FPV Advice please

Questions & Answers
1

I have been using drones since 2017 but never used an FPV drone. So many members take great images and video with them and they seem like good fun but I do not have a spotter that can come out with me when I fly, a requirement to stay legal when using an FPV… I am not sure that all members have spotters with them when they fly.

Two questions, with christmas coming any suggestions on what I should get for my first FVP drone ( there seems to be lots of options) and second do you normally fly with a spotter or just ’ wing it’

David

2

The CAA require you to have a spotted in order to satisfy the visual line of sight requirement as you cant see the drone or anything other than what is coming out of the camera of the drone when you have the headset on.

If you look on YouTube you will see 100’s and 100’s of video’s of FPV drones where you will see the pilot in the video and you won’t see another person in the clip too - take that however you wish to interpreted that :wink:

There are lots of views on this subject about having a spotter - The saying " If a tree falls in an empty wood… does it make a sound" is how some view this :wink:

Basically it is all down to risk and how much of a risk your willing to take or put yourself and your drone into and how far you wish to take the rules.

Just be sure you have a lot of open space to fly in as FPV’s like to fly fast and low to get that FPV buzzz - they are not like other camera drones that you can be happy to just hover with or fly slowly to get that shot. FPV you want to get that fast movement in the footage and for that you need the space.

Fly and be responsible :wink:

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3

The 2 DJI options are the Neo or Avata 2

All the others require some sort of build or programming

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4

And rebuilding when u crash (which you will)

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5

You can still get the original Avata from select suppliers too - for those wanting better form than the Neo at a low cost

6

Can you get care-refresh with them?

7

I’d assume so, mine is covered by care refresh and these are new

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8

Whichever route you go as far as hardware is concerned: DJI, traditional FPV, analog/digital etc: there are some things you should really consider with your first flights.

Get a spotter. I’m not a spotter kind of person, in most cases I think it’s completely pointless, however FPV can be very disorienting and you can soon lose your bearings, especially when you start to panic.

Choose an area to fly in that you are very familiar with. This kind of ties in with my first point. Look closely at the area and visualise what it might look like from the air. Google Earth is a great resource for this if the area has been scanned in a reasonably high resolution.

As with your camera drone fly outbound into the wind. There’s nothing worse than making a return journey into the wind and realising you don’t have enough battery power to get back. This is especially important when flying in self levelling mode as you may not be able to get enough forward pitch to overcome the wind.

There’s nothing unmanly about using all the safety features for your first flights (self levelling, GPS auto return, etc). I strongly encourage the use of a simulator before you start using manual mode in the real world and attempting all the flippity floppity stuff.

Rather than jumping head first into all the expensive gear start off slow and steady. There are quite a few reasonably priced analog compo kits (quad, controller, goggle) that will not break the bank but will be great learning aids.

Lastly, don’t let this be your only question on the subject. Keep nagging the members on here for advice. This isn’t Facebook and everyone on here likes to talk and share.

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9

there is not much that was not brought forward by Nidge, but I would add one item of strategic choice. Note that I am influenced by 6 years of FPV experience and as such I am tending towards one area of the hobby (the 2nd below!).

  1. the initial hardware decision will probably lock you in a very different approach. If you go for the AVATA or DJI FPV, you are completely locked in by DJI and repairs will be costly. In exchange the learning curve will be smoother. This is the “Apple approach” of FPV.

  2. if you decide to go full on FPV, you can buy bind and fly systems, but they will indeed require a bit of preparation. You ll need spares, you’ll need batteries, chargers etc… The key advantage you’ll have there is that you will become quickly self sufficient and less dependent on expensive servicing of your damaged drones, as this happens in FPV! this is more the “Android approach”.

Once the above is decided, you can move to buy the strict minimum and train on simulators. I started directly flying and it was hard… very hard. You have one quad, you crash and damage something, which you need to go back home to repair etc… So getting hours into the hands and brain to help coordination and muscle memory => simulator!
The strict minimum to buy would be a remote control imho. But again, it depends on the ecosystem you are aiming for!

once you have decided, we can help you further here :slight_smile:

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10

Just to throw another opinion into the hat. If you do decide to go down the dji route, you can always go full fpv route as you outgrow dji by building your own, and using an 03 air unit or caddx vtx on your self build which means you can use your dji goggles with the flexibility of a self build keeping digital transmision to boot.

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11

Thanks everyone, great advice as always here. I don’t think I will start with the self build option, probably a second hand DJI drone first to see how I get on if I get one. There is loads of places I can fly near me so finding somewhere isn’t an issue.

Cheers

David

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12

When it comes to flying, for your early flights don’t try and fly low - more altitude=more time to sort yourself out if things start to go a little awry :wink:

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13

Or claim against Care Refresh policy, like me :flushed::woozy_face::flushed::woozy_face::flushed::woozy_face:

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14

There is a DJI Avata kit including hard case, goggles, motion controller and remote control on eBay auction at the moment with a price showing at £350. The auction ends in a couple of days.

15

Is the Caddx VTX compatible with the Goggles 3?

16

Would need to be 03 air unit I think

17

First purchase is a good remote.
An ELRS (expresslrs) is compatible for high percentage of drones.
Second purchase - A simulator. Lift Off

Third

Cost is cheap until this stage with no chance of wasting money.

Then decide if analogue is good enough (noooooo…)
Or which digital system [Apple like - DJI, Android - like Walksnail, debian Linux like - HD Zero)

Then a bind and fly or self build

For the first few flights - have a spotter or a meet-up will give you a spotter. After about 20+ flights, I am good enough at flying - that my spotter is just out of shot and never on my videos. :slight_smile:

Warning
It is a great fun.

18

As someone who just started FPV a few months ago, I would recommend you look into Tiny Whoops.

They are pretty cheap, very robust (can take a lot of crashing, which you will do a lot of!), replacement parts are pretty cheap when you do eventually break something, and you can fly them indoors during the winter (or if you live in a no-fly-zone like me) which means you get lotsof practice time.

I started out with a DJI Mini 2, then met up with a bunch of people at the Waverley Abbey meetup and realised that FPV looked like loads of fun. But all the kit seemed intimidating, as did the sheer power and speed of the 5" drones.

Then @lbrou showed me his tiny whoops and it all made far more sense for a newb. A few weeks later I was the proud owner of an Emax Tinyhawk 3 Plus RTF (ready-to-fly) kit I got from ebay for £85. Frame was a bit bashed but flew fine and has been a great intro. As I was initially just flying indoors I mixed sim time with just trying it out indoors. I crashed a lot but only from a couple of feet up or at low speed so no biggy. I had to work on fine control but then when I did get outdoors it came pretty naturally.

What kit? The Tinyhawk has been a great intro, but I soon wanted better goggles (see the uavfutures review, I have “old man eyes” so needed adjustable lenses). Took the recommendation from @weirdmunky and bought a pair of Skyzone 04O and they are great, albeit they cost more than the full RTF package.

This is all analog video. Digital looks awesome but much more expensive to buy and repair - I knew I would be crashing a lot (still do) and so am saving that upgrade until I am more competent - analog is still a great way into the hobby.

On that front - repairs have also been pretty cheap. I damaged the camera, replacement was about £20-25. New props - £5. Burnt out a motor, got two for £18 although they took 2 weeks to get here from China. Batteries (1S) are about £4 each.

Couple of small niggles with the Tinyhawk: the props stick out below the frame, most have the frame below. So while it has “turtle mode” to flip over if you crash upside down, if you are on grass it tends to get in the props and won’t take off. And the video range is not great.

As I have been a good boy I have asked Santa for a Mobula7 as upgrade - very similar form factor to the Tinyhawk (I’m happy with the size and power still), but fixes those niggles. Also a Radiomaster Pocket radio - the Emax one is actually okay but radio is a pretty cheap upgrade, your big bucks with analog will be goggles. If they both turn up I will have replaced all of the original kit (drone/goggles/radio), but radio/goggles are still compatible with both drones so I have a backup.

So from my recent experience: Tiny Whoops are cheap and loads of fun, decent goggles are well worth the investment, and watch a bunch of YouTube to learn all about batteries, antennas and a host of other weird acronyms that come with the territory!

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19

I apologise for the hit to your bank account over the next few years :slight_smile:

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20

That already started with the new goggles, but it is not just £££ I am losing, it is sleep - those YT videos don’t watch themselves you know

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