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Goafer

RC Toys, Models and Other Stuff

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Seeing as I just bought a drone, I figured I'd start a thread for RC stuff.

 

I've always been a big kid, so naturally RC stuff has always amused me. Beyond the toy stuff, the bigger models have always been a bit pricey for me, so whilst I'm not a collector or anything, I've had a few decent RC models over the years:

 

Tamiya Shooting Star

 

tamiya-rc-shooting-star-dash-qd_1_9f68af6b1c4a787b5e47e61211cf2d1a.jpg

 

My first ever decent RC car. Loved this thing and it took the all the abuse a pre-teen version of me could give it. It's still around somewhere, but I've no idea if it works.

 

 

Nitro Bug

 

IMAG0006.jpg

 

My first Nitro RC car. It was a bit of a pig and never really ran right. It also stripped a gear on the first run. I bought my second Nitro car shortly after.

 

 

Hyper 7 TQ Sport

 

Hyper7%20TQ%20Sport.jpg

 

Apparently, I didn't take a photo of this one. It was pretty good fun and ran quite well. Also pretty fast. Unfortunately, Nitro wasn't for me, as they need a lot of maintenance and tuning and I spent more time fiddling with it than actually driving it. I sold it after about a year.

 

 

Yokomo Drift RX7

 

Photo-0279.jpg

 

This thing was the absolute tits. Came in kit form, so I got the fun of making it and it was super reliable, being all electric. It was one of the first drift RC cars and it drifted really well, as shown

.

 

It dropped a screw from the front wheel hub at some point and replacements were hard to find, so it's sat in my wardrobe ever since. I'll revive it at some point.

 

 

Team Losi Micro T

 

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I bought this as a bit of fun and it's awesome. Really tiny truck, but with plenty of hop up options and has all the features of a 1/10th scale truck. Great fun, although the battery has died, so will need another one.

 

 

 

DJI Phantom 3 Standard

 

16715900_10158286138375341_99762842613580715_o.jpg?oh=670a4415f3fa0dc71b5020a23f8002d7&oe=593779C8

 

Bought it today, so have literally no experience flying it. Will fly it soon and see how it goes. Great bit of kit though and an absolute bargain, considering all the stuff you get. Really impressive build quality and it's reassuringly heavy. Watching the gimbal move is almost mesmerising.

 

 

 

I've had a few other RC things over the years, such as a mini helicopter and a flying bat thing, but none are really worth mentioning in detail.

 

Anyone else into RC stuff, or have any RC models/toys?

Edited by Goafer

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I remember there was a craze going round my school in Year 6 where people would bring in RC cars and race/fight them in the playground.

 

It all kind of fizzled out when someone brought in a ridiculous petrol powered one that had a top speed of about 40mph and that got the whole thing banned.

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I had one when i was a kid. With rechargeable batteries. They needed 12 hours to be fully powered up. This gave me a 30 minuten period to race the ac car before the batteries died. :')

 

Also, when my little brother got one the fun was over. My remote could also control his car and vice versa.

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I remember there was a craze going round my school in Year 6 where people would bring in RC cars and race/fight them in the playground.

 

It all kind of fizzled out when someone brought in a ridiculous petrol powered one that had a top speed of about 40mph and that got the whole thing banned.

Makeshift Robot Wars.

 

I almost tried something myself. But none of us got round to buying a car.

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I had an RC car as a kid but I couldnt tell you much about it.

 

As I mentioned in the other thread though @Goafer has had me tempted by the Phantom 3 drone since Christmas and him getting one now is only making it worse.

 

I do currently have a cheaper drone which we were messing about with at the weekend. Had it for a year but never seemed to give it much of a try until now.

 

51W2dKQc2RL.jpg

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The DJi drones are fantastic. I had the Phantom 2 Vision+ but sold it last year due to lack of use. I imagine as a photographer you'll use it far more than I did.

 

Practice flying before you do anything major! Always calibrate the compass first too. I'm sure you know the score...

 

I bought that drone 2 years ago and 18 months ago built my own 'racing' drone. It should probably be sold too as I don't use it that often. It's great fun but weather needs to be good and you can't fly at night so not a lot of use in Scotland other than a few months each year.

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I had a friend big into them for years. He convinced me to buy a rising fighter just as an introduction to the hobby. I loved building it, and had good fun with it. It's terrible on uneven surfaces though! I put a powerful engine in it, which is all well and good but it's a bit over powered, anything over 25% throttle and the slightest steering action risks it barrel rolling! it's fast though :D I need to sort out cooling though, I ran it a little too long one time and now a couple of wires need resoldering!

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Did my first slight today before work (and yes, I did calibrate the compass!). Got some footage, but nothing special:

 

 

I don't think I've ever been as nervous as when I took it up high. It just feels wrong. Looking at the screen helps, but seeing a tiny dot in the sky is very unnerving.

 

Super easy to fly though. It's so stable it's unreal. The hardest part is figuring out which way it's facing when it's so far away. I'm looking forward to getting to a more open area so I don't have to worry about trees etc.

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Did my first slight today before work (and yes, I did calibrate the compass!). Got some footage, but nothing special:

 

 

I don't think I've ever been as nervous as when I took it up high. It just feels wrong. Looking at the screen helps, but seeing a tiny dot in the sky is very unnerving.

 

Super easy to fly though. It's so stable it's unreal. The hardest part is figuring out which way it's facing when it's so far away. I'm looking forward to getting to a more open area so I don't have to worry about trees etc.

 

Bet you scared the shit out of all the doggers in that area lol

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I'm seriously thinking about getting the DJI Mavic Pro at the moment. I've got enough money saved and this will probably be the only time I could spend it on something dumb so it's really tempting.

 

djimavicprofeat-800x420.jpg

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One of the downsides to the Phantom is that to get a clear view the camera hangs quite low, meaning it can get dirtied by long grass etc. So I made myself a take off pad to avoid getting the camera dirty. Used our CNC router and flat bed printer at work to put a bunch of aerial photos and the DJI logo onto a bit of brushed aluminium:

 

2017-02-18%2023.28.43_zpsrboatpjc.jpg

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I'm seriously thinking about getting the DJI Mavic Pro at the moment. I've got enough money saved and this will probably be the only time I could spend it on something dumb so it's really tempting.

 

djimavicprofeat-800x420.jpg

 

As you'll be able to see from the purchases thread, I ended up getting the Mavic. Really looking forward to giving it a try but it probably wont be until Friday now when the weather clears up a bit. Still though, I'll try and get some test footage up.

 

What I'm more looking forward to is (as long as @Goafer is up for it of course!) trying to find new and interesting places to fly these things. Maybe even trying to sort out a trip for a day or two somewhere.

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Finally got around to having my first flight with the Mavic Pro today after having to stay in due to yesterday's storm. I thought it went ok. I've still got quite a bit to learn when it comes to smooth movements though, both with the turning of the drone and the camera. Exposure it pretty hit and miss in my video as well and some not great cuts to avoid that dodgy movement I mentioned.

 

 

EDIT: Oh yeah I dont think the shot of it is brilliant but at one point you can see the manor house that the Stamper brothers from Rare fame bought in my village.

Edited by Happenstance

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Took the drone out again today. I'm not sure why, but the footage seems really blurry compared to last time. I've seen on the forums that the camera board can sometimes need adjustment, so I'm tempted to send it back to be calibrated. It should be covered under the warranty.

 

The footage:

Edited by Goafer

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Took the Phantom back to Argos and got a replacement and the new one is much clearer. Also, took it to 99 metres high, a new record for me:

 

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Not technically RC stuff (although it can be controlled by a phone), I got a knock-off GoPro for £45 and it's actually not bad for such a cheap camera, especially since it came with virtually every accessory and mount I could ever need. Also, since it's cheap, I don't have to worry about it falling off when I mount it to stuff.

 

I did some test footage on my car a while back. Image quality isn't great, although the "vintage" grading doesn't help. It looks a bit better with natural colours:

 

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Nice shot. My new action cam (£60, Apeman) arrived yesterday. Not yet done a side by side with my £30 Sunco but it seems much better.

 

Which mount did you use for that shot?

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Nice shot. My new action cam (£60, Apeman) arrived yesterday. Not yet done a side by side with my £30 Sunco but it seems much better.

 

Which mount did you use for that shot?

 

I used the one that has the sticky foam tape on. Stuck a little too well and it took ages to get the bloody thing off.

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I may have to get a cover for my Mavic controller. Took the drone out today and just couldn't see a thing on the controller. I've got to use it for work in June so I'm worried I'll mess things up without one!

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Took the drone out again today with Happenstance. It was too windy to go high, but I did get to test out the point of interest mode (which circles a set point). It wasn't the smoothest, but I blame the wind.

 

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