Thread: Hi tech toys.

Hey gents.
With such an eclectic bunch of gentlemen from all around the globe I thought a thread dedicated to the various hitech gadgets we have might be in order.

To get the ball rolling I offer my recent acquisition from Parrot technologies.

The bebop quadcopter and sky controller joystick/wifi array.
Takes 1080 P video and has a range of up to 2kms line of site.
Has a home function tied to its GPS if you lose sight of it, and also has the ability to take preloaded flight paths, including altitude, speed and attitude.
Operates with, or without an iPad or smartphone as well as hdmi FPV goggles. Using a smartphone allows for enhanced features such as acrobatic tricks and the automatic flight options.
No audio, but really all you would hear is the 4 triblades spinning.

Pretty cold still up here so battery life is under 7 minutes but here's an example of the video quality. Once I get more proficient at the sticks, could make some very memorable additions to family videos.
Cheers.

That is very cool, I love it. Definately got me interested.

That is very cool,I love drones,sadley I am very low tech do not even have a cell Phone anymore.

Flying this with the controller seems more natural than with the smartphone.
Was a sunny day today so tried to take it up a little higher over the neighborhood.
90 meters up and video feed stayed strong..

I will be getting a pair of FPV glasses to go with this. The sensation of control in the first person is the best I've tried to date.

I am jealous!! I am not coordinated enough (I don't think) to successfully/safely fly one of these, let alone bringing it back to the ground in a condition where it can go back up again. At best, I fear all that money would get me one wild and crazy flight.

I wish you nothing but fun and I am looking forward to many cool videos from those who have more talent than I do

These machines are amazing,was a great story in yesterdays newspaper about how they are being used to inspect our levees in the the delta around my state.
Costs used to be around $3000 a day to use a piloted aircraft.

My landing was a bit of a bust. Got into ground effect over the car, sort of like the cushion on an air hockey table, hard to stay down.
But surprisingly easy drone to control in moderate gusts.
Biggest weakness is the limited flight time, sitting at about ten minutes at 72'f works out to 6 1/2 minutes in the sub zero climate up here so far. Frankly after that long I want to put my gloves back on Anyhow, hehe.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yAiBfbw6lY8

Tried a flight over our local lake whilst it's still frozen. In case I get altimeter discrepancies close to the ground.
Turned out not to bad, and pretty good distance range so far as well.
Cheers

Originally Posted by MikeB52

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yAiBfbw6lY8

Tried a flight over our local lake whilst it's still frozen. In case I get altimeter discrepancies close to the ground.
Turned out not to bad, and pretty good distance range so far as well.
Cheers

Uber cool - looks like it is a blast to play around with! Going to show my son this, then I can blame him if he wants to get one....fantastic video quality.

That's good thinking Andrew! Gets your lad on board, then it's just about being a good dad, hehe.
My daughter wants to use it as well for some sweeping shots of her band this summer at the local Blues and jazz festival. Her band is headlining this year so she's pretty excited.
Had everyone over for an early st patty's dinner tonight and was flying the drone in the living room safely amongst the guests. Did a few flips as well. Thing makes almost anyone a good pilot with the first person camera hook up though the ipad. And yea definately steady, clear videos.