New to Drones - Need some help - DJI

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Hi!

I'm new to the drone world and looking for some advice and to ask a few questions, any help would be greatly appreciated!

I've owned a Nighthawk/007 drone for a few weeks now and become really confident and enjoy flying it, however I'm looking for something a little more serious now.

I've come across the DJI drones and seem like my best bet, although I really like the look of the Parrot bebop, I don't think the performance to price ratio is right.

So, my next selections in line are either the DJI Phantom 1 or 2. I live in a city in the UK so a drone which can handle the winds here would be needed, currently my Nighthawk can't fly into the wind at all.

What are the noticable differences between the DJI phantom 1 and 2? Is it worth the extra £100?

I want to either use FPV or some kind of screen with my drone as my eyesight is terrible, I noticed neither of these drones come with a camera, so how easy is it to get an okay camera linked up to my smartphone?

Are there any reasonably cheap FPV goggles out there? I've been looking at some DIY kits for about £30 but they don't come with receivers and would cost about £60 with one, are they still worth? or should I invest more like £100 on a pair of hubsan ones, if they were compatible?

Thanks for your time!
Matt
 
The main difference is the Phantom 1 uses the standard off the shelf batteries and the Phantom 2 (standard, vision and vision +) use the DJI smart battery.
the P1 flight time full loaded with a GoPro is around 7 to 8 minutes on a battery, the P2 is around 20 minutes.

The Phantom 2 readily accepts the Zenmuse H3-3D gimbal to mount a Gopro.. the P1 doesn't...
 
Welcome Matt. Which city are you living in and what sort of wind speeds are you talking of ?
Monitor v goggles is a personal preference. I personally prefer a 7" black pearl monitor which has a built in receiver pair. The problem with goggles is that you need to have a spotter with you every time you fly (if you are to stay within the law).
 
the P1 flight time full loaded with a GoPro is around 7 to 8 minutes on a battery, the P2 is around 20 minutes.

I have never had more than about 13 mins tops from my fully loaded P2.
 
I'm in Portsmouth. I would like to try both a monitor and goggles, but with the whole spotter thing, a monitor would probably be better for now.

So i'm curious, with a monitor, how does one link it to a go pro? Is this automated through the drone or would I have to get some special kits on the side?

As for the smart battery, I will probably go for the P2 in that case.

Thanks for the quick replies =)
 
OK so that is probably wind speed due to coastal effect ? Each to their own but I dont usually fly if the windspeed is much more than 10mph. No idea what you are seeing down there but I find this tool useful for planning flights.

http://www.uavforecast.com/

There are a couple of options with the P2. There is the P2 Vision+ route which comes with everything, you just need to supply a smartphone/tablet to use a "FPV monitor", and there is P2 (non Vision) which is a barebones P2 which you add a gimbal, GoPro, transmitter and antenna to, and you need to buy a monitor/receiver and antennae too.

You should be aware that the P2 has just been superseded by a new model the P3. You should take a look at this too, but I would expect that it is a buyers market for P2s at the moment.

The smart battery sounds good because .... its name says it is smart! but in fact what it means is that it is a proprietary battery so you have to buy DJI P2 batteries or clones. You cannot use generic batteries like you can with the P1.
 
For your needs I would suggest the Phantom 2 Vision is probably your nest bet, as it is ready to connect to your iPhone out of the box to give you the FPV you are looking for. Personally I went a slightly different route, as I already owned a GoPro Hero camera that I wanted to use, but the end result is pretty much the same.
 
You didn't mention it but you should look at the Phantom 3.
It would tick all your boxes and is by far a superior machine.
Team it with a 7 inch tablet, no issues with wifi, it's sweet.
 
Phantom 3 is by far your best choice as with 1 & 2 you have to buy cameras, mounts etc etc and that is all extra money. Have a pint of scrumpy and think about it, that's what I do!!
 
Unfortunately the p3 is way out of my price range, i'd be only using the drone as a hobby too.

I'd be looking at spending about £400, currently there's a new p1 on ebay for 300 (which would leave more to spend on getting a camera/transmitter) or a p2 for £400 but if i need to get a ton of stuff afterwards it might not be worth.

What's the batteries for on the p1? Does it actually require batteries to fly, or does it come with a rechargeable one?

I'd possibly consider getting the cheap £50 fpv goggles with the transmitter at first and some kind of camera.

May i ask, how does the drone actually interface with the camera? My current drone has a button to start recording, with say the go pro, must you start recording first, before take off?

Sorry for all the questions, but they really help me decide!

Thanks again
 
The P2s have an issue with falling out of the sky a great deal more than the P1 and FC40.
With a 4000mAh battery, the P1 and FC40 get just about as good a flight time as the P2.
I don't think the "Smart Batteries" are very smart.

I would suggest moving past the P2 and jumping on the P3 as well.
There are some great deals on the P2 now... buy a parachute for it too. :D
 
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I really like the look of the FC40, but I can't find anywhere that actually sells it for the price in your link (which unfortunately is pre-order). And on ebay they're way more for some reason :(
 
Bought myself a FC40 on Ebay for £420, it was a little more than I had hoped, but I am happy; thanks for all the suggestions, there's no doubt I'll be back when it comes to setting up the FPV

thanks everyone =)
 
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Bought myself a FC40 on Ebay for £420, it was a little more than I had hoped, but I am happy; thanks for all the suggestions, there's no doubt I'll be back when it comes to setting up the FPV

thanks everyone =)


See you in the FC40 forums... :D
FYI: The P1 is very similar to the FC40. You can learn a great deal by visiting those forums as well.


This is a great way to find things here. Enter your text in the middle of the page, not at the top.
https://cse.google.com/cse/publicurl?cx=014775389315664725445:ejku2ysgyhi
 
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