I'm looking to buy a multi-rotor system. Been flying helis but multi-rotors are new to me. Want to do some AP with it. Like the altitude hold, waypoints, return home, etc features. Been looking at different units on line, but there is nothing like first hand experience, thus I would appreciate any input. Looking at feature availability, battery capacity, flight time etc. Been looking at Xaircraft 650, Mikrokopter and others. I know a lot depends on camera size as to what size I should get. For those of you that have flown several of these units, which one would you buy? Thanks for any information.
What to buy?
- Thread starter Topflight
- Start date
Bartman
Welcome to MultiRotorForums.com!!
Hi Topflight
THere are more and more choices every day it seems. If the goal is AP what camera would you likely fly and what would you like to do with it? Where do you live? Maybe someone is close by and can show you what a typical set-up looks like.
XAircraft is making progress and their product has improved a lot. Some of the other boards like KK and Arduinol have been around a while and are good basic boards but the features aren't comparable to some of the higher end stuff like Mikrokopter and, more recently, DJI. OpenPilot has a flight controller available but their full featured model hasn't been released yet.
I'm going to be looking for good used Mikrokopter stuff that will be hitting the market as people switch to the OP and DJI equipment. MK still works well and I think the flaws people point out are manageable.
If you just want a quick start with a worthwhile investment of money and time the XAircraft quads are a safe bet. The X650 and larger X8 can carry point and shoot cameras pretty easily and fly well enough to let you see what the AP thing is all about.
There are also a number of people around the world that will build something for you but it costs $$$ to go that route.
Welcome to the forum and have fun!!
Bartman
THere are more and more choices every day it seems. If the goal is AP what camera would you likely fly and what would you like to do with it? Where do you live? Maybe someone is close by and can show you what a typical set-up looks like.
XAircraft is making progress and their product has improved a lot. Some of the other boards like KK and Arduinol have been around a while and are good basic boards but the features aren't comparable to some of the higher end stuff like Mikrokopter and, more recently, DJI. OpenPilot has a flight controller available but their full featured model hasn't been released yet.
I'm going to be looking for good used Mikrokopter stuff that will be hitting the market as people switch to the OP and DJI equipment. MK still works well and I think the flaws people point out are manageable.
If you just want a quick start with a worthwhile investment of money and time the XAircraft quads are a safe bet. The X650 and larger X8 can carry point and shoot cameras pretty easily and fly well enough to let you see what the AP thing is all about.
There are also a number of people around the world that will build something for you but it costs $$$ to go that route.
Welcome to the forum and have fun!!
Bartman
DucktileMedia
Drone Enthusiast
As bart said there are many routes to choose. Regardless of your intent to use for hobby or business, I would suggest getting something like the Xaircraft. And at the price difference you should probably just get the v8 which will allow you to more comfortable load it down with some extra gear. Although it will easily lift it, it is not in it's manufacturer's payload spec to lift more than 940grams. this is basically right under the average weight of a Canon T2i with gimbal. of course there are super light gimbals out there as well. I have one and it does fly VERY solidly. It is not however the perfect platform for AP/AV but is a great middle of the line setup. It is very well designed, if not the best design in terms of cost and not just being some over charged carbon plates and tubes bolted together. It is also very durable which is great regardless of your ability. XA uses this super tough flexible plastic now for the landing gear and it can take a very hard landing. I know 
Eventually you will want something with a heavier payload but you will spend 3-4 times as much getting there. So my suggestion is to get your feet wet with the XA. Also, Jeff at Xaircraft is amazingly helpful and will talk you through everything. Try getting Holger on the cell phone at 9pm. I think Xaircraft is going to start creeping it's way to the top of the charts again in the next year. The MR world is still young so dont expect to buy perfection with anything. But the need to solder precision parts on a board should and will be a thing of the past!
Eventually you will want something with a heavier payload but you will spend 3-4 times as much getting there. So my suggestion is to get your feet wet with the XA. Also, Jeff at Xaircraft is amazingly helpful and will talk you through everything. Try getting Holger on the cell phone at 9pm. I think Xaircraft is going to start creeping it's way to the top of the charts again in the next year. The MR world is still young so dont expect to buy perfection with anything. But the need to solder precision parts on a board should and will be a thing of the past!
Bartman
Welcome to MultiRotorForums.com!!
yuri,
regarding the soldering comments, there have been instances where inconsistencies and outright failures of flight controllers were attributed to weak or loose plugged connections. soldering has been seen from the beginning as a means to remove interference and the potential for failures. it also saves weight. i believe if you look at Mikrokopter's early videos they were very motivated by flight capabilities and efficiency (flight times as a function of battery payload). I think their desire for efficiency led them to make their frames as light as possible (while still very capable of handling flight loads), they left their boards naked instead of encasing them in plastic, and the soldered everything together to further save weight and make the connections as reliable as possible. my original Okto was (RIP little oktokopter!) a testament to their success by carrying a T2i day in and day out with the smaller Roxxy motors and flight times approaching 11 minutes with 10,000 mah on board.
don't poo-poo the soldering requirement of MK's, there's a reason for it even if it is a big turn off to a lot of people.
side note: the XAircraft quads are a good buy for the money and they'll still be loads of fun to fly even later when you may have moved on to other stuff.
Bartman
regarding the soldering comments, there have been instances where inconsistencies and outright failures of flight controllers were attributed to weak or loose plugged connections. soldering has been seen from the beginning as a means to remove interference and the potential for failures. it also saves weight. i believe if you look at Mikrokopter's early videos they were very motivated by flight capabilities and efficiency (flight times as a function of battery payload). I think their desire for efficiency led them to make their frames as light as possible (while still very capable of handling flight loads), they left their boards naked instead of encasing them in plastic, and the soldered everything together to further save weight and make the connections as reliable as possible. my original Okto was (RIP little oktokopter!) a testament to their success by carrying a T2i day in and day out with the smaller Roxxy motors and flight times approaching 11 minutes with 10,000 mah on board.
don't poo-poo the soldering requirement of MK's, there's a reason for it even if it is a big turn off to a lot of people.
side note: the XAircraft quads are a good buy for the money and they'll still be loads of fun to fly even later when you may have moved on to other stuff.
Bartman
DucktileMedia
Drone Enthusiast
Truthfully I enjoy soldering. I have been soldering since i was very young, which is probably why my brain is so messed up! But what gets me is all the tiny little things like the resistors and molex connectors. So they still want you to solder connectors to the FC which in my mind is ridiculous. It's like buying a radio shack electronics kit for students. there are enough complexities as it is and as satisfying as it is to successfully complete a project like this, I dont think for the amount they charge we should have to do any risky business to our electronics.
Bartman
Welcome to MultiRotorForums.com!!
you're right, there are components that should already be attached and shouldn't be left for the buyer to screw up. i'm not sure what to make of their decisions to leave things this way but as competition gets more stiff i hope they'll revisit some of these decisions.
fwiw, most of the Mikrokopter retailers i've seen will finish assembling the boards for a small fee. the FC and Navi boards cost $75 to be completed and an Okto board costs between $200 and $400 depending on who you're working with. it's helpful to know the retailers will do the remaining work that the parent company has decided not to do. the remaining soldering is mostly large scale stuff like motor wires, power lines and some assorted 5v power feeds for additional items like a buzzer, LED's, etc. the only tricky thing remaining is to put the satellite wires into place on the flight control board and even that could probably be done for a small fee if they're already finishing your stuff for you.
fwiw, most of the Mikrokopter retailers i've seen will finish assembling the boards for a small fee. the FC and Navi boards cost $75 to be completed and an Okto board costs between $200 and $400 depending on who you're working with. it's helpful to know the retailers will do the remaining work that the parent company has decided not to do. the remaining soldering is mostly large scale stuff like motor wires, power lines and some assorted 5v power feeds for additional items like a buzzer, LED's, etc. the only tricky thing remaining is to put the satellite wires into place on the flight control board and even that could probably be done for a small fee if they're already finishing your stuff for you.