January 2015 - Electric Dragonfly

Hubsan X4 H107L RC Quadcopter Unboxing and Flight

January 17, 2015 James Sorsby

Hubsan X4 LED Lights

The Hubsan H107L X4 Mini RC Quadcopter comes out of the box ready to fly. It has a Durable one piece main frame. That has a bottom half and a top half. Crash packs can be bought for as little as $15 and have a selection of colors so you can change the original color of you aircraft. It is a very stable platform with a Precision 6 axis gyro flight control system that is adjustable for sensitivity. Of my other two quad copters this is the most stable and the fastest. It really zips along and reminds me of a large June bug on crack. Well, at least, that’s how I would imagine one would look and act like. Each of the rotor post has an LED light mounted in it for orientation and night flight and there are two small blue LEDS mounted in front that look like two beady eyes.

IMG_4813 Hubsan X4 H107L RC Quadcopter Motor and Prop

X4 Motor and Prop

The motors are Micro Coreless Motors and provide plenty of smooth power. This little flyer is powered by one High capacity 240mAh 3.7V LiPO battery that slides into an opening in the back of the fuselage. Make sure the battery is all the way in and the wires stowed as per the instruction manual. With its small size a shift in the center of gravity from battery or wire misplacement can affect its flight performance. The battery can be left in or removed for charging with the supplied USB charger. Charging Time is roughly about 50-60 Minutes and this gives on average Flight Times of 7 to 8 Minutes.

X4 Controller

A 4 channel 2.4 Ghz controller comes in the box and it requires 4 AAA batteries which are not supplied. The controller has an LCD display which shows trim, power level, modes and other settings. Normal and expert modes are selectable and it will do flips. The Controller range is about 33 meters but, the X4 with its small size does not have to go far to be out of sight. Out of the box the X4 does not come with a rotor guard so care must be taken to cut the power when it comes into contact with a solid object. If not, there is the possibility of injury but also, if the prop stops and the motor is still powered the motor will burn out very quickly. Replacement motors are available. Four replacement rotors come in the box, two are black and two are white and are easy to replace. The old prop just pops off and a new one pops on but, don’t mix them up or your craft will not fly till you get the right prop on. Each prop has an A or B on it and you have to match the prop letter not the color.

Hubsan X4 Quadcopter

A Prop cover/guard is also available but must be purchased separately. I had a couple of crashes where the X4 didn’t fly as well as it did before the impact. Upon closer inspection I found that the lower half of the frame arm had popped loose from the motor mount. The arm just snapped back in after applying a little pressure and it flew as well as before. No permanent damage done. For the price, about $40, this is a fun relatively easy to fly quad copter.

This morning’s news 1/26/15 reported that the secret service says a two foot wide radio control quadcopter crashed onto the White house lawn. Hobbyist flying small drones or UAV’s in the Washington, DC area should remember that the White house is surrounded by a No Fly zone.

Xtreem Maxi Quad Starship, RC Quadcopter by Swann

January 17, 2015 James Sorsby

Rotor Guard Removed

The Maxi Quad Starship by XTREEM is an easy to fly, RTF radio control (RC) quad copter. In the box you’ll find the quad rotor, 4 GHz wireless controller, four spare rotor blades, USB charging cable, operating instructions and the landing pad game. The game is a fluorescent green paper target to land the mini drone on and is of such little value it should in no way be a part of your decision to buy this drone or not. Four AA batteries are required for the remote control and are not included. The controller has a range of 330 ft. and provides four axis control of the aircraft. It also has trim stabilization adjustments and a button for 360 stunt and tumble flying and a power on LED.

This little quadcopter is RTF (ready to fly) right out of the box and takes very little time to master. But, during outdoor flight it does have a tendency to be blown by a slight wind. Xtreem’s easy-fly Gyro technology aids stabilization of the aircraft in level flight and allows for easy control. The Built-in 350mAH Li-poly battery is charged with the USB cable and takes approximately 50 minutes to charge. The cable has an LED indicating light that illuminates when charging and extinguishes when charging is complete. The charging lead on the aircraft does have to be plugged into its port on the fuselage in order for the craft to be powered by the battery.

There is a convenient power on/off switch on the bottom of the frame body. With a full charge you can get 7-8 minutes of flight time. This little quadrotor is a delight to fly and only weighs 2.4 oz. It has a durable set of rotor protectors to protect the spinning rotors from impact damage and has a pair of White led head lights that help in position orientation and night flying.

During test flights the rotor protector popped loose easily during crashes and should be checked after an impact if controllability suddenly becomes an issue. It easily pops back into place. The starship looks exactly like the Syma X3 with the same controller, I suspect it’s the same ship, the only difference being the packaging and the colors used in the molding of the plastic parts.

Syma S107 RC Mini Helicopter Unboxing and First Flights

January 16, 2015 James Sorsby

The Syma S107G Metal Series RC Mini Helicopter in the video was a Christmas present that we had a great time with. It’s a sleek good looking mini UAV that’s well built, being constructed mostly of metal, with plastic rotors. Even with it’s metal frame it only weighs 34g. This counter rotating (coaxial) two rotor helicopter was easy to fly right out of the box. Or should I say as soon as the rechargeable 180mAh Li-poly battery was fully charged by using the included USB charging cable that plugs into the controller or usb port.

In flight it is extremely stabile due to the fact that it’s stabilized with a built in gyroscope. The gyroscopic stabilization system consist of two counter weights mounted on arms above the coaxial rotors which turn in opposite directions. The system made hovering very simple to the point that you simply move the throttle up and down to vary the power and this provides lift or settling of this mini copter. The controller is an easy to use, six AA battery powered, 3 channel infrared 3 way controller with trim. Since the controller transmits it’s signal via infra red it won’t interfere with your other RC models.

Syma 107G Gear Box

To fly all you have to do is add power to raise the aircraft off the ground then you use the other joystick to move left, right, forward, or back. Then you’re on your way with no real training time. On the nose is an LED light that continuously flashes when the craft is powered. During our time flying the Syma 107 indoors it had lots of impacts with the walls and ceiling but it never broke. I attribute this to the light weight metal frame that Syma used for the construction of the fuselage and tail boom. The S107 is owner repairable and inexpensive crash packs that contain an assortment of spare parts and rotors are available.

The frame does leave the gear box open for viewing but, the exposure of the gears and circuit board leaves some concern about hair or other debris possibly fowling the gears. Fortunately, we never had a problem with that. Charging time was 30 to 35 minutes and flight time averaged 8 minutes. I would definitely suggest this inexpensive model for both beginners and experienced pilots and at an average cost of $20 it’s cheap fun.

Syma S107G

Syma S107G side

Syma S107G Motor