Drones and quad copters

[Larry-G]

As we don't really have a section for this kind of thing yet I am just putting this thread here for the time being.

Any hooooooo.

I just took delivery of a pair of Hubsan x4 H107C HD video drones (Although I managed to kill one before I even got around to putting batteries in the RC, thats a story for another thread).

So who else here has a drone / quad copter ?, I welcome all replies and if you have any FPV videos of your flights please do upload them here for us to enjoy.

I will be uploading some of my own once I get confident enough to fly them and start recording some video, I will also be uploading some tutorials for mods and repairs etc.

here are a few pics of the drone I have for now (I wanted something cheap enough to kill while learning to fly and not break the bank, plus Hubsan has a huge fan base and almost every part of the drone is replaceable in some form or another.).

[josweet]

Bought an ARdrone just last week mate. Not flown it yet as the UK weather has yet to be good enough but hopefully will get to give it a go in a couple of months. I picked up the drone locally second hand & on further scrutiny i found one of the cogs had been broken and glues back together, making the rotor blade wobble as it rotated.
Thankfully im not in any rush to fly it, so for a mere £2.50 i have bought a complete new set direct from China ;)

[Larry-G]

I had a play with the Hubsan last night (I bought a spare and good job too after I ripped the motor out of the first, still got to fix that one yet).

It's a little beast but hard as hell to control although it was my first flight so I have a legitimate excuse for now. even though my few flights were between 22:00 and 01:00 I got some decent video and some cracking shots from the camera, but I need a lot more practice before I can claim to be any where near a competent pilot. good fun though and something I will be spending a lot more time with.

[nobuschopus]

Hi,

I've played the the hubsan h170c quite a bit and are good fun. But throughout the ages. I've had a few of these. Bought cheap and resold. But this one was in a very sorry state so is currently going through a full refurb. So it's had four new motors and a new ESC. Hoping for it's first test flight soon and then get a new case for it. :)

Very stable with GPS positioning
41133

[Trial]

Hi,
I have one around €70 (do not know the name right now) and it is also a hell to fly that beast. You cannot even get it to hoover/float properly you always have to do some steering. I thought about buying a decent one from dji.

ciao

[nobuschopus]

Yeah, I had that issue with the hubsans and the u13a sometimes the down draft of the props can cause movement from side to side. But still a good laugh if you're not wanting perfect imagery.

As i mentioned I've flown a few phantoms from DJI, the fc40's, and they're amazing. Not worth the 400 GBP though. But there are some clones of them on a popular auction site for around 200 GBP.

[josweet]

FAA investigating drone flying near news helicopters


http://www.kirotv.com/videos/news/raw-video-drone-near-chopper-7-march-16-2015/vDLGPq/

41296

Monday evening, as Chopper 7 covered a fire in a Spanaway salvage yard, KIRO-TV Chief Photographer Scott Crueger turned the camera toward another helicopter taking video for KOMO-TV and KING-TV.

A drone was flying above it.

"We got a drone out here somewhere," Crueger alerted colleagues in the newsroom.

He guessed the drone was flying at about 1,500 feet.

It isn't easy following something so small with a helicopter camera, but Crueger kept on it.

He followed the drone as it descended, and spotted a man on the ground operating it.

"I was thinking, ‘How could you be that stupid?'" Crueger said later.

If helicopters strike anything, like birds, they can easily fall out of the sky.

Moments before the drone buzzed the KOMO/KING helicopter, Chopper 7's pilot saw it about 50 feet above his own blades, a dangerous scenario because the vortex from the blades can cause objects above to be sucked into the helicopter.

[Larry-G]

FAA investigating drone flying near news helicopters


http://www.kirotv.com/videos/news/raw-video-drone-near-chopper-7-march-16-2015/vDLGPq/

You have to be a complete bloody moron to even think of flying a drone any where near a real aircraft and those who are found to have done so should have the book thrown at them for endangering life.

[sataday]

I've ordered a JJRC H8C. Can't wait for it to arrive (from China) Seemed like a decent one for the price (£35), but since ordering I've read that the motors tend to burn out pretty quickly. I'll have to wait and see.