Drones 101: A beginner’s guide to taking flight

[Alex]

This is a good read for beginners just getting started.

Drone, UAV, sUAS – there are a lot of names for the little (and not so little) flying robots that, over the next five to 10 years, are expected to take over the skies. But there’s no reason to wait until then to immerse yourself in the world of airborne gizmos. Fun and surprisingly useful, UAVs can quite literally add a whole new dimension to your life. Here are the basics of what you need to know to kick off your drone addiction.

And a drone is … what, exactly?

It’s not a stupid question. When people talk about drones, they could mean a whole slew of different things. Technically speaking, a “drone” refers to any unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) that can navigate entirely on its own through the help of GPS tracking systems. But in the real world, “drone” often means any UAV, some of which have autonomous flying capabilities, many of which do not – but instead are simply “smart” RC helicopters or airplanes. Many of these UAVs have on-board cameras, crash-avoidance systems, and other high-tech settings not available on traditional RC flying vehicles, making them a kind of hybrid between traditional RC fliers and true drones. I, however, use the term UAV and drone interchangeably – sue me.

Read more: http://www.digitaltrends.com/opinion/start-serious-drone-habit/

[BobsEdge]

Hi,

I finally received the quadcopter on Christmas eve.

I would like to thank you for the info.

I would like to caution all who buy a quadcopter.  Mini Orion.

It worked great the first day.  Then the second day it went wacko.

Tried everything in the manual to correct the problem.

When the transmitter was adjusted to that the blades would start spinning, the copter took off without increasing power, went sideways was crashed before I could even make any adjustments.

I am going to be returning it.

I even tried replacing the blades, being careful to get the correct A or B blade where it was supposed to go.

[dodgertn]

I'm new to this. Mine did the same thing. Crashes to the left before you can set the trim. HELP. You mentioned the blade guards. The PDF I downloaded says A & B but the enclosed manual says there is no difference now and can be installed universal. Also I can't get the sun screen to open and I'm afraid I'll break it trying. I did a web search to see if there was a way to reset the controller and or drone to factory settings but couldn't find any helpful info. Does anyone out there have any solutions other than sending it back to QVC ? I was expecting to really have some fun but this is getting frustrating.  

[Alex]

On 12/26/2016 at 7:14 PM, BobsEdge said:

Hi,

I finally received the quadcopter on Christmas eve.

I would like to thank you for the info.

I would like to caution all who buy a quadcopter.  Mini Orion.

It worked great the first day.  Then the second day it went wacko.

Tried everything in the manual to correct the problem.

When the transmitter was adjusted to that the blades would start spinning, the copter took off without increasing power, went sideways was crashed before I could even make any adjustments.

I am going to be returning it.

I even tried replacing the blades, being careful to get the correct A or B blade where it was supposed to go.

Great information, thanks for posting this.

 

On 1/5/2017 at 6:40 AM, dodgertn said:

I'm new to this. Mine did the same thing. Crashes to the left before you can set the trim. HELP. You mentioned the blade guards. The PDF I downloaded says A & B but the enclosed manual says there is no difference now and can be installed universal. Also I can't get the sun screen to open and I'm afraid I'll break it trying. I did a web search to see if there was a way to reset the controller and or drone to factory settings but couldn't find any helpful info. Does anyone out there have any solutions other than sending it back to QVC ? I was expecting to really have some fun but this is getting frustrating.  

Also great info, I'm not buying a Mini Orion..lol. Thanks!

[Ahmed]

I am also a new drone pilot, so just now searching for useful pieces of advice. Thanks for the information!