Drone Flyers

Parrot AR Drone 2.0 as your first drone?

craigi — Thu, 09 May 2013 13:07:24 +0000

In many ways, the Parrot AR Drone, released in 2010, foresaw the current boom in consumer quadcopters. Although there had been an active geek culture building and programming quads prior to that date (2005 on), the AR Drone fired up the fancy of many and was well covered in the press. Brookstone was the initial primary vendor and it was [ Read More ]

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Turnigy Accucell 6 Balancing Battery Charger basics

craigi — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 17:32:34 +0000

Your first foray into quadcopters may be with a mini or micro – most of which use a single cell LiPo battery and come standard with a USB or plug-in charger. However, once you step up in size to larger and heavier drones, you will find that most of them use batteries which are MUCH larger in size, weight and [ Read More ]

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Dualsky Hornet Quadcopter – First Look and Review

craigi — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 01:14:19 +0000

Dualsky is a well regarded manufacturer in the R/C model industry, and highly regarded for their motors – one of the key ingredients in any quadcopter. Hobbyists have long been using their motors and other parts to build their own machines, but until now Dualsky did not produce a complete quadcopter. This has changed with the introduction of their Hornet [ Read More ]

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Beginners only – the best first Quadcopter!

craigi — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 13:02:59 +0000

Although we have an existing section for beginners, I thought it would be nice to have an even easier and shorter guide to getting started in this hobby and pursuit. The below advice applies to those with NO flying R/C experience in the past. Your first Quad Since this is a short guide, I suggest all new flyers pick up [ Read More ]

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Why are there very few negative reviews on drones and quadcopters?

craigi — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 00:42:50 +0000

I’ve delved far enough into this endeavor to notice something which I have seen in MANY industries. That is, a lack of truly critical, negative and accurate reviews of many of the products! Understanding the Issue I could tell endless stories about this same tendency in other fields – for instance, I was in the heating equipment business for other [ Read More ]

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How to Troubleshoot and Reset your AR Drone (1.0 and 2.0) after a crash

Chris C — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 06:41:24 +0000

How to Troubleshoot your AR Drone after a crash (1.0 and 2.0)……. Sooner or later (probably sooner) you are going to have a nice little wreck with your AR Drone. Maybe you hit a wall too hard, hit the ceiling, smacked a tree, or sucked in a twig. Wrecks, crashes, and other emergency stops are par for the course with [ Read More ]

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Review- WLtoys V959 2.4G 4-Axis 4CH RC Quadcopter With Camera

craigi — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 01:49:11 +0000

WL Toys are well known for their line of Quadcopters, namely the v929, v939, v949 and v202. Each of these quads have different styles and flight characteristics, allowing the prospective buyer to choose based on their intended use and flying style. The V959 model follows along with this theme and is designed and tuned to carry a on-board camera or [ Read More ]

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DRS – Droneflyers Rating and Review System

craigi — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 01:00:56 +0000

As the multirotor site “for the rest of us”, we determined that many of the online review and ratings for quadcopters are not suited to the average new consumer. Instead of using technical comparisons and subjective “feelings”, we determined that we would report the basics in a simple fashion which would help guide the buyer. For example, we will not [ Read More ]

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Free Consulting Advice for Chinese Quadcopter makers!

craigi — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 03:25:48 +0000

Having been in marketing and sales for 30+ years, I get very frustrated watching the poor ways that Chinese quadcopter manufacturers present their products to the English speaking (and perhaps other languages) world. In the hopes of helping this industry to grow and prosper, I’m going to offer some free advice to the makers and marketers of these great products! [ Read More ]

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AR Drone Maintenance

craigi — Fri, 01 Mar 2013 14:09:51 +0000

Note: The below was written based on the 1.0 model, but most of it also pertains to the 2.0 If you’ve been around the (flying) hobby for any length of time you can appreciate how delicate some of these systems can be. Anything that spins, moves or flies won’t last long, barring any accidents, without a little TLC. The AR [ Read More ]

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Parrot AR Drone Modifications

Chris C — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 01:25:07 +0000

What fun is it to leave a fantastic device like the AR Drone bone stock? We all want more power, more altitude, longer flight times, and better looks. While there are quite a few mods for sale, I am going to stick to ones that myself or people I know personally can attest to. If you have suggestions, please post [ Read More ]

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Review – Optrix XD Wide Angle iPhone Lens and Case

craigi — Sat, 23 Feb 2013 02:39:20 +0000

Those of us with interest in photography often end up with a collection of cameras – too many to take along for travel or for all the various activities we may engage in. Optrix sells a number of cases which may help sports and hobby enthusiasts to cut down on that number! In many ways, an Optrix case turns your [ Read More ]

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Getting your drone out of the tree

craigi — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 17:30:00 +0000

If you fly quadcopters, it’s only a matter of time – usually a very short duration – until you get it stuck up in a tree. Given murphy’s law and your luck, it will naturally be quite high up. My first tree landing was about 40 feet up, which is quite a bit taller than my house! Here are some [ Read More ]

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Drones are Coming to the USA – Separating the BS and Reality Part #1

craigi — Sun, 17 Feb 2013 02:04:27 +0000

It happens every time! Technology brings changes and advances, most of which benefit us all. Yet a certain percentage of the population are always playing the Luddites or the “World is Ending” tune, just as they did in the past. As examples: 1. It was thought that the human body would suffer great damages if it ever went much over [ Read More ]

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Your FIRST AR Drone Modification should be landing gear!

craigi — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 23:55:08 +0000

Ok, so you’ve decided to get an AR Drone! Congratulations and good flying… BUT, before you take off with that machine, here is some advice which may help your drone last much longer. It’s a simple modification called the zip tie mod. You’ll find many examples of it by searching the web for “AR Drone zip tie mod”, but let [ Read More ]

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Using Lipo (Lithium Polymer) Batteries Safely

craigi — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 03:19:48 +0000

Most modern electric Quadcopters use Lipo batteries, so it is important for the beginner to understand a few basics about these powerful cells. There are a lot of very technical articles and discussions around the web on this subject and it can be confusing, so let’s just go through the basics. Safety First Keeping it simple, here are the first [ Read More ]

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AR Drone Simulator available for Android and IOS

craigi — Sat, 09 Feb 2013 21:28:34 +0000

Amazing! Now you can sit indoors by the fireplace and get some idea of what it is like to fly a Parrot AR Drone! The new app is available both for Android and IOS and costs less than $2.50. This makes it a inexpensive investment for any newbies thinking of getting into quadcopter flying. Although the app is by no [ Read More ]

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