Multirotor, multicopter and quadcopter discussion - The Drone thread

[GeX]

Gex as you are still looking here's some advice that I can give you, from on rookie to another.

Make sure you buy things that you wont grow out of very quickly. By that I mean don't buy loads of any one thing straight away, be it batteries or props because you may want to change and be stuck with a bunch of stuff you don't need.

Also when it comes to buying FPV goggles consider getting a pair of good goggles straight away, these don't need to be fat sharks, there have been a couple other options on the market recently. You don't need to get these straight away of course and there are some good box style goggles available, I currently have some box goggles but I already want one of the smaller goggles with diversity antennas. If I knew I would be wanting to upgrade this quickly I would have just went straight for the smaller goggles from the start.

Thanks

I've kinda gone that way already, not bothering with 'great first time' bits and bobs. Things sat in the box ready to build;

ShenDrones Krieger frame
EMAX RS2205-S 2300KV motors
EMAX BULLET 30A D-SHOT BLHELI_S ESC
FrySky XSR
Taranis X9D
Matek PDB

Then all the supporting stuff, SkyRC B6 mini charger, fireproof LiPo bags, it all adds up.

Just waiting on the FC, SPF4 EVO. It's on the way.

I'm going to fly LOS to begin with, and then look at FPV gear. There's a lot to learn, and I've been focusing on the core stuff first! WRT Goggles, yeah - I don't like the look of box goggles, I found my Rift clunky - so would much rather have something more actual goggle like.
I have been toying with the idea of mounting a screen on the Tx instead of goggles.. but likely not, like I say - more research to do!

 

[Duo]

I'd do that on the TX to be honest. What have you got?

I've been doing research since I posted this and came to this same conclusion...my transmitter is a basic flysky i6 and i managed to do it but thanks anyway.

 

[Duo]

another nice pic abyss

Could anyone shed a little more light on this liability insurance you are talking about. the cost and what it covers, its the first i've thought about the need for insurance but it may be worth considering.

 

[wez130]

Definitely worth considering. If you crash into somebody's car and damage It, you're liable, if your drone packs in mid air and crashes through someones roof, You'll have to pay for it. That's what public liability insurance is for. The 2 main choices are BMFA and FPVUK. BMFA is about £33 a year and covers you for UP To £30m and includes accident cover for yourself. FPV is about £17 a year but it's weird. All policies start and end on 31st July, so you pay pro rata, I.e it'll cost the full amount from 1st August to 1st November, then it'll cost a bit less from 1st Nov to 1st Jan. Then less again for the following 3 months etc.

For the little it costs though, it's definitely worth it.

 

[The_Abyss]

Thanks for that wez, definitely something to look into for me.

 

[teaboy5]

Took the mavic out the back of the house today for a quick fly and noticed it drifting to the left a little instead of flying dead straight. Only noticing this since I have updated to the new firmware as it was flying as straight as an arrow before.

Done all the normal calibrations again and doesn't seem to have helped at all.

Anyone else noting this since the newest firmware? It's even clearer when you turn on the centre pointer on the camera, as you can aim for something and noticing it going to the left. Had a check on the forums and there is some complaints of this around May 2017 so maybe folk are only noticing it now since the firmware.

 

[Yas786]

Meh was planning to take my mavic out for a proper fly out today. Was nice and sunny so thought I'd get some chores done around the house.

Only for it to start lashing it down a hr or so later. So much for my proper first flight. So far since I've had the mavic, I've only managed to fly it around my back yard which is about 100' long but not very wide.

Hopefully waiting for it to clear up, if it does then I'll take it for a quick run out.

 

[Yas786]

Took the mavic out the back of the house today for a quick fly and noticed it drifting to the left a little instead of flying dead straight. Only noticing this since I have updated to the new firmware as it was flying as straight as an arrow before.

Done all the normal calibrations again and doesn't seem to have helped at all.

Anyone else noting this since the newest firmware? It's even clearer when you turn on the centre pointer on the camera, as you can aim for something and noticing it going to the left. Had a check on the forums and there is some complaints of this around May 2017 so maybe folk are only noticing it now since the firmware.

No high winds affecting your flight?? I haven't really noticed myself but then to be honest the most I've done is taken it up, snapped a few pics and vids whilst panning around.

If the weather was better then I'd be out flying around. Hopefully if it clears up then I'll see if it happens with mine but chances of that happening are slim at the moment.

 

[The_Abyss]

Took the mavic out the back of the house today for a quick fly and noticed it drifting to the left a little instead of flying dead straight. Only noticing this since I have updated to the new firmware as it was flying as straight as an arrow before.

Done all the normal calibrations again and doesn't seem to have helped at all.

Anyone else noting this since the newest firmware? It's even clearer when you turn on the centre pointer on the camera, as you can aim for something and noticing it going to the left. Had a check on the forums and there is some complaints of this around May 2017 so maybe folk are only noticing it now since the firmware.

Nothing like that here so far - only had a couple of flights on the new firmware but one of them was in pretty gusty conditions and it was steady as always. It moves a few centimetres but that's it - certainly no drift.

 

[teaboy5]

No wind at all.

It's doesn't drift when hovering or anything. But say I aim for a tree about 1/2 mile away I know but the time i get there I will be to the left of it a little. It's not drifting 50 or 60 meters or anything but enough to notice it's not dead straight.

 

[The_Abyss]

That sounds like your controller needs to be calibrated.

 

[teaboy5]

Done all that and makes no difference. But i am 99% sure it didn't do this on previous firmware.

 

[Yas786]

So ermm today was an expensive but painful experience for me. Do not try and fly your drone inside your house :/.

I've ended up with my fingers and my knee with a nasty cut to them.

Also managed to completely destroy my £2k TV as well .

Had a look on the internet regarding how safe it is to fly my mavic inside. Watched a few videos as well, made sure my settings were correct etc. So started her up and started to lift her off, she hovered for about then decided to fly backwards. At first I didn't panic I just brought the drone towards me but again instead of hovering in one spot it went backwards towards the tv.
This time I panicked but by the time I reacted the drone hit the tv, not very fast but fell to the bottom of the tv, where it put a hole in the screen and that's my tv destroyed.

So in my panic I tried grabbing the drone by hand, I managed to grab it but the props running at full pelt cut my fingers up. Nothing too serious though, just a nasty cut. But as I was trying to get it to turn off, one of the props hit my knee where it caused another nasty cut lol.

In the end I just turned it off from the battery. Once I had calmed down, I surveyed the damage and yeh stupid but expensive mistake.

Luckily no real damage to the drone other than 3 props broken, luckily I ordered a few extra. A bit of a dent and scratches on the back of the drone where it hit the tv.

But the real damage was done to my tv. So that will have to be claimed on my home contents insurance. Not sure if I will claim on my drone, it seems ok but once I get the new props put on, I'll check to make sure.

So yeh not the best idea to fly inside a house lol.

 

[The_Abyss]

Can you roll back and try an older once, after the significant update in the last few days?

 

[The_Abyss]

Ouch. I'm sorry to say that you've just replicated the experience of many a first time drone user with a Mavic. What settings were you using?

 

[Yas786]

Ouch. I'm sorry to say that you've just replicated the experience of many a first time drone user with a Mavic. What settings were you using?

Can't remember but I think it was in atti mode, from what I saw of the videos it said to switch to tripod mode. Tried it but said I had to take off, once I had I tried putting it into tripod mode but panicked when I saw it moving backwards even though I wasn't using the joysticks. So had no time to get it into tripod mode.

I took it off beginner mode as well, not sure if keeping it in beginner mode would have helped. I had the setting for controller set to hover if it lost contact.

Suffice to say I will not be trying that again unless I hadn't set it up properly

 

[Bigpops]

This is what happens when people don't understand RC flight. It's not really your fault, it's DJIs fault for marketing these things to average Joe who has zero RC experience. You have just found out what damage a simple plastic propeller can do when spinning at about 20K rpm. Something which you should 100% know before flying anything but a tiny toy.

 

[wez130]

Finally grew some balls and flew my Mavic for the first time. Naturally, i took baby steps, trying to get used to the controls, and set it into tripod mode. Got scared as it got above 30m lol. I don't want it to fly away lol. My camera seems fine, nice and sharp. Shame about the weather. Got a high wind velocity warning though!

screenshot from video clip.

 

[booyaka]

This is what happens when people don't understand RC flight. It's not really your fault, it's DJIs fault for marketing these things to average Joe who has zero RC experience. You have just found out what damage a simple plastic propeller can do when spinning at about 20K rpm. Something which you should 100% know before flying anything but a tiny toy.

This - I don't understand why people spend £1k upwards on something and then actually have no clue what to do. It's like not being able to cycle but spending £1k on a bike just because you can.

Why would you fly a drone of that size and cost inside your home??

Will be interesting to see what your insurance company make of the claim. Good chance they will say it was irresponsible/negligent by trying to fly a drone inside your house, and not pay out.

 

[d_brennen]

Tinywhoops for the living room