Multirotor, multicopter and quadcopter discussion - The Drone thread

Banzai_Joe · 28 Nov 2014 at 12:13

Hi,
i remember seeing this thread and as i'm looking for a 'toy' for a friend, thought i'd pop in and ask....

I want to buy a small, cheap quadcopter with live feed camera. 0.3mp would be ok for a noob.
Something like THIS?

It may lead on to bigger things for him as he's pretty much housebound due to disability. He likes this type of stuff. He has a couple of gyrocopters.

Would appreciate some advice please, thanks.

gandhi · 28 Nov 2014 at 12:53

alexthecheese said:
Cheers. I have no idea where to look other than hobbyking.

Does that do live video transmission? Doesn't appear to, would need to get that included to seal the deal.

No, you're right, it doesn't do live vtx, so you would need to look at that. Problem is, live video is going to add another couple of hundred quid minimum.

Interestingly, it looks like that iLook camera has a vtx built in. so you'd just need a monitor.....

Rilot · 28 Nov 2014 at 12:57

murah said:
From what I hear the Syma is more stable quieter and not as nippy as the Hubsan, but being a hubsan x4 owner myself I can tell you it stable fun to fly (indoors only really) and lots of fun however it is pretty loud.

I've got both the Hubsan and Syma. I prefer the Syma.
I've had the Hubsan for about 18 months and it was my favourite mini quad until I got the Syma.

TheBrooder · 28 Nov 2014 at 13:19

Rilot said:
I've got both the Hubsan and Syma. I prefer the Syma.
I've had the Hubsan for about 18 months and it was my favourite mini quad until I got the Syma.

I was about to buy a Hubsan after discovering these things only yesterday but after reading your comments here and the article here I'm not sure what to go for now.

Rilot · 28 Nov 2014 at 13:46

I would leave the X5. It's too big to be a fun toy for indoors and is too crap to be of any use outside. Just get the Syma X4 or Hubsan X4. You will be more than happy with either.

Lisapete · 28 Nov 2014 at 14:15

3s or 4s then for my F550. Going to run dual batteries.

Looks like Hobby King directly is the bets place to go.

3s 5000mAH http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__9184__Turnigy_5000mAh_3S_20C_Lipo_Pack.html

4s 5000mAH http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__9177__Turnigy_5000mAh_4S_20C_Lipo_Pack.html

£5.08 difference per battery

I can get 6 of the 3's for £116.57 delivered by Fedex

Lisapete · 28 Nov 2014 at 14:20

Rilot said:
I would leave the X5. It's too big to be a fun toy for indoors and is too crap to be of any use outside. Just get the Syma X4 or Hubsan X4. You will be more than happy with either.

Just got back from a shop called ManKind. They had the Syma X4 for £50. Showed my misses eBay for £25 and said do it when home.

I had a quick go, recalibrated it there and then and had it flipping and everything. Guy in shop was impressed. Let some kid have it back who then flug it into this birds face. I walk away fast. Its far better than my Hubsan X4, gonna flog that on FB now and get the Syma X4

bulletv1 · 28 Nov 2014 at 15:04

Ordered my first quad copter. Revell Control XS Nano Quad Micro Quadrocopter. Not quite up to you guys standard but once i get my R/C planes up and running a proper quad will be my next port of call

gandhi · 28 Nov 2014 at 15:18

Lisapete said:
3s or 4s then for my F550. Going to run dual batteries.

Looks like Hobby King directly is the bets place to go.

3s 5000mAH http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__9184__Turnigy_5000mAh_3S_20C_Lipo_Pack.html

4s 5000mAH http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__9177__Turnigy_5000mAh_4S_20C_Lipo_Pack.html

£5.08 difference per battery

I can get 6 of the 3's for £116.57 delivered by Fedex

Difference in weight between 3s & 4s is about 250g if you're running 2 batts in parallel. Not sure what the thrust output from your motors is with those props, but I would imagine the extra thrust would more than offset the extra weight. Especially on a hexa.

One thing to bear in mind though is that if you use 4s and have any electorics on board that need 12v, you will need some sort of step down device to regulate the voltage.

Rilot · 28 Nov 2014 at 15:25

I would go 4S on the F550 for the extra grunt. You may have issues with weight though if you run dual 4S 5000mAh + landing gear + GoPro. You should run about 14 minutes on a single 4S 5000mAh though.
And Gandhi is spot on with the step down. Your Gimbal may not be able to run off 4S so you may need a 12V 1A UBEC.

ScreamWorker · 28 Nov 2014 at 15:26

Hi guys looking to get into this and have a budget of £150, so far ive seen the following :

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Version-Sym...F8&qid=1417188211&sr=1-10&keywords=quadcopter

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Version-Upg...TF8&qid=1417188211&sr=1-4&keywords=quadcopter

now they are both under £50, then am i right in thinkign there isnt anything else unless i build my own or put my budget up ?

Thanks in advance

Banzai_Joe · 28 Nov 2014 at 16:01

Quadcopters for noobs (previous thread too big)

Started a new thread as quite a lot of posts (inluding mine) either get ignored or missed due to too many conversations going on at the same time.

So, noobs like me feel free to ask in here.
I'm after some advice on a 1st buy. I do want it to have live feed to a transmitter. Right now i can't see the point of having a camera that doesn't do live feed, cos your basically guessing where the camera is pointing, hardly accurate :rolleyes:

.

I'm looking for a sub £200 copter.

Walkera QR W100 2.4Ghz RC Quadcopter RTF with DEVO F4 (£169)
Hubsan X4 FPV Quadcopter (£139)

Would either of these be recommended?
Are they upgradeable? Not even sure what you would upgrade tbh, again, advice please.

Thanks

Rilot · 28 Nov 2014 at 16:03

I don't want more than one thread on this. Merged with the big thread.

Neither of those is worth having. If you want FPV and a live feed then your cheapest option that is any cop is a Phantom FC40. The thing with fpv multicopters is that below a certain price point there is absolutely no point as the results are terrible.

My mate has one of the X4 ones. Not the FPV but the one that has the same camera but just records. The image quality is utterly terrible.

Banzai_Joe · 28 Nov 2014 at 16:11

Whilst i'm obviously not versed with theses things, having watched some youtube vids of the ones i listed they seemed pretty decent to me. Well the ones with HD cams did.
What specifically do you think is so 'terrible' about them?
I know the X4 has only 480x840 camera, but the Walker has 1280x720.

spookywillow · 28 Nov 2014 at 16:14

As above, FPV can't really be done on the cheap or you will end up buying again due to terrible quality.

Rilot · 28 Nov 2014 at 16:14

OK, maybe I'm comparing to my proper FPV multirotors.
They just seem very expensive for what they are because at the end of the day, they are based on £25 model but with a cheap camera bolted on to them.

I suppose they might be a bit of fun for the kids but other than that... What are you wanting to do with them specifically?

Rilot · 28 Nov 2014 at 16:17

ScreamWorker said:
Hi guys looking to get into this and have a budget of £150, so far ive seen the following :

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Version-Sym...F8&qid=1417188211&sr=1-10&keywords=quadcopter

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Version-Upg...TF8&qid=1417188211&sr=1-4&keywords=quadcopter

now they are both under £50, then am i right in thinkign there isnt anything else unless i build my own or put my budget up ?

Thanks in advance

The Hubsan X4 is great. The Syma X5 is a bit of a waste of time because - as I said on the last page - it's too big to really have fun with indoors and too crap to be of any use outside.

The pick of the small multicopters at the moment is either the Hubsan X4 or the Syma X4. I prefer the Syma and have both of them.

Banzai_Joe · 28 Nov 2014 at 16:27

Rilot said:
I suppose they might be a bit of fun for the kids but other than that... What are you wanting to do with them specifically?

I quite fancy the idea of flying it above my dogs when we're walking them in the park; Seeing their reaction, videoing it, using the RFT viewer on the transmitter to fly it around them etc. especially when further away where its harder to judge relative distance.

Nothing really specific, just wanting to play really. But i'll not be forking out nigh on £400 for one that does RTF (better). Need to start somewhere i guess.
As i said the 2MP cam looks ok on the youtube clips.

Stability also looks quite good too.
Are there not options to upgrade parts of these ones?

Maybe a slight bit of (and no disrespect meant here) snobbery of obviously having much superior kit than what i'm proposing, but like i said, gotta start somewhere.

booyaka · 28 Nov 2014 at 16:33

Hubsan X4 with 2mp camera is around £50 - it's fine for playing about with but footage isn't that useable, it's ok - it's fine for a bit of fun/messing around.

If you want to do it proper you need £300 plus minimum - more like £500 to start with

booyaka · 28 Nov 2014 at 16:44

Order done!

5x #9192000124-0/39708 Afro ESC 30Amp Multi-rotor Motor Speed Controller (SimonK Firmware) = $70.00
1x #9171000446-0/54299 Hobbyking KK2.1.5 Multi-rotor LCD Flight Control Board With 6050MPU And Atmel 644PA = $21.95
5x #NTM2826-1100/25076 NTM Prop Drive Series 28-26 1100kv / 252w = $76.45
1x #JR-Combo/14349 FrSky DJT 2.4Ghz Combo Pack for JR w/ Telemetry Module & V8FR-II RX = $39.91
1x #9329000023/22443 Slow Fly Electric Prop 9047R SF (4 pc Right Hand Rotation) = $3.02
1x #9329000022/22442 9047SF Slow Fly Electric Prop CW (From Rear) (4 pc) = $3.02
1x #601CC-14-30c/10266 Charge Cable w/ Male XT60 <-> 4mm Banana plug = $2.99
1x #258000154-0/64626 HobbyKing Super Clean RC Male to Male Extension set (100mm) = $1.42
1x #450000214-0/56798 DJI F450 /F550 Flamewheel Extended Landing Gear (4pcs/set) = $5.99
1x #AM-9017B/9682 Male JST battery pigtail 10cm length (10pcs/bag) = $1.93
1x #9001-AB/10255 3.5mm 3 wire Bullet-connector for motor (5pairs/bag) = $5.10
1x #WH-4MM-BLACK/3832 Turnigy 4mm Heat Shrink Tube - BLACK (1mtr) = $0.35
1x #OR009-00502/17847 M3x8 Nylon Screws (10pcs/bag) = $0.77
1x #OR009-01502/17853 M3 Nylon Nut (10pcs/bag) = $0.69
1x #FXT60-MJST/19435 XT-60 to JST Charging Adapter (2pc) = $1.95
1x #171000414-0/51442 Turnigy 9XR PRO Radio Transmitter Mode 2 (without module) = $99.99
1x #366000030-0/66628 Q450 Ghost Edition LED Night Quad-Copter Frame (KIT) = $16.99

International warehouse - DHL postage (£50!) - no cheaper way to do it.

2x #N4000.4S.25/29257 Turnigy nano-tech 4000mah 4S 25~50C Lipo Pack (UK Warehouse) = $77.62
1x #052000052/49452 IMAX B6-AC Charger/Discharger 1-6 Cells (GENUINE) with UK plug (UK Warehouse) = $40.99

Hopefully all the bases covered!! - will get velcro/cable ties - soldering iron etc locally