Any Drone pilots on here?

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dennishoddy

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I want to buy one to fly as what I think is a cool hobby. The Supreme Court has ruled they don't have to be registered, as of now.
I have two of the mini's that are about 4" in diameter and they are a POS basically. They run out of signal at 50 yds, and you watch your $40 fly out of sight. I did recover one though by walking out the field in a pattern.
Looking for one that has auto return when it senses low battery life, GPS capabilities, 1080P camera with record and live video viewing, and gyro hover.
In simple terms something that just about fly's itself.
Who has one and what do you recommend when buying one?
 

undeg01

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I recently acquired a Phantom 3, 4K that does everything you are wanting. I have flown it as high as a couple thousand feet, and out about a half mile, but hear tell 3/4 of a mile is still within range. I just haven't pushed it that far as I do not want to lose it in a wooded area. I might take it out on a freshly cut wheat field here in a few weeks so that if it loses signal and goes down, I'll be able to locate it. Nice thing about the Phantoms is that if you lose signal, lose battery, or just don't want to try landing it yourself, it will land safely on its own.

I had never owned or even flown a drone before, but flying this one is simple. With the carbon props, it is very stable in the air and will hold steady in one position, even in moderate wind. I haven't got all of the camera capabilities figured out yet, but have used it enough to be able to get overhead/aerial views. I plan on using it to scout some new hunting properties soon. The batteries have about a 23 min charge, which sounds like a lot until you fly it a few times and run out of flight time. I plan on getting a couple extra batteries soon.
 

Pstmstr

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Current FAA rules require it to be flown no higher than 400 feet from its takeoff elevation and it must remain within line of sight. A lot of YouTube videos are good for new pilot info. DJI is definitely the way to go. I had the Mavic Pro for a while but there are a lot of restricted flight zones near where I live. Supposedly, DJI is going to announce a new smaller drone the 24th.


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Neanderthal

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I fly a DJI phantom 3 most of the time. I put an Argtek range extender on it and it can go out quite a ways. I use it to check hog traps behind the house and for spotting trails. They are very simple to fly and the video on them is incredible!
 

beastep

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I have been wanting to look at them for a while to scout with before I go pig hunting. I know absolutely nothing about them except the fact that to get one like I need would probably be out of my price range.
 

NightShade

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If you want something that will basically fly itself then a DJI is probably your best bet. They have the ability to literally be programed a flight and then run the flight and come back. I don't know if they will come back once the battery gets low but who they would be the type to have it.

If you want something a little faster.... Scratch that a LOT faster then I would look at a Eachine x220 If you have been flying line of sight already and enjoyed it this will be very familiar but beefed up. If you go this route you also have the option to fly fast in a FPV mode, basically flying just like when you watch the video's online from the quad's view. You have a few options as well to allow flips and rolls with this version and with a DJI drone you get steady and stable at all times. However you will either need an On Screen Display to give you voltages or use an external LiPo checker/alarm for the battery and manually land, the LiPo alarms work well for a lost drone finder as they are very loud, think smoke detector loud. And if anyone else decides to go this route I will be more than happy to do some basic setups to help you get flying.
 

dennishoddy

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Thanks for the feedback.
Looking real hard at the DJI Phantom 3 standard. Recommended by just about everybody to be the best starter drone.
Amazon has some official DJI refurbished models for $399 which sounds like a deal to me. I think some prop guards would be in order as well. Those unprotected blades look like a disaster in the works.

Found an interesting website in my searches that offer some drones for under $200 that do rolls, one touch returns, and so on.

https://www.wish.com/m?to_address=d...mZW1haWxfdHlwZT1XaXNoK0Rpc2NvdW50&iscommerc=1
 

Neanderthal

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Thanks for the feedback.
Looking real hard at the DJI Phantom 3 standard. Recommended by just about everybody to be the best starter drone.
Amazon has some official DJI refurbished models for $399 which sounds like a deal to me. I think some prop guards would be in order as well. Those unprotected blades look like a disaster in the works.

Found an interesting website in my searches that offer some drones for under $200 that do rolls, one touch returns, and so on.

https://www.wish.com/[email protected]&uuid=fb1df9d4941040a596eef0bb8c40413a&cmpgnid=59210f06d0ecff0985ee70cf&exzpl=ctp-1&filter=xparam-59210f08d0ecff0985ee70d0&email_type=Wish+Discount&recvuid=58aa21ac4c3d0760cf368b38&app_deep_link=d2lzaDovL2hvbWU_dGFnPXhwYXJhbS01OTIxMGYwOGQwZWNmZjA5ODVlZTcwZDAmdG9fYWRkcmVzcz1kZW5uaXNob2RkeSU0MGhvdG1haWwuY29tJmlzY29tbWVyYz0xJmNtcGduaWQ9NTkyMTBmMDZkMGVjZmYwOTg1ZWU3MGNmJnJlY3Z1aWQ9NThhYTIxYWM0YzNkMDc2MGNmMzY4YjM4JnV1aWQ9ZmIxZGY5ZDQ5NDEwNDBhNTk2ZWVmMGJiOGM0MDQxM2EmZXh6cGw9Y3RwLTEmZW1haWxfdHlwZT1XaXNoK0Rpc2NvdW50&iscommerc=1

You'll love the phantom 3. You can do the "one touch return home" with it as well. It's very stable and super easy to fly. I often fly completely out of my vision range well over a mile away and can't tell from the camera exactly where I'm at, so I hit the "return home" button and let it come back until I see it. It can land itself, or you can take control back and land it manually. I don't know if I can do rolls on mine, I've never tried or felt the need to do it.

Before I got a drone, I always had the misconception that if you let go of the controls it will keep going. They don't, or mine doesn't at least. It will hover and it's very stable. I have had it out in 20mph winds without problems, but I was afraid to fly it very far due to having to fight the wind on the way back. I do like that when the battery gets real low on it, it will try to return to home by itself (unless you turn that off).
 

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