My Venture In To A Quad
So, I am still debating if I want to purchase a quad or not. Just before the Holiday I got burned after ordering a DJI Phantom 2 that supposedly came with a Go Pro Gimbal mount. Fortunately I got my money back but was a bit bummed. I am looking at getting this unit: http://www.ebay.com/itm/DJI-Phantom-2-Drone-UAV-Quadcopter-Aerial-Helicopter-Airplace-w-Remote-Control-/251782661696?pt=Radio_Control_Vehicles&hash=item3a9f6a8640
Now, before everyone goes getting all huffy and puffy about the Elev 8 V-2 still being on sale and on and on I have a few reasons for not getting the Elev-8. First and foremost is price. I simply can not justify the cost of the Elev 8 and then having to spend a few hundred dollars more on a descent Transmitter to control the thing. Plus, I would have to build it and it seems that every time I get started on a project something happens that takes me away from it for some time. Lastly, the DJI is a bit more weather proof and living in the Pacific Northwest I want to have something that is not going to short out on me the first time I fly it. So, if anyone knows of anything better in the same price range I would love to hear about it.
Now, before everyone goes getting all huffy and puffy about the Elev 8 V-2 still being on sale and on and on I have a few reasons for not getting the Elev-8. First and foremost is price. I simply can not justify the cost of the Elev 8 and then having to spend a few hundred dollars more on a descent Transmitter to control the thing. Plus, I would have to build it and it seems that every time I get started on a project something happens that takes me away from it for some time. Lastly, the DJI is a bit more weather proof and living in the Pacific Northwest I want to have something that is not going to short out on me the first time I fly it. So, if anyone knows of anything better in the same price range I would love to hear about it.
Comments
These things are a great place to start - http://www.amazon.com/Hubsan-Micro-Copter-2-4GHZ-shown/dp/B009M1PO7W
Check out local stores, if you can get replacement parts locally for a small indoor micro that's a bonus. When you move up to the Elev8 the micro quad experience will go a long way.
The Phantom 2 is a neat toy. People who don't read the manual often have it "fly away" and never see it again. It doesn't have much payload so you're limited to very small cameras. It does have GPS which can be your friend. You don't get to build anything, and you won't learn much about how quad copters work with the Phantom. The Phantom has flight modes that are neat for some people but also take away from the traditional method of remote control. Essentially, some of the Naza flight controller features teach the pilot how to be worse instead of how to be better. For me it was not a rewarding experience, luckily the DJI stuff holds its resale value.
In any case, I would give the Hubsan a try. You can get one with a camera for around $75 (They also have a FPV version). It's an inexpensive way to have some fun and get some exposure to a quad. A great idea if you're not really sure what you want to do with a quad. They really are pretty amazing machines for their size and cost.
Are you looking to actively fly a quad or for autonomous flight? Do flips and rolls? Capture video? First Person Video? Pick up beer cans and move them from point to point? :-)
-Russ
What Xanadu says is true, to a point - the flight controller has modes which can hinder you as a pilot. For example, the "intelligent orientation control" mode makes it so pulling toward you on the joystick makes the quad move toward you, regardless of its orientation. This is great if you're trying to film something and don't want to be worried about tracking orientations while trying to capture a subject, but it's not a good mode to fly in if you want to learn to fly model aircraft.
On the other hand, it also has GPS position and altitude hold, which will help you learn orientations relatively panic-free (let go of the sticks and it will stop and hover in place). It has "attitude" mode where it's self-leveling but not position holding. And it has manual mode, which flies pretty much like everything else. Use all of them.
It also has an automatic return-to-home (or just auto-land) feature, where if it ever loses connection with your remote, it'll fly itself home. It's a nice investment protector.
The Elev-8 is a build-yourself kit, and can be programmed with my flight controller, which is great if you want to learn how to construct a quad, and write a flight controller. If you just want something to fly, either one will work nicely, but the DJI is much more plug & play.
Jason you have a better working knowledge of multicopters than 99% of the population. You have to imagine this from someone who hasn't had those experiences, if you have not. If you have, my apologies.
IOC and RTH both rely on somewhat unreliable software and sensors, coupled with unpredictable environmental conditions and the usual failure rate of consumer electronics. They both do not do what they say they do (to most people). For instance, RTH doesn't steer around obstacles, so unless you're in a wide open area, RTH can turn into return to the nearest tree real fast. IOC is so bad I'm not even going to dispute it, either way it relies on that same GPS that doesn't always quite work out.
I know for a fact that GPS isn't reliable at times in a $300k Diamond Star. What would make me trust a $30 GPS some sweatshop kid soldered? Nothing. It's not skill, it's not brand, it's sensors and code. More sensors + environmental conditions + more code = more problems.
Keep it simple, learn to do what you want to do without GPS, then add the complexities once you're comfortable with the non-complexities. If you just want to fly something around and take pics with zero skill, join the thousands of people who crashed or lost their Phantom.
In summary:
Step 1. Micro Quad
Step 2. Elev-8
Step 3. GPS based flight controller, etc.
Yes, GPS is not accurate enough to fly through a crowded forest, but it is certainly good enough to get back to the general area from which it left - IF the pilot allowed the machine to properly set it's home point, that is, and hasn't flown behind a bunch of obstacles. RTH climbs 60' before it begins to return. Of course, if you have flown behind a 200' building then it is going to crash - lots of examples of that out there. You shouldn't be flying without LOS anyway - just common sense. But that's not failure of the machine - pilot error again. Same with IOC. There are certain steps to follow to make sure you are set up properly to use it. And it requires an understanding of the feature and some positional awareness.
Disclaimer: My P2 has been thoroughly inspected inside looking for loose solder connections, judicious use of hot glue at certain points to help prevent vibration caused problems. I have a checklist that I follow before flight. I have never crashed or even landed hard - I attribute that to my experience with the Hubsan and my ELEV8 - both MUCH harder to fly than the P2 unless you go into ATTI or manual mode, then almost as fun, but I'd rather risk the Hubsan than the multi buck P2 for "fun" flying. Anyway, I'm perfectly happy with my P2 - it does exactly what it's advertised to do.
The reason I overstate the traditional flight mode training issue is because you need to learn to crawl before you can walk. It is irresponsible to have no idea how to fly something and rely on the automated systems to do it for you. I also find it a bit irresponsible to fly something and have no idea how it works, unless it's a micro quad which cannot cause damage and is cheap for the user to repair.
Not the way I see it.
Step1. Micro Quad. Have one, know how to fly regardless of what you were saying.
Step 2. DJI P2. As stated before. I do not want to start a never ending project and I have yet to see the Elev-8 perform in the rain.
Step 3. Not needed since GPS is already on the DJI.
Again, it is nothing against Parallax products. I just do not have the time or the resources to mess around with something that would need a LOT of work to be able to fly in the PNW.
Are the DJI quads meant to fly in the rain? I have not done anything special to my ELEV-8 to be able to fly in the PNW. Of course I don't fly when it is raining, and by that I mean real rain, not the misty kind of stuff we get around here so much.
Have you seen the Blade 350QX? It's around the price range of that bogus eBay auction. http://www.bladehelis.com/350qx/
You can use the video output of the goggles to put it on your TV. The FPV stuff will make you feel like you are driving a car for the first time, except it's gonna be harder, but okay if you crash
Definitely worth a look, as most high end FPV'ers are putting much more time on these than anything else.
I settled on this unit not because it was preassembled but be cause the flight controller was open source and allowed flight programming. I also like the stile of the unit.
I too looked at the Elev-8 but came to the same conclusion that it was a little over priced and would require a lot of work to go beyond where it was at.
The Pixhawk controller interfaces to my computer and allows me to see just what's going on at no additional cost. Open source free software even for Android tablets and phones.
I have not regretted by decision.
Mike