Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Chris Huitema on May 2, 2012 at 5:02am

gotta go the whole hog mate and get the Sonar, Optical flow, xbee's - once the rings on her finger and the baby is out you wont have a cent left

make sure you dont skimp on the extra 15 bucks for the GPS.. also 880 kv's and the 12" props.. might as well get another set of motors and ESC's and make it and octoquad! i have 4 more motors and ESC's on order, cant wait to get home and play with it all

Havent played with the DX6, i use a eurgle 9x that i got from ebay for 70 bucks and im getting the smartieparts backlight and programming thingy for it.

 

 

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Mike Mac on May 2, 2012 at 5:35am

Sonar – LOL I have not heard of anyone that has been able to make that work outdoors.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by John Dell on May 2, 2012 at 9:22am

I have sonar working very well. 

I agree with the sentiment to Chris' approach.  By it now before she spends it.  I would get the sonar and I have been seriously considering an xbee but you will have your hands full technically with the capabilities of APM2, GPS, Sonor ect.. before getting bored.

If you LiPos are 2000Mah or bigger you are all set with your radio.  Smaller will work but flight times will be less than 5 min.  I dont use a DX6 but there are others that do... not sure of any technical challenges.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Chris on May 2, 2012 at 1:36pm

Oh, and my LiPos are all generally 3s 2200Mah. And my charger only charges up to 3s. But there is a local guy that gets pretty cheap LiPo/Chargers should I need better. The more I read though, the more it sounds like I'll need to be running 4s?

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by John Dell on May 3, 2012 at 12:07pm

You will be just fine with 3S 2200Mah.  You might want to consider flying with 2 connected together to extend your flight time.  I have done exactly that with 1800Mah

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Chris on May 2, 2012 at 1:34pm

Oh, I'll be getting the GPS, that's for sure. Larger motors and props I didn't really think about, but I guess I should have a look as I do intend to eventually acquire the Xbees and it'll save from having to upgrade them later.

I really can't afford the Octo setup costs though.. But if it will work OK with my DX6 I can justify spending more on the motors/props/etc.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Chris on May 2, 2012 at 6:13pm

Yeah, I've been into RC since I was quite young. I never seem to be able to get away from it.

I'm all ready to put my credit card number in and buy this stuff, but it's missing a 'Power Distribution Board' at the moment so I'm being held back.

• ▶ Reply

ModeratorPermalink Reply by Adam AKAV8R on May 2, 2012 at 6:33pm

The stock 3DR setup is awesome and like a previous member stated the only other items you'll most likely want are the XBee or new 3DR radios.  I'm flying with the 850 motors, 10" props and 2200 battery and I carry a GoPro, video Tx and extra battery and I get 7-10 minute flights.  Sonar is another option but not a must to get going.  Then you have a complete UAS/UAV set-up that you can contol from a laptop.  Check out some of my recent post for info and videos on the 3DR.

 

 

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Chris on May 3, 2012 at 2:37am

I think I'll get the 3DR kit aswell, it looks much more compact than the xbee and so far I'm reading good things about it!

Still pondering about the sonar though.. And yeah, I think I'll just stick with the 850 motors also.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Chris on May 3, 2012 at 1:59pm

Well, I've done it. I woke up this morning and everything looked like it was in stock, or atleast I could add them to my cart (except the 3DR radio but I can get that later) and the NZ dollar looked pretty good against the US.

So I have the APM2 and 3DR-B Frame and Motors kit on the way.. Wish me luck! I'm going to go and sit out front and wait for the FedEx guy.

• ▶ Reply