Author Archive: fpvcentral

FPVCentral is a private, independent news and review site for all things related to First Person View RC model flight. Covering everything from hobby, commercial and military drones, RC models and electronics related to FPV flight, we are not sponsored by any manufacturer or affiliated with any company or project.

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HK KK HC adds rugged case to the KK 2.x, is not a secret message

HK KK HC adds rugged case to the KK 2.x, is not a secret message

April 25, 2014 10:35 | By | Add a Comment

The nifty KK2.x is an awesome flight controller regardless of whether you have one of the earlier or the later models. Now Hobbyking adds a Hardcase variant into the mix: Realizing you only really need the display and buttons during initial setup, they moved those components into a separate programming box, while also giving the main controller a rugged case.

hkhcInternally, it’s a KK 2.1.5, which means a solid MPU6050 sensor and excellent performance and stability. The connectors now exit to the side, which is good news for a lot of people who had problems with the layout of the KK 2 board until now. The external programming box is hot-pluggable, allowing you to connect and disconnect it at any time. The previously optional buzzer is now already installed inside the controller case. In our review we found the KK 2.1.5 board to be ideal for both people looking for great stability as well as aerobatics.

The whole thing is being sold for USD $35.- which is slightly more than a “naked” KK 2, but in our opinion a very welcome upgrade. Now Rolf just needs to add GPS support… 😉

Product video after the break.

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Hubsan H109S X4 Pro “throw” teaser

Hubsan H109S X4 Pro “throw” teaser

April 23, 2014 11:52 | By | Add a Comment

Hubsan posted a new short teaser video showing the upcoming H109S X4 Pro RTF Quadcopter being thrown into the air. While this is standard fare for 350QX owners, and even a homemade $120 Quadcopter can do the same thing, it’s good to see Hubsan spend time on testing and tweaking their upcoming Phantom-competitor.

 

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FAA announces investigation into drone flying at 4/20 rally in Denver

FAA announces investigation into drone flying at 4/20 rally in Denver

April 23, 2014 8:51 | By | 1 Comment

The 4/20 marijuana rally in Denver was scene to a nervous and typical reaction by US authorities to a private hexacopter with a camera flying overhead and filming the event.

Denver police say they found two unidentified men flying a drone over the rally in Denver’s Civic Center Park. The men were asked to leave the top of the McNichols Civic Center Building because they didn’t have the proper permission.

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The FAA is now investigating this event, issuing several statements alleging that even private, non-commercial use of model aircraft may be a problem – if they don’t want you to, of course.

“Anyone who wants to fly an aircraft — manned or unmanned — in U.S. airspace needs some level of authorization from the FAA. Routine operation of Unmanned Aircraft Systems over densely-populated areas is not allowed,” the FAA said in a statement.

Did the persons operating the hexacopter fly below 400ft AGL? We don’t know, but it appears the burden of proof is on the side of the FAA. However, it is disturbing to see the FAA mix and match regulations from manned flight operations, controlled airspace and commercial UAV regulations and apply bits and pieces to effectively claim that they are to be asked for permission for any flying thing. The fact of the matter however is that they are not, and while flying a multirotor craft over a public event may not be the most politically sensitive thing to do, it remains to be seen whether the FAA can substantiate their claims – or whether they’ll just wait until new, restrictive regulations are being passed into law. The FAA has issued a fact sheet regarding the use of UAVs, which of course does nothing to substantiate whether a flight such as in Denver is illegal or not. It should be noted that no arrests were made, and all the police could do was to “ask” the pilots to leave the roof of the building from which they were controlling the craft.

Our guess is that the US will see restrictive regulations and classifications eerily similar to the ones recently passed in Austria.

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Hobbyking announces Quanum Nova RTF Quadcopter, a rebranded CX-20

Hobbyking announces Quanum Nova RTF Quadcopter, a rebranded CX-20

April 17, 2014 12:24 | By | 7 Comments

HK recently announced that they’re going to sell a rebranded version of the Cheerson CX-20 soon, calling it the “Quanum Nova”:

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The CX-20 is a GPS-capable quadcopter comparable to the DJI Phantom. We haven’t had a chance to review one yet, but from various flight footage on youtube this model seems to be very stable and have a good GPS position hold function. The RTF copter features a replaceable RC receiver so you can connect your favorite RC control system and use your existing transmitter instead.  Interestingly, the cool-looking external GPS antenna seems to be for show only, as images by customers show that the actual antenna is right inside the quadcopter’s main body.

The original CX-20 is on sale for $330 on Banggood, so it remains to be seen how much HK will charge for this one.

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Skylark FPV Remote

Skylark FPV Remote

April 14, 2014 14:00 | By | 2 Comments

Skylark is offering an FPV remote that integrates a high-brightness 7 inch screen, 430MHz long range remote, and 5.8GHZ 8-channel video receiver.

skylarkfpvBefore you reach for the buy button, current price on GLB is over $1000.- which is quite steep. In addition, we don’t know which long range HF system this is compatible to. Does it come with a receiver? How much do they cost? We don’t know yet.

More features and buy link in the overview after the break.

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Blade 350QX Review

Blade 350QX Review

April 13, 2014 13:57 | By | 2 Comments

Finally, we got to play with the 350QX from Horizon Hobby. There’s been plenty of reviews of this little guy, but aside from the usual “flies great” statements in hobby magazines, we wanted to find out how this RTF quadcopter compares against the ilk of a Phantom, Crius, or even a KK2.x. Curious? Read on after the break.

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EU Commission working on stricter rules for drones

EU Commission working on stricter rules for drones

April 9, 2014 14:03 | By | 2 Comments

The European Commission has today proposed to set tough new standards to regulate the operations of civil drones (or “remotely piloted aircraft sytems” – RPAS). The new standards will cover safety, security, privacy, data protection, insurance and liability. The aim is to allow European industry to become a global leader in the market for this emerging technology, while at the same time ensuring that all the necessary safeguards are in place.

Civil drones are increasingly being used in Europe, in countries such as Sweden, France and the UK, in different sectors, but under a fragmented regulatory framework. Basic national safety rules apply, but the rules differ across the EU and a number of key safeguards are not addressed in a coherent way.

Vice-President Siim Kallas, Commissioner for mobility and transport, said: “Civil drones can check for damage on road and rail bridges, monitor natural disasters such as flooding and spray crops with pinpoint accuracy. They come in all shapes and sizes. In the future they may even deliver books from your favourite online retailer. But many people, including myself, have concerns about the safety, security and privacy issues relating to these devices.”

The technology for civil drones is maturing and there is potential for significant growth and job creation. On some estimates in the next 10 years it could be worth 10% of the aviation market — that’s €15 billion per year. The Vice-President added, “If ever there was a right time to do this, and to do this at a European level, it is now. Because remotely piloted aircraft, almost by definition, are going to cross borders and the industry is still in its infancy. We have an opportunity now to make a single set of rules that everyone can work with, just like we do for larger aircraft.”

 

So much for the press release by the European Commission. Interestingly, nobody talks about regulating the sale and use of ladders, to help prevent people from peeking into your bedroom. If anyone was hoping for a liberal, progressive stance on the private and commercial use of UAVs by the EU Commission, today’s news is less than positive, to put it mildly.

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Event38 Bluetooth Telemetry Bridge Review

Event38 Bluetooth Telemetry Bridge Review

April 6, 2014 14:52 | By | Add a Comment

After a successful Kickstarter campaign, Event38 set out t0 eliminate the need for laptops on the flying field. Sure you can use bluetooth to control and monitor your drone, but that only gets you how far, 30 meters, maybe 40? If you want to use a 430MHz or 900MHz telemetry transmitter, you need an android tablet/phone capable of USB host mode, AND it’s another thing connected to your mobile device.

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Event38’s Bluetooth bridge eliminates all this by offering you a simple self-contained, self-powered device you can just bring to the flying field, clip onto your belt and forget about, using your phone or tablet to control even the most complex and demanding Drone missions. But is the $140 price tag justified? Find out in our in-depth review after the break!

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X100 100W Balancing Charger Review

X100 100W Balancing Charger Review

April 3, 2014 20:51 | By | 5 Comments

The HK X100 balancing LiPo charger, actually a rebranded IMAX unit, is the smaller brother of the X200. According to HobbyKing, the “new X100 Charger is the latest and most innovative battery charger, with its super cool aesthetics and full color touch screen”, and has become the “must have charger”. But is it really? And is it worth getting at the $50 that HK asks for? Let’s find out in our in-depth review after the break.

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Fednav Shipping uses multirotor as scout for their ships

Fednav Shipping uses multirotor as scout for their ships

April 3, 2014 11:03 | By | 2 Comments

Fednav recently announced that they are now using multirotor craft to scout out ice conditions ahead of their vessels.  Their vessels are indeed capable of navigating ice up to a certain thickness, so knowing when things get too thick is indeed very valuable to them.

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“The deployment of drones fitted with top-quality cameras gives the ice navigator another useful aid when making important decisions while transiting heavy ice regimes, and, in turn, improved safe navigation”, Thomas Paterson, senior VP of Fednav, stated in a press release.

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UK drone hobbyist fined 4340 pounds for flying over submarine shipyard

UK drone hobbyist fined 4340 pounds for flying over submarine shipyard

April 3, 2014 8:11 | By | Add a Comment

Robert Knowles is the first UK citizen to be charged under the new CAA rules which forbid flying remote aircraft beyond 500 meters of range and 121 meters altitude. In addition, he apparently lost control over his delta-wing plane after which it splashed into the waters near a BAE assembly facility for nuclear submarines. Prosecutors also fined him for flying within 50 meters of a building, which in this case was Walney Bridge near Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria, during that same flight.

The court ordered a fine of £800 for violating the Air Navigation Order, a £40 surcharge, as well as court costs to the tune of £3500. Knowles was convicted in absence and has stated to be considering an appeal, citing possible outside influence as being the cause for the loss of control, and the subsequent flight near the BAE plant.

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Hubsan X4 Pro caught on camera

Hubsan X4 Pro caught on camera

April 2, 2014 13:59 | By | Add a Comment

The Hubsan X4 is one of many upcoming competitors to the Phantom and the QX350, offering GPS position hold and return to launch, gopro gimbal, and supposedly also “extended flight times”. However, Hubsan have not shown much in terms of details or even a release date yet.

Thus this little video showing the X4 in action is all the more welcome, even if it is rather dark:

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NAVIO is a navigation shield for Raspberry Pi

NAVIO is a navigation shield for Raspberry Pi

March 31, 2014 16:13 | By | 1 Comment

It’s hard not to like the Raspberry Pi. It’s a massively useful and cheap computing platform that has transformed hardware hacking in a way that can only be compared to the Arduino before it.

And now, Navio aims to offer a complete sensor and interface board to allow your Raspberry to function as a controller for RC vehicles. They even plan to port APM to the Pi.

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Hardware highlights include the MPU9150 Acc/Gyro combination, MS5611 Barometer, UBlox Neo6T GPS, as well as Pixhawk-compatible serial and I2C connectors.  If this got you curious, you should check out their website.

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Ex-Ubisoft veterans plan to map the earth for a giant game – using drones of course

Ex-Ubisoft veterans plan to map the earth for a giant game – using drones of course

March 24, 2014 17:04 | By | Add a Comment

If you want to show the collapse of civilization in a game, having a realistic, detailed world is key. Several former Ubisoft have founded Pixyul to do just that. Their first project, ReRoll, is slated to arrive in several installments called “Bricks”. Brick 1 aims to recreate the city of Montreal, with more locations to follow. The core idea of Pixyul is to utilize autonomous drones to create high-resolution imagery and 3D scans of the world.

This ambitious project is going to face severe issues in the wake of restrictive legislation being passed in countries all over the world or, as is the case in the USA, commercial use of drones being heavily debated right now. Nevertheless, an ambitious project indeed. For now they are betting everything on the results of their crowdfunding campaign, which they conduct outside Kickstarter et al – for now, have a flashy animated teaser trailer after the break.

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Snoopy drone snoops your WiFi

Snoopy drone snoops your WiFi

March 24, 2014 16:50 | By | Add a Comment

Snoopy is a drone designed to fly around and make as many wireless devices connect to it as possible. It then proceeds to siphon off as much valuable data as possible, like netbanking logins, social network site passwords, and pretty much anything else that we don’t want others to get their hands on.

Snoopy is even capable of man-in-the-middle attacks on SSL, as well as doing it’s best to keep you to the plaintext-versions of sites to begin with.  It does all this by responding to the inquiries that our mobile devices send out for the networks they already know – acting as that free Starbucks wifi access point that you keep stored in your phone, or even your home wifi.

In essence, this is nothing groundbreaking and very similar to a WiFi pineapple, only that they mounted this on a quadcopter. Still, quite an interesting threat vector for companies or governments. In ten years, that little toy RC plane or copter may well be an actual threat rather than a childs plaything. It should be noted however that you can often do the same thing with less effort and risk using a good directional antenna.

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