TooManyHobbies
Member
(pics) BLADE MQX (quad-rotor) Reveiw - The Staple of our flight collection. (2 parts)
This is a review of the well known RTF (ready-to-fly) BLADE MQX.
I had previously had owned a Draganfly Innovations V-ti pro quad back in 2005 and lost it the next neighborhood multiple football fields away.
A few days of garage hovering was all I had under my belt.
The pines, outdoor distances, and orientation knocked my noob status right out of the park.
My unimpressive loss sidelined me for years!
Recently, my oldest nephew opened a shiny new "toy store" 3 Ch. heli this past holiday season, and it made my eyes light up with the fire once again.
The youngest nephew's birthday came around soon, so I purchased a present for him, which was a 3ch. $50 BLADE Scout heli for indoor fun.
At this local hobby shop, I saw a $169.00 BLADE MQX on the shelf.
The extra battery was $9.99.
So,...out the door with 2 new shiny crafts I went.
I had to have a 2nd chance to fly a multi rotor again.
To sum up the review in a paragraph, we both (9th grader and I) have flown it for a month now, and beat the tar out of it, running it through the "noob gauntlet".
BTW, I do not work for a hobby shop or have any relations with this manufacturer of the Blade MQX.
This Blade MQX is ultra resilient to crashes, making it the staple of our flight collection.
No part had to be replaced yet, and not a brush of cleaning has been done to it!
The extra blades are still waiting to be used, sitting pretty in the box.
The flight times (averaging 10 min.), control, hovering, overall fun, and crash resilience are outstanding for a $169.00 + $9.99 (2nd battery) RTF kit.
For the price and what we have done to it, I am getting a second one (promise).
I offered this Blade MQX to the oldest nephew.
I personally give the Blade MQX RTF a solid 9 out of 10.
...for the rest of the review, keep reading below!...
It's abused, dirty, and honest.
Take it easy on me, this is one of my first posts.
Above is the box that when seen, may make you pull out your funds, so turn away and walk out the door if saving about $169 is your goal.
This again is the kit with the radio/transmitter (RTF).
The second current option is the BNF (bind n' fly) for those of you who have an extra favorite radio/transmitter to use.
The radio/transmitter (pictured above) is a very basic dual mode controller which can satisfy the average "noob".
The transmitter's on-the-fly modes can offer smooth input or maximized control for advanced flight and tricks (calm vs. fast).
The right stick can be pressed in (like a clickable pen) to change rate modes on the fly.
Simple trims can be done indoors to establish a good hover, then take the MQX out for some real fun.
Some outdoor/indoor flying is great for the preparation of polishing rusty skills before flying the "big money" multi-rotors and messing up.
I won't get into much here about the AS3X 3-axis stabilization, talk of amps, volts, or the technical stuff.
That info is all over the place and will just make the review drawn out longer.
Pictured above is the main circuitry to be seen when the canopy is off.
In "noob" terms, this circuit board is where it all happens.
I just know that a blue blinking light on the board is not good (error), and a solid blue is what you need to fly.
Blue equals GO!
This is a review of the well known RTF (ready-to-fly) BLADE MQX.
I had previously had owned a Draganfly Innovations V-ti pro quad back in 2005 and lost it the next neighborhood multiple football fields away.
A few days of garage hovering was all I had under my belt.
The pines, outdoor distances, and orientation knocked my noob status right out of the park.
My unimpressive loss sidelined me for years!
Recently, my oldest nephew opened a shiny new "toy store" 3 Ch. heli this past holiday season, and it made my eyes light up with the fire once again.
The youngest nephew's birthday came around soon, so I purchased a present for him, which was a 3ch. $50 BLADE Scout heli for indoor fun.
At this local hobby shop, I saw a $169.00 BLADE MQX on the shelf.
The extra battery was $9.99.
So,...out the door with 2 new shiny crafts I went.
I had to have a 2nd chance to fly a multi rotor again.
To sum up the review in a paragraph, we both (9th grader and I) have flown it for a month now, and beat the tar out of it, running it through the "noob gauntlet".
BTW, I do not work for a hobby shop or have any relations with this manufacturer of the Blade MQX.
This Blade MQX is ultra resilient to crashes, making it the staple of our flight collection.
No part had to be replaced yet, and not a brush of cleaning has been done to it!
The extra blades are still waiting to be used, sitting pretty in the box.
The flight times (averaging 10 min.), control, hovering, overall fun, and crash resilience are outstanding for a $169.00 + $9.99 (2nd battery) RTF kit.
For the price and what we have done to it, I am getting a second one (promise).
I offered this Blade MQX to the oldest nephew.
I personally give the Blade MQX RTF a solid 9 out of 10.
...for the rest of the review, keep reading below!...
It's abused, dirty, and honest.
Take it easy on me, this is one of my first posts.
Above is the box that when seen, may make you pull out your funds, so turn away and walk out the door if saving about $169 is your goal.
This again is the kit with the radio/transmitter (RTF).
The second current option is the BNF (bind n' fly) for those of you who have an extra favorite radio/transmitter to use.
The radio/transmitter (pictured above) is a very basic dual mode controller which can satisfy the average "noob".
The transmitter's on-the-fly modes can offer smooth input or maximized control for advanced flight and tricks (calm vs. fast).
The right stick can be pressed in (like a clickable pen) to change rate modes on the fly.
Simple trims can be done indoors to establish a good hover, then take the MQX out for some real fun.
Some outdoor/indoor flying is great for the preparation of polishing rusty skills before flying the "big money" multi-rotors and messing up.
I won't get into much here about the AS3X 3-axis stabilization, talk of amps, volts, or the technical stuff.
That info is all over the place and will just make the review drawn out longer.
Pictured above is the main circuitry to be seen when the canopy is off.
In "noob" terms, this circuit board is where it all happens.
I just know that a blue blinking light on the board is not good (error), and a solid blue is what you need to fly.
Blue equals GO!
Pictured above, is the MQX's charging system.
The batteries charge pretty fast (30-45 minutes is normal).
Higher quality aftermarket batteries are around $5.95 and will charge much faster!
The charger is a simple to use unit.
The included battery is a 500mAh Li-Po (lithium polymer).
To charge:
Set the lower right button to charge at the correct battery's 3.7V voltage.
Press the big button and normal operation is started and notified with an "on/off" calm blinking LED.
Next, when the battery is "almost" done, the multiple LED lights sweep and repeat across the unit creating an LED line.
Lastly, the unit will indicate a finished charge, looking like "Night rider's car light", with the LED light sweeping from side to side ("Night rider mode").
It is Caveman simple.
Pictured above, is the Blade MQX canopy with one month usage and scores of really good hard crashes.
Some junk drawer tape can fix it right!
Aftermarket canopies are out there, and some people even use 1/2 a hand soap bottle or other ideas.
The light weight factory stuff seems to do fine.
A few mods for rear orientation may make the MQX easier to see at times of the day (stickers, paint, etc).
Pictured above is the Blade MQX's basic simple drive system.
A motor, gears, bearings and finally the blade and carbon shaft.
Pictured above, is a dirty (never cleaned) arm from the Blade MQX.
This is the front white-bladed arm for flight orientation.
Everything here is normal, but scratched and dirty!
...continued in Part 2 below.
The batteries charge pretty fast (30-45 minutes is normal).
Higher quality aftermarket batteries are around $5.95 and will charge much faster!
The charger is a simple to use unit.
The included battery is a 500mAh Li-Po (lithium polymer).
To charge:
Set the lower right button to charge at the correct battery's 3.7V voltage.
Press the big button and normal operation is started and notified with an "on/off" calm blinking LED.
Next, when the battery is "almost" done, the multiple LED lights sweep and repeat across the unit creating an LED line.
Lastly, the unit will indicate a finished charge, looking like "Night rider's car light", with the LED light sweeping from side to side ("Night rider mode").
It is Caveman simple.
Pictured above, is the Blade MQX canopy with one month usage and scores of really good hard crashes.
Some junk drawer tape can fix it right!
Aftermarket canopies are out there, and some people even use 1/2 a hand soap bottle or other ideas.
The light weight factory stuff seems to do fine.
A few mods for rear orientation may make the MQX easier to see at times of the day (stickers, paint, etc).
Pictured above is the Blade MQX's basic simple drive system.
A motor, gears, bearings and finally the blade and carbon shaft.
Pictured above, is a dirty (never cleaned) arm from the Blade MQX.
This is the front white-bladed arm for flight orientation.
Everything here is normal, but scratched and dirty!
...continued in Part 2 below.
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