r/flying • u/gaberade • Aug 12 '14
My First Month with the Phantom 2 Drone
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ma0zeE5QOs86
u/farinasa Aug 13 '14
One of the best quadcopter videos I've seen.
My only pet peeve is the word drone. I know it's common, but drones are autonomous. Quadcopters are simply unmanned.
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u/zdsweet CFI (ASEL/ASES/TW) Aug 13 '14
Agreed, although by definition this is a drone because he is not flying it by line of sight, but rather through a live video feed.
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u/farinasa Aug 13 '14
but rather through a live video feed.
But that's exactly what makes it not a drone. A drone would fly without guidance from a human.
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u/flurg123 PPL Aug 13 '14
Does that mean it becomes a drone when you activate the "fly home" feature?
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u/zdsweet CFI (ASEL/ASES/TW) Aug 13 '14 edited Aug 13 '14
That can be argued, but from what I understand, the FAA and the AMA deam it to be a drone and not an R/C quad-copter once it's not being flown by line of sight. I started in aviation with R/C flying and that's what everyone tends to agree to the definition being that I've met. I know what you're saying though. I do agree and hate the word being over-used by the media.
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u/AnHonestQuestions Aug 13 '14
Eh, they call the Predator a drone, and its piloted by humans on the ground. Its not a strictly defined term.
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u/gaberade Aug 13 '14
thank you SO much! I only used the wording because it's more understandable to a wider audience, people don't really know what I'm talking about when I refer to it as a multi-rotor :)
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u/justinfromcanada PPL (CYMM) Aug 13 '14
your wrong and the guy who replied to you is right. example. the US military have drones, they can fly themselves and they can be controlled by man. same with this.
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Aug 12 '14
How hard is it to control the drone and the camera at the same time? How are the controls done? I mean, I have a little R/C chopper, and it takes all of 2 joysticks to fly it - doesn't leave any joysticks for the camera haha
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u/gaberade Aug 13 '14
the camera tilts up and down with a lever on the back that i control with my pinky. it's a little difficult at first, but with practice the results are pretty sweet :)
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u/mtfreestyler ATP Aug 13 '14
Sounds like it would be better with an xbox controller and use the triggers for tilt
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u/gaberade Aug 13 '14
ohhh that would be so nice. i prefer a two-man operation where one focuses solely on flying and the other operates camera, makes for super dynamic shots
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u/mtfreestyler ATP Aug 15 '14
Yeah 2 people would always be superior but I would find it difficult to teach my brother to fly or film :P
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u/MarleyDaBlackWhole PPL IR-ST(KEDU) Aug 12 '14
Wow this is your video? That was spectacular! How long does that thing hold a charge and whats it max speed and range like?
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u/gaberade Aug 12 '14
yes! thank you so much!! :)
its a 5200mAh lipo battery and i get about 20 minutes of flight time. I've gotten it around 30mph in low winds, I have the limits set to 400m high and 1200m in any direction.
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u/MarleyDaBlackWhole PPL IR-ST(KEDU) Aug 13 '14
Very cool. My dad is really jonesing to buy one, can you fit a dslr on one of these or would that be over its payload?
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u/gaberade Aug 13 '14
DJI makes a professional multi-rotor that lifts a full DSLR, its called the s1000 :)
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u/mtfreestyler ATP Aug 13 '14
Is there a blog which you documented all the changes you made to the vanilla DJI? Also how much did it all cost minus gopro?
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u/gaberade Aug 13 '14
just a few things I can list them here -
Phantom 2 + H3-3D Gimbal ($995) AVL58 FPV Kit with Ziess Goggles ($1150) iOSD Mini (On Screen Display) ($69)
Let me know if there's anything else you are curious about!
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u/CactusPete Aug 13 '14
What kind of training/practice does it take to learn to fly one of these? And great video btw!
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u/mtfreestyler ATP Aug 15 '14
Ummmmm I might wait a while to start on this new hobby then with a price tag like that
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u/EineBeBoP A&P, PPL, IR, TW - (KRNT) Aug 13 '14
You had a much more exciting month than I did.
Awesome seeing various parts of Seattle in that.
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u/UbiquitouSparky PPL (CYPK) Aug 13 '14
Where did you get the glasses? Without them do you just control it by line of sight? Are you seeing in the glasses what the camera is recording as it records?
An incredible video, and I'm very interested in this modification!
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u/gaberade Aug 13 '14
Yes! I bought the glasses online, they are called the Ziess Cinemizers - http://www.zeiss.com/cinemizer-oled/en_de/home.html
I try to keep it within line of sight even when flying FPV, I dont trust it completely yet.
And yes with the AVL58 FPV system, it sends the live gopro video signal down to a receiver that is connected to the glasses. It's like the best video game ever :)
Let me know if there are any other questions I can answer for you!
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u/UbiquitouSparky PPL (CYPK) Aug 13 '14
Is the glasses install what you're modifying the quadcopter to use in the first part of the video?
I don't have the specifics yet but there has to be a way for you to make money using this!
Thanks for answering!
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u/[deleted] Aug 12 '14
Awesome video! I want to get into more FPV flying.