Need help trying to learn the basics

[nopeda]

Hi,

I would like to learn to fly a quadcopter and take some photos and video with it. There are so many possible choices I'm trying to get people who have some experience and who are willing, to help narrow it down. I'd like to get something that's under $1K for the final vehicle if possible. I would also like to get a less expensive practice vehicle, or more than one, if people can suggest some good practice models. Here are some general questions I'd like to learn about to begin with:

how many channels, and what do they control?

what type of battery system to get?

what about a gyro, or gyros?

how to know the orientation of the vehicle when it gets a fair distance away...is it with lights?

what about drain on the battery from lights and photo/video equipment?

what about some sort of auto-return system for when the battery gets low or it gets too far away?

are there any tiny models that would be good to practice with indoors to start with?

are there good fairly inexpensive larger models that would be a good next step to practice with outdoors?

Thank you for any help learning these basic aspects, and anything else anyone is willing to explain or suggest!!!

David Harrison
Buford, GA

 

[kloner]

i'd get a phantom and a flight simulator

 

[Y0urDaddy]

Hello...

You are kind of in the same boat I am, I am just a bit farther down stream.

I learned to fly with a micro-quad. There are several on the market that you can get for $90 - $140. I chose a Heli-Max 1SQ-Vcam. In my case the ready to fly kit was about $130 if I recall correctly. The 1SQ will fit in the palm of your hand, I can fly it indoor and outdoors. I would suggest getting something like that first to learn to fly hand on (no auto pilot or GPS) then move on. I like the 1SQ-Vcam, but the charger that Heli-Max ships with it is questionable. The batteries false peek a lot & that is kind of a pain. There are several micros out on the market and a lot of video reviews on youtube of the various models.

Currently I am building a DJI FlameWheel F450. I don't have it flying yet, but you can get the FlameWheel ARF kit that comes with the frame, speed controllers and motors for just under $200. I was also able to get a Naza Lite M for around the same cost. I have not picked batteries or a changer yet, those are next on the list of stuff to get for the F450. I expect my F450 to come in under $1k with no cameras. Once I mount some video stuff I am likely around $1k or a bit more. I think a Phantom is about $1,200 but as far as I know it is ready to fly out of the box. I kind of wanted to build one to learn as much as I could about them.

Hope this helps

YD

 

[Motopreserve]

There are a few choices you need to make, and foremost is whether you want to build the MR yourself. As YourDaddy has mentioned, building your own DJI based rig can be priced fairly reasonable - but remember that there are "support" items you also need to purchase. Namely: decent soldering iron, heat gun (or hair dryer), prop balancer and battery charger etc.

if you prefer the ease 'out of the box' flying - Kloner's suggestion of a Phantom is about as turn-key as it gets. Upgrades to it are somewhat pricey and often limited to DJI proprietary gear (extra batteries, props etc).

I had had decent luck learning to fly on a Blade Nano QX. Affordable and large enough to move outside if the wind is low. It has both stabilized and non-stabilized mode for practice.

Good of luck and fly safe.

 

[nopeda]

Thank you folks for your suggestions and advice. I have ordered two of the X Nanos for $35 at http://is.gd/OABO52 as something to begin with. So far for a next step I'm thinking probably a Nine Eagles NE-MASF11 GALAXY VISITOR 2 for about $118 at http://is.gd/UDhbhX and will probably make a post asking people a couple of things about it. Since I want something RTF for the final vehicle I'm thinking the DJI Phantom 2 and expect to make a post asking about that as well.

Thanks again for your help, and any additional advice or suggestions will always be appreciated!

David Harrison
Buford, GA

 

[kloner]

you can skip alot of time fixing with a flight simulator..... i've blown up millions of dollars in parts in sims that cost me $100

 

[Y0urDaddy]

you can skip alot of time fixing with a flight simulator..... i've blown up millions of dollars in parts in sims that cost me $100

Is there one you would recommend? I have not really looked in to sims at all.

nopeda...

My 2 cents (based on my car experience of many years) is put the effort in to building one. If you are really set on out of the box flying, then I guess that is the case but there is a lot to be gained by going through the build process. If you want to go DJI a flamewheel is pretty easy to build. For me I have always enjoyed it more when I see what I built out on the track or up in the air.

YD

 

[Motopreserve]

Make sure you check whether the Sim you get runs on your platform. Real flight is windows only - and definitely wants a graphics card that can handle it (my laptop was not up to the task).

 

[kloner]

I used phoenix to learn 3d heli and 3d fixed wing..... i've seen another sim alot of multi rotor guys use but not sure what it was called. phoenix has a couple multi rotors last i looked a couple years ago. It likes windows and nvidia graphics cards. they all do.....cheap ones are like "clearview"

benefit to most of these is you use the actual radio so you get used to flipping switches and the actual feel of the real radio.

 

[janoots2]

Aerosim is good

 

[cootertwo]

I'd recommend one of the earlier Phantoms, like version 1.1.1 Fairly cheap, uses common batteries found everywhere, parts are cheap and getting cheaper as the newer models roll out, and practically fly's it's self. When you get good in GPS and att mode, then you can try manual for a real blast. Will carry a gopro or mobius no problem.:tennis:

 

[Y0urDaddy]

I will check out one of the Sims. When I was still in to cars there was a virtual RC sim out, but it was kind of lame in my opinion. While it was somewhat like racing an RC car, you could not race others at the time I was looking in to it. My opinion has been that lack of keeping up with new technology has been what has hurt the RC car market, but again that is just opinion and off the topic of this post.

More to the point of the original post I am getting ready for my first test flight with my flamewheel. If all goes as planned it will be this weekend. I only plan to fly it about 10ft or so to make sure everything works.

YD