FPV Flying, Where gamers go to die, reality.

True freestyle is one take without playing with the video speed and such, image stabilization with the HD camera, used to be also frowned upon by purist, but is a staple today for freestyle videos. Music is allowed and ya can leave in the sound of the quad motors or not, videos are shared on Youtube mostly among enthusiast and hobbyist. People often use freestyle to develop other skills used for racing and mountain diving, as well as a path to professional statues. If you fly hard, it can be very hard on quads and spare parts, many practice "moves" in simulators first, then the real world, its cheaper.

Some videos serve several purposes, entertainment, education and product review for instance. Empty schools are a great place to practice or make videos, no one around, ya go where they ain't. Sometimes it might be helpful to take a curious cop along for the ride with the guest goggles, they tend to leave you alone if they know what you are doing and can understand why it might be innocent fun, many of them like thrills too.

Savage Pack with PROTOTYPE GEAR! | FPV Freestyle | NEW LOCATION!

Radicalism arises! The fight for freedom!

BetaFPV X-Knight 5 is the sub-250g FPV quad for a dystopian future

The BetaFPV XKnight 5 might be the best 5" quad under 250g. Or it might not be. Either way I'm kind of mad that it even has to exist. Because 250g is a stupid and arbitrary limit for quadcopter size. And you give up a lot when you try to get a 5" quad that light. So let's give the BetaFPV XKnight 5 a fair chance to impress us. But no matter how good it is, I'll always know it could have been better if it was allowed to weigh more.

Here is a pretty good example of a forty something's 8 month experience with FPV, I don't have the bug as bad as many, but I can empathise and if I were younger...
With what this Hobby costs these days it is accessible to people globally from many different cultures, it is in many ways an international multi cultural community of hobbyist, enthusiasts and professionals. Many vacations are arranged with friends online in distant lands, you've got connections there and a guide(s) already. They've seen your videos and you've seen theirs, chatted online etc. Many of these people are stimulating FPV tourism (pre covid) where westerners with restriction and regulations can make cool videos and support the local economy, some enterprising souls in some exotic locations have made a bit of a business of it. They get international community support and referrals, win, win.

Type FPV and a country name in Youtube search and see what pops up.
Here is what 8 months of experience and some equipment gets ya, a couple of hundred bucks a month for a year buys a lot of gear these days. If you are focused on quads and racing, it could mean several quads, cheap goggles, then good goggles, a good transmitter, batteries, a charger and other assorted gear, including an HD camera, all for $2400 spent over a year, If you applied yourself and practiced on a sim and for real, you could be pretty good after a year, even if you are older. It's one of those riding a bike skills, a physical kind of learning you don't forget, but it needs a bit of conditioning for a spell, an intense training period works well for younger folks.
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My FPV Journey So Far | CINEMATIC FPV

These are some of favourite clips from flying FPV drones so far. I have been flying for 8 months and am highly addicted to this amazing hobby. All footage was taken by me in Indonesia, Malaysia and the UK.
Follow me: instagram.com/travelwithpatrick
vimeo.com/travelwithpatrick

A drone is on the way to Mars.
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First Flight on Another Planet!

The Mars Helicopter aims to make the first powered flight on another planet when it takes off on Mars as part of the Mars 2020 mission. I learned a lot getting to visit the drone right before it was mounted on the rover.

How do you fly in 1% of Earth's atmosphere:
Have large rotors (they are 1.2m in diameter) and spin them very fast, around 2500 RPM (5x the speed of a helicopter on Earth).

Plus the aircraft has to be light:
The Mars helicopter weighs in at 1.8kg or around the same as a laptop. Every piece had to be stripped down for weight. Instead of using aerogel for insulation, the craft makes use of CO2 gaps between components. Even aerogel was too heavy!

One of the major challenges is surviving the Martian night:
Temperatures plunge to -80C to -100C so two thirds of the craft's power is actually used to keep its electronics warm. Only one third is used for flying. The estimated flight time is 90 seconds.

The craft can't be driven remotely, it will have to fly autonomously, using its own sensor suite to determine how to fly. The round trip 20 minute delay with Earth means steering the craft from mission control would be impossible.

Gab707 is a professional Swiss FPV pilot who races, makes videos, sells products for the industry, is a "gun for hire" and does video shots for film makers. He makes his living flying quadcopters, not many people transitioned from hobbists to professional statues in the RC plane world, almost none. Plenty of young men are making a living out of flying quadcopters and making videos, their talent gets recognized and they are offered opportunities. Gab doesn't have much American international competition these days, business must be good, for those free to pursue it.

Night Rider

Since becoming a full time fpv pilot, the opportunities I get to just go out and fly for fun become very rare. This was one of those though. I met up with Swiss local Doc (Docl8 or Doclate on social) and we set out on a little snowshoeing mission to get up close and personal with the mountains. What we envisioned as a 45 stroll turned into a 2 hour mission through deep snow, and we ended up bailing to a secondary takeoff spot. Time only allowed for just a couple of flights with the darkness setting in and the descent still ahead of us, but it was enough to let the creativity flow. What a fun little mission! This was shot with a Gopro hero 6, and stabilized using Reelsteady GO. If you're interested in getting the software, you can use the code 'GabRSGO5!' to get 5$ off. http://www.reelsteady.com?p=S1pTQbBT4

Bruce does a straight up review, check other reviews of these goggles too, make sure they are independant warts and all like this one. Having watched another review with a better version of the product that still had serious shortcomings. I'd pass on these goggles, perhaps they might have a version 2 in the future and will work out the bugs based on reviews, it they are smart they will. Goggles can be expensive and it's always a good idea to try a friend's pair as well as look at the several product reviews before purchasing stuff from China. Bruce obviously got a bad pair, but if you did too, you might be screwed with a useless product that is difficult to return.
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XFLIP FPV Goggles reviewed (no mid-roll ads)

If you fly an RC plane or drone using FPV, a decent set of goggles is very important. I was so disappointed with the XFLIP goggles because they promised so much but failed to deliver.

Skyzone Sky03O Full Review | Beats HDO. Cheaper than HDO2. Perfect goggle for you?

The Skyzone Sky03O is the best looking FPV goggle you can buy today. It looks even better than the Fat Shark HDO. But there's one big reason why you might not want to switch to it: RF performance? Is it good enough for you? One way to find out.
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Expensive at $430 US

Skyzone SKY03O Oled /SKY03S 5.8GHz 48CH Diversity FPV Goggles Support OSD DVR HDMI With Head Tracker Fan LED For RC Racing Drone - SKY03O White

Many people like ski type goggles with two screens and lenses, especially for quads, box type goggles seem more popular with plane flyers and for long range/time missions, a video screen is often used. You can buy a good cheap set of goggles like mentioned earlier in the thread for $79 US to start off with (you get a 5" removeable video screen with them) and see if you would like to get into the hobby in a more serious way, or you could try one of these more economical ski goggles. Watch multiple reviews before you buy and if you wear glasses you might also need diopter inserts for the goggles.

There are new digital systems recently introduced, these ones shown here are analog goggles, they should have true diversity 5.8 ghz receivers and a DVR is desirable too. These are the budget models and links to products and other info is on his Youtube page.
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Best FPV Goggle Around $300 | Attitude V5 vs. Sky02X vs. EV200D vs. Commander V1S


What's the best FPV goggle around $300? Fat Shark Attitude V5 vs. Skyzone Sky02X vs. Eachine EV200D vs. Aomway Commander V1S? Don't watch four different reviews. I've boiled it down to one video that will tell you which of these four goggles is best FOR YOU.

Here is a 1.2/1.3 Ghz video transmitter, used for long range FPV and mostly on planes. Usually racing quads and many planes use shorter range 5.8 Ghz video equipment that has many channels available, but does not penetrate foliage as well. For the same power a lower frequency carries further, with fewer channels and is more tolerant of terrain LOS blockage, though antennas are much larger and more expensive.
Matek 1.2 / 1.3GHz FPV Video Transmitter Overview - VTX

Inav is a configurator program that you can use on flight control computers, mostly for plane, it is an open source sister project to Betaflight, which tends to focus on quads, but does planes too. Inav has better way point navigation features and specializes more in planes.

Here Matt shows you how to use Bing satellite maps in Inav with a brief video, this is how most people learn stuff in the hobby these days from videos like this and online instruction manuals.

Usable Maps for iNav Missions - How to Use Bing Maps (also works for Betaflight)

Go here, sign in and create your own API key to get pretty maps within iNav https://www.bingmapsportal.com/Applic...

Matt #INAV #RC #Waypoints


SHOW LESS

Here is a review of a drone that interests me, it's even less than 250gm, so you don't need to register it or or have a drone pilot's licence. This is a long range exploration drone and can be equipped with a HD digital FPV and recording option or an analog configuration and with a variety of receivers too. It come pre built and tuned and can get 18 minutes of flight time with a 1000 Mah Lipo and a bit longer an a 1300Mah 3S or 4S, like the ones my racing quad uses, so no new batteries.

With a R9M, or crossfire receiver it could easily out distance the 5.8 Ghz FPV video signal, but it has GPS RTH and a drone finder, so you are more comfortable on the edge of range This is an exploration rig, configured for long range and HD video recording on board and FPV if you have the very expensive goggles. If you could put a high C 4S 1800mah or even a 2200Mah Li-on pack in it you might get an hour's worth of flight time out of the thing, though it might weigh a bit more than 250 grams!

With a R9M or crossfire UHF radio system and situated on a high point you could control this drone fairly close to the ground 10 miles way LOS. A good enough ground station and antenna directional antenna will could probably allow you to FPV at that range too. An hours worth of flight time on a 4S 2200Mah Li -on @30 MPH means your range could be up to 15 miles out and back, or 10 miles out with some exploration time before heading back home. A ground station and a UHF receiver would help you get the most out of this drone, you can only reliably go about a mile to a mile and a half with a 2.4 GHZ receiver.
Explorer LR HD 4'' Micro Long Range FPV Ultralight Quad w/ Caddx Vista HD System
Around $300 USD depending on the options chosen.

This is the BEST FPV Long Range Drone Under 250 grams - Explorer LR - Review

In this episode I take a look at the amazing Explorer LR. This drone is under 250 grams and is a long range FPV drone that can fly for up to 18 minutes. The version I showed in this video is the Digital version, but you can also purchase the Analog version.
The links to both are here:
USE DISCOUNT CODE TO SAVE 5%: EXPLORER0507 - FLYWOO EXPLORER LR: https://flywoo.net/collections/explor... -
INSTA360 GO Camera (USA): https://amzn.to/2FtDiyN -
INSTA360 GO Camera (CANADA): https://amzn.to/2Y57pDf -
DJI FPV Goggles: https://click.dji.com/AIy9WnYbq9PFxsc... -
RADIOMASTER TX16S: https://amzn.to/2PYoGJQ

Another review by Nurk

This BNF 4" Long Range Drone Flies for 18 minutes!

The Flywoo Explorer LR is an insane little 4" drone that flies for 18 minutes on a single charge. I was really skeptical that it would be able to pull this off, but it did and I'm blown away!

The advantages of 1.3 Ghz FPV over 5.8 Ghz for long range and exploration.
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200mW 1.3Ghz vs. 350mW 5.8Ghz over rocky ridge

On the left is VTX 200mW 1.3Ghz cloverleaf antenna on a Nighthawk 285 VRX Racewood with Mad Mushroom CP omni I may have to re-shoot this. I think my 5.8Ghz Rx is sub-par.
Going to try with an FR632 diversity Rx.
On the right 350mW VTX with Cloverleaf antenna on IRC Vortex 250 Pro VRX Boscam RC832 with 10dB Crosshair antenna pointed toward the middle of the ridge.
Generally speaking when you see static on the 1.3Ghz side, it's because I'm literally flying it out of LoS, behind solid rock. 5.8Ghz side has clear LoS (other than a couple trees) all the time.

5.8GHz Vs. 1300MHz FPV Penetrating Power Test - RCTESTFLIGHT -

A quick test comparing these two FPV frequencies. Recently I got a 1300mhz vtx to fly through the woods, but it didn't seem to have much more penetrating power than 2.4 or 5.8. I did this test to compare the two. Sorry about the lack of videos recently. Both transmitters are 400mW

It seems Oscar Liang tried a 4S 3400Mah Li Ion battery pack with the Flywoo Explorer and got 28 minutes flight time. so I was off by half!
28 minutes Flight Time at 50Km/h - Flywoo Explorer LR 4" Quad

Here is the battery he used

BUILDING 4S 18650 LI-ION BATTERY PACK FOR LONG RANGE FLYING

As Li-Ion cells have higher energy density than LiPo (more capacity mAh at the same weight), they make great battery for long range flying, in this post I will show you how I built a 4S 18650 Li-Ion battery.

Holidays House Cinematic FPV Drone (4K)

LEE - THIS IS FPV

6 months ago I got into FPV, it has been a steep of learning curve to build & fly it. Most importantly I was having lots of fun with process so I decided to documented it into a short film about the experience. Feel free to subscribe & drop a like & stay tuned for more FPV vlogs !

CANADA FPV - 2020

I converted this Seaplane to FPV

I've had this plane for almost a year now, and I haven't had a good opportunity to convert it to the seaplane mode with the pontoons. I love how this thing flies over land, so I'm really excited to try it over sea. Moreover, I decided to modify it with the DJI digital FPV system so that I could also fly it via FPV, cause it was tricky in the evening sun to be able to fly it line of sight.

You will most likely see solid state battery technology in things like phones and they might even hit the RC market earlier too. The RC market would be a perfect interim step for these companies as they develop and test the technology on a much smaller scale with a lot of early adopters in a tech savvy market. These kinds of batteries would offer many advantages over Lipo's like increased energy density, longevity, safety and the ability to charge off a car battery in a few minutes. Instead of packing a half a dozen Lipo packs, you might just need one or two to fly all day and not be too concerned about abusing them either. Solid state batteries will most likely be in phones, computers and RC aircraft before they power cars, that is a market several orders of magnitude over the one for the cellphone and RC world. For smaller companies with limited production and still developing products, it could be a foot in the door, the RC world is used to experimentation and can provide a good market for a small tech company to continue development of its products.

The truth about solid state batteries - how close are they?