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11-04-2013, 01:34 PM | #1 (permalink) |
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Join Date: Nov 2013
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Budget camera heli (quad?) advice?
Hi guys,
I'm new here. I'm a rom-developer on helifreak's sister site Freaktab. I noticed Finless Bob's heli hobby and started nosing around here. As a kid, I've always been fascinated by helis, but never had the cash to buy a RC model. My budget is much larger now, so I thought I might well buy one now I'm thinking about getting an RC model with a camera in it. Bob recommended me to get a quad, because they're easy to fly and have good lifting power. I did a bit of searching on the forum and found the excellent getting started guide: https://www.helifreak.com/faq.php?fa...gettingstarted But alas, it doesn't mention anything about quads. A bit of searching led me to the Parrot AR Drone 2.0: http://ardrone2.parrot.com/ Which seems very interesting, esp for me as software developer, as it's also programmable / hackable: http://nodecopter.com/hack At nearly $300 it's not very cheap though (still very cheap compare to what most of you spend here, I guess ) My only experience with helis is playing several simulator games many years ago. I know the basics of how choppers work but I've never actually flown an RC model. So I'm afraid of crashing it on it's maiden voyage So I'm wondering if anyone here has any buying advice for a quad (or coaxial?) with a camera in a more "fun" price class of up to say $100. I can imagine it would be handy if it is possible to buy spare parts like rotors easily. But other than that I do not have a clear idea about what I would want... Thanks for the advice! Peter |
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11-06-2013, 06:46 PM | #2 (permalink) |
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Join Date: Dec 2012
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Look at spending about $500 or more just to get going. Quads are not cheap to start but on the plus side, most are tough and all you have are 4 motors turning so not a lot in the way of parts to break like a heli would be. I have crashed my DJI F450 a few times and have yet to have a real broken part.
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I don't always fly but when I do I fly FPV. Stay airborne my friend. TBS Discovery with Naza w/GPS; DX9 radio |
11-07-2013, 01:50 AM | #3 (permalink) |
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Join Date: Jan 2011
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One of the best starter packages has to be the DJI Phantom. I think bang for your buck there doesn't get much better than this. It really is a plug and play kit that genuinely comes out of the box ready to fly with all the kit you need i.e. Transmitter, battery charger etc. The Phantom Vision even comes with a camera. All you would need extra would be some extra batteries.
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Logo 700, Logo 600, Protos 380 Evo, Trex 470L, Jeti DS-16, TT Raptor 50 nitro, couple of planks and lots of laughs |
11-16-2013, 07:38 AM | #4 (permalink) |
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Join Date: Jun 2012
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I haven't messed too much with multirotors, so I can't offer you any specific guidance as far as that goes, but I do know that you get what you pay for, especially in AP equipment. You'll crash and replace a cheaply built heli a lot more than a more expensive better built one for sure. My honest advice, buy a good sim like Realflight and practice for a good while, save some money and buy a good heli or multirotor like the ones already mentioned.
Good Luck Landon |
12-05-2013, 10:14 PM | #5 (permalink) |
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At your price point i would say grab a "Blade Nano QX" RTF or simulator like wp says(phoenix or RF).
Most importantly start saving your monies. This is not a cheap hobby! Once you get sufficient air time i think an f450 (if you like building) or a phantom would be a good first step to something more serious. Sub $400 is mostly going to be toys though.
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Trex 550E SK720, Trex 250E 3GX,Blade 130X, Blade nano QX,Tarot 650 Naza+Gimbal, 3DR Y6 NAZA |
12-06-2013, 08:24 AM | #6 (permalink) |
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Join Date: Nov 2010
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The AR.Drone is really just a toy, and IMO, not a very good value for the money. It works fine, but the airframe is very low performance, it can't handle much wind at all, and it's not capable of lifting much, etc.
My recommendation would be something like the already mentioned DJI F450 frame. It's simple and robust, and can be built for pretty good performance. It's also very flexible, with lots of examples of mods you can do for various things. Then, for the flight controller, you might be interested in the APM2.6 running Arducopter. Unlike Parrot, or DJI, the entire software is completely open source. We already have two Android apps called DroidPlanner and Andropilot, check them out.
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-Rob Former Managing Director of Maxxum Robotics Inc. |
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