Menu
What's new

Drones

Don Baer

Don Baer

Moderator
Staff member
Messages
11,448
Location
somewhere east of Queen Creek, AZ - South East of
Well out Legion post is starting up a drone club for our youth activities and well I have always wanted to get one anyhow so I am in the market (I'm nothing but a kid anyhow). I know som of you have them so I am open to uggestions. The done we are looking at at this time are all 250 grams or smaller so no license will be required. so what are you all flying ?
I am looking at the Roku F 11 Mini so opinions anyone.
 
IMO, drones are like power tools. Buy a cheap one and you'll eventually be buying an expensive one. There's a reason why DJI owns the drone market. I have the DJI Mavic Mini, but they no longer sell that particular model. It's been replaced by other "mini" models with better cameras and more features in the software. You might look for a used DJI in your area.

Also, you can fly heavier drones without a license. They just need to be registered with the FAA, and it only costs $5. The only time you need a license is if you're using the drone for commercial purposes like real estate photography, TV or movie shoots, or aerial mapping. The license costs $300, plus the price of any classes or tutorials you purchase. I have a friend whose primary income is from flying drones, but he doesn't have a license. As long as there's a licensed pilot with him, it's still apparently legal for him to be the actual pilot. His business partner is licensed to fly, but my friend is the better pilot. They do a lot of aerial mapping and TV/movie work. My friend is typically doing the flying, and his licensed partner is operating the camera.
 
Last edited:
It's hard to tell, Like Vaughn, my little dji spark is discontinued, but it still works well. Just doesnt' have very good battery life. but I can get some good videos in the 15 minutes it lasts.

Buying stuff like this takes a bit of research. There's a lot of chinese stuff that works well at a price point. Sometimes the cheap stuff will work well, but you'll have to do more work to get it to work.

the pricey stuff will generally perform better and have better support. It just depends on what you are looking for.
 
Brent Dowell said:
...There's a lot of chinese stuff that works well at a price point. Sometimes the cheap stuff will work well, but you'll have to do more work to get it to work...
Click to expand...
A large part of how well a particular drone works is the software that's controlling it. I suspect that many (if not most) of the drones on the market are using similar motors and electronics. The real value is in the software that controls it. I think much of DJI's value is in the software they write to control their machines. And although there are some third-party drone control apps available, I think DJI's control apps are about as easy to use as any of them. Also, drones aren't like computers, where the same app will run on many brands of machines. In most cases, the apps have to be written for a specific model (or models) of a specific brand.
 
Brent Dowell said:
It just depends on what you are looking for.
Click to expand...
and there in lies the dilemma. For my use money is not the concern BUT for the drone club that will be another matter. I am sure that for the club we will need multiple lesser expensive models to get the kids started and learning the basics and crashing a lot. Then have a few of the higher end unit for them to grow into. The reviews seem to be a bit biased towards one brand or the other, some reviews didn't even mention the rji for the most part I believe it a crap shoot. Like you mentioned Vaughn hardware (other than cameras) they are fairly equal but the software makes the difference. For my part I think I want one that has the follow me feature as well as the ability to put in a route with way points but for the club these are not needed.
 
well after watching a few hours of vidios it looks like the dji 3 mini pro is what I am looking at, I am leaning on spending the extra money and getting the rc controller with the built in screen rather than using my cell phone, the cost difference is about $150 but the real time video will b faster and it wont tie up my phone or use any of the phones battery. Now I am looking @ the various packages to see what ccrssories I really need.
Here is the one I am leaning towards.

 
Looks like a good choice. I know it's far and few between when I fly mine around. I often think about doing it, but either due to rain or wind, I have to think about doing it another day and those days I forget. :)

I have the DJI Spark, it's not as compact and the battery life is about 15 minutes per battery, so it usually takes me about 13 minutes to get the hang of flying again after not flying for a while. ;)
 
That strikes me as a solid choice.

I've got the spark, and the components for a couple of home built drones that would use an FPV headset and camera that I just haven't finished up yet that would use a regular RC transmitter.

I've been flying RC planes since the early 80's and the one philosophy I have is to always be prepared when you throw something in the air that it just might be the last time it flies, lol.
 
Last edited:
That looks like a good package, Don. :thumb: I think it's worth the extra $150 to get the controller with the built-in screen. I wish that had been an option when I bought my Mavic Mini. When I bought mine I got the Fly More package, which included extra batteries, a charger, a case, and spare props. I bought the memory card separately and later bought a landing pad. The package you're looking at would need no extras, and it doesn't have a bunch of stuff you don't need.

I've not flown many non-DJI drones, but I think the kids will be less likely to crash a DJI than some of the cheap brands because their software is more stable and easier to use.
 
For the grandkids, I have a few of these around...


Good and cheap to learn the basics on and they can handle a few crashes. They also have the auto hover feature so they can stop and think about what they are going to do next. I picked up several extra batteries and propellers sets, only about 5 minutes fly time with each, but they have fun.
 
let the fun begin...... well as soon as the batteries get charged up...lol
20240411_144810.jpg

this is the dji mini 4 Pro. I went with it for a number of reason not the least is this has 360 collision avoidance and the latest and greatest features too numerous to tell. It is an ultra light but you can upgrade the batteries to 58 minute batteries if you want to register it. After watching hours of tutorials it easy to see why these units are so popular. The camera in this has far more capabilities than I will ever use but it's nice to have it. I can see I have a very steep learning curve.
 
Don Baer said:
and there in lies the dilemma. For my use money is not the concern BUT for the drone club that will be another matter. I am sure that for the club we will need multiple lesser expensive models to get the kids started and learning the basics and crashing a lot. Then have a few of the higher end unit for them to grow into. The reviews seem to be a bit biased towards one brand or the other, some reviews didn't even mention the rji for the most part I believe it a crap shoot. Like you mentioned Vaughn hardware (other than cameras) they are fairly equal but the software makes the difference. For my part I think I want one that has the follow me feature as well as the ability to put in a route with way points but for the club these are not needed.
Click to expand...
I have the Mini 3 pro with the fly more kit and really like it. Wish I had the 4 with the way points. I think you will really like it. I bought the insurance so if it flies away or crashes I can get a new one for a fraction of the cost of new. So far no crashes as the avoidance feature on them is GREAT and mine only has 3 way

Vaughn the the license cost is $175 for the part 107 that's set by the FAA there are people that sell classes ranging from $99 to $175. If you use anything other than the 249g battery you have to reg it.
 
well I had my first flight, I flew it in the house for the first flight then took it outside for it's first flight. lots of fun, I can see where this is going to be a steep learning curve. the collision avoidance kept going off in the house but that's ok at least I know it works. It also went off when I got to near my neighbors house. the auto take off and landing are super. The ability to hover is going to be very important until I get used to camera controls, just to many things goin on at once.
 
Jay Caughron said:
Vaughn the the license cost is $175 for the part 107 that's set by the FAA there are people that sell classes ranging from $99 to $175. If you use anything other than the 249g battery you have to reg it.
Click to expand...
Ha! I guess that's what I get for trusting the Internet. :D I looked it up a while back and thought I'd seen $300 for the license alone. Or maybe I was doing off what some drone-flying friends had told me. Either way, thanks for the correction. :thumb:
 
Jay Caughron said:
I bought the insurance so if it flies away or crashes I can get a new one
Click to expand...
yes I went ahead and got it also, cheap enough
Jay Caughron said:
license cost is $175 for the part 107 that's set by the FAA
Click to expand...
I can see why you might want that I will probably go for that also. For now I'll just do the FAA TRUST training so I have the proper knowledge as far a recreational flying goes.
 
Don Baer said:
well I had my first flight, I flew it in the house for the first flight then took it outside for it's first flight. lots of fun, I can see where this is going to be a steep learning curve. the collision avoidance kept going off in the house but that's ok at least I know it works. It also went off when I got to near my neighbors house. the auto take off and landing are super. The ability to hover is going to be very important until I get used to camera controls, just to many things goin on at once.
Click to expand...
Don't forget to try out the RTH (Return to Home Feature). If you lose sight of it, press that button and it will come back and land all on it's own.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top