While everybody is wondering what to get that RC someone for Christmas; its a pretty good guess that it will be a drone. Drones seem to be the popular choice which are high up on most hobbyist's wish list this season. There is a pretty good selection available ranging from tiny quads, you fly in your living room to FPV Racers all the way up to the bigger camera drones with full GPS controls.
This year we have picked the BLADE Inductrix quad as our RC product of the year. It is so much fun to fly, you can fly it anywhere in the house, very maneuverable and as rugged as can be (hobby grade at FredZ means you can fix anything that brakes). They come in BNF (bind to your DSM transmitter) or RTF use the transmitter DSM that comes with it. Ask for your DEMO in the FredZ RC Zone and see how you or your favorite RC person can have FUN all winter at a low cost. We have set up a small drone course in the FredZ RC Zone, come in and check out your skill navigating through the loops.
FredZ Hobby shop question, if you have a question please ask. (answer may not be completely technical, I hope it helps you understand ) This weeks question: What Drone should I buy ? Drones have certainly made the news lately. I'll start off with that In the RC hobby we call them Quads or however number of motors they have. The Drone came from the media making them sound like Military Drones used to spy and attack the enemy. This is causing problems making the government over react and make rules trying to show how they are in control. The USA has announced they will TRY to register the quads, my opinion is there are way too many to even start to count them let alone register them. In Canada, they have looked at the Commercial side of quads and are trying to make you file a flight plan weeks ahead of your Commercial flight that you a making financial gains from. Once again there are people following the rules and LOTS that are not. Time will tell how this all plays out. The bottom line at this time you can buy and fly the drone/Quad of your choice and as long as you fly it responsibly you can have LOTS OF FUN! At FredZ we have quite a few different Quads : The Baby Quad - These are the ones you can fly in your house or outside on a calm day. They are very maneuverable, rugged and don't cost too much. Some features are self leveling, small cameras for movies or still pictures, they can flip after a button is pushed or some can even go upside down, reversing the controls so you still fly them as normal. ie you are in control and have to know the orientation to be able to tell it where you want it to fly. This takes a bit of technique and skill and adds to the fun you can have with them. if you happen to hit anything with these small machine they just bounce off and keep on going or fall to the ground usually safe and ready to fly again.
Drones in the news:
ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) — A public hearing Tuesday night could affect every drone user in Albany County, and we’re not just talking about the expensive ones.
A bill before county lawmakers would ban anything that flies unmanned with the aid of a remote control.
This ban would not only impact larger drones with cameras, it would even impact smaller, recreational drones that you can buy at a kiosk in the mall.
Some lawmakers in Albany say the more popular they get, the more traffic there will be in the air.
They say it’s affecting property, privacy and other aircraft flight routes.
Some who planned to attend the hearing said they’ve been flying for years and say while they completely understand that rules and regulations are necessary — an all-out ban is ludacris.
They argue that for many this is a hobby and that the majority of pilots obey the guidelines in place; the few that abuse it shouldn’t be able to ruin it for everyone else.
The public hearing will take place at 7:15 p.m. Tuesday, December 8 at the Legislative Chambers of the Albany County Courthouse on Eagle Street.
The serious Quad - These are bigger and Faster and super maneuverable. They have to be flown outside. Some of these can be flown at over 100 KPH. They can carry cameras to take pictures of the area to be save on a SD memory card or they have FPV camera that transmit the picture back to video goggles or a screen so you you can see what the quad sees. It feels like you are in the flying machine and you can feel the way it flies. A new sport that is becoming very popular is FPV (first person view)
Quad racing. They set up a course and race through the course either on their own or race head to head. You can have the FUN of flying without the consequences of killing yourself in a crash. This summer will be BIG for FPV racing.
The GPS controlled Quad - These are the bad boys causing all the trouble. They are GPS controlled so flying them does not take a lot of skill or have to be in site to be under control. They carry high quality cameras on gyro controlled gimbals to let you have the best picture from any perspective you can think of. Some models come with a great camera up to 4K picture quality others let you mount your own camera such as a GoPro. The main reason these quads where invented is to take pictures. This is attracting a different interest person to RC who doesn't want to fly something, they just want to take gorgeous pictures.
Some GPS Quad features: SMART mode - that lets you tell the quad where to go without knowing its orientation, it knows where you are so you can tell it to go away or come back or go left or right just by moving the stick. There is also a safety distance that will not allow the quad to enter too close to the pilot. Return home- at the push of a button or an automatic signal, if it looses signal or battery becomes low the quad will fly back to the spot it took off from. Follow me, circle me - The quad knows where you are and will follow at a set height and distance that is programmed.
GPS hold - The quad will stay where you tell it and if the wind blows it away it will fight to stay exactly where you told it to stay. this is used to photograph, you can move the camera around as the quad controls itself to stay where you set it. SimToo Follow Me Camera Drone Features Unique GPS Band Control: One key flying up, super easy operate. Foldable Design: World first fold-able design, extremely portable camera drone GPS and Altimeter: GPS and altimeter technology inside. Auto Flying: Auto stable flying functionality Automatic Return to Home: Fail-safe & auto return, return to home and land. Position Holding: Precise Position Hold Mode, Super Stable for Excellent Aerial Photography. Autonomous Follow: Antonomous follow me function. Camera Gimbal : 2D brushless gimbal.
The Future of drones may include delivering packages or cross county flights where the drone could be programmed to land at predetermined charging (refueling stations).
