One night I saw on the TV news an item about a groups of fanatics...flying little 4 engine "drones" around a deserted factory. Looking where they were heading using a video gizmo and wearing weird goggles!
I had to find out more! I was hooked. Having a background in photography.. I soon learned about the Phantom series of "quadcopters"......had to have one... and it is now just a a couple of weeks to being 12 months old. But I also learned about flyaways.and the common ( proposed) cause was lack of flying skills to deal with ATTI or recover an errant Phantom.
So I checked for a forum....and it was suggested I buy an RTF from one of the Chines e online stores....a Syma X8W eventually arrived and caused havoc. The short version is - that putting it mode 2... it was un-flyable. Now it is known that for some reason known only to Syma - selecting Mode 2 means it is in Mode 1 - must be an inscrutable Chinese special - or a way to sell another quad coz yours just destroyed itself.
On the forum... the advice was - ditch the RTF cheap stuff..BUILD YOR OWN. Which lead to my current addiction.
I was lucky, I thought OK mode 2 is US, so I read up on mode 1 and decided to try it...more trouble - till I realized I was in ....Mode 2. After that it flew pretty well really..BUT by then I was fed up with it and put it up for sale - and it went in a week and I lost about au$120 on the deal!
But the money went into buying a 450 quad frame parts etc,. The addiction got worse, three radio's, 2 x450 chines clone frame builds - DJI motors on one, Mars motors on the other. Followed by 2 x Alien 500 frames and off eBay - two sets of Cheapo 2212 920 motors alleged to be DJI - red body andlook like KingLong or clones) and a black set that could be Emax or...whatever!
I followed the threads about GPS ( Why you idiot you got a Phantom, P3 sitting there getting older)
Purchased a Revo full size FC, a NEO M8M Gps module and more paracetamol.
For a few weeks I have nothing but troubles... I Open LP, hook up a quad and mess with the settings to try to get it stable - this x four with each frame. Then it started. suddenly none would connect.
No sign of the "USB: CopterControl " After banging my head on the wall and setting up a new mantra...what have I done wrong now....what should I have done this time. So me and the "Rescue" tab became good friends meeting often...mostly to no avail.
I go for lunch and slip back quietly, turn the computer on and - ..walla...not a problem I reset the FC and check it in the garden.... not bad a bit of a wander but fairly stable... on to the next frame.
The day after I have 2 frames to check out.... they will not connect.
Repeat the above for about 3 weeks or more - including bricking a CC3D Atom and a Revo nano and the full size Revo - BUT was able to rescue it..although as yet I get a black Mag showing.
Then last night after trying everything to get them to connect I gave up... lazily tugged on the USB cable - plugged into x4 hub...another cheapo from China in the local supermarket. As I waggled the cable to get it out... the USB: coptercontrol came on and the FC flicked it lights at me and all was OK.
Yeah, you guessed all my problems were due to having TWO of these same cheapo hubs on my macs and both have - I now found - very loose fittings so it was hit and miss if the USB cable got a good connection!
Re attached my old and bulky but very efficient 6 x USB hub ( with its own power supply) and all is OK again!
So I claim an "Idiot of the Month" award...cos nobody would have gone done the same route as above....would they..