Notable things getting to know Neo

[Cafguy]

Moving up the control ladder... Connected and flew just fine with my phone. Glad to have this option if trouble occurs, but it otherwise totally stinks.

Biggest thing I noticed right away is the lack of physical feedback from sprung sticks with a center. When you fly with virtual screen sticks, you discover just how much you depend on that physical feedback. To "re-center", you have to lift your thumb from the screen.

You can control the tello like that. Worst idea ever I.M.O.!! You have no idea whats going on!

 

[Chrislaf]

You must be getting closer to deciding @Chrislaf. You’ve certainly been very active here. Haha. Just do it. You’ll enjoy it

Yah, probably will soon. It’s the mixed reviews and user experiences that are throwing me off. Some are singing its praises while others are saying it’s crap.

Chris

 

[Cafguy]

Yah, probably will soon. It’s the mixed reviews and user experiences that are throwing me off. Some are singing its praises while others are saying it’s crap.

Chris

What exactly would you want from your next Drone purchase? I will give you a few ideas.

 

[Chrislaf]

You can control the tello like that. Worst idea ever I.M.O.!! You have no idea whats going on!

Yes, but it gives you a way to control the drone if you don’t have a compatible controller or don’t want to carry one around. I imagine there will be lots of people just buying the drone who don’t have or want a physical controller.

It would be great if there was a future firmware update to add things like sharpness and WB adjustments.

Chris

 

[Droning on and on...]

Yes, but it gives you a way to control the drone if you don’t have a compatible controller or don’t want to carry one around. I imagine there will be lots of people just buying the drone who don’t have or want a physical controller.

It would be great if there was a future firmware update to add things like sharpness and WB adjustments.

Chris

It one of those previous bias things. Most of us are already experienced enthusiasts with bigger drones and stick controllers, so that screen interface is like drinking spoiled milk. Same reason the Motion Controller gets slagged on so much by long-time FPVers.

If I'm deliberately going to fly it, I'll use the RC2. However the screen interface is functional, and I'm sure I'll use it here and there in a pinch, as I expect to keep it in the car when I get around.

 

[Chrislaf]

What exactly would you want from your next Drone purchase? I will give you a few ideas.

I want the NEO for fast easy deployment to:
•track me while I walk to flying locations for my other drones and not have to worry about having a controller out to course correct when it gets too close to a branch, like I have to with my Mini 3 Pro.
•fly low to the ground, a metre or less, through the forest, above a stream, or over snow.
•track me a few metres above water when I am kayaking or canoeing.
•track me while I nordic ski.
•have acceptable results on cloudy overcast days.

From my research so far, flying low over water can be a problem and if NEO is anything like my Tello, flying low over snow will also be a problem. Also, flying in conditions that are not in bright sunlight seems to be a problem as well.

Chris

 

[Droning on and on...]

I want the NEO for fast easy deployment to:
•track me while I walk to flying locations for my other drones and not have to worry about having a controller out to course correct when it gets too close to a branch, like I have to with my Mini 3 Pro.
•fly low to the ground, a metre or less, through the forest, above a stream, or over snow.
•track me a few metres above water when I am kayaking or canoeing.
•track me while I nordic ski.
•have acceptable results on cloudy overcast days.

From my research so far, flying low over water can be a problem and if NEO is anything like my Tello, flying low over snow will also be a problem. Also, flying in conditions that are not in bright sunlight seems to be a problem as well.

Chris

I'll try taping over the VPS camera today an see if it will do a low follow. I'm optimistic it will work, defaulting to GPS.

If it does work, that may be a way to get around wonkiness when it has a uniform surface below low-level flight.

 

[ryguy80]

Don’t fly this thing indoors! Haha. I was testing the follow mode inside and the Neo got hung up on a corner. It started behaving erratically, rising in height, before the motors stopped completely and dropped to a hardwood floor from about 7 feet/2 meters. Seemed to be none the worse for wear, however. Tough little guy.

 

[ryguy80]

Yes, but it gives you a way to control the drone if you don’t have a compatible controller or don’t want to carry one around. I imagine there will be lots of people just buying the drone who don’t have or want a physical controller.

It would be great if there was a future firmware update to add things like sharpness and WB adjustments.

Chris

Yeah, I’ll be using the quick shot functionality 95% of the time in my use case where I just want some unique angles for YouTube videos while I’m out ice fishing, whether it’s an action shot of drilling a hole or showing my fishing location relative to the lake.

 

[tstr14]

Don’t fly this thing indoors! Haha. I was testing the follow mode inside and the Neo got hung up on a corner. It started behaving erratically, rising in height, before the motors stopped completely and dropped to a hardwood floor from about 7 feet/2 meters. Seemed to be none the worse for wear, however. Tough little guy.

Hmm... that's one of the reasons I bought it - to fly indoors. One of it's intended uses will be to fly in abandoned and condemned buildings.

 

[Droning on and on...]

Hmm... that's one of the reasons I bought it - to fly indoors. One of it's intended uses will be to fly in abandoned and condemned buildings.

I'm flying fine indoors both with the RC2 and FPV.

I'm not surprised however that Follow had problems. Even if the VPS has enough light, indoors is just too confined to allow for the maneuverability I see it execute outdoors following, even when set to close.

 

[Chrislaf]

I'll try taping over the VPS camera today an see if it will do a low follow. I'm optimistic it will work, defaulting to GPS.

If it does work, that may be a way to get around wonkiness when it has a uniform surface below low-level flight.

I'd be very interested in your results, but please don't risk damaging or loosing your NEO.

Chris

 

[Chrislaf]

Yeah, I’ll be using the quick shot functionality 95% of the time in my use case where I just want some unique angles for YouTube videos while I’m out ice fishing, whether it’s an action shot of drilling a hole or showing my fishing location relative to the lake.

Ice fishing! I forgot about that. That's another reason to get a NEO.

Chris

 

[Chrislaf]

Hmm... that's one of the reasons I bought it - to fly indoors. One of it's intended uses will be to fly in abandoned and condemned buildings.

I also am interested in flying into condemned buildings and was thinking the NEO would be perfect for that, but it looks like it struggles in low light. Maybe some sort of mini light can be attached so that the VPS doesn't get confused.

Chris

 

[ryguy80]

Hmm... that's one of the reasons I bought it - to fly indoors. One of it's intended uses will be to fly in abandoned and condemned buildings.

Not sure if it's something that can be tweaked with firmware updates. I have heard in addition to low light (in my case it was early afternoon that I flew it indoors) that if the Neo isn't picking up enough GPS satellites, it gets an attitude and starts doing its own thing.

 

[Anzacjack]

Not sure if it's something that can be tweaked with firmware updates. I have heard in addition to low light (in my case it was early afternoon that I flew it indoors) that if the Neo isn't picking up enough GPS satellites, it gets an attitude and starts doing its own thing.

its not so much as doing its own thing, its mainly that its flight control characteristics change dramatically. Its like it slips into a faster sports mode as soon as it looses GPS and because it feels like it happens instantly, its easy to be taken by surprise and feel like you have lost control (i hope that makes sense)

 

[Droning on and on...]

its not so much as doing its own thing, its mainly that its flight control characteristics change dramatically. Its like it slips into a faster sports mode as soon as it looses GPS and because it feels like it happens instantly, its easy to be taken by surprise and feel like you have lost control (i hope that makes sense)

What's happening when it loses all position sensing is it can no longer sense and control speed, so the pitch and roll sticks become simple angle controls, max tilt at full deflection.

If you're flying in C or N, and to a lesser degree S, when it switches to ATTI upon losing all positioning, it's going to suddenly pitch forward based on the stick deflection, and seem like suddenly you stepped on the gas.

Immediately release the sticks and let them recenter. Because ATTI, the neo won't brake, it's a hockey puck on ice, and will go wherever momentum is pointing it. However you CAN control it effectively. Takes practice.

When positioning is available, the sticks map to hover at center, max ground speed for the mode (C/N/S) at full stick.