We bought this drone as a next step up from the multirotors you get at a toy store.
Overall I would say we are quite pleased with it, especially for the price ($150 on Amazon, but you can find for about $100 on eBay, which is what we did).
She has brushless motors, which is probably the key differentiating feature which graduates you up from the ToysRUs drones (which are great for kids to start with for sure).
We seem to be heading toward racing FPV drones eventually?(First Person View–racing drones where pilot only sees what the onboard drone camera sees) ?so I wanted something that?could use to get familiar with the power of racing drones (in other words: brushless motors).
The pro level FPV drones are seriously?fast (like 0-80 mph in 1 second and up to 120 mph) and are a completely different piloting experience since you can’t actually see the drone–only what it is seeing.
So we want to work up to that.
This F100 is perfect. It’s a “Line of Sight”(LOS) viewing experience (like most RC experiences where you are watching it fly around–not FPV).
The one thing we had a bit of trouble with was the unlocking feature. The F100 has a button on the transmitter (remote) ?you have to press to unlock the rotors. When you do it right, the rotors start spinning slightly to indicate they are ready for throttle.
But if you hold that same button (the red one) longer, it also turns off and ?locks the rotors (so it’s safe to approach and hold the drone). ?Seems to be a razor fine line between unlock and lock. And the instructions aren’t much help on this point.
Basically you want to press and hold for less than 2 seconds to unlock so you can fly.
If you still have trouble, make sure the joysticks are in their lowest/neutral position (particularly the throttle).
Otherwise the F100 is a blast. For the money I would?highly?recommend it. It includes a simple transmitter radio, which is great because I can see we are going to be getting into some money as we move into FPVs. The radios, FPV goggles and drones themselves are all “next level” (I spoke to one father-son team on the amateur racing circuit and they are investing about $7,000 per year into the sport. ?That’s nothing compared to something like moto-cross or equestrian sports, but still).
One step at a time.
I’ll be posting here about the next steps we plan to take as we go. So check in a week or so and I should have something up to help others ease into the FPV stuff. ?(Basically I “skull sucked” the aforementioned father-son team to learn about simulators, best radio transmitters and even an indoor drone which is perfect for indoor FPV flying [aww yeaaah].)
The big question with all this is: will Aren have as much fun at this sport as I’m about to?
Great! I read it all I hope this helps someone in need.
Thanks for sharing the “unlock” trick, manual and elsewhere didn’t cover it! Now I get to learn to fly my little ghost! Ta!
Glad it helped! Those little barriers can seem so frustrating when all you want to do is fly. 🙂
Is there a sound it makes to indicate it’s unlocked…or flashing light or something. Stuck for two days now on just this unlocking mechanism…
yeah – it does seem pretty good. Since christmas I’ve gone from at $25 walmart special to a tiny FPV (both seemed to have a feel for how to catch the wind and become unrecoverable) to the F100. It’s so big I can see it, and it’s got enough speed to come back against the breeze overhead that feels like almost nothing at all at ground level. But: Their documentation is a problem. The camera button, with explanation of what it does, doesn’t work with the camera it comes with, and the “upgrade” cameras specified in the manual are vaporware. They ought to say in the manual that the only way to use the camera with it is in video mode – push the button before takeoff and after landing. The transmitter calibration cannot be initiated, at least as specified. …and the lock/unlock procedure.
“Pull the left stick (throttle) to the bottom position, while
pressing the red button (Fig. 14). Listen for a long beep, and check
that the drone?s back lights also come on.” should be “With the left stick at the bottom position, press the red button briefly and release. A long beep will sound and the drone’s back lights should also come on.” If you listen for the beep and then release the button, you’ve just reaffirmed the lock.
Agree with Tim, the user manual could be a bit more elaborate. There was a decent video I found that helped, but for parts of startup there was some trial and error nevertheless. Now that I have the “magic” sequence I’d be hard pressed to say what it was that I was having problems with. 🙂
I also haven’t discovered how to do the calibration, or even how necessary it is, since my F100 Ghost flies fine with some minor trim adjustments.However since it is a described procedure and presumably must have some usefulness I’d like to figure it out.
As a newcomer to the hobby with an interest in eventually doing some serious aerial photography this seems like a great entry point, based on my experience so far. The price point allows you to lose interest and not feel like you blew major $$, but the drone is capable enough to learn with well.
I’m content with the included camera for now, I’ll be obtaining and starting to use an FPV sometime soon. There are some quality videos out there for doing just that.
My remote is beeping 3 times every second continually!
Any suggestion on how to repair it.
Thanks
Hi Hector,
Sorry for missing your message.
Have you checked all your connections and ensured your battery is totally charged?