It is a bit off topic, but does anyone have drone/quadcopter suggestions?

I want one that can be steered with a proper controller, where I can see what it is seeing via an iPad/tablet, that has a reasonable camera (or use my GoPro), that can fly some distance away from the controller (min 1 km without line-of-sight), and that won't fall apart in an hour.

I will use it out in the bush to follow a small river (and other applications).

The Phantom 3 Advanced looks good but it is more expensive than I had expected to pay.

Thanks.

You can't go wrong with the phantoms but I really like the 3DR Solo but also pretty expensive when you add a spare battery and the gimbal which you need.

Pros and cons DJ have really bad support (do a google search) and if you crash it parts are super expensive. The Dji gimbals are pretty fragile and prone to break , they won't sell you individual parts to fix it so you have to buy a new gimbal and camera $800 .The 3DR lets you use a Gopro 4 Black which is a better camera than the DJI. The 3DR is the ONLY drone that lets you have full control of a Gopro.

DJI Phantom 3 advanced with extra battery and back pack $1,900 (really good value gimbal is included so is the camera)

3RD Solo with gimbal , extra battery and back pack $3,000. Plus you have to add the Gopro .Harvey Norman have an interest free payment plan for around $50 per month.

www.harveynorman.com.au/3dr-solo-aerial-smart-drone.html

Wow - thanks Piros! Excellent information.

Too bad about the poor support - I sure prefer their price. I guess you get what you pay for!

my advice would be to please don't fly your drone above surfers heads without asking their permission to invade their privacy

How is it any different from a long lense camera on the land? Just a different angle I think?

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GizzieNZ said..
my advice would be to please don't fly your drone above surfers heads without asking their permission to invade their privacy

Surprisingly... I agree with this guy for once. A long lens from the shore can't drop on your head or distract you or (usually) annoy the crap out of you.

I think you will see (more) councils regulating and cracking down on these.

I am fairly involved with Drones and the advice from Piros is spot on regarding quads. I have my commercial drone license and am also a team pilot for www.multiwicopter.com and my advice would be this.

1) Go and buy a cheap $100 mode 2 toy to learn orientation and control. Better to crash that than a more expensive setup.
2) If you get a more expensive Drone make sure you know how to fly it properly (not relying on GPS) and also the laws involved in what you can and can't do. CASA 101 are the regs.



3) Drones go wrong so never put your drone into a position that it can damage people or property. When they go wrong they drop.
4) NEVER EVER fly over people, populated areas or above 400ft (AGL). Legally you need to keep 30m away from people, property etc
5) Always ask permission if you are going to film someone


The Phantom is a great product in the right hands and for the money is hard to beat. You just need to make sure you fully understand it.
I will also warn you now that as a hobby it is more addictive and expensive than you first think.

Definitely learn on a cheap (toy?) drone, and outside where you have space to avoid objects, i.e. walls, lights, ceiling fans etc

As you learn you will find that the drone
- heads straight for the nearest tree....or
- disappears downwind in 3 seconds....or
- goes so far away that you can't tell which way its going...or
- does the above then runs out of battery and drops into the bush/backyard/sea/lake etc

I saw a $300 model in Jaycar with FPV but I suspect the camera will be low res.
Good luck

Good advice by Piros, however I will disagree with one small point.

Don't buy a drone on a payment plan. The chances are it will be obliterated/lost well before you ever pay it off.

If you want to splash out, have a look at the Inspire 1.

Oh no, not another addiction! SUP is expensive enough ;)

@JoffaDan Beautiful vid! I want to be there! But that drone is a little more expensive than I had planned

Thanks for everyone's comments.

My initial reason for wanting one is to trace a river in pretty dense bush. But by the sounds of it the drone is likely to live permanently in that bush... But if it survives I am bound to find lots of other applications...

I probably should start with something cheap - my application does not require super hi-res.

"I want one that can be steered with a proper controller, where I can see what it is seeing via an iPad/tablet, that has a reasonable camera (or use my GoPro), that can fly some distance away from the controller (min 1 km without line-of-sight), and that won't fall apart in an hour."

Hi cantSUP enough, I am also a commercial drone operator (UAV Operator Certificate holder) and the line-of-site rule is very important. You need to have someone keep an eye on your drone at all times. So, if you are looking at the video screen then you should have an assistant keeping an eye on the drone while it is flying. Normally we always do this type of flying with 2 people. Practically speaking a small DJI phantom is visible up to about 4-500m so you should not be flying it unless you can see it.

Hope this helps

Thanks mikeman.

My hope, coming from zero experience, was that I could have it take off above the river (small river) and then fly along the river, steering via the iPad screen. At some point I would do a U-turn and fly back. I would navigate by the river. Because of trees, I would lose sight... There is no chance of there being anyone on the river. If it crashed it could hit a platypus on the head but hopefully it would see it coming.

I guess I need to rethink my plan.

What are you wanting to see?
You can buy really high resolution aerial photography. In NSW you can get a 10x10km square centred on whereever you like for less than $200. I'm sure Vic would be the same or better. The resolution is about 10cm pixel size - heaps enough for following a creek under forest canopy, etc.

Or I wonder if there's remote control boat equivalents that you can zoom up the river on, hence avoiding the whole CASA thing. Obviously maintaining a radio link would be the tricky bit.

Or if you really want to make a statement, put a camera on these bad boys: Skip to 1:00 for the boat and 2:20 for the plane.

Well, I wanted to see what's there.

We bought a block of land next to the Alpine National Park. The river goes along our land and then runs alongside in the national park. It is not very accessible - but I know that I will end up forging a trail (in an environmentally friendly way) to see all the river. But I was thinking it would be cool to fly the drone along to see what it was like, which might also prioritize where I should go and how I should get there.

But that was when I was thinking I could do it for a few hundred and it would be a bit easier to do.

The river has a waterfall and little rapids and rocks, so the boat option would not work, but the aerial photo idea is very good. It is in east Gippy - do they fly or use satellites?

I would love a drone but am not yet able to pull the trigger. But, now that the Phantom 4 is out, the Phantom 3's have dropped a lot in price and with the exception of the Tracking and (forward facing) obstacle avoidance, seem to offer great value.

I still love the idea of the 'follow me' drone like Airdog and the GoPro drone. But Airdog is still in preorder phase, allegedly shipping to Backers this month, and who knows with GoPro.

I'll just keep waiting i guess

if you go to pat calinans mr4x4 web site you can find a link to the online 4x4 mag unsealed4x4.

the latest issue has a review on a few drones that the pros use.
I personally am not into drones or photography but this might be a useful link for some.

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foamballer said..
What are you wanting to see?
You can buy really high resolution aerial photography. In NSW you can get a 10x10km square centred on whereever you like for less than $200. I'm sure Vic would be the same or better. The resolution is about 10cm pixel size - heaps enough for following a creek under forest canopy, etc.

Or I wonder if there's remote control boat equivalents that you can zoom up the river on, hence avoiding the whole CASA thing. Obviously maintaining a radio link would be the tricky bit.

Or if you really want to make a statement, put a camera on these bad boys: Skip to 1:00 for the boat and 2:20 for the plane.

foamballer said..
What are you wanting to see?
You can buy really high resolution aerial photography. In NSW you can get a 10x10km square centred on whereever you like for less than $200. I'm sure Vic would be the same or better. The resolution is about 10cm pixel size - heaps enough for following a creek under forest canopy, etc.

Or I wonder if there's remote control boat equivalents that you can zoom up the river on, hence avoiding the whole CASA thing. Obviously maintaining a radio link would be the tricky bit.

Or if you really want to make a statement, put a camera on these bad boys: Skip to 1:00 for the boat and 2:20 for the plane.

foamballer said..
What are you wanting to see?
You can buy really high resolution aerial photography. In NSW you can get a 10x10km square centred on whereever you like for less than $200. I'm sure Vic would be the same or better. The resolution is about 10cm pixel size - heaps enough for following a creek under forest canopy, etc.

Or I wonder if there's remote control boat equivalents that you can zoom up the river on, hence avoiding the whole CASA thing. Obviously maintaining a radio link would be the tricky bit.

Or if you really want to make a statement, put a camera on these bad boys: Skip to 1:00 for the boat and 2:20 for the plane.

YES this RC flying and control ..... drones are for retiree

For what it is worth I bought a Chroma CG02+ drone. The people in the store had nothing good to say about DJI (phantom) support, as mentioned by Piros - in fact they had lots of horror stories.

www.horizonhobby.com/media/chroma/index.html

I am happy with it; it is easy to fly and takes good pictures, but my requirements are not very demanding.