I’d like some recommendations on buying a quadcoptor. Ive not owned one before, so my minimum specs are camera, and preferably wireless video capable.
Please recommend these scenarios:
1.) tiny
2.) upgradeable
3.) diy
4.) off the shelf
Thanks for your help.
What is your budget? The Blade Nano FPV meets all of those criteria, and even comes with FPV goggles. It’s $420, but the goggles alone are something like $200.
http://www.horizonhobby.com/nano-qx-fpv-rtf-with-safe-technology-blh7200
Haven’t decided on my budget tolerance yet… Leaning towards less for the first one since I’ll likely destroy it; however, that seems reasonable for the 2nd purchase.
Remember that smaller usually means harder to control but not always but they are definitely harder to see at a distance.
If this is your first quad, I would go with a kit that has all the basics. I can’t vouch for this vendor but something LIKE these guys. If you look for ZMR 250, QAV 250 or mini quads on Google, you will get a ton of returns. Do your research on any vendor you choose but in buying a kit versus trying to source all the parts yourself will probably save you some money. You will still need to add a battery, receiver and transmitter to get flying. Don’t forget to buy extra propellers, lots of propellers.
Don’t worry about adding a camera at this point. Honestly, until you can fly comfortably it will be just something else to break when you crash. The kits like this (ZMR 250 clone) are a good platform as you can add a FPV camera or other camera later when you are ready.
Personally, I have a ZMR-250 clone that has FPV and a Mobius forward facing camera with a Naze32 Acro controller but I sourced it all myself as I could afford additional parts and I still have only flown it a few times and that was without using FPV.
If you’d rather, you could head over the Thingiverse and download the files to print a Quad, the Hovership MHQ2 is pretty popular.
That link is a great starting point. looks like it’s going to become addictive very quickly
I built an MHQ2 by Hovership as my first quadcopter and I’m pretty happy with it and the process of building one in general. It’s a 3D-printed 250mm diameter design; the 3D-printed parts will take about 3-5 hours to print at the space. I run mine in hard-tail mode, so no clean layer for the flight controller or camera.
The Hovership website has detailed build instructions and hardware/electronics kits.
The MHQ2 is more time consuming to build than a ZMR250 chassis, but replacement parts are easy to print, so IMO good for a beginner, though it’s smallness and agility can be a disadvantage for first time flyers.
I learned a lot from building my own, and it’s certainly approachable as a hobbyist. I am a beginner, this was my first RC aircraft since grade school. Hardest part was finding detailed instructions that were not YouTube videos. Google images has been a great source for figuring out all that’s needed and how to wire it up.
My build came to around $400 pre-transmitter.
I’ve yet to buy goggles since the ones I wanted (headplays) were sold out for months, and now I’m waiting to see what is available when things like the Oculus are finally on sale.
By far this cheap little $150 Eachine 250 has been the absolute best bang for the buck I’ve seen. At work, we have been using a few of these and they are a ton of fun! I wish these things had existed when we did our beginner drone classes.
For $150 they come with absolutely everything except: the R/C Remote/Receiver (add a $50-100 Turnigy radio), and a Video Receiver (Fat-shark compatible) if you want to watch the FPV video.
It comes 99% built with the Frame,Motors, CC3D flight controller, FPV camera and FPV Transmitter, FPV OSD, charger, battery. Its nuts for the price. My beloved Blade FPV Nano copter (cost $150+ for only the copter) is a tiny toy by comparison.
In fact there are only 2 issues I have with the kits:
Replacement arms are $2. The arms are pretty sturdy, but the parts are so cheap I recommend stocking up on a few extra arms and props. The CC3D is a well respected flight controller and while it wont be flying fully autonomous missions, it will be more than you need for a long while. Once you get bored with the stock setup, it it has enough power to carry a few mods/extras. We have been playing with 3D- 3rd person view (3PV?) flying at Dialexa and the things have been flying like champs.
/Post Drone FPV purchase/:
If you are looking for decent set of FPV googles check out these models:
http://blog.oscarliang.net/fpv-goggles-review-fatshark-skyzone/
They vary in price from $30-50 bucks for “DIY” Hobbyking googles:
Radio Control Planes, Drones, Cars, FPV, Quadcopters and more - Hobbyking78125__Quanum_DIY_FPV_Goggle_V2_w_5_inch_LCD_Monitor_Kit.html
to $500+ for a nice HD set with all the goodies/Cameras.
Best bang for the buck ($250) is a set of Head-play googles: http://www.headplay.com/
The retailers are finally getting them in.
If your are really lucky you might still find one of these kits running around (they where on clearance sale all over the hobby stores for $200 a month or two ago):
http://www.amazon.com/FPV-Vapor-RTF-W-Headset/dp/B00N3WQLD2
The kits came with a set of Fat Shark Teleporter V4 googles (they are as low as I’d go for FPV googles at 320 x 240) but if you can get them cheap, it will be worth your while.
I concur about the HeadPlays. I preordered and waited. After 3 months I
finally got them but my 250 is in a pile of parts right now. I need to get
busy…