My friend's drone got into a minor accident which damaged the gimbal. Any idea where we can have it repaired?
Flew my first "trainer" drone earlier this morning... an X5C-1 clone. I also got cocky and made a rookie mistake that almost cost me the drone. The flight started off relatively smooth but as I gained significant altitude, particularly past the roof line, I might've reached some sort of jet stream which started to push the drone rapidly eastward. You can actually hear the wind above the rotors and see how fast it was pushing the drone about a second or so before I had to cut power for a bit to get it back to a lower altitude. I actually thought I was going to lose it. What a rush, though! Lesson learned. No GPS, no automatic flight controls, no headless mode, some wind = Don't go higher than your own backyard.
I bought a DJI Phantom 3 Advanced Drone a month ago and I must say that it is a joy to fly! I had been flying Helis for about 4-5 years now and compared to this drone, the Helis seem to require a Phd to fly! The Phantom 3 is so easy to fly that even my 9 year old daughter could fly it confidently!
Looking to pick up an affordable trainer drone for myself, the X5C-1 a good choice? have any other recommendations?
What I have is a Syma X5C-1 clone made by BayangToys (http://www.lazada.com.ph/bayangtoys...mote-control-and-2mp-camera-white-574662.html), which I got while it was on sale for P1,799. This is the cheapest camera drone you can buy, AFAIK. Once calibrated, it's pretty stable (has a gyro and/or accelerometer built-in) so it will do it's best to keep level. However, it won't compensate for any wind and can prove unflyable outdoors when there's so much as a breeze going (unless it's in an open field where retrieval is possible). But in the city or urban community, the drone could easily get stuck on neighbors' roof or get caught in power and phone lines if you're not careful. This drone does not have return-to-home (RTH) or any autonomous flight capability, so if it loses RC connectivity, the motors power down and would simply drop out of the sky or until it reacquires the RC signal. What's good about it is that it's light enough to survive most minor crashes. All that said, for what it is and what is not, if you want to learn or be familiar with the controls or have fun taking aerial photos/videos, it's really a great and cheap practice drone. Just a word or caution though.... after a while, you'd want an upgrade. You've been warned. EDIT: Video below was when I got brave enough to take it out one windless day. A small wind could very well send my quad to any one of those other buildings. Once the RC gets out of range, it just drops.
Thanks @oj88 for sharing your info on this burgeoning hobby! I have already placed my order on a Syma x5c clone. I'll get my feet a little wet before I invest in a real drone (which is surprisingly much more affordable these days)
Whoa.. that was fast! I ordered from lazada yesterday and it arrived today. Flying this thing is a lot tougher than shown in many youtube videos. Also calibrating this thing is very tricky. I'll probably need a wide grassy area to be able to practice properly.
The day I got the Bayangtoys, I flew it immediately inside the house. I have flown palm-sized Syma helicopters before so I was pretty confident. The top left button on the X5C-1 remote toggles between beginner and advanced mode. In advanced mode, the quad is more aggressive in pitch, roll, and yaw. It makes the drone go fast which makes it much harder to control. However, if the drone is ever caught in a sudden breeze outdoors, you may need to switch to advanced mode to give it more thrust to fly upwind. In this mode, the drone will be jerky and seem like it just had a caffeine shot, so be gentle with the control sticks.
It seems I need to fly many hours for me to even competently maneuver this thing. Problem is this thing has just a flight time of 5-6 minutes and a charging time of 90 minutes. At this point, I am not even thinking of advanced mode. That will most likely wreck this drone in no time. What I realized about this drone is that getting it to hover over a spot is a very challenging task
You'll get the hang of it. If the drone starts to drift excessively upon lift off (with the right control stick in neutral), you may need to re-calibrate the gyro: 1. Put the drone down on a flat surface (this is important!) 2. Turn on the drone 3. Turn on the remote control then push both control sticks inward and down for about two seconds, then release 4. You would've heard a beep and the LEDs on the drone should now be solid (Calibration is complete and the remote has finished pairing with the drone) 5. Lift off about a couple of feet off the ground. The drone should stay relatively still (without any breeze). If it drifts, you can counteract that using the trim switches at the base of the control sticks (FYI: Only the aileron, elevator, and rudder have functional trim buttons. The throttle trim button controls the camera). If it drifts because of the wind, don't adjust the trim. Additional tip: Bear in mind not to over-correct on the controls. This will usually make things worse. Easy does it... And oh, you might want to consider buying extra batteries. I've got two.
Size comparison... just for kicks. I still got the "training wheels" (prop guards) on both quads. Not as macho to look at but, that's what they also said about wearing seat belts.
I really must stay away on this type of threads Wifey just got me a GoPro Hero 4 Silver last Christmas and now I am thinking of getting a DJI Phantom 2 for it! And your footage of that DJI didn't really help.
Hahaha! I'm so sorry if I messed up your budget. But if and only IF you decide on getting a Phantom, get at least the Phantom 3 (Standard, 4K, Advanced, or Pro). The Phantom 2 is at least two years old and lacks many features found in the Phantom 3. The gimbal alone (if bought separately for the Phantom 2) would've already cost a bundle. All Phantom 3 drones already comes with a nice camera (2.7k and 4k resolution, depending on the model), mounted on a 3-axis gimbal. Suffice to say, you could stand to save more money on a Phantom 3.
Thing is, if I purchase a DJI P3, my Hero 4 Silver will be of no use. And I don't want that to happen. I wish DJI has a version 2 that has the features of the DJI 3 so GoPro owners have that option.
Commercial display hoods are both hard to come by and expensive. So I cut myself one out of clearbook cover. The hood fits my Sony Xperia Z3 Dual smartphone and I made cutouts so it can be attached onto the P3S remote mobile device mount. A single velcro holds the two side flaps together.
@oj88 what additional battery/charger combo did you get for your X5C-1 clone? i see a lot of options over @lazada but dont know which one to get
