Quadcopters and other tech toys?

[MannDude]

My neighbor has a couple quadcopters and a RC Airplane he's restoring, some pretty neat stuff. Anyhow, today we were in the field near my house and he was messing with one of his quadcopters. Long story short, I want one now too.

Was pretty impressed with the little one he had. Today was a bit windy but boy do those things fly. The larger one is very impressive looking but I don't think it's taken flight yet, a work in progress. I had him copy the footage over to my thumb drive so I could see if the playback was choppy on my computer, as it was his. Turns out to be isolated/choppy for him only. For a $65~ 'toy', the footage was actually pretty nice and the less than 3 minute long video I snagged from it was over 500Mb. Ignore the noise and my lack of editing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsVlBBwq7hI

Anyone else have one or can suggest one with a camera for $100~ or so? 

 

[Hxxx]

Unable to see the video ? all white.

 

[ChrisM]

Unable to see the video ? all white.

Same, it has been that way for the last 2-3 months on vpsboard for videos. 

 

[yolo]

Unable to see the video ? all white.

Same, it has been that way for the last 2-3 months on vpsboard for videos. 

I know for me on chrome this happens, and I have to click the shield in the URL bar and allow it to load unsecure content. 

 

[MannDude]

Unable to see the video ? all white.

I know for me on chrome this happens, and I have to click the shield in the URL bar and allow it to load unsecure content. 

No kidding? Never see that here... well hmmm...



Do you have to manually accept the certificate anytime there is a non-https element in the page?

 

[HalfEatenPie]

For those of you who can't see the video..

http://www.youtube.com/embed/TsVlBBwq7hI?html5=1&fs=1

Haha that's awesome.  Love the fat cat in the footage too haha.

It's honestly just the issue with non-https elements (especially from another domain) being sent via https. 

Anyways that footage reminds me of this I saw on reddit a while back.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0xEfdK-D1c

(Reddit Thread link here)

This is what that guy films with. (and comment here) totals around 6k to 7k USD but looks like a ton of fun (and great footage).

Seriously... I would love to get into something like this.  

 

[trewq]

I have been looking at getting into this for a while now. Just need to find the time.

 

[Hxxx]

@MannDude, where that footage was taken?

@HalfEatenPie  , thank you for the videos. The second video is pretty epic and sentimental. Great footage.

 

[bpsRobert]

http://www.area51drones.com/

These are great flying/video machines. auto stabilization, etc.

 

[MannDude]

http://www.area51drones.com/

These are great flying/video machines. auto stabilization, etc.

Yeah, but at $600 for the cheapest one... above what I want to spend

 

[FLDataTeK]

If your looking for one with a camera as part of the package then a WLToys V959 would be a good one to get.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AZEALUK/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00AZEALUK&linkCode=as2&tag=hardphot-20

Or you can get a Syma X1 (same style as the V959 but without a camera) for $29.95 plus around $5 shipping then buy a 808 keychain camera and mount on the bottom like I did.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0096SJU3U/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0096SJU3U&linkCode=as2&tag=hardphot-20

Here is my X1 flying on a windy day.

http://youtu.be/npyFyDfR4io

I just got done building a big one also.

 

[ChrisM]

@FLDataTeK How long does the battery last in the one you have?

 

[MannDude]

Well, I caved in and just purchased this: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00D3IN11Q/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=AF3OSWQ0BTWJQ

Can't wait for it to arrive!

 

[MartinD]

7 minute flight time - that's going to get annoying really fast. Hope you bought more batteries!

 

[H4G]

It's not very difficult to make one. For the past few weeks, I've been trying to source the correct parts and equipment needed to build one. The idea is a quadcopter with a gyro-camera mount on the bottom so as to do mount something like a Mark-III and record videos smoothly.

 

[FLDataTeK]

@FLDataTeK How long does the battery last in the one you have?

With my X1 I have 600mA batteries that I got for it and it will fly for around 15 minutes with no problem.  Thats with a larger battery and a 808 cam strapped to it.  Most of my videos on my channel are the Syma X1 with the cam on it.

On the stock battery you will get around 8-9 minutes of flight time.

MannDude I have one of those UDI 816a also and its fun for flying around the house but outside its a little underpowered flying in any kind of wind especially with the canopy on.

Scratch that.. I thought it was a 816a not a 818a..   That 818a looks like a rebadged v959.

If you want some larger batteries that will fit it get these.. Its what I run and they are nice batteries. They have more punch than the stock batteries. 

http://www.buddyrc.com/glacier-25c-600mah-1s.html

Here is a video of my big one (450mm frame) flying today.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvE8Eg_hkyQ

 

[matt[scrdspd]]

Attaching a GoPro seems like the way to go if you actually want good quality video. 

Seeing this video [ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkMiIT1VG98 ] a couple years back inspired me to want to buy one. I still have yet to make the move tho. The type I want seems to be in the $600-$1200 price range.

 

[MannDude]

I spent like 3 hours last night looking at some awesome subreddits. 

http://www.reddit.com/r/Multicopter

http://www.reddit.com/r/diydrones

http://www.reddit.com/r/fpv

I'm sure this summer I'll probably start building a nice one. I just want one now to play with in the backyard and to annoy the outside cat as he likes to chase them when they fly low.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LcukD93J44

 

[FLDataTeK]

Mine is just a crappy $8 808 cam. I have one of the not so good ones for now. I had bought a cheap one because it expected to crash and break it. Now that I have a better quad that can lift more I'll get a Mobius.

If you want good video get the 808 #16v2 with a 120 degree lens or get its bigger brother the Mobius.

Here is my brother flying his Skyhunter plane with the Mobius FPV (With video feed back to googles so he can fly the plane like he is in it)

http://youtu.be/UspqOy0Iiyk

Alot of people use the GoPro because it is small and does 60fps video very well on the higher end ones. But it also cost $399 for the highend ones.. The Mobius is $75-$85 and does 60fps at 720p and 30 fps at 1080p. More than enough for my needs.

Also weight comes into play..

GoPro: 138 grams

Mobius: 78 grams

808 #16v2: around 38 grams

X1 will carry the 808 #16v2 with no problems. The Mobius would be a little heavy for it and the GoPro forget it.

 

[FLDataTeK]

This is my current lineup.

UDI 816a (right)

Syma X1 (middle)

Custom Built 450mm (left)