Not me.

Quads are amazing and easy tonfly compared the the toys of jut a few years ago. Then on board chips, gyros and auto pilot processors (larger quads) make them easy.

The toy grade above fly and have a basic low and high option. Low mutes the inputs from the sticks and is easy to pick up. High mode is for faster flying and greater input control and pitch on all axis.

The CX 20 has an onboard flight controller. Once you get a hold of all the settings, you can take it off and flip a switch and it will must hover. Or you can fly it around for fun.

If you are looking for this size quad I would reccomend the Hobby King Quanum Nova since it will have the open source flight controller guaranteed inside. There are several versions of the CX20 out there and some don't have the open source flight controller and those are limited it what you can do.

Okay, I knew an EMT who played hockey while at A&M.

I'll likely start low budget with X11 or X5C. Thanks again.

I would highly recommend the X5C-1 (make sure you get the -1 model) as it is the upraded model.

Order a couple extra batteries and go to town.

Another good option is the WLtoys Skylark V636. Great flyer.

X5C maiden outdoor voyage....in the wind.

Haha - comeby - got one today myself and same story.

I can't pilot it very well and I would freak about hitting a car and give it throttle so it would climb. Then I'd lose it over a house and freak about it landing in the roof and give it throttle. Then it would flash and fall cause it was so far away. Immediately see why the "return home" feature on expensive ones is so nice.

So basically I spent my 30 minute play session running to different streets in the neighborhood praying it hadn't landed on a car.

I wasn't worried about the cars....I was worried about the pools! Messed around with it a bit. Took me about 20 mins to recover the thing. Had to go knocking on houses so rather than looking like an oversized kid I got my 12 year old to help. Lol!

the video is classic! My first flight a few weeks back was similar. I am now much better at orientation. Fly the thing at night when the wind dies down in the winter. It it really great quad. Wait till you do flips!

I upgraded today for Christmas. I got a 3 D Robotics IRIS+. That thing is amazing. Got it all squared away and went out for a quick flight. Thing just hovers where you want it in loiter mode. you can put the controller down and walk around and under the damn thing if you want (I didn't)

Best is it has a RTL switch. Get screwy in flight or lose orientation, flip the switch and it flies back on its own to the position where it took off!

Let me know when you guys are ready to upgrade to a camera (go pro) platform. I have a slightly used Cheerson CX-20 for sale!

Hockey, what are you asking for your slightly used model?'

I have been flying a Hubsan x4 for about two months. Love that little guy. So much fun to fly and incredibly durable.

email me and I will give you a list of the total package and price.

atmilk @ verizon dot net

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I upgraded today for Christmas. I got a 3 D Robotics IRIS+. That thing is amazing.

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I upgraded today for Christmas. I got a 3 D Robotics IRIS+. That thing is amazing.

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I can attest to that video. Not fluff. It is flat out awesome. Held hover (loiter) in gusts this morning. Flies great in manual(stabilize) mode. Lands itself or returns to point of launch with a flip of a switch.

Ran an autonomous mission around the four corners of the soccer fields. Armed, launched and ran mission all from my Nexus 7. Never touched the transmitter.

Got my hubsan x4 for Christmas. Flew it last night for the first time around 11pm (after we opened gifts). All set and excited to fly it today when I can actually see it and record video.

Take off and hover for about 30 seconds, then ascend to a really high altitude, when all of a sudden a cold front blows through and pushes my quad far away. Instead of being smart and lowering it immediately, I tried to bring it back. Unfortunately it was too far gone. It went into the heavy brush and couldn't be found. After about an hour of searching, we gave up.

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Got my hubsan x4 for Christmas. Flew it last night for the first time around 11pm (after we opened gifts). All set and excited to fly it today when I can actually see it and record video.

Take off and hover for about 30 seconds, then ascend to a really high altitude, when all of a sudden a cold front blows through and pushes my quad far away. Instead of being smart and lowering it immediately, I tried to bring it back. Unfortunately it was too far gone. It went into the heavy brush and couldn't be found. After about an hour of searching, we gave up.

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wheres about? I want to go find a free quadcopter

It's in Victoria, TX. If you could find it, I'd give you a reward. The thick brush it went into was up to my chest, with trees everywhere and went as far as the eye could see...

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My office has a busted Vision+ and I am learning that it is smoke and mirrors because of the lack of gimbal durability and service.

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Can you elaborate on this a little please? Thanks

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It's in Victoria, TX. If you could find it, I'd give you a reward. The thick brush it went into was up to my chest, with trees everywhere and went as far as the eye could see...

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dang, not in my area

you know what would help you find it?



a drone

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My office has a busted Vision+ and I am learning that it is smoke and mirrors because of the lack of gimbal durability and service.

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Can you elaborate on this a little please? Thanks

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We're looking at applying for an FAA license for commercial use. It has some potential for job site uses, and we got it to play around with in our spare time as a part of studying the feasibility for job site use. My boss crashed it his first time out (says it was a flyaway, but I am disinclined to believe him) and the gimbal was toast. After a lot of reading, a lot of people have had a lot of the same problems. The ribbon cable on the gimbal is not well protected and rips pretty easily. There is also a retaining clip on one of the motor shafts that is known to come loose even without crashing. The gimbal is close to $700, and their idea of servicing it is just have you buy another one and replace it. They've recently made the ribbon cable available, but none of the other parts are widely available and gimbal repairs are generally not doable.

It's a great quad and setup, but the gimbal needs a ton of work before I can call it a good value. Personally, I would be more happy if they would abandon it and build in GoPro functionality and use their H3-3D gimbal instead. They at one point had a 30 pin connector for video out on the H3-3D, so I don't see why they couldn't just add in control capability through one. I could probably do it with an arduino board, some time, and minimal modifications if I had the time.

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It's in Victoria, TX. If you could find it, I'd give you a reward. The thick brush it went into was up to my chest, with trees everywhere and went as far as the eye could see...

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dang, not in my area

you know what would help you find it?



a drone

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If I were down that way I would set up the IRIS+ to do a mapping of the area and aim the camera down and we would find your lost quad!

I'm in La Joya, Texas. Thinking of sending it up to take a closer look at the border patrol balloon. May get shot down. Lol!

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wheres about? I want to go find a free quadcopter

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It's in Victoria, TX. If you could find it, I'd give you a reward. The thick brush it went into was up to my chest, with trees everywhere and went as far as the eye could see...

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We'll I'm in Cuero, so.....where about can I go to find a free quadcopter?

But seriously, that sucks. At least it was just a $40 hubsan. This is why I always tell people to start out with something toy-grade, even though no one ever wants to listen. Only fly what you can afford to lose, because it can happen in a blink of an eye, often through no fault of your own..

I bought myself a syma x1 for Christmas after reading this thread. Pretty darned fun. And I almost lost it the first time I tried to fly it outside. Went a little too high and couldn't see which way it was facing. But I managed to bring it back.

Definitely a toy but a fun toy. Bought two extra batteries based on comments here and glad I did.

And damn whoever posted the 3D Robotics IRIS. I want one of those now

i think i am going to build one now...

So I made it through another day without completely destroying it. My issue has been with being able to charge the batteries successfully. I may not be making the right contact during the process.
It does get hard to control when you get up at a pretty good elevation. The wind stream is a little tough and it's sometimes difficult to bring down unless you zero out the lift and let it practically crash land. I've been looking at the range hack but I will likely lose the x5c then. It can be hard to reorient yourself....

Does the x5c-1 have a built in battery or can you buy extras and swap them when low? What happens to it if you get out of radio range?

I have 3 swappable batteries. Best I can tell when you get our of range it kills the throttle.

On the X5C transmitter, are you tapping the top left button to get two beeps? When you initialize the X5C by powering up, it defaults to "slow" mode. Tape the top left button and it will beep twice and go to "fast" mode.

This allows the quad to get increased flight angles and quicker response. It should help with the wind and also make for a much more fun flight.

Then start taping the top right button for flips and rolls!

Also, when you turn on the X5C make sure it is on a flat surface so the gyros can calibrate correctly before flight. So. E people flip the power switch when they are holding it and it really messes with the stabilization.

Hey Guys, I just jumped head first into the drone game and built this from scratch. It's built on a F550 frame from DJI but used Turnigy Motors and ESCs. Brain behind it is the NAZA Lite GPS. So far it's pretty nice and stable. Easy to fly, although I have treed it and broke many props (mainly due to confined spaces). For something this big I recommend a wide open space.

Quick video of flight: Flight Video

Thanks for letting me show off, if I can help, let me know.

Great first build. Nothing like going to the high dive for first jump!

If you are having problems with orientation, take a strong wire (coat hanger) with a bright ping pong ball or tennis ball stabbed through it and attach it to the front to give you a visual reference to the "nose" of the aircraft.

Got a question about the syma's (X1 in particular) and the "initialization" of the remote.

The manual that came with it was not very complete.

I seem to have to get lucky on the remote "sync" to get it to fly correctly initially.

Here is what I do:
1) put battery in and then set it flat on the ground.
2) Turn on the remote.
3) After a few seconds, I push the left-hand stick (throttle) to the top and then all the way back down again. I get a beep when it goes to the top and another beep when I bring it back down.

About half the time after doing this, when I increase the throttle, two of the props will have more power and it falls over immediately.

I usually just repeat the same steps again and it eventually works.

But I'd like to know if there is something I'm doing wrong, or if there is a foolproof method to syncing it.

You are binding the Tx and Rx correctly. Are you gingerly pushing throttle tomlift off or jumping to mid throttle right away?

Try new Tx batteries (worth a shot)

Check and see if anything is caught in the motor gears of the weak motors. Dog hair, carpet lint all could gunk it up. Brushed motors do go bad. Good thing is the motors (both ccw and cw) can be had for $6.

It might be worth taking the back off your Tx and see if the antenna has a good solder joint. Also do the same with the Rx.

Sounds like a bad board. The unit will calibrate as if it's on a flat surface.

Here is my IRIS+ Crashed (pilot error) and fixed already! The quick swap legs are a snap to replace and work as a crumble zone in a crash. Clipped a blade on a light pole and spun her in from about 20 feet up.

Syma X5C is incredible starter drone. Highly recommended for anyone trying to learn.

agfox...

I have parts coming in for a scratch build right now. So far I am going with the TBS Discovery (Clone) with SunnySky motors and HKPilot Mega 2.7 flight controller. I have 30a Afro ESCs but also ordered a Q Brain 4-in-1 ESC that I might try to eliminate wire clutter.

Still on the fence about FPV. Don't want to get too invested in it and have the FAA come down hard with a new ruling.

It is amazing how cheap you can get into this hobby for. Parted out this new build (I already had a charger and LiPo's) will be under $300 for a full fledged GPS enabled 6 mode quadcopter.