24-08-2024, 12:36 PM
I have flown RC planes for many decades including ones with glo motors, with diesel motors, and finally electric motors, with intermittent slope gliding on the side. But I never flew an FPV plane or drone before March this year. I became interested in the elrs RC protocol when I had reception problems at the field over the last year or so. Elrs introduces you to various aspects of drone flying such as arming, frequent updating of firmware, the elrs configurator and more; I also used online gurus such as Bardwell, Newton and Painless360 and others (for various RC issues such as lipo charging, lipo fires, antennas, tx and rxs, etc.) who are FPV and/or drone specialists to a varying degree. These people got me thinking about FPV....
Without much further thought I decided to give FPV a try in March. The first decision you have to make is the video system, I selected the DJI O3 video system, which does not come cheap.
I purchased DJI Integra goggles for AUD $609 from a Sydney D1 store, and a small BNF drone (GEPRC DarkStar20 HD O3 Cinewhoop) for USD 390 with shipping from the GEPRC website, which cost AUD 609. In dronetalk O3 means you use the DJI O3 video system that requires DJI goggles, its the most expensive video option and accounts for around half of the cost of an O3 equipped drone. Experts agree DJI gives the best video and highest resolution cine-recording, however there is now a serious challenger: the Walksnail Caddx goggles L which work with a number of Caddx onboard video systems, the best being the Caddx Moonlight video system. The goggles L are supposed to be available for USD 200, but they are very scarce and sold out almost everywhere. However AliExpress has the goggles x in stock for AUD 346. Then you might consider that PhaserFpv sells the highly rated Caddx GoFilm 20 Cinewhoop RTF drone with Walksnail Moonlight Camera for AUD $609.00
So if you chose Walksnail rather than DJI you would save some money (not alot) and get a fpv system with video that for most pundits compares well to DJI, but also has other advantages that Andrew Newton enumerates:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOmx-cvmaD0
In particular you do not have to choose the most expensive Caddx camera (the Moonlight camera) on your drone as there are cheaper Caddx cameras that give quality digital video; all Caddx cameras work with the goggles L.
Its worth mentioning that most fpv pilots are still using analog video despite a trend to go digital, its much cheaper and if you accept the lower quality analog video you can get great cheap drones that are very competitive for drone racing, and for long range drone applications. Analog drones can have lower latency than digital for racing, and are easier to set up for long range.
I had a tx with a elrs module already, so I expected it would be easy to get started, you simply bind the drone to your tx, then bind the drone to your goggles. But in my case I had to visit the D1 store where I purchased the goggles to achieve the drone-goggles bind. This turned out to be because you also have to use special DJI software to "activate" the goggles, welcome to DJI (NB most people can do the bind without having to visit the D1 store).
When I completed a line of sight test flight on my Darkstar20, it was time for the first flight with the goggles. I was astonished how I became immersed in the flying with sensations of either sitting on the edge of a cliff or falling over a cliff, and how strongly I became orientated with the drone as though sitting in the cockpit. I struggled through the first flight to avoid falling over when the drone banked, and in subsequent flights I always sit down to avoid falling. I expected FPV to be a kind of variation on line of sight flying, and the sensation of flying turned out to be something very different. I do not expect to fly LOS again.
I select drones that are small and/or quiet in order to have the option to fly in local parks. I always avoid flying near people or houses etc so I now fly in national parks and over water in the Sydney basin, with takeoff and landing in small clearings or parks beside a river, the harbour or bushland. With practice it is fairly easy to land a drone with precision in tight spots at very low speed, and I often use angle mode (stabilised flight) in order to increase accuracy when landing. This type of drone flying - exploring the local environment - is discussed online by Captain Drone, and it often involves video photography. It is very different to drone racing, and to freestyle drone flying where larger heavier drones predominate.
I know a number of plane flyers now use stabilised flight and flight controllers for training or assistance with manoeuvres, but I had no experience with it before drone flying. Flights over rivers, national parks or the ocean always involve a small risk of loss, as models cannot be retrieved, its the same risk as flying slope soarers off cliffs.
FPV drones are smaller, lighter and less conspicuous in the air than FPV planes, and are much easier to store and transport. FPV planes need more open space for takeoff and landing. There have been major advances in FPV tech in the last few years, the biggest possibly being the DJI O3 air unit which brought high resolution video to even the tiny drones.
New drones are appearing on the market with great frequency possibly stimulated by the new US <250 g rule, which requires a "remote id" and registration for drones or planes over this weight limit. Every week yahoo gurus like Captain Drone and Rimzler and many others review a new drone, and there is agreement (a) the new drones today are better than in previous years and that (b) the small drones can do anything the larger ones can do, although small drones are slower. Painless360 is full of praise for the new FPV planes that are mostly BNF or ARF.
To make or repair your own drone good soldering skills are essential and people use practice circuit boards to develop these skills. Doing it yourself can reduce costs.
Drones have their downsides apart from being more costly than planes:
- they are now associated with armed conflicts occurring in many countries, and considered a weapon of war which seems a bit unfair as they are also an indispensable tool for many key occupations such as farming, environmental planning and management, construction and housing, surveying, motion-picture photography, advertising, scientific measurements of many kinds etc.
- They are blamed for pervs looking in windows of houses, which Bardwell says is an urban myth.
- There is yet another steep learning curve which may put off some people who have just done the elrs curve. As well as the elrs configurator, you now have the betaflight configurator to deal with settings on the flight controller etc.
Despite all this I expect there will soon be FPV planes flying regularly at PRCAC....
Without much further thought I decided to give FPV a try in March. The first decision you have to make is the video system, I selected the DJI O3 video system, which does not come cheap.
I purchased DJI Integra goggles for AUD $609 from a Sydney D1 store, and a small BNF drone (GEPRC DarkStar20 HD O3 Cinewhoop) for USD 390 with shipping from the GEPRC website, which cost AUD 609. In dronetalk O3 means you use the DJI O3 video system that requires DJI goggles, its the most expensive video option and accounts for around half of the cost of an O3 equipped drone. Experts agree DJI gives the best video and highest resolution cine-recording, however there is now a serious challenger: the Walksnail Caddx goggles L which work with a number of Caddx onboard video systems, the best being the Caddx Moonlight video system. The goggles L are supposed to be available for USD 200, but they are very scarce and sold out almost everywhere. However AliExpress has the goggles x in stock for AUD 346. Then you might consider that PhaserFpv sells the highly rated Caddx GoFilm 20 Cinewhoop RTF drone with Walksnail Moonlight Camera for AUD $609.00
So if you chose Walksnail rather than DJI you would save some money (not alot) and get a fpv system with video that for most pundits compares well to DJI, but also has other advantages that Andrew Newton enumerates:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOmx-cvmaD0
In particular you do not have to choose the most expensive Caddx camera (the Moonlight camera) on your drone as there are cheaper Caddx cameras that give quality digital video; all Caddx cameras work with the goggles L.
Its worth mentioning that most fpv pilots are still using analog video despite a trend to go digital, its much cheaper and if you accept the lower quality analog video you can get great cheap drones that are very competitive for drone racing, and for long range drone applications. Analog drones can have lower latency than digital for racing, and are easier to set up for long range.
I had a tx with a elrs module already, so I expected it would be easy to get started, you simply bind the drone to your tx, then bind the drone to your goggles. But in my case I had to visit the D1 store where I purchased the goggles to achieve the drone-goggles bind. This turned out to be because you also have to use special DJI software to "activate" the goggles, welcome to DJI (NB most people can do the bind without having to visit the D1 store).
When I completed a line of sight test flight on my Darkstar20, it was time for the first flight with the goggles. I was astonished how I became immersed in the flying with sensations of either sitting on the edge of a cliff or falling over a cliff, and how strongly I became orientated with the drone as though sitting in the cockpit. I struggled through the first flight to avoid falling over when the drone banked, and in subsequent flights I always sit down to avoid falling. I expected FPV to be a kind of variation on line of sight flying, and the sensation of flying turned out to be something very different. I do not expect to fly LOS again.
I select drones that are small and/or quiet in order to have the option to fly in local parks. I always avoid flying near people or houses etc so I now fly in national parks and over water in the Sydney basin, with takeoff and landing in small clearings or parks beside a river, the harbour or bushland. With practice it is fairly easy to land a drone with precision in tight spots at very low speed, and I often use angle mode (stabilised flight) in order to increase accuracy when landing. This type of drone flying - exploring the local environment - is discussed online by Captain Drone, and it often involves video photography. It is very different to drone racing, and to freestyle drone flying where larger heavier drones predominate.
I know a number of plane flyers now use stabilised flight and flight controllers for training or assistance with manoeuvres, but I had no experience with it before drone flying. Flights over rivers, national parks or the ocean always involve a small risk of loss, as models cannot be retrieved, its the same risk as flying slope soarers off cliffs.
FPV drones are smaller, lighter and less conspicuous in the air than FPV planes, and are much easier to store and transport. FPV planes need more open space for takeoff and landing. There have been major advances in FPV tech in the last few years, the biggest possibly being the DJI O3 air unit which brought high resolution video to even the tiny drones.
New drones are appearing on the market with great frequency possibly stimulated by the new US <250 g rule, which requires a "remote id" and registration for drones or planes over this weight limit. Every week yahoo gurus like Captain Drone and Rimzler and many others review a new drone, and there is agreement (a) the new drones today are better than in previous years and that (b) the small drones can do anything the larger ones can do, although small drones are slower. Painless360 is full of praise for the new FPV planes that are mostly BNF or ARF.
To make or repair your own drone good soldering skills are essential and people use practice circuit boards to develop these skills. Doing it yourself can reduce costs.
Drones have their downsides apart from being more costly than planes:
- they are now associated with armed conflicts occurring in many countries, and considered a weapon of war which seems a bit unfair as they are also an indispensable tool for many key occupations such as farming, environmental planning and management, construction and housing, surveying, motion-picture photography, advertising, scientific measurements of many kinds etc.
- They are blamed for pervs looking in windows of houses, which Bardwell says is an urban myth.
- There is yet another steep learning curve which may put off some people who have just done the elrs curve. As well as the elrs configurator, you now have the betaflight configurator to deal with settings on the flight controller etc.
Despite all this I expect there will soon be FPV planes flying regularly at PRCAC....
