What would you build?

[MICROFOE]

If you had $4000 US and had to spend it to build a Hexa or Octo for AP and AV use, what would you build? What FC, what frame, what motors. Tell me your thoughts, please.

 

[Bartman]

AP and AV use at what level? Pro? High grade amateur? flopping around at the park chasing ducks and rc boaters?

 

[Stacky]

For Pro use I would have 3 different machines for using in different situations. A Y6 for action work or filming of more dynamic situations, a X8 for general use and an Octo for windless conditions.

 

[Crash]

Knowing what I know now, if I was to do the same thing again, I would spend the first $1000 on a CopterControl board, an inexpensive frame that can haul a gopro, and a video Tx.

Then I would learn how to fly the darn thing really well and think about investing in something expensive.

My 2 cents.

 

[Stacky]

Great advice.

Knowing what I know now, if I was to do the same thing again, I would spend the first $1000 on a CopterControl board, an inexpensive frame that can haul a gopro, and a video Tx.

Then I would learn how to fly the darn thing really well and think about investing in something expensive.

My 2 cents.

 

[MICROFOE]

More toward the the pro side. The $4000 is for the the basic Hexa or Octo. It will carry a Canon 5d. The camera mount will come later. I am a beginner at this but I don't understand the benefit of the Y6 or the X8 over the flat Hexa or Octo.
From what I could research, the way the motors are set up on the Y and X they lose 20% thrust efficiency. Please enlighten me on on the Y and X.

 

[BorisS]

I cant really recommend you anything in detail. The only thing at the moment if filming with your Canon 5D is of importance to you, a can say is to wait and really check out whats happening on the DJI front. I cant say its better worse than any other plattfrom the only thing i can sign is that it is much easier to control than an MK copter, in manual/auto-leveling mode. If everything else turns out to be true, the amazing gimbal stabilization, stability in wind etc, all these things we see in these promo videos is yet to be proven by users.

 

[Kilby]

One advantage is having redundancy on your motors and props. At least in theory, if you are flying an x8 and one of your motors/props goes out, then you should still have enough lift from the remaining motor to land the craft safely. If you have a regular quad and lose a motor, you will dump every bit of gear that you have on board. Hexas will also fall to the ground when losing a prop/motor. The jury still seems to be out on Octos. It is also assumed that you can get a higher level of stability from any type of coaxial set up over a traditional single motor rig. Of course, all of this can change from one craft to the next and your particular situation, but they seem to be good general rules of thumb from what I have read and experienced.

 

[Bartman]

............The jury still seems to be out on Octos...............

?? My jury returned a verdict months ago with a perfect flying Okto. I've got issues with the latest one but I think it's my fault for going cheap on the motor controllers. The next Okto is on the bench and it's getting the full MK stack so we'll see if it's an improvement.

What I like about an Oktokopter is that IF there is a benefit from having multiple batteries, multiple satellite receivers, multiple motors, then I'm all for it. In a few seconds someone will chime in with the Quality vs. Redundancy argument but I'm not willing to bet on Quality when I may be flying near a few hundred people celebrating a wedding or when shooting a commercial location in a developed area. I am experimenting with tethering my craft for added safety and regulatory compliance but I don't want uncontrolled descents ever, ever, ever.

Plus it sounds cool and it's really expensive to rebuild...

Bart

 

[DucktileMedia]

If I keep seeing great results from people's Y6's, I may soon try that route. it has some downfalls but it is simple, has the best FOV and decent redundancy and is also good in wind. But it doesnt have a great load distribution from front to back and i dont really know how that works with a motor out or uneven loads.

Any coaxial will have less efficiency but better in wind and pretty good redundancy.

hex, seems like it deals with wind better than a radial octo but less lift and redundancy. I still think a motor out on a hex will allow a non catastrophic landing. No proof of that yet.



Personally i would build a heavy lift hex as it is a little cheaper to do and seems to get great results. I would ditch your 5d and get a smaller cheaper camera. You dont need a 5d for aerial video. It's larger sensor does you no good for manual focusing. You would be better with the T2i and a nice wide lens like a 28 or 35mm. AV/AP doesn't need nice DOF. The resolutions are so high on almost any camera these days, it probably wont be noticeable. Worry more about color, frame rate, weight, ability to have live view, shutter triger-ability.

 

[Kilby]

?? My jury returned a verdict months ago with a perfect flying Okto. I've got issues with the latest one but I think it's my fault for going cheap on the motor controllers. The next Okto is on the bench and it's getting the full MK stack so we'll see if it's an improvement.


Bart

I didn't mean that the jury was still out on the quality of an Octo, but rather how they would react when losing a motor or prop. I personally don't have the experience with them, so I'm only going by what I have read around the interwebs. I would actually love to have an Octo, but those days are probably still a little way off for me.

 

[ovdt]

hex, seems like it deals with wind better than a radial octo but less lift and redundancy. I still think a motor out on a hex will allow a non catastrophic landing. No proof of that.

My hexa went down and crashed in seconds from 15 meters when one of the motors went down. it was uncontrollable for me. I improved my piloting since that time, can i control it now? I don't think so