Review of the Hubsan X4 H107L and Tips for Flying

The only reason I didn't buy an X4 is that there is too much model confusion. There's one with a camera, but no FPV. One with FPV but the camera is awful. There's a "Pro" version. And there's this version which I guess has none of that stuff, but can be had for $40 with a radio.
You need to spin the giant model/option wheel to figure it all out.
 
No model confusion
Hubsan X4 H107L No Camera
Hubsan X4 H107C ( Camera version .3 Mp )
Hubsan X4 H107C HD ( Camera version 2.MP )
Hubsan X H107D FPV Version

The Hubsan X4 PRO H109S is a far bigger Quadcopter that has not been released
 
Hi Hugh,
If you are still 'Confused' or unsure of which model to buy please reach out with any questions you have, I'm would be pleased to help
Paul
 
I'm wondering if anyone makes a tiny FPV "cam pen" with a camera in one end, an antenna in the other end and the battery and guts in the middle? That would make just about anything FPV within a limited range. I wonder what the resolution of the FPV H107D model is. I understand you can record the video back on the transmitter, but I'm not sure what frequency it uses or if you could use a different video receiver to feed goggles. It probably doesn't rise to 640 x 480, but then I don't think Parrot does either. The resolution on my tablet looks pretty poor, and the captured stills look like 340.
I'd like to get something to sharpen my flying skills that's more expendable than the quad I'm building. My preference was to use my Turnigy 9x but apparently all small quads use DSM2 so I should have bought a Spektrum (I would have preferred the Turanis). Still, practicing on anything else is better than a tablet screen. I'd prefer to get something with FPV to sharpen those skills too since I'll fly my DIY almost exclusively by FPV when it's not flying waypoints.
 
droneguy said:
Hi Hugh,
If you are still 'Confused' or unsure of which model to buy please reach out with any questions you have, I'm would be pleased to help
Paul
Click to expand...
Hi Paul, thank God I found this forum. Just purchased a Hubsan X4 FPV from Amazon.com (have not even recd it yet) but need to know which would be the best batteries to get for it. I should mention that I am an absolute newbie at quadcopters or flying any "rc" devices. There is a flat battery that gets attached to the bottom of the quad and the standard 'power' seems to be a 300mAh one. I have read posts on the internet that suggest a 500mAh battery would be a better choice - get longer flying times. I have seen them sold in '5-packs' for a reasonable price. Is there a particular brand and/or store that you would suggest? I would need to also obtain batteries for the FPV device. These appear to be AA or AAA. Rechargeables is what I think I should use and one of the better brands seems to be the Sanyo Eneloop batteries/plus charger. To recharge the batteries for the quad I have seen one that's in my budget. It's the IMAX B6-A6 Charger-Discharger that seems to be a good choice. As far as the micro SD card - I guess any good brand would do, as long as it doesn't exceed the capacity for the X4...Please tell me what you think would be good choices. My budget for these items would be around $100-150. Thank you for your help - BlueQuad2
 
Thanks droneguy. I appreciate the help...I just hope that I can order these items and not wait too long for delivery.
 
How are you finding the quad Hugh?
I am on my second one now. I can confirm that the camera is poor quality but as a learning tool it's good.
As mentioned rechargable batteries for the radio is a must, it eats them.
Batteries for the quad, I purchased 5 more of the original ones & a charging lead that does five at a time.
I also splashed out on a pair of Fatsharks which made flying it all worth while for me.
Have you googled the mods for the H107d?
 
Hi, I have the h107d and bought 5 500mah batteries and a charger for it. The batteries are slightly longer than standard but still fit. You can now buy 500mah ones that are the same size as the standard ones. I got 4 of them with a charger. They last about 1 and a half mins longer than the standard ones. As said above get the crash pack and some extra blades. Ive managed to wreck the camera module so waiting for one to arrive from usa (im from northern ireland). Its a great wee starter drone, starting to get used to it and fly it as often as I can. Hope to move onto something bigger after a while.
 
BlueQuad2 said:
Hi Paul, thank God I found this forum. Just purchased a Hubsan X4 FPV from Amazon.com (have not even recd it yet) but need to know which would be the best batteries to get for it. I should mention that I am an absolute newbie at quadcopters or flying any "rc" devices. There is a flat battery that gets attached to the bottom of the quad and the standard 'power' seems to be a 300mAh one. I have read posts on the internet that suggest a 500mAh battery would be a better choice - get longer flying times. I have seen them sold in '5-packs' for a reasonable price. Is there a particular brand and/or store that you would suggest? I would need to also obtain batteries for the FPV device. These appear to be AA or AAA. Rechargeables is what I think I should use and one of the better brands seems to be the Sanyo Eneloop batteries/plus charger. To recharge the batteries for the quad I have seen one that's in my budget. It's the IMAX B6-A6 Charger-Discharger that seems to be a good choice. As far as the micro SD card - I guess any good brand would do, as long as it doesn't exceed the capacity for the X4...Please tell me what you think would be good choices. My budget for these items would be around $100-150. Thank you for your help - BlueQuad2
Click to expand...

I can definitely ell you the ones to not get! I had the X4 before, and bought a 5 pack of 500mAh blue batteries for it off of ebay. Once they arrived, of course, I immediately tried them out to see how long I could fly with them. After 1-2 flights per battery, all became swollen, and were completely unusable because they would not fit in the slot. The only kind I'd recommend buying is the silvery looking ones. Even though they're a tad more expensive, they'll last you a whole lot longer.

Just my experience with them though. ;)
 
BlueQuad2 said:
Hi Paul, thank God I found this forum. Just purchased a Hubsan X4 FPV from Amazon.com (have not even recd it yet) but need to know which would be the best batteries to get for it. I should mention that I am an absolute newbie at quadcopters or flying any "rc" devices. There is a flat battery that gets attached to the bottom of the quad and the standard 'power' seems to be a 300mAh one. I have read posts on the internet that suggest a 500mAh battery would be a better choice - get longer flying times. I have seen them sold in '5-packs' for a reasonable price. Is there a particular brand and/or store that you would suggest? I would need to also obtain batteries for the FPV device. These appear to be AA or AAA. Rechargeables is what I think I should use and one of the better brands seems to be the Sanyo Eneloop batteries/plus charger. To recharge the batteries for the quad I have seen one that's in my budget. It's the IMAX B6-A6 Charger-Discharger that seems to be a good choice. As far as the micro SD card - I guess any good brand would do, as long as it doesn't exceed the capacity for the X4...Please tell me what you think would be good choices. My budget for these items would be around $100-150. Thank you for your help - BlueQuad2
Click to expand...

A good 5 pack of batteries would be these Tenergy 380mAh batteries (You will be happy with these): http://www.amazon.com/Combo-Tenergy...=1437657034&sr=8-1&keywords=hubsan+x4+battery

As for the FPV controller batteries, check this link: http://www.amazon.com/Energizer-Val...qid=1437657188&sr=8-3&keywords=rechargable+aa

For the battery charger, do NOT but the iMax, as it only supports 2S or higher batteries, does not include the right charging adapter, and will overcharge yours as they are only single-cell packs. If you're looking to charge multiple flight batteries at once, check this charger out: http://www.amazon.com/GoolRC-500mAh...qid=1437657869&sr=8-2&keywords=x4+fpv+charger

And lastly, I'd recommend this Micro SD for your application (has to be class 6 or higher. An 8GB card will be more than you would ever use anyway, so that's what this link is for): http://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-Memor...TF8&qid=1437659368&sr=8-3&keywords=micro+sd+8

Anyway, I'd say that for around $50.00, buying these accessories would be a great investment, and should keep you flying for quite a while. One last thing that you might want to check out is a crash pack. Something's always bound to break, and having a crash pack on hand just means that you'll be back up and flying much quicker!

Hope this helped! :)
 
I started off with a Hubsan x4 107c and am now flying a diy mini-drone using the Hubsan components but with my own frame. I posted a thread in the First Build section of it.

While I'm certainly am still somewhat of a novice I thought I'd throw out my tips that probably apply to most of these tiny quads.

1. When you crash or think you're going to crash, cut the throttle immediately and to be totally safe turn off the transmitter. While others have suggested this is to avoid breakage of propellers which is certainly valid, a better reason is to not burn out the motors. I fly my K6 mini-quad outdoors exclusively and when I crash it at least one of the propellers will be unable to turn because of grass, twigs, leaves, etc. If you do not cut the throttle, the current going through the "blocked" motor will cause it to overheat and eventually burnout. Cutting the throttle or turning off the transmitter immediately will prevent this.

2. When looking for a downed mini-quad, resist the temptation to run the motors to be able to hear where it is. Again, most of the time in outdoor crashes at least one of the motors won't be able to turn freely and you will burn out a motor.

3. Avoid flying your mini-quad when it is hot outside. Hotter air is less dense so the motors have to work harder to generate sufficient lift. Working harder means they will run hotter and I believe overheating is the reason most of these motors fail.

4. When flying outside, do not fly with the propeller guard on. I believe the propeller guard is about 5g. Inside this extra weight is not too much of an issue because unless you have an extremely large indoor area to fly in, you will generally not be pushing your mini-quad to it's extreme. Outdoors is another matter and you will find yourself flying the mini-quad quite a bit more aggressively. This extra 5g of weight when flying aggressively will again cause the motors to have to work harder increasing the likelihood of burning out a motor.

5. Resist the temptation to add a bigger battery. A larger battery means more weight which means the motors have to work harder which means they will run hotter. They will also draw more current so the battery will get hotter also. I flew my original Hubsan a few times with a 500mAh battery but while I did get longer flight times, after the flight the motors would be quite hot as well as the battery. My K6 diy mini-quad take-off weight without the camera unit is about 5g lighter than my stock Hubsan. Consequently the motors don't have to work as hard and most of the time after a flight, the motors are only slightly warm to the touch, even with a 500mAh battery.

Hopefully you will see a common thread thru these tips; do not over stress your motors. By doing so they should run longer avoiding the necessity of getting out the soldering iron and replacing a motor.

One last tip, the first time you think "I wonder how high...", "I wonder how far..." or "I wonder how fast...", just throw your mini-quad in the trash. You will save a lot of time in not being able to find it!

Bruce
 
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I did wonder how high, and now I know because I tested it, also same goes for fast and far. I still have it, so glad I didn't throw it in the bin. You do need to know its limits and testing them somewhere safe and easy to find again is important. Bring a friend for an extra pair of eyes when you are testing it, then when your on your own you know how far/high you can go safely.
Sure playing hunt the quad is all part of the fun lol ;)
I also carry a 808 camera under my H107C and have noticed the motors getting warmer, I just let it sit for a long time to cool between flights.
 
Burntcarcus said:
I did wonder how high, and now I know because I tested it, also same goes for fast and far. I still have it, so glad I didn't throw it in the bin. You do need to know its limits and testing them somewhere safe and easy to find again is important. Bring a friend for an extra pair of eyes when you are testing it, then when your on your own you know how far/high you can go safely.
Sure playing hunt the quad is all part of the fun lol ;)
I also carry a 808 camera under my H107C and have noticed the motors getting warmer, I just let it sit for a long time to cool between flights.
Click to expand...

That last tip of mine was sort of "tongue in cheek". While we all fly our tiny quad outdoors their size for me at least limits how high/far/fast I fly it. My limit is governed by how far away it is before I can't tell it's orientation in the air. The transmitter allows me to fly it way past the point of being able to see it's orientation.

My main point in the posting dealt with the motors. I have read postings, not necessarily on this forum, of people complaining about the relatively short lifespan of the Hubsan motors and I just wanted to offer some suggestions on how to extend their lifespan. Since building my little mini-quad I've been faithfully recording for each flight, the date, time, air temp, battery size and flight time. At this point in time I have accumulated on the same set of motors 75 flights with a total cumulative flight time of close to 9 hours. My motors seem to still be going strong.

Hopefully this proves my point that if you don't stress them these brushed motors will last a while.
 
bbodnyk said:
That last tip of mine was sort of "tongue in cheek". While we all fly our tiny quad outdoors their size for me at least limits how high/far/fast I fly it. My limit is governed by how far away it is before I can't tell it's orientation in the air. The transmitter allows me to fly it way past the point of being able to see it's orientation.

My main point in the posting dealt with the motors. I have read postings, not necessarily on this forum, of people complaining about the relatively short lifespan of the Hubsan motors and I just wanted to offer some suggestions on how to extend their lifespan. Since building my little mini-quad I've been faithfully recording for each flight, the date, time, air temp, battery size and flight time. At this point in time I have accumulated on the same set of motors 75 flights with a total cumulative flight time of close to 9 hours. My motors seem to still be going strong.

Hopefully this proves my point that if you don't stress them these brushed motors will last a while.
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That is interesting, are you flying until the battery dies, or letting them cool? Heat and impact appeares to be the biggest enemy to coreless motors.
 
GJH105775 said:
That is interesting, are you flying until the battery dies, or letting them cool? Heat and impact appeares to be the biggest enemy to coreless motors.
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I fly it until the LEDs start blinking indicating a low battery. Incidentally I got myself one of those battery warning devices to check the voltage; fully charged ~4.28V, after flying ~3.77V. With my current design the motors never get very hot while flying; probably because I generally fly without the camera modules making it about 5g lighter than the original Hubsan and the fact that much of the motor is exposed which allows any heat to dissipate into the air. I also believe that the wider footprint; 110mm between motor centers diagonally and a higher center of gravity also helps.

Early on I had some problems with failure due to impact but not to the motor itself, mostly dealing with the motor wires ripping off the receiver board where they are soldered. I've since become much better at soldering and making sure the wires aren't taut at the motor end or the receiver end so there is some play in them.

As of this posting I'm up to 86 flights with a cumulative flight time of 10 hours 12 minutes. Not too bad for motors that cost about $3.00!
 
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bbodnyk said:
I fly it until the LEDs start blinking indicating a low battery. Incidentally I got myself one of those battery warning devices to check the voltage; fully charged ~4.28V, after flying ~3.77V. With my current design the motors never get very hot while flying; probably because I generally fly without the camera modules making it about 5g lighter than the original Hubsan and the fact that much of the motor is exposed which allows any heat to dissipate into the air.

Early on I had some problems with failure due to impact but not to the motor itself, mostly dealing with the motor wires ripping off the receiver board where they are soldered. I've since become much better at soldering and making sure the wires aren't taut at the motor end or the receiver end so there is some play in them.

As of this posting I'm up to 86 flights with a cumulative flight time of 10 hours 12 minutes. Not too bad for motors that cost about $3.00!
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I'd be interested in seeing some of your data, could you make a thread in experimentation? The batteries may be just a hair overcharged, but stopping them at 3.7v is a BIG help, many people run them to 3.0v and charge their LiPos fast; this really decreases the life span, and shortens future flights on them.
 
GJH105775 said:
I'd be interested in seeing some of your data, could you make a thread in experimentation? The batteries may be just a hair overcharged, but stopping them at 3.7v is a BIG help, many people run them to 3.0v and charge their LiPos fast; this really decreases the life span, and shortens future flights on them.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately I only received the battery checker a few days ago so battery voltage is not something I've been recording. I'm using the stock usb charger that came with the Hubsan. Since receiving it I've been randomly checking them and the 4.28/3.77 values are pretty consistent.

I'll start a post in the experimentation forum and attempt to upload my Excel spreadsheet to it.
 
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