Not a buggy - quadcopter!

[muddy]

A little over a year ago I spent a bit of time out of work (cheers Campbell!) and, for want of something better to do I built a few quadcopters for a few mates (yes, I know I need to clean the deck).

This is one I made for myself. It's the least fancy of the lot - it has the KK 2.0 flight controller which is very basic - no proper altitude hold, no GPS, no return to base, and no other niceties to keep it in the air for you. In fact, I suspect it has a very effective ground detector built in, and it is also very fond of finding itself vertical speed brakes.

This is about as far as you can get from a DJI phantom - it's pure flying, and a bit of a bugger to do as well if you've not done it before, but on the other hand I built it myself, and I can upgrade it at will, far beyond off the shelf units, and at a far lower cost - this one was less than $300, including transmitter.

At some point, if I can be bothered, I'll get another flight controller that will do all the complicated stuff for me so I can use it as a proper camera platform and have it follow me around.

Anyone else fly/build quads? If not, and you're interested let me know and I'll message you a parts list to make your own.

[muddy]

And this is why you don't fly ones this size and power indoors. If you manage to avoid slicing open an artery you might damage the jars of precious sauerkraut.

[Dizzyh]

Cool looking quadcopter!

Must be a coincidence! I have been looking at quadcopters recently.
I'm interested in getting one myself but cannot quite justify the $1500 odd for the DJI.

There might be other cheaper models they offer, but I'm really only looking to use it as a tool for photography, so I'm after all that great functionality such as return to home. Although having said that, I've never flown one before so need to learn. Considering getting a cheapy from KMart for $60.

I'd be keen to hear about your parts list if you wouldn't mind sharing

[muddy]

Originally Posted by Dizzyh

Cool looking quadcopter!

Must be a coincidence! I have been looking at quadcopters recently.
I'm interested in getting one myself but cannot quite justify the $1500 odd for the DJI.

There might be other cheaper models they offer, but I'm really only looking to use it as a tool for photography, so I'm after all that great functionality such as return to home. Although having said that, I've never flown one before so need to learn. Considering getting a cheapy from KMart for $60.

I'd be keen to hear about your parts list if you wouldn't mind sharing

The return to home functionality is all in the flight controller. You can even get the controller out of the Phantom as a separate part and plug it into one of these.

I'll pull together a list and send you a pm. And yes, getting a cheap from Kmart is a good idea. It'll save you money and heartache down the line!

[Jeff]

I've been tinkering with a Parrot AR Drone 2, got one for a cheap price.

Not a bad machine, very very easy to fly when there is no wind. However its very tricky to correct if things go wrong. On my 3rd set of propeller blades already.

Video isn't too bad, you wouldn't want to use it on your wedding day or anything but at least you can see stuff.

[hillsjeep]

I've been into RC helicopters for years and lately got into quads. Pics of mine are below. You'll have to try FPV, it adds so much to the fun!

this is my FPV and video quad.



This is what it looks like when we get together for a fly



this is what it looks like under the hood. I upgraded contoller and gps etc to multiwiicopter gear. Its not the cheapest, but by far the most reliable and the company is Australian, see http://www.multiwiicopter.com/



And here's a little bit of very early fpv footage, before the gimbal and go-pro (I was playing around with background music) I'll have to upload some more recent stuff

You Tube

Here's a more recent one from the same location (my favorite obstacle course ) with go-pro and 2 axis gimbal. (the password is my AJOR login name)

https://vimeo.com/80128737

[cpm]

Have a look at hobbyking.com, they have great gear at good prices. I am not into multi rotors yet, but have a number of their planes and they are awesome. The Fr SKY TARANIS is an awesome bit of kit without the price tag.

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