Here is what I've decided ......

[davidhk129]

I have spent quite a bit of money buying quads that I thought were good for me.
Not.
The major issue has been.... my quads, even having altitude holding function, are too light to fly outside with wind speed more than 5 mph.
Add weight on the belly will work at the expense of battery drain, thus lack of acceptable flight time.

I am getting better piloting, and the weather is starting to warm up. I need drone I am able to fly outdoor.
SOO.... my decisions :
Either bite the bullet and buy a GPS drone which will be costly, or buy an Optical Flow Positioning drone which will be budget friendly.

Adding : Strangely, my "toy" Propel Star Wars 74-z Speeder Bike handles the wind better than all my "altitude hold" drones. Go figure.

 

[wafflejock]

I've tried a few of the toy grade super micro ones that are about 40-50mm across that you can get at walmart for $20, but those weren't worth it, also tried the DR1 from airhogs (also was available at walmart, but I think around $35-40) and was actually pretty good at flying but no FPV or anything (looks like they have an FPV version but reviews aren't great). I've heard of optical flow in a computer science context with regard to computer vision and motion tracking (some video editors like blender I believe can do some optical flow calculations for "anchoring" things between video and 3d content), but didn't even know it was a thing quads would use for position hold. If you aren't doing waypoint based flying from a ground station I don't really see the value in a GPS quad (that said I might build one here eventually too since someone gave me an ardupilot board and GPS module I'd till need to procure the frame/motors/ESCs/props, but at least have some sort of FC and GPS). Kind of curious why you don't just go the DIY route too and then can add/remove whatever you want down the line more easily as well (it's a bit more costly up front so maybe that's a good reason, but time investment really isn't too bad, probably 3-5hrs to do a build from scratch with all the soldering/configuration).

 

[davidhk129]

….. Kind of curious why you don't just go the DIY route too and then can add/remove whatever you want down the line more easily as well.....

Reasons :
1. Up front investment can be costly. Soldering kit, various transmitters etc.
2. I am a quick learner, but not electrical engineering trained. Not sure what kind of mess I might create for myself.
3. I did google for "how to build my own quad". It kind of lost me.

 

[davidhk129]

RE : Optical Flow Positioning drone

The drone has a tiny camera at the belly pointing at the ground. It registers the distance in between. You throttle it to the height of your choice, let go the throttle stick. It will literally "stick" in mid air.
I think there is limit on how high Optical Flow can handle. But it's pretty high.

 

[SLFLY]

Altitude hold as a feature has nothing to do with handling wind.

What you really need is a higher voltage drone with bigger brushless motors. Fighting wind is all about the motors. Brushless are alot more powerful than brushed motors.

Some cheap RTF options like Eachine EX2 mini or Eachine EX2H will not have any problems in winds above 5 mph. Neither of these models have GPS or OFP.

If your interested, the Eachine EX2 mini (drone, transmitter, battery only, no camera) is currently priced $33 at Banggood with the code f7ed97.

The Eachine EX2H is $49.49 with code 812c92.

 

[davidhk129]

Thank you, SLFLY.
I am in Canada. Everything is more expensive, not to mention 13% sales tax.
The prices you quoted is not even near to what I get from Banggood Canada.
Example. Eachine EX2H is C$136.29 , plus C$24.36 shipping. I don't think your discount code will drop the price down that much.
See attached.



Anyway, I just received delivery of my SIRC Z5 WiFi FPV with 1080P Camera Double GPS.
I am setting the drone up right now.

 

[wafflejock]

Just wanted to second slfly anything with brushless motors has a lot more power and ability to fight outside forces and push through wind etc. Was flying in pretty windy conditions yesterday with my 5" one, the smaller guys (even my brushless micro) would have had a lot of trouble, probably 10-15mph winds. Any of these ones with brushed motors and some sort of gearing or just brushed motors in general will have a lot harder time just keeping things in the air which means any extra forces pushing it around and it doesn't typically have the power to contend with it and stay in the air. Mostly I use my betaFPV 65 (brushed motors) for indoor flying and occasionally take out the KingKong GT90 (brushless but tiny motors) if it's not terribly windy out.

---

Personally think it's worth the investment to DIY then can upgrade/fix things as necessary ("buy nice or buy twice")

 

[davidhk129]

Just took my new SJRC Z5 out for maiden flight.
The wind is at 16 mph.
No problem maintaining altitude with this one.
Took the drone back inside because the wind appears to be getting stronger.
This drone cost me quite a bit. Don't want to bust it the very first day.

DIY route is still in my mind.