Remember my budget FPV setup with a smart phone plus EasyCap? How about a dedicated FPV headset for only $50? Gearbest let me try out the Furibee VR01 FPV Goggles and I am pretty impressed. I flew it with my Hubsan H501S, my XK X251, and my MJX Bugs drones, all with great success. The goggles provided a clear signal, and easily found the FPV output signals from the drones (or the onboard video transmitter setuo). A extra battery is required to power the drone, thankfully a 7.4v 2S lipo does the job fine (see video link for battery). Overall, quality is very similar to my FPV smartphone setup, and this is a little easier to setup, saving time and letting me fly more.
Ever wanted a mini camping stove that you could throw into your backpack, then assemble at the end of your hike? The Free Soldier Camping Stove aims to be just that-its a 4-sided metal (supposedly stainless steel) with a base. It comes with a neat little carrying case, with durable design and straps for attaching it to a backpack. The stove takes a little practice to snap together (Watch out for the sharp edges--it doubles as multi-tool device), but once it's done it works quite well. Simply place your tinder/fuel inside the stove, and place your cookware ontop. Voila! Overall, it gets the job done, although some may find it easier to just use a campsite fireplace that's already present. Check your local fire/burn regulations as well before using this stove.
Hubsan has established itself as a reputed name in the drone industry, with a myriad of interesting drones available. One of my first quads was a Hubsan X4, and I had an absolute blast learning to fly it. Fast forward several years and Hubsan has released an affordable GPS drone with Follow Me, Return to Home, Altitude Hold, onboard 1080p camera, and a FPV screen on the transmitter, all in the H501S (https://tinyurl.com/ju39hre).
Courtesy of Gearbest, I tried out the Advanced version of the H501S. It's a stellar drone, with a ton of potential, in terms of range and power. Check out my full video review here:
I spent a lot of time trying out different action cameras mounted onto the H501s. For this, a simple credit card mount with velcro was sufficient, although a GoPro-style bracket mount also worked well. You can see just sample footage from the H501S using GitUp2 and Firefly 7S, along with the stock camera, here:
Likes:
- Drone design is fluid, awesome lines and sleek appearance. Fairly compact too, easy to fit in a hiking backpack.
- Controller is powerful, yet not overwhelming. Instruction manual is pretty good at walking you through the first flight, and the switches are labeled fairly logically. FPV screen on the controller is awesome!
- Stable flight under GPS control, and return home seems to work quite well, very accurate
- Onboard camera, while not as good as action camera, is actually pretty decent!
- Very reasonable price for a powerful, GPS quadcopter with advanced options like Follow Me
Dislikes:
- Intermittent range issues. Horizontal range at times limited compared to vertical range. From my discussion with other users online, this is a known issue in a few of the models, fixed with an antenna correction. Refer to this thread on RCGroups.
- Lack of image stabilization. This isn't too hard to correct using post-processing (YouTube stabilization, or Sony Vegas Pro stabilization)
The XK 251 is one of the fastest and most fun quadcopters I've owned. I recently picked up courtesy of Gearbest, and it's been a blast to fly. It's incredibly just how powerful and yet how affordable this < $100 quadcopter is! Read on for my full review of the XK 251 drone!
Features:
The XK 251 is a brushless quadcopter, meaning it's motors do not need little brushed gears that tend to wear out rather quickly. It's also much quieter, making it much less intrusive during a hike. Range is roughly 300m from some reports I've seen online; I've pushed it far but not that far yet. It has an enormous transmitter/controller, with a host of options. Some reports indicate the latest versions of the controller have disabled the "Acro" mode, thus forcing it fly more conservatively. I think mine is similar to these, unfortunately, but it's incredibly fast and maneuverable. The controller requires 6 AA batteries, and the quad uses a 950mAH battery with a JST connector. The battery rack doesn't fit "normal" Tarantula X6 batteries, but a little modifying could probably work to get them in without a problem. There's also a set of spares props included with the XK 251, a welcome addition in the box.
Performance:
I flew the XK 251 both in the foothills and the mountains, with little wind, and moderate wind. It performed well in both situations, nimble, fast, and exceptionally powerful. There's a slight recovery time in between switching directions while flying, but this isn't unusual with the speeds such a quad travels at. I didn't have any signal losses, even while doing a few rough distance tests-this small quad will be out of your site most likely before you exceed controller range.
As an avid outdoorsman, I am always on the lookout for a quadcopter that I can carry in my backpack and will carry an action camera to film my adventures. Early reports of the XK 251 indicated it might be able to carry a GoPro.
I placed a credit card mount onto the bottom of the XK 251, strapped it in place with velcro, and secured a GitUp 2 action camera onto it. It needed a little more throttle to get it going, but otherwise flew like a champ. I was able to get some fantastic footage with it; take a look before:
Now, keep in mind it's not designed to be a camera quad, and putting too much weight on it will likely stress the motors prematurely. However, it still does a good job of carrying my action cameras, and I'll definitely be using this on future trips. It fits into my smaller hiking backpack without a problem, yet it still has enough power to carry the cameras-awesome!
Conclusion
I've flown many different quadcopters and hexacopters; including models from Hubsan, JJRC, Yizhan and more to name a few. This XK 251 is a true winner: it's a very affordable brushless quadcopter, with high quality performance. I don't feel the company scarified design or performance in their quest to keep it an affordable quadcopter. It's a little too powerful for someone brand new to flying drones; however if you have only been flying brushed quads and would like to upgrade to the next step with a brushless quadcopter, take a look at XK 251--it's a winner! Check it out here: http://bit.ly/2olpHQl
One of the most popular quadcopter models is the Tarantula X6. I love flying it, with great range and reliability. However, it lacks several features, and at times can be cumbersome to work with. Recently, the HeliCMax Sky Vampire drone was released. This one is supposedly very similar to the Tarantula X6, but with some unique features setting it apart. I spent several weeks with the Sky Vampire courtesty of HeliCMax, filmed constantly with a mounted action camera (ELE Explorer Pro, EKEN H9, and SJ7000), in a variety of environments.
It's a very nice drone with great features that set it apart from the Tarantula X6 (altitude hold mode, beefier look, battery compartment door, and on/off switch), but suffered from drone board reliability issues as well as intermittent transmitter range difficulties. If these problems can be fixed, the Sky Vampire could replace the Tarantula X6 easily. Take a gander at my video review of the Sky Vampire drone above!
The GitUp 2 Action Camera is simply the best GoPro alternative I have tried out. It is more expensive than most of the budget action cameras I typically use, but it offers premium features such as gyroscopic stabilization for a fraction of the price of a GoPro. It's still a bargain and is compatible with GoPro accessories. The GitUp2 also has fantastic customer service, something of a rarity for companies based out of China. The footage is very smooth, video quality is sharp, and depth of color is very impressive. Get one!
I really love RC aircraft, and my first RC plane was a Champ RTF. It cost $90 and provided me with a great introduction to outdoor RC flying. However, it was not very resilient and didn't fly all that well after several repairs to it. I have since moved on to RC quadcopters and drones, as they are extremely fun to fly, very affordable, and can easily lift small action cameras. However, I have always wanted to get back into flying RC planes as well.
Along came the Fly Bear 802. At $20, how could I pass it up? After watching a nice review of it on YouTube at Quadcopter101, I ordered it. It has not dissapointed. Sure, it's not Champ RTF, and it's basically the cheapest RC plane you can get, but it has great range, surprisingly durability, glides great, and has provided me with many enjoyable flights. It's not meant to carry a camera, so don't even try it--and watch out for any significant wind. Check out my video review of the Flybear 802 above. You can order it online through Banggood as well as many other websites.
I was a little hesitant about these running shoes from Aliexpress, but they looked too intriguing to pass up. Plus, the $16 price was extremely attractive. They've held up well over several months of use, on a variety of trails. However, the cool holes in the bottom are a terrible option if you run on a trail with loose gravel or rocks. Unfortunately, since I bought these shoes, the price has jumped up--however they have several new versions of the same design for the < $20 price here: http://tinyurl.com/j2tljbu
Smart gadgets are everywhere, and smart lights are no exception. Xiaomi is one of my favorite Chinese companies offering high-quality, budget-priced tech, and their Yeelight is another fantastic example of this. Gearbest provided me with this new smart lamp to try out and I'm happy to report it is fantastic.
The Yeelight connects to your phone using the Yeelight app. It can also be controlled manually, using a touch slider on the top of the light, or the two buttons (power and color switch) on the top of the light. The buttons are inconspicuous and don't detract from the nice form factor of this minimalist lamp.
The sheer variety of colors available (claims to have 16millions RGB lights) is impressive. You'll really get a feel for it through adjusting the colors on the Yeelight app. There are multiple modes available: Flow (alternates between a variety of colors), Color, and White. In all of these modes, you can use the touch feature to adjust the warmth or brightness of the colors.
Now, I mentioned this is a "smart" lamp. It can connect via bluetooth to your phone or tablet using the Yeelight app, and here is where the fun really starts. You can remotely turn it on or off, set a wake-up light (super useful, slowly brightens over a 30 minute period to gently wake you), or set a sleep timer feature (slowly turn darken over a preset time, presumably while you go to sleep). In addition, you can adjust the hue, flow, white settings, as well as load pre-set "scene" colors, or even select a color to display using your phone's camera. There is even supposed link with the Xiaomi Mi Band, with the ability to sync the lights wake-up feature with actual waking from sleep, although I haven't tested this yet. The only critiques I have for this lamp so far is 1) wishing the wake up feature could be set from 30 to 5 mins (a range would be nice rather than fixed), 2)providing an instruction manual in English. It's fairly easy to figure out how to use the lamp, but finding the app was not easy.
Overall, the Yeelight is a fairly impressive smart lamp. Xiaomi has consistently impressed me with their array of gadgets, including the Yi action camera and the Mi band activity tracker, and this Yeelight further adds to their impressive collection of devices. You can purchase it online through Gearbest.
