To quad or no to quad?

[Sara Thomps]

Hello!

I am new to this forum.

My husband and I enjoying flying our simple 4 channel copter indoors. We play with it all the time and its fun.

He just got a go pro camera for Christmas and loves it and has been talking about how cool it would be to build a quadcopter and eventually fly it with our go pro attached.

I'd like to surprise him with a quadcopter for his birthday. Or something similar that he can entertain himself building and then using it to fly his go pro.

He is an engineer and is typically very capable of building things like this.

Can you give me some pointers with:
1) Whether or not buying a quad copter is a good idea for a relative but very enthusiastic beginner….
2) Are there other models I should be researching?
3) Will a quadcopter be able to handle flying a go pro?
4) How do I buy this? At a hobby store or online? I’ve been looking for quadcopter kits…with no luck.


Sara
(thanks for your help in advance!!!)

[gohsthb]

[ame]http://youtu.be/8SY48lfuhFs[/ame]

These look interesting. I don't have a quad copter. I understand most of the money is in the controller. Oh and you can find much cheaper frames than this one, I just wanted to find an example that showed one carrying a camera.
-Gohst

[MRSxDOT]

Welcome to the hobby & the forum Sara! We have a small quad copter (Blade MQX) & have a blast with it indoors. A couple of our friends have the larger ones you can fly outdoors. From everything I have heard they are fun & pretty stable to fly. My hubby would Love the chance to hook a Go Pro up to one & fly around. I say Definitely go for getting one. Of all the outdoor copters I think it would be a great choice for a beginner. I don't know anything about the different models myself, but I'm sure someone else around here does. I've seen some pretty cool looking kits out there that should appeal to your hubby's engineer side.

This place is a great forum to get the scoop on a model before you buy too. My hubby will look it up here & see if there are any major complaints before he buys. And sometimes he'll just go ahead & buy this or that piece that people the forum are doing to improve them too.

Its definitely a good idea to visit your local hobby shops. They should be able to recommend a good model for beginners & a lot of times they can order it. You might even consider visiting a local club to watch & ask questions. At our club people are always welcome & many people who are interested in buying a heli or plane will come up there & ask us what models they recommend. Hopefully you have one of those in your area & they are as friendly as our club is.

There are places online you can shop too...
Hobby King

Hobby King Although it looks like the biggest one they have is the ar drone, though that is an awesome little heli! You can fly it with your iphone.

Wish I could be more help. Good luck!

[CyprusDave]

If he's an engineer and likes to build things, and wants a quad to carry a GoPro, then something like this could work:
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...ame_585mm.html

All the parts, electronics, etc are available from HobbyKing to finish it off. Quite a bit of research might be needed to decide exactly what you want/need, but that's half the fun (to me, anyway). You should be able to put together a very workable system for about $300

There are many other ways to go, maybe more professional and certainly potentially more expensive. DJI is just one example.
http://www.dji-innovations.com/

Here's an example of a professional level finished product:
[ame]http://vimeo.com/58228595[/ame]
That's about $8000 worth of equipment there (including the camera), but it's used by a commercial video company. Just to let you know what's possible

[Sara Thomps]

This stuff is awesome!!!!
He is going to be thrilled....and if I pull this off I'm going to be 'Wife of the Year'!!!!

I'm going to do more research on this and will be back for more questions.

Thanks so much CyprusDave, MRSxDOT, gohsthb!
Sara

[Tam_T]

I have a couple of quads and just setup a FPV on one. If he wants to take pictures or go into FPV I would suggest using a FC like the naza with GPS. It works really well. It also comes so that you can plug in servos for a gimble and the naza will control the camera movement to keep it level in case he ever wants to add such a thing later on. The GPS works great. I can take my hands off the sticks and it will stay in position by itself without issue (as long as there aren't any strong winds). It also has a few other functions that make it nice in case of lost orientation or lost signal (return to home function and Home or Course Lock function). As far as a frame, i don't really have a good choice for you as there are a lot out there. I would look for a frame that is made for creating stable video.

[boykintom]

Here's a part list from Hobby King I put together for an inexpensive but nice DIY quad. If your husband likes to build things, this is a good one. I've built this exact quad and it flies very well and can handle a GoPro with ease.

[Forbes]

Welcome. Sounds like you've both "got the bug"... lol. I understand, it got me too... and still has me.

I'll do my best to share my experiences, as well as the knowledge I have gained in researching and building my own quad platform with you, in regards to your questions.

1) Whether or not buying a quad copter is a good idea for a relative but very enthusiastic beginner….I could really go either way on this one. The reason I say that is because you can be the most interested and enthusiastic person out there, but if you can't figure out how to wire your servos, esc, flight control board, and motors correctly, (or at least be able to Google it and find the answers) then you're setting yourself up for failure. On the other hand, I love quad copters. They are fun, fairly easy to fly, and once you understand them, not too bad to work on (with the exception of some flight controllers which I'll touch on later).


2) Are there other models I should be researching? I hate to say this, becuase I hate that the r/c hobby is so expensive.... but if you have the money, buy the best you can afford. Just do some Google searches on the stable quad copters. You can go cheap with something like the 525 frame from HobbyKing, or expensive like the DJI Phantom.... or you can look at the in-between... there are a TON. From aluminum, to plastic, to wood, to carbon... just a crazy mix.

If you are planning on doing a "build" and not a RTF package, I would recommend looking at hoverthings.com. I have first hand experience with their Flip FPV frame and it's amazing strong. I've seen it take crashes from 100+ feet and not break. Pretty impressive.


3) Will a quadcopter be able to handle flying a go pro? Without a doubt... if you size it right. A Blade MQX won't be able to lift a GoPro. If you get a decent quad that flys 3s lipos or larger (I don't think you should go to anything larger than this for a first quad), and spinning 8"-10" props, you'll be able to lift a GoPro and then some. You'd be amazed at the payload some of these things can carry, actually. You should still try to keep it as light as possible though. More weight = more draw on the battery = shorter flight times.


4) How do I buy this? At a hobby store or online? I’ve been looking for quadcopter kits…with no luck. I say online. Study as much as you can. Watch YouTube videos until you're sick of them... then watch some more. Research, Research, Research... ask for build component help on the forums. Read what has worked and what has failed for others. Learn from their mistakes, and don't be afraid to share your own findings. Once you come up with some components you think are good, and are ready to purchase, post them on a thread here or any rc forum. Ask for input. Chances are, someone has experience and will tell you if those things will work well together.

Most importantly, have fun. If you want something to build, and want it to last, and to be fun, you simply cannot do enough research in my opinion. It can take a lot of time. Best of luck!

[Forbes]

Wow... I just realized that I posted on thread that's been dead since March.

[xch3no2]

lol...but your answer was extensive, informative and relevant, if not timely. Forum questions and their replies are often used for research and as reference. Your post was not in vain, thank you for your thoughtful contribution.

What? Do you think your the first to have that, "oh crap they must think I a total tard" feeling? Done it myself...

[Forbes]

LOL... thanks man. That was indeed the feeling I got. As you said, it's there... if any part of it helps someone in the future, it was worth the time it took to write it.