[jaganm]

Originally Posted by jaganm

So after years of lurking and looking at drones from afar, I decided to jump in and take the plunge. The trigger was a friend who has had a drone for over 2 years but makes a huge fuss about flying them and we missed a great opportunity on our recent trip due to that.

I had a cousin coming from the US and started looking at both buying it there and checking locally through olx. he found a deal on Costco for around 840 $ for the mini 3 with the fly more combo and regular remote, with tax and exchange it would come out to around 80K INR. However, I was looking locally and found a few mini 2 for around 50K (2 years old but claimed to be flown very less. Researching it some more, I realised that the mini 3 pro is a far better option for a newbie due to its obstacle avoidance and the far better optics.

I was in a quandary my cousin had already lost an AirPods Max that he had brought for me on his previous trip and the stories of confiscation by customs worried us. In the meantime, I came across an ad on olx a person had bought a mini 3 pro a month ago and was selling it. I arranged to meet him , the drone looked brand new and all the batteries had a recharge count of 3-5 cycles. The best part was that it came with the RC remote. We finally struck a deal at a little over 1lakh (around 20K more than the Costco version but with the RC remote).

I flew it today and it performed extremely well, the camera quality is just fantastic and though I took the drone way beyond my sight I had enough confidence that it wouldn't get lost. There were a few eagles flying around the area and a few did fly close by to check it out but luckily it ended well.

Due to various personal commitments, I couldnt fly the drone after the initial session. We had gone on a trip to Kochi and visited the famous Athirapally waterfalls but the weather was playing truant with heavy rain throughout, so not being familiar with the drone, I didnt bother taking it out.

Finally, this weekend, I got the opportunity to fly it in a nearby gated community where I have purchased a plot. It is a large community of over 40-50 acres with very few trees and just a few buildings, so I spent an hour getting comfortable with the controls and then once I was more comfortable, flew the drone way beyond my line of sight just relying on the RC screen. The camera quality was just astounding and I got fantastic shots of the countryside.

The following day was to try the different flight modes (quickshots and tracking). Both worked fantastically well and I really felt that the drone is enough idiot-proof that even someone like me can fly it easily.

Now, looking forward to taking it with us on our trip to Hampi this weekend!

[Samfromindia]

Originally Posted by gypsyFreak

3. Service & Spares in India for such drones?
4. Any other issues?

All your help is greatly appreciated and TIA.

Multiple aftermarket repair shops are available, a simple Youtube search will give you info on the nearest city. No other issues, lot of people in India have consumer drones these days & many sites like these sell parts & accessories for building your own system:

https://robu.in/product-category/drone-parts/

Originally Posted by jaganm

The following day was to try the different flight modes (quickshots and tracking). Both worked fantastically well and I really felt that the drone is enough idiot-proof that even someone like me can fly it easily.

Now, looking forward to taking it with us on our trip to Hampi this weekend!

Do share us some of your footage. The more expensive the drone, the more idiot proof it is thanks to omnidirectional sensors, higher wind resistance etc. Meanwhile I grabbed some nice footage of Aurangabad, Ajanta Caves & Aulibag beach which is pending upload & share

[clevermax]

I'm building a 5-inch FPV drone from scratch, and the build is about 70% complete, but it can already fly Line-of-Sight for now. I haven't hooked up the FPV system yet, but she's already taken several flights. Check out this short clip of her doing a gravity-defying vertical climb!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEDKK3kqQ6E

Forget 0-100kph timings, this thing goes 0-sky in what feels like two seconds! I had to cap the motor power at 85% and scale down the throttle too at 85% for now, just to tame this beast. Once I get my flying legs under me, we'll crank things up and see what she's capable of.

This project wouldn't have seen the light of day without bhpian PatchyBoy's guidance. Thank you for all the help, tips, and inspiration for this project, sir!

[iceman.]

After a lot of deliberation and years of waiting, finally got the Mini 4 Pro. I was in Kerala last week and managed to get a few shots of the beach and backwaters.

The drone itself is lovely and flies like a dream.

[mobike008]

Originally Posted by iceman.

After a lot of deliberation and years of waiting, finally got the Mini 4 Pro. I was in Kerala last week and managed to get a few shots of the beach and backwaters.

The drone itself is lovely and flies like a dream.

Congrats on your Mini Pro 4. That's a cool shot.

Do share a video sample too.

Btw, where did you buy it, cost and why did you choose a Mini 4 Pro and not other models?

[iceman.]

Originally Posted by mobike008

Congrats on your Mini Pro 4. That's a cool shot.

Do share a video sample too.

Btw, where did you buy it, cost and why did you choose a Mini 4 Pro and not other models?

Thanks. Here are the details -

• I got it from Airytek - they're based out of Kerala but do have an online presence.
• It costed me ~1.2L with card discounts, cashback etc; they were running a promotion at that time. I did not want to go through the hassle of buying from US and then getting stuck with customs or any other legal red tape.

I chose the Mini 4 Pro because of the following reasons.

• First off, the weight constraint of nano drones being under 250g limit. This is a very important requirement because anything above 250g is a pain to carry, register, fly with regulations etc. If I was a professional, I might have thought about > 250g, but as a enthusiast, the nano drones will definetly be more than enough.
• Under the 250g limit, there were a few options from DJI, Autel and Holy Stone. To be honest, nothing apart from DJI was even considered. The product quality and support for DJI drones is far better than any other manufacturer.
• I looked at Mini 2 SE, Mini 3 Pro and Mini 4 Pro. Mini 3 Pro was an almost perfect drone which nailed the camera, gimbal stabilization and flight characteristics. (stability, wind resistance for a small drone).
• The only thing that Mini 3 Pro lacked was 360 degree obstacle avoidance. And I really feel that drones, given they fly out of sight sometiimes, should have this feature by default.
• The Mini 4 pro fixed that problem, added a few other features like 4k100fps vs 4k60 fps (Slow motion capabilities at 4k), increased range to 20kms compared to 12 kms, Landing Light at bottom.
• That pretty much sealed the deal for me.

Here are a couple of videos to show how the drone performs.

DJI Mini 4 Pro Sample Video 1

DJI Mini 4 Pro Sample Video 2

DJI Mini 4 Pro Night Sample Video 3

[Samfromindia]

Latest free trick to bypass 120M altitude limit for Mini 3 & 4 Pro.

https://youtu.be/_ZJqzP2JDv8?feature=shared

[izzikio_rage]

Originally Posted by iceman.

Thanks. Here are the details -

Congratulations on the new drone and absolutely agree that 360 obstacle avoidance is absolutely critical given the sheer number of modes where the drone flies itself (mastershots, POV, active track etc).

While these are easy to fly right out of the box. I've realized that with drones though you should spend some time practicing the flight, figuring out the features and you'll suddenly be absle to take very very professional shots.

[mobike008]

Originally Posted by iceman.

Thanks. Here are the details -

Nice. Thanks for the details. That's some cool pictures and videos.

I too picked up my first DRONE during the Christmas holidays from a tax-free state (Portland).

There was an excellent offer on DJI Mini 3 and I paid $429 (INR 35,000) for this beauty.



Here are a few pictures from the drone :











If you'd like to see more pictures and videos from the drone. Here is the link :

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/trave...ml#post5699485 (Snoqualmie Pass, Washington | Team-BHPians Hunting for Snow + First Drone Flying Experience)

[Samfromindia]

Originally Posted by mobike008

I too picked up my first DRONE during the Christmas holidays from a tax-free state (Portland).

There was an excellent offer on DJI Mini 3 and I paid $429 (INR 35,000) for this beauty.

A great drone at a great price. Familiarize yourself with battery & RC maintenance tips. Many people including me with RC-N1 have faced the controller dead issue. It can be a expensive repair depending on where you get it done from. Always charge the controller fully at least once a month even when not using it. Also do not store the battery inside drone / charger and let it auto discharge and charge it back fully before flight. Will post more details later.

https://youtu.be/58IxNZcF4ac?feature=shared

[mobike008]

Got this beautiful case for my DJI Mini 3.

Seems to be a popular product and it was on back-order. Came almost after 2-weeks.

Fits the Drone, Controller and Accessories quite well.

Color suits the drone color. Also, the quality is pretty good.

[clevermax]

Originally Posted by clevermax

I'm building a 5-inch FPV drone from scratch, and the build is about 70% complete, but it can already fly Line-of-Sight for now. I haven't hooked up the FPV system yet, but she's already taken several flights.

It took me a few months to fully complete this build. Now I have added the FPV equipment as well. I had been dreaming about flying FPV all this while, and yesterday, that dream became reality. Yesterday, I took her to the skies wearing the FPV goggles for the first time and the experience was nothing short of nerve-wracking, thrilling, and enjoyable at the same time!

Action cam footage from my first FPV flight:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QupniZT6kjA

I managed to fly this ONLY because I spent around 15 hours flying FPV in simulator apps. That gave me the muscle memory required (very, very important) and the confidence to fly in acro mode. If you don't practice on the simulator, you're likely to crash—it's almost certain.

Flying FPV with a freestyle drone is way different (and more difficult) than flying DJI drones, which are a few times easier to fly. In these quads, when flying in acro mode, there's no assist: no altitude hold, no position hold, no self-leveling. Everything is 100% manual. But that puts you in total control, and the adrenaline rush is on another level.

[Samfromindia]

Originally Posted by clevermax

It took me a few months to fully complete this build. Now I have added the FPV equipment as well. I had been dreaming about flying FPV all this while, and yesterday, that dream became reality. Yesterday, I took her to the skies wearing the FPV goggles for the first time and the experience was nothing short of nerve-wracking, thrilling, and enjoyable at the same time!

Great job, looks good How much are the damages and how many hrs are needed to build one from scratch ? Why didn't you go for the DJI Avata Route ?

[clevermax]

Originally Posted by Samfromindia

Great job, looks good How much are the damages and how many hrs are needed to build one from scratch ? Why didn't you go for the DJI Avata Route ?

Thank you! The damage to my pocket is not significant compared to a DJI Avata Here are the cost details:

Ground station equipment:
Transmitter, FPV Goggles, Batteries, External video receiver, and monitor (for others to see live flights).
The major expense here was the first two items. Overall, these would set you back by around INR 25K at least.

Drone:
Full CF 5-inch frame, Flight Controller, ESC, 4S Lipo Battery, Motors, Propellers, FPV camera, video transmitter, Omni antenna for VTX, RX, Action camera, and GPS module.
These items would be also around INR 20K without the action camera. My Runcam 4k action camera was another INR 10K, including ND filters.

How much time did it take to build?
I started building it in December and finished the first phase (without an FPV system) within a month. After phase 1, I began flying line-of-sight (LoS) and gradually started researching FPV flying. During this time, I trained myself on FPV simulators. I commenced phase 2 last month and integrated the FPV system as well. Altogether, I may have spent some 10-15 hours building it, plus several more hours watching YouTube videos and reading up on Betaflight/INAV documentation to gain the necessary knowledge. Add a few more hours for tuning the quad to my liking.

Why not DJI Avata?
Firstly, the DJI Avata is almost three times more costly! That is the primary reason I did not opt for the Avata. I'll list a few more reasons below:

• I have a preference for DIY projects, and I love that sense of accomplishment and satisfaction from building things.
• A 10-inch Ardupilot-based drone project I completed earlier boosted my confidence to undertake this project.
• The DJI Avata's ducted props (guards around the propellers) make sharp turns and complex maneuvers, such as flips and rolls, more challenging.
• Closed ecosystem - I didn't want to commit to a closed, expensive ecosystem when I had the option to build a drone myself.
• Limited customization with branded drones - If you want to expand your horizons later, you would need a completely new setup. In my case, I can take out the electronics, buy a different type of frame, and build a smaller/bigger/cinematic/long-range quad later, only by changing what is essential.
• Freestyle tricks and aggressive flying: A 5-inch freestyle drone offers more agility and power, and there is a high degree of tuning potential. I have yet to fully unleash my drone's potential. Currently, motor output and throttle scale are set at 88% and 90%, respectively. I have also smoothed out the tune. If I apply a 'Karate tune' and remove the motor and throttle limits, it would rip through the skies.

[Samfromindia]

Originally Posted by clevermax

Thank you! The damage to my pocket is not significant compared to a DJI Avata

Thanks for all the details This T-shirt is definitely made for people like you !