Quadcopters anyone? other RC?

[knave]

I don't know why I've become obsessed with them recently...it's not as if I have time for my old hobbies much less a new one...

...But suffice it to say that after a week of research and $160 later I have a bunch of parts on their way.

Anyone else fly these contraptions? Any other RC fans in the house?

In case you are interested I used parts from a few sites, Ebay, banggood and hobbyking. (I'm not much a fan of hobbyking unless I get free shipping)

My Quad is based on a DJI F330 frame and should look kinda like this:



My cost of $160 is pretty cheap as quads go especially since it includes a transmitter/receiver (Turnigy TGY-i6) And a battery and charger.
Rambling of parts: Frame, motors, ESCs, flight controller, LIPO battery, LIPO charger, props, and some misc. electronic odds and ends and the aforementioned Tx/Rx, battery and charger.

If I like the hobby I'll throw a camera on it if not I'll sell it or more likely leave it in my garage for 20 years.

[dkersten]

Unless you have had practice flying them, I would suggest getting a cheaper model that is easy to fix first.  They are fun but easy to crash or lose control of. 

[knave]

Unless you have had practice flying them, I would suggest getting a cheaper model that is easy to fix first.  They are fun but easy to crash or lose control of.

Yeah I figured as much so I ordered a cheap RTF (ready to fly) Mini quadcopter from banggood along with my parts. That way I can practice in the weeks where I'm taking my time building the bigger one.

[geeteoh]

I have two of the ready to fly ones. The $50 Hubsan x4 with camera. Fun to fly. Takes coordination. Almost lost it one day in the wind while flying over 200 ft high.. Blew through a bunch of blades even with the blade guard.  They sell a crash kit for $10 that has just about every replacement part minus the pcb. Video is pretty good. Also have the $80 Parrot mini drone rolling spider. No camera but  much more safisicated. Push a button and it takes off and hovers in front of you. Then tilt your smartphone and fly it. Not as good in the wind. More of an indoor copter.

[vwalbridge]

Here's mine. I like my quads just like my arcades...micro.


...this thing is a sumabeech to fly. 

[knave]

I ordered the parts on 7/22 knowing many would take weeks to arrive from china. (downside of being cheap)

Just received my second big batch of parts. I am only waiting on the motors and a few electronic connectors...and the mini quad. (but I ordered that two days later)

[dkersten]

I have two of the ready to fly ones. The $50 Hubsan x4 with camera. Fun to fly. Takes coordination. Almost lost it one day in the wind while flying over 200 ft high.. Blew through a bunch of blades even with the blade guard.  They sell a crash kit for $10 that has just about every replacement part minus the pcb.

I bought the Hubsan x4 for my daughter.. added 5 extra batteries, a 4 battery charger, and the crash kit and it was all about $75 total.  Went through several props but haven't broken a motor or chassis yet.  It's fun to play with but after an hour you put it away and don't care about it for a month or two.  This is one of those hobbies where you have to REALLY be into either aerial photography or just flying things if you want any kind of return on investment (ie fun for your money).  I have a friend who had an extensive airplane setup for doing aerial photo shoots up in Alaska, and he finally transitioned to quads a little over a year ago.  That guy is really into it and even makes some money at it, and his quad, while a few grand, is still far cheaper than the plane he had that he would fly via remote video.

It doesn't take much to go from a $50 Amazon toy to spending money on something you will use a dozen times.. wait, this is starting to sound like an arcade cab, lol.

[HaRuMaN]

Hadn't heard of banggood before.  Just ordered a $20 quadcopter.   

[Vigo]

I love to pull out my little syma copter from time to time, but wont be able to dig any deeper into the hobby until I have recouped a little project time. It is cool to see how many 3d printable quad copters there are, though.

[Ond]

I'm getting into these.  My son and I have been into helicopters and other flying things for a while, but these take things to a whole new level.  The term 'Drones' is increasingly replacing Quadcopters especially in the higher end of the hobby.  Here in Australia we have Drone racing clubs where players wear video headsets and fly   around indoor circuits.  An Aussie guy recently won the international championship in California taking home over $15'000 in prize money.

The serious drone units (over $1000) are actually easier to fly, equipped with GPS and advanced camera gimbals with assisted fly modes.  They can still be crashed though if you get too cocky.

The unit I'm looking at is the Yuneec Q500 Typhoon:

The Gimbal camera mount is detachable and can be used as a hand carried kind of Steadycam which is pretty cool. 

[05SRT4]

Just picked up the Nano QX FPV. I have always had micro quads and will eventually built a racer class. I got the QX just because Horizon Hobbies had a killer deal on the goggles.

[mpm32]

I like this one;

https://store.3drobotics.com/products/solo?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=branded&utm_campaign=branded&gclid=CMXGvvqlkscCFUcpjgodUKIHxQ

[knave]

Wow, nice look but it had better be for $1000.

Cheapest RTF with FPV I found was about $60-80 of questionable quality. for $99 you can get one that looks ok.
If you want to try to use a smartphone you can shave a few $$ off as well.

Now that I have a radio I can look at Bind and Fly (BNF) and save some $$ that way but not yet.

I am going slow. First will build my 330 quad, then I will stick a cheap camera I already have on it to see how it does as a video platform. I don't need a gimble I just want some shots around my house.
I've done the research, I can build an FPV setup for ~$60-80. But again not yet. Most likely I will get a Mobius or GoPro type camera. DX has one I like for $60.

I do want to get another RTF miniquad one size up from the one that I've orderd its $25...and I've already wasted enough spare change...I will have patience.

Banggood has a lot of cool stuff...Another good site is gearbest. 

[pbj]

Cash in hand for women's beach volleyball locker room footage.  Feel free to message me privately.

[dkersten]

Cash in hand for women's beach volleyball locker room footage.  Feel free to message me privately.

This is why people are shooting these things down with shotguns, lol.  If I looked out my bathroom window and saw a drone hovering there, I can promise you it would end up as a pile of smoldering plastic within a few minutes. 

[pbj]

Anybody looking in my bathroom window already got what they deserve.

[Wired203]

Any drone flying outside my bathroom window would just melt,  sparks and noxious gas never mix well.

[eds1275]

Anybody looking in my bathroom window already got what they deserve.

That's funny, my elderly neighbor tried to hint that I shouldn't walk around in front of the bay windows naked so often. I pretended to be shocked there was nothing in the tip jar. I bet she's looking around trying to see if I actually have one.

[knave]

Quadcopter Update:

I have about as much restraint as a starving man in a buffet line...Sigh.

After flying the mini Quadcopter I bought a few times, breaking a few props and realizing that I suck...I knew I needed something more mellow to get the hang of it. "Mellow" must equal Bigger in the quadcopter dictionary so I ordered a bigger one that could if I wanted carry a gopro.

While I was searching I stumbled upon the ugliest cheapest looking quadcopter ever...so of course I ordered it $14.99 shipped 9 inches of ladybug themed Chinese goodness...

But it showed up in two days (from Texas)...and while incredibly cheaply constructed has taken a beating and controls so horribly slow that even I am starting to get the hang of flying...so I ordered another one.

Bonus: the hobby grade transmitter I purchased will bind to it so I can use a real transmitter.

Seriously, for $15 I have been blown away at the abuse this thing takes.

- Crash full speed into wall: Check
- Crash full speed into ground: Check
- Inverted full throttle flight into ground: Check
- Crash into chain link fence: Check

I think what saves this thing is that it weighs practically nothing.
Now I am worried about how I will ever fly the other two quadcopters...and have them survive much less risk a camera on them,

Well I still get to build it. 

Picture of uglybird:

[SlammedNiss]

Almost gave in and bought a Phantom3 this weekend. They had an eBay special for $1000 which included a $150 gift card back. Then, there was a special where they were offering and additional 1% in eBay bucks, it was almost worth it. Alas, we are replacing our windows in our home and spending $1000 at this moment and time wouldn't have been wise. Hoping they have some good deals around black Friday/Xmas as my birthday is in Dec. and I should have a little extra spending $$.

[yotsuya]

You damn kids and your fancy heliocopter toys!!! When I was a kid and wanted to fly a helicopter, I had to play with this!

[Howard_Casto]

Dude those were AWESOME!  If I remember right they even had an arcade game that used the same setup.

[knave]

I would have LOVED that as a kid...heck I probably would still enjoy it now.

But there is something fun about having to build my quad flying skills. As a bonus it gets me outside.

[menace]

I just dropped a boatload of money on Satan's hobby store (hobbyking.com)... I defy you to go there and not come away with 5 bags of crap you don't need just cause it was so cheap and you have room in your order before you hit the next tier of shipping prices...

Will soon be building a 330 sized quad, then eventually going full FPV with it

(in reality I will be crashing it into everything and spending money buying propellers...)

[knave]

I just dropped a boatload of money on Satan's hobby store (hobbyking.com)... I defy you to go there and not come away with 5 bags of crap you don't need just cause it was so cheap and you have room in your order before you hit the next tier of shipping prices...

LOL yeah, the lack of free shipping is what prevents me from going too crazy.  They have a bunch of stuff I want though so once I finish a list...who knows.

I have to get off ---my bottom--- and start building my 330 quad. all the parts are here now.

This quadcopter thing is addicting. I have ordered 4 already and its not enough. at least they take up less room than arcade cabs.

I did learn a thing or two about Lipo batteries of late. Mainly how to save them if they get discharged too much. I had already read up on steps to care for them I just didn't know the details or how to address mistakes like leaving your battery plugged in to the quad too long.

Which is exactly what I did...left the Lipo plugged in to the quad and must have been distracted when putting it away. Battery was DEAD! would not charge, I thought I had ruined it. But thanks to google I found out that you use a low amp NiCad charger. to gently bring up the Lipo to above 3v(per cell) and then it will charge. My luck was good, I have a box of old RC stuff with just such a charger. Built a connecter and I'm back in business.  Lipo's are delicate in that you don't want to let them get under 3 v (per cell) or store them full (for long periods). Good thing my initial purchases included a balance charger.

In the end it was a good lesson and I would rather learn with a small $2 battery than a more expensive one.

[knave]

Update: I have been having a blast flying quad copters.

attached is a pic of the one I built.

It is definitely an addiction.

I have two cheap Ladybugs
one H8 mini
One Syma X5C clone
and the f330 I built.

Really refreshing to have something to do outside on my breaks and the short flight times are perfect.

I did finally manage to crash and break an arm but the whole kit is $10 so I ordered another so I have spares.
EDIT: last night I decided to have some fun with JB weld and have repaired the arm.

[pbj]

Any good footage of cute neighbors yet?

[johnrt]

You damn kids and your fancy heliocopter toys!!! When I was a kid and wanted to fly a helicopter, I had to play with this!

I also remember this. Never had one for myself (my family didn't have any money when I grew up, except for liquor for my dad) so I got to borrow one from my younger nephew. These are way better than todays crap. 

Is there an arcade game based on this?

[PL1]

Is there an arcade game based on this?

Yes.  Several of them.










Scott

[knave]

Any good footage of cute neighbors yet?

You bet. Here is the abandoned airstrip where I fly and an inflight pic.