- Joined
- Mar 18, 2018
- Messages
- 4
- Reaction score
- 3
- Age
- 56
So I FINALLY got around to getting my NEW Q500 4K drone in the air. I bought it in June of 2016 and just never got around to flying it.... until today.
I (re)charged all the batteries and made sure all the firmware on both copter and controller are up-to-date. I've read the manual countless times between the time I bought the drone and now. I set it for Smart mode, powered on everything properly, waited for video sync, waited for good GPS lock. Clear sunny afternoon. No wind. Total "Chamber of Commerce" weather. I pushed ever so gingerly forward on the left stick and let the copter rise up to about 10 feet. It started to drift forward so I pulled back on the right stick towards me. The drone and I were facing the same direction (forward). So in either Smart or Angle mode, the drone should have started backing up towards me. Nope. I released both sticks and watched helplessly as the drone flew into the side of the house, shattering the propellers. Thank God it was my house that was hit! Sigh. There are bushes between where I was standing and the house, so running ahead and grabbing the drone out of the air wasn't an option. Total time in the air, less than a minute. Sigh. Now I'm scared to death to even touch the thing again. I couldn't believe how un-stable it was and how it just wandered into a house that was 50 feet away on it's own. Do these models have a tendency to just wander around on their own? I know there's no obstacle avoidance on this model. I just figured it would more-or-less stay put when the controller sticks are released. Guess that's not the case. Should I take another chance on this one? Or should I just can it and get a DJI?
Dean
I (re)charged all the batteries and made sure all the firmware on both copter and controller are up-to-date. I've read the manual countless times between the time I bought the drone and now. I set it for Smart mode, powered on everything properly, waited for video sync, waited for good GPS lock. Clear sunny afternoon. No wind. Total "Chamber of Commerce" weather. I pushed ever so gingerly forward on the left stick and let the copter rise up to about 10 feet. It started to drift forward so I pulled back on the right stick towards me. The drone and I were facing the same direction (forward). So in either Smart or Angle mode, the drone should have started backing up towards me. Nope. I released both sticks and watched helplessly as the drone flew into the side of the house, shattering the propellers. Thank God it was my house that was hit! Sigh. There are bushes between where I was standing and the house, so running ahead and grabbing the drone out of the air wasn't an option. Total time in the air, less than a minute. Sigh. Now I'm scared to death to even touch the thing again. I couldn't believe how un-stable it was and how it just wandered into a house that was 50 feet away on it's own. Do these models have a tendency to just wander around on their own? I know there's no obstacle avoidance on this model. I just figured it would more-or-less stay put when the controller sticks are released. Guess that's not the case. Should I take another chance on this one? Or should I just can it and get a DJI?
Dean