Drones, quadcopters, and FPV flight

User avatar
Dr_Strangelove
Won't stay Banned
Posts: 1977
Joined: Wed Jan 17, 2018 2:46 pm
Location: Henderson, NV

Re: Drones, quadcopters, and FPV flight

Post by Dr_Strangelove » Sun Oct 06, 2019 5:42 pm

You look like you hit the ball pretty fast. Keep your eye on government auctions, too. I just saw a $1200 drone go for $750 on GovDeals. It was orange if that helps you I'm not gonna look it up again - I can't remember the brand.
2003 Carrera: Dark Teal Metallic

Kalashnikov
OG (First 100 Outposters!)
Posts: 1020
Joined: Tue Jan 16, 2018 1:04 pm
Location: Phoenix, AZ

Re: Drones, quadcopters, and FPV flight

Post by Kalashnikov » Mon Oct 07, 2019 9:33 am

Thanks man, I will check that out.

With the >$1k drone though, I would prefer to buy it new and from official store for warranty and tech support reasons.

User avatar
5chn3ll
Six shots...or only five?
Posts: 4640
Joined: Fri Jan 05, 2018 4:35 pm

Re: Drones, quadcopters, and FPV flight

Post by 5chn3ll » Mon Oct 07, 2019 10:36 am

You've probably already dug into this, Kalashnikov - but if your radio supports expo, you may want to tinker with that setting. Expo allows you to dial back the sensitivity so intentionally small inputs on the sticks generate smaller control inputs than bigger movements of the stick.

For rank n00bs like me, this prevents small inputs during crucial moments from causing bigger issues.

Because my description sucked:
Expo - short for exponential, this lets you adjust the sensitivity of the control surface deflection around smaller TX stick movements. So, for example, you can set your elevators to barely move at all when you move the stick around its central position, but then go to full deflection when the stick is moved to its limit. Conversely, but much less commonly, you can go the other way so the control surface moves a lot around the stick's central positions. Expo essentially calms down an airplane that might otherwise be twitchy and over-sensitive to control inputs.

Understeer: You will hit the wall with the front end.
Oversteer: You will hit the wall with the rear end.
Horsepower: How hard you will hit the wall.
Torque: How far you will move the wall.

Gone hunting with Alec Baldwin and Dick Cheney. Back soon.

Kalashnikov
OG (First 100 Outposters!)
Posts: 1020
Joined: Tue Jan 16, 2018 1:04 pm
Location: Phoenix, AZ

Re: Drones, quadcopters, and FPV flight

Post by Kalashnikov » Mon Oct 07, 2019 1:58 pm

I may look into that. I got the flying down pretty good now with it. This drone has the low speed and high speed modes, which was very helpful to learning to fly it smoothly and doing circles with rudder. Spacial orientation definitely takes some time to develop when flying in the visual range.

The camera shaking issue, is hardware problem. There is no EIS or active gimbal camera mount in the drone. So when it hovers or there is any wind the video shakes.

User avatar
5chn3ll
Six shots...or only five?
Posts: 4640
Joined: Fri Jan 05, 2018 4:35 pm

Re: Drones, quadcopters, and FPV flight

Post by 5chn3ll » Mon Oct 07, 2019 2:58 pm

I was thinking more for the heli...

How much weight can the drone lift? There are some pretty light stabilized cameras out there (although probably not any cheaper than moving to another drone)...

Understeer: You will hit the wall with the front end.
Oversteer: You will hit the wall with the rear end.
Horsepower: How hard you will hit the wall.
Torque: How far you will move the wall.

Gone hunting with Alec Baldwin and Dick Cheney. Back soon.

User avatar
32wildbilly
Never gonna run around and desert you
Posts: 5758
Joined: Sat Jan 06, 2018 2:46 pm
Location: Kneebraska

Drone recommendation for 9 yo grand kid

Post by 32wildbilly » Mon Dec 09, 2019 1:34 pm

5chn3ll wrote: Mon Oct 07, 2019 2:58 pm I was thinking more for the heli...

How much weight can the drone lift? There are some pretty light stabilized cameras out there (although probably not any cheaper than moving to another drone)...
So he wants one. He is very careful with his stuff but I'm sure he will stuff it on the first flight.

Recommendations...brand...size...any helpful info will be appreciated

Thanks in advance
Never gonna make you cry...

User avatar
5chn3ll
Six shots...or only five?
Posts: 4640
Joined: Fri Jan 05, 2018 4:35 pm

Re: Drones, quadcopters, and FPV flight

Post by 5chn3ll » Mon Dec 09, 2019 2:16 pm

If he's like any of my nephews were at 9, a cheap indoor quadcopter (i.e. not a "drone"/not autonomous) is a much cheaper way to see if he's got the chops for a better setup. If you buy him a $25 drone and he wrecks it, NBD; if you buy him an expensive drone and he parks it in the pool during the first flight, it's a bigger deal.

The first Phantom 3 I bought was a refurbished unit. When I unboxed it and checked the memory card, it had a single video file: 2 kids in the about-10 category taking off - at night - and flying it directly into their closed garage door at full speed.

I killed that Phantom during Halloween 2018 - it only lost power for about 2 seconds...32 feet per second per second @ about 50 feet converted that drone into a pile of plastic debris and broken camera parts; busted one motor off completely, sheared the ribbon cables for the flight controller and the gimbal - pretty much trashed the entire rig except the transmitter and spare batteries. Mistakes can be brutally expensive, even for someone who has a vague idea of what he's doing.



If/when you're ready to spend a little more on something not too complex for a kid, the DJI Tello doesn't suck. It requires a tablet or phone to fly out of the box, but you can also slave a Bluetooth game controller to it, which is cool. It's still a hundred-dollar gadget that will become a zero-dollar gadget after a single lapse of judgment or an errant gust of wind.

Understeer: You will hit the wall with the front end.
Oversteer: You will hit the wall with the rear end.
Horsepower: How hard you will hit the wall.
Torque: How far you will move the wall.

Gone hunting with Alec Baldwin and Dick Cheney. Back soon.

User avatar
32wildbilly
Never gonna run around and desert you
Posts: 5758
Joined: Sat Jan 06, 2018 2:46 pm
Location: Kneebraska

Re: Drones, quadcopters, and FPV flight

Post by 32wildbilly » Mon Dec 09, 2019 2:45 pm

5chn3ll wrote: Mon Dec 09, 2019 2:16 pm If he's like any of my nephews were at 9, a cheap indoor quadcopter (i.e. not a "drone"/not autonomous) is a much cheaper way to see if he's got the chops for a better setup. If you buy him a $25 drone and he wrecks it, NBD; if you buy him an expensive drone and he parks it in the pool during the first flight, it's a bigger deal.

The first Phantom 3 I bought was a refurbished unit. When I unboxed it and checked the memory card, it had a single video file: 2 kids in the about-10 category taking off and flying it directly into their closed garage door at full speed...complete with "OH NO! Dad's gonna kill us!" audio.

I killed that Phantom during Halloween 2018 - it only lost power for about 2 seconds...32 feet per second per second @ about 50 feet converted that drone into a pile of plastic debris and broken camera parts; busted one motor off completely, sheared the ribbon cables for the flight controller and the gimbal - pretty much trashed the entire rig except the transmitter and spare batteries. Mistakes can be brutally expensive, even for someone who has a vague idea of what he's doing.



If/when you're ready to spend a little more on something not too complex for a kid, the DJI Tello doesn't suck. It requires a tablet or phone to fly out of the box, but you can also slave a Bluetooth game controller to it, which is cool. It's still a hundred-dollar gadget that will become a zero-dollar gadget after a single lapse of judgment or an errant gust of wind.
Anybody know anything about the Traxxas Alias? Coming from an RC car background I am familiar with the Traxxas brand which is good. No camera, but seems like a good trainer. I would get him blade guards and landing gear. I know it's $100, but seems somewhat bullet proof. BTW that is funny about the vid card found in the rebuilt Phantom.
Never gonna make you cry...

User avatar
5chn3ll
Six shots...or only five?
Posts: 4640
Joined: Fri Jan 05, 2018 4:35 pm

Re: Drones, quadcopters, and FPV flight

Post by 5chn3ll » Mon Dec 09, 2019 4:24 pm

One more thought - if this is something he's interested in, he may have a specific type of drone in mind. You might want to ask if this is the case - an FPV racing quad is a completely different animal than a nice, stable, GPS-controlled camera drone. Old farts like me prefer the latter; the twitchy little shits who always beat me down in GTA Online tend to prefer the former.

Understeer: You will hit the wall with the front end.
Oversteer: You will hit the wall with the rear end.
Horsepower: How hard you will hit the wall.
Torque: How far you will move the wall.

Gone hunting with Alec Baldwin and Dick Cheney. Back soon.

User avatar
32wildbilly
Never gonna run around and desert you
Posts: 5758
Joined: Sat Jan 06, 2018 2:46 pm
Location: Kneebraska

Re: Drones, quadcopters, and FPV flight

Post by 32wildbilly » Mon Dec 09, 2019 4:49 pm

5chn3ll wrote: Mon Dec 09, 2019 4:24 pm One more thought - if this is something he's interested in, he may have a specific type of drone in mind. You might want to ask if this is the case - an FPV racing quad is a completely different animal than a nice, stable, GPS-controlled camera drone. Old farts like me prefer the latter; the twitchy little shits who always beat me down in GTA Online tend to prefer the former.
Like this...?
200-4.gif
200-4.gif (952.78 KiB) Viewed 2653 times
Never gonna make you cry...

Post Reply