Newbie looking for my first drone

[champ222]

Hi all

Ive thought about getting a drone for a while now, ive today ive been looking around online. ive read through the stickies and i'm looking for advice.

So, i just want to do this for fun. whizz the thing around outside away from everyone of course.

BACKGROUND:
Ive had plenty of RC cars back in the day, started off with the Tamiya cars when i was a kid (Hornet, grasshopper, boomerang - can you guess how old i am?) then years later raced 1:10 scale touring cars at a local club, then years after that, had Nitro 1:8 buggies and truggies. Had a brief, but ultimately unsuccessful time with a cheapo plane.

FUTURE:
I'm never (well you know how it goes) going to be looking to spend thousands on this.

I quite like the idea of recording video while soaring about, and maybe some still photos etc.

NOW:
just want something that i can learn to fly with. i'm not too bothered about the camera at this stage, because i assume the cheapo ones look a bit rubbish anyway.

would i be right it thinking that the little micro ones are mainly for flying inside? and a larger one might be more stable with a bit of breeze?

what would you recommend to get me started? Ideally, it like to build it from a kit (i love building things), but i assume its like the RC cars in that the Kits don't include everything you need, and its complicate for a newbie to know what else is needed?

Ideally i dont want to have to wait for 5 hours for the batteries to charge via usb, so possibly something that uses standard batteries and so i can get a proper battery charger and extra battery etc. and something i can get bots for, when i inevitably crash it.

happy to go second hand if its worth it.

Thanks guys

[Cheredanine]

Hi,

Certainly get yourself something like an eachine e010, should come in under 20quid and get you flying around the house, get the muscle memory on sticks.

So there appears to be a little confusion there.
Most of the wizzing quads you see will be fpv racers, of the 250 class or lower. Lots of self build info available

Stills and serious photography tends to be camera ships and unless you are looking at massive then commonly they are rtf (think phantoms, mavicks etc)

Assuming you mean the former takema drive through the 250 builds section of the forum, typically something like a gopro session is strapped to the top of them

[ched]

Have a look in the 250 build section. There are lots of examples that might inspire you.
Budget wise a reasonable 250 size would be about £170, tx Flysky i6 (cheap and cheerful) about £35, a charger about £25, batteries about £15 each. Plus tools and odds and sods. Plus camera stuff.

[champ222]

Hi guys

having looked at a a build thread or two, this is exactly what i'm looking for!

so i'll do some reading over the next few months to get up to speed on all the various parts then i'll decide what to build.

Meanwhile, ill look for a mini one to learn how to fly.

I looked at the Eachine E010 which is TINY... looks like a lot of fun though! read reviews of the E011 too, which apparently has more power, cant find anywhere selling it though. Any recommended suppliers for these things?

anything other than the Eachine E010 i should be looking at?

Thanks guys

[mo_miah]

the e010 is great, you can get it off amazon uk
i added a vm275t camera to mine, great fun flying around the house using fpv

[champ222]

yeah i'm tempted to just order one from amazon :)

I'm more likely to use it outside though, so that being said, would i be better with something else?

Thanks

[mo_miah]

the e010 may be a bit under powered for outdoor use

do you have a transmitter already?
you can get small bind and fly quad with more power but they cost around the £100 mark

[champ222]

Hi, no i dont have a transmitter.

would the hubsan x4 be an alternative? although there does seem to be a load of different x4's?

[champ222]

or maybe the Syma X5C?

[ched]

OK so these 2 are both indoors but will allow you to practice no matter what the weather or time of day. You can fly/crash round the house with out fear of damaging things as the props are protected by the frame.
The first one can be purchased from EU warehouse so should be delivered quick. The second isn't in stock till 1st March and then probably takes 2-3 weeks delivery but also comes with a basic pair of goggles so you can learn fpv as well as line of sight.

Eachines E010  £11.01 Select EU and Mode 2 left hand throttle.

Eachines E013 with Goggles £48.46, select CN and with goggles and Mode 2 transmitter when back in stock 1st March
or same as above but without goggles so you can buy better ones  Eachines E013 without Goggles just select EU warehouse, mode 2 throttle on left, and without goggles are £28.63. Should be delivered quick as EU/UK warehouse.

Ideally also buy some extra batteries as the flight time is only 2-3mins per battery.

[ched]

I had a Syma X5 and it was OK, while it was OK indoors with prop guards it was very light and the slightest breeze would blow it about quite a bit.
They can be had quite cheap at about £30 here: https://goo.gl/cC3fmr

[Gavster29]

I have an E010 and I would say if you want to learn the basics of flying these are great 

I have a Syma X5C and I would say these are too big for indoors, to light for outdoors and don't teach you how to fly as the throttle stick is centred and you don't have the same control as a racing style quad, it would be more akin to the DJI style drones.

I would also think about the E013 as Ched suggested, or if you want to spend a bit more and jump in at the deep end, take a look at the Wizard X220

[champ222]

I will go for the E010 (or E011 with lego man removed) i think. seems like a good place to start. FPV does look like fun actually, but i guess i'd still benefit from learning to fly first.

I'll get some extra batteries too.

Thanks guys

[champ222]

Ordered :)

[champ222]

maiden flights around the living room last night... I'm rubbish haha... but i did make some improvements after 5 batteries of flying.

I was surprised by how difficult it was to keep the height steady, i kept hitting the ceiling.

office flights are about to commence...

[mo_miah]

i was the same when i first got my e010, i was bouncing off the walls and ceiling, as the quad is small and light it wont damage anything
just be easy on the sticks and make small movements