Need help trying to learn the basics

Hi,
I would like to learn to fly a quadcopter and take some photos and video with it. There are so many possible choices I'm trying to get people who have some experience and who are willing, to help narrow it down. I'd like to get something that's under $1K for the final vehicle if possible. I would also like to get a less expensive practice vehicle, or more than one, if people can suggest some good practice models. Here are some general questions I'd like to learn about to begin with:

how many channels, and what do they control?

what type of battery system to get?

what about a gyro, or gyros?

how to know the orientation of the vehicle when it gets a fair distance away...is it with lights?

what about drain on the battery from lights and photo/video equipment?

what about some sort of auto-return system for when the battery gets low or it gets too far away?

are there any tiny models that would be good to practice with indoors to start with?

are there good fairly inexpensive larger models that would be a good next step to practice with outdoors?

Thank you for any help learning these basic aspects, and anything else anyone is willing to explain or suggest!!!

David Harrison
Buford, GA

I have ordered two of the X Nanos for $35 at http://is.gd/OABO52 as something to begin with. So far for a next step I'm thinking probably a Nine Eagles NE-MASF11 GALAXY VISITOR 2 for about $118 at http://is.gd/UDhbhX and will probably make a post asking people a couple of things about it. Since I want something RTF for the final vehicle I'm thinking the DJI Phantom 2 and expect to make a post asking about that as well.

David Harrison
Buford, GA

Sorry for the delay! I kept trying to respond, but would get interrupted. The copters you planned to buy to get going look good. I started with a cheap helicopter even. They do fly differently, but the controls are similar enough to get you used to flying something if you haven't already. See all my answers in red below.

nopeda said:

how many channels, and what do they control?

When it comes to quadcopters, you need four, but want at least six channels to have room for other features (altitude hold, return to home, etc.).

http://blog.oscarliang.net/choose-rc-transmitter-quadcopter/

That link will give you good info on what you'll need to use up each channel to control, etc.

what type of battery system to get?

Lipo are usually what people use. SOME people will use life batteries, but while they are safer, the power to weight ratio isn't as good.

what about a gyro, or gyros?

Gyros and other sensors will be on your flight stablization (control) board.

how to know the orientation of the vehicle when it gets a fair distance away...is it with lights?

You pitch forward and see what direction it moves in =) Or some people use various thing - different color arms, colorful lightweight balls, etc.

what about drain on the battery from lights and photo/video equipment?

Typically you're going to put your video equipment on a different smaller battery than your main power system.

what about some sort of auto-return system for when the battery gets low or it gets too far away?

Look at the DJI Naza boards (or even the RTF Naza quadcopters - phantom 1 or 2). They have return to home for certain situations - either you trigger it, or it can return to home if it loses signal. When the battery gets low, you will have a voltage sensor. If you're flying line of sight, you can typically hear it beeping (most have a very loud and high pitch tone). If you're flying FPV, while you should still be line of sight, you'll typically have some headphones that with audio fed from the copter so you can hear the low voltage sensor.

are there any tiny models that would be good to practice with indoors to start with?

Looks like you found some good ones.

are there good fairly inexpensive larger models that would be a good next step to practice with outdoors?

You can probably build something full size and ready to fly for ~$250USD or so. Then you could always upgrade and/or add FPV and whatnot later. Or you could look at the Phantom copters. Most people who get those are flying like pros pretty quickly since they have a very good assisted flight mode and they are tuned up nicely and ready to go out of the box.

Thank you for any help learning these basic aspects, and anything else anyone is willing to explain or suggest!!!

David Harrison
Buford, GA

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