I am about to buy an Iris, please advise

Hello

I have spent a few months/weeks researching what kind of quad copter I would like to own and fly. I enjoy photography, fell walking and climbing and I want to take my photography skills to a new level, excuse the pun, and film my hobbies from the air.

I have thought about building a quad but with my limited experience, this would prove false economy, and most likely end in an epic failure.

And, I have come to the conclusion that I would be best off with, fully assembled quad. I have chosen to purchase an Iris for this reason.

However I have a few questions about the order form, which I would appreciate help with so that I don't buy the wrong things and spoil my experience.

Could somebody please explain what the Wireless Data Link is and does?

I live in the UK so I'm assuming that I will need the 433Mhz version.

I would very much appreciate advice on what I would need to make my Iris a FPV quad, with or without using a GoPro camera?

Would I be able to use a Tablet to view live video from my little quad?

Would I be able to use a Tablet to control my little quad?

I realise and understand that I would need to gain an Amateur Radio license, and I will be swatting up for this as well in preparation of successfully learning to fly my quad.

I also realise that, to an experienced person these sound like dumb questions, but we all had to start somewhere and I am trying my best to learn and research the subject as best I can. This includes learning to fly a small Hubsan H107C quad as well as using an Android simulator app to improve my flight handling skills.

Thanks

If I can offer one piece of advice that will probably save you a lot of pain and heartache, and that is to buy a cheap toy quadcopter that is big enough to fly outdoors, with no frills, no fpv or gps, just a plain basic cheap quadcopter. Then fly it and fly it and fly it.. until the battery expires or the motors die or it just won't fly anymore. While doing this, train yourself to hover in an imaginary box say 1m by 1m, pointing away from you, then once mastered, try the same but with the quad facing towards you, it's called flying in the box, nose in and nose out. Also practise maneuvering and landing on small surfaces, and try flying in circles and then figure eights, and police yourself to have it exactly where you want it at all times, but just keep practising. It is very hard initially, but totally worth it, and it is still enjoyable. The thing is, a lot of people only learn to fly in assisted modes with GPS, compass and Baro autopilot's actually doing the real piloting, they are just along for the ride and totally at the mercy of a frail system. In the likely event of GPS malfunction (disturbances are a regular feature of the free unencrypted system) or other anomalies like signal multipathing, interference, a sunspot flare, a sudden barometric shift, a high tension powerline, especially long distance DC transmission lines or even just a software glitch, you can say goodbye to your investment at that point, as many people do, due to not being able to grab control instantly and recover a situation visually, or even in fpv. It's like being on a real plane, and thinking you are flying, by simply telling the pilot where to go, If he karks it, your going to go with him to 'buy the farm' unless you have trained yourself how to actually fly. It certainly pays dividends in the long run, and for a bit of time and a hundred bucks, you will not regret it. I also treat GPS with about as much trust as I would a Vegas Casino manager, only used when absolutely necessary, and not for primary flight control, only as a navigation aid, but that's just me.

Replies

Steve Kurywchak June 20, 2016 at 4:40am

Agreed.
Alasdair June 18, 2016 at 4:41am

If I can offer one piece of advice that will probably save you a lot of pain and heartache, and that is to buy a cheap toy quadcopter that is big enough to fly outdoors, with no frills, no fpv or gps, just a plain basic cheap quadcopter. Then fly it and fly it and fly it.. until the battery expires or the motors die or it just won't fly anymore. While doing this, train yourself to hover in an imaginary box say 1m by 1m, pointing away from you, then once mastered, try the same but with the quad facing towards you, it's called flying in the box, nose in and nose out. Also practise maneuvering and landing on small surfaces, and try flying in circles and then figure eights, and police yourself to have it exactly where you want it at all times, but just keep practising. It is very hard initially, but totally worth it, and it is still enjoyable. The thing is, a lot of people only learn to fly in assisted modes with GPS, compass and Baro autopilot's actually doing the real piloting, they are just along for the ride and totally at the mercy of a frail system. In the likely event of GPS malfunction (disturbances are a regular feature of the free unencrypted system) or other anomalies like signal multipathing, interference, a sunspot flare, a sudden barometric shift, a high tension powerline, especially long distance DC transmission lines or even just a software glitch, you can say goodbye to your investment at that point, as many people do, due to not being able to grab control instantly and recover a situation visually, or even in fpv. It's like being on a real plane, and thinking you are flying, by simply telling the pilot where to go, If he karks it, your going to go with him to 'buy the farm' unless you have trained yourself how to actually fly. It certainly pays dividends in the long run, and for a bit of time and a hundred bucks, you will not regret it. I also treat GPS with about as much trust as I would a Vegas Casino manager, only used when absolutely necessary, and not for primary flight control, only as a navigation aid, but that's just me.
- Steve Kurywchak > Alasdair June 19, 2016 at 9:04am
  
  The OP started on this topic over 2 years ago.
Amber Norell June 15, 2016 at 3:51pm

Honestly go with a high end, ready made drone for photography then you have support to back you up. No to mention it is probably superior to most things you could build for the same price. http://usatoyz.com/collections/drones/products/phantom-4
Mr Lemming April 26, 2014 at 4:16pm

Just saw this Topic, should I be worried and hold off?

http://diydrones.com/group/iris/forum/topics/3dr-you-need-to-recall...

This reply was deleted.

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I am about to buy an Iris, please advise

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