Holy stone instability

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epzcaw22

New Member
Any help or advice welcome.

I recently bought a Tello drone on the advice of a photographer friend. This works beautifully. It maintains its position perfectly unless there is strong wind without any trimming being required. It is, of course, limited in range, but works excellently for a beginner, and is very easy to steer and control.

My grandson wanted a drone for his birthday, and the Tello seemed a bit tame, so I researched some websites, and came up with the Holy Stone 181W. I thought we could just connect it up and fly it, as with the Tello, but it launched off in an arbitrary direction, and was very difficult to control. I then looked at the manual (yes, I know - if in doubt....), and found a mention of the trimmers, so tried using these to get it to go up vertically. I had some success with this, but when you pull back the joystick, it seems to move off in any old direction, instead of staying in the one position as the Tello does.

So I would like to know if

a) I am doing something wrong or missing something
or
b) there is something wrong with the device
or
c) this is what I should expect - it is just not easy to use, unlike the Tello.

Many thanks all.
 
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epzcaw22

New Member
Yes, tried that (after reading the book!). Doesn't seem to have made any difference. But thanks anyway.
 
wafflejock

wafflejock

Well-Known Member
epzcaw22 said:
Yes, tried that (after reading the book!). Doesn't seem to have made any difference. But thanks anyway.
Click to expand...
Sounds like something defective, not too surprising with Holystone they are pretty good in general but they are still considered 'toy grade' rather than 'hobby grade' so some failures in the batches is probably considered 'acceptable'. I would just exchange it for a new one and see if you have the same issues if so move on to a new model. If it isn't a commonly cited issue in reviews I'd guess you just got a dud or it was broken since manufacturing. Generally speaking these should be fine for indoor flying if you are outdoors with it then the wind could have a large effect since these don't quite have the thrust to both stay flying and in control and fight the wind, if it isn't that then I'd guess just mfg error.
 
wafflejock

wafflejock

Well-Known Member
https://www.amazon.com/Holy-Stone-Q...r&reviewerType=all_reviews#reviews-filter-bar <-- looking at just 1 star reviews I'm seeing confirmation of not good for flying outside in any sort of wind and a few random fly aways. In general reviews are positive and I've personally had a good experience with some of their simpler toy quads (no gps/camera), but my guess is this is hit or miss for $100 they are giving you a fair amount but they must cut corners on QC and testing and so more duds get out in the wild than say DJI or some other "name brand" mfg.
 
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epzcaw22

New Member
Thank you for that.

I have the same problems when using inside so not a wind issue. I will take your advice and return as not working. Will see how we get on with replacement, and keep you posted.
 
Jackson

Jackson

USA member at large
epzcaw22 said:
I have the same problems when using inside so not a wind issue. I will take your advice and return as not working. Will see how we get on with replacement, and keep you posted.
Click to expand...
Don't try sending it back, just complain. Holystone will just send you another, letting you keep the first.

BTW HolyStone is just a re-badger, usually of older quads.

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/RC-...2-4G-Brand-Trusted-Children-s/1633598268.html

Grab one of these as a learner, quite docile in low, and very sporty in high. Will be a bit more difficult to fly at first, but most kids will quickly establish the proper muscle memory.
https://www.banggood.com/Eachine-E3...tml?rmmds=search&ID=22442482&cur_warehouse=CN

Grab a couple of these also.
https://www.banggood.com/Eachine-E3...-p-1152328.html?rmmds=search&cur_warehouse=CN

Use it and abuse it. :)
 
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