New to Drone Flying

Introductions
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Thanks to those who answered my question about seeking the permission of landowners. I suppose it’s down to common sense.

As I said I want to record some of my hill walking activities from “a different angle”.

For what it’s worth in the dim and distant past I used to fly full sized aircraft so I hope some of that knowledge will help me master drone flying.

I’m thinking of purchasing a Toladrone TD31LCD which seems recommended for beginners and is within my budget. Has anyone any knowledge of them please

Thanks

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Hi @Gruber what’s your budget ?

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Well the ToladroneTD31LCD is on Amazon at £89.99 so that suits me fine

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No experience of that one I’m afraid

Beauty of Amazon, if it’s pants send it back.

Just be wary on your first flight, don’t do it inside, make sure the where you are is nice and open and not too windy

Let us know how it goes

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Like the @milkmanchris says, Amazon returns are great

Or you could just save your money for a DJI, as these cheap drones are what they are

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I had a sqiz at this drone on Amazon and, to be honest, am not impressed! I’m not on commission from DJI, but…

…My advice would be to save your pennies for a DJI Neo, which is a very capable little drone and ideally suited to filming yourelf hillwalking; it is designed as a ‘selfie/blogging’ drone and is lightweight, an important consideration as you’ll want to keep your rucsack reasonably lightweight! It shoots in 4K and will give you significantly better quality footage. There is also a 2-axis gimbal, better than the simple up-down of the Toladrone (isn’t that some sort of Swiss chocolate bar?).

It also has gps, which makes a huge difference to the drone’s ability to fly and hover steadily without drifting, and the benefit of DJI’s ‘Occusync’ RC/drone connectivity, which is vastly superior to wi-fi.

The Amazon blurb for the Toladrone is suspiciously quiet about it’s weight, which, if 250g or over, makes it too heavy to be legally flown in the UK’s least restricted category, and it’s wind resistance level. The Neo weighs 189g and is rated to fly at wind level 4,18mph. Obviously it is your choice, and decisision, but I have serious doubts that the Toladrone, basically a low-spec toy, will do what you want a drone to do.

This may be not what you wanted to read, but I started with a cheaper drone (which I regretted) and was advised here to buy something better (which I haven’t!)

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Only when combined with a controller, which makes the (combo) package £300.

Flown with a phone the range is restricted to about 50m (wifi is used not Occusync) and there is no return to home if connection is lost.

As for drifting and hovvering, in anything but the stillest air it moves about like a moving about thing.

@TheJohnster have you seen one in the wild, let alone flown one?

I love mine, but it compliments other more capable stuff in my bag.

My advice, save up for a Mini 4K (like we advised you)

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Thanks for your comments. One reason I was considering the Toladrone was the availability of the lcd remote control screen. I had looked at the DJI Neo but from what I could see it needs a smartphone to be connected and my phone (Galaxy A12) is not compatible. The DJI drone that come with “built in” screens are above my budget.
Sadly it looks as though I will not be droning

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Maybe have a look at the used market - or DJI refurb ? Also the Mini 3 Pro though an older drone and lacking on some of the more advance avoidance systems is still an incredible bit of kit - granted its like 3 years old or maybe 4 but its still able to do much the same as any of the new stuff out there and it may fit your budget ( just make sure that the drone us unbounded from the sellers account if you do buy it from ebay / marketplace ) The mini 3 pro has a controller that has a screen on it.

I have the mini 3 pro and have had no need or want to upgrade it as its just so good as it is.

Worth a look

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Have a look at CEX online store , they have some good stuff and when I got a drone from them it was grade A and with a 2 year warranty , it had only been used 5 times . I’ve not checked their prices for sometime but they used to be good quality, good prices , free P&P and warranty so worth a look .

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Hey there @Gruber and welcome to the GADC

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Also MPB.