FPV Flying, Where gamers go to die, reality.

Similar console controller format to the Turnigy evo and Taranis x-lite. Bought an evo, trying to settle on basic entry tx/rx combinations. Bit out of the loop on what makes money sense now days.

end_of_the_tunnel said:

Similar console controller format to the Turnigy evo and Taranis x-lite. Bought an evo, trying to settle on basic entry tx/rx combinations. Bit out of the loop on what makes money sense now days.

Click to expand...

Taranis is a fucking mess right now and all the experts are disgusted with them, it's a dogs fucking breakfast, you are not alone in confusion! Most are recommending the radio master T16 or now the T18 these days for a full sized radio, they are multi protocol so you can use a variety of receivers. I believe the small radio he reviewed is multiprotocol too and is suited for beginners who will be flying close in and flying drones or wings for the most part. $85 goggles, a $40 dollar radio, a $80 wing, some batteries and a charger will put you in in the air with FPV, a couple of hundred bucks and change.

Building a pretty good racing quad ain't much more expensive these days either, this guy shows you how with a detailed build video, just to give folks an idea of what's out there for instructions (there are several other ones on this kit) and how much it costs these days.

Beginner Guide $120 FPV Drone How To Build - Part 1 - Assembly

I'm going to show you every single step of how to build this $120 FPV Drone. This is my complete beginner guide, with all the steps, and all the background information you need to know. Don't think of this as just a how-to guide. I want it to be a complete introductory course to teach you the things you need to know to build FPV drones.

Here is the the racing quad mentioned above $122 US, its a good all round choice, can be configured for long range, has GPS RTH! Or you can race or do freestyle, it can carry a gopro or any other had action camera. From what I've seen, this appears to be a good economical choice, but there are many cheap options out there today, but if you want a cheap all round beginners quad, this might be worth looking at. There are build and flight videos on the vendors page, if you wanna have a look.
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Eachine Tyro119 250mm F4 OSD 6 Inch 3-6S DIY FPV Racing Drone PNP w/ Caddx Turbo F2 1200TVL Camera

This is what ya get


And this is what ya build

What can you do with a racing quad like above? Let Steele Davis, aka Mr Steele show you, he is a talented young guy with a popular youtube channel that entertains and instructs in freestyle. He also has other build and freestyle videos set to music, races, sells products and the other things most professionals in the field do. His builds are top end and very expensive and you can built the equivalent thing for a couple of hundred bucks today. This guy is known for his "aggressive" flying style and he makes entertaining videos aimed at young men, the primary market for this stuff.

Those of us who want cheap thrills!
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GOD MODE Activated | FPV Freestyle

Rolling up on an old spot that is going through some serious changes. This was one of the most fun sessions I've had in years, No pressure just pure fun with great people. Not even the rain could put a damper on this session.

This husband and wife team review a lot of toys and such, but they have a big Youtube following. Here they fly a $300 US EDF jet that runs off of a 6S battery, looks nice, though I'd have an FPV camera in place of the dummy pilot real quick!
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FAST! F-16 Thunderbirds RC Fighter Jet - INCREDIBLY PERFECT Warbird! - TheRcSaylors

F-16 Thunderbirds 70mm EDF BNF Basic with AS3X and SAFE Select, 815mm

Key Features

• The easiest to fly high-performance F-16 EDF (Electric Ducted Fan) jet model yet!
• Scale replica of the iconic aircraft flown by the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds demonstration team
• 12-blade 70mm fan delivers excellent top speed and vertical performance plus turbine-like sound
• Factory-installed high-power 6S compatible brushless inrunner motor and 70-amp ESC
• Fast and precise factory-installed digital, metal-geared servos with ball-link equipped linkages
• Steerable nose wheel and electric retracts with shock-absorbing struts for operation from a variety of surfaces including grass
• Spektrum™ 6-channel receiver with industry-leading DSMX® technology
• Easy to fly with optional-use SAFE® Select flight envelope protection
• The unmatched stability and precision of AS3X® technology
• Includes a decal sheet to choose and apply the Thunderbird number designation of your choice
• Easy final assembly with removable wings and a magnetically-secured nose cone
• Convenient top hatch with clear canopy, cockpit detail and a pilot figure
• Durable yet lightweight, composite reinforced EPO airframe

Needed to Complete

• Full-range 6+ Channel transmitter with DSMX®/DSM2® technology
• 3200–4000mAh 6S 22.2V LiPo flight battery with EC5™ connector
• Suitable LiPo battery charger

If you are into 3D printing, you can literally print your own plane, in parts that you super glue together. The files cost $20 for a variety of planes that you can print as many copies or parts of as you wish, the plastic filament costs about $10 US per plane.
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$17 MAKE IT YOURSELF!! 150km - 3D printed plane

Long range Tony spent over 40 hours 3D printing a mustang from 3D lab print - https://3dlabprint.com and OMG does it look, fly and sound great.

3D Printed Airplane - P 38 Lightning | Flite Test

Can a 3D printed plane fly? 3D Lab Print sent us this amazing 3D printed P-38 Lightning.
Wanna know more? Click here! https://goo.gl/y9n9YC
Check out 3D Lab Print: https://goo.gl/un4sc1
Get started in the hobby by building foam airplanes: https://goo.gl/4XxOrC

Some guys like RC helicopters, here is a world champion RC helicopter stunt pilot, this guy could give ya a haircut with a little off on the sides.
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TAREQ ALSAADI GOBLIN KRAKEN 3D RC HELICOPTER SWISS HELI CHALLENGE 2019

Swiss Heli challenge 2019 Airport Dübendorf Switzerland biggest Outdoor RC Helicopter Event. Tareq Alsaadi from Dubai World Champion in 3D Helicopter flying. @the Swiss Heli Challenge 2019 with a Goblin Kraken 3D RC model Helicopter, enjoy this X-TREME 3D flight.

This plane weighs just 20 grams all up and this guy figured out how to put a AIO FPV camera on it and have it fly properly. I costs $63 US and comes with a controller, all you would need is a set of cheap FPV goggles and an AIO FPV camera to try FPV. You don't' need a 3D printer for the mount either, some scrap plastic and glue should do just fine. A cheap way to try FPV or just playing with planes.
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Volantex V761-1 Firstar Mini 2.4G 3CH 6 Axis Gyro Micro RC Airplane RTF
$100 FPV for beginners - Volantex Mini Trainstar

Volantex Mini Trainstar: http://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/brt96vYG
Volantex Mini Trainstar (Amazon): https://amzn.to/2E3HJMn

SUCCESS!
After gathering information from different sources and running some ideas back and forth with people, I did print out a rather simplistic looking camera mount for the Mini Trainstar, but it did work rather well in the end! I only wish I had done this in the first place, so I wouldn't have to cut into the plane as much as I did before, because removing that double sided tape was not a pleasant or sparing job (for the plane) at all! Anyway... with the new mount glued in and the camera installed, things were looking and feeling TONS better in the air! Also... quite the awesome range on that stock, cheap looking radio!!! The Mini Trainstar definitely can make for an entry level beginner FPV setup on a budget! Quite the awesome little plane!

Here is something that will be very useful and just came out from the folks at the Betaflight open source project! Anything that uses betaflight on the FC can be used with this, a lot easier and quicker than lugging your notebook PC to the field. This is one of several configurator programs that can change the parameters and settings on the flight control computer of a quadcopter or plane, it can also update the firmware in the flight control computer's memory among other tasks.
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Betaflight Configurator Phone APP

A review of the NEW Betaflight Configurator phone APP. How it works and how to download for your Android phone.

Went up to the dollar store and bought 3 pieces of foam board, some hot glue sticks a craft knife and a cutting mat. Think I'll look for a nice simple beginners video and set of plans for a foam board plane. Gonna buy some balsa plywood online and perhaps a few other items to get it in the air.

Just got one of these in the mail today, put it together in 5 minutes and it works fine on my servo tester. I forgot to plug the 5v bec between the 2s battery and my servo tester on the last test and burned the fucking servo tester out! $2 gone, time to order a couple more and leave it hooked up to that spare fucking BEC, permanently.

I'm thinking this might be good for the RC rescue boat to use with the FPV camera. I picked up a couple of bright orange pool noodles yesterday for floats too, they are hard to find in winter!
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Pan Tilt 2 Axis Camera FPV Gimbal Mount Bracket W/2 Servos

Always admired those pan-tilt mounts that were controlled by head tracker. Just adds to the experience, can imagine yourself up there.

A pan and tilt is nice on the right airplane and good to use with models of human aircraft, most people remove the clear part of the canopy for best results. Having the ability to look around naturally is important, especially if you're flying a model of something made for people, though using a ground station would be advisable if you're at any range! With drones and FPV planes like wings and others designed for it, they don't seem to be too important, a HD camera roll gimbal would be better for most FPV planes.

Pan and tilt would be great with a runcam split 4 in something like this, the plane cost $560 US, an amazing price for the performance. If a fellow had the bucks and was into jets I could see this happening, finding places to fly might be a challenge though. EDFs are regulation free, real jets you can only fly LOS from a certified field and have a special license to do it in many places.

Freewing F-14 Tomcat Twin 80mm EDF Jet - PNP

Here is a guy flying a nano talon similar to the one I have using the new 4G/LTE cell phone network and a Huawei e3372h-510 data dongle on Verizon. There is a bit of latency, but for a plane with a FC and backup systems it's not bad and he can switch between cell phone control and regular control when he's in range. You can go for miles undetected at low altitude, wherever there is 4G service, latency is the only issue I can see, and I figure that will improve greatly in coming months and years. The description and comments provide a lot more information on how to do this and find out more information. With a nano talon running on a Li on battery you can go for a very long way, this guy only did a fraction of what is possible.
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ZOHD Nano Talon Black OP - 4G/LTE Cruise

A nice relaxing cruise with the ZOHD Nano Talon Black OP. I flew out past 7mi distance easily and was not even trying for maximum distance. Video feed was pretty stable for this flight. I did have a couple disconnects and GCS failsafe worked flawlessly and initiated a RTL.
The only cam on-board was the pi-cam. Did not add another camera for this flight.

https://docs.uavmatrix.com/

I'm thinking about a snap on float plane version of the nano talon, it's AUW is 560 grams with a 1300 4s and I figure it will be around 600 grams fully configured with a 1.8am p battery, FC and GPS. I' thinking of making a couple of floats out of 8" sections of pool noodle and some wooden dowels, I might do a little experiment in the bathtub to see how much buoyancy a piece of pool noodle has. If it or even a half section has enough buoyancy I might build the plane floats and test how much weight they can take and how high out of the water they will sit. I bought some foam balls used for crafts and I'll slice one or two in half for the front and rear of the pontoons, I might even scoop out some foam from the inside of the hemispheres to make them lighter.

I'm still thinking over the design, it would reduce the speed and range, but it would be cool and convenient to be able to snap on the float pontoons rig with a couple of elastic bands and make her an amphibian as required. It might even make a good Youtube video too.

The AMAZING World of Drone Racing and FPV Freestyle

Perhaps racing is your style, you'll need very fast reactions, flying skill and technical knowledge for this challenge. You can download the DRL simulator, race and even qualify online. All the drones are the same and it's all skill, a lot of top freestyle and racing pilots you see on youtube are in this video, there is big prize money involved. If you're a star wars fan you'll like drone racing, it's a combination of pod racing and a space battle!

There are many different amateur drone racing leagues and organisations all over the world, drone racing is popular and so fast it's hard to watch. Other drone sims like velocidrone allow you to race with others online too, but sims are just practice for the real thing and a good sim must behave like the real thing.
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Top Close Finishes of 2019

Watch the pilots from the 2019 DRL Allianz World Championship grind it out to the very end.

From back 4 years ago in 2016, people were only flying these kinds of drones for a few years starting back in 2012 or so, many then were experimenting with wooden tricopters and such. It shows you have fast technology progresses with millions of enthusiasts experimenters providing a market for product, information and entertainment. It's an offshoot of the RC plane hobby that has attracted a lot of young people and most young guys who fly drones will eventually buy a foam plane and fpv it, they are cheap as beans so why not.

This shows you how international the the RC hobby and drone racing have become and how big the prize money was in 2016.
Go Inside the World's First $1 Million Drone Race

March 21 -- The World Drone Prix in Dubai was the first million dollar drone race, with the winning team taking home a cool $250,000. We meet the tech-loving thrill-seekers behind the sport who want to turn it into the next big thing.