Hi,
We want to purchase a Quad that is suitable for the following but we have a problem and need a serious and informative answer..
We have a complexed project in Auckland New Zealand and require the ability to take 360 degree high quality panoramic images and video..
The objective is simple and similar to the example provided here..
http://www.360luchtfoto.nl/Loonwerkveld/loon.html
The problem is as we discovered last week that the Go Pro Black Plus uses 2.6 Wi Fi for video streaming back to an android and also the actual camera controllers are also Wi Fi 2.6gig which choke out the quad controls..
We need as a priority to be able to see live what we are taking the images of as they need to overlap accurately for good matching and processing..
So we foolishly and naively uniformed purchased a BLADE 350 QX and it “nearly fell out of the sky on the first flight” on the very first outing with the Go Pro Black PLUS on WiFi and the Blade 350qx flight controller competing for bandwidth.
We were very sad to return this Blade 350 as with Stable as it is amazing but not suitable for our application.. See below some of the Blade chatter regarding to not disclosing the Wi Fi conflict when stating it is go Pro Compatible.. How stupid are Horizion to release this like this…
So what can you offer that will allow for Stable / Smart / Agility and GPS Altimeter control with rock solid images and video live streaming back, needs to have independent camera controls and something like safe to home return plus follow me and way point setting and stability with a 2 axis gimbal…
Mike Packer
Replies
That's an impressive panorama. You might consider the possibility of taking the necessary still shots without any direct camera intervention or connection (other than a pitch setting control which is easy to set up). Maybe put the quad in a stationary loiter and slowly rotate it manually while the GP Black is shooting several pics per second and then sort the results out on the ground to get the ones that are within whatever overlap limits the stitching software requires. It might be a bit tedious going through hundreds of shots but if it solves the problem it's worth it, and you avoid all that complication on the aircraft and the need for a second person on the ground, etc. etc. Most people are concerned with getting good video, which is tough to do without direct camera control, but stills are another matter. I've been flying GoPros since the first one came out and discovered long ago that simply having the camera take as many stills per second as it is capable of almost always yields the desired shots somewhere among the hundreds per flight.
You're out of luck on live camera control with the GoPro out of the box. http://www.cam-do.com/ have a few options, but nothing really works well for the GoPro.
You can do a live feed via 5.8G analog video, but you'll have to start either timelapse photo or video recording before you take off.
Failing that, it's moving up to one of the non-GoPro digital cameras that support remote control and get the setup to convert PWN to IR.
The BoscamHD19 is the only camera I know of (and I'd love to hear of others) that's GoPro sized, decent res, and easily RC controllable, but it's not GoPro quality.
Oh, sorry.
There was nothing wrong with the Quad or the GoPro, you should have done some research and you would of found that you can't fly 2.4 WIFI with a 2.4 Transmitter. Please correct your posting as it is wrong.
Better?
You have to be smart when flying devices like these. Everyone know that you can't use a 2.4g TX with a 2.4g WIFI on the same quad. If you don't know this then you have no business flying and make such a report as you did. There was nothing wrong with either of the products in your review, the problem was the user.
Just use equipment working in different bands. You can instead use a 72Mhz or 433 MHz control link leaving the video alone, or move video from 2.4 to 5.8Ghz. Rather than using the wifi on the gopro you can also use the analog video out (640x480) and send the video through a 5.8G analog transmitter. Usually this is enough to frame shots. You can't make out too much detail, but that's usually not required. The wifi gopro range is probably not as good as getting the analog out from it with an analog transmitter, which should give you a much more stable and reliable image at the cost of resolution.