Could the 3DR Solo survive after crashed into the ocean?

The 3DR Solo drone received fair reviews from users as it survived different situations during times when it had a face-to-face collision with another object such as trees, bushes, and poles. There was even one instance when it crashed into a tree and only resulted to three broken blades. It is interesting that it sustained no other further damage.

However, in this video you will see the 3DR Solo definitely has no chance of surviving if it crashes into the ocean. The drone is pretty lightweight but it is still meant to sink and the water will then corrode all important components of the drone making it eventually meet its demise right away.

But one pointed out that you should learned how to salvage any part of it. First order of business is to immediately rinse everything in tap water. Open up everything that is openable and blast the whole thing with fresh water. You have to do this within minutes because the salt water starts corroding everything almost immediately. Then, while everything is opened up you get it dry as quickly as possible. Big hot, dry air. I used a hair dryer once and the sun and trade winds another time. Then you have to make sure the water is completely displaced in every little teeny crevice. This is where using the right product made a difference in how much was salvageable. I used a product called Corrosion x. it’s also good for spraying on your parts in advance of them going in the ocean. It’s its messy, yes, its smelly, but I managed to save two motors, some of the gimbal, the main board and many parts from the GoPro. (lens and some boards, etc.) What immediately dies is the battery and all the parts that might get shorted out.

Another pilot viewed, ” If you had maybe flushed everything off good with fresh water, or alcohol before you put it in the bag of rice you might have gotten lucky. I dropped mine in a fresh water reservoir (well as fresh as water can be from runoff off a cow pasture) and literally hosed my GoPro off, inside and out, with my garden hose. The SD card survived as well as the GoPro. 3DR SOLO/ … well that seems to be a different story. I had in rice for 3 weeks and tested it and found some intermittent connection issues. I took it completely apart and cleaned every connection I could find with DeoxIT, although I did forget to completely remove the WiFi card and Pix from their boards. I noticed corrosion already forming on the WiFi card screws and on the Gimbal motor balancer. Now I’m finding that I have to be within 6 ft in order to connect to SOLO so I’m pretty sure I have a WiFi problem. I plan on taking it apart once more time before I have a burial service for mine. Not sure if I really want to buy another one.”

As these pilots shared, you couldn’t expect anything to come out well in the event of an ocean crash, but you could be confident that you will come out with more useable parts if it happens again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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I lost my 3DR Solo camera

(Video via The Basic Pilot )

The video showed how a pilot crashed his 3DR Solo drone and lost the camera. It made many people smile and presented quite an interesting approach to how gadgets are loved but also meant a serious thing for hobbyists.

3DR Solo drone may not as responsive as it used to be. As we posted before, the drone was being flown and without any warning, it just crashed. Apparently, all of a sudden, all controls were non-responsive.

There were also reports of the 3DR Solo doing the exact same thing. Apparently, this issue is related to loss of GPS signal. Since the Solo is one of the first drones introduced in the market, it is not as advanced and safe as the ones being used currently. It was even suggested for its manufacturer to have it equipped with sensor modules which takes over in cases that loss of GPS signal happens.

As for the owner, maybe get a DJI Phantom or Mavic Pro at least they are still supported.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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3DR Solo Smart Aerial Drone

3DR Solo smart aerial drone is especially made for the aerial photography and videography to capture your moments in a frame.Drone has made aeronautical photography, cinematography and videography more available than any time in recent memory, be that as it may, getting proficient looking shots is still genuinely precarious. Unless you’ve had years of practice, it’s truly hard to fly a drone and control a camera in the meantime. A great deal of new drone has been turned out of art and there is a considerable measure of drone company out there. The 3DR Solo smart aerial drone comes in to evolve. This drone planned this particularly to shoot aeronautical video, and furnished it with a scope of independent flight moods that makes it simpler to catch those smooth, hot, professional looking cinematic shots.

First features:

The consumer drone with a brain, 3DR Solo smart aerial drone is powered by twin computers

Only drone to stream wireless HD video from GoPro direct to iOS/Android devices

Powerful Smart Shot technology makes capturing incredible cinematic footage easy and automatic

First with in-flight GoPro access: Start/stop recording and adjust camera settings from the ground (with Solo Gimbal)

Hardware features:

Revolutionary, intuitive video game-style controller

Solo Gimbal (sold separately) delivers smooth footage, GoPro power and control, HDMI video and intelligent camerawork

Future-proof accessory and gimbal bays make 3DR Solo smart aerial drone ready for tomorrow’s technology

The smart drone gets smarter: Concepts under development include LiDAR for super stable indoor flight; ballistic parachute system; flight rewind and more

Software features:

Full-featured app for iOS and Android puts total craft control at your fingertips

Unique safety features like pause and “safety net” mean you can fly with confidence

Take to the air in seconds with effortless pushbutton flight

Follow mode enables 3DR Solo smart aerial drone to automatically track and film a subject

Free software and feature updates ensure your Solo grows and adapts with advancements in technology

The 3D Robotics Solo is a propelled ramble that has a considerable measure of solid components. These incorporate tight mix with GoPro cameras, a superb remote control that makes smooth. A repeatable gimbal change a reality and various Smart Shot modes that can add some drama to your elevated video. The GPS availability and greatest range could be better. However, these issues aren’t generally a tremendous different to ease of use. And 3DR’s incredible self-governing flight modes make you disregard them in a rush.

Be that as it may, there are a few drawbacks to the Solo also. Its GPS sets aside long opportunity to bolt on and some time it can’t get a flag by anyway.

 

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3DR Solo vs Yuneec Q500 4k: when neither machine succeeds in matching the excellence of DJI drones

3DR Solo vs Yuneec Q500 4k is a debate that revolves around two different sets of considerations – cost and quality. While 3DR Solo isn’t a bad machine given its low price and the reasonably well-built design, the 3DR Solo vs Yuneec Q500 4k price advantage soon becomes irrelevant when you consider the price of the camera and the gimbal. Yes, you heard it right – 3DR Solo is a drone that doesn’t come with a built-in gimbal; you have to pay separately to get one! On the other hand, when the 3DR Solo vs Yuneec Q500 4k debate concentrates on the quality aspect of the flying machines, both RC quadcopter models frustrate the pilots almost as much as each other.

3DR Solo vs Yuneec Q500 4k comparison isn’t always an easy one. 3DR made its Solo drone as a carrier for GoPro and as such their drone and the gimbal are designed to work with GoPro Hero cameras. That could be a great advantage given that the Q500 4k’s camera performance in a 3DR Solo vs Yuneec Q500 4k comparison isn’t always the greatest. The more recent models in the GoPro Hero series are pretty nice and surely shoot better footage than the Yuneec Q500 4k does.

So, if you don’t own one of the compatible GoPro cameras, the total cost to own a 3DR Solo vs Yuneec Q500 4k gets very close to the price of the Yuneec drone. In fact, for that much money, you should ask yourself why you are not opting for the far better and more established DJI Phantom 4. There’s no winner in 3DR Solo vs Yuneec Q500 4k to that end.

On the other hand, 3DR Solo vs Yuneec Q500 4k does reveal some unique features and qualities that make the Solo stand out. Comparing 3DR Solo vs Yuneec Q500 4k, UAV drone manufacturers like 3DR give you the option to swap out cameras for the Solo.

Focusing on the Yuneec Q500 4k and forgetting the 3DR Solo vs Yuneec Q500 4k debate for a minute, the Yuneec Q500 4k quadcopter is way behind against a DJI Phantom 4 comparison. In terms of overall quality and flying experience, DJI Phantom 4 review scores are way more positive, and stand as a testament to DJI’s superior R&D capabilities.

The two factors go in favour of the Yuneec Q500 4k in the 3DR Solo vs Yuneec Q500 4k debate. For starters, the Q500 4k has two unique features called Follow Me and Watch Me. And then comes the basic difference between the 3DR Solo vs Yuneec Q500 4k – you don’t get a camera when you buy the 3DR Solo. And therefore, you lose out on the advantages of integration and synchronisation.

And, perhaps the other important differentiation between 3DR Solo vs Yuneec Q500 4k is the after-sales service and customer support. A lot of reviews on sites like dronecompares or yuneecpilots suggest that the Q500 4k, much like its sibling Yuneec Typhoon H, is prone to signal loss and crash landings. Unfortunately, Yuneec China doesn’t cover crash landing damages in its warranty and service.

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3DR Solo vs Yuneec Q500

3DR Solo vs Yuneec Q500,which one would you buy?

If you’re going to get the 3DR Solo, you probably already have or like a GoPro, you’re new to quadcopters, you like open source.

For starters, the Solo is the drone that boasts not one, but two dedicated 1GHz Cortex-A9 Linux computers. There’s one in the controller, and one onboard the drone itself that handles all high-level flight scripting, freeing Solo’s Pixhawk 2 autopilot to focus solely on keeping the copter in the air. This configuration makes the drone incredibly reliable, as there’s a much lower chance of a firmware freeze.

Second of all, you won’t find a camera on this drone. You’ll need to bring your own GoPro to the party, and it’s only compatible with Hero models 3, 3+ and 4. Obviously, the downside of this is that if you don’t already own a GoPro, you’ll need to drop an extra $400 or $500 before you can film anything from the air. The upside? You’re not married to the same camera forever, and can upgrade to a nicer model when better tech becomes available. And if you’ve already got a GoPro handy, you’re golden.

Third, this drone can fly like a bat out of hell. 3DR doesn’t boast about it very much, but Solo can hit over 55 MPH if you take the training wheels off. That’s 10 MPH faster that DJI’s new Phantom 4, and it’ll go even faster with a good tailwind behind it. If you need a drone that can keep up with a car, motorcycle, snowboard, mountain bike, or anything else that moves fast, Solo would be a fantastic choice.

Solo’s autonomous flight modes, which include Selfie, Cable Cam, Orbit, and Follow, are designed to make it easier to get professional-looking aerial video. The drone handles all the flight, which allows you to focus solely on capturing a great shot.

If you’re not keen on keeping up with every new iPhone release, Yuneec’s Q500 Typhoon 4K is a solid option.

Rather than relying on a smartphone as half of the controls, the Yuneec’s Android-based remote controller has a built-in touchscreen for flight monitoring. This design not only expedites the setup process but also removes the pressure on you to sport the latest and greatest mobile device.

As the name implies, the Yuneec Q500 4K shoots 4K video, which is gradually replacing 1080p, and captures raw-format still images. It does offer useful navigation features such as Waypoints and Follow Me, and its camera is removable and replaceable (a bonus if it ever sustains damage or if Yuneec releases a better model). And though this model is monstrous in comparison with the others we tested, its stealthy gunmetal-gray design is aesthetically pleasing.

Both of drones come with smart controls designed to ease the learning curve for beginners, an intuitive control scheme. Your choice between the two may come down to the camera and price.

 

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Read This First Before You Buy 3DR Solo!

Like many people I bought into the excitement with Solo based on marketing 3DR successfully pulled off dubbing Solo the first smart drone ever. This is based on 3DR Solo‘s patented Smart Shots that take the skill out of getting the perfect aerial shot, and was marketed to enable you to allow the drone to either control the camera while you fly the drone, or have Solo control the drone while you control the camera, conducting a two person task but requiring only one person to operate the drone, hence the name Solo. Though automated modes (like orbit, follow, and cable cam) are pretty standard now with most all drones available after 2015.

Let’s talk flight times. Users were promised 20 minutes on a fully charged battery and when I first purchased my 3DR Solo I was getting around 17-18 minutes without a gimbal. 8 months later and I’m only around 11-12 minutes (without a gimbal) and light use.

What’s the range? 3DR Solo is the worst drone among its competitors in regards to range. Without upgrading to better aftermarket antennas your looking at around 300-500 yards before Solo hits Return To Home mode (known as RTH), results improve if your in a rural area with virtually no wifi interference. If your in a really congested area like NYC, it could be substantially less. Some say you want to always maintain eye contact while flying but depending on the situation for the shot you need, this is a major problem because that range is also the same for altitude but less. You also have to consider limitations when flying a programmed mission.

Upon Solo’s debut 3DR was scrutinized for pushing to release Solo in June 2015 despite complications with their camera gimbal that caused Solo users to wait months before it became readily available sometime in late August 2015, and still had serious bugs to be worked out. Even now users still casually report complications with Solo’s gimbal.The major issue with the gimbal is that it produces a large amount of vibration and jello in your footage which is mostly due to the bad factory assembly of the gimbal’s HDMI cable, which once in flight, picks up a ton of vibration that’s seen in your recorded video footage. The only solution to this problem is to purchase an after market HDMI flat ribbon cable which is thin enough to pick up much less vibration and shake.3DR Solo also has an issue that requires it to take a much longer time than any of its competitor’s drones to get a satellite lock, and once again the only solution is to upgrade the satellite chip yourself. Also if you want to fix the range issue internally, you would have to upgrade the wifi card in both your Solo and the controller. Which brings me to my next point, unless you plan to modify/customize Solo to make it better, don’t bother buying it. If your intimidated about taking things apart and putting them back together, I do not recommend buying 3DR Solo.

Speaking of 3DR Solo’s value, when I bought my Solo, I paid $1000 without the gimbal, and the gimbal sold for another $400. I wanted to shoot in 4k so I payed another $500 for my GoPro 4 Black and another $80 for a high bit rate 64GB SDChip. This doesn’t include the price of upgrades, so you see I spent over $2000 for my Solo. Then 5 months after I purchased it, for $1000 you get the Solo and gimbal, now you could get it just for around $500 as 3DR is no longer making consumer drones,you talk about a punch in the face. Also Solo’s resale value is really poor. Word has gotten around about the out of the box Solo performance and gimbal poor gimbal quality, and of course that means trying to sell Solo isn’t an easy thing. I see guys online place their Solo’s for sale and wait months with no buyer. Just go on Ebay and search used 3DR Solo and watch an item til it sells.

As a Solo user who’s apart of all the Solo forums and multiple Solo Facebook groups, if I did it all over again, I would have bought a DJI Phantom 3/4 or Mavic Pro over Solo.

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It’s all about 3DR Solo mode

Flying the 3DR Solo is much like flying a Phantom. Out of the box, the controls are the same and you can fly it manually whenever you like. Since there’s GPS and a compass, it’s extremely easy to fly. When you let go of the controls the 3DR Solo hovers and you can set height and speed restrictions in the app which make it even easier to learn.

The killer feature, though, is Smart Shots. Tap the button at the bottom-left corner of the app and you get a choice of Cable Cam, Orbit, Selfie and Follow.

With cable cam, you fly to a start point and press the controller’s A button. Then you fly to a finish point and hit B to record that too. Then you press the play button and the 3DR Solo will fly in a straight line – as if it was on a cable – to the start point. It will smoothly move the camera between the direction it was facing at the start to the exact framing at the finish, including changing the tilt angle. This creates stunningly smooth footage that’s essentially impossible to capture when flying manually.

Orbit mode does what you’d expect. The neat part is that you can easily set the centre of the orbit by switching to a satellite map view in the app and dragging it until the focal point is under the marker. You can change the radius of the orbit using the forward and back control, while at the same time increasing or decreasing altitude. All the while, the camera will remain fixed on the centre of the orbit and you can use the paddle to adjust the tilt angle (by default the camera will centre at ground level). Again, the footage looks great.

Follow me is also self-explanatory. The 3DR Solo will remain focused on your position and move at the same speed as you move. Depending on its position relative to you, it could be following behind you, panning at the side, or even in ‘push mode’ when you’re travelling towards it. Another mode within Follow me is Watch Me. This means the Solo will hover where it is, but turn to face you at all times. You could use this, for example, at a racetrack or any location where you want the drone to stay in one place but keep track of you as you move around.

Last is Selfie. When you’ve fine-tuned the starting position in the air, you can use the sliders to adjust the speed and final height: press Play and Selfie mode sees the 3DR Solo shoot backwards and upwards – a camera move called a reveal in cinema terms. Once it has reached the furthest point, the Solo keeps recording and returns to the start position on the same trajectory. This move is relatively easy to do manually, but it’s still nice to have an automatic option especially as Selfie mode tilts the camera during the move to ensure you’re always the centre of the frame.

For all Smart Shots, you can use the satellite map view to check for obstacles (it has no built-in obstacle avoidance), or to make it easier to position the 3DR Solo.  If you don’t have a cellular connection on your phone or tablet, you can use the app to cache satellite imagery of the area you’ll be flying in before heading out.

As the 3DR are no longer making consumer drones, the 3DR Solo is on sale since then which retails for $288. If you’re worried about the customer service, you could look at Phantom 3($499) which is a more tried and tested model and has better support.

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