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Stubborn kid - New to FPV

ScottB

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My title says it all.

I have a stubborn teenager (15yr old), who wants to get into FPV drone racing. He has been flying a DJI P3A for a couple of years now.
Instead of digging through forums as I requested, he watched youtube videos and came up with a list.
Total Budget is $500 or less.

Wizard x220HV
Flysky i6s w/ Receiver
Emachine EV100 FPV Goggles

Upon reading other posts here I know that rtkDarling and others recommend this to start:


Taranis X9d or Qx7,
EV800D goggles
Tinyhawk.

Questions:
1. EV800D > EV100? (Battery Life, Screen Resolution, larger screen = EV800, # of channels = EV100.) Am I missing anything?
2. Flysky i6s vs. Taranis X9d vs. Qx7? Pro's and con's of each?
3. TinyHawk vs. x220HV? I believe he wants to fly outside. The TinyHawk maybe a little small for that, if there is any wind.
4. He wants to buy everything from Banggood.com. I have never heard of this site. Have you guys used them? They appear to be a Chinese company with poor reviews....Any other online retailer recommendation?

I have him convinced to worry about the receiver for now, and hook it up to the computer, with a simulator to practice.

5. Affordable but decent Simulator recommendation?
6. # of Channels. I understand the basics...Throttle, Yaw, Pitch, Roll....but some of the goggles support 48-72+ channels. Are all those "extra" channels for the video feed?

Thanks in advance for any assistance you provide.

ScottB
 
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Stubborn heh! I’ve had three of them, they grow out of it but it’s a painful experience. As for your list, my first setup was very similar to yours and I spent quite a lot of money and time keeping the quad running. Many unpredictable motor and esc failures and the money should have been spent up front with better gear. Banggood are hit and miss with both quality of delivery times. I’ve used them for non essential gear but buy everything of consequence locally.
The investment with this hobby is around your neck and on your head and so @rtkDarling is pretty much spot on with his recommendation. If you can’t see it, you can’t fly it. Maybe get a larger outdoor quad (2” or 3”) as your son may find a 5” quad a little intimidating. The smaller units are just as much fun to learn, cost less when you crash them and don’t seem to bother other people.
I’ve got a Taranis Q7S controller and Fatshark goggles which give me the option of both seeing and flying multiple quads with the one set up. The number of channels give you many options to find a clear channel particularly when flying in WiFi interference or with a group of other flyers. As for a simulator, I’ve used Liftoff a few times when it’s raining and it works fine.
 
Not a bad list but the wizard hv has a lot of known issues. The regular wizard is a good one. As for banggood, they're a Chinese company that takes forever to deliver. They're good for most parts but can have some faulty ones and it's a pain to get a return or replace from them. The tiny hawk is great but personally i would get a sim for him first. These are nothing like dji and he's guaranteed to break it.

I do run a discord with around 20 pilots
You and your son are welcomed to join.
 
I found it tough to jump right into a 5 inch rig, it's based on that experience that I have been recommending a micro (like the Tinyhawk) to beginners. I really do believe that it's the fastest way to learn. I also believe that at $100 it will pay for its self in parts savings to your full size, because you ARE going to crash it, and a lot at first. If you're an outdoor purist the Tinyhawk Freestyle is out, and that's reviewing off the charts.

I don't know that much about Flysky, but I feel like it has less support that Frsky, and that's why I stick to the X9d or Qx7. There's also the x9d lite and the Jumper T16

I've had to submit a ticket to Paypall to get my money back for a quad I bought from Bangood that was never delivered. Bangood messed me around for a while and I finally got fed up. I did get the money back, but only because I went through Paypall. I know pilots that claim they've never had issue, but I personally don't order from them anymore.
If you're in America we've got some great options that charge just a tiny bit more than BG, but you'll get your package tracked and delivered in under 10 days. For me, that's worth it.

We can do better than the wizard too, there are just a myriad of great bind and fly quads coming out now and I think the overall build quality has improved. That said, it's best to go into that size range knowing that you're going to need a soldering iron, and the other essential repair tools; basic repairs in this hobby are as constant as death and taxes





This is a monster on 4s, but would be easier to fly on 3s...


 
This looks like a great deal here:
 
All the advice above is on point!

I would also recommend the QX7 over the Flysky offerings, it is a much better transmitter with much more info to help get it set up. You can find the QX7 for around $100 but you will need to order a suitable battery for it. Look at GetFPV and use one of the discount codes to get some savings. Right now they have a "BackToSchool" discount code but I am not sure how many % off it is, and on the website if you sign up for text messages I think it gives you an 8% discount code.

As far as Banggood goes, I have, and still do use them from time to time, it takes a month to get things but sometimes it is worth it to me. An example of that was my Diatone GT-R349, everyone else wanted $169 but I got a code to get one from BG for $110 so I did and it is one of my favorites now. If I can find it at a US based distributor for the same price it is a no brainer, but when I dont need it quickly and can save a huge amount I will still use BG occasionally.
 
If you do Facebook, and decide BG could work from time to time for some purchases you don’t need too quickly, you might want to lookup and join RC Deals and Offers. I never buy off BG anymore without seeing a killer deal through their discount code, below is a couple of examples from today’s offerings

IMG_0840.jpgIMG_0841.jpg
 
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So I had a conversation with the kid.
He watched a bunch of video's, and likes:
Tiny Hawk Freestyle (Sold out until September) :(
FrSky Taranis QX7

More Questions:
1. Still debating between the EV800D, and EV100 goggles. Thoughts?
2. How is VelociDrone FPV Racing Simulator for a Sim?
3. Besides batteries/charger, is anything else needed, or recommended?
4. QX7, and QX7S...is it worth the extra $80 for those features....as it pertains to the Freestyle? or is it overkill?

Thank you again for the assistance and advice.

ScottB
 
1. I think there is always a trade off in this budget range, but the pro's and con's here are pretty clear, the EV800D will be the biggest brightest best picture and that is what FPV goggles is all about, it is difficult to fly with a very small picture that the EV100 offers, so the external battery doesn't do much good when you can't see well to begin with. Having the DVR footage to review to help find the quad after a crash is also a must so the EV800D is what I personally would buy.

2. Getting a sim loaded and working can be a job in itself, but VelociDrone is one of the best for slower PC's and real life feel so I would recommend.

3. The quad you are looking at will have a USB 1s charger that can charge 6 at a time so all you will need is some extra batteries at this time. If your son enjoys and stays in the hobby he will eventually want/need a better charger for 2s-6s batteries, but that is a ways down the road.

4. If you get a good radio it will last a lifetime, the QX7S is definitely a better choice in my opinion since the cost difference will shrink because you don't need to buy a battery and charger arrangement for it, it has much better and longer lasting gimbals, and it has much better ergonomics, which will be pretty critical in case your son ends up being a pincher instead of a thumber in the long run.

Quads and props are consumables, they will get crashed and destroyed over time guaranteed, but the radio and goggles will last a very long time if cared for. In the long run he will want a better set of goggles but the EV800D are the best choice in the inexpensive price range, and he will never need to upgrade the radio with the QX7S.

The only other thing to get started is extra props and extra batteries.

Just my 2 cents...
 
The goggle dilemma......


Realize that I haven't owned either the EV100's or the EV800's, but, I don't recommend the EV100's.

There are numerous "not so great" reviews of them, with many that don't like the minuscule field of view (FOV). I wouldn't recommend them for another reason. They don't have a DVR. If your flying outside and just starting out, you will crash in unexpected places. As big as your drone may be, it becomes amazingly hard to find in a five acre meadow, or, heaven forbid, the woods. You need a the goggle DVR to replay your flight. Granted, you can by a separate DVR, but, who wants to deal with that. The EV800 diversity gets great reviews as a starter goggle, has a DVR, and it is cost competitive with the EV100's. I owned a substandard EV800 clone (Virchuk), that gave me some issues but was "good enough" to get me through my first+ year of FPV.

I just (as in three days ago) upgraded to the Fatshark HDO with Immersion Rapidfire and I love them, BUT, it's a huge expense best saved for when you know you're going to continue in the hobby. I tried the Viper FXT and didn't like it all, so, I bit the bullet and went "top of the line". MANY recommend the EV800 as a cost effective way to start, and, down the road when you upgrade to more expensive goggles you can sell them or keep them and let your friends get a "pilot's eye view".

I've had 4 FPV drones as follows (in order of purchase):
Arris Poke RTF (Whoop) (Never use it anymore, there are better options out there)
Walkera Rodeo 100 (No longer flyable, there are better options out there)
Happymodel Snapper 7 (Whoop) (Still fly and love it, but there are currently better indoor brushless whoops available)
FulllspeedRC Leader 3SE (Still fly it and love it. I like the 3" size under 250 grams. It's safer, takes crashes better, doesn't intimidate bystanders, and doesn't have to be registered.)

I have the QX7 and love it.

I use "Freerider" as a simulator on my MacBook.

Chances are that whatever quad you buy you will be replacing it sooner than you think.......

Good luck and enjoy!

Peter T
 
So we pulled the trigger.

We got:
EV800D, QX7S, and Tiny Hawk Freestyle.
The drone just arrived today, but my kid only had 5-10min to mess with it before his camping trip.
So he hasn't done any setup or anything yet.

We are looking at buying extra batteries.
He gave me an Amazon item.
  • GAONENG GNB Tiny Hawk 1S LiPo Battery 450mAh 3.8v 80C 4Packs for Emax Micro Indoor Racing Drone
Good, decent, garbage, better recommendation?

Thank you all. Looking forward to seeing it in action.
 
Never used that particular brand, but have used RDQ or Betafpv HV 1S 300 - 450mAh for great service. Bit dearer than the myriad of others out there but I can safely charge them beyond nominal cell voltage without fear. I’ve flown dozens of packs on them without any swelling and average a solid 4 mins flight time.
 
I agree RDQ is a good one, and they are rebranded GNB/Gaoneng. If you look at some of the battery testing done (like Bardwells) GNB's top the list for performance. I have BetaFPV, Tattu, RDQ, GNB, CNHL, Thunder Power, MyLipo, Turnigy's, and a number of others, and the GNB's/RDQ's perform very very well.
 

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