
Drone Building 101 - bharatkhatri14
https://airfield.io
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dchuk
One update that article should make: Buy the Mavic Pro rather than a Phantom
3. They can be had for under $1000, their batteries are cheaper, and they fold
up to about 25% of the size of the phantom models. Good cameras, flies for 25+
minutes, controller is also much smaller than phantom models.

I never leave home without it now.

There's arguments to be made for getting the Phantom 4 Advanced/Pro rather
than the Mavic, but those arguments revolve around professional
photography/videography mostly. The Mavic, for most folks, is the right call.

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natvert
Totally agree. I carry my Mavic everywhere I go. I'm the author of this page
and it is slightly dated. Happy to answer any questions or help folks get
started with their own quads. My most recent posts on the topic are here:
nathan.vertile.com/blog

~~~
FractalNerve
Hi Nathan, thanks for the writup, highly appreciate you taking an HN/AMA :)

What about the "Bayang Toys 9x", do you have better suggestions today? Because
GearBest's armada of similar drones make it hard to choose a great drone for
an outsider [1]. I think there are three folks who are in the majority, that
aren't professional hobbyists.

Those who want a) great office+outdoor drones for under '$69', b) very fast
drones with cameras for under '$249' c) high-altitude aerial drones with
stablized cameras for under '$349'

Can you suggest drones that fit into these categories? =)

\--

[1] [https://www.gearbest.com/rc-quadcopters-
c_11333/](https://www.gearbest.com/rc-quadcopters-c_11333/)

~~~
natvert
Good question. a) Inside / light outdoor get a tinywhoop or Chinese clone and
throw a <5g all in one camera + VTX on it. The E010 is an example. You'll pry
want to upgrade the motors. b) fast/racing, I'd build an X frame 210mm with an
Omnibus F4 or F7 and 2204 motors, DSHOT escs, FrSky rx. If that's not possible
a similar prebuilt from banggood is pry almost as good. c) camera drone. I
don't have a good answer for under $349 unless you build your own F450 with a
gimbal. I'd highly suggest saving up for a Mavic. It's way more user friendly,
portable and has a better camera, for the cost, of any diy camera rig.

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joshmlewis
Is anyone here into drone racing? I got into it around this time last year and
it's one of the best things that's happened to me.

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stephengillie
I got a small Inductrix Blade, but they are tricky to fly. I'm going to wait
for auto-stability and auto-flight.

On the other hand, having a wireless camera that can fly anywhere has unique
security and surveillance implications.

Edit: Editing this post changes its position:
[https://imgur.com/gallery/4nVD1](https://imgur.com/gallery/4nVD1)

~~~
nickthegreek
I work at a makerspace and we teach drone classes to kids. We start with the
Inductrix Blade (pretty unbreakable), upgrade its motors, solder on a camera
to the power leads and use a cheap FPV headset to fly it around. We then hold
nano drone races in our space about once a quarter for the kids.

The Inductrix is a great cheap way to get started with indoor flying that wont
poke an eye out.

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ep103
wait wait, you fly these things via a VR headset?

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fapjacks
Haven't you seen the drone racing league shows on the sports network? I cut my
cable many years ago, but every time I head to HQ for work, I get cable in the
hotel, and there's always Shark Tank on one channel, and DRL ("Drone Racing
League") on another. Check it out! They all fly with headsets. It's actually
pretty intense and awesome.

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falcolas
I made a multirotor (a tricopter specifically) out of wood, and it was damned
fun. It even flys quite well, when the electronics aren't burnt out or
defective. That's been the biggest bummer.

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pyrox420
Good article, some of it's out of date already but still a really good piece
of info if you want to build your own. I'd suggest just getting a ready-to-fly
model first to practice on (husban x4 like). Then watch this video:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2Q2KdhtmFA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2Q2KdhtmFA)
Stu has some great ideas on how to get into the hobby for pretty cheap. Watch
out on that x220 wizard, the FPV camera is crap and will be your first
upgrade. :)

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a-passenger
I was thinking of building an FPV but I wanted to provide solar power as well,
therefore I was searching for a bigger frame. In the end I decided to buy this
one: [https://hobbyking.com/en_us/sunbird-electric-glider-laser-
cu...](https://hobbyking.com/en_us/sunbird-electric-glider-laser-cut-balsa-
kit-1600mm-kit.html?___store=en_us) though I havent yet. The plan is to use it
for aero-photography and increase the flight time by recharging the battery
while cruising. Has anyone made anything similar and perhaps willing to share
any advice?

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_pmf_
I just want this: [http://whatisflike.com/](http://whatisflike.com/)

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taneq
They call it a tricopter when it's a Y6 hexacopter. That's enough to make me
dubious about them. That and the rider sitting so close to completely
unguarded 600mm+ props with their squishy innards in the plane of the props
(so even if the rider stays clear, a failing prop could easily kill them).
It's fine as a demo but insane to use regularly or offer to the public.

Further down the page: "We are planning to get prepared to accept and fulfil
your order already in 2016." Good to know. At least their latest concept
illustration seems to address the props-of-doom issue.

