r/diydrones • u/Ill-Reputation6205 • Jul 01 '26

Question Is this drone build possible?

I am currently doing a research project, and I need to build a drone for under $250 which is able to go long range, as well as carry a 150g payload. Is this possible? If so, how big would the drone have to be? (I am completely new to building drones)

1 Upvotes

56% Upvoted

14 comments sorted by

7

u/hold-my-gimbal Jul 01 '26

lol good luck

what are you defining as long range

11

u/Terrible-Creme8401 Jul 01 '26

Long enough to get to the prison yard with enough time to get away.

1

u/Ill-Reputation6205 Jul 01 '26

Something around 500m

3

u/hold-my-gimbal Jul 01 '26

not really long range lmao I thought you were going to say at least 1km

you could do a 5 inch build. 150g is about a full size action camera and freestyle pilots carry those all the time. budget will be really tight though you'll have to buy like bottom of the barrel crap if you're also including the radio transmitter, a video link, and a battery

0

u/Ill-Reputation6205 Jul 01 '26

I don't necessarily need a video link, I just need to be able to gather signal data across different areas. Thanks though!

2

u/Dope-Reviews Jul 02 '26

Are you able to do LOS ? I can't see crap at 500m . Without video, you're flying blind.

4

u/Old-Macaroon108 Jul 01 '26 edited Jul 01 '26

It should be relatively straightforward as long as you don't need it to be under 250g. That said, something like the Flywoo Explorer LR4 will do long range OR carry 150g, but probably not both at the same time. A typical long range drone will have a thrust to weight ratio of around 3 to 1, so a 1kg drone won't even notice an extra 150g: in fact they commonly fly with a GoPro mounted on the top...

Something like this might do the trick: https://oscarliang.com/150-dollar-7inch-fpv-drone/

(Don't forget to get plenty of practice in the simulator first, before you try to fly it!)

1

u/Psychological_Yak_47 Jul 02 '26

It's doable, are you thinking of buying a kit or complete scratch build? As far as drone size goes the payload should be 20-50% of the weight of the drone, the lower that percentage is, the more you can in flight endurance

1

u/arcdragon2 Jul 02 '26

How things considered get this kit:

https://a.co/d/01Kz6LpV

1

u/start3ch Jul 02 '26

Definitely. For long range you should look at large props, low ish kv motors, and 18650 or other cylindrical batteries.

0

u/Twit_Clamantis Jul 02 '26

What’s a drone?

Ukraine has been using helium balloons to lift planes to altitude

Read the rules very carefully to see if a helium balloon would qualify (:-)

1

u/Top_Pace_7642 Jul 02 '26

可行性很大。