To GPS or not GPS?

[JBella]

About 4 weeks ago I bought a Syma X5C-1 and started flying it around my backyard. It was frustrating at first but I was having a lot of fun and my skills were getting better as I went. A week ago I let the altitude get away from me (I'm still not exactly sure how) and it tried to fly away. It soared over my neighbor's house but I fought it gallantly and was able to coax it back over my backyard, but it was still way high. At this point it had been spun around and at that distance I couldn't tell fore from aft or port from starboard. I gave it some forward pitch to determine it's heading but it was too little too late. It crashed into the top of a tree about 3 stories high and resides there still.

There was no question I would get another drone but which one? I had been looking at an MJX Bugs 2 but I really didn't want to start depending on Headless Mode and Return to Home and Altitude Hold, etc. until I had become a legit flyer (which I am not yet). So, figuring that I already had a case and extra batteries and props for the Syma I bought another one.

Today I took it to a huge empty park. This would be my largest venue yet. I flew it out to greater distances than I had thought possible and was having an absolute blast. At one point it just took off climbing. I chopped the throttle thinking it would crash somewhere on the park's soft grass except....

....it never came down. At least I never saw it come down. I walked the park on a search-and-rescue mission but it wasn't to be found.

So now I have a hard case, spare props and spare batteries for a drone I don't own. I'm anxious to buy my next one. Do I stay with the Syma or get a GPS bird
with automated flight features? Part of me says I should stay with $45 drones until I can keep one long enough to develop some skills. And, assuming this isn't the last drone I'm going to lose, why buy one one for $200 if I'm just going to lose it anyway? Should I just go through as many Symas as it takes or do I reward myself for losing two drones in 10 days and move on to something more expensive?

You know, I'm not sure GPS would've saved me in either loss. Headless Mode might have saved the first one but I can't be sure and maybe I could track my second one with it's GPS signal but I'm not sure you could do that once the bird is out of range.

What say you? How many Symas until you've paid your dues?

 

[davidhk129]

RE : I really didn't want to start depending on Headless Mode and Return to Home and Altitude Hold, etc. until I had become a legit flyer

I won't attempt to change your method of learning to fly a drone. There are pundits who advocate learning to fly with a no nonsense quad like Syma X5C. They say learning to fly with anything like Altitude Hold, GPS etc will create bad habits which could hamper further development as an expert pilot.
I, however, learnt to fly with an Altitude Hold toy quad. Without it, I probably would have quit this hobby.
By the way, I have only 4 months of experience.

RE : at that distance I couldn't tell fore from aft or port from starboard

I have a Syma X5C-1 too. To help me on the orientation issue, I ordered some X5C-1 spare parts which have assorted colours of props and prop guards. I used the red ones for the front. That way I know which direction the quad is facing.


RE : Do I stay with the Syma or get a GPS bird

X5C is tooooo light. To fly it in an open field with wind over 5 mph will have the danger of "fly away". Fly in speed #2 might help the drone fighting the wind. But it is just too light and its brushed motors are too weak to combat the wind gust.

If you wish to continue your path of learning by not "depending on Headless Mode and Return to Home and Altitude Hold etc", may I suggest MJX Bugs 3 or Bugs 3mini.
They have powerful brushless motors and built to fly outdoors. I have one and I love every moment of flying it. They have 2 modes...….. Angle mode and Acro mode. Angle mode is for newbies like me.

 

[mark jackson]

syma x25 is alt hold and gps great flyer and the trainer for my phantom as they behave the same ............................ I give up on my x5 sw its all over the show

 

[JBella]

RE : I really didn't want to start depending on Headless Mode and Return to Home and Altitude Hold, etc. until I had become a legit flyer

I won't attempt to change your method of learning to fly a drone. There are pundits who advocate learning to fly with a no nonsense quad like Syma X5C. They say learning to fly with anything like Altitude Hold, GPS etc will create bad habits which could hamper further development as an expert pilot.
I, however, learnt to fly with an Altitude Hold toy quad. Without it, I probably would have quit this hobby.
By the way, I have only 4 months of experience.

RE : at that distance I couldn't tell fore from aft or port from starboard

I have a Syma X5C-1 too. To help me on the orientation issue, I ordered some X5C-1 spare parts which have assorted colours of props and prop guards. I used the red ones for the front. That way I know which direction the quad is facing.
View attachment 4931


RE: X5C is tooooo light. To fly it in an open field with wind over 5 mph will have the danger of "fly away". Fly in speed #2 might help the drone fighting the wind. But it is just too light and its brushed motors are too weak to combat the wind gust.

Those words resonated with me after witnessing my "fly away" yesterday. Too bad, I love those X5s.

I like your idea of identifying the front of the quad with the props and prop guards. I bought some red/orange tape and wrapped stripes around the front legs for that "Phantom" look but your setup is even more visible.

Do you use the rubber bands to hold a camera?

I too like the Bugs 3 but I think I"m going to follow your path and get something with some flight automation to it to continue my learning path.

Thanks.





If you wish to continue your path of learning by not "depending on Headless Mode and Return to Home and Altitude Hold etc", may I suggest MJX Bugs 3 or Bugs 3mini.
They have powerful brushless motors and built to fly outdoors. I have one and I love every moment of flying it. They have 2 modes...….. Angle mode and Acro mode. Angle mode is for newbies like me.

 

[JBella]

syma x25 is alt hold and gps great flyer and the trainer for my phantom as they behave the same ............................ I give up on my x5 sw its all over the show

I wasn't aware that Syma made anything that sophisticated. Thanks.

 

[davidhk129]

RE : Do I use rubber bands
That was because I have been using 3.7v 700mah battery instead of the stock 500mah. The battery is a little big and I am unable to use the door to close the compartment. So I took out the door and use the rubber bands to ensure the battery will not come out while in flight. Just an insurance.
I do not use that stock camera at all. It is not fpv camera. Personally, I always find it ridiculous to have a non-fpv camera on a quad. How do I take pictures if I cannot aim at the object?
There is a X5C fpv camera available but it cost about $30 Canadian. Not worth getting it.

P.S. If you quad has prop guards, DO NOT use them while flying outdoors unless there are no trees within your flight range. Prop guards are invitation to be stuck among the tree branches.
Prop guards are for indoors, a protection against collision.

 

[ArmyVet]

My 3 cents.
I flew RC aircraft years ago. So I still had some muscle memory for the controls and aircraft direction did not confuse me.
I started with a micro-quad about 8 years ago. It took a while, but I got better. Went to a much bigger quad. But no fancy GPS etc. Was fun but still a challenge. Every flight was nerve wracking. As a result I never flew more than 15 minutes at a time.

Finally got a DJI Phantom 3 S. WOW! What a pleasure to fly.
My point is that a quad with GPS makes it much more fun for you the beginner to get some muscle memory. Learn coordinated turns etc.
At any time you can turn the GPS off and practice without.
The one option I would not use is HEADLESS MODE. That will teach you bad habits. Unless its an emergency. And then you can use RTH.

Just my 3 cents.
HAve fun and good luck!

 

[JBella]

P.S. If you quad has prop guards, DO NOT use them while flying outdoors unless there are no trees within your flight range. Prop guards are invitation to be stuck among the tree branches.
Prop guards are for indoors, a protection against collision.

Thanks for the handy tips, David.

 

[JBella]

My 3 cents.
I flew RC aircraft years ago. So I still had some muscle memory for the controls and aircraft direction did not confuse me.
I started with a micro-quad about 8 years ago. It took a while, but I got better. Went to a much bigger quad. But no fancy GPS etc. Was fun but still a challenge. Every flight was nerve wracking. As a result I never flew more than 15 minutes at a time.

Finally got a DJI Phantom 3 S. WOW! What a pleasure to fly.
My point is that a quad with GPS makes it much more fun for you the beginner to get some muscle memory. Learn coordinated turns etc.
At any time you can turn the GPS off and practice without.
The one option I would not use is HEADLESS MODE. That will teach you bad habits. Unless its an emergency. And then you can use RTH.

Just my 3 cents.
HAve fun and good luck!

Ironically Headless Mode was one of the features I was looking forward to ;( but I see your point. At least with Altitude Hold I can practice orientation and coordinated turns without babysitting the throttle - which takes about 2/3 of my attention. In think I'm sold on a GPS bird, probably a Bugs 2.

Thanks.

 

[davidhk129]

In think I'm sold on a GPS bird, probably a Bugs 2.

Thanks.

There are 2 "Bugs 2" that have GPS features :
1. MJX Bugs 2 B2W. It is a FPV (first persion view) drone. The catch is, it uses 5G Wifi to transmit images to your phone. If your phone cannot support 5G, you will be paying for a lot that you can not use.
Check your smartphone first.
I, myself, have been dying to get a B2W, but my smartphone cannot support 5G wifi. I'm "bleep" out of luck.

2. MJX Bugs 2 B2C. This one is not fpv. Meaning the drone cannot transmit images its camera sees to your smartphone.
It is a GPS drone but without the fancy features such as Follow Me, Way Point etc.
As a GPS drone it does have a reliable Altitude Hold feature which will be beneficial to you.
Needless to say, it is quite a bit cheaper than the B2W.

 

[JBella]

It looks like none of these GPS birds let you have a fully manual throttle - even with GPS turned off. Is that right?

 

[davidhk129]

When you have GPS, you have Altitude Hold.
With a GPS quad, the Throttle is "spring loaded". Meaning it will spring back to the middle when you let go the stick.
That is the way Altitude Hold works. That's how you can tell if the quad has Altitude Hold or not.
Even with GPS turned off, which not all GPS quads have such option, the Altitude Hold feature remains active and cannot be turned off. I am not sure those 2 Bugs 2 quads have option to turn off GPS. I don't have one, so I don't know.
Unlike your Syma X5c-1 where the throttle is "totally manual". (Not spring loaded).

 

[ArmyVet]

Ironically Headless Mode was one of the features I was looking forward to ;( but I see your point. At least with Altitude Hold I can practice orientation and coordinated turns without babysitting the throttle - which takes about 2/3 of my attention. In think I'm sold on a GPS bird, probably a Bugs 2.

Thanks.

Good observation. Throttle does take a lot more of your attention.

I'm too old to get as good as these guys that wiz around with goggles. I am always impressed.

Good luck and have fun!

 

[davidhk129]

JBella,

I have given you an example of Optical Flow Positioning quad...… XK X300.
Here is another one that is well worth considering...……. SG106

** I don't have one. So I cannot vouch for what the Amazon said about this quad. **

The following is an excerpt of the quad's ability taken from Amazon.ca:
The 1080P front camera and bottom optical flow camera are switchable, enabling you to have both wonderful real-time images transmission image from sky and the terrain situation under the aircraft.3.7V 1600mAh lipo battery supports an almost 22 minutes' stable flight.

• Optical Flow Position: The combination of precise location by the vision position system and position hold by the optical flow positioning brings on a stable hovering for aerial shooting.
• Gesture auto-photo: when you do hand gesture in the front of the aircraft within 2 meters, it will automatically take pictures and record videos, very interesting.
• Path flying function enables the drone to fly according to a prepared route.
• Functions: Altitude hold, Wifi FPV, one key take off/landing, optical flow positioning, gesture photography, follow mode, one key return, way-point fly.

 

[marcusmsr]

i bought a Bugs 2c a couple of weeks ago. i've really enjoyed flying it. i have added my own AIO FPV camera to it, so i can fly it FPV using goggles.
i can get well beyond the 1km mark for distance, and as long as i have no real obstacles in the way, i get good connection from the little FPV camera.

 

[davidhk129]

i bought a Bugs 2c a couple of weeks ago. i've really enjoyed flying it. i have added my own AIO FPV camera to it, so i can fly it FPV using goggles.
i can get well beyond the 1km mark for distance, and as long as i have no real obstacles in the way, i get good connection from the little FPV camera.

I have been considering to buy one and attach a Runcam 2 to it. But I am not sure the range of the cam. If it's less than 200 feet, I don't want it.
Runcam 2 will cost me $110 CDN. Not cheap.

 

[JBella]

What does the Runcam 2 camera do that the built-in Bugs 2 camera doesn’t?

 

[davidhk129]

What does the Runcam 2 camera do that the built-in Bugs 2 camera doesn’t?

I am not well versed in this subject. In fact I know very little.
In layman terms, the "built-in" is just that. It is built-in and not transferrable.
RunCam is an independent device which can be attached to and removed from almost any quad. Usually it will be attached to the belly of the drone. It comes with accessories one of which are bands to attached/tie the cam to the quad.
Once it is wifi connected to the phone, it works exactly the same as the built-in cam.
What I don't know is the range of the Runcam 2. Meaning how far the quad can go before runcam loses connection to the phone.
It is useful for quads which do not come with fpv camera.

 

[wafflejock]

The runcam 2 split does HD recording on the SD card on board and has analog video out from there you can connect a VTX to get better than the wifi module range (also wouldn't trust flying with that wifi module hanging out the side)

 

[wafflejock]

There are some caveats to using it though certain modes result in bad latency of the analog signal, also it doesn't have superview that lots of people seem to like for acro flying also not as nice color as go pro in general but saves a lot on weight and pocket book if you want some decent looking footage (not the DVR kind)