Drone Discussion & Advocacy

[lazylathe]

@FlyingLow

All the parts have arrived and are just waiting on my bench!

The damn micro FP heli i bought is taking up most of my flying time now, lots of fun!
Also just bought Real Flight 7.5 and will be flying the sim for a while first.
Seriously rusty...

So far i have just had time to buzz my indoor quads around and my wife was in an accident last week, so that has put the brakes on any new projects for q while.
Still here and learning though!

Just wish we had easy access to stuff like you guys South of us do!
Really want a flying wing one day but may end up just using foam board for now and building my own one!

Can't wait to see and hear that beast run!!!

 

[sasNW]

Really loving this thread @FlyingLow , thanks for all the info! I go down to the sand dunes in Oregon once a month for years now, and have always wanted an rc that I could fly around the dunes from the parking lot for some sweet air pictures of the sand.

I was wondering if you had any suggestions for a good starter plane/chopper that I could fly fpv pretty good distances around the sand? And is there anyway to locate it when I inevitably crash it into a dune? Or is it just off to the races to try and find it?

Also do you guys think I would be able to tail a quad or dune buggy through the dunes to film some driving and jumping?

Sorry for the very noobish questions but I just read through this thread and am pretty excited about the idea

 

[Stu]

Also do you guys think I would be able to tail a quad or dune buggy through the dunes to film some driving and jumping?

The AirDog (and several other models) have a follow me mode for cool shit like that.

 

[EverythingsHazy]

Hey man, have you seen the Parrot Bebop drone? Is it good? I might be able to get one as an entry drone for half price. Should I?

I want something I can control wth my iPad, and record live video, but don't really want to spend too much, because I might not use it too much. Not sure. Knowing me, I also might get ridiculously into the drone hobby hahaa

 

[FlyingLow]

Great questions yall! I've got some great responses and recommendations but am on my cell for a work trip all week and won't be back till tomorrow night. Pardon it is just too much info to type on cell

Lazy- I've also hit my better half with a micro and know the outcome all too well!

Sas-all questions welcome and I have a few suggestions for you that are all capable of followin you.

Hazy- I have a few thoughts on the beebop but have not yet had my hands on one. For what you are looking for, there are several options, but not a ton. I'll post up a few less expensive options when I get back.


Stu- is air dog available? I saw this a while back as a proto and am excited to see it go into production.

 

[Stu]

Stu- is air dog available? I saw this a while back as a proto and am excited to see it go into production.

From what I can tell, it's scheduled to ship to backers this month, with pre-orders still being taken. Reminds me of a certain vaporizer.

 

[FlyingLow]

Airdog looks pretty awesome. The biggest flack over that is no object detection- IE might follow you right into a tree or building, etc. DJI has an awesome object detection pod they are coming out with, but it is a really tough thing to be successful with at high speeds.

This one looks really awesome too, the Ghost
http://ghost-drone.com
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2479752


3DR, DJI, Ghost, and a few more are all doing "follow me" it kinda comes down to how simple or advanced your objective is. For basic family vacation type of tourism aerial photography, cross of 3DR off your list. If you are a techie/open source junkie, you will love 3DR. DJI is proven and proven. But lack of dealer support and wait times leave few options for support, but there is a wealth of DJI info and repair guides online.

Ill come up with a few more to look into

 

[lazylathe]

What about Lily??
Full autonomous and fits in a back pack!

https://www.lily.camera

 

[h3rbalist]

What about Lily??
Full autonomous and fits in a back pack!

https://www.lily.camera

Lily is sick.

So much tech for £500.

The way it launches from water and the foldable blades are unique to this drone I believe.

Edit:

I'm getting tasty at flying my mini xeon X indoors.
I can perform loops in my front room with fans on and land on a square foot of space.

I am currently trying to master figure of eights.

Damn, flying RC gear is therapeutic. Really enjoying this hobby.

 

[FlyingLow]

Lilly does look badass but I haven't seen one in the air yet, excited to see how it does.

Lots of designs out now incorporate foldable arms, some of the larger ones also use the foldable props.

Except for movies and professional work, the hobby is really turning towards micro and mini sizes like the 250 quads in the first pic.


@h3rbalist ~ Figure 8s is like learning to drive, master them and you can do it all! It teaches orientation in all directions. Once you got it nailed, grab a 3d quad, and start to fly everything you did before but inverted. Keeping a little speed helps IMO. Training indoors is also awesome, if you can keep it going in that little box, you will be great outside with open space.

 

[Joel W.]

Good luck with this, Uncle Sammy.....

Drone Owners Will Now Have to Register With the US Government

Hobby drones have come under heavy criticism recently for interfering with firefighting efforts and flying too close to airports. According to NBC News, the Department of Transportation plans to have all drones in the country registered by Christmas.

On Monday, the US DOT will supposedly announce the program, working with manufacturers to create a national registry. NBC’s Tom Costello also reports that the government will create a specific taskforce just for drones.

More

 

[FlyingLow]

LIVE NOW: (pardon the gawd awful announcing)

Watching some of the Go-Pro footage now, much cleaner video when not being transmitted.

 

[h3rbalist]

Just got my Phoenix 5.5 simulation software. (RealFlight is for US vehicles and does not support UK hobbycraft vehicles)

It came with a 6 channel usb emulator transtitter, haven't played with it yet as it's a birthday pressie for next week.

Will report back when I've given it a go.

Can't wait.

 

[lazylathe]

@h3rbalist

I find Phoenix is also much easier to fly than RF.
I have both and they are both a lot of fun to fly.
At least with Phoenix, you have lifetime free updates! RF you are stuck with the version you buy or pay for updates.

My favorite so far is a powered glider and slope soaring! Very relaxing as well as fun as the plane can do some wicked acrobatics!

PS - Happy Birthday for next week!!!

 

[VegNVape]

Eh-yo! What's up my Eyez-In-Tha-Skiez?!

Just thought I would share something you may or may not be interested in . . .

This show, presented by a man with 'a cunning plan' is airing (-puntastic! ) in the UK on Channel 4 this evening. . . .
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/hidden-britain-by-drone/episode-guide

I love finding out about hidden, & unreachable locations, and this show is apparently gonna take us on an aerial tour - by drone - of some of Britain's finest.

It sounds pretty interesting, to me at least . . .

"Don't be alone - spend time with a Drone"
​

MuchLove

 

[h3rbalist]

So I'm 10+ hours into the Phoenix 5.5 simulator and loving every minute.

I've downloaded maybe 100 or more additional vehicles and locations.

After fucking around smashing up the scaled down F22's, Spitfires and Airwolf helicopters. I decided to fix up and do this shit correctly and chose a damn plane I'm likely to be purchasing.

They have 10 or so learner planes and after trying a few and realising the 3 channel, wing over chassis ones that do not roll were in fact too easy to fly and not much fun, and the under chassis stunting learners were a bit too difficult I have decided on this.

Hobbyzone Sportsman S+ £250

The reason I love this plane is it has SAFE auto stabilise tech that you can switch on and off from the trasmitter, it also engages auto pilot when out of range and flys in circles over head and can perform an automatic landing.

The really sweet thing about this plane is its ability to perform basic acrobatics which the other SAFE learners couldn't.

Barrel rolls, loop da loops and death plunges. It really is a great all rounder.

I can take this plane up for 20 min spells in the SIM, do over head figure eights and some loops over Stone Henge (my fav location) perform good landings and rarely come unstuck and need to engage the SAFE tech. All building my confidence when I get hold of the real thing.

Also should mention all the training and learning games and tools the SIM has that I haven't got stuck into it yet but it all looks interesting. There's an online multiplayer section too that might be nice for an FC social fly if any of you fancy getting Pheonix 5.5.


And if anyone is interested in watching my friends friend perform at Biggin Hill at the next show there PM me.

Here is a vid of him flying a £2,000 plane.

The fucker makes it look so easy.

 

[stickstones]

Fox news now

 

[lwien]

This looks like sooooooooo much fun:

 

[FlyingLow]

Big bucks to be made in this... a 15 year old just took a $250,000 prize in the Dubai Grand Prix.

ESPN is even getting involved- this is going mainstream.
I also buckled and finally got into the racing scene as well with a hopped up Emax 250 airframe. Really great fun. Here is a vid of from Dubai and another for the upcoming Caverns race in Kentucky.

From the Pilots Camera

From a GoPro

 

[Kaptan]

This thread died down a bit. I just got a Syma X5C-1 to learn flying. In a few weeks, I plan on getting the DJI Phantom 3 standard for about 500 with a case. Is there any other models I should consider before jumping on this one?

 

[FlyingLow]

Yeah I haven't really posted much since my Mac broke and I hate trying to post and manage media from my cell...

If looking for a video platform, DJI is tough to beat for features and so very easy to fly even for non rc folks. Go for it!

I'm kinda over gimbals and am enjoying 250 and smaller quads that can fly harder, take crashes, thrashing, and keep going. They are near impossible to break anything more than a few props.




This is one of my favorite pieces of FPV equipment. A micro camera with a 200mw 5.8 video transmitter backpack. Been putting this on everything, big and small.

 

[Kaptan]

On your advice, I settled on the DJI Phantom 3 Advanced, which has Lightbridge tech for much longer range. I think the extra $240 was worth the difference so I won't feel the need to upgrade soon down the road. I have been having a blast after learning how to fly the Syma. The thing is so easily maneuverable and seems the controller range is as far as you can see the quadcopter. I was disappointed to learn that my home falls within 5 miles of an airport, but I called to see if it would be okay to fly in the area. They were very nice and advised me that I could fly up to 400 feet altitude with caution and to avoid any and all aircraft.

That camera looks badass. How much would something like that cost for the camera, transmitter, and receiver? When you are using that rig, does the drone also have gps positioning or is it complete manual mode?

 

[FlyingLow]

The camera/video transmitter backpack can run between $60-100, depending on production and the power of the video transmitter used (it is a one man operation- google gnarly FPV backpack). I use the higher power vtx as I also fly this on larger models.... Still can't get more than about 2.5 mi on 5.8 video with a nice ground station antennas.

 

[Detonator]

Haven't been here in a while , but OOOOOHHHH Look- E what I got -

 

[StickyShisha2]