Multirotor, multicopter and quadcopter discussion - The Drone thread
- Thread starter RomanNose
- Start date
2.5 miles was the furthest i went with mine over a reservoir so clear line of sight.
Don
It's easy to build. I could teach a 7-year-old to do it. It's the tuning and setup that's hard. However there are plenty of guides out there for whatever firmware you choose to go with.
I know I should just search on google for guides but do you have any places to recommend where I should start reading?
Don
I'm out of the look with self-built stuff these days. I last built one about 3 years ago so everything has changed.
No problem, time to flex these Google-Fu muscles!
Soldato
Building a drone today, is imho even easier than it was 2-3 years ago.
Flight controllers are designed to be way easier to solder, many even use straight forward jst plugs and in some cases you can buy very efficient and cost effective 4in1 flight controllers that also contain receivers, video transmitters and the ESCs, depends entirely on the sort of quad your building, and your level of experience in flying.
Most flight controllers you can get today have the FC + ESC/PDB all in one package with big well labelled pads for easy soldering. Smaller boards for whoops will often just use jst plugs so they are quiet simply plug and play.
Setting up betaflight isn't that hard either with default settings being good enough for most, and setup for the flight controller will be pre-set when you flash the matching firmware. You could also go for the named brand BNF builds from the likes of Diatone, EMAX, Flywoo, ImmersionRC and many other brands and they will be fully configured/tuned out of the box, just bind a receiver (configure your switches in betaflight ofcourse) and plug a battery in.
Flight controllers are designed to be way easier to solder, many even use straight forward jst plugs and in some cases you can buy very efficient and cost effective 4in1 flight controllers that also contain receivers, video transmitters and the ESCs, depends entirely on the sort of quad your building, and your level of experience in flying.
Most flight controllers you can get today have the FC + ESC/PDB all in one package with big well labelled pads for easy soldering. Smaller boards for whoops will often just use jst plugs so they are quiet simply plug and play.
Setting up betaflight isn't that hard either with default settings being good enough for most, and setup for the flight controller will be pre-set when you flash the matching firmware. You could also go for the named brand BNF builds from the likes of Diatone, EMAX, Flywoo, ImmersionRC and many other brands and they will be fully configured/tuned out of the box, just bind a receiver (configure your switches in betaflight ofcourse) and plug a battery in.
I'd agree with this, i've built a couple that worked pretty well - just pay close attention to the way around things need to go and be especially careful with battery connections!
I own a Mavic Mini <250g with a camera.
With that said, I understand the law has changed and by virtue of having a camera I need to register. I already have a Flyer ID, but I'm led to believe I need an operator ID as an OWNER of the drone - is my understanding correct please, whereas a flyer ID would be required for my kids using my drone under supervision?
With that said, I understand the law has changed and by virtue of having a camera I need to register. I already have a Flyer ID, but I'm led to believe I need an operator ID as an OWNER of the drone - is my understanding correct please, whereas a flyer ID would be required for my kids using my drone under supervision?
Don
The Operator ID is for the person who is repsponsible for the maintenance of the drone, so you. This needs to be displayed on the model (I use a small printed sticker).
Everyone who flies requires a Flier ID.
Everyone who flies requires a Flier ID.
Thank you, will need to sort out
Soldato
I notice "line of sight" being used in this thread. Line of sight is not sufficient, you or your spotter has to be able to actually see your drone unaided.
Of course, I think a lot of people just fly their drones without knowing or caring about any legislation but I just thought I'd point that out.
As others said, the up to date legal requirements make drone range a bit of a non issue IMO unless you're a professional.
(Some are talking about LoS with reference to range of communication which is understandable)
Of course, I think a lot of people just fly their drones without knowing or caring about any legislation but I just thought I'd point that out.
As others said, the up to date legal requirements make drone range a bit of a non issue IMO unless you're a professional.
(Some are talking about LoS with reference to range of communication which is understandable)
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With something like the mini it's very difficult to keep visual sight due to it's size and colour on a bright clear day, basically when you're most likely to be out with it. It's largly an unworkable rule for a model I've personally taken to a range of 2km. I guess you could get those super bright flashing LEDs I've seen online but for such a small done I wouldn't want to compromise it's flight characteristics, possibly risking a crash, which would be ironic.
I guess what I'm saying is some of the rules are not thought through when taking into consideration what drones are capable of and what people intend to use them for. It's abit like pretending 70mph vehicle speed limit is followed when it's clearly not but is considered a fact of life it's broken millions of times a day.
I guess what I'm saying is some of the rules are not thought through when taking into consideration what drones are capable of and what people intend to use them for. It's abit like pretending 70mph vehicle speed limit is followed when it's clearly not but is considered a fact of life it's broken millions of times a day.
Soldato
Line of sight would be about 150ft which would make these completely pointless for aerial photography.
Soldato
With the mini adding leds would likely take it above the 250g limit too which changes everything.
Soldato
I agree. Very easy to lose it and take a while to get back. It's clear the legislation was poorly and hastily written.
I can see my Mavic Mini far enough away and below 400ft to get worthwhile shots, of course sometimes the further the better. I was just pointing out the legislation.
For me, during the transition period (until 2023) the Mavic Air is a sweet spot. Basically anywhere but not "deliberately over people" because it's 250g-500g.
It really took a while to understand what I could and couldn't do because relevant paragraphs are all over the place. At one point you'll read something and say to yourself "can't do that then" and two pages later it explicitly tells you that you can. e.g. Flying in residential ares.
Soldato
Yup, one of the main reasons I felt it was pointless to upgrade the mini 2 for longer range when I can lose sight of the mini 1 long before losing connection.
I assume that particular regulation is to avoid coming into conflict with other aircraft, but to be honest, you can do that just as easily as long as you can see where the drone is, even without being able to actually see it
Soldato
It's 40 basic questions online
Is that it? I was led to believe I now had to take an actual course. Guess I might have been mis informed...