Got a Quadro-Copter Anyone Fly One Here?

[Ichinisan]

Actually, self-guided, GPS enabled quads are out there, and they aren't that expensive...

Example

I have no problem with calling those "drones." People are applying the term to all their manually-piloted flying devices with multiple lift rotors.

[edit]
For example, what Amazon was "planning" to do; those would be "drones" too.

 

[gorcorps]

Wow.

I figured there would be a bunch of folks flying these around here. :hmm:

perhaps you should give them longer than two hours to respond :hmm:

 

[Kaido]

Yea if you loose signal from your transmitter it can be set up to come home and land or whatever it was programed to do. Scary stuff can/could be done. Legally the vehicle used with FPV for recreation flyers has to be done in line of site. There have been stories with idiots flying way far away and almost colliding with passenger aircraft.

The FAA has a safety campaign website about UAV's here:

http://knowbeforeyoufly.org/

The problem is, despite their power, a lot of people view these as toys & do stupid stuff. And a lot of them don't have much flight experience. These require a lot more responsibility than a $20 palm-sized helicopter, you know? Youtube was filled with videos of drone crashes in the days following Christmas last year. But then again, toy rockets have been around for ages, and that doesn't stop people from doing things like fishing with fireworks :biggrin:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CliXVIDRmE

 

[Kaido]

I have no problem with calling those "drones." People are applying the term to all their manually-piloted flying devices with multiple lift rotors.

[edit]
For example, what Amazon was "planning" to do; those would be "drones" too.

Drone is the new Kleenex. Drone means unmanned military airplanes, R/C toy quadcopters, GPS-guided 6 or 8-bladed choppers, the works. It's embedded into the venacular now, for better or for worse. The problem I see is that people associate the toys with military or surveillance-grade equipment, and they're really not the same. But then again, my HAK909 has a camera strapped on it, so there is an option to violate privacy rights pretty easily, especially now that cameras are getting smaller & more high-quality.

 

[manimal]

semantics police out in full force.

 

[Kaido]

Dude flys a hexacopter above the clouds, then crash lands:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfxdeRx2fLA

See, here's exactly the problem:

The multirotor was supposed to go straight up and straight down again

I think "supposed to" is going to be the catch phrase of a lot of crashes & injuries going forward - "but it wasn't supposed to do that!" That DJI F550 weighs over 2 pounds...imagine a 2-pound hunk of plastic & metal falling on your head from a thousand-foot freefall, that could definitely be life-threatening! A cop was almost hurt during a raid by one:

http://www.cnet.com/news/man-fined-by-casa-crashing-drone-police-operation-melbourne/

The smaller drones don't show up very well on radar either; a drone almost hit an Airbus A320 recently:

http://rt.com/uk/212315-jet-drone-heathrow-collision/

But then you have the flip side like CNN getting FAA approval for drone testing for news-gathering purposes:

http://money.cnn.com/2015/01/12/technology/cnn-drone/

Plus the police themselves are using them now:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2015-...erkeley-s-skies-rankle-privacy-activists.html

The Air Force is also upping the incentives for drone pilots:

http://www.airforcetimes.com/story/military/2015/01/15/more-pay-for-drone-pilots/21829659/

Interesting field to keep track of for sure!

 

[Kaido]

Hah, they're working on drone-hunting drones now:

http://www.cnet.com/au/news/rapere-the-drone-to-hunt-and-disable-other-drones/

Around here, we call that skeet shooting :awe:

 

[runzwithsizorz]

I believe the Phantom controller has a range of 1000ft. It has an automated fly home mode. If you leave it in GPS mode and set the home point, if it loses connectivity with the controller it will go to 60ft and fly itself home. Assumes no trees are in the way.

I think there is also a way to provide GPS way points that it will fly itself through.

Correction, it will go up 60ft HIGHER then what level it's at to hopefully avoid trees, etc.

 

[runzwithsizorz]

Yea if you loose signal from your transmitter it can be set up to come home and land or whatever it was programed to do. Scary stuff can/could be done. Legally the vehicle used with FPV for recreation flyers has to be done in line of site. There have been stories with idiots flying way far away and almost colliding with passenger aircraft.

Of the 193 *stories/reportings*, only 9 have been confirmed by the FAA.

 

[CZroe]

semantics police out in full force.

Of course. You don't wait until it is a lost cause.

 

[runzwithsizorz]

" The problem is, despite their power, a lot of people view these as toys & do stupid stuff like flying them around airports."

New firmware updates for the stupid.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YoXAMRQoIAA#t=60

 

[OverVolt]

Dude flys a hexacopter above the clouds, then crash lands:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfxdeRx2fLA

That was actually pretty interesting.

They should have an alt limit on those things, like 500m.

 

[Kaido]

" The problem is, despite their power, a lot of people view these as toys & do stupid stuff like flying them around airports."

New firmware updates for the stupid.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YoXAMRQoIAA#t=60

Whoa, that's awesome!

 

[LookBehindYou]

Nice Quad! I bought myself one this past Christmas. I picked up a Blade 350QX and then got a cheap ~$50 CGO1 camera for it (similar to gopro) that transmits video at 5.8ghz so I can do fpv flying to. The only problem with fpv flying is the video can lag and will cut out way before you lose range with the transmitter. Very fun though, just be mindful of battery time and fly it in safe areas!

 

[slightlyhuman]

I've had mine for almost a month now. I learned a LOT flying a $40 hubsan x4. I love the new hobby but as others have stated, it will be ruined by someone doing things they shouldn't(ie. commercial airliner crashing because of one).

What version is that? I have a Phantom 1 and have had decent success with 10 minute batteries I got for $23 on amazon. Use a timer/stopwatch when flying. Learn how to calibrate it. I would fly with and without a payload to learn the flying times.

I haven't added much to my site lately since I got the quad but here are a few pics and a stupid video I put together filming a pond full of geese:

My work:

My parents place:

Goose vid:

https://vimeo.com/116439265

see sig for my gopro videos I've made(only 60 seconds long).

 

[Sho'Nuff]

It's a DJI Phantom:

It will take a GoPro 3 which I have.

Anyone here fly them and have some advice before I go out to the nearest airport and fly it straight up 1000ft?

(That was sarcasm btw).

I got the Blade 350 QX2 ready to fly kit for xmas. Haven't flown it yet because its cold as hell outside and its too big to fly indoors.

 

[slightlyhuman]

Also, the $12 gimbal on amazon is worth every penny.

 

[RossMAN]

But then again, toy rockets have been around for ages, and that doesn't stop people from doing things like fishing with fireworks :biggrin:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CliXVIDRmE

That's actually pretty bad ass, got anymore?

 

[Kaido]

Check this out, DIY foam Millennium Falcon!

http://imgur.com/a/CjYA6?gallery

Some flight videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRtXd1eiH-s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpvIU8i0khs