duane massey Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 Hi This is my first on a RC forum. So I'll be reading through a lot of pages for research! I have just bought a gopro, for a multitude of activities, and one of these will eventually be for aerial filming/photography. This isn't going to be a rush job, as I always Like to look into things for easily a month or two before purchasing. I've always had simple little RC cars, and more recently a helicopter. I paid a visit to the local hobby shop, and he's a good bloke, never tries to sell you the most expensive thing in his shop. Explained I looked at the DJI Phantom, and he said he has an equivalent there for about £260 which is the Quattro X (paying for what you get, rather than a name). So I went home, looked at some footage on YouTube, and the only thing that I don't like from the videos, is you can see the landing gear in its field of view, where as the phantom, you can only see a fraction of the rotors. Is there anything else on the market which has a good range, stable, and also, a gimbal to keep the camera stable which doesn't cost about £200 which I've seen for the phantom? I would say my budget is about £400. And I've read on UK airspace laws and filming regs already, so I'm getting my head around that. Many Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ken anderson. Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 hello Duane........ your probably spoilt for choice...the problem with the landing gear in view is easily over come simply by re-position of the camera......you mention £400.00...why not build your own.....to a spec that will do what you want.......there are a few threads about the various models etc.......don't spend your dosh until you are 99% certain ...as there are a lot of 'toy' quads around today that will be obsolete in the space of a couple of month's... type quadcopter in the forum search box and -there are a few threads...welcome to the RCME site also.... ken Anderson...ne...1 obsolete dept. Edited By ken anderson. on 31/03/2015 15:49:20 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duane massey Posted March 31, 2015 Author Share Posted March 31, 2015 HiI think for my first quadcopter, I would prefer to buy a partially assembled one. I repair phones as a sideline, so I won't have a massive amount of time to research the components and how they all work/go together. It may not be, but they look like it needs to be very accurate in placement of the rotors being symmetrical. I thought the camera placements on these were all in a fixed position. I've never looked at one close up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Green Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 Hi Duane Take a look over here, I've been asking some similar questions. The TBS has wider arms so avoid the camera. Andy Edited By Andy Green on 31/03/2015 17:41:31 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Hopkin Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 If you havent read it already be sure to read the words from the BMFA (and CAA) about filming with a drone to avoid annoying Mr Plod and co **LINK** Edited By Dave Hopkin on 31/03/2015 17:59:21 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 Similar advice to what I gave Andy - DJI F450 or 550 if the budget runs to it. Hobbyking do an excellent gimbal which is basically a Zemuse clone - except the Zemuse costs £250 while the HobbyKing version costs £89! To give you an idea of what you can get from that set up have a look at the video. The video is made from a F550 using a GoPro with a HobbyKing gimbal. Don't worry about the arms slightly in view - its just because the gimbal is set to full "up" - if it was tilted down marginally you wouldn't see them - or the U/C because the gimbal is forward mounted ahead of the legs. In case you wonder what the hell is going on in this video - I'm flying the big octocopter - a Vulcan Black Widow. My colleague Fred is flying the F550 doing the air to air filming, and the two guys on the ground filming are from the BBC Natural History Unit - making a "how do they do that" piece for a wild life documentary. (No we didn;t get to do the wildlife filming we're their "stunt doubles"!). The BBC were filming the Black Widow - as was Fred! BEB Edited By Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator on 31/03/2015 21:17:14 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duane massey Posted March 31, 2015 Author Share Posted March 31, 2015 That type of view with the stands is fine, what I seen on the Quattro, you could see the whole height of the landing gear!At least with that set up, as you say, just tilt down slightly. I like the sound of that gimbal! Much more appealing than ?250These gimbals that are remote controlled, do you have to modify anything to the copter? Many thanks for the advice here guys! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 Hi Duane, no modification as such. Obviously you have to mount them - they usually come with a mounting kit - usually some Carbon fibre plate (or imitation CF!), brackets and screws. If you are going to mess round with quads its worth having some bits of carbon fibre plate etc. "in hand", G10 grp board is also handy to for knocking together mounting plates etc. Gimbals come in slightly different types. Some have two sets of connections; one set goes to the flight controller via an control box, the second set of connections goes to your Rx with channels for pan and tilt - usually operated by side sliders if your Tx has them. Other types of gimbal just have the Rx coonections. Once you have installed your gimbal check that it self levels. If you are new to flying I wouldn't fit the gimbal straight way - they don't like being shook around much! BEB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john stones 1 - Moderator Posted March 31, 2015 Share Posted March 31, 2015 Looks like a spider but sounds like a bluebottle, BBC eh BEB...you get a steak for your dinner John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Read 2 Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 Have a look on the classifieds section - there is/was a f450 there which would be right up your street. Has extended landing legs too, essential for a gimbal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Read 2 Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 There are also a few listed on 'evilbay'. Just checked and there is a nice Blade 350 QX3 for not a lot of money and looks to be in good nick. Needs a gimbal fitted if you want to use it for filming, however some people have had success in using a fixed camera with software to stabilise the image, similar to the Parrot Bebop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 Posted by john stones 1 on 31/03/2015 23:21:35: Looks like a spider but sounds like a bluebottle, BBC eh BEB...you get a steak for your dinner John Ah no John - we don't rate a steak - a ham buttie was as far as we got. Then again from what I understand that's what Clarkson got as well! Only we didn't rant at anyone about it - we just ate the ham buttie and muttered about them! BEB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duane massey Posted April 1, 2015 Author Share Posted April 1, 2015 Im really torn between the phantom 1 or the 350 QX3 now!!I did see a video review of a 350qx, the only thing that bothered me was he had to continually adjust the throttle as it would keep dropping down...and quickly, whereas the phantom just hovered. Is this the case with the QX3? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Skilbeck Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 There's a video overview here looks like the QX3 had altitude hold mode built in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biggles' Elder Brother - Moderator Posted April 2, 2015 Share Posted April 2, 2015 Duane, it would depend on what mode the pilot was flying in. In GPS lock mode a drone will hold position and altititude - hands off. In ATTI mode it is self leveling and most will hold altitude as well but not position - so they will drift with the wind for example. But if the pilot was in manual mode then it is exactly the same as flying a helicopter - he has a tail gyro giving him a heading stability but other than that nowt! So yes you do have to be constantly adjusting the throttle as you move - or even in any gust of wind. And " pretty nifty as well! In short you have to fly it 100% of the time. So - what you saw is probably less a feature of the quad and more a feature of the mode the pilot was choosing to fly in. BEB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duane massey Posted April 2, 2015 Author Share Posted April 2, 2015 Ok, the impression he gave wasn't like that at all, as he said "with the phantom it will stay there" As long as it stays at the same height in lock mode, I'll be happy Also been looking at self build kits for later in the year, didn't realise when it was mentioned, you can buy the frames, I thought you had to build them too! Haha. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Read 2 Posted April 2, 2015 Share Posted April 2, 2015 Unless you have a particular reason for hovering in one place for extended periods of time it does make for a rather boring video, better to move to different view points. I have a 350qx v2 and have found that maintaining height is not an issue for me for the filming periods I need. If you want it locked in then the Phantom does a better job, but I would expect the 350qx v3 to be just as good as the Phantom in this respect. The v3 is everything the v1 should have been. There are lots of aticles on the www concerning building a quad. Its not as difficult as you might think. The tricky bit is setting up the flight controller, but some are a lot simpler than others. It all depends on how much fiddling about you want to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duane massey Posted April 7, 2015 Author Share Posted April 7, 2015 Hopefully will get my hands on the v3.As it turns out, a friends dad got one, used it once. Prefered the phantom, so he'll sell for ?250. Does it work like I'm imagining? Will the altitude lock in so I can still carry on going sideways as if im going down the side of a river? But maintaining heightt? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Read 2 Posted April 10, 2015 Share Posted April 10, 2015 I could be wrong here, but I believe the Blade relies on GPS lock to maintain height, so it will fix its height relative to where it took off. This means it will not follow the contours of a hill, but fly straight and level. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Read Posted April 10, 2015 Share Posted April 10, 2015 My bad. It does have a pressure sensor, hidden away on the GPS board. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duane massey Posted April 15, 2015 Author Share Posted April 15, 2015 Well. I now have the blade, and am very pleased.Got it for ?250 used. Thanks for the advise, I do have other questions, but will make another thread for it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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