged with is pretty good). Considering it costs 1/2 of what the phantom costs, it it definitely worth considering.

Full disclosure - I own a blade 350 QX2 - great quad.

As for battery life - once you get to the larger quads the power to weight ratio goes up so battery life is a bit better (though its still only 17-20 minutes). Its not really upgradeable because larger batteries weigh more, and so don't really offer much bang for the buck. Better to buy a number of spare batteries and have them charged and ready to go for longer flights.
 
ViperXX said:
I'm eventually going to lay down $1500 on a quad-copter with GPS. But I wanted a basic one to learn from. You can fly it in the house and outside on calm days.
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GPS for what? Flight path plotting/navigation? If you want one with a return to home GPS functionality there are at least a few available at the $500-$700 price point
 
Sho'Nuff said:
GPS for what? Flight path plotting/navigation? If you want one with a return to home GPS functionality there are at least a few available at the $500-$700 price point
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Is this even a thing anymore, since you are now required to keep them in line of sight?
 
Brian Stirling said:
Recently purchased a DJI Inspire 1 Pro -- my first quadcopter/drone. Not cheap, but as a serious photographer you pay more for a better camera. For me, the Inspire 1 and drones in general are merely aerial camera platforms.


Brian
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56021351.jpg
 
Micrornd said:
Is this even a thing anymore, since you are now required to keep them in line of sight?
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Its still useful if you want to preprogram the flight path. E.g., to capture a specific shot for a video without having to worry about user error.

Also - the return to home gps is particularly nice for landing, as in many cases it will automatically cause the quad to land within 3 feet of its takeoff point. Pretty good feature when you are just starting to learn how to fly.
 
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Linux23 said:
how high can you fly this thing?
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Many Quads have a built in altitude limiter, but its possible to disable it in software. Once disabled, they can fly VERY high (many thousands of feet). Hell, they can fly VERY high even with the limiter on.

I've never tried to fly my qx2 as high as it can go, but I would say I've easily flown it to an altitude of 750-1000 feet. Considering its only about a foot across, at that altitude it is very hard to determine which direction it is facing.

Video of a guy taking a quad over a mile up:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vpZB_OcBKU
 
Linux23 said:
how high can you fly this thing?
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In the USA the legal limit has been reduced to 400 feet. There is some uncertainty on how one defines 400 feet as it could mean 400 feet above the takeoff point or 400 feet above the ground and the two are not necessarily the same.

A reasonable read of the rules would imply it's 400AGL or 400 feet above ground level where ever the copter is at that moment in time. So, if you takeoff next to a cliff that drops off 1000 feet the rules say you can not fly out over the edge at all even if it's only a few feet above the takeoff point.


Brian
 
Linux23 said:
how high can you fly this thing?
Click to expand...

Sho'Nuff said:
Many Quads have a built in altitude limiter, but its possible to disable it in software. Once disabled, they can fly VERY high (many thousands of feet). Hell, they can fly VERY high even with the limiter on.

I've never tried to fly my qx2 as high as it can go, but I would say I've easily flown it to an altitude of 750-1000 feet. Considering its only about a foot across, at that altitude it is very hard to determine which direction it is facing.

Video of a guy taking a quad over a mile up:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vpZB_OcBKU
Click to expand...

I've got mine set to 390ft

Here's a video of a guy crashing his drone from above the clouds.

http://youtu.be/f9H3Ods1sQ8
After he gets it up there fast forward to 10:00 to watch it come down uncontrolled.
 
Sho'Nuff said:
Check out the Blade 350 series from Horizon Hobby if you don't want to drop the cash on a phantom - and particularly if you already own a gopro. The blade series have most of the same features as the phantom. The only thing they really lack relative to the phantom is an excellent camera (though the one that it can be packaged with is pretty good). Considering it costs 1/2 of what the phantom costs, it it definitely worth considering.

Full disclosure - I own a blade 350 QX2 - great quad.
\
Click to expand...

Blade 350 QX3 BNF must be really good cause it's sold out! never even heard of Blade. checking it out now and the youtube reviews look good. thanks!
 
why in the world did i click this thread 🙁

just pulled the trigger and my new toy should be on the way soon with 4 extra batteries. maybe i can use it to scare the living hell out of this stray cat who uses the hood of my car to warm up and clean himself on. bastard. 😡
 
luv2liv said:
Blade 350 QX3 BNF must be really good cause it's sold out! never even heard of Blade. checking it out now and the youtube reviews look good. thanks!
Click to expand...
The Blade brand is owned by Horizon Hobby and is well known in the quad community, but it definitely doesn't get the name recognition that the DJI quads get outside of that community. Regardless, they (the blades) are a really good value for the money, and are probably the best place to start when you want to move up to a larger quad but don't want to spend over $1000. If you can wait, the best time buy one is late summer or early fall - that is when horizon hobby generally puts out a new model. When that happens the hobby stores often have sales on the prior years model - and you can save anywhere from $100-$250 depending on the shop.
 
Linux23 said:
why in the world did i click this thread 🙁

just pulled the trigger and my new toy should be on the way soon with 4 extra batteries. maybe i can use it to scare the living hell out of this stray cat who uses the hood of my car to warm up and clean himself on. bastard. 😡
Click to expand...


When you figure in all the other things you need to actually use and have fun the cost just about doubles from the cost of the drone alone. I have eight batteries (7 TB-48's and 1 TB-47) and only the single TB-47 came with the drone so I had to buy 7 additional batteries for nearly $190 each -- so just about $1.4K for additional batteries alone. I also purchased 3 additional M43 lenses at another $1.2K. Add some spare props and other things and the total add ons nearly equal the cost of the drone kit with radio.

But, that's the way most serious hobbies are.


Brian
 
Paratus said:
I've got mine set to 390ft

Here's a video of a guy crashing his drone from above the clouds.

http://youtu.be/f9H3Ods1sQ8
After he gets it up there fast forward to 10:00 to watch it come down uncontrolled.
Click to expand...

Yeah I've seen that one. "It lost control." Translation - "I wanted to see how high it could go." The amazing thing to me is how fast quads go up. They probably gain 10-20 feet per second at times.
 
Paratus said:
I've got mine set to 390ft

Here's a video of a guy crashing his drone from above the clouds.

http://youtu.be/f9H3Ods1sQ8
After he gets it up there fast forward to 10:00 to watch it come down uncontrolled.
Click to expand...

Wow that's awesome that they can go that high! I figured it would have been able to just go land where it took off from if the signal was lost though. I guess something malfunctioned there.
 
NAC4EV said:
The Lily throw and shoot

https://www.youtube.com/embed/4vGcH0Bk3hg?rel=0
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I foresee a bad time with the FAA and others with a drone that's not directly controlled by a person. In fact, I believe it already illegal. They may try to argue it's not a drone and that it should be immune from the regulations the rest of us have to live by but I doubt they'll win that one in the USA.

In a similar way the drone pilots that have gone far away (miles) and rely totally on the FPV from the onboard camera have been spanked by enforcement of the rules the Lily is perhaps worse off given the lack of direct flight controls. Having a pendant that the Lily can use to follow is great, but that's not direct control and how will the Lily avoid trees, or buildings, or people that get in its way.


Brian
 
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