Hobby Drones!

[Jack Stilts]

I stayed away for a long time, but got sucked in when I flew a friend's micro drone and found myself to be a damn good little drone pilot.

I've got this little SkyViper M200 nano:

Honestly, the most fun I've had with it has been letting my dogs chase it at the park. Great exercise for them and good precision flying practice for me It gets a solid 15-minute fly time after charging for about 20-30 minutes.

I have another one coming in that's a tier above this one, but still the same micro class - the Hubsan X4.

I'm excited about this one because it has a removable battery, so I can order more and swap them in to keep flying. Supposed to be faster and more responsive, too.

My friends who have them are getting way too involved in "modding" them, using them for photography, etc. I just like to race mine.

Has anyone else given into this incredibly addicting hobby?

 

[drbandkgb]

We picked up a drone for went.. It's been really fun to learn for sure..

 

[Timrich]

I got a micro drone too! It the cheerson cx something. It's not bad for 23 bucks. I also got a knock off Syma drone. It's the world tech toys striker. The up side is all the parts for the Syma drone fit mine.

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[Prime]

I've got a Hubsan X4 w/ a camera. It's impossible to fly. The dogs love to chase it though.

 

[DirtyRice120]

This is the one I have. The camera is great on it and its easy to fly but its so light and the wind carries it if I fly it too high lol
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00X92BCA8/ref=ya_aw_oh_bia_dp?ie=UTF8&psc=1

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[Jack Stilts]

We picked up a drone for went.. It's been really fun to learn for sure..View attachment 3915

Awesome! Those are so fun to fly outside.

I got a micro drone too! It the cheerson cx something. It's not bad for 23 bucks. I also got a knock off Syma drone. It's the world tech toys striker. The up side is all the parts for the Syma drone fit mine.

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I've heard of that one, supposed to be real fun.

I've got a Hubsan X4 w/ a camera. It's impossible to fly. The dogs love to chase it though.

Sounds like user error to me...guess I'm just good

This is the one I have. The camera is great on it and its easy to fly but its so light and the wind carries it if I fly it too high lol
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00X92BCA8/ref=ya_aw_oh_bia_dp?ie=UTF8&psc=1

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That "return-home" feature is amazing. I always worry about that...and high winds!

 

[Timrich]

I just ordered extra batteries for the bigger one so I can keep flying it. The short flight time is the only downside.

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[Jack Stilts]

I just ordered extra batteries for the bigger one so I can keep flying it. The short flight time is the only downside.

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Same with mine. I have five extra batteries coming so I don't ever have to stop :hihi:

I looked into bigger batteries for longer flight time, but most of the aftermarket ones don't fit into the unit (because it's obviously a bigger battery). Instead, I got five more of the stock 380mAH batteries.

 

[Timrich]

Yeah i did the same thing! Got 5 batteries coming and a charger...lol

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[SpongeX]

I'm planning on building one this summer to function as a camera rig for the wife's blog. I have a few smaller ones to try to sort out this whole flying thing.

 

[drbandkgb]

I'm planning on building one this summer to function as a camera rig for the wife's blog. I have a few smaller ones to try to sort out this whole flying thing.

For the price to build check out the yuneec 500+ we bought.. The camera is amazing

 

[Prime]

Holy crap $1500!

I wonder if it's easier to fly than my $70 one.

 

[SpongeX]

Those are pretty solid but I'm going to try for more lift capacity and perhaps modularity for storage on overland trips.

 

[Jack Stilts]

Those are pretty solid but I'm going to try for more lift capacity and perhaps modularity for storage on overland trips.

Gotta have a place to store your drone recovery straps and D-rings?

 

[SpongeX]

When I say lift capacity its because of the altitude. My goal is for it to be fairly collapsible to conserve space.

 

[GPD605X]

For my first "drone" was my MJX X600. Its a hexacopter. Very cheap. You first need to learn to fly. That way, when you crash it, you only broke a $50 versus a $100+. I got myself that one and then I got my son a Syma X11 Hornet. Got it for around $20-$25 from GearBest.com. Fun little things to fly. I let my brother take it on a flight.... it ended up in a tree about 60+ feet up. Luckily we got it down from a friend of mine who cuts tree's down for a living. So I gotta replace 2 of the motors on it now. I also won a Syma X12 NANO from a contest on FB. I follow Flyin' Ryan on Facebook and on youtube. He does a whole lot of reviews on these things and always has good info on them. Does very thorough reviews.

 

[GPD605X]

I hope to get a little camera and strap it to my MJX. Once I get good at flying, then I'll buy a more expensive one.

 

[Timrich]

Ryan you can get some cheap ones with a camera from the factory. Both of mine have a camera. Haven't tried either camera yet.

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[Jack Stilts]

I'm in love with these tiny ones. It's so great to zoom around the park, and they're small enough to fly inside too.

Hubsan X4 on the left and SkyViper M200 on the right.

 

[Jack Stilts]

My friends and I got into these last year, but they've gone crazy :uhhh:

We all had "micro" models, anything smaller than five inches, but they wanted more. More altitude, more quality from the camera, more more more.

While I was excited to get my crash pack with extra rotors, they went nuts and bought massive drones that are the size of small satellites.

Each one holds a GoPro, and each one has altitude hold, headless mode, return to home, GPS coordination, etc.

I still love racing mine through the park. No auto-pilot on mine

 

[Timrich]

Dang! Those are big uns!

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[drbandkgb]

Casa de Boyd

 

[Prime]

Holy damn you have a big yard!

 

[Timrich]

Yes he does have a big yard!

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[Jack Stilts]

I'm just jealous of all that snow...

Awesome shot though!

My friend destroyed his $800 Yuneec Typhoon today. Claimed "too windy." My little X4 did just fine.

Amateur.

 

[Powerguy37]

This is the one I fly when I want really good quality photos. It carries a Sony NEX7. I also have a smaller quad I built the has a GoPro on it.

 

[GPD605X]

I'm just jealous of all that snow...

Awesome shot though!

My friend destroyed his $800 Yuneec Typhoon today. Claimed "too windy." My little X4 did just fine.

Amateur.

This is why I would never buy one that expensive. Although I understand why Dave needs one, I just couldn't do it. I would just cry myself to sleep if the wind took my $800 drone and destroyed it. I'm certainly jealous though of how awesome they are. If I could afford it, I would buy a DJI one in a heartbeat but for now, I'll stick with my less than $100 ones lol

 

[Jack Stilts]

This is why I would never buy one that expensive. Although I understand why Dave needs one, I just couldn't do it. I would just cry myself to sleep if the wind took my $800 drone and destroyed it. I'm certainly jealous though of how awesome they are. If I could afford it, I would buy a DJI one in a heartbeat but for now, I'll stick with my less than $100 ones lol

I'm exactly the same. My little $40 Hubsan is quick enough for me and cheap enough to replace in the event that it does hit a wall

The aerial photography would be cool though...

 

[Timrich]

I still need to try out my camera on my 2. I'm not expecting alot since it's the little cameras that came with them.

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[GPD605X]

Yea the cameras that come with them aren't the best. They make some good quality cameras that can attach to them. You could even get a NoPro and zip tie or rubber band it


Sent from my couch

 

[Timrich]

I dunno if mine is powerful enough to lift a go pro. Lol

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[drbandkgb]

I won't bring this drone out on a windy day..

I should have some sweet video of me working in a field today..

It was bring your drone to work day ;-)

 

[Powerguy37]

I won't bring this drone out on a windy day..

I should have some sweet video of me working in a field today..

It was bring your drone to work day ;-)

I put my quad up in 30mph gusts once at Rausch Creek to get a shot, It was not fun. I went up a little over a 100 feet for about 5 minutes.

 

[Jack Stilts]

I brought my drone to work!

We drilled two holes in the nose of the X4 to add LED headlights, and then soldered and Bondic-ed them in. Turned out awesome!

I prefer flying at night because I can see it better, due to the LEDs. The only problem was that when it got too far away, my eyes started to play tricks on me and I couldn't tell which way it was facing. The red and blue LEDs started to blend into each other. I thought about adding LED "headlights" to the front so I knew for sure which way it was facing. The ones we installed are direct replacements for the LEDs that came on it already, just in white instead of blue or red. I didn't want to add a bigger one on to prevent power loss, and all this stuff is so tiny that anything larger wouldn't have even fit in the first place!

 

[drbandkgb]

 

[GPD605X]

Way to make us jealous lol

 

[Timrich]

[/IMG]

Finally got a few pics of my drones. Thanks Luke for the registration decals!

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[Jack Stilts]

Tim, that big green one looks just like the SkyViper stunt drone. I flew that one the other day and I love it! It's the perfect size.

 

[drbandkgb]

Man down...man down...

I had my first crash .. My batteries were low and the unit was saying land now!!
I was about a foot off the ground and wasn't paying attention..

 

[Timrich]

It's identical to the Syma X5C. It's pretty easy to fly compared to the micro drone. Gonna test out the cameras this weekend if it's not too windy.

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