Building vs Buying a Racing Drone

[Woolnut]

@GTMonster

I could go on all day, so if you want to save on sleeping pills tonight…

There is so much to get your head around, but don’t be put off.

There are some really good guys on YouTube that are well worth a watch as mentioned in my last post.

I recommend looking at components on Banggood (Chinese drop shipper). You can probably get the same items from a UK supplier, but you will pay double for something that they bought from China to sell in the UK. Most Banggood stores will declare low customs value… Try keep order values as low as possible just in case. Postage is free so making multiple orders up to £15 reduces the chance of duty charges. Items are cheap as, so you can get a few items for $15. That said most stuff I order considerably over this arrive with a value of $10 on the customs form (fight controllers, motors, Esc’s etc).

One thing to note when selecting your flight controller and components… There are limited amounts of IO ports (UART and I2C) on a fight controller and this will limit the amount of devices that you can attach to it. Be aware that some IO ports are dual purpose and may not be available to use. One of the UART will be convertible to I2C bus. One may be required for the Receiver. Some may be required for flight controller functionally. So buying enough items to fill all the UARTs will not happen.

Yeah banggood has been the place i have been looking at bits, seems to be the best for parts and multiple people have recommended it.

Thanks for the tip about ordering, i would have done one big order!

[Woolnut]

Dusting off the webs here…

I have put this on the back burner for now, mainly because i decided that i needed to get myself a proper desktop PC setup. So since that post i have sunk most of the available cash on PC stuff! Oh well…

[joe.k]

Definitely build. it will be cheaper to rebuild than buy new every time you bust it.

[PingSpike]

@joe.k

it will be cheaper to rebuild than buy new every time you bust it.

That, is a very good point

[Woolnut]

@joe.k

Definitely build. it will be cheaper to rebuild than buy new every time you bust it.

When i get round to it i will definitely be building one, like you said cheaper to rebuild and i think it will be more fun!

[joe.k]

Check out Mr Steele FPV on You Tube.
He posts epic vids and is a great source of info.
He’s certainly wetted my appetite for free style droning with a good camera on board.

[anon34183503]

If your looking for a get started fpv kit that you can fly in the house and outside on a no wind day take a look at the tinyhawk rtf bundle.

You will outgrow the tx pretty quickly but it comes with goggles and is a snip at about £150ish

[anon34183503]

I would also suggest if you haven’t already getting a decent tx (read taranis) and installing a simulator (lift off is pretty good)