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Sunday, January 24, 2016

Eachine H8c Review


 Eachine H8c quadcopter review, courtesy of

  
The Eachine H8c is an affordable toy-grade quadcopter featuring a gyroscope stabilization system on 3-axis (6-axis as manufacturers like to advertise), that comes in a complete Ready-To-Fly (RTF) package. Inside the quadcopter canopy, there is an HD camera (with microphone) that is capable of video and picture recording (the camera can take pictures while recording video). The H8c is available on two colours, white and black, with the black version having a “mean” look while the white one is more suited for night flying. The review model was the black version.

 
H8c_quad

Inside the H8c package you will find:
  • The H8c quadcopter, fully assembled with blades and blade protectors preinstalled
  • The Transmitter
  • A USB charger suitable for charging the quadcopter battery. The charger can be plugged on any USB port, data-enabled or not (i.e computer USB port, dedicated USB charger, etc)
  • A set of two replacement blades, one clockwise (CW, marked ‘A’) and one counter-clockwise (CCW, marked ‘B’)
  • A small screwdriver that you can use to unscrew the H8c screws
  • An operation manual






H8c_package
No MicroSD card is provided – you have to provide your own – which is somehow expected on a low-cost package like this but they could provide a full set of blades (4); they are pretty cheap however.
The H8c canopy is made from plastic but the whole construction is durable and can take a lot of beating, something that will happen with beginner pilots. The H8c has removable landing gears (remove the four screws and you can take them off) and blade protectors. Beginners are advised to fly the quadcopter with the blade protectors installed, until they get some experience. Compared to Eachine H8 Mini, the H8c is bigger and feels more durable and better-built, as it does not have the quality issues the H8 Mini has (i.e the blades hitting the protector frame, protectors not being removable, tight battery bay). It is a worthy upgrade from the H8 Mini and more attractive to beginners as it does not have the insane yaw rate – even on beginner’s mode - the H8 Mini has.
H8c_H8m
On the bottom side of the H8c quadcopter, we also find an On/Off switch which is a nice addition since the quadcopter battery is installed inside the canopy (but can be removed) and the USB charger port for charging the 3.7V 300mAh LiPo battery. The MicroSD card slot is also located there and the quadcopter SD controller supports cards up to 64GB!
h8c_bottom
The quadcopter battery (3.7V 300mAh LiPo) is installed inside the canopy and is accessible from the upper side after removing the protective cap. The battery is attached to the flight controller board using a sticky foam-type adhesive but it can be removed. There is some space left inside that can be used to fit a larger battery, improving flying time. The battery connect to the flight controller using a custom two-pin socket and you are advised to disconnect the battery from the board if you do not plan to use the quadcopter.
h8c_batt
Another nice thing IMHO about the H8c, is the blade gear. These are located on the upper side of the quadcopter arms and the placement there helps them remain clean, as dust from the ground cannot go inside. The motors are 6mm wide and are fully cased inside a plastic case, although there are holes available for ventilation. It is a nice geared configuration, it produces more noise than a direct-drive configuration but nothing extreme like the case of Tarantula X6.
h8c_gear
Like every quadcopter using brushed motors, you are advised to apply mild lubrication to each blade gear, using a silicone-based oil lubricant; one or two drops are sufficient and will help extending the life of your motors. Be careful not to drop oil directly on top of the motor gear, as the oil can go inside the motor by the axle and ruin it. Before the first flight, you should “break” your motors. To do this, just hold the quadcopter with your arm and run the motors on the lowest possible throttle for 1-2 minutes. Let the motors cool down after this and you are ready to fly.
The H8c comes with a console-type transmitter. The transmitter operates on 4 AA batteries and uses 2.4GHz signal to connect with the aircraft. The TX size is nice, it is not big like the WLtoys v6x6 transmitters but it is bigger than the one that comes with H8 Mini. The protocol used is the same like the one used by BayangToys X8 so it is DeviationTX-ready.
H8c_tx
The H8c has headless mode and one-key-return function, although the later is as reliable as the rest non-GPS quadcopters. This function is only an electronic one-key-activation of headless mode with pitch command to the back, so make sure you set-up the headless heading correctly when binding the TX to the quadcopter and do not change heading while flying, otherwise it won’t work. Beginner pilots are advised not to rely on this function and instead practice on their orientation skills.
The H8c comes with an HD camera that shoots photos and videos at 1280x760 resolution. The image quality is average and video quality is acceptable but not great. The problem this camera has is with the way it is mounted to the quadcopter canopy: the camera aims at the ground meaning that most of the time when recording, you are recording the ground and you have to fly really high in order to capture people faces or other objects. The quadcopter camera, the image processor and the SD controller are on a seperate board under the mainboard/flight controller.
H8c_inside
Overall, the Eachine H8c mini is a nice little quadcopter, capable of indoors and outdoors flying. It is ideal for beginner pilots as it is very durable, has easy maintenance options, good controls and novelty camera for taking video and photos. It is excellent as a tool for someone to learn how to fly and then advance to a bigger aircraft.
Below is a complete review (in Greek with English subtitles) and test flight of the Eachine H8c.
Eachine H8c complete review with test flight, courtesy of Banggood.com
Many thanks to Banggood.com for providing this unit for review.

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