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[shaun]

Hi

I'm new to the forum and quadcopter flying. Started with a little Hubsan x4 to give things a go, learn some basic flying and to see if it was something I would be interested in. I am a kitesurfer and what started me off was an interest in ultimately wanting to get to a point of being able to film kitesurfing from the unique perspective that only a quad could give.

So I am hooked and would like progress to a bigger quad but it seems a minefield out there to the beginner (build, spec a custom built or buy a ready to go)!

Upon initial reading one of the DJI Phantoms seemed to fit my needs quite well. However, upon further reading and research there seem to be a LOT of occurences of DJI Phantom 'flyaway'. The £700+ I would need to spend is a lot for something which could just fly off on me one day never to be seen again so I am reluctant to jump in, plus I am obviously concerned about the safety implications.

So I was wondering what experiences people had of flying quads and any 'flyaway' experiences. Is it just one of those things everyone accepts as part of the hobby? Or is it a problem with certain kits / companies / brands? Is it possible a custom build would be less prone to such problems as a result of better parts vs mass produced or is it mostly a case of pilot inexperience / error or not calibrating GPS / compass carefully enough?

Also trying to work out if going for the next level custom build but going for the cheapest I could get (e.g. Naza + DJI Flamewheel) to practice / learn or if something a little better would be a better bet so it has room to expand as my requirements increase, or if a next level complete RTF would be a better option?

Appreciate a lot of questions and no doubt am asking the $64,000 question, but I have spent quite a lot of time reading various forums and postings and thought I would take the plunge and ask.

Any insights, experiences, suggestions welcomed.

Thanks

Shaun

 

[Hugh Hemington]

Since you'll be flying over water, you'll need to prepare to land the thing on water. Few RTF quads are designed to do that, so DIY is probably best as the landing gear is more easily adapted to a very wide-stance floatation arrangement. You'll want the float spread to be twice the height of the quad off the sand/surf, and to keep the "guts" of the thing 16" or more above the water.

To carry a good camera, a large battery and that wide-spread gear, you probably want to build something around 600mm or even an 800. Mount the camera on top (farther from the water/spray) and even a light whip out the top with a strobe on top wouldn't be a bad idea, so you can find the thing easily if it lands in the swells.
At that size, you're probably looking at 850kv motors, and 12" props. You'll want a good GPS-stabilized controller too, in order to deal with coastal wind gusts. Think about a really simple X-frame with everything nestled on a center platform. Simple, stable, easy to service! Looks are not a factor. I see a lot of quads with the controller inside a CDR spindle box.

Fly-away is often caused by GPS losing lock on too many satellites (get the best GPS you can find), or something coming loose, causing an imbalance the controller cannot compensate for. If a magnetometer comes loose, that can also cause the controller to lose track of "home" or the ability to get back there.