Beginner Seeking Advice [Aerial Film/Photo]

[PCMAerial]

Still rig-less! ha! Didn't want to jump too soon. Loving the Tarot FY680 Pro the more I read and look into it.

Thanks guys! I'll be checking out those props and motors as well as the transmitter. STILL trying to piece together a Tarot Fy680Pro that can fit within the budget, or close to the price of the f550 kit I'm looking at. Whew this is Difficult!

Been lurking this site and the web for months. You'd think I would have something finalized by now! Told myself last week I WILL decide by Monday. Now Tuesday! Let's see what we can come up with.

 

[Motopreserve]

Still rig-less! ha! Didn't want to jump too soon. Loving the Tarot FY680 Pro the more I read and look into it.

Thanks guys! I'll be checking out those props and motors as well as the transmitter. STILL trying to piece together a Tarot Fy680Pro that can fit within the budget, or close to the price of the f550 kit I'm looking at. Whew this is Difficult!

Been lurking this site and the web for months. You'd think I would have something finalized by now! Told myself last week I WILL decide by Monday. Now Tuesday! Let's see what we can come up with.

The time will be well spent. Breathe.... you'll get there

 

[photobobga]

Based on my current inventory of multirotors and money spent to get specific cameras in the air I average spending about $700.00 per ounce of camera.

 

[Motopreserve]

Based on my current inventory of multirotors and money spent to get specific cameras in the air I average spending about $700.00 per ounce of camera.

That's out of our league

 

[TheUFGadget]

Based on what I have flown: mini quads, tris, quads, and Hex's I like quads the most. I would say for go pro filming an F450 (now comes with E300 propulsion system) is going to be your best bet! The E300 kicks some serious tail with a 4S battery! You eliminate all vibrations as well! I would also go with the FrSky Taranis as you will never need another radio (in my opinion). If you start there it will give you a craft you can always use even if you upgrade to something bigger in the future and that's what I love about it! The past two years I have been flying I have not (nor seen anyone) have a motor just go out. My dad even flew corroded motors that we had to spin start and they finished the flight just a little hot ! Best of luck!

 

[Motopreserve]

Based on what I have flown: mini quads, tris, quads, and Hex's I like quads the most. I would say for go pro filming an F450 (now comes with E300 propulsion system) is going to be your best bet! The E300 kicks some serious tail with a 4S battery! You eliminate all vibrations as well! I would also go with the FrSky Taranis as you will never need another radio (in my opinion). If you start there it will give you a craft you can always use even if you upgrade to something bigger in the future and that's what I love about it! The past two years I have been flying I have not (nor seen anyone) have a motor just go out. My dad even flew corroded motors that we had to spin start and they finished the flight just a little hot ! Best of luck!

Thats awesome your dad was able to pull that off. I think the issues that are mentioned with the Multistar are more about them randomly having sync trouble with ESCs. That could happen to any motor obviously, because it also involves (More so really) the ESC. but the feedback seems to happen more with those than others.

At a certain point, I sorta go by a law of averages. Of course I may be the person who has the issue - but if in doing research, I find that MOST people have good experiences with a particular product, and another products have complaints.... I go with the one that the LEAST amount of people are bi*#hing and moaning about

 

[chipwich]

I go with the one that the LEAST amount of people are bi*#hing and moaning about

The problem with that logic is that satisfied customers post much less in support forums. So, if a vendor sells a lot of a product as compared to another, say 100 times more, then there might be 100 times more complaints, even if the ratio of satisfied to unsatisfied customers for the successful product is better than the one with fewer sales. For instance, I've begun dabbling in a far less popular, but more critically acclaimed flight controller. Well guess what? It seems to have it's share of fly-aways, and in fact, if you attempt to take off an land in certain modes, it can become unstable and crash. The list of do's and don'ts with this FC are paragraphs in length. Yet, it appeals more to the tinkerers and serious hobbyists, who are seemingly far more tolerant to its eccentricities than the general public.

There are exceptions to either side of the argument, of course, and numbers are impossible to come by. But I think that bitching and moaning are perhaps just part of the overall picture, and might be par for the course for whatever the dominant product is.

 

[Motopreserve]

The problem with that logic is that satisfied customers post much less in support forums. So, if a vendor sells a lot of a product as compared to another, say 100 times more, then there might be 100 times more complaints, even if the ratio of satisfied to unsatisfied customers for the successful product is better than the one with fewer sales. For instance, I've begun dabbling in a far less popular, but more critically acclaimed flight controller. Well guess what? It seems to have it's share of fly-aways, and in fact, if you attempt to take off an land in certain modes, it can become unstable and crash. The list of do's and don'ts with this FC are paragraphs in length. Yet, it appeals more to the tinkerers and serious hobbyists, who are seemingly far more tolerant to its eccentricities than the general public.

There are exceptions to either side of the argument, of course, and numbers are impossible to come by. But I think that bitching and moaning are perhaps just part of the overall picture, and might be par for the course for whatever the dominant product is.

I was really only kidding. You are right - and I do understand both sides of the debate (it's the most classic DJI defense). But here's the thing - there are only so many motor companies in my limited field of scope - and none of them are really much more or less popular. My point was, when every single entity on the internet has a very strong, varying opinion (and of course, they ALWAYS know best), then there is a certain amount of "wingin it" that has to take place in your decision making process. So without true data (half the companies themselves don't supply full data - let alone eCalc!) to prove what is actually the best motor - I look for the one with the best reviews, and the least complaints - knowing that regardless of trying to be diligent, I may end up being the unlucky one.

I have been fortunate to have been on the side of luck using this half-a** method with most all of my purchases thus far. Lots of research, and lots of luck. But until it's in my hands and working for ME, there is very little to solidly go on. Of course it's only a matter of time that I A) am the one to have a bad experience and disagree with all the advocates of a product, or B) end up with a product that many bash on the internet - but I have a great experience....

 

[SoCal Blur]

Thats awesome your dad was able to pull that off. I think the issues that are mentioned with the Multistar are more about them randomly having sync trouble with ESCs. That could happen to any motor obviously, because it also involves (More so really) the ESC. but the feedback seems to happen more with those than others.

I agree that the ESC is the weak link when it comes to "motor failure". And ESCs can fail spontaneously.

The problem with that logic is that satisfied customers post much less in support forums. So, if a vendor sells a lot of a product as compared to another, say 100 times more, then there might be 100 times more complaints, even if the ratio of satisfied to unsatisfied customers for the successful product is better than the one with fewer sales. For instance, I've begun dabbling in a far less popular, but more critically acclaimed flight controller. Well guess what? It seems to have it's share of fly-aways, and in fact, if you attempt to take off an land in certain modes, it can become unstable and crash. The list of do's and don'ts with this FC are paragraphs in length. Yet, it appeals more to the tinkerers and serious hobbyists, who are seemingly far more tolerant to its eccentricities than the general public.

There are exceptions to either side of the argument, of course, and numbers are impossible to come by. But I think that bitching and moaning are perhaps just part of the overall picture, and might be par for the course for whatever the dominant product is.

It would be nice if someone could put together a matrix showing various FCs listing "known" eccentricities and idiosyncrasies. I think that would be one valuable document not only to current users of one of the FCs but to potential users as well.

 

[Motopreserve]

When I was putting together the Tarot build I found a google doc where people had listed out their builds and the results of various components. Although not everyone filled out the entire list - so it was hard to really determine what's what. But it was a nice thought. Also, the folks from flying cinema are keeping a list of base settings of various FCs for their CineTank. Again, there are no easy answers - but it's a nice starting point , or at least a decent reference.

It it would be a great idea SoCal, but my gut tells me that it would have to be "moderated" by a single, unbiased person to make sure all the data was filled out equally for good comparison.

 

[Cheshirecat]

Based on my current inventory of multirotors and money spent to get specific cameras in the air I average spending about $700.00 per ounce of camera.

Converting that to Pounds Sterling and divided the cost by the weight of the camera i concur, which is very sobering, i hadn't looked at it that way before.

 

[Jaybeast]

PCM,
Just got back from testing my F650 with extended arms, cobra motors and two 3s 4000mah lipos in parallel.... Mixed flight time was over 12 minutes in 3 to 8mph wind. I still had 11.1 volts left in the packs when I landed.
I wanted to give you another bite of food for thought, and I'm in no way making recommendations nor trying to steer you in any one direction. Here's the approximate cost breakdown of my rig. Note this doesn't include a gimbal for my Sony Nex5, which I purchased on the boards here.

DJI F550 top and bottom plates 2 @ $25
ReadyMade RC extended aluminum arms $161.00
DJI or other 30A esc x 6 @ $20 ea $120
Naza FC $170
Cobra 2221/16 940kv motors x6 @ $32 ea
Landing skids $50 & up (I have these cheapo plastic ones that are quite durable and shock absorbing)
Rx and tx - I think you narrowed that down already, huh?

Hope this is helpful.

J.

 

[Motopreserve]

PCM,
Just got back from testing my F650 with extended arms, cobra motors and two 3s 4000mah lipos in parallel.... Mixed flight time was over 12 minutes in 3 to 8mph wind. I still had 11.1 volts left in the packs when I landed.
I wanted to give you another bite of food for thought, and I'm in no way making recommendations nor trying to steer you in any one direction. Here's the approximate cost breakdown of my rig. Note this doesn't include a gimbal for my Sony Nex5, which I purchased on the boards here.

DJI F550 top and bottom plates 2 @ $25
ReadyMade RC extended aluminum arms $161.00
DJI or other 30A esc x 6 @ $20 ea $120
Naza FC $170
Cobra 2221/16 940kv motors x6 @ $32 ea
Landing skids $50 & up (I have these cheapo plastic ones that are quite durable and shock absorbing)
Rx and tx - I think you narrowed that down already, huh?

Hope this is helpful.

J.

That is some good flight time Jay. Great feeling isn't it? I haven't seen those extensions from RMRC. Where are the pics????

 

[Jaybeast]

I have to say it felt good to be able to confidently fly around without worrying that as soon as I lined up a photo, I would have to reel it in to swap the batteries. Normally, I don't fly aggressively at all so I feel my overall time on 2 lipos will be around 14 minutes. Now I just need to get a few more sets. And you're right, I should have posted a pic...

View attachment 17438 View attachment 17439

 

[Motopreserve]

That's pretty good looking. Are the arms still plastic/ABS, or are they metal?

 

[PCMAerial]

Just can't get this Tarot build below $1100 at the moment. That's with the Naza Lite

Think it's going to be an F550 Naza v2 with upgraded props, Devo 10 RC

 

[PCMAerial]

Budget is killing me!!

 

[Jaybeast]

Budget is killing me!!

The 550 is still a great piece of equipment. I think I priced mine at just over $700 without tx and rx...



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Motopreserve]

Budget is killing me!!

I think it was always going to be really tough to get the budget in around $900 with a TX/RX. The radio is huge - and unfortunately you need to spend a little to get something decent.

Remember you have your soldering iron, extra parts and do-dads etc. to buy for this initial build. The f550 may free you up to get a bit better Tx and soldering iron. Stay within your budget (or close) for now. You will always be able to do new and bigger things down the road, and you are going to have a blast and a competent craft regardless which you end up with.

Dont stress it.

 

[PCMAerial]

I think it was always going to be really tough to get the budget in around $900 with a TX/RX. The radio is huge - and unfortunately you need to spend a little to get something decent.

Remember you have your soldering iron, extra parts and do-dads etc. to buy for this initial build. The f550 may free you up to get a bit better Tx and soldering iron. Stay within your budget (or close) for now. You will always be able to do new and bigger things down the road, and you are going to have a blast and a competent craft regardless which you end up with.

Dont stress it.

You are right it is going to work either way. Our conversation had me leaning towards the Tarot, which I would actually spend $1100 on IF I could get the Naza V2, Rx/Tx, at the least to get me flying.

But since it looks like that will be over the budget and only able to fly, not film (no gimbal either)

I'm going to hop on the F550 with e300 propulsion kit, already includes 15A ESC's
Naza V2 w/ GPS
Devo10 Tx/rx
Upgraded Props CF 10"
Storm 11.1v 5500mah 35c LiPo Battery

$900 shipped. Only thing I don't have yet is a gimbal. But going to look for an affordable gimbal for my hero3+

Websites:
UAV Products
Helipal (Can't seem to find a controller/battery source anywhere else?)

I figure this rig will give me some flexibility to learn how to fly correct, and also thinking ahead to upgrade with the Naza V2. Hope it works out!! Can't wait to finally piece this thing together. Tremendous help on your part!