Blade350QX
New Member
Hello, as you can tell from the title I am totally new to quadcopters and RC toys in general. I am frustrated with the lack of tech support and advice I have received from local Hobby store, So i have turned to the forums. I'll get right into it:
My Current Setup:
- Blade 350QX With Firmware 2.0 (told the guy at the hobby store I wanted to use a hero4black for wifi and he recommend this unit, later to find out they offer newer units with updated gps antennas that corrected interference issues?)
- GoPro Hero 4 Black
- GM200 2 Axis gimbal
- Tall landing gear
- Spektrum DX5e (no pitch control, didn't find that out until after I bought the transmitter)
- Sadly only 1 venom 2100mah battery and 1 eflite 2200mah battery, both of which don't seem to last long at all.
Now, I am at the point where I don't know whether to take the body apart and RF foil-wrap the gps antenna/battery tray (because the gm200 gimbal mount is already too tight, with the provided RF tape it wouldn't fit), or try and return/sell/keep the qx350 and upgrade? I want to use the wifi so I can remotely control the camera while flying the quad and so I can have my Smart Phone mounted to the Transmitter and see what the camera sees. So if foil wrapping the inside of the body works, then I'll do that.
My second issue is flight times. I want the absolute maximum flight time possible. I will be purchasing more batteries to fill out the slots in my case, what are the best/longest lasting batteries for the 350QX? The hobby store near my house said that they can attach a carbon plate to hold another battery so I can get longer flight times? Is anyone familiar with this? It seems if it was mounted correctly it could counter the weight of the gimbal and camera. Also, they mentioned the aluminum adapters and different blades for an apparent 15-20% longer flight time, is this accurate?
Tentative Upgrades:
- whatever batteries are best?
- maybe new transmitter to control pitch of the gimbal
- aluminum blade adapters with whatever blades are best
- potentially carbon plate with second battery
- RF foil wrap the battery trap/gps antenna
What is the max flight time of a modded 350qx? Am I on the right path here? Can I use wifi with this quad?
I also wanted to say this as been a pretty tough thing to learn, the instructions provided where pretty crap, and these machines are quite technical with a surprising amount of technology inside them. And wow, fishing wires through the body sucks! Not to mention flying, I haven't had it out much but I have only had it in Safe(green) mode and AP(purple) mode, and safe is amazing for beginners like myself but sometimes even in Safe mode but mostly AP I have gone to land the quad and it will catch a gust of wind right as it is about to land and then flip over onto its back with the blades still spinning - scared the crap out of me a few times. Charging the batteries is also weird for me, I purchased a venom battery balancing charger, but I do not think it is working correctly, upon starting the charge the LED will be solid red but it will turn solid green with a hue of red, before the audible full charge alert, is this normal? i also didn't realize that these batteries where so dangers.
Anyways, Please respond and I appreciate all help in advance, Thank you!
My Current Setup:
- Blade 350QX With Firmware 2.0 (told the guy at the hobby store I wanted to use a hero4black for wifi and he recommend this unit, later to find out they offer newer units with updated gps antennas that corrected interference issues?)
- GoPro Hero 4 Black
- GM200 2 Axis gimbal
- Tall landing gear
- Spektrum DX5e (no pitch control, didn't find that out until after I bought the transmitter)
- Sadly only 1 venom 2100mah battery and 1 eflite 2200mah battery, both of which don't seem to last long at all.
Now, I am at the point where I don't know whether to take the body apart and RF foil-wrap the gps antenna/battery tray (because the gm200 gimbal mount is already too tight, with the provided RF tape it wouldn't fit), or try and return/sell/keep the qx350 and upgrade? I want to use the wifi so I can remotely control the camera while flying the quad and so I can have my Smart Phone mounted to the Transmitter and see what the camera sees. So if foil wrapping the inside of the body works, then I'll do that.
My second issue is flight times. I want the absolute maximum flight time possible. I will be purchasing more batteries to fill out the slots in my case, what are the best/longest lasting batteries for the 350QX? The hobby store near my house said that they can attach a carbon plate to hold another battery so I can get longer flight times? Is anyone familiar with this? It seems if it was mounted correctly it could counter the weight of the gimbal and camera. Also, they mentioned the aluminum adapters and different blades for an apparent 15-20% longer flight time, is this accurate?
Tentative Upgrades:
- whatever batteries are best?
- maybe new transmitter to control pitch of the gimbal
- aluminum blade adapters with whatever blades are best
- potentially carbon plate with second battery
- RF foil wrap the battery trap/gps antenna
What is the max flight time of a modded 350qx? Am I on the right path here? Can I use wifi with this quad?
I also wanted to say this as been a pretty tough thing to learn, the instructions provided where pretty crap, and these machines are quite technical with a surprising amount of technology inside them. And wow, fishing wires through the body sucks! Not to mention flying, I haven't had it out much but I have only had it in Safe(green) mode and AP(purple) mode, and safe is amazing for beginners like myself but sometimes even in Safe mode but mostly AP I have gone to land the quad and it will catch a gust of wind right as it is about to land and then flip over onto its back with the blades still spinning - scared the crap out of me a few times. Charging the batteries is also weird for me, I purchased a venom battery balancing charger, but I do not think it is working correctly, upon starting the charge the LED will be solid red but it will turn solid green with a hue of red, before the audible full charge alert, is this normal? i also didn't realize that these batteries where so dangers.
Anyways, Please respond and I appreciate all help in advance, Thank you!