1) Buy a cheap quadcopter first – Flying a quadcopter drone may look really easy in the videos on YouTube but it does take a little bit of practice to get used to maneuvering the drone around the sky. Piloting left and right is all relative to which way the drone is pointing, then you have to factor in elevation and any cross winds.
My first drone pictured below was a Hubsan X4 (H107C) which also has a built in camera, it was on offer at Ebuyer.com for £29 (normal price £39.68) which included some spare blades in case of crashes which come in very handy. There are also plenty of these on eBay which you might finder cheaper still, if you look hard enough.
For the money it fly’s extraordinary well, it has a decent range and is very quick. The battery lasts about 7 to 10 minutes which is fine to play around with and to practice your piloting skills. I have crashed this drone quite a few times and it’s survived pretty well.
Before you spend any money on a larger more expensive fishing drone getting some practice in with one of these is something I’d definitely recommend, the last thing you want to do is to crash your expensive drone into the sea or a tree and break it. Plus it might be a little embarrassing while other fisherman watch you picking up the remains of your drone.
2) Do a bit of research – Drones have suddenly become very popular and there are groups all over the UK where you can meet up with other pilots to fly drones, if you want to see the model you’re interested in before buying it it could be a good idea to go along to one of these meet ups and ask any current owners for good/bad points.
Like with any new hobby it requires a bit of effort to learn a little about the subject, a little bit of effort reading up online is another good idea before spending your hard earned cash.
3) Know the rules – Get yourself familiar with the drone code, you don’t want to break any regulations or be an annoyance to your neighbors.
4) Budget/prepare for a crash – It’s likely at some stage your will have a crash, if you’re the sort of person that likes to fiddle around with a bit of DIY drone repair then there are plenty of sites around giving advice. If not it’s probably a good idea to get a rough guide how much various repairs may cost for the drone you’re interested in.
Drones are so much fun and can be pretty advantageous when used for fishing, just make sure you do your homework first, don’t spend more than you can afford and get plenty of practice.
