Getting Started with Hobby Quadcopters and Drones

by Craig Issod

Updated May. 2016 Quadcopters, Personal Drones, Multirotors and UAV's are amazing flying machines which contain advanced technology. They are about to transform our world and our lives in many ways. What's more, you and I and others who are hobbyists, photographers, pilots or just have interest in technology can participate in this revolution at a very low cost. This book will guide the beginner through the first steps in choosing, buying, flying and understanding these flying robots.

Genres: Nonfiction

113 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 10, 2013

Reviews

[Clare O'Beara · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this guide to flying your own drones. We're reminded to start small before investing a lot of money, as crashes and lost drones are expensive. There's a guide to what parts wear out more quickly at which price level, and basic repairs. The parts of the drone are shown and facets like light batteries, cameras and broadcast footage explained.

Then we're told that the majority of customers for drones will start to specialise. Photography and overhead filming are becoming more prominent in news and social media. Other uses include stunt flying and racing through set-up building mazes, building your own custom drones and just playing with drones as toys. Drones are being used to inspect roofs and high structures. I can add that at the approach to Hallowe'en in Dublin 2016, the local authority was using drones to spot stored piles of scrap wood for bonfires, while the coast and cliff rescue service uses drones to spot people in danger. Clearly they have many uses. The best makes for each use are named and we're reminded that this is rapidly evolving tech. We're also reminded to consider the privacy of others.

Repeatedly there are suggestions to go to the author's website or see his other books, but they are all references and will be updated. He adds other references at the end, mainly manufacturers, and tells you how to get spare parts. If you like tinkering with models or playing with hobby copters, or if you want to do better and more interesting photography, this is a very good book to get you started. I found it an easy, helpful and interesting read.

[Will Herman · Rating 2 out of 5]

When I was looking up reviews of drones on the web, I found several mentions of this "book" (a pamphlet,really). It's OK,but all the information can be easily found elsewhere online. The repeated warning about crashing your drone and starting small make sense and the recommendation of small, starter drones is worthwhile, but again, it's just a consolidation of information you can easily look up elsewhere.

[Aaron Diaz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good beginner book

If you are a beginner looking to get into the hobby, this is a good basics book. If you follow the author's advice, you could potentially avoid making some expensive mistakes.

There isn't much to learn here for those who already have some experience with flying and building multirotors.

[Tom Allred · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good first look into quadcopters

Read this entry-level book before making your first quadcopter purchase. It makes you familiar with the terms, types of products available, and helps set expectations for costs and common problems.

[Johnny Chavarria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Libro ameno y claro

Para quienes estamos empezando con el hobby de drones es un buen libro para iniciar y tener de referencia a la mano.

Incluye buenos tips para aprender a volar e información sobre seguridad y mantenimiento del DRONE.

[Mouni]

basic idea how quad copter will fly