Reply With QuoteHello Adam,
I bought my mate this one for his 50th an it is brilliant.
It has a built in video camera and a drone view on the remote and all for £59.99 (reduced from £124.99).
https://www.sussex-model-centre.co.uk/azsq3250
Regards
Steve
Afternoon folks.
To pass the boredom away on these long, cold Winter nights, I fancy buying a mini helicopter/drone, just for fun & see if I can land it from one speaker to another without it vanishing behind the telly. A demonstrator has a smart one in Harrods last week, think it was around £50.
Any recommendations? It's just for messing around with, so no £1500 options, just a good, cheap one.
Thanks
Adam
Hello Adam,
I bought my mate this one for his 50th an it is brilliant.
It has a built in video camera and a drone view on the remote and all for £59.99 (reduced from £124.99).
https://www.sussex-model-centre.co.uk/azsq3250
Regards
Steve
Syma S107G....there is nothing what comes close for the price. All spares available for next to nothing
(I've also got a £1300 DJI Phantom, so I know what I'm talking about...)
I'm a big fan of the 'Blade' series by Horizon Hobby. Have a look at the blade inductrix.... Great fun indoors.
Another vote for the Inductrix. He'll get far more use indoors during the winter, and it won't take chunks out of the things it will inevitably crash into.Originally Posted by JohnnyE
I have the inductrix.... And a 200qx and a 350qx with GPS, fpv etc. Bargain territory on eBay. My first 350 was just £100
EDIT: Not bad for a £100 drone with a £29.99 action cam off Amazon
Last edited by JohnnyE; 23rd November 2017 at 16:27.
The same question as the OP has been on the tip of my tongue/keyboard for a while. These things are really taking off (b'dum tshh) and I am missing out. A little indoor jobbie is just what I need to satisfy the urge and of course annoy the mrs!
Couple of pics for reference and amusement!
Left case is the awesome Blade 200QX. There's actually a pair of these for £59.99 new on eBay right now (Minus radio transmitter).
Right case - my Spektrum DX6 which was just £100 new off eBay and binds to up to 100 models! All stored on board and backed up to SD card.
On the floor: The big Blade 350QX3 with GPS. Bought used and as new for £100 boxed with spares!
On the floor.. to the left... "Honey I shrunk the drone"! Great fun for the living room - Hubsan Nano. About £25 all in!
A close up of that Blade Inductrix. The thing is.. you can buy cheap Chinese stuff all day long. Many will advise you to start with a Hubsan X4. I did. They are a great trainer for about £30 all in. However... the flight of a Blade quad is SUPER smooth in comparison. They have "SAFE" modes... you learn in "stabliy mode" and as you grow in confidence... up to "agility mode" .. then full on manual.
Conclusion: Get a "RTF" (ready to fly = comes with the transmitter) Blade Inductrix or a wee Hubsan X4. You cant go wrong and its a fun, cheap way to get started.
Last edited by JohnnyE; 23rd November 2017 at 16:50.
I don’t want to crash this thread but my 8 year old wants a drone for Christmas and I was thinking £100 or so for this. Which of the above would be best for a youngster?
This: https://www.maplin.co.uk/p/blade-ind...nf-drone-a22ub
The built in guards (ducted fans actually) mean you can bounce it off the walls without fear. Believe me... a small drone to the face will cut.
Also, get onto eBay and buy at least 3 more spare batteries for about a tenner all in. They only last 3 mins each.
EDIT: These guys are great to deal with - fast delivery.. loads of spares etc: https://wheelspinmodels.co.uk/i/252306/ Just over £53 for the RTF version with controller.
Last edited by JohnnyE; 23rd November 2017 at 18:11.
Awesome, thanks a lot for this. I looked on Amazon yesterday and was quickly out of my depth!
Any idea how high it was when you took that shot?
Yes. Higher than it perhaps should have been.
I have a geo fence set via the laptop and know to the metre where it was.
If you don't work in aviation... I might tell!
So, how many metres?
500m... Just for a moment.. Honest.
^^^ I reckon that was at about 228 - 255 meters.
Here is the same shot at 300m the previous day. You can just see Lough Neagh on the horizon. The geo fence max is 1km... but I won't be doing that. 500m is lairy enough - but thankfully the quad returns to home if you panic and throw the switch!
Last edited by JohnnyE; 23rd November 2017 at 22:07.
So, somewhere in the region of 1000 - 1600ft?
Please tell me what part of the UK that you are in.
So that I can avoid it. I regularly fly around at those sorts of altitudes.
Not something i'll be repeating - although I do accept, perhaps not something that should be attempted in the first place.
Well thanks to this thread I just bought my first Christmas present for my son. This one reduced from £182 to £136:
https://www.horizonhobby.co.uk/p/hor...500GM1&p=43873
You'll have fun with that! sorry... meant to say.. your SON will have fun with that!!
Not quite sure where the name comes from - but that one is nicknamed the "tiny whoop"!
https://youtu.be/iWb6EHkkqqs?t=4m8s
I'll second that! Not that tootling along at 100ft is going to really help me avoid the bloody things!
Ha ha, I might let him have a go on Boxing Day!
I do hope that wasn't at the Aldergrove end of Lough Neagh.
In the Sotadic Zone, apparently.
Definitely not! The furthest side from it.I do hope that wasn't at the Aldergrove end of Lough Neagh
In my defense... After excitedly taking that picture on day 2 of ownership, I did my research and discovered the rules from the aviation authority.
In saying that, any drone under 7kg, like mine, has no formal height restriction where I live. The only guideline is that you maintain line of sight.
Myself, I've capped it at 150m now and only fly it over the open countryside behind my house.
The wife bought me this for xmas
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Quadcopter-...=folding+drone
but then gave it to me early.
Had a bit of a play indoors and it's pretty cool but the batteries last about 5 minutes so need to get some more (5 and a charger go for £20 on amazon)
Also have a Syma S107G helicopter but find it's almost unflyable indoors as the rotor backwash knocks it all over the place in smaller rooms. The drone is far more stable.
Red version of that is in the Black Friday sale on Amaxon today for £35.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Foldable-EA...keywords=drone
Ships from China... but cheap none the less. How does the FPV picture perform? Clear anough? Thinking of grabbing one as an extra for Christmas for my son.
EDIT: found this.. for £35... thats a cracking stocking filler!
Last edited by JohnnyE; 24th November 2017 at 13:09.
You need to improve your googling skills. Northern Ireland is covered by the CAA. The limit is 400ft:
http://dronesafe.uk/drone-code/
http://dronesafe.uk/wp-content/uploa.../Dronecode.pdf
Thanks for the URLs. I was aware that the CAA covers NI and had previoulsy read this page which states:
That 4th point is badly worded IMO in light of the PDF you linked to above which clearly states a 400ft rule irrespective of weight. Surely that should be 2 separare points above?In simple terms, these regulations state that:
- you are responsible for flying your drone in a safe manner
- you must keep the drone in your direct sight at all times while it is flying, so that you can ensure that it does not collide with anything, especially other aircraft
- you must not endanger anyone, or any thing with your drone, including any articles that you drop from it
- if your drone weighs more than 7kg, additional rules apply if you fly in certain types of airspace and you must not fly above 400ft above the surface
- If your drone is fitted with a camera, there are also a number of additional limitations surrounding where you can fly it, and how close you can fly it to other uninvolved people or objects. In order to be able to fly within these areas, or closer than the minimum distances that are in the regulations, you must obtain prior Permission from the CAA to do so.
1. you must not fly above 400ft above the surface
2. if your drone weighs more than 7kg, additional rules apply if you fly in certain types of airspace
As I say, its geo-capped now (although I'll drop that from 150m to 120m after reading the PDF above!!).
Thanks.
EDIT: Thanks to your URL - I've installed "Drone Assist" on Android. Shows areas of risk and actually allows you to report that you are flying, so that others are aware. Very useful resource.
Last edited by JohnnyE; 24th November 2017 at 16:16.
The return to home feature, is this to where it took off or to the same position relative to the controller, ie if you were moving?Here is the same shot at 300m the previous day. You can just see Lough Neagh on the horizon. The geo fence max is 1km... but I won't be doing that. 500m is lairy enough - but thankfully the quad returns to home if you panic and throw the switch!
Return to home is as you thought, to where it took off from. It happens when you request it by toggle switch or if the drone loses contact with your transmitter.
I've tested it out manually and it makes a very gentle landing, usually within 1m of the take off point.
Very topical:
UK drone users to sit safety tests under new law
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-42126150
FPV uses Wi-fi to a smartphone app. It’s pretty clear at 720p iirc.
For that price definitely worth it.
http://forum.tz-uk.com/showthread.ph...ess-Than-%A312
I bought a second one plus a few spare batteries so two can play at the same time, absolutely brilliant for indoor flying and super cheap as well. Both have handled being smashed into walls and ceilings without complaint.
Thank you, just ordered 2 of the furibee f36, 1 of which will end up in my sons stocking for Christmas :)
Well mine's just turned up, I opted for the Inductrix & ordered 2 spare batteries. Thing is, 's no bloody manual to tell you what all the buttons do! A trip to Google, methinks.
Youtube will have it. which one did you get?... the ordinary one or the fpv version?
I got on well with an E-flite Blade MCX. Very stable. Taught me enough indoors to step up to a larger proper helicopter outside.
It was a couple of years a go now though and I imagine that this area of technology is progressing at on hell of a rate.
Seems Blade have added their SAFE technology to some of their helis now. They have stability mode with self leveling and you can hit a panic button during flight where the heli self rights and levels out! You can then switch up to a more aggressive mode and finally, full collective pitch manual.
I've a blade 120s in the post!.... Hope to learn on that, crash it a lot..... Then perhaps try a collective pitch heli.
Not having much luck with mine. Ordered it from Horizon Hobby in Germany. DPD claim to have delivered it on Monday at 6pm this week. DPD claim someone signed for it on their tracking. We were home and there was no delivery to us or any of our neighbours. So now I’m stuck while DPD “investigate” and the remaining days to Christmas are ticking down. Very frustrating.
I just purchased the 'bind n fly' blade model. Then paired it with a half decent transmitter. Spektrum DX7s I think.
Advantage with this is that, firstly, you can use it with all of your models as you progress. Also flight simulators if you're so inclined.
Secondly, you can adjust all of the control rates very simply with graphs on the screen which allow you to vary the 'aggresiveness' of the response. As a side benefit, hittting buttons and adjusting expo graphs really satisfies the inner geek I find.
Posting Permissions
