newbie to drones hoping for the best advice

[juniorlovegroove]

after my warm welcome yesterday, and a peruse of the recent threads, I';m hoping you friendly bunch will guide me through the maze of my first drone purchase.

my ten year old son would love an FPV drone.  that sounds easy I thought. 

what seems like weeks later, i seem to have narrowed it down to two.  However, after reading some of the threads here, i';m now not so sure. 

he is interested in film making, and i understand that to fly these things FPV, you have to be able to see properly, so a decent quality camera and screen seem standard on the ones i';ve been looking at.  we';re obviously not looking for something professional, yet, i';d be tempted to build one ourselves as we need to bond, but i don';t see his attention lasting the build process....kids today!

so this is my short list:

jxd 509g
wl toys q303c or d

from watching the flight tests, to me the self levelling camera of the 303 seems better, but there was mention of the fixed camera being easier in one thread.  the 303 seems the better quality and better machine, but the parts and spare batteries seem impossible to find, even on the wltoys website.

anyway, don';t want to bore you, but would greatly appreciate your opinions on the above or, any other reccomendations you may have.

thanks for listening,

junior

[guest325]

Both are OK for ';Toy grade models, there';s not a lot to choose between them; this is a very nice alternative that I do know is good:
http://www.hobbywow.com/en-cheerson-cx-33s-cx33s-cx-33-5-8g-fpv-with-2mp-camera-4ch-6-axis-gyro-high-hold-mode-rc-tricopter-rtf-p240055.htm
and my thread on it:
http://www.multi-rotor.co.uk/index.php?topic=19045.0

[juniorlovegroove]

that cheerson does look quite robust and easy to fly, even with only one flight setting.  shame it';s 96€ on hobbywow.

[Two-Six]

Humm, that is a tricky question. 

I think what you want is something cheap small and light and crash-proof and safe hopefully with guarded props..Initially. 

Something like a Hubsan X4.  It doesn';t have a camera but they crash superbly and go well outdoors even in breezy conditions. 

You aren';t risking too much cash if your son finds he isn';t really that interested with the whole endeavor that is learning to fly something RC. It does take quite some focus, enthusiasm work to get good at it.

Crashes can be very demoralising too for him and you.  It shouldn';t be overlooked, they can put people off pretty quickly from RC flying.  Ideally little crashes shouldn';t cause any more damage than a broken prop.

I think its good to learn how to actually fly an RC aircraft at least in parallel with FPV flying if not getting good at that first then getting into photography or FPV.

I just wonder how fixable those off-the-peg multi-rotorss are in reality.  They look fragile to me.  If you go the more "tradition" route and build your own quad it will be pretty bullet-proof and easy and cheap to fix.

The main question is, how much performance, speed and power would you trust a young chap with.

I know when I was 10 I was pretty mental and quite badly behaved 

Sorry, I am not in anyway saying your son is like that obviously :-)

If you do a self build you might find that its not as expensive as you might think to get a really decent quad with FPV capabilities.

I guess if your son';s interest is more focused on aerial photography then you might want something with higher levels of flight assist designed to be a camera platform so that total beginners can fly.   However you can still fly them into the side of house pretty easily I should imagine. 

To be honest I am not super-interested in DJI Phanton type multi-rotors flown with a smart-phone or table with GPS and stuff for taking pictures and video.  That';s just me but I can';t really give you much in the way of help full advice about this specific area.

Tricky one....I like the self build approach personally, something you can both get into together, specking it up, putting it together and setting it up and then learning how to fly it could be a good little project. 

Perhaps as that longer-term project is underway he will be happy with the perceivable more boring learning to fly safely thing....

[guest325]

that cheerson does look quite robust and easy to fly, even with only one flight setting.  shame it';s 96€ on hobbywow.

You can get it for less but Hobbywow pack their orders very well so it avoids damage - getting your money back from Chinese suppliers can be quite fun........ NOT!!!!!!

[juniorlovegroove]

i think i';ve made the final decision.  JXD509g it is.

It ticks the most boxes, and for an intro to FPV and drones in general, with the three flight modes and cheap spares all over the internet, the best all rounder.

i';ll be ordering it with the lad tonight.  the best deal i found is gearbest so far: http://www.gearbest.com/rc-quadcopters/pp_240434.html

if anyone knows of a better/cheaper supplier i';m all ears.

i';ll be more than happy to let you all know how i get on, share some flight vids.

@two-six, you';re not wrong at all, he can be a bit mental, that';s why something repairable is so important.  once he breaks and repairs it a couple of times he might get more interest in a self build.  if not i can repair it and resell it, they hold their value here, second hand ones i';ve seen sold for more than i';m paying new.  happy days!

thanks again everyone and sorry i didn';t plump for the cheerson darrell.   

[buzz_uk]

I started at the beginning of the year with a jxd509, They are good for the money but they are very much toy grade. Outside it will be pretty much useless in any kind of wind (i spent a lot of time chasing it accross fields, as the wind just took it), the battery will last at the very best six minutes but more like 4. If you go on ebay you can get a deal, six batteries and a six way charger for about fifteen quid...... well worth the money. I don';t regret buying it but in my opinion you';d be better spending a bit more on something else 

[juniorlovegroove]

Thanks buzz,

and the something better would be?    i thought the 303 to be a little better, but i';m just worried i won';t be able to repair it.  I emailed wltoys the day before yesterday asking about spare batteries...still no answer.

[buzz_uk]

I';m really not  sure mate, I went straight to a dji f450 after that..... I';m not saying it won';t be any good but there';s a good chance you';ll question the choice afterwards as it';s at the toy end of the market, it looks flash but doesn';t really deliver

[Two-Six]

I have found a video review or two for this  JXD509g:

! No longer available

I guess for the price, it looks pretty good. 

The nice thing about toy grade RC aircraft is that they are a good introduction to RC flying in that they are cheap and and usually do "something" which is often good enough for a while, then you want a better one. 

I didn';t know I quite liked helicopters until I got a really rubbish co-axial helicopter for free.  It was just the spinning rotors thing that made me go, "humm I quite like this, I should get a proper one"..

Some thoughts on it:

It does FPV. That';s good.  It has brushed motors and the props are broad and have a steep pitch, so they turn fairly slowly.  They have guards.  That';s good for a beginner.  The way it flies looks like it is capable of a reasonable turn of speed or can be flown very slowly.  The altitude hold feature looks a bit weird.  It looks a bit ponderous and wallows about when it flies.  Probably due to the low prop speed.

[guest325]

If you want to find reviews on any toy grade rc products RC SAYLORS are one of the best places to look, their reviews are as unbiased as you are likely to get  (other than RCMODELREVIEWS - he doesn';t do toy grade!!!).

[juniorlovegroove]

after watching 5 different flight tests, all of which liked it straight out of the box, the 509 has just been ordered through gearbest.

the 5 battery set and charger have to come separately for some scarey reason.

when he outgrows it will be the time for the build project i think.  I';m presuming we';d only need to upgrade the drone, the controller can be used with others?

i shall report back with video.

thanks everyone.

junior

[buzz_uk]

Good luck with it mate, the controller won';t be any use for a build. While you';re waiting for it have a look at a dji f450 it';d be a good build for you and the boy. I bought a kit, charger, battery and radio for around £190. Easy to build and a dream to fly, you can upgrade it as much as you like really. In a matter of weeks mine had a gimbal, osd and lights etc. Also have a look on ebay at the small 250 size racers, i built one of those for sixty two quid.... hilarious fun, again i';ve upgraded it with various bits. Before  four months ago the last time i';d held a soldering iron was i think once in school so all very acheivable.... waiting for my mavic now but would never sell my projects, they';ve become part of the family

[juniorlovegroove]

I don';t really care what he takes an interest in, just as long as he takes an interest.  some people can build stuff, some can';t, but i think with these pretty amazing bits of kit, you can excell in other areas.  We';ll see, if it grabs him.

if it deosn';t i guess i';ll just have to play with it.   

one thing he loves are screens though, so if he can at least get some decent video, it might encourage him to get involved in the hobby and away from the bloody telly.

we don';t do facebook at all, is there a kiddie corner here where our kids can share the successes and horrors?