Interesting Contrast - Yuneec community and DJI community

[Dougcjohn]

Been floating between H480 and H920 sections since picking up Yuneec products after being a DJI owner. The Yuneec Community has been assistive and informative, while getting familiar to the Typhoon H and Tornado 920. Bounced over to the Inspire forum to gain a few insights and to visit the classified to acquire some components.

In reading some of the thermophotography, mapping, 3D mapping, etc. I found some useful cross-over ideas, some 3rd party hardware that could easily be adaptable to Yuneec models, and noticed a large amount of nicely developed 3rd party tools that clearly support the large market share of DJI. Knowing the Yuneec Hex platforms now... really makes you wonder why 3rd Party developers: hardware & software haven't been successful with Yuneec... it clearly wouldn't take much to enhance Yuneec's available products or optional components.

With a little more gained knowledge of the Yuneec society; thought I'd search the Inspire site for keywords: Yuneec, H920 or Typhoon to see if any useful information was available, locate other folk using both brands, or just basic thought provoking ideas. I was a bit taken back the searches revealed a major "superior attitude" and shaming of the Yuneec Owners, their proposed discussion questions or suggestions of healthy competition. Just reading the threads in the search results indicates a "Brand" society not very receptive to external ideas or products. As a Chevy fan, I've enjoyed a friendly banter / bashing with my Ford "misled" Friends. These discussions can be humorous and in a sort often informative. In contrast, a strong resistance to extending an ear or open mind... just... Interesting.

 

[Steve Carr]

Ha.......it's been so for a long time. It's not just Yuneec. Anything not labeled DJI is crap and the owner of such products are moronic outsiders. There is a Cult mentality in most of those groups making any kind of rational discussion impossible. They fail to understand what other companies bring to the table ultimately forces DJI to improve. My first Phantom had a 30 day warranty but it was worthless. There was virtually no way to get warranty service. It was the Q500 with a 6 mo warranty and someone who actually answered the phone that made DJI change.
Sadly, the heavy handed tactics of that company influences suppliers of parts, apps and web access that intentionally excludes competition. At the first sign of a release of a competitive product DJI drops prices and floods the market in order to kill competition. And it works. 3D Robotics, Karma, Autel, Parrot and many others have been put to pasture by these tactics. If Yuneec could clean up their chaos of overdue updates and missteps they could actually compete.

 

[Dougcjohn]

Ha.......it's been so for a long time. It's not just Yuneec. Anything not labeled DJI is crap and the owner of such products are moronic outsiders. There is a Cult mentality in most of those groups making any kind of rational discussion impossible. They fail to understand what other companies bring to the table ultimately forces DJI to improve. My first Phantom had a 30 day warranty but it was worthless. There was virtually no way to get warranty service. It was the Q500 with a 6 mo warranty and someone who actually answered the phone that made DJI change.
Sadly, the heavy handed tactics of that company influences suppliers of parts, apps and web access that intentionally excludes competition. At the first sign of a release of a competitive product DJI drops prices and floods the market in order to kill competition. And it works. 3D Robotics, Karma, Autel, Parrot and many others have been put to pasture by these tactics. If Yuneec could clean up their chaos of overdue updates and missteps they could actually compete.

I enjoy his videos and that one especially, in a nutshell he covers the bulk of the situation.

I'm similar in his position too, they are great designs and they do work nicely with all the new technology.

At the same time, would really like to see Autel make it... with their parent company backing them, I'm hopeful they can pull through. But, I've noticed a major slowdown with Autel since 2 yrs ago CES... recall the retractable landing gear, added cameras, etc. All those Haven't made it to market. Still would like to see them succeed... and would love to see Yuneec bring refreshing new designs and improvements too.

I read somewhere Autel is experiencing a major shortage of electronics because DJI is controlling the contract manufactures and manufactured curcuits and chips.

 

[h-elsner]

Knowing the Yuneec Hex platforms now... really makes you wonder why 3rd Party developers: hardware & software haven't been successful with Yuneec.

Yuneec did not offer an API to their products until H520. I think there will come some 3rd party tools for it but with limited distribution. The community for H520 is too small. It is not targeted as consumer copter as far as I can see. Something like Litchi will not successful I fear. Seems Tunas UAV toolbos pays off, but I do not remember anything else for Yuneec.

On the other hand, what HW improvement do you have in mind? Some brighter lights or other cameras or ...? What SW/apps/tools?

I do not follow DJI communities (except common copter forums) but I do not see any new ideas that are not followed up by Yuneec community if possible.
One exotic example: Plug a receiver from Yuneec Q500 on an old Blade 350QX (flight controller SW also from Yuneec) and you can control it with ST10 (or possibly ST16) and surprisingly get telemetry data. Blade shows up with 9m/s climbing speed. That is impressive, isn't it.
Also there a couple of web-based tools for CCC waypoints flight planning.
And last but not least: Some guys found a hack to use waypoints (not those CCC waypoints but real waypoints) from H520 on Typhoon H (H480).

So, there are some things in Yuneec community, but because Yuneec has no open/ducumented interfaces, it is hard to do more.

br HE

 

[Scott_in_Colorado]

I'm going to show you how foolish I am - but what I see going forward - fewer drones, fewer places to fly, lower cost drones as MOST don't have professional video applications - this is a crazy hobby - it 'hooks' guys, heck, it's mechanical, electrical, photo worthy, you can fly something with R/C - it fits all our 'guy' WANTS -- not needs. Guys are "this is so cool" driven - its like an RC car when we were little, perhaps we got one for Christmas - and this is still alive in us today. But, spend some time doing research, where can you fly (?), what you will take video of (?), the time doing video editing - a real time sync - and then, who actually looks at your videos? your family, a few friends?, all the no fly zones (and getting worse daily) - I see the drone market dropping off. In the video (above), the guy states most of us spend $1000 - $2000 on a drone - CRAZY - I bet more than 1/2 these are FOR SALE in the following 6 months - because of the reason's above. The used drone market will pick up - and these will be resold again. A while back I posted, I think on DJI's Pilot forum - "does anyone see drones flying around in their daily travels" - no one did - so where are all these 1,000,000 drones being flown? 30 miles out of town in remote areas? Just look at the drone videos, out in the middle of no where!! such remote places - sure, the videos look cool, but think it through - are you heading out 50+ miles to fly your drone? You won't do this long before you sell it. Heck, what's the fun of that, and taking video of, basically nothing - over and over again. I'll tell you the Yuneec Breeze at $150 is a GREAT BARGIN - but we all knew that. For the 5% of us that actually use a drone in our job, taking professional quality video - more power to you - I'd spend $1000+ then too - it's a tool - not a toy / hobby. You want to spend over $1000 on a toy, thinking "I can fly this for 3 miles and take video" - think again, you'll have the police at your door before it lands. Privacy issues are mounting. So, I don't see it. Sure all the drone manufacturers are telling us, "Here's what's new - and must have" but are we being sold a marketing ploy - will we wake up and say - No, it's too expensive to buy and then have to travel 50+ miles to fly it, and I only have 2-3-4 locations I can go to, but even if you are OK with that, shooting the video of the same stuff over and over gets old. So, that's my take on it. Right or wrong, I'm SO HAPPY I only spent $150 w/ controller on the Breeze and can use it out to local lakes, fly the bait out, drop it, and fish where others only wish they could cast. I'll have fun, and while cool, I will not spend $1000 on any drone - as for me, just does not make sense.

White House wants to let law enforcement disable civilian drones

 

[Riktar]

While your point(s) are all valid, you could apply this to any "wants" a guy (or gal for that matter) has.

Take a 5 figure boat purchase: How often are you going to have good weather to enjoy it? Live on a lake? Well then consider the vehicle you will need to get it where you want to use it. And then start racking up the operational costs and maintenance.

Heck you could apply your logic to any "hobby" that folks have. Doesn't matter if you are spending 5, 4 or even 3 figures on it.

At the end of the day, I enjoy the heck out of whatever I buy to find enjoyment or relax for a few hours.

As long as you cover the "needs" part of your life, have a ball with your "wants" whenever you can.

Life is too short. Find your "fun" moments when you can.

I'm going to show you how foolish I am - but what I see going forward - fewer drones, fewer places to fly, lower cost drones as MOST don't have professional video applications - this is a crazy hobby - it 'hooks' guys, heck, it's mechanical, electrical, photo worthy, you can fly something with R/C - it fits all our 'guy' WANTS -- not needs. Guys are "this is so cool" driven - its like an RC car when we were little, perhaps we got one for Christmas - and this is still alive in us today. But, spend some time doing research, where can you fly (?), what you will take video of (?), the time doing video editing - a real time sync - and then, who actually looks at your videos? your family, a few friends?, all the no fly zones (and getting worse daily) - I see the drone market dropping off. In the video (above), the guy states most of us spend $1000 - $2000 on a drone - CRAZY - I bet more than 1/2 these are FOR SALE in the following 6 months - because of the reason's above. The used drone market will pick up - and these will be resold again. A while back I posted, I think on DJI's Pilot forum - "does anyone see drones flying around in their daily travels" - no one did - so where are all these 1,000,000 drones being flown? 30 miles out of town in remote areas? Just look at the drone videos, out in the middle of no where!! such remote places - sure, the videos look cool, but think it through - are you heading out 50+ miles to fly your drone? You won't do this long before you sell it. Heck, what's the fun of that, and taking video of, basically nothing - over and over again. I'll tell you the Yuneec Breeze at $150 is a GREAT BARGIN - but we all knew that. For the 5% of us that actually use a drone in our job, taking professional quality video - more power to you - I'd spend $1000+ then too - it's a tool - not a toy / hobby. You want to spend over $1000 on a toy, thinking "I can fly this for 3 miles and take video" - think again, you'll have the police at your door before it lands. Privacy issues are mounting. So, I don't see it. Sure all the drone manufacturers are telling us, "Here's what's new - and must have" but are we being sold a marketing ploy - will we wake up and say - No, it's too expensive to buy and then have to travel 50+ miles to fly it, and I only have 2-3-4 locations I can go to, but even if you are OK with that, shooting the video of the same stuff over and over gets old. So, that's my take on it. Right or wrong, I'm SO HAPPY I only spent $150 w/ controller on the Breeze and can use it out to local lakes, fly the bait out, drop it, and fish where others only wish they could cast. I'll have fun, and while cool, I will not spend $1000 on any drone - as for me, just does not make sense.

 

[toothandnail]

I step out the door to fly mine, this hobby is CHEAP. my other hobby (competitive shooting) has the potential to send you to the poor house. I got the H to video that sport.

 

[PatR]

I agree, you’ll have $10$ in a decent LR rifle in a heart beat, then factory ammo, next loading gear, then bullet/load experimentation. By the time you get where you like everything it’s time for a new barrel and start over.

If anyone pays much attention to the news, the media always reports our drones are bad but big aerospace products get wonder kid articles written about them. Strange part is, they kill people, we don’t, and the big push is to get their stuff flying in our airspace and ours restricted.