Hello from an old fixed-wing guy.....

B

barbados

New Member
My best to you all. Thank you for allowing me to visit with you.

I'm an old fixed-wing guy. There are Five (5) 80" fixed-wing planes posed as hanger-queens in my garage.

My eyes got a little weak so I kind of took a rest from the hobby.....for 10 years.

Now, I see these wonderful multi-engine 'copters with GPS and I am excited to say the least.

I would love to be able to set one of these into motion and take live videos, but I have no helo experience. Zero.

Don't need acrobatics. Don't need much of a horizontal movement...just up....pictures and down. Safely. The last word is very important.

Possible?

Best choice for a model? I have two (2) JR-8103 transmitters and a bunch of six (6) meter minature JR receivers. Will these still work with the multicopters? If these are too large or antiquated for this application, I am prepared to purchase whatever is necessary. Cost is not a problem.

I live in Southern Oregon for much of the year..we have lots of open areas to fly.

I am an engineer by trade.

Thank you again for allowing me into your forum and Best Regards to you all.

-dave-
 

BorisS

BorisS

Drone Enthusiast
Hi Dave,

since you have experience with rc planes I dont think that you will have any problems with getting a multirotor in the air !

You have serveral choices:

For example FCs:

Mikrokopter
Hoverfly
DJI - WKM or Naza
Autoquad
APM

etc.

they all differ in features and some are more complicated to setup up than others. But all of them have GPS extensions.
The first question you have to answer though is what kind of camera you want to take up thus payload you want lift.
If its a Gopro you will be fine with a quad and there are several frame sets out there that are suitable.

I dont know your radio, but i quickly checked it on the internet it has eight channels so it should be fine. Couldnt find any info on your RX but as long as it also has 8 channels and using PWM as output it should also work ! Otherwise there might be newer RX for your radio that should work.

Probably one of the quickest and easiest approachs but sill offering the full feature set would be going for a DJI FC and with one of their frames. The best would be to find a dealer close to you and to have a chat with him.

Boris
 

B

barbados

New Member
Thank you, Boris for the fast reply and a wealth of information!

From your post and a number of others that I've had an opportunity to read, it looks like this quest is best suited to a local dealer.

I have no problem with any required assembly, I just need some (personal) guidance along the way.

I'll check out the DJI FC and the others that you mentioned and see if I can begin to understand the good points of each.

It's a new learning process for me, but challenge is good, yes?

Thank you again for your help and I hope we get a chance to talk again.

Best Regards,

-dave-
 
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BorisS

BorisS

Drone Enthusiast
Dave a pleasure !

Any questions just post them here ! Sometimes it will saves you a lot of time, before doing specific research !

Boris
 

Roger Ramjet

Roger Ramjet

Member
Hi Dave,

I happened to be a long time plane pilot that used to fly Saturn, UFO, Phoenix and Typhoon type pattern aircraft with a hot .60cc, tuned pipe and retracts. With time, the large amount of equipment to load/unload at the flying field combined to the fact that the field was the only place we could fly finally got the best of me. It took to long of a preparation and a drive for a few 10 minutes flights, then you had to wipe everything off at home. The car constantly smelled like methanol... Ha! Ha! Ha! I am sure you know what I am talking about!

Well, prepared to be blown away!

Todays' technology allows you to take off from your backyard picnic table at 05:00 AM if you want, fly for a few minutes, get in a hoover with GPS lock, get in the house for a quick weez (morning coffee obliged) get back out, shoot a HD video and land on the same picnic table after a 10 minutes flight. Best off all, no wiping off after! A quick charge, and here you are again! And this is only half of the surprise...

As an example, the DJI NAZA (no spelling error here...) is an amazing flight controller. It is a small plastic box, smaller than two match boxes, internally featuring 3 gyroscopes, 3 accelerometers, 1 magnetic compass and one piezo-electric barometric sensor for altitude control. All this is pre-programmed and it is a basic plug and play operation. All this for well under 300.00. Combine the GPS antenna receiver for 200.00 and this thing will fly itself, return back home AND autoland within 6 -10 feet from takeoff px. Off course it shuts off the motors after landing. No programming, all included in the plug and fly DJI NAZA controller. No helicopter experience required, the machine levels itself automatically, even in winds up to approx 15 - 20 mph. I have 2 DJI multirotors (FW450 and FW 550) both with NAZA and GPS. It is absolutely unbelievable what they can do if you compare this to the old noise restrictions, flight enveloppe and requirement of an unobstructed runway. The possibilities are endless. Here is a video I shot a while ago in fishing camp territory at the owners request.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fK5gRq51rA

Welcome to quite a treat, eyesight is not an issue here.... ENJOY!
 


B

barbados

New Member
First, I want to thank Boris for his kindness and sharing. You’ve made me feel that this is the spot I need to be in my “aviation” career.

Now, Roger…if Boris bated the hook, you’ve set it!

What a great video! It makes me want to buy a DJI with NAZA and GPS immediately! (+ move to Canada…what a gorgeous spot!)

Yes, the whole drudgery of gas-powered models has certainly soured me. Plus you’ve got $1-2K and 100-200 building-hours up in the air and, at times, I would ask myself “is it going away from me or at me?” Sigh……

I can tell that this new avenue is truly a blessing for these old eyes. I cannot wait!

I’m going to check out all of your suggestions this evening, and Boris’, too, and hopefully I’ll have this nailed-down by the end of the weekend. I may be back to bother you both!

Thank you so much for helping me. Your kindness is greatly appreciated.

Best Regards,

-dave-
 
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