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Post by robc450 on Sept 18, 2009 8:47:52 GMT -5
mike g: Thanks for the TM300 info, I'll definitely look into swapping the video gear. My X6 should be arriving next week and judging from early enquiries about my new service, it looks like video is going to play a larger part than I had originally thought. If you're interested in having a look at my new aerial photo website, it's at www.air2you.caAre you connected with Air2Air? I met Russell last May at Draganfly's demo. Thanks Rob
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Post by MorenoEnNYC on Sept 18, 2009 20:00:55 GMT -5
Funny, Rob, You've copied my exact wording from my site " in conjunction with high-resolution color video goggles for viewing your subject at altitude in real-time!" I don't mind www.perspectiveAerials.com
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Post by robc450 on Sept 19, 2009 0:18:43 GMT -5
Oops... I'd been looking at a lot sites before putting mine together and I thought I'd grabbed most of the wording from DF's site. I guess your wording must have sunk in. Thanks for not minding, although I did spell color differently Even the name Air2You... was inspired by DF's new UK Distributor, Air2Air.com. Except I thought Air2Air sounded sort of like a missile and Air2You better described the process, with the "you" part referring to the customer.
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Post by MorenoEnNYC on Sept 19, 2009 2:12:56 GMT -5
I was only teasing I actually copied a few terms from some other sites as well...basically we all share the same capability! Good luck with your new site...looks great btw. AJ
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mikeg
New Member
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Post by mikeg on Sept 20, 2009 9:43:33 GMT -5
mike g: Thanks for the TM300 info, I'll definitely look into swapping the video gear. My X6 should be arriving next week and judging from early enquiries about my new service, it looks like video is going to play a larger part than I had originally thought. If you're interested in having a look at my new aerial photo website, it's at www.air2you.caAre you connected with Air2Air? I met Russell last May at Draganfly's demo. Thanks Rob
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mikeg
New Member
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Post by mikeg on Sept 20, 2009 9:53:04 GMT -5
robc450 . No not connected to Air2Air and have not meet Russell, but know they are now the distributors for DF in the UK. Good luck with the X6 arriving it is a matter of practising lots to get those small smooth moves for good video. I still feel I am at the beginner stage and how I fly/shoot now will not be the same in a years time. Will check out your website photos.
Cheers, Mike
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Post by sRagnar on Dec 1, 2009 15:30:06 GMT -5
hey Mike, been looking at your site and you video is great! can you please list your editing work flow? what format video you start with and how you work it from there?? I sure would love to see!! Your video is better than what I have ever been able to capture. I get wild vibration when I travel forwards with the X6 and that fine vibration can not be edited out any help would be great!! thanks and congrats on your videos, they are great!
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Post by 33North on Dec 15, 2009 21:06:35 GMT -5
Hello Forum Members:
I want to thank all of you for your helpful discussion. Up until 2 months ago, I had been flying a Joker and a Maxi Joker for AP work in my business. I lost both of them in a fire (that started with a big LiPo battery on a charger) and was considering getting an X6 or even waiting for the X8. I got suckered in by the slick advertising. After following this discussion, it is pretty clear to me that I would be much better off going back to the Maxi Joker with a Carvec. It would fly like it was on rails, even in a 10-15 mph wind, and would hoist a big SLR without any trouble. I think I put the entire setup together for about $10-15K.
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videofly
New Member
Looks better from above...
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Post by videofly on Dec 16, 2009 9:43:41 GMT -5
I’m the new member on this Discussion Board; therefore, I would like to introduce myself and thank all of you for making this forum a very valuable information source. I am from Argentina and own an X6 since February 09. My web site is the same as my username. Only make sure to use .NET, otherwise, you’ll see a porn site, which I like, but it’s not my web site!!! I found this board thanks to Siggi whom I contacted to know his thoughts about the X6 because I was having some reliability issues. I only went over the two main subjects in this forum so I might be missing or repeating thing on the summary of my experiences and thoughts hereafter.
Purchase: As most of the X6 owners experienced, my delivery date was also delayed 4 weeks with no explanation unless requested repeatedly. On my trip to Saskatoon, I found their facility to be much smaller than what I expected, but with a team of very kind and friendly people. The only problem I experienced there was that my base station was not ready and I wasn’t told until then, even when they new ahead of time.
Support: For me it’s hard to say. I have had occasions when I got the best support you could expect and others where it was far from good. In the last case, it has been usually due to the time it took to get a reply or get something done. Having got to know them personally, I believe this is only due to work overload and not bad disposition. On technical issues, Greg has been very helpful.
The X6: Excellent UAV. Good design, tough, easy to fly, fairly good autonomy; my experience is that a 12 minute flight is good enough. Usually by that time I want to land, so I plan for 10/12 minute flights. You will need several batteries though; I’d say that with 6 you are on the safe side. Light weight and portable (Pelican carrying case is excellent), very low operation cost (if no accidents), good range/altitude (in general you don’t want it much farther away than what it is capable of), and a very good still camera.
Improvements: It would be very useful if you could set up a flight path with waypoints and altitude for the X6 to follow. This way if your GPS error is not much and wind conditions permit, you could send the helicopter on its way and just care about the images you want. It is a bit more complex than this, but doable.
Issues: 1. The one I believe to be the most serious is the fact that DF is misleading about the X6 performance on its advertizing. In my opinion, mainly because the X6 does not handle wind for what it was built for. Yes you can fly it, I’ve gone flying in high winds, but if its purpose is to be a stable platform for aerial images, it is certainly not. In calm or no wind, it is good for shooting still photos because the camera is able to freeze all movements, but when it comes to shooting video, it is a very poor platform. I’m not saying it can’t be done, only that it is quite difficult without wind, which is almost never the case, and if only a breeze, video won’t be good at all, unless you are familiarized with post production techniques. 2. Anti-vibration mounts do not perform well. Knowing that the helicopter is not stable for taking images in the wind, this device should be able to reduce movement and vibration much better. In the case of the video camera mount, I had to make some modifications in order to take out the vibration I was getting on the video. Hopefully this is something that will get better with time. 3. Batteries tend to swollen easily and (1.) they won’t give you a 20 minute flight, 12 minutes in my case. Batteries are getting better every day due to the global demand in electronic equipment; therefore, this will also get better in time. 4. Inage is very hard to see in the video goggles and they restrict the field of vision too much. Mine also turn off every xx minutes. Someone knows why could this be? 5. Here’s one issue I’m mentioning last, because it might not be everyone’s case, but for me it has been the worst. It is reliability, and has cost me three accidents and more money than what I’ve made with it. At this point, I’m confident in my flying, but terrified it might suddenly fall from the sky as it happened before for unknown reasons.
The accidents: (reading optional)
1st ) During flight the first battery alarm went on and the helicopter started descending not responding to my inputs on the controller, as if it were the last battery alarm. Unluckily, reaching the ground, it hit a small post and the right arm broke in two. DF looked at the logs and told me that this should not have happened and that I needed to send the helicopter and controller for repair under warranty and that the accident was due to some sort of software or firmware problem. 2nd ) In this accident I was taking pictures in a rural area at about 200 ft, when suddenly the helicopter turned on its back and started a nose down free fall. It broke completely, even the battery. The only thing that amazingly did not break was the LX3. Again helicopter and controller sent to Canada. This time, even after looking at the log, DF was not able to tell me what had caused the accident. The good thing was the new helicopter I got in replacement, flew much better and had some upgrades. 3rd ) This accident was the same as the second, but from an altitude of 35 ft. Broke three blades, landing gear, camera mount (I was able to repair it myself) and one motor mount. In this case I just sent the log and pictures by mail and worked with Greg and Cory to find the problem. We were able to isolate the cause, this being an 8 pin connector that was loose. This caused a failure on the motor speed controller and when a motor goes bad but is still connected, the rest of the motors won’t work either. I received a complete arm, landing gear and a new motor and the helicopter is back flying.
So you can se how reliability is my main concern. DF did not charge me a cent for all this, but customs cost for importing goods to Argentina, no matter if new, used or under warranty is about 60% of the goods value, very common unreasonable law for underdeveloped countries. If to this you add the currency exchange rate of $1 = AR3.8, and the fact that each accident meant 3 to 5 weeks without the helicopter, you can get a basic idea of how much all of this cost me.
My question is then, have any of the other X6 owners had similar problems or I’m the only unlucky one out there?
Insurance: I have my X6 insured for liability up to $100.000 and stolen or total destruction and I’m paying $850 annually.
Well, that’s it for my first post. Hope my information is useful for other owners and prospective buyers. If needed, I can be contacted through my site or the contact information in it.
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mikeg
New Member
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Post by mikeg on Dec 17, 2009 7:09:49 GMT -5
Hello Forum Members: I want to thank all of you for your helpful discussion. Up until 2 months ago, I had been flying a Joker and a Maxi Joker for AP work in my business. I lost both of them in a fire (that started with a big LiPo battery on a charger) and was considering getting an X6 or even waiting for the X8. I got suckered in by the slick advertising. After following this discussion, it is pretty clear to me that I would be much better off going back to the Maxi Joker with a Carvec. It would fly like it was on rails, even in a 10-15 mph wind, and would hoist a big SLR without any trouble. I think I put the entire setup together for about $10-15K.
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mikeg
New Member
Posts: 11
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Post by mikeg on Dec 17, 2009 7:19:26 GMT -5
Hi 33North, good to hear your views especially as you have been flying another rig. Is a Maxi Joker electric or petrol and what is a Carvec? What is the maxi payload and flight time? Is there a website you have to take a look at your pictures/video and a website for these helicopters? Would be good to see other options especially if they perform better in the wind.
Many thanks.
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videofly
New Member
Looks better from above...
Posts: 13
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Post by videofly on Dec 17, 2009 9:58:44 GMT -5
hey Mike, been looking at your site and you video is great! can you please list your editing work flow? what format video you start with and how you work it from there?? I sure would love to see!! Your video is better than what I have ever been able to capture. I get wild vibration when I travel forwards with the X6 and that fine vibration can not be edited out any help would be great!! thanks and congrats on your videos, they are great! Hello Mike, I agree with Siggi, your videos are very good. It is obvious you have all the process well studied and surely it took a lot of trial and error. I know one has to go through that to get good at it, but a brief summary of your work flow would certainly lessen the error part. Thanks
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Post by kamarul on Dec 17, 2009 23:43:19 GMT -5
... The accidents: (reading optional) ... Hey videofly, welcome to the board. Im actually pretty new myself. Im from Malaysia and my website is www.aerovantage.tvAnyway, that is serious reliability issues there. Freaks me out a bit. Hope it's solved now? I am hoping your problems went away with the latest firmware? I have had a total of 140 flights clocking about 38hrs so far since August with no incidents. Of course I am wishing for better tolerance to wind and more importantly video range that works. At the moment I am getting only about 20m range even with the base station which is rather pathetic (the GBS alone costs about 8k isnt it? - a friend bought a video downlink for about 1k for his t-rex and I witnessed how he is getting about a 1 km stable range. Good to know you have taken it to 250 ft. I have not taken it above 50m and now you inspire me to push it higher.
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videofly
New Member
Looks better from above...
Posts: 13
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Post by videofly on Dec 18, 2009 13:59:07 GMT -5
Hello Kamarul,
My X6 is flying well, but so it was before the last accident I had. Also, I would say that accident was more a quality control issue than anything else. What I did this time, while replacing the broken arm and landing gear, was to check and secure every single connector in the X6. One less thing to worry about...
On the reliability issue, from reading this forum, including your reply, and comments from some owners to whom I spoke on the phone, I would say bad luck played an important role in my accidents. No other owner seams to have had one.
My Base Station gives me about 50m before it starts to break up, but 1km is more than I need but would be great.
Thanks for your reply.
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Post by sRagnar on Jan 3, 2010 21:03:08 GMT -5
hey guys, well as I knew would happen, just a question of time, the cable to the power of the battery broke. The only way to disconnect the wire from the batteries is to pull on the wire till there is a small gap between the connectors and then push a fingernail in there and pry it open. this time the wire tore. I took the thing apart and the wire it self had tore, the solder held, the wire riped. I knew that this was just one of the "will happen in time" problems since the connector is very poorly designed and no way to disconnect without pulling on the wire. I took the connector apart and stripped a 1/8 section of the wire and re soldered it on the connector. then I heat shrink sleeve wrapped the wire and the solder. then i got a fat sleeve of the heat wrap and wrapped the connector from the edge of the red connector and up a good inch on the wire. this sleeve i heated up very well and got it all cooked on there. then I got another sleeve over that one and shrunk that one over the whole thing. I have a hard time blaming DF for this one since I knew this would happen. very poor design on the connector and fortunately this happened on the ground not in flight. that connector is an accident waiting to happen. I am putting in some photos of the connector for further illustration both for you guys to make that update your selfs and for DF to apply that to their future builds. another thing that costs nothing and can cause a huge issue like the cockpit canopy over the battery. That was such a bad design and I have not flown with that on for months. DF had to fix one X6 that had the top fly off in mid air and they did not notify the rest of us of the problem and have not responded to request for a fix, like I say i have not flown with that thing on more or less ever looks crappy but it is in flight not on the ground crashed. I have been flying and working on the video some and getting better and better results. www.youtube.com/watch?v=vp_f9jZCJBMthis is the lumix in 4:3 recording, stabilized with virtualdub and a run with deshaker. works well. I have tried that on the sd9 and the results are not as good. I have not found the right workflow that I like.
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