I've been flying drones for about a year, and I started out flight a cheap Hubsan X4 quad that I bought off Amazon for about 30 bucks. You fly this one 'line of sight' and it is a great starting point to get used to the controls as it is easy to begin with and then you can progress onto the 'expert mode' which is similar to the 'Acro' or 'Rate' mode which are the stable of FPV mini-quads.
The Hubsan X4
FPV Mini quads are what it's all about in this hobby, and after a few months of infrequent flying with the Hubsan, I bought myself a Falcon 180. This was my first FPV (First Person View) quadcopter. I bought it from a Chinese website called 'Banggood' and it took about a month to arrive! It was what they call "RTF" - that means ready to fly. So it comes with a controller. So after a long month waiting for it to arrive I finally had my first full 'proper' FPV quad copter.
Eachine Falcon 180
With this I bought a set of FPV Goggles and I was off. I could fly FPV. Except that flying 'acro' is difficult. The first time you try to fly you crash after about 2 seconds. Or at least I did. I could see I needed to learn to fly before trying to fly the Falcon otherwise it would quickly get destroyed. So time for the simulator! I bought a controller compatible with the simulators and I started practicing.
I soon reached a level where I could keep the quad in the air properly in the simulator. Here is a video I uploaded to my channel about 6 months ago:
I felt I was ready to give my Falcon it's proper maiden voyage. On that day I flew my first pack without crashing. Sadly it was my first and last pack that day because I didn't land well and the VTX (Video Transmitter) got ripped off. That is one of the most fragile parts of a lot of quads because the antenna is attached to it, and that can easily get caught up when you crash - especially in the branches of trees!
I felt triumphant that the hours I had put in on the sim had worked and I could fly. And when you fly FPV it really feels like you are flying. For me whether it is in real life or in the simulator it is one of the most exhilarating feelings I have ever felt.
I practice on the simulator as often as possible, and this video is the last footage I captured with the Falcon 180. It is recorded with a Runcam 2 action camera which I strapped to the top it:
I have lost the Falcon 180 now, so I am focusing on my other 2 mini quads. I have a QAV-R 5 and an X-Charpu clone. Charpu is an excellent pilot and I will post an article with some links to some of his best stuff. The X-Charpu clone I have built myself. Here it is in the early stages of build:
And after a fairly long process, my finished QAV x220 Charpu clone:
On my SteemIt channel I will post footage from the Simulator and from my real life quad flying. I expect to post more simulator footage to begin with because it is alot easier to get the time in. Flying these things needs a lot of space and nobody around. They are travelling at high speed and could cause serious injury if they hit someone - so for me I fly as often as I can but ensure I am getting constant 'stick time' in by flying very frequently in the sim. Even just a few minutes is always worth it.
Thank you for reading and I'll post up some more FPV related stuff soon!
Those look amazing! I have a couple of sinkholes I'd love to explore with one.
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Sounds very interesting. Here by us there is a guy doing drone fishing. I am amazed by it!
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wow I'd love to see a photo, video of that
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If I had any idea how to edit a video on my phone then I would've shared it. I actually made a video the other day.
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Thank you for sharing. I'm very keen to start droning and saving some money to buy a reasonably good one. Welcome to the Steem family!
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I would suggest checking out of the YouTube channel UAVFutures for a wealth of honest reviews on all sorts of drone kit. The Eachine Wizard is always reckoned to be one of the best budget drones you can buy, but if you are saving for a good one the sky is the limit. And actually the sky is not even the limit because you're gonna be flying :-D I've followed you to see what you go for.... follow me for more drone stuff..... I did a round up of the most popular simulators yesterday: https://steemit.com/steemit/@jamesashton/how-to-get-started-with-fpv-quadcopters-simulator-roundup
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Welcome to Steemit!
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Welcome to Steemit, James, what a fascinating hobby you have! I am following you, and waiting to see your drone videos
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Hello James, great post ! I like drones too, but I am not as good as you are on your videos :) Welcome to the Steemit community. You're going to enjoy it :) I'll follow you. Feel free to follow me if you want. Steem on :)
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Thanks for your enthusiasm ! I have a Hubsan H501S , not a bad drone and one that you can use add on antennas to to improve range. I had mine up to 2 km away , choppy video at that range mind !
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Hey there, I'm really big into flying drones as well, haven't posted anything here yet, but will soon. I have a phantom 4. Loving it.
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Welcome @jamesashton to Steemit. Love your first post.
Upvoted & followed
This is on my bucket list!
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Nice, and welcome! Any recommendations for newbies considering getting into FPV drones on a budget?
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The Eachine Wizard is a really good first FPV drone for those on a budget. You can find countless reviews on YouTube and also loads of FPV footage of the Wizard in action. Look for a Wizard RTF on banggood.com - it's slow delivery (unless you pay for express) but it would be worth the wait.
https://www.banggood.com/Eachine-Wizard-X220-FPV-Racer-Blheli_S-Naze32-6DOF-5_8G-48CH-200MW-700TVL-Camera-w-FlySky-I6-RTF-p-1077100.html?rmmds=search
You then just need some goggles. you can spend as much or as little as you like. I am still using a very cheap pair of Quanum Cyclops 'box goggles'. But I will be shortly upgrading to some high end goggles.
https://hobbyking.com/en_us/quanum-cyclops-fpv-goggles.html
Have fun :-)
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welcome to steemit mate
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I was thinking about getting a drone. For less than $225 what would you recommend?
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It depends. If you are talking about an FPV mini quad - then I would definitely suggest 'The Wizard' which I mentioned on another comment.
https://www.banggood.com/Eachine-Wizard-X220-FPV-Racer-Blheli_S-Naze32-6DOF-5_8G-48CH-200MW-700TVL-Camera-w-FlySky-I6-RTF-p-1077100.html?rmmds=search
Look it up on YouTube for reviews and footage. I don't think you can go wrong with this. But I would suggest to anyone getting into FPV to spend a good few hours in a simulator before taking to the skies - it will save time and money because you will crash.
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Thanks!!
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The new X220S wizard just came out, HUGE improvement over the previous one. I have the original and wish I had the new one now.
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Its great to see other drone enthusiasts on this site aha :)
good luck on Steem man.
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Thanks man :-)
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I also love Drone transmitter and reciever technologies. Please follow for some informitave articles about makeing and programing drones.
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Awesome. Following you :-) likewise follow me for some random drone related stuff and a bunch of non-drone stuff too!
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@jamesashton - Awesome, looks like fun! I'm sure I'm not the only one here who wants to learn more about drones. ☺ Welcome and Steem on!
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Thanks Dozjia. I just posted an article comparing some of the drone simulators - a good first port of call for anyone wanting to learn more or get into this hobby...
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Greetings! Follow me at https://steemit.com/@bitgeek
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followed! Follow me too pls! :-D
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Hi J, it's James Smith, Sam's friend in London. How's it going? You enjoying Steemit?
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Hey James, I'm well thanks and having fun on SteemIt. And yourself? Apols for the delayed reply but I have only just twigged that the 'Replies' tab is something to look at :-D
All the best and hope to see you soon....
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Cool, how you finding it on here? Let me just check your page now...
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I am impressed with the standard of submissions. A high proportion of original content compared to on alot of other sites. Even when stuff is being 'shared' people go the extra mile to present/discuss the content they are sharing.
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Yeah, it is awesome. The only thing is , it's also a business. So you often end up thinking of ways to get whales votes and voting for the bi curation.
Overall, an awesome site. I hope it keeps going!
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Hi there. I have just started a new project called Kwadnation, a place that will reward quad pilots like you with a special designed cryptocurrency(something like Bitcoin) for the content they create. It is the best way for quadcopter pilots to create content and earn crypto. The idea behind Kwadnation started after I saw Mr. Steele's Dive, Dive, Dive YouTube video, back in April. I had zero experience with quadcopters, but I knew that I have to learn to fly like this. The idea is simple. This is a platform where pilots like you that put effort and time in creating awesome videos are rewarded with a special designed cryptocurrency called the KwadCoin. Want to see how it works and our future plans? Check www.kwadnation.com for more details.
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searched for fpv on here and you came up on top :) glad to see an fpv pilot on the community and looking forward to see a lot of new vids as I just followed you, hope you follow back! happy flying!
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