New to multi rotor's and need direction.

C

cue

New Member
I am Deputy for a County in Oklahoma and I am wanting to build a quadcopter for use at work. Searching areas for people or getting a birds eye view of an area to develop an entry plan to property. This will be personally owned, so it will be for my enjoyment also. Since it will be me that funds this, I have to keep cost down. I don't necessarily have a budget but $1000.00 is the max that I want to spend. Lesser is better. I need a 30 minute flight time and FPV. 1 mile range would be great. I have a Bachelors in Electronics and a background in RC stadium trucks and airplanes. More experience in nitro than electric. Dabbled in Helicopters briefly. I have a Futaba T7CHP tx, and several misc items related to the past hobbies I've had. Its doubtful that any of my servos would work for this application. I am absolutely interested in building my own. Especially if it will keep cost down.

Would someone please help me develop a plan and/or parts list? Will my Tx work? I would love to keep this under $500. Is that possible?

Thank you for the help.
 

A

AboveAllAP

Member
Hi Cue

Like it or hate it the DJI phantom vision pretty much meets all your requirements. I am not dis encouraging you from DIY infact I usually promote it but this maybe a good option to look at.
 

Carapau

Carapau

Tek care, lambs ont road, MRF Moderator
Welcome to the forums Cue. The phantom is indeed a great choice and does tick pretty much all of your needs. With that said however, I would perhaps go for a DJI 450 or 550. These are simple kits you need to build but because they can be built you can customize them a bit more. The thing to do is not jump in head first but read up a lot here and they you can make an informed decision.
 


C

cootertwo

Member
Hi Cue, welcome to this great site. My advise is to read, read, and read some more. Spend hours looking at you tube and vemo videos to get an idea of just whats out there. I too have a background of nitro planes, trucks, and helicopters. I got into the electric stuff, with my first purchase, a Parrot AR Drone. I was hooked. Then I bought a Phantom, one of the earlier versions. Then a 550 hex, the another configuration quad, with slow turning motors, and 14" props. Then I bought another Phantom, version 1.1.1 (upgraded tx & rx). And I just ordered another small quad, as I also got into the FPV thing, with some Sky Zone goggles, video transmitters, etc. etc. There is a whole lot to this hobby, and you can spend a lot of $$$ real quick, and still not have what you want, or what is the latest thing out there. There are soooo many choices of frames, motors, batteries, props, chargers, radios, receivers, on and on. This whole hobby is changing, upgrading, faster than the computer thing used to be. Buy one today, and next week, there will be a newer model out there. Good luck, and most of all, "have fun"
 

jbrumberg

jbrumberg

Member
Welcome Cue. Good luck, have fun, and stay safe out there...

Under $500 when you start to look at repairs, replacement parts, upgrades, more neat stuff, better flight controllers, better ESC's, more batteries, and the charger, and power supply source for the charger costs and expenses. $500 is a little "light". It's worth it.:black_eyed:
 

C

cue

New Member
Thank you for the replies and help! I will continue to read and check into the DJI Phantom.
 

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