Weakest Part of the EVO!

[Catweazle]

I have a bad habit of using my antennae as props when my phone is in the holder. Today I was doing some intuitive improvement to remedy this, by hoping to fit a thin lightweight 1mm x 35mm x 20mm X 10 L shaped bracket, which would comprise of removing phone holder, then fit the L bracket, then refit the holder in that order using the same screw. I knew that this would work. That is, until I removed the screw to find that the holder is only secured by about 3 threads of the screw !!
Also, the screw cannot be replaced with a longer one as it would probably hit or crack the RC casing.

With phones getting longer, heavier, and very expensive, i think the chances of phone breakage because of the holder dropping off, rather than falling out of the holder is more probable.

i will be contacting my local Autel guy to get their spiel on this.

 

[Wayne Maine]

I think you are looking for something to happen that has not taken place yet. Keep faith in what Autel has put out there.

 

[Catweazle]

I think you may have missed the point Wayne. There are Autel pilots out there who are using 8 and 12 inch tablets velcro taped to whatever and clamped into the holder. The holder is secured by a mini screw of 3 threads.

Everything that is attached to another everything has a safe or usable weight working load before it breaks. That screw point is in IMHO where it may give pilots grief if overloaded.

The EVO manual indicates to fit your phone to the EVO holder. No mention of ipads or tablets.

Potential outcome -- broken tablet, or Ipad -- damaged USB at tablet and RC, if left dangling by the cable. RC not usable,

Then there is the potential impact on warranty status by overloading the holder.

My faith only lies in my ability to fly the EVO.

However, my high expectation is that Autel's manufacturing ability will last (my usage timeline without failure / versus the price) that I have allocated, which is 3 years without replacing any assembly parts.
Should I find a potential issue then i would email Autel as a record of my concern. Then if my EVO crashes where I am liable to a an infringement notice, and the cause was my previous concern of assembly failure, well! ..

So Autel pilots, IMO,. If using more than your phone, keep an eye on the holder fitment screw area.

 

[San2C]

The controller isn't designed for tablets, obviously. I initially bought a tablet to use with mine but didn't want to futz around with extra rigging so I just use my iPhone 6S which I don't use as a phone anymore. There ARE people making rigs for tablets, but I would think a better solution would be to mount the controller and tablet to some kind of secondary hand holdable rig, so it's more balanced.

 

[Catweazle]

Autel must be aware that their pilots are making homemade holder rigs for their tabs and Ipads and must be aware that we are at the mercy of third party super priced bits of plastic leggo arrangements, when plastic is cheap.

Autel could do better by listening to what the needs are of clientele who are flying EVOs and could do better with announcing the provision of those REAL accessory needs, rather than fake April Fool accessory news announcements.

So Autel, is there a need for a bigger holder ?.

 

[San2C]

Meh. I don't see a major need for it. Are other drone makers offering add-ons? Everything one needs to fly fits into the bag that comes with the aircraft and that's not by accident.

 

[Catweazle]

Other posts suggest pilots are using different ways of mounting ipads and tablets as i have done.
I,m using a galaxy 8A, so i,m replacing the holder screw with a longer careully measured length to also include a light L shaped bracket to stop the RC toppling backwards when I have the tablet fitted.
Will share pics when done.

 

[dondi]

Velcro is your friend

 

[Bill Dunnuck]

Velcro is your friend

Lifthor holder. Made for Evo. Holds phones and all tablets. They also make a bracket for the Crystal Sky that except for maps does work with the Evo.

 

[Copepe]

The controller isn't designed for tablets, obviously. I initially bought a tablet to use with mine but didn't want to futz around with extra rigging so I just use my iPhone 6S which I don't use as a phone anymore. There ARE people making rigs for tablets, but I would think a better solution would be to mount the controller and tablet to some kind of secondary hand holdable rig, so it's more balanced.

Thor's Drone World makes an Evo-specific tablet holder called Lifthor Evo. Check it out.

 

[mixchief]

I use the Lifthor and couldn't be happier, I too tried many different "cheap" solutions to mount a tablet but never felt comfy enough to leave well enough alone. When the Lifthor came out I couldn't have been more pleased, it just made sense, it is very sturdy balances the RC out a bit better than a tablet slapstick on the phone holder, and gives me a sense of security as I can't imagine this setup ever breaking.