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FPV Drones/Quadcopters

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  • fl57caveman

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    Or we could buzz TennJeep's house and start our own channel: Gunpornhub.


    we are going to have to keep this cheap...I have it on good intel, he will blow one out of the sky....need some nimble fingers on the controls...

    leaves all of us out, know any 11 yr kids we can bribe?
     

    pcolapaddler

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    Another good source of information is the flitest.com website.

    These folks do sell stuff, but the also have a lot of good info.

    Like any folks that are enthusiastic about a hobby, if you aren't careful their enthusiasm will rub off on you. Next thing you know, you will be spending a bunch of money.

    I received a quad/drone as a gift. I can tell you from experience that there is a learning curve. It is easy to lose control and end up in a tree or somewhere where retrieval is difficult.

    Sent from my HTCD200LVW using Tapatalk
     

    Seanpcola

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    Another good source of information is the flitest.com website.

    These folks do sell stuff, but the also have a lot of good info.

    Like any folks that are enthusiastic about a hobby, if you aren't careful their enthusiasm will rub off on you. Next thing you know, you will be spending a bunch of money.

    I received a quad/drone as a gift. I can tell you from experience that there is a learning curve. It is easy to lose control and end up in a tree or somewhere where retrieval is difficult.

    Sent from my HTCD200LVW using Tapatalk

    Yep, trees will reach out and grab a model.

    I was flying at a big meet in Greenville, SC one time and my 1/3 scale As-K13 (22' wingspan) sail plane stalled and landed in the top of a tree. That tree was at least 50'. I called a guy that worked for a tree service. He came out with his climbing rig and I gave him lessons on how to take it apart and lower it one piece at a time. We spent around three hours getting it out. He charged me $40, I gave him a $100 bill because of the time, difficulty and it was his day off. It was worth it because that model had a replacement value of about $5500.00.

    I've gotten them stuck in trees and used a fishing pole to cast up to it, finally catch it and pull it out.

    Easiest one was in Mobile, AL. A buddy's airplane went into the trees and we couldn't climb up to it. The property owner came out, saw the problem, went back to his house, returned with a shotgun and blew the branch off.
     

    TennJeep1618

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    Time to bring an old thread back from the dead. After getting a little burned out on shooting, I decided to take a step back for a while and finally dabble in FPV quadcopters. I bought a radio, goggles, and a couple micro quads to start with, and I've got parts for a 5" quad on the way. I hope to have it in the air next weekend. I went out to a race behind the battleship yesterday, met a lot of the local pilots, and had a great time. If all goes to plan, I'll have my 5" quad all dialed in and ready to fly in the next race.

    Anyway, here is one of my micro quads:

    goFuGW6.jpg


    Here are a couple videos I recorded through the DVR feature of my goggles.

    Yesterday:



    Today:

     
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    madeSICC88

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    Damn that looks like a blast.
    I've been getting into the RC trucks lately too. I bought my son and I are Traxxas truck for Christmas and we play with them a ton. I always had them growing up but not ones that go 50mph+. They are a lot of fun too.

    Sent from my LG-H700 using Tapatalk
     

    TennJeep1618

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    Damn that looks like a blast.
    I've been getting into the RC trucks lately too. I bought my son and I are Traxxas truck for Christmas and we play with them a ton. I always had them growing up but not ones that go 50mph+. They are a lot of fun too.

    Sent from my LG-H700 using Tapatalk
    It's a ton of fun. I can't wait to get my big quad in the air.

    You should look up FPV RC cars on YouTube. You can put a camera on them and drive a long ways away while wearing goggles or watching a screen.

    Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk
     

    madeSICC88

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    How big is the one youre getting? Also how long does the battery last in those small ones?
    I did watch some of the videos on the RC trucks too haha. It would really be fun to try that out. I'll have to look into it a bit more, it doesn't seem too expensive to get it up and running.

    Sent from my LG-H700 using Tapatalk
     
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    TennJeep1618

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    How big is the one youre getting? Also how long does the battery last in those small ones?
    I did watch some of the videos on the RC trucks too haha. It would really be fun to try that out. I'll have to look into it a bit more, it doesn't seem too expensive to get it up and running.

    Sent from my LG-H700 using Tapatalk

    The one I'm building is a 5" quad like the ones below. Batteries should last between 2 and 3 minutes, depending on how hard you push them. For racing, I expect them to last closer to 2 minutes, for just cruising around, I expect 3 minutes or more. Most of the locals race in the 4S (4 cell) class, so that's what I'll be using. There is also a class for 6S batteries that last a bit longer.

    Floss3.jpg


    image.php
     
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    Big Shrek

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    RULE #1 of R/C helo's and drones...
    UNTIL YOU ARE GOOD AT CONTROLLING IT...
    attach some fishing line to it...release the spool and practice...a LOT.

    Make sure the controller is set up properly &
    that you have FULL control before running without a line...
    and even then it's still a good idea to leave 20' or so on it,
    just in case you need to make a grab due to controller error.

    My first one decided it had a mind of its own and it went UP...and UP...and UP...
    wind carried it southeast and into a fog bank...never saw it again.
    Searched for months afterwards...3 apartment complexes right together...
    should have landed somewhere, right?? Nawp...never seen again.
     

    TennJeep1618

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    I'm not going to be attaching fishing line to it, but I will be setting up failsafe where all the motors will stop if I flip a switch on the radio or it loses signal.



    Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk
     
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    TennJeep1618

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    So I tried to build my first 5" quadcopter last weekend and it didn't go very well. I won the build kit in a raffle, but it turns out that its made more for experienced builders, as there is not much space inside the frame to fit everything. I got frustrated after a few hours of tinkering and ended up buying a used quad from a local pilot. I plan on finishing out the original build, but I'm going to wait on a few parts to arrive that will make it easier. I'll also be happier once I get the first one built, because I've got a gopro mount for it that will make the videos much higher quality over just the DVR footage from the goggles.

    Until then, I can get some stick time in with the used quad. In fact, I was able to take it out on Sunday and fly a few packs. As fun as it was flying around an empty field, I found that I need to adjust a few of the settings and I need to have obstacles to better judge depth. A few times I felt like I was brushing the grass when I was likely at least 10ft off the deck, and other times I thought I was high enough to do a flip and ended up catching the ground and crashing. I'm hoping to hook up with some local pilots this coming weekend and actually try flying through gates.

     

    TennJeep1618

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    I also bought this little quadcopter from the same guy that sold me the 5" quad.

    pBfYgta.jpg


    This one is small enough to fly around the yard, although I need more practice and need to adjust a few of the settings to make it a little less twitchy. I felt like I was on the edge of control most of the time.

     

    TennJeep1618

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    I found a good deal on a frame that has a lot more room inside, so I decided to use that for my first build. I had some problems with the flight controller, because some of the pads were mislabeled. Fortunately I didn't fry anything during that process. I finished the build on Saturday morning and took it out for it's maiden flight shortly thereafter. I tried out several different kinds of props over the course of the day before finally finding a kind I liked.

    Anyway, here is a video of the testing, getting used to the quad, and practicing for my first race next weekend. I slapped the gopro on right before I started flying and forgot to change the settings from back when I was wearing as a hatcam while shooting. I've also got a new gopro on the way, so future footage should be better.

     

    TennJeep1618

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    I had my first FPV race this past Saturday. I had a couple good practice heats and two decent race heats. The first video is some good flight footage, the second video is a compilation of most of my crashes over the course of the day.



     

    madeSICC88

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    Very cool. Do you feel yourself moving your body as your flying or do you stay pretty stationary?

    Sent from my moto g(7) using Tapatalk
     

    madeSICC88

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    Haha I imagine that I would be moving a lot when making turns and all that. I move a lot when using the Oculus VR stuff.

    Sent from my moto g(7) using Tapatalk
     

    TennJeep1618

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    I competed in my second race this past weekend. It went quite a bit better than my first, but I still broke a few things:

    c6eqNHa.jpg


    This was my heat of the day. I still have a lot of work to do:

     
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