Three blade props on Karma?

[Krash Karrigan]

Has anyone tried three bladed props on a Karma? On other drones they are reported to take less power, increase battery life and reduce vibration. The ones available do not have the threaded nut but that modification is not too difficult. Any comment or history would be appreciated. Krash

 

[Ironspear]

Hmmm, not tried that. My Parrot drones all have 3 blade props..... Wonder if it would work.

Maybe 3D printed??

 

[James Hatch]

A lot of thought went into Karma design, a three blade would add extra drag and reduce battery life. I have just ordered another battery from Best Buy, that will make my battery stable of four.

 

[IM35461]

A lot of thought went into Karma design, a three blade would add extra drag and reduce battery life. I have just ordered another battery from Best Buy, that will make my battery stable of four.

Karma Batteries in UK have gone up from £99.99 to £119.99!

EDIT: Still £99.00 from GoPro but £120 from Amazon UK

 

[James Hatch]

Going back to the three blade props! Here is a GoPro entry on the subject:

Ensure you're always flying true with the GoPro Karma Propellers. They're designed to generate more lift than most propellers, allowing your Karma Drone fly smoother, quieter, and more efficiently. This pack includes 2 clockwise and 2 counter-clockwise propellers. Propellers are colour-coded for easy installation.

 

[Matisse]

Going back to the three blade props! Here is a GoPro entry on the subject:

Ensure you're always flying true with the GoPro Karma Propellers. They're designed to generate more lift than most propellers, allowing your Karma Drone fly smoother, quieter, and more efficiently. This pack includes 2 clockwise and 2 counter-clockwise propellers. Propellers are colour-coded for easy installation.

M8 i fear that to be a GoPro-biased notation, as they want all to purchase their equipment, their opinions shall always lean on why one might need oem.

Aftermarket and mods are not ALWAYS great, but, that said, customising and trying things is the nature and joy of innovations... imho. Id love to hear an unbiased third party opinion from somwone who,s taken the time to try it and assess the idea!! How about it @Krash Karrigan ... the karma is only what? 3 years old at most? We Still need pioneers to explore these thigns!

 

[James Hatch]

I guess I am a pioneer. I will repeat myself once again. Treat this drone with respect and care and do not push the limits. Always keep it in visual sight and don't fly it into bright sunlight. Plan your flight with the sun to your back. Hover for awhile after take off to check the drone stability. Top up batteries before going on a field trip. Down load batteries to safe level before flying on a commercial aircraft.

 

[JCLs]

Mr. Hatch has to be the absolute conservative flyer around I believe, pioneers are not conservative! LOL.

Three blade props usually found in smaller sizes and used for finding optimum configuration for primarily racing drones. The Karma is no racing drone and from what I see is fairly decent performer. I am on Gulf Coast and fly out over water in 20 + mph winds with pretty good results. That tells me blades pretty well setup. I use stock and airscrew blades, not mixed, one type at a time. Not a lot of difference in my opinion but airscrew a little more quiet I think.

Want to play with props etc. get a little racing drone and have at it. Karma just not set up for that sort of thing with big, camera, gimbals, etc.


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[Matisse]

@JCLs ever play with FPVs? They look to be fun! They can easily satisfy racing and acrobatic urges... lol....
Anyway, i still think highly that you are innovative enough to ask the question, and handy enough to be able to mod a 3prop to fit. Even if just to be the one next year that answers the next person willling to think outside the box by saying, “yes i tried it and it wasnt suited well to Karmas”. I still say give it a go someday...
Cheers and happy flights,
JJ

 

[Ironspear]

Personally I don't think having 3 blade props would be able to provide the lift needed for the Karma's weight.
It is a very heavy quad....as JCLs says - carrying the gopro and gimbal etc.
You would probably need to upgrade the motors to bigger motors too.
Thus this would draw more power from the battery.
Therefore reducing the length of flight time.......

PS Mr Hatch, I do not mind at all that you have had to repeat yourself. I enjoy recieving your leveling thoughts about safe Karma flight.
Hmmm, many times I have thought "lets see what it (my quad) will do if I fly it in sports mode and into the sun until I and my spotter can no longer see it....
Then the dulcet tones of Mr Hatch's voice smack me in the face "Treat this drone with respect and care and do not push the limits. Always keep it in visual sight and don't fly it into bright sunlight. etc etc etc"

 

[Matisse]

Lol agreed on Mr Hatch earning the level headed steady-mind keeper of this growing group... . Hope we dont annoy him too much with our fantasies of delusion! Hahaha.

 

[James Hatch]

I don't mind how you fly your Karma, after all it's your money! But don't blame the product for you being a fool! By the way, the pitch of the Karma props are designed to lift and control the weight and direction in a smooth fashion. Any old props will not do, unless you are looking for trouble.

 

[Krash Karrigan]

I get it. Why build a horseless carriage when you already have horses and a carriage? Why send men to the moon when we already know is is made of green cheese? If man were ment to fly he would have been born with wings!! Never mind that the Karma has been left in the dust by numerous other drones. Almost forgot:"Ensure you're always flying true with the GoPro Karma Propellers. They're designed to generate more lift than most propellers, allowing your Karma Drone fly smoother, quieter, and more efficiently." Guess what they are not longer being made and have left the market to its betters! Another question" As we know the world is flat. Where does the water at the edges of it go?

 

[James Hatch]

Best Buy are still selling sets of four.

 

[Shon]

I get it. Why build a horseless carriage when you already have horses and a carriage? Why send men to the moon when we already know is is made of green cheese? If man were ment to fly he would have been born with wings!! Never mind that the Karma has been left in the dust by numerous other drones. Almost forgot:"Ensure you're always flying true with the GoPro Karma Propellers. They're designed to generate more lift than most propellers, allowing your Karma Drone fly smoother, quieter, and more efficiently." Guess what they are not longer being made and have left the market to its betters! Another question" As we know the world is flat. Where does the water at the edges of it go?

I find your post to be sarcastic and rude.

“Improved performance” for non-GoPro props is also a marketing gimmick. I’ve seen several folks attempt to independently confirm that they are quieter or more efficient. They have tried to test the props as scientifically as possible. Results have been inconclusive to say the least. One thing that has emerged, is that certain props are less durable and more prone to cracking. If you lose a prop while flying, you are likely to lose your drone. I personally don’t think saving a couple of bucks on non-gopro props is worth the higher risk of crashing, or at the very least spending additional money on more frequent replacements, but that is my informed opinion, and we are all entitled to one.

 

[James Hatch]

Well put Shon!

 

[JCLs]

@Matisse, I have total of 6 fpv guads if you include the Karma. I built 3 of them. I have an IndructriX for flying in the house with my grandson, a old racer kit out of Canada that uses 5” blades. A little Cerberus racer that is very fast and quick and I am getting too old to fly. An original Vortex 285, the Karma, and my QAV540G. I am on about version 6 of my ground station and have a smaller very good charging setup along with a charging station for the field that can put out total of 120 amps charge. I started fpv flying a 550 Align TRex Heli that was rigged with GPS stabilizing and positioning. That was long time ago. A lot of fun but got to where I wanted to go take quality video and pics. Racing was separate with the smaller quads and you have to be young to that so I was never real good at it, but was and is fun. Here is pic of my old 550 and yes you could fire the little Estes rocket.

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[Matisse]

So kewl @JCLs! wowsers! I love that pic btw. I love the ingenuity of making these model Aeronautics and the FPVs, (I totally could not fly those at all) I barely etched the surface of flying my Karma... no way I could get a grip on controlling those little racing gizmos, but watching them sure is fun. (Speaking as a noob) I may eventually add a fixed wing of some sort to my collection, but the Karma is enough for now. LOADs of practicing to still be done to get better at response related to orientation, and judging obstacles.

 

[Matisse]

lol I like @Krash Karrigan 's spunk! haha. I live in the question all the time, thinking outside the box.. Usually those of us that do, oft break the barriers and design kewl things! I've tried thousand's of things that never worked out, BUT learned so much along the way. and am often referred to as very creative. Even without knowing you Krash, I would know for a fact that if (or maybe even whenlol) you might experiment with such, the thought of blaming the Karma if your attempts fail, would never enter your mind. I know it wouldn't enter mine! watching other attempts and failures is not always as optimal as testing and experimenting ones'self. I've accomplished certain things where other's say it cant be done, they've tried such and such, yet golly if i didn't persist and find a way to do what other's said they couldn't. That doesn't happen all the time, but I'm not one to shut a door unless i've hands on shown myself that i couldn't make it work. even then sometimes im not convinced! I only prove that I am not able, but still hold it in my mind that SOMEONE , SOMEwhere has the skillset to do it.

 

[Matisse]

Hmmm, not tried that. My Parrot drones all have 3 blade props..... Wonder if it would work.

Maybe 3D printed??

I totally gotta get with people who do this 3D printing thing, Sounds so "not possible" HAHA but yet it is! Can't wait to see something hands on up close, or even visit someone who has one of these machines and such. seeing videos just doesn't do it for me yet, or I've not seen enough, or something, but gotta see this innovative thought and how it materialised, and what goes into producing something tangible thanks for the reminder of that amazing process.