(Part 3) Top products from r/drones

Get a hubsan or a syma as learner first. Both are cheap, pretty durable and good to learn to fly with. You will crash while learing. It is much better to do this with 30 dollar quad. I personally like the hubsan more. Once you or your dad is comfortable flying you can take a look at getting a bigger quad for a camera. For under 500 with a transmitter your options are somewhat limited I think.

Hobbyking has a phantom clone with an apm flight controller that looks interesting and is in your price range. I have not personally tried it, but I have a pixhawk flight controller running the same software and I like it. It has a lot of advanced capabilities such as waypoint flying. You can pair it with small canon point and shoot camera to have auto picture taking capabilities as well, though that may be a bit advanced for what you are looking for. It's useful for mapping where you want a picture taken every x meters.

You could also get an older phantom for a little less then 500. I have never flown one, but they do seem to be pretty easy to operate.

Whatever you get I would caution you to make sure you (and/or your dad) understand how to operate the quad properly(i.e. calibrating the compass, understanding the GPS lock etc...) and are capable of flying safely in manual mode should the need arise. I believe that many mishaps and fly-aways are the result of people not really understanding their systems and how to properly deal with issues when they arrive.

Also check /r/multicopter as they are a bit more active lots of good info.

I have the p3 professional. 3dr is going to stop producing these not because they are worse but because they lost the overall consumer battle with DJI. Their aircraft is actually really fun to fly and a great platform. For $500 you get a great bundle with the camera.

https://www.amazon.com/3DR-SA11A-Solo-Drone-Quadcopter/dp/B00ZPM7BOG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1478909246&sr=8-1&keywords=3dr+solo+drone+quadcopter

The most reliable for $2000, I would get the DJI S1000.

Other than that, I'd check out the DJI S900 as well.

To be honest with that budget I'd go with a DJI Phantom 4, it has a great camera! Not as good as your DSLR, but that's an option to have as well.

Does it have to be android controlled? The Hubsan h107D would be ideal and the video streams direct to the controller. Just make sure to get a crash pack in case he breaks it.

I used the FAA study guide and bought this book on Amazon which was great.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1619545594?ref=yo_pop_ma_swf

Scored 95%

What do you think of the DJI Phantom?

http://www.amazon.com/DJI-Phantom-Aerial-Drone-Quadcopter/dp/B00AGOSQI8/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1417020623&sr=1-3

Looks like a good price $430 for the options.

3DR Solo. (I'm biased) Beware the company has gone upside down, and is only focusing on commercial survey applications. But for build quality and features it is the best deal on the market imho. It was selling for about $1,000 just one year ago. Open Source too

https://www.amazon.com/3DR-SA11A-Solo-Drone-Quadcopter/dp/B00ZPM7BOG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1493218659&sr=8-1&keywords=3dr+solo

Programmable with the Tower app (free), or Solex app ($29) both on android.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.droidplanner.android&hl=en

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.fognl.solex&hl=en

I just got the hard shell from Koozam - build quality is decent to good - it feels pretty sturdy. I've been using it when I backpack around the city and on the plane. Not so bad :)

https://www.amazon.com/Backpack-Quadcopter-RESISTANT-Accessories-Products/dp/B00QPC8914

Thanks for the reply. I had actually gone ahead and bought some replacements. Specifically these: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07Q2LHKFT

They seem to work very well, and only a gram more in weight.

Get a Hubsan X4, they are a lot of fun. With the prop guards on they are almost indestructible.


You'll learn a lot of really good flying skills that will absolutely be handy when you are flying a larger drone.

When those big expensive drones lose GPS signal they basically fly like this little guy. Pilots who don't know how to fly in manual get into trouble in a hurry!

For the 107 it all depends how you best study for an exam. Some people just buy the study / prep books and have no trouble passing the 107. Others need a class to retain and understand the information.

Personally I took a special class designed for First Responders training to be drone pilots. Was a weekend class and in addition to reading through the study guide and taking practice tests I did well (Only missed 2 questions on the exam, both my fault due to reading too fast)

I would HIGHLY recommend buying the Remote Pilot Test Prep book:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1619546663/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

That book is a decent overview of all the 107 stuff and also comes with a copy of the book you will be provided with during the test.

Also, take a peek at the reviews on the second one you listed http://www.amazon.com/Spy-Spot-Investigations-Tracking-Enduro-pro/dp/B0085C9NLW

Some are saying that there are hidden usage fees. It appears that one works on a SIM as well.

I don't see many options that don't require GSM services to relay the GPS data.

I am very interested in this myself as I am likely about to drop over 1k on a new quad.. and I really, really don't want to lose it.

I started looking yesterday, and every GPS tracking unit I find is expensive and/or has a ridiculous monthly fee attached to it.. ridiculous like $50 + per month!

Things I noticed when I found some decent units - some didnt work on GPS at all, but instead required a cell tower.. you want GPS, not GPSR (which is a wireless routing protocol)

Options I've found:
http://www.immersionrc.com/product-details.php?fpv_product=1

http://www.amazon.com/Spy-Spot-Investigations-Tracking-Enduro-pro/dp/B0085C9NLW

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=&sku=1174296&gclid=CjwKEAiA8K20BRDetNv3p6DNhXwSJADSwa3tTieYsEI78RTItYHYALVCsCTPh0s0b6rtybY1rnG5lxoCRJzw_wcB&Q=&ap=y&m=Y&is=REG&A=details

I use a SkyRC B6AC V2., which I made a 1-4 balance charging cable for that I also use to discharge. You can do one at a time though, if you're not comfortable wiring up something like that.

I drain them to 3.2 volts and then bring them to the hardware store. They have a recycling bin for lipos.

P.S. Here is the Mobius Camera I talked about...my Syma x5 lifts it just fine, I have it hook and loop'd on the bottom. The x5 comes with a "2mp" camera, which is that of your motorola razer from 2000

probably going to want to use a powerbank... something with an outlet that will charge a laptop once or twice. bring the wall charger.. the batteries should charge quickly because it puts out 80W.

maybe a small solar panel to trickle charge the power bank when you're on the move/not flying.

https://www.amazon.com/DBPOWER-26400mAh-Portable-Universal-Smartphones/dp/B073ZDYD5Y

mavic Pro batteries are about 3800mAh (call it 4k).. bank holds 26k - so you can charge 6 batteries, w/o topping off.

panel

https://www.amazon.com/Goal-Zero-Switch-Recharger-Multi-Tool/dp/B00OLINB12/

https://www.amazon.com/UPGRADED-Hubsan-H107C-Camera-Quadcopter/dp/B00D8UO8G6

The H107C will give you decent video (720p HD). I've had one for more than a year and it's been alot of fun without having to worry about destroying an expensive drone.

https://www.amazon.com/Quadcopter-Camera-battery-exclusive-design/dp/B00OGRMU38/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1541726952&sr=8-1-spons&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=syma&psc=1

The Parrot AR.Drone 2.0 is a drone you can use with a coding language called johhny-five which is a Javascript framework. Don't know if you can pilot it 100% with your pc, but you can code acro routines and movement schemes.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07B73WM7S/ref=sspa_mw_detail_0?ie=UTF8&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEyMTY4VFZWN1JPMVEyJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwMTU5MzMzMUlTRVA5R1JKMTFUOSZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwNDQxMDIyMjFCQ1pUMlNSVThBMSZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX3Bob25lX2RldGFpbDImYWN0aW9uPWNsaWNrUmVkaXJlY3Q=

I run this one for those type of batteries. I got it with my MSR I bought a few years ago. It will shut off when each battery is full.

https://www.amazon.com/E-flite-Celectra-4-Port-1-Cell-Charger/dp/B001XIMGP0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1480811429&sr=8-1&keywords=e-flite+4+port+charger

My only real concern with the tello is the size. This was the other "toy" I had as a first round test and the thing was terrible in the air over 30 feet cause the wind just whipped it around.,

Check them out on Review Meta. The reviews fail a lot of tests on there, and it seems it's mostly bloated reviews with real reviews getting buried.