jondrew said:
Following your 810 build with interest. I'm just slowly getting my P2 up and going with FPV. I'm curious about your thought process about choosing the 810.
I see you built up a 550. If you knew then what you know now, would you do a 550 again or go directly from the P2 to the 810 you're building?
Longer post for this but to answer your last point: ... I do not have a practical use for any of my airframes that could justify the expense. This is a hobby so I'm just having fun. Within that context, I justify the 810 because I'm really interested in seeing how the larger airframes work I wanted to build one myself (a lot), it has a reasonable flight time, the expense is there but it isn't outrageous (maybe twice what a P2 fully decked out from Aerial Media would be), and I like the idea of a heavier airframe to fight the wind a bit more. In all honesty - I started out looking at a 450 or other smaller machine that I could build and say 'I did that'. But when I looked into the expense and the resultant platform, I realized that it wouldn't cost much more to go big and I would not be duplicating something I already had.
Should I know what I know now, edit- I now have a lot more confidence in my ability to build one. The 550 was a big learning step for me. However, I think I might do the same thing. I'm not disappointed with the 550 at all and it showed me more of what I wanted and how to get there. It is a blank slate in many ways and it won't be on the shelf - I expect to use it even after the 810 gets finished. It is not much more expensive than a stock 450 and it carries more - though it has a shorter flight time.
What is your expectation for flight times? From what I've seen so far, once you go to bigger machines flight times start dropping dramatically. I was on the Helipal site and they were claiming the 810 they used for their video got around 15 min. I'm seeing people say getting 5 or 6 min on a 550 is average. One of the things I like about the P2 is 20 min per battery. Dropping to half that or less would seem to limit the ability to do useful FPV photography.
Expected flight times will be 15 minutes with my particular setup. That is about what a decked out P2 gets (see all the FPV threads)... and it is what my P2 gets.
My 550 gets 9 minutes doing FPV but I usually land it around 7 or 8. That is actually quite sufficient for most projects. If you are just cruising around looking for targets of opportunity, then the Phantom is great (and I still have and use mine).
I know most of us appear to rationalize our hobby using the CAIV process (Cost As an Independent Variable), but I see the 810 as a significant step up from the 550 (round numbers, $400 for airframe, $700-$1000 for motors, $1300 A2 etc). What do you think the 810 gives you that is so much better than a 550 class?
The 550 can be purchased rtf with gimbal, fpv, Devo 7 tx and rx and a battery for about $1700 delivered to your door. That is actually cheaper than many P2 RTF kits. However, I changed the Devo out, added more batteries, and added/subtracted many bits and pieces like landing gear, lights, etc). I probably have $2600 or so in it not counting the GoPro ($3000 with the GoPro).
The 810 can be purchased artf without gimbal or tx/rx or fpv for $2200 or so (delivered) - that is with motors, ESC, wiring, landing gear and A2... and almost zero instructions (YouTube is my friend). You need higher end batteries - which probably drives a better charging setup. Add in $750 (500 for two 6s 10 amp batteries and a $200 charger). Add in a radio (I bought a Futaba 14sg just for this) - $600 delivered. Add in a gimbal - I got an h3-2d for it - will use a Ragecams GoPro black - kinda my only compromise but after looking into it all, I figured a non-fish eye in HD was what I would use the most and it would also give me good flying times because it is so light. Add $1000 for the camera and $350 or so for the gimbal. Add in $200 for FPV (will use my current ground monitor). Add in an iPad if you want to use the GS ability (won't add it in since I could do that with the other machines so it is a wash). Total will probably be just a bit more than 5K. However, it will have more 'stuff' and more capability than the others.
So... 3K vs 5K but, at least $1K of that is for stuff I didn't absolutely need - and it could be argued that I could have done it for about the same cost. Take off the extra transmitter, use a NAZA v2, use a stock GoPro and it would be almost the same buy-in as the 550 rtf.