Hi,
I would like to get into building quadrotors/helicopters but I have no idea what to buy. I've been reading the boards but most people are posting about things they have pretty extensive experience in.
I'm not new to electronics or microcontrollers- I've used Arduino and Java to build rovers and such and I'm a programmer by trade.
However I've never flown an R/C helicopter or plane before. I would like to build a quadrotor but I'm not sure which one to buy, or if I should buy a simpler R/C chopper kit first. Maybe I should buy one of those R/C choppers in the toy stores before getting a quadrotor kit?
Money isn't a -huge- concern, but I would like to keep things within reason. I'm mostly concerned about getting a kit that is easy to put together and fly for someone who doesn't know anything about hobby flight. I would prefer a kit over pre-built, but I don't mind spending maybe 100 bucks on an R/C chopper to learn how to fly first, if that's prudent. For kits, I prefer to buy a complete kit with everything I need, rather than buying individual pieces and having to determine compatibility.
I live in a small apartment in NYC so I would prefer mostly compact indoor solutions- R/C planes really aren't an option as I don't have the space for one.
So what would you recommend? Buy a kit and dive in, or buy a toy, learn to fly, then get a kit? Which kit should I get?
Replies
well first disclaimer, I am a distributor! so yes I will tell you that my kits are great!
(I sell all kits from 3DR offering to jDrones ones)
First thing to try is a SIMULATOR with a real Radio (Tx/Rx)... cost only a fraction of a Quad and you will have a lot of fun. Plus your Radio is a nice thing to get comfortable with before trying to fly for real.
in my mind the beginner one is the X1, it has spring suspension for hard landings and cost only $89.
you can of course buy a similar one from China for half of it but the quality is not guaranteed plus we made nice improvements on the X1 compared to the X525 (china one) Do your research for sure but to me it's the perfect beginner one. After the initial crashes and tweaks you will most likely have replaced the motor mounts to better ones or just plainly mounting the motors straight to the arms. The Carbon fiber mounts are inducing a bit of vibration and can break after 20+ flights...
Once comfortable with it, you upgrade the legs to longer ones, put a gopro camera mount and start having a lot of fun and producing nice videos!
Dany
www.canadadrones.com