Quadcopter.

Chako · **on:** October 23, 2016, 01:57:23 AM

I tried my hand at RC airplanes a few years back and simply sucked at those, and quickly got out of them. However, my notion of attaching a camera to one and taking aerial photos never did come off the ground even though I had bought a glider with a built in camera. A few aborted flights and that was that.

Today, I came across a relatively inexpensive quadcopter with a built in camera. I took it home. I haven't done much with it other than try to decipher the manual and attempt to tune the quad for flight. I know I will have to re-read the terrible instructions several more times, but I must say, I am a bit excited to see if I can get along with a quadcopter. Only time will tell.

Here is the model I bought...a Quadrone Tumbler Cam. I think it should make a good starter quad, but I know very little about them...and I wasn't prepared to spend a thousand + dollars on one. This one didn't look all that bad, and looked like a good place to start.

http://flyquadrones.com/drones/tumbler-cam/

And some photos.

Grant Lamontagne · **Reply #1 on:** October 23, 2016, 01:03:12 PM

That looks more or less on par with the Syma X5C that I bought a while ago. A starter drone is not a bad idea, but they are so different from the quality drones that it isn't really the same at all.

The DJI models and similar types pretty well fly themselves- you set points on a screen or set it to follow you from a certain height/angle and it does the rest for you.

Yes, they do have manual flight modes as well, but that is made a lot easier by First Person View (FPV) which is a live feed from the camera to your phone or tablet.

Trying to fly a drone without FPV is a bit of a pain as you can easily lose sight of which way it is pointing, and when you think you are turning left it starts backing up.

Still, I enjoy flying the drone I have. I have thought about going to a slightly more expensive model (mine was about $50) that has FPV, but I think I'm going to save up for a better model all around- maybe last year's Phantom or the new one from Gopro.

Welcome to the wonderful world of drones- I'm looking forward to seeing some of your footage!

Def

PTRSAK · **Reply #2 on:** October 23, 2016, 02:02:17 PM

Certainly a different beast to the type of Quad I fly.

I'm more interested in the FPV raacing "drones". So much fun dodging trees with one of these viewing through my FatShark video goggles

and occasionally failing to dodge the trees.

Or just fly where there are no trees.

Chako · **Reply #3 on:** October 23, 2016, 02:19:19 PM

Well I just took my first short flight. Outdoors is definitely the best place for someone as green as I. I had always assumed these would be difficult as helicopters...but they really aren't as far as I can tell. I tried to get the camera to work or take video...but when I got back inside, it appears there was nothing on the card. I still need to work on my trim and fine tuning. I would think this would be easier if I really knew what I was doing.

I figured that the more you spend, the easier things become. This is just a starter to see if I should get into something heavier down the line.

Chako · **Reply #4 on:** October 23, 2016, 02:29:17 PM

Well bad news. I have read the instructions and tried to take several photos and videos and nothing shows up on the card. I fear I may have to return this unit back from where I bought it.

Grant Lamontagne · **Reply #5 on:** October 23, 2016, 02:44:48 PM

That sucks Dan- sorry to hear that. I hope the next one works out better for you.

Peter- that looks awesome. I love watching FPV footage from racing drones and I have wanted to get one for a while now. I can see myself really gettign into it, and there are a lot of good places around here that I could fly them without worrying about bumping into people.

Def

Smashie · **Reply #6 on:** October 23, 2016, 03:59:17 PM

Bad luck Dan, but you can also spend a small fortune on a UAS and still have to send the smurfing thing back because of a fault from the factory (DJI I'm looking at you here).

I suppose this as good a time as any to let the cat out the bag and say that I'm now flying them commercially, and that's not a trivial process to go through in the UK.

I've got a few jobs backed up at the moment due to the lack of an inspire 1 v2 (one in for replacement, second one on order). I don't do just photo's and videos either. when I get one of my insipres back I'll stick up a link to some video.

Also (again DJI) start shipping products on the date you say you will or at least give a proper explanation as to why you haven't! I want my Mavic Pro!

And relax........

Josh613 · **Reply #7 on:** October 23, 2016, 06:03:24 PM

I've been looking at these for a long time now. This just makes me want one more

Chako · **Reply #8 on:** October 23, 2016, 06:42:34 PM

Grant, I have my fingers Xed.

Smashie, that sounds exciting.

Same here Josh613.

Well I returned the first one back to TSC where I bought it. That would be my second trip, as I had to go there on Saturday once I noticed my box did not have the Lipo battery or the spare blades. I was going to go all over the place to see what was available...but my first stop...which was Canadian Tire of all places, had something that looks a little better. The box was a lot smaller, and I did want something I could at least see in the air. That and I knew the micro ones are a bear to fly from reading online reviews as well as somewhat knowing about the physics of such things. I did see one model with FPV that didn't require the use of a cell phone...and I am thinking yeah lets step up to that for 100 bucks more than the first quadcopter that was just returned. The box was smaller which caused me to hesitate, but it did have that FPV feature...and after seeing the above video, I thought a cheap way into something like that might be better for starters. Once I opened the box, the drone wasn't much smaller than that Quadrone, as it was shipped without the blade protectors on.

For that extra 100 bucks, I get a nice step up I think...onboard real time fpv, a few more features such as an on/off button, The mini SD card is now an 8Gb as oppsoed to a 1Gb.

Still disappointed that I never got to try the flip 360 feature on the first quadcopter. Go figure.

Grant Lamontagne · **Reply #9 on:** October 23, 2016, 07:53:52 PM

Quote from: Smashie on October 23, 2016, 03:59:17 PM

Bad luck Dan, but you can also spend a small fortune on a UAS and still have to send the smurfing thing back because of a fault from the factory (DJI I'm looking at you here).

I suppose this as good a time as any to let the cat out the bag and say that I'm now flying them commercially, and that's not a trivial process to go through in the UK.

I've got a few jobs backed up at the moment due to the lack of an inspire 1 v2 (one in for replacement, second one on order). I don't do just photo's and videos either. when I get one of my insipres back I'll stick up a link to some video.

Also (again DJI) start shipping products on the date you say you will or at least give a proper explanation as to why you haven't! I want my Mavic Pro!

And relax........

That's excellent! I have a friend who does it and he is doing quite well. His girlfriend works in staging houses and providing other support for realtors, and his business of aerial photography/video is really beneficial to that.

http://www.atlanticaerialworx.com/

Def

Chako · **Reply #10 on:** October 23, 2016, 07:59:37 PM

Here is the new one without blade guards installed.

And with the guards installed.

Here is the included camera pod.

Yes, I do need to dust the top of my computer.

Anyways, here is the included controller with attached screen recharging.

Smashie · **Reply #11 on:** October 23, 2016, 08:12:10 PM

Quote from: Grant Lamontagne on October 23, 2016, 07:53:52 PM

Quote from: Smashie on October 23, 2016, 03:59:17 PM
Bad luck Dan, but you can also spend a small fortune on a UAS and still have to send the smurfing thing back because of a fault from the factory (DJI I'm looking at you here).

I suppose this as good a time as any to let the cat out the bag and say that I'm now flying them commercially, and that's not a trivial process to go through in the UK.

I've got a few jobs backed up at the moment due to the lack of an inspire 1 v2 (one in for replacement, second one on order). I don't do just photo's and videos either. when I get one of my insipres back I'll stick up a link to some video.

Also (again DJI) start shipping products on the date you say you will or at least give a proper explanation as to why you haven't! I want my Mavic Pro!

And relax........

That's excellent! I have a friend who does it and he is doing quite well. His girlfriend works in staging houses and providing other support for realtors, and his business of aerial photography/video is really beneficial to that.

http://www.atlanticaerialworx.com/

Def

The best part of it is, it doesn't feel like working

Chako · **Reply #12 on:** October 23, 2016, 08:41:30 PM

I bet.

Well here are my initial observations.

1. The first person view works nicely indoors. No idea when I take it out in bright sunlight how much of a muddy show that will be. I have to wonder if I can get fancy goggles for this later?

2. Although this is smaller than the Quadrone, the one flight I did have with the first one told me I had a hard time to tell in which way it was pointing (different LED colours notwithstanding). This newer one's shape should make it easier for me to see which is the front, etc upon a glance.
3. I love how this battery is installed on the newer one compared to the older one. On the Quadrone, I had to attach the battery cable directly into the quadcopter. It was very hard for me to get at. That and there was no on/off button. The Pioneer has a separate cable that the battery attaches to. The whole assembly pulls out of the quadcopter, and there is much better designed battery compartment door which closes and opens easier.
4. I can't wait to take this out on the next nice day.

Chako · **Reply #13 on:** October 23, 2016, 08:54:53 PM

Thanks Smashie. I should know better than to look things up.

Alan K. · **Reply #14 on:** October 23, 2016, 09:11:08 PM

Looks cool Chako, but I'm tapped out, poor, under funded, busted, broke, and temporarily disadvantaged. I'm trying to give up hobbies I can't afford. Not pick up new ones.

Chako · **Reply #15 on:** October 24, 2016, 12:37:36 AM

Chako · **Reply #16 on:** October 24, 2016, 01:10:19 AM

Can't seem to find this particular quadcopter online..but I have found its close relative as the JXD 509G.

Chako · **Reply #17 on:** October 24, 2016, 05:56:03 AM

Got it!

This is a JXD 510G.

WhichDawg · **Reply #18 on:** October 24, 2016, 09:21:44 AM

wow! getting paid to do this?!

I may have to look into this

and looks like fun~!

Chako · **Reply #19 on:** October 27, 2016, 04:40:14 AM

I just bought a on sale LiteHawk Click. It is a micro quadecopter with built in camera. I was surprised at how easy it was to fly in the house...for my first time. I mean, I only crashed it twice and then a perfect flight.

Quads are addictive. The weather hasn't cooperated for flying my larger one as of yet.

Can't post photos as I can't seem to access Photobucket at the moment.

Grant Lamontagne · **Reply #20 on:** October 27, 2016, 03:05:59 PM

Fortunately my cheapo quad is so light that I have been able to crash it from amazing heights and never had even the slightest damage.

But, as I said, when you invest in better ones they start to pretty well fly themselves. You just tell them where to go and how to do it (yeah, that is an invite for Santos, I know) and they do it by themselves.

Def

dks · **Reply #21 on:** October 27, 2016, 03:31:39 PM

I have not flown mine in a few months. I suggest you get one with GPS.

Chako · **Reply #22 on:** October 30, 2016, 09:32:47 AM

Well...now that photobucket is up...here is the newest addition..the LiteHawk Click. I must say, everything I have read about these little micro quads being hard to fly doesn't seem to fit this little guy...either that or all that flight time using the Phoenix RC flight simulator is rubbing off on me.

I got this on sale for 49 Canadian, which is fantastic considering it has a small built in camera. I wasn't expecting much from the camera...and that is a good thing because my first indoor shoots using the still and video feature were less then inspiring.

Here is one of the less than stellar stills.

Um yeah...so the camera thing is more of a marketing gimmick then anything useful. But on the other hand, it is amazing that they even managed to put one in this thing. The main body is about the size of a quarter.

The controls are very ergonomic, even for big paws like mine. As mentioned, this little guy flies remarkably well in tight environments. I stayed away from these because of my very bad experiences with RC copters...even those in the flight simulator that I have. However, these little guys are remarkably stable and easy to fly thanks to all the technology they manage to cram in there.

So if you are looking for a small quad, the Click is a neat flyer with the added gimmick of a built in camera...which still amazes me. You can't go far wrong with this little toy. Now if I can only prevent my two cats from attacking it on site. Come to think of it, I do wish this guy comes with prop guards...just for added feline safety of course.

Chako · **Reply #23 on:** December 06, 2016, 01:20:43 PM

Well the Click didn't last long. I brought it to work and attempted to keep the thing stable and in the air while doing a video test with it. It crashed trice badly and because of the hard tiled floors, didn't survive the third impact unscathed. I broke all the little legs on the bottom, and bend one of the motor shafts. I tried to straighten it out but can't. I knew going in that these micro quads were a bear to fly...and I erred into thinking that it would be a good platform for me to learn on...being cheap and all. The very poor quality camera still works, as does the battery. I guess I could always tie the thing onto one of my RC tanks and have a go with it that way I suppose.

I haven't flown the more expensive fpv quadcopter yet. My experience with the little Click told me I needed something larger to learn to fly on. It so happened that Canadian Tire had a hexacopter that was only a few bucks more than the Click in regards to the nice sales price it was on. It has no camera...but I can easily live with it if it will give me some flight time to learn the controls with more finesse. Besides, the built in camera on that Click was terrible at best.

Here is the Gravity Sky Rider Hexacopter.

There is a camera hookup and I can see where one could attach one to this model. That tells me they sell this model with a camera. What I like best about this is the aluminium arms and landing gear. I hope with all those blade guards, this can take a tumble or two.

Here is a comparison photo of the two together.

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