Drones/quadcopters, anyone know anything?

[mantadog]

So basically I got a quadcopter for Christmas and its kinda kindled my interest.

I currently have a parrot AR 2.0 and id describe it as a great toy but I have a hankering for something more. Particularly with regards to the camera as the one on the AR seems sub par at best... and I can only zoom about 50 meters away as its wifi controlled via my ipad.

So after literally 15 minutes research ive got it into my head that I need to buy something from DJI as they seem to be what everyone raves about?

Anyone know their stuff re these little beauties?

DJI standard
Or

DJI Advannced

They are kinda expensive, are they worth it?

 

[Pagey]

I might be able to add something to this:

Firstly depending on your experience, you may be better off getting something to get used to how they operate. DJI would be relatively complex considering you're dealing with flying it and shooting video.

There are also racing drone types to consider: bloody fast and bloody agile, they also use FPV so you get some insane footage out of them from a birds eye view as it were.

Or you could get a kit and assemble it yourself, there are LOT of them about, which would allow you to suit the drone to fit your needs. If you're a good pilot and won't be doing many crashes, then there really is no money limit. If you're not a confident pilot, get something to practice on.

Few things to look for on Youtube about it:

Team Blacksheep
Painless 360
RC Model Reviews
Flitetest

I actually made my own for an engineering project, plenty to learn about and discover.

 

[steaky360]

I'd second everything Pagey has said, I'm still a super n00b in the hobby, only got my first 250 FPV quad racer back in June last year. I got one pre-assembled as I was pretty daunted by all of the wiring and connections/etc. you had to do. I've since put together a few myself (and rebuilt mine a few times.... you crash... a lot!)

Biggest bit of advice I could give is take your time and practice a lot no matter what you end up getting. I'd actually recommend buying the bits if you want to go racing - you will inevitably crash at some point and have to put everything back together, its always better to know beforehand how it goes together

I ended up getting a wee hubsan to start to learn to fly 'manual' to parrot drone (and most other flight controllers in other drones like DJI) have manual/attitude modes, not sure how familiar you are but essentially attitude corrects the drones position when you release the stick so you automatically level off. Manual mode this doesn't happen, but the drone is much more agile. I guess this isn't as much of an issue if you're wanting to do areal photography or something, but for racing manual is a must.

RC Model Reviews is immense, Bruce is a great You Tuber (he also has xJet which is kind of more geared towards fixed wing but still pretty cool).

I'd add Charpu to the list of youtube channels to check out - he's a FPV racer. He has some insane footage.

 

[DaelpixPhotos]

I used to build remote control boats. I build a bi-plane....never took off the ground. I also have 2 gliders in the shed.... I'll never fly them as my father and I have lost interest in it

 

[mantadog]

Kind of bringing the thread back from the dead but anyway...

I finally decided to go for it, I went with the phantom 3 advanced and I can say I'm very impressed, and I mean it. Its a fairly hefty price tag but I suspected you get what you pay with this kind of thing, I think I was right!

Only had 3 flights so far and still getting to know all the different settings etc but its probably more than I will ever need. I took my AR 2.0 up to 55 meters once, almost lost it due to a slight breeze but in a much stronger breeze this morning it was rock steady at height with the help of GPS.

I've not been too adventurous yet as I killed my AR after going out of range and landing in some water, so taking it easy at the moment.

Ive been using the attitude mode as much as possible so I get used to it incase the GPS goes down for whatever reason and I think having the AR 2.0 before this helped in that regard, as it did not have GPS, so I'm used to fighting the breeze with small corrections.

Already thinking I need an upgraded PC to edit the footage