The Contixo was just whetting my appetite for flight.
I flew it a bunch, took pictures and videos and generally learned the basics of quadcopter flight.
There is a lot of muscle memory here.
But it has two downsides.
The flight time is limited to 15 minutes advertised and in truth that number is closer to 11 minutes and two, you need to use your phone for the video link making a connections through local Wifi.
Which in itself is not such a bad thing, but if you are like me and have a case for your phone, or in my particular situation, a holder and a pair of glasses all affixed to the rear of my phone making it too thick for the holder built into the remote. I have to either remove the phone from the case or I have to be prepared to catch my phone when it inevitably pops out.
No joy.
Okay, enter Hubsan. A Chinese manufacturer of relatively inexpensive drones that pack a surprisingly large amount of features into a small package.
GPS
Internal Compass
1080 Video Streaming
1080 Pictures
Auto Home Return (RTH)
Brushless Motors
Altitude Hold
Fail Safe RTH
Follw Me
Headless Mode
Okay...AND, AND it has an integrated video display! The phone is retired!
So for $219.00 you get the drone, the remote and three batteries - two for the drone and one for the remote. And you will want the one for the remote, otherwise you will be burning 8 AA batteries in 10 hours or less. You also receive two sets of propellers, a wrench for attaching the props and a charger for the batteries.
Down to brass tacks.
While it works well it is light and hollow, both the drone and the remote. The drone's only weight is the battery. The switches feel more substantial than the molded form of the remote. The 2.4 ghz antenna has a female connector while the 5.8 ghz antenna has a male connector. I suspect this is so you cannot connect the wrong antenna to the wrong connector and thereby ruin your remote.
A weird aside - the Li-Po battery is much smaller than the battery compartment space provided for the 8 AA's. So it either rattles around or you find something to cushion the battery. (I used a piece of a new sponge - they take heat better than paper will)
The slot for the SD card is not spring loaded, you had better have nice fingernails to remove it.
There is no "one button take off" or "one button landing" function. I did find this very useful when I started flying quads.Otherwise I was soaring and then drifting.
(Watch your roll)
It comes without a case. You will spend another $50 on a hardshell case or be carrying it in both hands and making several trips from the car to take-off pad.
The instructions are sparse and exhibit English as a second language faux pas but is serviceable. If you have flown a quad before this will be familiar.
As far as performance, that will be covered in subsequent posts. I charged batteries and did the pairing process to see some video, but that was it.
There are ton of youtube reviews, so my input may be superfluous. We'll see.
Update:
On this past Wednesday I took it up twice and crashed both times. There is technique involved as well as muscle memory. Practice makes perfect etc.
In both cases I came to contact with the ground in a nose down attitude.
The first time I did a header into a roll of chicken wire with no damage.
The second landing was complicated but I got very close when the quad lifted and I reacted too quickly putting it in a nose down attitude and launching forward into a Rubbermaid shed.
Total cost?
The battery cover popped open and the quad suffered three (3) chipped props.
$25 to Hubsan alleviated that issue. I ordered both A&B prop sets in both gold and black (figuring the gold might provide more contrast when aloft ( orientation). - shipping included in that price.
There is an element of sport, personal achievement et cetera. There is also talent and vision in the use of any "new technology."
Obviously...more to follow.
