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I have built several waterproof quads using the Dex frames. You might have a look at their offerings.I like trying goofy and unconventional stuff.
Last month I bought one of these to test:
Aperture Hexacopter Aerial Photography Drone (RTF) (Mode 2)
As expected, there were problems right away. The radio was junk so I couldn't fly it more than ~100 ft before the radio failsafe kicked in. It was not very stable as the motors were no doubt elcheapo, but it was still pretty neat.
I installed the latest Arducopter fw, but could not perform auto tune because of the radio problem and could not assign a switch for it. It accepts up to 16k mah 6s battery.
The real reason I wanted it was to see how the frame was constructed. I want a hexa that is water proof. Two years in a row I went to the Michigan Mud Jam and got rained out, although was able to get some decent video.
Well, this Aperture is water proof (well, at least for rain). However, for $562 one can't expect the greatest quality components. I ended up sending it back for a refund.
Long story short, the bare frame for this behemoth can be bought for under $400. It's actually quite a strong frame, and although plastic, it is stiff. The flight logs indicated the vibration was surprisingly good, so that's a big positive. The landing gear mounts would need replacing, but other than that I'm tempted to buy it for a winter project and install high quality internals. The downside is the motors required are huge, which means $$$.
I seriously looked at the 520, but can't justify the price. I don't believe the frame/hardware quality is that much better than the 480. Yuneec would have to itemize why the 520 is so much more. The software would have to be as robust as Mission Planner, such as having the ability to continue missions when a failsafe is triggered, or ability to customize parameters. It would also be persuasive if 3rd party software could be used such as UgCS. The camera system has always been my nemesis when going the DIY route. I still think it may be possible to use a Yuneec gimbal/camera system on a Pixhawk drone.
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