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newbee wants to buy Alta

Discussion in 'ALTA' started by alain baars, Jun 21, 2015.

  1. David Vollrath

    David Vollrath New Member

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    Wanted to jump in here and get more input from you guys.

    My first purchase was an Inspire 1 that arrived in mid January of this year. I've probably logged about 60 hours of flight time since then. I'm still learning but I feel comfortable flying without the gps enabled in most all situations (there's still room for improvement) but I do feel like I'm getting much more comfortable with the aircraft.

    I've been toying with the idea of purchasing something along the lines of an Alta in the next year or so if I get more comforable in ATTI mode. My main question is: does the Alta have a similar ATTI mode that keeps the altitude constant? Does it also have a gps mode? Overall, how much harder is it to fly than an inspire? I'm aware that the ALTA is really not out yet so it's all speculations, but I'm sure you guys have a better idea than I do.

    Thanks for the input!
     
  2. Steve Maller

    Steve Maller UAV Grief Counselor

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    According to the newly-published ALTA spec sheet, its Synapse flight control system supports the following flight modes:
    • Manual
    • Height Hold
    • Climb Rate Control (Vario)
    • Position Hold
    • Ground Speed Control
    • Return-To-Home
    • Auto-land
    I strongly suspect "Manual" isn't quite like manual on a DJI copter, where the flight control's stabilization systems are all but disabled. In the heavy lifter world of Cinestars and ALTAs, it's unlikely you'd want to do loops and rolls :eek:, so "Manual" usually means "I want to fly it, but keep the copter right-side-up and steady as she goes".

    The biggest difference you'll face is that the ALTA is a general-purpose copter adaptable to a variety of payloads and missions. The Inspire 1 is fully-integrated and well-tuned to do one thing very well. Even though the ALTA is (probably) very much state-of-the-art, I doubt you can just charge her up and throw her in the air with any number of gimbals and cameras. It'll take some degree of fiddling with things (at least balancing and tuning the camera on the gimbal) before you'll be able to fly her true. But even once she's set up, your first lift-off of a machine with an aggregate price tag of a small family car is a little...nerve-wracking! :confused:
     
  3. David Vollrath

    David Vollrath New Member

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    Thanks Steve that's very helpful!

    For some reason I thought the ALTA wouldn't have a GPS in it but form those specs it sounds like it must.

    I'll keep flying with my Inspire in the meantime and see how I feel. I really don't have much interest in the risk and insurance involved with putting an alexa mini in the air. I think I'd probably be better off waiting a bit for someone to produce a UAV capable of carrying the new black magic micro camera which would be a nice improvement over the inspire regarding image quality.
     

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