FPV Mini Quad Racing Pilot Is The Goal

Street

Street

Well-Known Member
Hello Everyone,

I'm Street. I've been a long time RC car enthusiast and have spent a lot of time and money within the hobby but I've since stepped away from the RC hobby and got heavy into PC Gaming, video production and voice acting for a few years. I've put together a semi successful YouTube Gaming Channel (https://www.youtube.com/user/streetridaz) that has filled my time accordingly between my career and my family's needs. I've got a boy (8), a girl (5) and an amazing wife that allows me to continue to be a big kid. I've always been a big hobbyist and have always had something like this to fill my down time.

That being said........... I found a video long ago about the DRL on Facebook like many others I'm sure and thought It was amazing to say the least. It opened my mind up to drones or quadcopters as more then just hover devices and aerial photography tools. The other day I was at Walgreens and I saw a nana quad. I was interested but figured that it was probably just a hover device and I would grow tired of it like I did after mastering 2ch mini helicopters. BOY WAS I WRONG! These nano quads are extremely fun and so agile but I've mastered flight with it. I've turned the living room into a flight room and the wife loves it. :p LOL

So when I say I've mastered the flight with a nano quad I mean that I can fly it full speed with complete control in my living room without crashing and I can land it any where I want. I can traverse a path low and slow or fast and aggressive. So once I figured out flight control with the nano I've bought a Hubsan x4. I figured if I take a few step ups here and there and get used to controlling these in steps I would be ready to try a mini quad by this summer.

My idea is that I can either build a cheap or buy a used mini quad to practice on and get familiar with the power difference and the increased precision that comes with the upgrade. Just like I did with the Hubsan. It was a nice step up from the nano but the flight characteristics are identical, the Hubsan just performs better and has snappier controls. I'm doing well with this inside and outside the house. My confidence is growing rapidly.

Now that you know about me and how I'm progressing through this new challenge I'm curious what you guys think about my process and if you have any tips/trick and/or recommendations for my first mini quad. The way I've done it with RC Cars was I would buy a beater to learn on and then upgrade to something nice. I'm assuming this is still a great way to go but I'm a noob and teaching myself. LOL I'm completely comfortable building my own and I'm a novice solder'er. I build all my own RC Cars and have tons of experiencing modding them and mini helicopters. I also build my own computers and have an eye for perfection so with a bit of research and learning I'm good to build.

I'd like to just start by flying the mini quad (LOS) and work into (FPV) but I'd like to start researching my tech now so that I can maybe adjust overtime and have a better idea of what I'm doing later this year. That was probably a long over done post for just asking some advice but it gives you a little bit about me and my through process to back up what I'm asking.

So what I'm really asking I guess is what is a good first quad? What are the things I should be looking for and what and what would not be good investments for a beginner?

Thanks in advance for help, ideas and advice.

What say you? ;)
 
Thank you sir. I appreciate the reply. I'll check this out and I'll get back with any questions, concerns or comments.
 
Street said:
Hello Everyone,

I'm Street. I've been a long time RC car enthusiast and have spent a lot of time and money within the hobby but I've since stepped away from the RC hobby and got heavy into PC Gaming, video production and voice acting for a few years. I've put together a semi successful YouTube Gaming Channel (https://www.youtube.com/user/streetridaz) that has filled my time accordingly between my career and my family's needs. I've got a boy (8), a girl (5) and an amazing wife that allows me to continue to be a big kid. I've always been a big hobbyist and have always had something like this to fill my down time.

That being said........... I found a video long ago about the DRL on Facebook like many others I'm sure and thought It was amazing to say the least. It opened my mind up to drones or quadcopters as more then just hover devices and aerial photography tools. The other day I was at Walgreens and I saw a nana quad. I was interested but figured that it was probably just a hover device and I would grow tired of it like I did after mastering 2ch mini helicopters. BOY WAS I WRONG! These nano quads are extremely fun and so agile but I've mastered flight with it. I've turned the living room into a flight room and the wife loves it. :p LOL

So when I say I've mastered the flight with a nano quad I mean that I can fly it full speed with complete control in my living room without crashing and I can land it any where I want. I can traverse a path low and slow or fast and aggressive. So once I figured out flight control with the nano I've bought a Hubsan x4. I figured if I take a few step ups here and there and get used to controlling these in steps I would be ready to try a mini quad by this summer.

My idea is that I can either build a cheap or buy a used mini quad to practice on and get familiar with the power difference and the increased precision that comes with the upgrade. Just like I did with the Hubsan. It was a nice step up from the nano but the flight characteristics are identical, the Hubsan just performs better and has snappier controls. I'm doing well with this inside and outside the house. My confidence is growing rapidly.

Now that you know about me and how I'm progressing through this new challenge I'm curious what you guys think about my process and if you have any tips/trick and/or recommendations for my first mini quad. The way I've done it with RC Cars was I would buy a beater to learn on and then upgrade to something nice. I'm assuming this is still a great way to go but I'm a noob and teaching myself. LOL I'm completely comfortable building my own and I'm a novice solder'er. I build all my own RC Cars and have tons of experiencing modding them and mini helicopters. I also build my own computers and have an eye for perfection so with a bit of research and learning I'm good to build.

I'd like to just start by flying the mini quad (LOS) and work into (FPV) but I'd like to start researching my tech now so that I can maybe adjust overtime and have a better idea of what I'm doing later this year. That was probably a long over done post for just asking some advice but it gives you a little bit about me and my through process to back up what I'm asking.

So what I'm really asking I guess is what is a good first quad? What are the things I should be looking for and what and what would not be good investments for a beginner?

Thanks in advance for help, ideas and advice.

What say you? ;)
Click to expand...
If you go with a build or upgrade I suggest you get the EMAX red bottoms, or some cobras. They pretty much smoke competitors in thrust and speed in general. If you want to go off the deep end I'd suggest sub 250 class just for their speed and ability to do gaps. If you have a little more money and are not sure about how well you'll do on a quad then I'd suggest you start on a more timid 250 then get into the monster racers. LOS with a miniquad is a fair bit harder than FPV. I probably did LOS for 6 months before trying my FPV setup, and found that FPV was a lot easier.
 
Thank you for the heads up and advice. How fast is the camera and goggle tech coming. I see that most of you guys fly with that distorted video. How do you deal with that. LOL being a gamer that sure seems like a huge obstacle and immersion killer. LOL
 
Street said:
Thank you for the heads up and advice. How fast is the camera and goggle tech coming. I see that most of you guys fly with that distorted video. How do you deal with that. LOL being a gamer that sure seems like a huge obstacle and immersion killer. LOL
Click to expand...
Well I am getting almost perfect picture on mine. I'm not really going too far beyond LOS most of the time and fly in an almost perfect treeless, hill where there is nothing on 2.4gHz or 5.8gHz for at least a mile hahahaha.


The trick if you aren't fortunate enough to live near such a place is to invest in better radio equipment, where there is a will and enough money there is a way. If you get a quad and want to improve your signal tell us the situation and your budget and one of us should be able to help you get something together. You could make a 5$ diversity receiver as shown by Bruce at RCmodelReviews, and that would help a lot.

Going with stock dipole antennas won't get you too far.
 
GJH105775 said:
If you go with a build or upgrade I suggest you get the EMAX red bottoms, or some cobras. They pretty much smoke competitors in thrust and speed in general. If you want to go off the deep end I'd suggest sub 250 class just for their speed and ability to do gaps. If you have a little more money and are not sure about how well you'll do on a quad then I'd suggest you start on a more timid 250 then get into the monster racers. LOS with a miniquad is a fair bit harder than FPV. I probably did LOS for 6 months before trying my FPV setup, and found that FPV was a lot easier.
Click to expand...

Wow, I know this is supposed to be a family friendly kinda place, but those emax red bottoms make me feel funny in my pants.
 
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