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JXD 509G not bad entry level AP rig but...
#1
Huge thanks to Jona at GearBest who provided this item as remuneration for an impartial and honest review.


The JXD 509G Pioneer UFO quadcopter.
A good 1st timers Aerial Photography rig?

The JXD 509G is available to purchase from GearBest here -

This is an affiliate link which, at no extra cost to customers, generates a small commission 
and is used to gauge the impact of my reviews.


[Image: l3Jlg5I.png]


Overview
The JXD 509G is a very cool looking FPV quadcopter, it is shipped RTF (Ready To Fly) with transmitter, battery, charger, 5.8GHz FPV screen, a camera underslung from the Quadcopter itself, detachable prop guards and a bag of spares. The advertised flight time is up to 10 mins which is around double the time of most other quads at this price point, but you must disconnect the camera to achieve flights this long.  The 509G will not be amazing anyone with its speed or agility, as this is basically an entry level AP (Aerial Photography) rig. JXD have made this quad amazingly stable and easy to control but, if like  me, you are used to flying without auto-level, the self-centering throttle stick which allows for 'altitude hold,' can take a bit of getting used to.


[Image: oreNQG0.png]


Shipping & Packaging
Delivery of the JXD 509G took about 9 weeks to arrive from GearBest's China warehouse to me in South Africa, the box was wrapped in 2 heavy duty plastic shipping bags, but was given no additional protection (ie. bubble wrap) to protect the box itself. The lack of extra protection resulted in the box having some slight damage at the corners, but nothing that affected integrity of the polystyrene or the products inside. The molding of the interior protection has been well implemented to ensure that the products do not move around and cause damage to one another during transit.


[Image: jvq0Lt0.png]


What’s in the Box?
Upon opening the box we find the bag of spares taped over quad, separate sections are provided for the FPV screen and the prop guards while the transmitter is housed in the underside of the polystyrene. The bag of spares contains 2 screwdrivers, 4 spare props, 4 spare screws to attach the props, the clamp to attach the FPV screen to the TX and the 2 larger screws used by the clamp. Also inside are 2 instruction manuals (1 for the quad and the other for the FPV screen,) a 4Gb micro SD / TF card and a USB reader to transfer the captured videos and images to your PC.


[Image: qAy4D8u.png]


Features and Functions
The 509G also has the usual set of toy grade functions, button activated flip sometimes called 3D (not to be confused with 3D inverted flight) or 3D Eversion, flips and rolls are completed in a very nimble fashion considering its size though. Headless mode, removes the orientation from the quad so regardless of the which direction the nose is facing, the quad will move away from you when the pitch stick is pushed up, note that headless mode must be engaged while the quad is disarmed and facing away from you. The return home function is better left alone, as is usual on any quad without GPS, unless you want the quadcopter to fly off in a random direction?  


Hardware
The 509G's thrust is provided by four 8520 (8.5mm x 20mm) micro brushed motors which are geared to drive the 135mm/5.3 inch props, and the camera is 0.92 Megapixel. The supplied 4Gb TF card is used via a DVR which records video at 720 x 1280px on-board the quad so any interference between the 5.8GHz VTX and the FPV screen is not captured. The quad does have LED's but they are underneath dust caps which protect the motor gears, sadly this position does not provide any added visibility, apart from in very low light conditions.


[Image: TlrCMS6.png]


Camera and DVR
The camera image quality is not bad for what is, essentially a 'toy grade' quad and the limited (50 degree) field of view/FOV adds a little bit of zoom to the video, this isn't ideal for flying 'real time' FPV but it really doesn't detract from the aerial photography at all. The way the camera is attached to the quad (with solid plastic clips) transfers every vibration straight into the image causing a very bad jello effect in the video, and when re-playing your video on a larger screen, the effect is almost unbearable. I managed to remove most (I would say 90%) of the jello with the help of 2 rubber bands, see Mods and Hacks at the end of the review, the video shows the results before and after the fix  The transmitter has a button to take still photographs and another to start and stop the video capture, note if you turn the quad off before pressing the button to stop recording, the video will not be saved, as I found out on my maiden flight Doh


FPV Screen
The 4.3" LCD screen provided for FPV is okay, but I cannot find details of the resolution anywhere! The VTX and VRX are locked to their frequency at 5.705GHz so if you wish to use the screen with a different quad you will need to adjust the frequency of the VTX, and if you would like to use the 509G with your own goggles you will need to adjust the VRX frequency.


[Image: NmckCqh.png]


Transmitter
The 1st thing to mention about the transmitter is that the door of the battery bay has no foam to keep the batteries in place. During my maiden flight the batteries in TX lost contact with the terminals and the transmitter turned its-self off which caused the quad to go into 'Auto-Land' mode. I feel justified in saying that the transmitter JXD have supplied is not fantastic quality, but it is definitely designed for larger hands than the usual offerings from a toy grade quad. The gimbals do feel quite smooth, but on mine there is the twang of a spring when transitioning from right to left on the yaw stick. The buttons need to be pressed quite hard to activate the functions and the buzzer that sounds with button presses would have been far better used on board the quad as a low voltage warning or, most practically for a lost model alarm.


Range : !! Important !!
I cannot find confirmation of the output power of the 5.8GHz VTX used in the 509G, and there is also no information on the output power of the 2.4GHz transmitter either, which is concerning considering the common power restrictions on these frequencies. I lost connection between the controller and the model at about 35 - 45 meters (well short of the 150m range claimed in the listing) while the FPV signal remained for over 200 meters. I checked the voltage of the Eneloop pro batteries that were powering the stock TX and the multimeter said 1.35v, so low power was not the issue. This comes not as part of a test but as I switched between watching my 3 day old quad fly away and the view on the FPV screen of my hilltop home diminishing into the distance!


Flight Characteristics
The 1st thing to mention is that the 509G is an altitude hold quadcopter, and as such there is no way to descend faster that the flight controller will allow, besides using the emergency stop function and falling out of the sky! The flight controller also seems to give priority to keeping the quad level over the input to make it descend. So when the wind comes up while in flight, the quad is very slow to come down when you most need it to! The startup sequence, upon turning on the quad requires you move the throttle to max then to min before pressing the 'Start/Stop' button will arm the motors. 
Note : on completion of the startup sequence the motors will start spinning automatically.

To avoid hitting the ground on take off, climb to a minimum height of 1m, because when the throttle is released the model drops slightly before the barometer takes over and implements the altitude hold feature, this makes throttle inputs feel like dried beef - a bit 'Jerky!'

The 509G has 3 speed modes, unsurprisingly though, none of them will have you competing in the DRL! As this quad is primarily for its video capture capability, this makes smooth stable flying the order of the day, I think that the 3 speed modes rather than being 'slow,' 'faster,' 'fast' would be better described as 'still,' 'mild gusts' and 'a bit windy!' I think that the quad might be capable of a higher rate of  climb than the FC actually provides at 'maximum' throttle, but  none of the speed modes give it any real 'punch.' The fastest speed mode will probably excite some younger enthusiasts, at least until they see it up against something more geared towards racing.


Mods and Hacks
The only mod I successfully implemented was to remove the 'Jello' from the video feed, and I had quite good success simply using 2 rubber bands, see the video below! Sadly I had the 'fly away' before I had a chance to take photos of the mod.
[Image: PWQfryK.jpg]
Jello Fix
  • Remove the camera with the aid of a screwdriver to get the front clip undone, push towards the rear to detach the camera and DVR.
  • Now put 2 rubber bands over the nose of the quad.
  • Align the rear rubber band just in front of the rear camera clip on the quad.
  • Rest the rear clip of the DVR box on the rear rubber band and loop the band around the  nose again to secure the it, you can also loop the rear band around the legs of the quad.
  • Strech the front rubber band over the protrusions of the front clip on the quad. 
  • Align the front clip of the camera so it rests in this gap on the streched band.
  • Loop the band around once ore twice more to secure the front of the camera.
  • Now the camera is elasticated both up and down almost eliminating Jello!  

Other mods & 'Acro mode' capability
There is a thread at RCGroups by Feldzpar showing a list of attempted mods and hacks for the 509G, including 2.4GHz and 5.8GHz range extending mods, more LED's, and suggestions for motor and battery upgrades.  
I have discovered recently that RCGroups user Silverxxx has developed firmware (CG023) that will overwrite the altitude hold firmware giving the 509G 'Acro mode' (Manual flight) as well as auto level capability. This firmware will require some editing of the code due to the arm sequence of the 509G as well as a modification of the TX to remove the self-centering spring from the throttle stick or use a 'proper' TX with a multi-protocol module. 
If I find the model undamaged, I will attempt to flash this Firmware... Wish me luck!


Pros
  • Fully ready to fly FPV with screen, TX, battery and chargers all included for around $90.
  • 1280 x 720 resolution video, captured on-board.
  • Stable and easy to fly.
  • Surprisingly long range for FPV.
  • Altitude hold = good for stable video capture

Cons
  • Altitude hold = bad for getting the quad down again!
  • Extremely bad jello effect using the stock camera clips.
  • Failsafe should de-activate and drop the model not enter auto-landing mode.
  • Surprisingly short control range, not even close to the 150M advertised.
Windless fields and smokeless builds
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#2
Windless fields and smokeless builds
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#3
I have one of these sitting neglected on a shelf. I powered the radio on mine with standard AA batteries and got 150m range without problem. I remember that when I got mine, the antenna was sticking out into the battery compartment instead of being tucked into the little tube at the top of the radio.

The lack of speed when you want to descend is pretty disturbing the first time you encounter it, but if you press the Stop button, the quad executes an auto landing and comes down faster than it will with only the throttle stick.

Did you ever find it again after the flyaway?
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#4
Not yet, I haven't had a chance to go for another look after the wife and I spent an hour searching... Now we are looking after the gran-in-law, she's in bed with a fractured coccyx. Even if I do find it it will most likely need new motors, if it works at all! There has been a fair amount of rain since it disappeared.
Windless fields and smokeless builds
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