Drones. Who's got what?

Looking for a new place to waste money now that I've sold my last motorcycle. Talk to me about drones.

 

Buddy just sent me this link this afternoon
I impulse bought it. Not sure what I'll do with it yet
http://www.ebay.com/itm/DJI-Phantom-3-Standard-with-2-7K-Video-DJI-Refurbished-Unit-/262694007073

 

By "last," you mean you will not sell another one, or you have nothing left to sell?

 

I have a phantom 3. I don't really do anything with it other than use it like a remote helicopter that is easier to fly. Camera is nice. I thought I lost it once, but the gps feature saved me and it came back. Neat toy, not sure I would have paid the money, but mine was a gift.

 

I just got a Beretta A300.

 

I have three... one QX95 without camera, one QX95 (Eachine) with FPV camera system. These are indoor flyers, and I occasionally fly them around at my office in an empty cube farm.

My other one is an LHI 180 H-frame racer Luminier knockoff, with 1806 DYS black editions, triblade 4045, makerfire (littlebee) 20A ESCs, 1000TVL CMOS, a 600mW vtx since I don't race or fly near anyone. That one has a SP3EVO mated to a PDB (pinmount); 3S 2200mAh. Very fast, very responsive. I still suck at flying it - FPV latency is about 110ms, which can get you into trouble at speed - about 140 inches ahead of where the goggles say you are.

 

You want racing or picture taking or cruising or what?

I flyy qx95 inside and out, and I have a falcon 210 pro and a rxd250 for larger areas.

I got some vids on my YouTube channel, even though I'm not as good as a lot of people it's still fun and fairly inexpensive.

The new micro brushless are pretty nuts. My bro got an Aurora 90 for review and it's stupid fast and powerful.

 

I have the DJI Mavic Pro, and it is pretty solid

 

Is that like a Remington 12 gauge?

 

Bob, if you enjoy the idea of building then flying, you might wanna see if you have any silent flight/thermal duration flight clubs in your area.

I used to fly r/c sailplanes 20+ yrs ago.....I was like the youngest guy there at the time...lol.....looking forward to getting back into it once I'm relocated. The thing I found enjoyable besides the build was heading out to the field for the flight time. Unlike powered flight, you're limited to a specific time frame, whether it's electric or gas, and that noise can get annoying (to me). Since you're inland, you'd be looking at thermal duration type flights, and believe it or not, half the excitement is testing your thermaling knowledge and know how to locate them, so it's different every time you head out....never the same which is what kept me going back. If it's a decent sized club, I'd bet they even have thermal duration events, which are a blast! Highly recommend if you're looking for something fun to tie yourself up doing.

 

Yeap but cheaper when I went to pick something out.

 

What made ya go for that particular model Dave???

 

Basic no frills, long barrel, cheap and I needed something for the now. I basically stole it. I was looking for a remington 1100.

 

I have the Rise Vusion 250 that came with FPV goggles and was ready to fly. The thing is fast and fun. I can't really fly FPV yet though, but it is pretty fun learning to fly it so far. For indoors, I have a Hubsan H107 that also has an FPV camera and was only $100. It helped teach me the mechanics of flying a multi directional drone. It works with the Rise Vusion goggles too so that was a cool compatibility. In general, I would recommend one that has really good prop guards. One more would be the smaller Rise drone, the House racer that is $160 all in ready to fly. Buy some spare batteries and go to town.
http://www.explore-rise.com/drones/rise0207/

 

I have the Phantom 3 Pro, good value now, more so than the Phantom 4. The Mavic is nice too, might get one once the next version is released. They are very easy to operate doing the basics, and can be more of a challenge once you get better at good video filming.

If you want fast, FPV, look at something else. You can build about anything you want if you want to invest the time in researching what is available. Like anything with technology, it changes rather quickly.

 

I started with the Syma X5. Lost 3 of those. Moved up to the Syma X8 and lost 2. Moved up to the Phantom 3 Standard, then the Advanced, and finally the Pro. Didn't lose any of those. They come back automatically. Here lately I've been flying the Parrot Bebop 1. Amazing bang for the buck. Small, light, very capable. I just finished a flight this evening - 18 minutes, 6.5 km, and 2.1 km out. Of course that's with an aftermarket battery and a cheap wifi extender. Amazon has refurbished Bebops for $179.

 

Look up star wars drones. You can fight each other with them laser tag style. It looks awesome.

 

Mavic. I've built and bought too many to remember. The mavic is better than anything I could have imagined a year ago.

You won't be disappointed.

 

My experience exactly

 

I have the DJI Mavic Pro as well. I wanted it because it folds down to nothing, and I can carry it in my backpack pretty much anywhere. With two batteries, I can get 50 minutes of flight. The 4k camera is awesome on it, has a long range, and is pretty easy to fly. I use mine at the lake, on vacation, and to look at hunting farms.