This shot  was taken about half an hour before a storm moved in, using my inexpensive aerial stitched photo technique I wrote about HERE.

This is a video taken during a storm (not the same one though).

I put my cheap standard def camera on, because I still baby my $40 keychain cam a bit, and the 20mph winds made me nervous. The quad on the other hand is a tank. I have flown it full speed into a tree without a scratch.

So, now you know why I call myself HeliStorm! 

Also, I know some people have been enjoying my videos, and pictures, done on the cheap. I am thinking of starting a site for low cost drone tips, tricks, etc. 

Thanks for all the views of my blog posts, my videos, and my pictures! This is a great community, of which I am proud to be a part.

Its in the way that you use it. I was able to make these aerial shots at my parents farm using a $60 glorified toy quad, and a keychain camera. The source for this was actually a panning video stitched into a single shot by Microsoft ICE (image composite editor). Not bad for a less than a hundred dollar setup, and free software, I think.

Ok, it is not a paint roller. That is just what I thought when I first saw this. Personally, I find the concept interesting, and I can think of some unique uses, including as a remote control paint roller.

But, seriously, I wonder how much flight times might be improved if a "mission" was mostly rolled around on the ground, with only short hops over obstacles? I may have to contact my friend at BG and see if they could send me an evaluation model for some testing.

Check out the specs further here.

Yes indeed, I put one more year behind, and one less year ahead of me today. For my birthday morning, the family packed up and walked down the street to our lovely park, where I was able to do some trail flying. In short, I keep a line of site on the quad and hike behind as I fly it down the trails. This is the first time I have accomplished this feat with an HD camera attached, and I am quite happy with the results. Stick around to the end, because there is a definite surprise as to what I caught on camera.

In a previous post, I put video up from my attempt at a cheap HD camera quad. I was using a WLtoys v959 quad as the airframe, and an Emerson Action Cam GoPro knock-off as the camera. It worked, but with terrible jello effect on the video. I finally bought an 808 #16 keychain camera with a D wide angle lens from MassiveRC after reading some good reviews, and seeing some great video. However, when it arrived, my quad was down thanks to a crash...argh!

So, I waited for my spare parts, and some better props from GWS. Long story short, all the parts came together this past weekend, but holiday plans, and work obligations over the last several days kept me from flying until today. It was worth the wait! In winds which, honestly, I probably should have not been flying in, the new props allowed the quad to handle beautifully! Some quick balancing of the props before the flight also meant I had relatively jello free video. In fact, a quick flight indoors after my high-wind adventure revealed the breeze to be a major culprit in shakiness of the video, as it was dolly smooth. Not too surprising considering how light this quad is, and given 8mph steady winds, with a recorded gust up to 14mph during the flight. In fact, it was the 14mph gust which drove me back into the house. After a rebuild this last weekend, the last thing I wanted to do was rebuild again this weekend.

Hopefully a better flying day will come around soon, and by then I will have the camera settings and the mounting system tweaked to provide some great cheap HD aerial video!

I may have found my next toy. About a year ago, elsewhere on the internet, I predicted RTF sub-$200 FPV quads would soon hit the market, and the hobby would really take off, no pun intended. Recently, I wrote about the Walkera Ladybird FPV RTF quad, which broke that $200 mark (by a penny, depending on where you purchase). Not letting grass grow under their feet, Walkera has pulled in a sub $100 FPV quad. Let me give you a moment to digest that. 

OK, now, here is the catch. The Walkera QR W100 requires you to own an iPhone, or other iDevice. To get the price below $90, Walkera has pushed some of the work off to a WiFi connected phone, using it as a controller, and a video screen for the feed. In short, they have built a smaller, cheaper AR Drone, but with a nice feature I will mention in a moment.

From my research, and a couple inquiries, I have determined that this quad has three axis accelerometers, and three axis gyros. With these sensors, the quad can be set up as a rock solid, self-righting flyer, or it can be switched into a performance mode with those features turned down, or even off. The iPhone app is supposed to allow the camera to be viewed and recorded in HD, but I sometimes think the true meaning of HD gets lost in translation somewhere over the Pacific. The video quality will remain to be seen. Now, for the added bonus. The QR W100 can be flown with either the phone, or a Walkera DEVO controller. This means an actual RC controller can be used with this quad, and the iDevice used only as a video screen. The lower end DEVO 4 runs about $20 bucks new, and could possibly be found cheaper if someone has one lying around from a beginner helicopter or quad.

So, for the princely sum of $110, you can have an FPV quad with an actual controller, assuming you own an iDevice. And, unfortunately, that caveat is very important, for now. Currently there is no app for Android. I asked. One is said to be in the works, but I wouldn't buy one on the hopes the Android version is in the near future. While I have an Android phone for my personal use, I have a company issued iPhone I might give this a try with. Also, as with the AR, the possibility exists for a WiFi interface on laptops. This would be amazing, and open some interesting possibilities. I would love to see Walkera go this route themselves, although I imagine someone will work on a solution either way.

I hope to get my hands on one of these to review in the near future. Maybe I will sell a little plasma to get it on the quick boat from China. ;) If anyone else has experience with this quad, feel free to share your feedback.

While ordering parts for my V959 today, I perused the BG website a bit, and came across this little guy. I have been aware of it for awhile, but I decided to do a little more research, and am seriously considering buying one. It is the Walkera Ladybird V2 FPV quad. This thing is tiny, Its about 4 inches square, and a little over an inch tall, by my mental math (8.5cm square, 3cm tall). It has a built in FPV system operating at 5.8ghz, and THIS package comes with the DEVO4 controller with built-in video screen. The control board has built in 3 axis gyros, and 3 axis accelerometers. The whole thing ticks in around $200 US. I have been saving pennies for either building, or buying a pre-built quad to use for APV and FPV, but I may have to divert some cash the direction of this quad.

These little all-in-one packages are becoming more complex, and cheaper at the same time, which really amazes me. I have been looking at a couple of other quads with interesting bells and whistles, and thinking about how the technology could be applied to my personal interest, disaster relief, but I will go into that at a later time. 

Part one of the title..at under $70 my V959 is cheap, and in this video, it flips. Anyway, I just thought I would share a new adventure!

Alright, part two of the title...I am wanting to make the move up to a bigger quad, and want some advice on what route to take...? There are so many options it seems, and I don't want to make a decision I regret. I have been reading, and pondering, and reading some more, but want to hear some opinions. I am not above building my own, but, I have never built a quad before. Also, I have considered something like the DJI Phantom, but wonder if they are the best bang for the buck. Thanks in advance for any help you may have to offer.

Going up? This is about as daring as I would get with my little v959, especially considering there were pretty significant wind gusts. This video does demonstrate a couple things. First, I can get a fairly good birds eye view of a neighborhood with a camera equipped quad. A better quad than my glorified toy could be a useful tool in post-disaster scene surveillance. Second, it is slightly difficult to see, but there is actually a visible squall line in the background at one point. Again, a higher quality quad could possibly be used to research weather. Things I think about while playing with my toy, and imagining my first "big boy" quad.

Okay, so this flight was not nearly as daring as I may have sold it to be, but it is my first flight over water. Knowing water and electronics don't mix, I was a bit nervous.

This flight made me realize a few things. First, I want a bigger quad. Second, I would probably treat a bigger quad with kid gloves. Third, I really really really want a lightweight FPV setup for this little V959 quad. And D, errr...fourth...YouTube can really botch videos at times. I may have to move over to vimeo.

So, my thoughts beg questions. What bigger quad should I buy, or build, next? One I can thrash a bit, and not bring down the wrath of the wife in the initial expenditure and upkeep? Also, one which preferably would carry a GoPro in its protective case, as I am getting a hand-me-down GoPro cheap from a friend moving over to Contour cameras. Next, what light weight FPV setup would people recommend? I can carry about 50 grams extra on my current quad. I have been looking at the Walkera all in one camera and transmitter setup which can be purchased for their micro quads, because I know size-wise they would work. Any other suggestions though? Finally, what are peoples thoughts on Vimeo? I have heard mixed thoughts elsewhere.

If you have looked at my previous posts (and if you have not, why not?), you will know I have a v959 camera quad with built in camera. The camera is not HD, but does do 60fps recording, and is mounted in such a way to reduce vibration. You will also know I recently bought an inexpensive HD camera similar to a GoPro. Finally, you would know I decided to mount the new camera to the quad in an attempt to do some HD aerial video. Here I present, my first HD aerial video. It has terrible jello, and I have a long way to go, but every journey begins with a first step. This whole setup so far is still less than a hundred bucks invested.

My inexpensive starter quad (click here for my post about it) comes with a built in standard definition 60fps camera. The whole package, being less than $70, is a great buy, but the lack of high definition is slightly disappointing. I have been looking for a lightweight high definition camera to mount instead. I considered a key chain camera, but while at a discount store the other day, I found the Emerson HD Action Camera. 

It is a high definition GoPro-esque camera which records 720p high definition, at 30fps. It was about $35, so not much more expensive than the better high definition key chain cameras, and I wouldn't have to wait for shipping. Knowing the store I was buying from has a good return policy (even on damaged items) I decided to give it a try. I stopped by to pick one up on my way home from work yesterday. I will review the camera at a later time, but for now, back to my story.

I stripped it down to its circuit board, which I put into a padded anti-static package, cut a hole in it for the lens, and rubber band mounted the whole thing to my quad. It worked! It was lightweight enough to fly, and actually gave a little more stability to the quad by hanging a little extra weight below the center of gravity. I flew it around the house last night, and have some wonderful video of my walls, but didn't have a chance to get it outside before the sun went down. Today, by the time I made it home from work, we had a storm moving in, and there was a literal calm before said storm. Winds were only between about 3 and 5mph, so I decided to drag my new high def setup quad out, and take some aerial shots of the storm front. I am an amateur meteorologist, so this type of shot is something I have actually been interested in with aerial photography.

I got the quad up about 65 feet, started doing some pans of the horizon, fought some wind gusts, decided I had at least a few good shots, and brought it down just as the wind gusted up to about 25mph. Excited, I go into the house, pull the SD card, put it into my computer, pull up the video, and...I have a wonderful shot of me looking at the camera, adjusting it a little, and then...nothing. I somehow bumped the record button on the camera while making sure it was secure, and turned the darn thing off! ARGH! Even in my makeshift packaging, I can see the LED blinking when it records, and could have easily checked to make sure it was recording before sending my quad up on its dangerous mission. BUT, in my haste, I did not do the final check, and lost out on what I am sure would have been award winning aerial video footage of a storm front. OK, that may be going a little far, but still, it could have been cool. Maybe next time.

I have been interested in the world of UAVs and quadcopters for some time now, but have never moved much beyond my few single rotor RC helicopters. Back in December, I purchased my first quad, a HeliMax 1SQ to try my hand at flying something other than single rotor helicopters. It is a fun little quad, but very limiting in ability to carry anything. As I am wanting to do some aerial video, I decided to move up. But to what?

Not wanting to have too much invested in a quad which I could possibly ruin, due to my lack of flying skills, I decided to go for something cheap. And this is how I found the WLtoys V959 camera equipped quadcopter. For less than $70 it is an all-in-one RTF package, with a 60fps standard def camera built-in. I find the integrated camera, mounted against vibrations, and running at 60fps, really helps minimize the jello effect seen with the keychain cameras others have put on these micro-quads, although the lack of high definition, or even wide angle, is a little disappointing. But, for the cost, I can't complain, much.

I may add an 808 #16 keychain camera to try HD, and possibly attempt some FPV with this helicopter. I have done some tests, and find it should be able to lift at least fifty additional grams without much modification. While the WLtoys V959 is on the lower end of quadcopters, I personally think this was a good investment for me. To repeat an analogy a friend of mine used, this is the Cessna to a 747. Just as a pilot wouldn't buy a 747 to learn flying on, I felt it unnecessary to invest several hundred, or more, on a high-end quad, when all I really am wanting to do now is get the basics.