Xiaomi Mi Drone 4k - 393 euro including delivery

tedpan

beanian wrote:

Anyone ever get an "Unstable battery voltage, please be carful" error upon starting their quad? Got a new battery from tomtop and I get this message. Looking at the cell info I can see one cell is lower then the others and highlighted in red

Never had that before.. Is the new battery fully charged?

beanian

tedpan wrote: »

Never had that before.. Is the new battery fully charged?

Yeah, I tried discharging it and it eventually balanced out but when I charged it again it happened again

RonTon

Cheers for the advice fellas.
its snowing here in north Cork so my chances of finding it are slim today unfortunately .
I’ll call to all the houses on the flight path I think it was on and hopefully I’ll get lucky ...
I’ve roped in 2 unwilling family member for the adventure
Bloody thing could be anywhere..
I wonder can I buy the drone without the controller do any of ye know?

tedpan

beanian wrote:

Yeah, I tried discharging it and it eventually balanced out but when I charged it again it happened again

That's weird I'd be on to tomtop for a DOA replacement as it seems to be faulty.

RonTon wrote:

Cheers for the advice fellas. its snowing here in north Cork so my chances of finding it are slim today unfortunately . I’ll call to all the houses on the flight path I think it was on and hopefully I’ll get lucky ... I’ve roped in 2 unwilling family member for the adventure Bloody thing could be anywhere.. I wonder can I buy the drone without the controller do any of ye know?

I think you're best buying the full drone again. You can then sell the battery, controller and charger to get half your money back, or more if you're lucky!

Unfortunately its the most cost effective option.

JabbaTheHut

RonTon wrote: »

I went out just as it was getting dark looking for the lights but no joy , hopefully will have better luck tomorrow with a couple of extra bodies giving a hand ...
I looked thru the settings and it looks like the setting for the Chinese gps adjustment might have been turned on ,so when it lost connection the RTH activated but home was somewhere else .
That’s the only thing I can think of and even at that I’m not sure was that on/off ..
Balls x 2

And if I do find it ,will the frosty night wreck it

Any luck with finding the drone? I reckon the frost won't do it any good any. It's the moisture in the air that'll affect it. The cold itself probably won't do it any harm.

eringobragh wrote: »

Since Nov 12th

It's a while alright. With Christmas being over, perhaps things might free up on the shipping front. This time last year it took more than 2 months for stuff from China to arrive. The tracking number for me meant nothing until the day of delivery.

RonTon

JabbaTheHut wrote: »

Any luck with finding the drone? I reckon the frost won't do it any good any. It's the moisture in the air that'll affect it. The cold itself probably won't do it any harm.



No luck unfortunately,was out for best part of 3 hours in the snow ,covered a lot of ground ,only hope now will be a farmer/neighbor will find it ....

I’ve the bug now for a drone so will definitely get another if this one doesn’t turn up

tedpan

Hope it shows up mate. I definitely think it's in a tree, don't forget to look up too!

JabbaTheHut

RonTon wrote: »

JabbaTheHut wrote: »

Any luck with finding the drone? I reckon the frost won't do it any good any. It's the moisture in the air that'll affect it. The cold itself probably won't do it any harm.



No luck unfortunately,was out for best part of 3 hours in the snow ,covered a lot of ground ,only hope now will be a farmer/neighbor will find it ....

I’ve the bug now for a drone so will definitely get another if this one doesn’t turn up

A buddy of mine has a DJI Mavic pro. He says that it has a gps setting on it that gives it's trajectory when flying, and shows it's history. I wonder is there something in the Xiaomi app that could show you it's last known position that could help narrow down the search area?

RonTon

JabbaTheHut wrote: »

RonTon wrote: »

A buddy of mine has a DJI Mavic pro. He says that it has a gps setting on it that gives it's trajectory when flying, and shows it's history. I wonder is there something in the Xiaomi app that could show you it's last known position that could help narrow down the search area?

Nice idea but it disconnected from the controller and i could do absolutely nothing which was a right bummer ...
I could see it’s flight path on the app but it wasn’t much good to me as it was pretty much over my head when it disconnected but at a good height , it picked up speed and zipped away from me ,the sun was right in my eyes and was v difficult to see ,i lost sight of it pretty quick , I presume it was in RTH mode but where home was wasn’t where it took off from unfortunately.
I’m still gutted but I made a good attempt to retrieve it but no joy

When I get another drone I’m going to put my phone number on it and look into maybe sticking one of those gps trackers you get for lost keys to it ,probably would work

RonTon

I see a dji spark mini on another bargain chat ,anyone know about that one?

tedpan

RonTon wrote:

I see a dji spark mini on another bargain chat ,anyone know about that one?

Decent little drone, you do need to buy the combo which includes the remote otherwise you can't fly further than 100metres. It flies well and takes awesome shots for its size. 1080p is the max resolution, although that does suit most people.

Usually it's double the price of the mi Drone, what's the current offer?

Skippy along

RonTon wrote: »

Cheers for the advice fellas.
its snowing here in north Cork so my chances of finding it are slim today unfortunately .
I’ll call to all the houses on the flight path I think it was on and hopefully I’ll get lucky ...
I’ve roped in 2 unwilling family member for the adventure
Bloody thing could be anywhere..
I wonder can I buy the drone without the controller do any of ye know?

Hi
I see your in the North Cork area I'm in mallow and have a drone maybe I can help?

RonTon

Skippy along wrote: »

Hi
I see your in the North Cork area I'm in mallow and have a drone maybe I can help?

That’s where I am
Cheers for the offer Skippy, I’ve walked every field where I thought it could be but no joy ,the bloody thing could be anywhere .
I really do appreciate the offer tho

Skippy along

Well I'm off for a few days it's no bother at all .. Yeah with the snow today no chance of finding it... you'd cover a lot of ground in 20 minutes with a drone.
Offer still stands anyway

Still waiting for mine. Ordered on Nov 28, supposedly left Hong Kong Dec 16th.

Meanwhile, I spotted
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pjyvpRoM2bo

a handheld gimbal for using the 4k camera standalone, which looks interesting. I like the idea of ground shots and aerial shots from the one device. Just wondering how good the camera would be in normal situations, compared to a go pro or similar?

RonTon

RonTon wrote: »

I see a dji spark mini on another bargain chat ,anyone know about that one?

I bought one today with the 20% off deal on ebay. got it for 330 euro. I will buy the controller elsewhere for about 100 euro. the reason that I went for this one is that it's not big and noticeable like the phantom or mi or even the mavic. it looks like a little toy so people don't get bothered by it yet it's very capable with all the follow me, panning features etc. you can hack the drone easily to get the 2km range like you can in the US by bypassing the EU restricted output.

tedpan

Deleted User wrote:

a handheld gimbal for using the 4k camera standalone, which looks interesting. I like the idea of ground shots and aerial shots from the one device. Just wondering how good the camera would be in normal situations, compared to a go pro or similar?

Yeah, saw they have them on eBay. It will far superior to a go pro. The gimbal holds everything extremely steady, I've tried recording just holding the drone and the results are impressive.

tedpan

glasso wrote:

I bought one today with the 20% off deal on ebay. got it for 330 euro. I will buy the controller elsewhere for about 100 euro. the reason that I went for this one is that it's not big and noticeable like the phantom or mi or even the mavic. it looks like a little toy so people don't get bothered by it yet it's very capable with all the follow me, panning features etc. you can hack the drone easily to get the 2km range like you can in the US by bypassing the EU restricted output.

You'll need to buy the extra battery too, one just isn't enough. If you get the whole lot for less than 550e, you got a bargain. I thought the remote was 150e?

tedpan

tedpan wrote: »

You'll need to buy the extra battery too, one just isn't enough. If you get the whole lot for less than 550e, you got a bargain. I thought the remote was 150e?

extra battery 40 euro. remote 100 euro. eglobal.
all in 470.

foobar

glasso wrote: »

I bought one today with the 20% off deal on ebay. got it for 330 euro.

Is the deal ongoing, if so, would you mind sharing the link?

foobar

foobar wrote: »

Is the deal ongoing, if so, would you mind sharing the link?

it was posted in bargain alerts - it was 20% off ebay today between 12pm and 6pm. so I used it on a buy it now spark sold from Spain.

coneill13

I notice there is a US plug version available of the mi drone which ships from an EU warehouse for €395. Would this be a better option as not subject to import duty & vat ? Would the power supply work in ireland (230V) with an adapter or if I changed the plug ?

Link:
https://www.gearbest.com/rc-quadcopters/pp_728058.html?wid=89


otherwise the chinese whse version is going for €369:
https://www.gearbest.com/rc-quadcopters/pp_363299.html?utm_source=linkshare&utm_medium=linkshare&utm_campaign=linkshare&siteID=TnL5HPStwNw-Udl_pzODZPFoAqs0uq.BEw

tedpan

coneill13 wrote:

I notice there is a US plug version available of the mi drone which ships from an EU warehouse for €395. Would this be a better option as not subject to import duty & vat ? Would the power supply work in ireland (230V) with an adapter or if I changed the plug ?

Nobody has been hit with any additional charges when buying the drone, so don't think it's a big risk. It's all about where the company is based anyway, if you're buying from a company based in Asia and they ship from the EU customs can still get you.

The charger is 100-240v so will work anywhere, the plug adapter is included

Daibheid

RonTon wrote: »

JabbaTheHut wrote: »

Nice idea but it disconnected from the controller and i could do absolutely nothing which was a right bummer ...
I could see it’s flight path on the app but it wasn’t much good to me as it was pretty much over my head when it disconnected but at a good height , it picked up speed and zipped away from me ,the sun was right in my eyes and was v difficult to see ,i lost sight of it pretty quick , I presume it was in RTH mode but where home was wasn’t where it took off from unfortunately.

The Apps flight log should show you its heading before it disconnected and you have a visual on what direction it headed afterward. The log will also show you how much battery was left as it went postal. Use that to estimate how far it could have gone in the last known direction. You know the percentage left minus the auto land percentage to get the minutes aloft. It was either being blown along or in RTH mode. Phantoms only travel at 50% max velocity in RTH mode, probably the same for Mi. Estimate the wind effect and narrow your likely landing zone.
Why it might have happened? Check your right control wheel setting. If you had it switching between GPS and ATTITUDE and inadvertently nudged the wheel into Attitude , (or even previously selected ATTITUDE in settings) it could have just been blown downwind after disconnecting. I suspect RTH may not work in ATTITUDE setting and high altitude winds can be much stronger than ground level......
Reason for disconnecting could have been your controller battery got cold and dropped voltage.

jasper1422

Hi All.

I am looking to buy a DJI Phantom 4 +. I have being looking at them on TOMTOP/EGlobal and Gearbest. They seem to be out of stock in a lot of places. I had a Phantom pro 3 but sold it recently and would like to upgrade. The pro 3 i owned i bought it in Ireland but with the big price difference i would like buy somewhere else. Has anyone found any problems from ordering for any of the above sites and are the Quads/Drones the same quality? Or can anyone recommend anywhere else to buy at a good price.

Thanks in advance

RonTon

Daibheid wrote: »

RonTon wrote: »

The Apps flight log should show you its heading before it disconnected and you have a visual on what direction it headed afterward. The log will also show you how much battery was left as it went postal. Use that to estimate how far it could have gone in the last known direction. You know the percentage left minus the auto land percentage to get the minutes aloft. It was either being blown along or in RTH mode. Phantoms only travel at 50% max velocity in RTH mode, probably the same for Mi. Estimate the wind effect and narrow your likely landing zone.
Why it might have happened? Check your right control wheel setting. If you had it switching between GPS and ATTITUDE and inadvertently nudged the wheel into Attitude , (or even previously selected ATTITUDE in settings) it could have just been blown downwind after disconnecting. I suspect RTH may not work in ATTITUDE setting and high altitude winds can be much stronger than ground level......
Reason for disconnecting could have been your controller battery got cold and dropped voltage.

Some great advice there, tyty
The drone was almost right above my head when it disconnected from controller,I could see the path it was taking but lost sight of it v quickly with the sun in my eyes but I did see direction of flight path ,
The log on app was no good for me cos of been just above me. battery was at 92% so could have traveled quiet a distance.
Got a call from a neighbor saying she thought she heard it land ,it’s in the area where I thought it would be but I searched around there for hours yesterday but snow didn’t help.
I’m in work today so will be tomorrow before I can search again ,I haven’t given up hope yet and if (when) I find I’ll dry it out well and hopefully it will not be damaged

eringobragh

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqPZ6HZy4GM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqPZ6HZy4GM

After hearing about the flyaways , mines not arrived yet but I've Ordered the bits and pieces needed for this beacon locator - it should cost sub €40 some of ye may already have some of the bits - all included with exception of he antenna heatshrink which I already have :cool:

20mm heatsrink $ 1.28

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/8MM-10MM-12MM-14MM-16MM-18MM-20MM-Transparent-Clear-Heat-Shrink-Tube-Shrinkable-Tubing-Sleeving/32791364000.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.22wOyI

FTDI serial programmer Order amount:$ 1.65

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/FT232RL-FTDI-USB-3-3V-5-5V-to-TTL-Serial-Adapter-Module-forArduin-Mini-Port-Buy/32650148276.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.H9jayw

Battery Leads $ 1.95

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/10pcs-rc-Quadcopter-Part-Charger-Connector-Wire-Cable-for-Wltoys-V911-JJRC-H36-Furibee-F36-Eachine/32802526405.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.H9jayw

Arduino Pro Mini Atmega328 3.3V $ 1.79

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Automatic-Protection-Pro-Mini-Atmega328-3-3V-8Mhz-Board-Module-for-Arduino-Mini-Atmega328P-With-Pins/2037937385.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.H9jayw

FM Transmitter $ 0.59

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Best-prices-1-pair-2pcs-433Mhz-RF-transmitter-and-receiver-link-kit/32274252129.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.H9jayw

eachine LiPo battery $2 .98

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Eachine-3-7V-380mah-25C-Lipo-Battery-for-Eachine-E70-E20-Hubsan-H107L-H107C-H107D-JJRC/32835346185.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.H9jayw

LiPo Charger $ 1.69

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/X5-Charger-Eachine-for-1-3-7-V-Lipo-Battery-and-Syma-X5-X5C-X5C/32804465503.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.H9jayw

10 Pcs 433MHZ Spiral Spring Helical Antenna 5MM $2.02

https://www.banggood.com/10-Pcs-433MHZ-Spiral-Spring-Helical-Antenna-5MM-p-932781.html?rmmds=myorder&cur_warehouse=CN

Baofeng UV-5R Dual-Band Two-way Radio $18.99

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Baofeng-UV-5R-Dual-Band-Two-way-Radio-VHF-UHF-136-174-400-520MHz-FM-Ham/112631191496?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649

JabbaTheHut

eringobragh wrote: »

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqPZ6HZy4GM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqPZ6HZy4GM

After hearing about the flyaways , mines not arrived yet but I've Ordered the bits and pieces needed for this beacon locator - it should cost sub €40 some of ye may already have some of the bits - all included with exception of he antenna heatshrink which I already have :cool:

20mm heatsrink $ 1.28

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/8MM-10MM-12MM-14MM-16MM-18MM-20MM-Transparent-Clear-Heat-Shrink-Tube-Shrinkable-Tubing-Sleeving/32791364000.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.22wOyI

FTDI serial programmer Order amount:$ 1.65

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/FT232RL-FTDI-USB-3-3V-5-5V-to-TTL-Serial-Adapter-Module-forArduin-Mini-Port-Buy/32650148276.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.H9jayw

Battery Leads $ 1.95

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/10pcs-rc-Quadcopter-Part-Charger-Connector-Wire-Cable-for-Wltoys-V911-JJRC-H36-Furibee-F36-Eachine/32802526405.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.H9jayw

Arduino Pro Mini Atmega328 3.3V $ 1.79

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Automatic-Protection-Pro-Mini-Atmega328-3-3V-8Mhz-Board-Module-for-Arduino-Mini-Atmega328P-With-Pins/2037937385.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.H9jayw

FM Transmitter $ 0.59

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Best-prices-1-pair-2pcs-433Mhz-RF-transmitter-and-receiver-link-kit/32274252129.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.H9jayw

eachine LiPo battery $2 .98

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Eachine-3-7V-380mah-25C-Lipo-Battery-for-Eachine-E70-E20-Hubsan-H107L-H107C-H107D-JJRC/32835346185.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.H9jayw

LiPo Charger $ 1.69

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/X5-Charger-Eachine-for-1-3-7-V-Lipo-Battery-and-Syma-X5-X5C-X5C/32804465503.html?spm=a2g0s.9042311.0.0.H9jayw

10 Pcs 433MHZ Spiral Spring Helical Antenna 5MM $2.02

https://www.banggood.com/10-Pcs-433MHZ-Spiral-Spring-Helical-Antenna-5MM-p-932781.html?rmmds=myorder&cur_warehouse=CN

Baofeng UV-5R Dual-Band Two-way Radio $18.99

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Baofeng-UV-5R-Dual-Band-Two-way-Radio-VHF-UHF-136-174-400-520MHz-FM-Ham/112631191496?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649

Looks like a right idea.

Couple of questions. The radio is from ebay.com. I've bought loads of stuff off ebay.ie, but never off ebay.com . Is there any hassle with shipping or payment or anything else.
Also, I assume you have to program the Arduino. Do you need good programming skills to do that?

eringobragh

JabbaTheHut wrote: »

Looks like a right idea.

Couple of questions. The radio is from ebay.com. I've bought loads of stuff off ebay.ie, but never off ebay.com . Is there any hassle with shipping or payment or anything else.

None whatsoever you can get the same radio on Ali - just noticed it was 7 quid cheaper on ebay

JabbaTheHut wrote: »

. Do you need good programming skills to do that?

AFAIK you just need to upload the code from here to the arduino: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B5D1B0WJRNeQfjJhWE41Vy1CYWVwTTY4ZE5BOEZyUVJ5N24zMWxmRlY4aWlWUDV4RkFpWnM

JabbaTheHut

eringobragh wrote: »

None whatsoever you can get the same radio on Ali - just noticed it was 7 quid cheaper on ebay

Yeah. I looked around and it seemed the cheapest option by a nice bit. It says it could be March before it arrives. Hope I don't lose anything before then.