a newbie looking for a copter for professional gopro filming

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tikigod19

Member
I did think that sounded negative, sorry in don't mean that.. It's just a bit investment and I understand 0 about most of it.

Read for 10 mins about programing transmitters yesterday and it scared the hell out of me! That's then only reason in appear negative (oh and I bought an rc plane which in love but crashed it 60 percent of the time when flying..)
 

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tikigod19

Member
Just so people fully understand my lack of knowledge .. I don't know what adjusting gains means.. I don't know why a battery is called a lipo, is don't know what an esc is, I don't know how a gimbal works, the list goes on! (this is not negativity. Just trying to highlight my knowledge level which might affect my purchase..)
 

L

Langdale

Member
We've all been in the same boat. I couldn't do brain surgery 'til I went to medical school, now I can do it blindfolded !!!

You obviously want to get into this "hobby" so just go ahead and buy the bloody thing and sort it out later. You'll spend weeks/months umming and ahhing about it. If Churchill had done the same about "D" day we'd all be speaking German now, (no offence to our German friends).

There is a whole lot of friendly folk on here (have a look at FPVHub you might find someone nearby) to give you advice.

If you go for a ready to fly, give Geoff at Quadcopters.uk a rind and have a chat to him and even have a day out and come and see him, he'll even set you tranny up for you.

You know you want it......
Peter
 

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tstrike

pendejo grande
Yeah, I can't do brain surgery either, but it doesn't stop me from trying. We're not here to sell you a copter and only you know your financial status. Is it a lot of money? F YES! I'm just over one year into this coming from the same place as you with no prior rc experience (save for the tv remote). Thanks to tax time I got my tally from monies spent in my first year-just a hair over 6 grand! A drop in the bucket to some guys, a fortune to others. I now have 2.5 copters, flight sims, 2 radios, enough batteries to power a prius to the corner, more props then sizzler has steak knives, hell, I even bought a new laptop so I didn't have to deal with installing win on my mac. Oh and let's not forget tools, tools you say? yes tools like soldering irons, hex drives, allen wrenches, volt meters, drills, bits, hammers for hitting a cinder block outta frustration and such. So I've got all this stuff and all this monies spent and the major studios still aren't calling me to shoot down Scarlett Johanson's blouse (safely and not directly overhead with 3 spotters at my side of course).
This is not to say I haven't had a ball tinkering and the pounding in my chest whenever one of my birds takes flight is better than any high I ever felt during the decade between 1978 and 1988, just sayin...
I never had the 550 but I had the 450 and any shortcomings I dealt with would have been solved by the extra real estate of the 550, that's the only reason i recommended
it. The naza is a no brainer for new guys, turns you from a zero to a hero real quick.
 

dr427

dr427

Trying to figure it out!
tikigod19 said:
And.. Any regrets? How are your videos looking? Id hate to buy the inconvenient hart to transport 550 and think "I could have got these videos with the phantom.."
Click to expand...


I just bought it yesterday and will be awaiting delivery.
 


T

tikigod19

Member
tstrike said:
Yeah, I can't do brain surgery either, but it doesn't stop me from trying. We're not here to sell you a copter and only you know your financial status. Is it a lot of money? F YES! I'm just over one year into this coming from the same place as you with no prior rc experience (save for the tv remote). Thanks to tax time I got my tally from monies spent in my first year-just a hair over 6 grand! A drop in the bucket to some guys, a fortune to others. I now have 2.5 copters, flight sims, 2 radios, enough batteries to power a prius to the corner, more props then sizzler has steak knives, hell, I even bought a new laptop so I didn't have to deal with installing win on my mac. Oh and let's not forget tools, tools you say? yes tools like soldering irons, hex drives, allen wrenches, volt meters, drills, bits, hammers for hitting a cinder block outta frustration and such. So I've got all this stuff and all this monies spent and the major studios still aren't calling me to shoot down Scarlett Johanson's blouse (safely and not directly overhead with 3 spotters at my side of course).
This is not to say I haven't had a ball tinkering and the pounding in my chest whenever one of my birds takes flight is better than any high I ever felt during the decade between 1978 and 1988, just sayin...
I never had the 550 but I had the 450 and any shortcomings I dealt with would have been solved by the extra real estate of the 550, that's the only reason i recommended
it. The naza is a no brainer for new guys, turns you from a zero to a hero real quick.
Click to expand...

Loved reading this.. Thank you both very much. The 550 it'll be and that's a promise.
 

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RCJardin

Not so new and improving
Glad the next action is resolved. I am going to build my first machine this week. After pouring over this forum and others I have decided on a ..... DJI F550. Have been flying a Phantom for a month and am now hooked.
 

dr427

dr427

Trying to figure it out!
RCJardin said:
Glad the next action is resolved. I am going to build my first machine this week. After pouring over this forum and others I have decided on a ..... DJI F550. Have been flying a Phantom for a month and am now hooked.
Click to expand...

so I could guess you will get the full naza-m and gps again on your f550?
 



Fiveflat

Fiveflat

Banned
tikigod19 said:
Ah yes forgot you said that.. That obviously will be an issue.. So nobody with a 6 channel can use the gps?
Click to expand...

I have the DX6i and I managed to get Manual, Atti, and GPS Atti with it. It's not all that super secret but it's not a simple procedure to do either, takes some playing. I would much rather have the DX8.
 

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tikigod19

Member
Thanks Fiveflat I'll definitely go for 8 channel as the more fpv stuff I see the more I want in so think I'll need as many channels as possible
 


kloner

kloner

Aerial DP
it's way better than jr/spektrum anything. easy to setup, easy to navigate, smooth precise control and full featured except telemetry. FHSS is the future at futaba. it needs batteries though. i get the nimh AA from hobbypartz, snap em in and fly
 

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tikigod19

Member
kloner said:
it's way better than jr/spektrum anything. easy to setup, easy to navigate, smooth precise control and full featured except telemetry. FHSS is the future at futaba. it needs batteries though. i get the nimh AA from hobbypartz, snap em in and fly
Click to expand...

I've got loads of decent nimh for other equipment so sounds perfect for me. I was worried it was lower quality than the dx8 or considerably harder to use/set up. Think I've found my 550 in that case :)

One question while I'm here. You can't attach a gopro even using the basic mounts without some sort of landing gear, is that right? Should you even land without a gear or is it not possible?
 

kloner

kloner

Aerial DP
you can but it gets props in view mounting it up top...... the idea is to hang it from the bottom and look down


the legs like iris aerial sells are killer for this. click the link fold-n-fly in my sig.


That was looking up so i could fpv forward flight.....
 
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tikigod19

Member
Thanks kloner they look cool. Don't want to spend much on a landing gear and gimbal as I've heard about this brushless gimbal coming out.

The seller of the f550 I'm looking at said it now takes 2200mah battery but I'm sure I've seen spec of other 550's online quoting a bigger battery than 2200mah..
 

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tikigod19

Member
ok guys, I've decided on my copter and I'm ready to click buy! I just wanted to put the spec here to make sure there are no issues that you wiser folk can spot (it's being sold as a complete unit so I'd imagine its all compatible although i doubt the knowledge of the seller based on the battery info he's given me..)

DJI F550
DJI 920KV Motors x6
DJI 30 ESC x6
Props (still to confirm which but I'd image the DJI 8" and 10")
Naza with GPS
Futabe T8J and R2008SB receiver
APLUS 3S1P 2200mAh 11.1v 65C LiPo
iMax C3S LiPo Charger

On top of this I plan on buying a Turnigy 5000mAh 11.1v 3S 30C LiPo and a brushless gimbal (with controller if necessary) when they're more commonly available and I can fly the thing.

I would probably upgrade to graupner props in the future based on what I've read, but again silly to do this so early.

Eventually (despite saying I'd never be interested in it) I'd like to get some sort of FPV kit installed but know nothing about these at the moment.

I'm genuinelly excited about my purchase and don't think I'd be even considering it if it wasn't for this thread so thanks to all for your help so far.. now tell me this is ok and I'm buyin'!
 

L

Langdale

Member
Hi Tiki, I knew we'd get you there in the long run.:tennis:
The system looks OK but I think people will recommend getting rid of the DJI props before you fly for the first time. They have a bad reputation of disintegrating.
I use a Turnigy 3S 5000 battery and get about 8mins flying bare (I await sarcastic comments) and about 6 mins with landing gear and gro pro and FPV stuff.
Good luck. Is it a private sale or commercial? If private, any pics? Just re-read the above and it's private. Can you see it flying?
Once you've got it , come back with any questions, (they'll be a few no doubt). I'm only just getting started too and appreciate the minefield you're going through.
Peter
 
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