Studio711.com – Ben Martens

Here Come The Drones

I’ve been thinking about building my own UAV. Prices are coming down and it’s getting to be a pretty straightforward process. I’m planning to start with a multicopter. Do any of you have RC or UAV experience? Here’s my plan and you can let me know if you have a better recommendation.

The initial purchase (probably next spring after I save my pennies) will involve:

  • A 3DR Y6 kit 
  • Some kind of radio… maybe the Futaba 7-Channel model? I’d love some advice here. I don’t mind spending money to get a good one that will last me, but I also don’t need the top of the line model.
  • At least one battery and a charger

Hopefully that’s enough to get me flying. After that I’d add in an Ardupilot board, GPS and maybe a live telemetry link. I also want to add some kind of gimble to mount a GoPro.

So that’s the plan/dream. Advice is welcome! There are so many options that it gets overwhelming pretty quickly. I’ve found diydrones.com to be really helpful but I’m sure there are other good sites?