Low cost Solo distributors in Europe?

NigelTM · Oct 7, 2016

Hi guys,

There's a lot of talk on the forum about deals offered by Best Buy and Solos on sale for less than $400. Here in the United Kingdom we're lucky to find one on sale for less than £700 (around $840).

Does anyone know of a good deal on offer on this side of the pond?

It looks likely that between Solex and Solo we have a great platform for search and rescue. The problem is the price! If I can find a supplier doing a deal over here we could equip ourselves with a couple of units and greatly increase my Team's capabilities.

Thanks

Nigel

Maddog · Oct 7, 2016

Nigel, sorry but I don't have any information about sellers in your area.

I was curious about your use of Solo for SAR. Do you intend to try and use it at night? If so, are you aware of a good light source that would allow you to see via the GoPro? I don't but I'm looking for something.

hackbard23 · Oct 8, 2016

bought my Solo with Gimbal in an one day offer at ibood Germany for 650 €
Batteries were at 100 € and the backpack also was at 100 €

NigelTM · Oct 8, 2016

Maddog said:
Nigel, sorry but I don't have any information about sellers in your area.

I was curious about your use of Solo for SAR. Do you intend to try and use it at night? If so, are you aware of a good light source that would allow you to see via the GoPro? I don't but I'm looking for something.

Hi Maddog

I've looked at night use but so far it's not really practical.

I'm not much of a DIYer, so building a lighting system from scratch hasn't been an option.

I have a set of Polar Pro LED lights, which are great for seeing the orientation of Solo from a distance and in the dark/twilight. However the front white LED is not that powerful or directional, so no use for illuminating an area from the are. They are useful when landing or very close to the ground and flying FPV.

Fixing a head torch to Solo is an option. Some compact head torches will give you a usable light out to 10m or a bit more. This is OK if you are going in close to check something of interest. But if you're at 30m or higher sweeping an area the beam is too wide and weak.

The holy grail would be thermal imaging but this has two problems. First is the the main suppliers are in the States and the export of FLIR cameras is restricted due to the potential military use. You can buy them but they are very basic with low resolution images. Not the fine detail I would prefer. Second is price as the FLIR Vue costs more than $2000 and the gimbal for Solo is more expensive again.

Sorry I can't be of more help. If you find a solution before I do please let me know.

NigelTM · Oct 8, 2016

hackbard23 said:
bought my Solo with Gimbal in an one day offer at ibood Germany for 650 €
Batteries were at 100 € and the backpack also was at 100 €

Where and are the doing another one!? I

hackbard23 · Oct 8, 2016

they had the drone+gimbal again this week, but i don´t know if the will ship to GB.
You have to look daily at ibood.de

Maddog · Oct 8, 2016

NigelTM said:
Hi Maddog

I've looked at night use but so far it's not really practical.

I'm not much of a DIYer, so building a lighting system from scratch hasn't been an option.

I have a set of Polar Pro LED lights, which are great for seeing the orientation of Solo from a distance and in the dark/twilight. However the front white LED is not that powerful or directional, so no use for illuminating an area from the are. They are useful when landing or very close to the ground and flying FPV.

Fixing a head torch to Solo is an option. Some compact head torches will give you a usable light out to 10m or a bit more. This is OK if you are going in close to check something of interest. But if you're at 30m or higher sweeping an area the beam is too wide and weak.

The holy grail would be thermal imaging but this has two problems. First is the the main suppliers are in the States and the export of FLIR cameras is restricted due to the potential military use. You can buy them but they are very basic with low resolution images. Not the fine detail I would prefer. Second is price as the FLIR Vue costs more than $2000 and the gimbal for Solo is more expensive again.

Sorry I can't be of more help. If you find a solution before I do please let me know.

I know what you mean. I've looked at those ideas too but their not viable/affordable options. I'll let you know if I find anything.

hackbard23 · Nov 10, 2016

Hey NigelTM they got it again:

3DR Solo Drohne + Solo Gimbal

but its only a one day offer!

and i don´t know if they are shipping it to GB

Maddog · Nov 10, 2016

NigelTM said:
Hi Maddog

I've looked at night use but so far it's not really practical.

I'm not much of a DIYer, so building a lighting system from scratch hasn't been an option.

I have a set of Polar Pro LED lights, which are great for seeing the orientation of Solo from a distance and in the dark/twilight. However the front white LED is not that powerful or directional, so no use for illuminating an area from the are. They are useful when landing or very close to the ground and flying FPV.

Fixing a head torch to Solo is an option. Some compact head torches will give you a usable light out to 10m or a bit more. This is OK if you are going in close to check something of interest. But if you're at 30m or higher sweeping an area the beam is too wide and weak.

The holy grail would be thermal imaging but this has two problems. First is the the main suppliers are in the States and the export of FLIR cameras is restricted due to the potential military use. You can buy them but they are very basic with low resolution images. Not the fine detail I would prefer. Second is price as the FLIR Vue costs more than $2000 and the gimbal for Solo is more expensive again.

Sorry I can't be of more help. If you find a solution before I do please let me know.

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nmrcortes · Aug 14, 2017

Currently there is a shop in Europe sells 3dr solo ???
thank you

BillHally101 · Aug 16, 2017

It's not so easy for us guy's in the UK to get good Solo deals, I bought mine whilst in the USA and brought it back to England. Look out for "speedstuffsales" on ebay UK. He will ship to you in the UK and will include customs payments etc.

Bill