Hey all, I recently got into flying quads. 2 weeks ago I bought a WLToys v959 (4-axis gyro) which I got the hang of pretty quickly and flew it up about 300 ft into a gust of wind that took it away, and I never recovered it. 2 Days later I got a Hubsan Quads H107L which was great and much more stable in some wind with 6 axis gyro. I liked it so much that 2 days later I bought a Hubsan Quads H107C with the 2MP camera. I have gotten pretty good at flying these little things in the time I've owned them. But today I flew the H107C a little too far away and lost it. So I've been trying to figure out what to do next. I love having a drone with a decent camera on it, but spending $70 a week for a new one isn't going to work. So I'll ask you guys two things. 1. What tips should I consider to stop losing all of my drones? 2. Considering what I have told you, which camera equipped drone would you recommend next? Bonus: What other tips/recommendations do you guys have for me? Thanks, Kyle
Range, that is your issue. Most of the smaller "toy" type UAV's have limited radio range. Add in anything that gets in-between you and the UAV (trees, building, etc.) and that range is less. First thing you could do, a range check. Have a brave soul (or better, remove the propellers.....just do this) and have them hold the UAV and walk away from you while you "fly". when it quits responding to the control's that is the end of your range. Now subtract 100 feet or more, that is the maximum distance you should ever go. The other issue, wind gusts.............might want to fly when its nice and calm out. I have lost one too, but mine are a lot bigger than the toy scale UAV's.........$70 is nothing, try $2000 plus just for the basic UAV at my cost.
That sound like what happened. I was flying a big circle around myself and there was a tree and I thought I would just let it pass by and fly out the other side, but even with extra throttle it never came back out.
There is always a tendency to go a bit too far. I've lost quite a few that way. I've lost micro's like the X4 50 feet away from me. So I'd say it this way. Micro's - fly them within 50 feet of you..... Mini's (X1, Alias, 180QX) - fly in low winds and not around too many trees and within 150 feet max. Mid-sized toys - no GPS (v262, 200qx, etc.) - fly within 200 feet maximum. Be aware of winds aloft, etc. After all, these toys are designed to give you stick time and maybe some small examples of what can be done. Here is the good news. A better unit, like the Phantom FC40 ($499 or so) is much easier to both fly and to keep. The reason is simple - mostly the GPS abilities. The course lock and compass also allow you to bring it home when you lose orientation. As an example, I've had my Phantom 1 since November - maybe 60+ flights - and still have it...and expect to have it for a while longer. In the end, all those toy quads will add up in price. I've lost 2 v262/Mobius combos...that's $400 right there. If I had been flying the Phantom, I would not have lost them in both cases. Also, education is important. If you do get a Phantom or a Blade 350, etc. take the time to learn all the various controls - it will be worth your while. If you play your cards right you can use your new quad for 6 months to a year and then use it as a spare or sell it to someone for 60% of it's original cost and buy something else.
Hello, My name is Jack. I got interested in drones and bought a Syma X8C Venture. I messed around with it and thought I had the hang of it . I got it too high and then don't really know what happened maybe a wind gust or updraft or something, the next thing I knew was it went out of sight. I have spent a week looking for it with no luck. My first question is what did it most likely do. Did it get out of range of my controller. If so, what would have happened. Would it just keep flying or would it just crash when it was out of range of my controller. Reason being is I don't know how far to search, I know the last place I saw it, but don't know how far I should extend my search. It was bright orange so should be fairly visible, but the weeds in a pasture are very thick. Any suggestions, and where will I look for any answers. I have never been on a forum before.
It appears that Syma has chosen to not fully cut off the motors when the X8 loses it's connection. It just cuts the throttle down some. The reason being it's a heavy quad and they don't want it dropping like a rock. It should pretty much drop straight down
I have lost quite a few lower cost models - I can think of at least 5 of them. Some I got lucky and found....like this one that I flew up as high as it would go...took me an hour and I got lucky to find it. If your quad has a bit of extra payload capacity, one suggestion is to use a voltage alarm like this: You can set it to come on when the voltage of the battery runs low and the alarm will help you locate your lost quad.
