Experts told why prices for quadrocopters differ a thousand times

First of all, you need to take care of the ability to fly a drone

The undisputed “subject of the year” in Russia is now a drone, also known as a quadrocopter. In online stores, the cheapest drone with a camera costs 3,000 rubles, the most expensive is a little less than 3 million. The difference, of course, between them is no less than between the “Zaporozhets” and the tank – but at the same time, as practice shows, it is not at all necessary to focus on the most expensive models. Drone theorists and practitioners told MK how to choose a copter and why their prices differ by three orders of magnitude.

In practical life, only a few parameters are important. And this is not the size itself, the power of the engines, the number of “cinematic” stabilizing devices … But those things that contribute to the survival of the unit: to fly longer, reliably transmit a decent (not excellent, we’re not shooting a movie!) Image and be well controlled by the operator .

The drone is driven by high-speed electric motors – there are (on civilian models) from one to eight. Four is considered the optimum (hence the word “quadcopter”).

“The cheapest and smallest drones, of course, are closer to toys,” says Alexey, owner of an online copter store. – There are ultra-compact protected models, but not on open sale, and if we talk about civilians, they have a very short flight time. About five minutes. Plus, low power, that is, it is impossible to work with any serious wind.

What can be said about those copters that cost millions of rubles? “They have two main advantages – this is a large payload, because such models are designed to attach a professional camera to them, and stabilization,” says the MK interlocutor.

In the middle (and this, at prices as of October 8, the range is from 200 to 500 thousand rubles) – quadrocopters with easily replaceable batteries (there should be several of them so as not to interrupt flights for a long time) and blades (this is a consumable, they break even from a collision with small twigs or, especially, birds). The range with direct control from the remote control (there is also the possibility of control using the Internet or via Wi-Fi) is usually indicated at about 2 kilometers, however, experienced “drone pilots” advise immediately reducing this distance by half. Just in case.

– Lithium-polymer batteries on drones behave in much the same way as on smartphones, that is, as they age, they can fail, – says Yuri, who has been managing photo drones for more than 10 years. – And it is very unpleasant to see that with 40% of the charge the drone suddenly turns off and falls. Moreover, in the autorotation mode, they do not know how to fall, these are not helicopters, so if they fell, they almost certainly crashed. The moral of this fable: when it shows 55% charge, it’s time to return to the base and change the battery.

By the way, in the cold, battery capacity – well, you understand how, again, smartphones. Therefore, if the unit could be in the air for 15-20 minutes in summer, then in winter, if it takes off (for this you need to keep the batteries warm), then it will only work for five minutes.

The second tragic news for the drone operator is the inscription “no connection” on the remote control or phone screen. If the drone has only a GPS system, it is more vulnerable to “navigation” jammers, if there is also GLONASS, there are more chances. In addition to satellite navigation, advanced models have hardware height sensors, optical sensors, the task of which is to prevent a hard landing on the ground. Such systems cannot deal with branches and even tall grass – therefore, to launch the drone, you need either a solid patch or a special “litter”.

One more thing about the visibility of drones: unfortunately, silent models have not yet been created. High-speed engines, even modern brushless ones, give themselves out as noise, so “flying” will not work unnoticed. But if you know how to professionally manage the device, you can use it successfully and for a long time. And it is precisely this – the ability to control the copter – that you need to take care of in the first place. To not be painfully sorry.