Was a motorcycle instructor for 12 years before MS began scarring my brain. I stressed muscle memory to my students. Operating a motorcycle by muscle memory allows for keeping your attention on what’s happening around you. I have learned lots about the brain since my diagnosis. Your ‘neural pathways’ comments are spot on. And you may find this interesting … Dirtbike riders were usually harder to teach because many had to “unlearn” bad habits. New subscriber! 👍🏼
I have always wanted to learn how to ride a motorcycle! I am sure you know more than most about those neural pathways given what you have gone through, and let me just say that I am very sorry that is something you have been burdened with. The brain/thumb/eyeball links are absolutely critical in this stuff for exactly the reason you said. Being able to offload most of keeping the quad in the air to your muscle memory frees up those dynamic control parts of the brain to do the hard work of making your quad do flippy flops while close to things. I totally believe that someone who rode a different kind of bike had plenty of un-learning to do before they could get proficient at street bikes! I don't think we give enough credit to our brains for all of the things they learn to do without us having to think about them!
Spot on comment again! Yes, the human brain is an incredible thing. Looking forward to purchasing first drone, a cinewhoop with prop guards, soon and get started on some neural pathways that aren’t grown by flying the DJI MIni2. 😁👍🏼
Talking about bad dirt bike habits, I got my road bike licence at age 32, I was riding an old 1993 Yamaha virago xv535 and a tow truck took off from a stop sign right in front of me, their was a car coming towards me in the other lane and the truck was coming right across my lane literally 2 car lengths in front of me to enter the opposite lane right behind the car, I was doing about 60-70kph, and in a panic I hit the brakes real hard and at the same time I smashed the bike down a gear with no clutch, obviously it locked up straight away, started to slide sideways, I got off the rear brake for a half a second to try to stop the lockup and it high sided me straight into the truck, I hit the truck upside down back first at 60kph. Smashed my shoulder and broke my back, it's fair to say I have been put off riding road bikes now as in just 2 months not only did that happen but basically every single ride multiple people cut me off, tail gate right on your back, (as a learner in Australia your not allowed to lane filter) and people expect you to filter because your on a bike and they try to get up beside you or almost hit you at traffic lights because they are expecting you to filter to the front but instead I have to stop at the back of the line and people just constantly almost killing you, it didn't bother me as bad until I hady accident now I'm not keen on getting back on a bike
It's crazy how much learning how to crash properly changes the game for your skill improvement. When you've mastered crashing you feel a lot more confident sending it.
It is also crazy how once you learn to do it, you find yourself automatically bailing in the most graceful way or just belly flopping things instead of wiping out without even thinking about it. I remember allllll of those times when it felt like I was just snatched out of the air during my first few months, and now I know it was just me being a newb, lol.
@@BaconNinjaFPV yes indeed,,,in this hobby must never surender to evaluate our flying footage to improve our memory and motivated ourself in daily flying..and never underestimate the preflight checking
Been flying since 2016, this just popped up and figured I'd watch. Its really well done and I agree on all points. There's so much more useful information out there nowadays for people to get into the hobby and succeed at it faster than back then and its thanks to videos like this and people like you passing it on. Well done.
Might add one thing about first time flying with a group of people. Put your quad on 25mw. Don't blast everyone with 1watt of power. Even if your on another channel, your 1w is going to kill the signal because everyone else is using 25mw. Better yet configure and use pit mode.
Yeah you never want to be the person that does this, especially if you are new to the group. People don't look kindly on you for causing their crash, lol.
Thanks mate, loving the content. I'm years into the hobby but still learning basics as I'm not from a technical background at all. Huge thanks to everyone who helps out those of us that struggle with stuff that is very alien to us. Cheers
You are very welcome!! It is all about the context of each persons experience, and like you said some people will be fairly comfortable with the concepts while for others it will feel completely foreign. I think sometimes it is hard to step back and remember that not everyone knows the same things as you, and keeping that in mind will for sure help set the right tone for getting someone the help they are asking for :)
%100 agree with learning acro right away. I started on angle mode when I got into the hobby and essentially had to relearn flying once I switched to acro
I completely agree with the title of this video! I started flying FPV drones just three months ago and it can be really discouraging when things go wrong. I actually ended up breaking my drone when I accidentally plugged it in with reverse power and burned out the FC. But I'm determined to keep learning and get back in the air soon! Thanks for the helpful tips in this video.
It sure can get discouraging sometimes. It sounds like you didn't let it get you down though!!! At least you will get to look back on that one at some point down the road and chuckle to yourself about it :) Thank you so much for watching!
My fascination with flight has always been strong and my dad was a bush pilot that always wanted to fly drones. I have basic experience with camera drones and have spent the last 2 months researching and learning freestyle fpv and how to build. I have all the parts to my first build that I will be putting together soon. Meanwhile I've been clocking hours on liftoff and it has helped train my brain a little bit. I hope to be posting a maiden flight in the next month or so. Thanks for all the valuable information and great video.
Man I have always wanted to ride in a bush flight!! The idea of that kind of take off and landing over beautiful scenery in a small aircraft just sounds like an awesome experience. I started when I was young with little foamies that they used to sell in toy sections at stores, but never got much beyond that because I always kept crashing them with no money to fix them up. It took so many years to come back full circle and start flying again, lol. I wish you luck on your journey, and I hope something in here saves you a little headache!
GUILTY! I bought the nazgul5 v2 because it flew so well out of the box, so I flashed betaflight before my maiden and never got to experience that goodness. She's back to stock now. Awesome vid!
About checking for shorts with multi-meter (checking for continuity): You WILL hear a beep when testing a fully functional drone on it's battery terminals, but just a short one and then silence. It's because of a capacitor you should have connected to the terminals.
For people who are just starting with a small budget, DOUBLE CHECK EVERYTHING! Especially protocols and video transmission. Make sure everything matches with everything else. Just started and accidentally bought a cheap drone, bought a new controller before finding out it was the wrong type. Now I’ve had to buy a new drone to match the remote, almost tripling the amount I spent.
I've been flying for 2 years. I have been in the hobby for 4 years. Sounds weird but I didn't have the money for the first two years but I consumed content as if I was in the hobby. First drone was a Tiny Hawk Free Style II. Now I have a fleet from whoops to 9inch. (this is me qualifying my next statement). This is the best "overview" advice I've ever seen. You managed to boil down all the nitty gritty details until you were left with Nuggets of wisdom. I particularly like the "if you can't afford two of something, you can't afford one" that particular truth has applied to basically every quad I've had from the first (THFS2) to my current build (a custom pushing the limits 9 inch long range). Your hole video is packed with things that a new pilot should take at face value until much later they understand the truth of it. Well done sir, well done. AND thank you!
The cost of this stuff is a real barrier some times, that is no lie! Btw, I still love my TH2F and I believe it was the first micro quad I owned. Still has a special place in my heart and on my wall o' drones, lol. I think the whole if you can't afford 2 thing is one piece of advice that I would absolutely share with any new pilot. It is never fun to break something you only have one of and can't afford to repair :( Being grounded once you have fallen in love with the experience of FPV feels like some kind of punishment, lol. You are very welcome, making these videos is my pleasure!! I appreciate you very much for stopping by to check it out and leaving me a lovely comment!
I totally agree with you! If this hobby wasn't such an uphill battle, I wouldn't love it anywhere near as much as I do. I like to do the hard things and overcome them. Plenty of that for the taking in this hobby! lol.
A crash can be very discouraging itll make you question if youre good enough you just gotta shake those thought away and do what you gotta do to get back in the air weather thats repairs a new drone or more time in the sim its all worth it in the end its the best feeling in the world when you rip a full pack and crash or land successfully
I have had many, many....many of those crashes, lol. Just have to remember that you are flying something that is super difficult to keep in the air in the first place and shake off the thought that you aren't in control of that. I remember a few sessions where it felt like all I could do was crash, but sometimes we just have bad days and those connections between our eyes and fingers aren't as good as they usually are. Never let it beat you and you will always overcome it!
7:00 Nah... I flew my real drone long before I could put the sim drone through a full race course. Didn't crash the drone until I was quite a few flights in. Maybe that was in part to my using ArduPilot instead of Betaflight, which means I had the option to switch immediately to GPS position hold if anything went badly (which I mostly just used for takeoffs and landings).
One of the wonderful things about FPV is how different everyone's journeys can be :) It is so unique to each person, and what works for one might not work exactly right for others. Makes the whole thing so much more interesting! Generally sim first is better, but for some people just getting out there is the way to go.
@@BaconNinjaFPV Yeah - I do love the open-source, DIY nature of FPV. It's really one of the main reasons I enjoy it. I did do a fair bit of sim flying first - I could at least fly it about in an open area reasonably well, I just couldn't turn sharply or get it through things as small as gates are. I thought flying the real one would be way harder, then somehow when I finally tried on my real quad, it felt pretty much the same and I didn't have much trouble with it.
Thanks for the great advice in the video. One correction/FYI: a helicoil is not a device for removing broken screws (you’re thinking of an EZ out). A helicoil is a threaded insert that is used to repair or reinforce damaged threads 😅
I started researching on fpv drones long time ago around 2016 and back then we didn't have Sims or guide videos. I remember the first drone I had was a brushed LOS drone that I made. Considering the size of that thing, I should have practiced soldering. Soldering is not too hard to do with the right equipment (so don't go cheap on that) but being a noob in soldering and starting my fpv life with a brushed tiny drone, alot of things was bound to go wrong. and it did. 4 brushed flight controllers broken within a month. The store owner even took pity on me and gave the fifth for free. Everything was so discouraging especially as a kid that used my saved money. eventually I did get things to work but I didn't have any luck until 2 years later when we had better parts and cheaper goggles and....tiny whoops (which honestly sparked alot of micro development). Great first quad that I got was the ladrc tiny 6s. few years later, I've flown several micro drones, have built most of them except my tinyhawk freestyle. I've also got myself a 3d printer and a cnc to design my own frames and the last 5 drones I've owned were all using frames I designed. Dont get discouraged guys....it may take time but it is a Hella fun hobby. The feeling of flight and the first dive you take just feels so refreshing. like letting off steam which is why I actually fly.
I really appreciate you sharing all of that with us! I have often thought about diving into designing my own frames...but haven't quite gotten to bite the bullet on a CNC mill, lol. I own some really large format CO2 lasers, tons of 3D printers, and spent quite a bit of time as a traditional machinist, so that kind of stuff is right up my alley. Some day it may just happen, but who knows. It must be a great feeling getting your own design up in the air and seeing it fly like you designed it to!
@@BaconNinjaFPV I'm not gonna lie when I say that my cnc is actually my 2nd machine (2nd to my 1 3d printer) and if I can use a janky cheap cnc to make frames I'm sure someone like you who has more experience could. That said, sourcing good carbon fiber sheets have been a pain in my ass lately.
7 Months in currently. I bought a Beta85 back in April and it took until May to work out how to get the Jumper T-Pro and Beta85 to work together (ELRS fun and games). I then managed to fly it in Angle mode in my house (barely). So my first mistake was probably buying a 2S quad. The second was thinking I had any chance of flying it outside, even in angle mode. Thankfully I did put in about 2 hours in Freerider, so i wasn't a complete noob. My first flight outside included me learning about wind, about how scary it is when you suddenly go from the ground to about 50m in the air while wearing goggles but can't tilt forward to come back down, while also worrying about people around me (no one cared enough to come over). So I dropped the throttle, did a long turn and fell out of the sky slowly, applied throttle and landed pretty well in front of myself with about 30 secs of flight and called it a day. No crash, but needed some clean underwear. I'm now 7 months later, fly acro on some level in Liftoff Micro and Freerider and am struggling to repair the 2 prebuilt drones i bought (Beta85 and Cine8) and solder the Meteor75 I am building as a winter/indoor flyer. I'll get there eventually. Joining a community for FPV pilots was a very smart idea and I've had lots of help from the members there (IntoFPV).
Thank you for sharing your journey my friend! Yeah you gotta love when the angle limits are stock and you get too high up, lol...it is always one of those spiral in place situations until you can get back to seeing the ground. Also, 2S will sure make a house feel small wont it? I do lots of indoor flying with a 75mm 2S, but it sure wasn't something I did without a whooooooole lot of crashing for a while, lol. When it comes to repairs, that is one of the steepest learning curves by far. Lots of people think the pilot side is hard, but they hit a whole other wall when it comes to maintaining the hardware. You will absolutely get there, and on the other side of it you will be even more proud of those quads than you already are! That Meteor75 is gonna be a ton of winter fun for sure.
Stay concise? 36min of concise I know cuz I listened, What I love about Bacon is he gets straight to the point no matter how long it takes. Fly true Brother Bacon Thanks for the Advice Aloha
Good tips I’ve been flying about 7 months. Started with dji fpv. Did cinematic stuff learned acro, broke it. Moved on to 5” and cinewhoops and never been happier!
Oh man, that DJI FPV quad loooooves to break when it crashes, lol. I bet you have a whole lot less problems with that on normal cinewhoops and 5" quads!
@@BaconNinjaFPV yeah I knew it was pretty fragile getting into it and I realized I shouldn’t try any tricks I might not be able to land. But I had some very insignificant tree branch touches that caused the props to break like glass. Finally I barely touched a palo verde tree in Arizona and the whole thing just went down and broke the camera and fc in half. It’s a trade off cuz the AI safety features did save my butt a couple of times flying around cities. But my nazgul is a lot more resilient and I can still do cinematic stuff if I want.
This Video really applied to me personally, i made mistakes but thanks God have not lost Any Drones yet except for one when i tried to fly it and i had no idea how to.
Thanks for the video. My first FPV Drone (2 inch toothpick Draknight ) arrives tomorrow. Been practicing on the sim with my radio for a while now and looking forward to trashing it lol!
That is absolutely the truth! Sometimes I find myself thinking "man it would be easier if I would just not care about how this would hold up"...and right about that time I break something, lol.
Some great info here, much appreciated! I think most newbs flash as part of initial setup is because there are tons of setup videos out there that tell you to do this.
just built my first 5in FPV quad following your videos now have to put in some hours on the sim, tried to fly the drone and have to replace the props already lol
Definitely get a bunch of spare props, even with more skill you'll be happy you have them. Have fun with your sim time, if you're just forcing yourself to do drill after drill it can get boring, but if you're having fun with it doing the type of flying you plan on doing every so often it's definitely easier to learn.
@@Afro__Joe yea I went ahead and ordered a 10 pack. Already killed one motor and my ESC from crashing Im guessing. Great learning exp. I will be replacing the whole stack to do a few upgrades I didnt know about before.
I am building my first drone at the moment. I am almost done and have all the parts staged and ready to go. Got a rm pocket and the drone is 5 inch with the speedy bee stack.
Six to seven years ago I bought FPV drone kit+box googles and flew the drone few times full speed to ground or tree and stopped, since the drone was broken. I was confident that my "console era thumbs" would easily handle and understand how to control the drone...no...The transmitter just didn't "fit" on my hands at all. Now I think I'll invest in the better transmitter first and practise in a sim, since I've owned the liftoff as long as I can remember.
24:00 Umm, no. Props *do* need to be "grip death tight". I put mine on as tight as I can get them, and then I try to push it a bit tighter. If I don't, I can easily get a prop coming loose in flight (which has happened to me more than once). Never had a problem from putting props on really tightly.
So usually if you are over tightening your props, you won't have an issue until you suddenly do, lol. Most of the time it is fine and nothing happens, other times you crack a hub during a crash and explode the prop. They should never be loose, and tight is right, but there is a limit for sure given they are made of polycarb and stress fractures do happen when the nuts are cranked down.
@@BaconNinjaFPV I'm just saying, I've had *so many* props come loose on takeoff or in-flight despite how tight I crank them down... Maybe I'm just somehow not managing to get them as tight as you can...
I got my first beginner FPV kit, the TinyHawk 3 Freestyle. I can confirm that the included ELRS remote does work with DRL Simulator, you just need it to be fully powered on while plugged in. Some older videos describe how to set it up in the device manager. But mine was detected without doing anything. Do a full calibration, and define the halfway point of the left stick or you won't have proper throttle control.
It was an amazing learning experience. But after one month the throttle gimbal started to fail and give awful jitters. I should have landed but I kept flying on it. I made it about 15 minutes, crashed into wet bushes and fried the AIO FC, possibly more. Emax has zero replacement electronics on their website specific to this drone. So I'm at a crossroads of going down a rabbit hole fixing it. Or just take the wonderful experience gain and move on.
@@brandon9689 Oof I can certainly understand that. I did my first FPV flight yesterday and have done about 8 packs since. I can't believe how well the Liftoff sim prepared me for this. I have been practicing on a micro in the sim and my Draknight drone flies very similar. It's a 2S battery 2inch drone but man this thing moves. It's like 120 bucks I posted my first ever flight under my RUclips nothing special but pretty psyched lol
Hi You are right, this is a though hobby. I recently returned to FPV after 2 years. My Nazgul5 I went to fly on a rush, And Forgot to Raise my VTX, On my First Flip, I lost Image and lost control, Broke the Frame and VTX. Bought a Crux35 HD DJI On the second flight, Got a DeSync, and Fall out of the sky and Broke a Frame. I was gutless but Kept Going bought another frame a different one as I could not get a Crux35. Small Distraction with huge cost, My Tinyhawk Connected the radio on the incorrect model, Flew to the moon broke the bottom plate I can't find this frame anywhere and EMAX fits on emax stuff mainly. MY Whoop is the one that keeps me flying when all my quads go down. I now Got my Nazgul Fixed with a TBs Source one and is Flying, my Crux now is a Knight 35 my Tinyhawk Freestyle is now a Race version. This has been though, forgetting things, rushing to fly, not setting your things right is all very easy to happen and very costly. Now Waiting for some dry days to be able to Go all out with my babies...
it is such a tough hobby!! Sorry to hear about all of that bad luck though...it seems like frames are out to get you and always breaking, lol. Also, yeah it is really terrible when you break something EMAX and can't get their replacement parts :( nothing you can really do with those motors or board from the TH since the mounting is so specific. Hopefully now that you have some things that are air worthy again, you can get decent enough weather to get out and send them! It is a constant struggle, but in the end it is totally worth it. It is all of the trials that make the payoff so exciting, even though the trials feel really terrible in the moment, lol.
Liftoff is definitely good. It helped me understand what i got myself into. My first goal was learning what the sticks do. I definitely ended up upside down the whole time. Second goal was not crashing for 15minutes. Now i have to try race gates.
lucky man....I started back in the day we had to individually put this "connector" on the chips of our escs to flash it....and board cameras omg....there was a time everyone was debating between cmos and ccd
well congrats on your first year my friend!! I started out on analog, but I dont regret that for my flight style, lol. You got a nice little fleet there going with some really solid choices!!
I got in on the tail end of the CMOS and CCD debate, lol. Never had to do the individual FTDI flash though....well at least not for drones. Done a ton of those for other nerdy things, but well before I even knew a drone could need it!
the struggle is absolutely real!!! I think deep down all of us FPV pilots really like that struggle though, lol. We all wanna torture ourselves a little bit :p
Within the first minute I’m thinking, “I can’t get my drone flying again without twitching and I don’t know why. Time to start all over again if another motor swap doesn’t fix it…” “Don’t be discouraged…”, I was just talking about this. I had one motor burn and then the next week one literally flew off the quad. Since then I swapped motors and now it twitches. The hardest part of the hobby I’ve found difficult to accept is, things happen for no reason. I watch your videos and some other pilots and we rarely see the troubleshooting. The hours of trying to figure out why this happened. It’s also hard to not compare my simple crash to Phantom’s huge wreck where he just flips over and flies away. Meanwhile, mine just fell out of the sky and is essentially inoperable now. You have to learn to enjoy soldering, have parts and tools on hand, and follow a method for troubleshooting. I’ve learned just enough so far to cost me more money. lol My problems are sometimes hard to explain and even harder to find a “perfect video” to fix… so learn to enjoy the journey. It is satisfying though when the one piece you repaired or replaced fixes all problems (until the next).
The ol' twitch after a necessary motor swap...always a hard one my friend! That kind of stuff is absolutely the hard part of this stuff. It never seems to be super clear at first what the reason for a problem could be and feels totally random! It is also always super hard to find someone who had the exact same thing and can just tell you exactly what to do to fix it....that almost neeeever happens, lol. I rarely have really large issues with my gear anymore, but I have been building robots and doing this kind of stuff since I was a kid so for me its less about poking around to find the problem and more knowing immediately it could be one of a small group of things. I know that isn't everyone's experience with this stuff, and that makes it even harder! For that issue BTW, I woud be looking at the ESC. Chances are if you burned up a motor before the original swap, you damaged a FET and now it isn't working quite right which would cause your twitch. Sometimes a twitch turns into a desync mid air and that comes across as a random falling out of the sky. I would take the motor you replaced, put it on a different arm, and put that arms motor back in its spot. If it still does the same thing and rolls the same way when it drops out of the sky, you got yourself a bad ESC. At the end of the day, all of this hard stuff makes it that much more satisfying when everything goes right! If this hobby wasn't so difficult, I probably wouldn't be anywhere near as interested in it as I am, lol.
I will look into and at the ESC in great depth. I haven’t done that yet. It’s only fallen out of the sky once which was weird because there was no sound from the beeper afterwards and the battery was still attached to the drone but disconnected. So that was random and luckily it happened in the front yard. I happened to have my brand new go pro on it so I caught it on video. The twitches had been present since the motor swap. I decided I wanted to try different motors since I had them for another build and so I went from Xing 2 2207 1855kv to Axis AE2306.5 1960kv. I just bought another Xing to replace the motors back to how the build was originally to see if that solves it. I’m not confident that’s going to solve it. One day I had flown and told my wife the twitches were pretty minimal and I had a solid day of flying so I wasn’t going to touch ANYTHING. Since that day, it twitches like crazy just hovering. I have everything for another build for the Walksnail setup I pre-ordered so if I can’t figure it out beforehand, it’ll just be tinywhoop, cinewhoop, or baby ape flying until Christmas. Luckily I have others but if I didn’t, I would be hard pressed to continue. However, when I look at the other drones… the only one stock is the Protek and I haven’t flown it too much yet. Everything else has upgrades, new parts, etc. so why would the 5” build be any different. It’s all about figuring out what I like and sticking to it. Unlike the military where “if it ain’t broke, break it” lol I feel like fpv is more like “if it ain’t broke, just wait…” lol
to a frame designer...crashing might actually be one of the more fun parts when you know you have a good design...I've had one design where I was already purposefully doing harder and harder tricks in hopes to either find resonance or to crash hard
I find myself doing this too even though I didn't design them. If a company sends me a frame, im gonna do my best to destroy it! lol. When I was a kid I remember putting my own lego cars and buildings together and crashing them endlessly so that I could figure out how they broke and build the next one even better. This stuff gives me those same vibes. Destruction equals progress!!!! lol
@@BaconNinjaFPV exactly right!! somehow crashing is still part of the fun and it's part of the experience. Just as you mentioned, just like in frame designs, you just gotta push it hard and see where it breaks and improve on that.
Your recomendation about not flashing the latest firmware deserves top votes. I made that mistake with my first drone. I guess I learned afterwards having to flash back to an older release and find the original diff. I have the compulsion to flash any new drone I get but I resist the temptation until I have put a bunch of packs on it. Even then I think hard about it before making that change. I tell new people into the hobby that they shouldn't flash a drone to a new release unless there is a specific need to fix a known problem, or if they want a specific feature.
I see so many people run into this same thing in the beginner groups. It seems like the right thing to do since we update lots of other electronics we get as soon as we get them out of the box...this just isn't one of those, lol. I am right there with you on not jumping to flashing right away even now. I am moving to BF 4.4 just because I want the ELRS 3.X compatibility for my SPI based quads and the MSP VTX control for my bigger ones. If it wasn't for those features I would probably be putting that upgrade on the back burner.
lolol. I said that before I looked up and realized that I had been recording for 45mins. It felt short to me at the time! Thank you for stopping by to check it out.
Great video! I can confirm your theory on flying in a self level mode, (Angle mode won't let you flip at all, Horizon mode will let you flip, but still brings it back to level, very awkward). I got into the hobby in my late 30s, only flew Angle mode a day or two, switched to Horizon mode, for about a month, then got injured at the fire dept. and had to take almost a year off. When I got back into flying, I was so happy to just be doing it again, I didn't want to push myself and crash, I just wanted to fly. I ended up being stuck in Horizon mode for another year, kept telling myself, how much better could Acro be, I don't need it. Finally I said F-it, and I literally took any self leveling modes off my 3 drones at the time, so I was forced to fly Acro. I almost quit after the first day and sold everything, but by my 2nd pack on day two, that muscle memory started kicking in, by the end of the day, It literally felt like I just started flying for the first time ever, the difference in control and maneuverability was profoundly better!!! That was 5-6yrs ago, and I still try to fly a pack or two a day. So don't be like me kids...lol. BONUS TIP: In Betaflight Ports tab - Never, Ever I mean E V E R... Tick the MSP button in the first column to "off", it WILL brick you're flight controller, learned that the hard way.
I started about 8 years ago with a micro walkera 3d helicopter I smashed that thing apart and rebuilt it probably 6 times over simulators we're not as easy to interface with then ha now have 2m long range wing and a 12" quad with a kk2 board haha and three 3" quads
yeah I was very surprised at the level of sim end user accessibility when I started out since prior to that my experience with flight sims was flaky ones at best, lol. I have really been wanting a 12", or even 10" for that matter, quad...but I just can't bring myself to buy components at those kinds of costs. Maybe some day I will get over it and let my wallet burn! lol
I am so glad I am trying the simulator first. I would have wrecked my first drone in the first flight. Within an hour I was able to fly around all the gates without crashing. Simulator is a must for a poor boy like me! Practicing while I'm saving up. Going to get a controller first that I can use with the simulator. Then building a cheap drone so I can learn how to fix it after crashing
Everyone starting out in FPV should be required to watch this video. Your points about how muscle memory plays THE role in FPV is something that if you don't get it, it will get you! FPV = Muscle Memory - PERIOD! Great video! Great tips! Great advice! Thanks... but I wish I had seen this video a long time ago!
Thank you!! I have quite a few ideas in my production pipeline around start up stuff, so I am sure you will see it pop up on the channel periodically! Everyone's beginner journey is so different based on their individual preferences, budget, and natural instinct. Still though, there are quite a few things where someone might choose one road or the other, and I will do my best to help them navigate that!
Great video brother. I started with a Mavic mini 2 a couple of years ago and finally stumbled over a few FPV videos and fell in love with the communal aspect. Starting off with the cinematic approach, I’ve been slowly collecting the necessary tools and watching a ton of instructional video have fallen victim to the hype train a little bit so I got stuck with the Avata goggles waiting patiently flying in the sim getting motion sick on the reg now trying to decide what analog goggles I want to try while wrecking my tiny hawk 3 over and over but loving every second thus far! Fantastic info for us n00bs, I will be watching all of your content. Thank you so much🙏
Thank you again!! I have honestly never flown a Mavic, but always thought they would be super useful for commercial work. There is soooooo much to learn on the FPV side of this drone stuff, it can be a real up hill battle. I picked up the Avata/goggles/motion controller setup for my wife and she really loves it! Good news now though, because those goggles can support that new O3 air unit and it looks like a firmware update is coming really soon to support the older gear! Don't watch too far back, because some of that stuff is realllllllly embarrassing, lol.
@@BaconNinjaFPV haha you should see my pathetic flying to this point ! yeah I picked up the Avata not really realizing how new it was only to absolutely love it, then wishing I had done a little more research and gotten something else. So while I’ve been waiting for Dji too unlock the new goggles, I got a Tiny Hawk 3 and have been just practicing. Meanwhile I’ve been loving the Avata for cinematic drone filming, but then limited to only the dang motion controller lol. Still just struggling to get fully immersed into FPV. Of course limited by budget, I’m now carefully planning my first build psyched that the goggles 2 have finally started taking new firmware updates to make them more compatible. Have you been strictly analog before you picked up the Avata? Just curious if you maybe have the fatshark or the goggles V2
I am about to start my journey into this sport.im waiting for for my first tx in mail now its a radiomaster tx 12 i been watching u n Joshua none stop last few days i feel like i have a shot at having fun without to much getting to me quitting before i start.
3:25 This definitely applies to any part of the drone, but it shouldn't apply to radio, goggles etc. Crashing an FPV drone is normal, but if someone's frequently breaking goggles, then probably something's quite wrong...
@@BaconNinjaFPV But just the tips of not leaving the goggles in the sun was great. I had forgot that and would probably have made that mistake on my new goggles 2..
gemfan mck V2 and most other gemfans you can tighten them super tight no problerms. Some props it matters if the nuts are too tight and they can break at the center, but not modern gemfans.
I have had HQ and Gemfan both blow up on me lately....but that is probably just how I am flying the things, lol. I do think that when it comes to stiffness and durability, Gemfan is a solid option. I usually go HQ when I want something a little lighter with a little more give.
Absolutely, the 03 system is currently on a hype train...well, sorta, lol. The image quality and ability to use it as a your primary action cam is 95% hype train for sure. I will say though, the range and penetration differences are absolutely real. Now that isn't important to everyone, and idk if it is worth $100 on its own, but it does exist. Im just gonna be over here flying every variant of every system and enjoying them all anyway, lol.
@BaconNinjaFPV I'm just gonna fly vista's. I need more stick time with reliable gear. Vista's work for me. Now I just need to get better at flying and have fun lol
Your multimeter will beep when on the continuity setting until the capacitor is charged so saying that it shouldn’t beep at all is misleading. Your ohm meter uses voltage from the meter battery to sense a potential difference. Once the capacitor is charged there really is not much of a potential difference so it stops beeping. Switch the leads around and it will momentarily beep again. A good meter set on the 200k ohm setting will probably still read some resistance across the XT60, but that’s not an indicator of a dead short. 199,000 Ohms of resistance is not a problem. 2 ohms would be a problem. When your meter is set on the continuity mode (beeper) it’s looking for paths to ground that have very small amounts of resistance like less than 40 ohms for example. There are paths to ground in the electronics when the board is off. We don’t need to go into a deep dive on ohms law and how a meter works but telling people that a beep means they have a dead short to track down is pretty confusing for a new guy. If you get a continuous beep then you might have a problem. If it beeps for a split second then stops it’s more than likely the capacitor charging. Please make a video on how to back out a screw with a helicoil. A helicoil is a threaded insert and it’s not something you would use on a stand-off. It’s something I would use to repair the threads in and engine block, but I wouldn’t use it to extract a screw from a stand-off. I would bet they don’t make a helicoil to repair the threads in a stand off. My guess is you don’t own a helicoil kit and have never repaired the threads in an engine block. 🤓. Most guys would grind the head off the screw and try to turn it out with a pliers or a small vice grip if not just pitch it.
I appreciate your insight! It is true that when the cap is charging it can beep momentarily, however that test is better than just plugging a pack in with no prior test at all if they don't have a smoke stopper. Even smoke stoppers aren't perfect, nothing really is. Always better to be cautious than not with a new build. As for the helicoil, you are again correct that it is an insert. I was referring to a helicoil removal tool for the extraction of a stripped out bolt where the head is still in tact. For that, they do have kits small enough to extract M3 bolts from the head pocket. They actually work pretty well for it! Not so much about repairing the standoff, since really that is just easier to replace and I guess you could run a tap through it if you realllly wanted to work for it, lol. I haven't spent much time doing thread work on engine block, but I did spend quite a few years as a machinist running lots of turret mills and lathes. I really appreciate you stopping by and hope that anyone down in the comments gets some clarity from you additions!
7:00 Sim flying is important, but I disagree with what he said here. I did "flipidy flops" first in free flight and taught myself to control the drone before even looking at the simulated race courses. I think this approach is important because this way I was able to learn the basics of turning and holding altitude - necessary skills for completing a course - without discouraging myself. And no, I didn't "ruin my neural pathways." Not that I'm a neuroscientist, but I don't think that's how the human mind works. To anyone starting on a simulator, my advice is to just log time. Spend as much time as you can with your fingers on the sticks and the drone in the virtual air, and your brain will learn how to control it. Then, once you've built a foundation of muscle memory, set yourself to bigger tasks like completing a course. That's what worked for me personally.
I started out with an old hubsan h501 back in 2017. Now I've got a 7", 10" that i built after killing many other drones in between. Happy Thanksgiving!
Man a 10" would be a ton of fun to fly!!! Maybe some day I will get into that super large class. I really enjoy my 7" and I bet a 10" would be awesome! Happy Thanksgiving to you as well my friend!
An alternate way to learn for those who can afford it, is to start out with a DJI Avata. The Avata in "Manual mode", is basically Acro mode. Definitely recommend going into a SIM as a first step still, and then changing controller rates, as Avata stock rates are horrible. The advantage of the Avata is that if you ever feel out of control in manual mode, you can flick it into normal mode while in the air, and the electronics will "catch" and keep it hovering. Advantage 2, you now have DJI goggles to move onto an advanced drone that has an O3 air unit
I made this flashing my first drone mess up. Can confirm it sucks. I have my stock configuration saved, but on the mamba f722 stack the fc now isn't paired to my esc. So I'm buying a drone to fly while I fix this first build drone
great video man, thanks for posting, if I may ask, what screwdrivers does one need to be on the safe side, I am getting the Geprc cenelog 30. I understand there are some standards, if you or anyone here may point me in the right direction. highly appreciated :)
I’m sitting in the living room watching and my wife says “is that Seth Rogan?” Hahaha. Great video man. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. I learned that the hard way
Thank you! I always love options from TrueRC. Their Singularity omni antennas are great, and the XAir series of patches do a great job as well. As for if you should be running omnis, patches, or a mix...that really depends on what you are doing with the drone. I like an omni and a patch on my Steadyview since I do go out quite a ways in front of me, but also find myself flying behind myself at times. If you are never going very far from yourself or don't have many obstructions, running two omnis is fine. I wouldn't ever run two patches unless you know for sure that you will always be out in front of yourself and plan on going a looooong way.
You are very welcome!!! I have always loved cats since I was a little kid. Their lack of direct expression of emotion really resonates with me, lol. When they show you love, you know they mean it because they don't feel like they have to do it. For some reason it feels like a deeper connection...plus warm fuzzy cuddles are the best.
Pilot distance is important too because if everything goes well you are going to land close to where you are, and maybe the person right next to you is flying far away, and your quad can still mess up a litte his video if you land next to him.
I absolutely agree, and that is a great extra point about it! Along with potentially drowning out your buddies, sometimes the sound of the quad being near them throws them off too. I know that personally I prefer to be able to hear my quad as it helps me keep the throttle under control a little bit better....and hearing another quad land near me or take off near me can really throw that off, lol.
@@BaconNinjaFPV absolutely, I like to call out when I'm going to plug in the battery, when I'm going to take off and when I'm going to land, so people next to me is aware.
lol, I am guessing you had a fun experience with it!! I mean, if you want to set the motor direction from BF then yeah you have to have flashed up to at least 4.3.0, but on a BNF that comes pre-set up that image will be representative of however they configured it from the factory without any kind of flash. I guess there is always the one off case where they don't do it right and then you would have to spin the motors in BF to test it, but you could just do that with the sliders one at a time without having to flash it too. What was your experience with it?
@@BaconNinjaFPV It was a new build. I did the moongoat build and the Cricket FC needed a FW update / Flash before I could use the motors tab to test motor rotation. It was my third build and my 1st year into FPV. Started with DJI fpv, but not my cup of tea. More a diy type.
@@blizsgarage8487 Honestly, and I know its bad, I have always wanted to give the DJI FPV a shot just for giggles. I know I am not supposed to....but still, lol. Yeah on a new build if you want that motor rotation wizard you for sure have to have 4.3! Back before that, it wasn't too much harder really though. You just had to go to use the sliders to see which way they were going in the motors tab, then go into BLHeli configurator and reverse the ones that were wrong. That wizard makes it suuuuper simple though, and I don't miss the old way at all, lol. BTW, mooooongoat! I have always wanted to build one of those too. Cricket is da bomb!
So, update Betaflight or downgrade the TX module when they have different ELRS versions? My Mobula7 has ELRS 2.x while my Radiomaster module has 3.x. You have absolutely right in the learning curve part. 😄
for that particular instance, upgrade to BF 4.4 :) I would have put it the other way around, but since they just released 4.4 it is ok to do now. Just be careful with the ports tab since it doesn't come over correctly from 4.3 or lower. The learning curve is non stop, lol.
@@BaconNinjaFPV I noticed some OSD errors when loading the backup but atleast I got it to bind and fly at a basic level now. 🙂 Won't be able to fly it for real until Mars/April when the goggles arrive anyway so I have time to figure out the rest. Thank you for the awesome videos! Learning alot from them.
Good video, would be great if i saw it when started. for ones want tune and learn, its good to watch chris rosser videos about filter and pid, and one advice for new pilots its, dont use dji radio with o3 air unit drones, its good only for dji drones, soon or later you can lose conection and something really bad can happen, i learned it in the bad way. And the gimbals dont give good control as others good radios with fullsize gimballs. The sim is the best tip to learn, i will also say its good to use the liftoff and the liftoff micro drones. Flying good on both make u completelly ready to fly in real world.
Good day sir. I followed your tutorial on how to flash ESC and it was successful but later it suddenly not functioning appearing on the speedybee app was ESC/Motor Protocol not configured, then I try to flash it again on ESC configurator but my esc cannot configure when i hit readsettings its hanging? I used Speedybee BLS 50A 4-in-1 ESC Hope you can help me, thank you in advance.
My dad's a flying instructor so i pretty much grew up flying and playing msflight since 98'. I'm pretty good with a fixed wing, it feels very natural. But drones and helicopters feel so weird I just can't get over it. Any pointers for the conversion?
The goggle burn in thing is definitely something i wouldn't have thought of. thankyou for potentially saving me from ruining my goggles when i eventually get a pair.
Been watching lots of fpv vids lately. My understanding is each sim has pros and cons but DRL is one of the best. I think the most important part is finding a sim you can use the radio you will be using with your quad.
I totally agree with Blair! Yes there are more realistic sims, and on the other end of that there are more graphically impressive sims. At the end of the day though, what is important is you have one that works with your gear and you spend time in it. Having said that, Velocidrone is my go to for realistic feel, and TRYP is my recommendation for the best blend of graphics and decent physics.
@@brandam4179 DRL isn't bad by any means. Personally it feels pretty floaty for me and is really geared for that long form racing. Velocidrone is for sure better at the physics, and that is partly because it lets you control the options a little bit more. I actually did a video a while back about how to make VDrone feel as real as it can if you wanted to check that one out and see if it is for you. On the up side, it is never a bad idea to have Vdrone in your library since it is a major hub for the racing scene and there are even live competitions run on that platform.
What’s up bro, The things you should do, many things I did in the beginning because I didn’t have any one to get help from until I found RUclips 🤣 but I started with Velocidrone and just started flying in acro, it sucked big time for days, until it clicked. Testing with the multimeter with a capacitor, it can beeb shortly Great video as always 👍🏻👍🏻 stay safe
Thank goodness for RUclips! lol. I didn't really have anyone through my journey either, and I spent soooo many hundreds of hours listening to RUclips vids to gather the knowledge I needed for making it through that. Look at us now!! lol. Acro does suck at first, but tooootaly worth it and the best part is all of the crashing is free when you do it in the sim. I don't know how much it would have cost me if I had to just go out to the field and crash a drone that many times...I would probably be living in a box at this point. Also, good point on the multimeter. If there is any voltage differential in the cap it can fake the meter in to a false short! Always a pleasure to see you in the comments my friend, and I'd say that even though we are too far apart to ever get to fly together, you sir are one of my FPV buddies!
I’ve been mostly Helicopters then planes along with a few boats so it’s been so-called fast dones until recently that I’ve stepped up to a real quad and it’s really taking some effort learning all this Beta flight , flash and going to my laptop and all the firmware, protocol and all the rest of this and just seems to be so confusing so far maybe it’s that I need to slow down i’am 65 ain’t got a lot of time ok, thanks!
Taking some slow steps at first is for sure a good way to approach it. There are just sooooo many things you have to learn, from either others or just outright failing until it makes sense, and it can get really frustrating at times. Heli's have all the complicated linkage, but FPV quads have all the complicated robot things, lol. As long as you don't get too frustrated and you are willing to fail at it a whole bunch of times, things will start to click and all those FPV skills will get acquired. The important part is enjoying the ride!
Wow! Learning to racing first is so frustrating! Because the gates are very close to the ground so I spend all time crashing against it. Isn't it better to do kind of freestyle as "explorer" first? At least that way you are able to know the general basics of controlling a drone and discover a way to very smoothly fly fpv
@allaboutbikesRealmHopper hi there, thank you for your reply. My comment was a month ago and I don't remember exactly if this video promotes to learn racing first. But I do remember that I took some practice level in FPV.Skydive and it started with racing with gates very close to the ground. Very frustrating. I learnt freestyle (discovery) flying in the same SIM and it gave me more flying basics in a better way. Now I'm practicing in DRL, highly recommended; Not racing at first at all.
It's not just muscle memory. Of course, it is very important, but after 5000 hours in simulators, I can now fly with one hand, using a Steam controller (gyroscope), or a simple gamepad. In my opinion, the skill is not in the fingers, but in the head.
Angle and horizon both work using your accelerometer rather than the gyro to control rotation speeds, so they do share quite a bit of the same flight feel and control mechanics. Gotta love horizon for letting you go all the way over though!
@@BaconNinjaFPV oh now I see, then you have introduced a new concept I was completely unaware of. I heard of "gyro" and "accelerometer" recently and had no idea what they were. I will do some research on it. Thanks a lot. I am very new to this, i picked it up just two weeks ago so I am studying as much as I can. It is fascinating! There is a lot to learn, but that for me, it is what makes it soo attractive,. I am just doing a simulator for the moment, about 30hrs in, starting to get the hang of it. Getting a mobula 8 next week, yet i don't feel ready yet, but I got it for fear of them running out of stock here in the EU. Loving your channel and seeing the evolution, and thanks for the support without being a snobby about it! Looking forward to some more videos! Cheers!
Thanks for the tips from somebody who is working on hour 25 in liftoff and has ordered his first drone. But to be honest "there are no apple products in my home" is what got you the sub 😂
When I started I was so stupid, when I heard do not put your goggles in the sun...I would never face the sun when I flew....my buddy said no sun where the lenses are dumb arse hahahah 😅😂😊
hey, I dont think that is dumb, you were just taking the advice as literal and thats not a bad way to interpret it! At least you knew the advice existed!!
@Bacon Ninja FPV hahaha I treated my quads and gear so carefully 😆....I'd break a prop and freak out....it got to a point that I wasn't taking any chances..bbhahahaha I really like watching you...your to the point and not a dik about it....when your starting out it feels like your a baby dear in the woods....hahaha peace man happy easter
Great vid! In following them as I try and make my first drone (with speedy bee) I’ve tried everything to discover a short but can’t find it 😭 and just want to get airborn, there is a vote from me to do a “how to find a short video!” Thanks, Sam
It is on my list for sure! Congrats on diving into your first build though, even if you are having to chase down a short :( I find that usually it is something touching between two pads or a solder ball that snuck its way into a place it should't be. The short (pun intended) version is, take your multimeter in continuity mode and check every pad close to any place you soldered a positive wire to. Start with the main leads, then work your way across the board to your power wires for he receiver and camera. Hopefully some of them don't beep, but if you find one that stands out there is a good chance it is that one.
@@BaconNinjaFPV hi dude thanks for the detailed help, I managed to identify the soldering on the red XT60 cable connection to the ESC was very dodgy, atrocious soldering and was partially disconnecting, restored that and I’m now back in the game. Now I need to figure out how to solder the ELRS Lite to the board and then connect the RC controller 😬 I’ll take a good look through your vids. Thanks again for your content without people such as your self taking the time to teach others it would inaccessible to many. Thanks from Leeds, UK. 👊
Was a motorcycle instructor for 12 years before MS began scarring my brain. I stressed muscle memory to my students. Operating a motorcycle by muscle memory allows for keeping your attention on what’s happening around you. I have learned lots about the brain since my diagnosis. Your ‘neural pathways’ comments are spot on. And you may find this interesting … Dirtbike riders were usually harder to teach because many had to “unlearn” bad habits. New subscriber! 👍🏼
I have always wanted to learn how to ride a motorcycle! I am sure you know more than most about those neural pathways given what you have gone through, and let me just say that I am very sorry that is something you have been burdened with. The brain/thumb/eyeball links are absolutely critical in this stuff for exactly the reason you said. Being able to offload most of keeping the quad in the air to your muscle memory frees up those dynamic control parts of the brain to do the hard work of making your quad do flippy flops while close to things. I totally believe that someone who rode a different kind of bike had plenty of un-learning to do before they could get proficient at street bikes! I don't think we give enough credit to our brains for all of the things they learn to do without us having to think about them!
Spot on comment again! Yes, the human brain is an incredible thing. Looking forward to purchasing first drone, a cinewhoop with prop guards, soon and get started on some neural pathways that aren’t grown by flying the DJI MIni2. 😁👍🏼
@@FilosophicalPharmer well congrats on those first steps toward starting your FPV journey!!! I can't wait to hear how it goes for you!
Talking about bad dirt bike habits, I got my road bike licence at age 32, I was riding an old 1993 Yamaha virago xv535 and a tow truck took off from a stop sign right in front of me, their was a car coming towards me in the other lane and the truck was coming right across my lane literally 2 car lengths in front of me to enter the opposite lane right behind the car, I was doing about 60-70kph, and in a panic I hit the brakes real hard and at the same time I smashed the bike down a gear with no clutch, obviously it locked up straight away, started to slide sideways, I got off the rear brake for a half a second to try to stop the lockup and it high sided me straight into the truck, I hit the truck upside down back first at 60kph. Smashed my shoulder and broke my back, it's fair to say I have been put off riding road bikes now as in just 2 months not only did that happen but basically every single ride multiple people cut me off, tail gate right on your back, (as a learner in Australia your not allowed to lane filter) and people expect you to filter because your on a bike and they try to get up beside you or almost hit you at traffic lights because they are expecting you to filter to the front but instead I have to stop at the back of the line and people just constantly almost killing you, it didn't bother me as bad until I hady accident now I'm not keen on getting back on a bike
@@christhorney How’re you doing today? You reminded me of lost friends.
It's crazy how much learning how to crash properly changes the game for your skill improvement. When you've mastered crashing you feel a lot more confident sending it.
agreed ,crashing is the best teacher for our muscle memory & refleks🥰
It is also crazy how once you learn to do it, you find yourself automatically bailing in the most graceful way or just belly flopping things instead of wiping out without even thinking about it. I remember allllll of those times when it felt like I was just snatched out of the air during my first few months, and now I know it was just me being a newb, lol.
@@BaconNinjaFPV yes indeed,,,in this hobby must never surender to evaluate our flying footage to improve our memory and motivated ourself in daily flying..and never underestimate the preflight checking
My buddies know me as the guy who never breaks anything, and I always say it's because I'm very good at crashing.
@@WKfpv it is a very important acquired skill for sure! lol
Been flying since 2016, this just popped up and figured I'd watch. Its really well done and I agree on all points. There's so much more useful information out there nowadays for people to get into the hobby and succeed at it faster than back then and its thanks to videos like this and people like you passing it on. Well done.
It’s plain and simple, It’s gonna sound childish but I always wanted to fly and fpv drones feels like the closest thing 😂
Might add one thing about first time flying with a group of people. Put your quad on 25mw. Don't blast everyone with 1watt of power. Even if your on another channel, your 1w is going to kill the signal because everyone else is using 25mw. Better yet configure and use pit mode.
Yeah you never want to be the person that does this, especially if you are new to the group. People don't look kindly on you for causing their crash, lol.
If you’re a noob listen to this guy and save funds and grief. Sage advice every word.
Thank you :) I really do hope it helps some people out in the long run!
Thanks mate, loving the content. I'm years into the hobby but still learning basics as I'm not from a technical background at all. Huge thanks to everyone who helps out those of us that struggle with stuff that is very alien to us.
Cheers
You are very welcome!! It is all about the context of each persons experience, and like you said some people will be fairly comfortable with the concepts while for others it will feel completely foreign. I think sometimes it is hard to step back and remember that not everyone knows the same things as you, and keeping that in mind will for sure help set the right tone for getting someone the help they are asking for :)
%100 agree with learning acro right away. I started on angle mode when I got into the hobby and essentially had to relearn flying once I switched to acro
14:43 Impulse rc driver fixer should come in handy..! For anybody who has a bricked board!
Absolutely! It has saved many a "my FC doesn't show up" scenario.
I completely agree with the title of this video! I started flying FPV drones just three months ago and it can be really discouraging when things go wrong. I actually ended up breaking my drone when I accidentally plugged it in with reverse power and burned out the FC. But I'm determined to keep learning and get back in the air soon! Thanks for the helpful tips in this video.
It sure can get discouraging sometimes. It sounds like you didn't let it get you down though!!! At least you will get to look back on that one at some point down the road and chuckle to yourself about it :) Thank you so much for watching!
My fascination with flight has always been strong and my dad was a bush pilot that always wanted to fly drones. I have basic experience with camera drones and have spent the last 2 months researching and learning freestyle fpv and how to build. I have all the parts to my first build that I will be putting together soon. Meanwhile I've been clocking hours on liftoff and it has helped train my brain a little bit. I hope to be posting a maiden flight in the next month or so. Thanks for all the valuable information and great video.
Man I have always wanted to ride in a bush flight!! The idea of that kind of take off and landing over beautiful scenery in a small aircraft just sounds like an awesome experience. I started when I was young with little foamies that they used to sell in toy sections at stores, but never got much beyond that because I always kept crashing them with no money to fix them up. It took so many years to come back full circle and start flying again, lol. I wish you luck on your journey, and I hope something in here saves you a little headache!
GUILTY! I bought the nazgul5 v2 because it flew so well out of the box, so I flashed betaflight before my maiden and never got to experience that goodness. She's back to stock now. Awesome vid!
oooooof, I hate that you had to learn that one the hard way buddy. All part of the experience I guess, lol. I appreciate you stopping by my friend!!
About checking for shorts with multi-meter (checking for continuity):
You WILL hear a beep when testing a fully functional drone on it's battery terminals, but just a short one and then silence. It's because of a capacitor you should have connected to the terminals.
Im already flying fpv for a few years but still enjoy these videos
i really appreciate you watching! :)
For people who are just starting with a small budget, DOUBLE CHECK EVERYTHING! Especially protocols and video transmission. Make sure everything matches with everything else. Just started and accidentally bought a cheap drone, bought a new controller before finding out it was the wrong type. Now I’ve had to buy a new drone to match the remote, almost tripling the amount I spent.
I've been flying for 2 years. I have been in the hobby for 4 years. Sounds weird but I didn't have the money for the first two years but I consumed content as if I was in the hobby. First drone was a Tiny Hawk Free Style II. Now I have a fleet from whoops to 9inch. (this is me qualifying my next statement).
This is the best "overview" advice I've ever seen. You managed to boil down all the nitty gritty details until you were left with Nuggets of wisdom. I particularly like the "if you can't afford two of something, you can't afford one" that particular truth has applied to basically every quad I've had from the first (THFS2) to my current build (a custom pushing the limits 9 inch long range). Your hole video is packed with things that a new pilot should take at face value until much later they understand the truth of it. Well done sir, well done. AND thank you!
The cost of this stuff is a real barrier some times, that is no lie! Btw, I still love my TH2F and I believe it was the first micro quad I owned. Still has a special place in my heart and on my wall o' drones, lol. I think the whole if you can't afford 2 thing is one piece of advice that I would absolutely share with any new pilot. It is never fun to break something you only have one of and can't afford to repair :( Being grounded once you have fallen in love with the experience of FPV feels like some kind of punishment, lol. You are very welcome, making these videos is my pleasure!! I appreciate you very much for stopping by to check it out and leaving me a lovely comment!
I'm not even knew to fpv, but I didn't want to cry, so I watch this, and everything is true!
lol, nobody wants to cry at the flight field with their FPV buddies!
It's all the struggle and learning curve I love with the hobby, so rewarding in so many fields. 👀
I totally agree with you! If this hobby wasn't such an uphill battle, I wouldn't love it anywhere near as much as I do. I like to do the hard things and overcome them. Plenty of that for the taking in this hobby! lol.
A crash can be very discouraging itll make you question if youre good enough you just gotta shake those thought away and do what you gotta do to get back in the air weather thats repairs a new drone or more time in the sim its all worth it in the end its the best feeling in the world when you rip a full pack and crash or land successfully
I have had many, many....many of those crashes, lol. Just have to remember that you are flying something that is super difficult to keep in the air in the first place and shake off the thought that you aren't in control of that. I remember a few sessions where it felt like all I could do was crash, but sometimes we just have bad days and those connections between our eyes and fingers aren't as good as they usually are. Never let it beat you and you will always overcome it!
thanks you exsplained alot thank you you are a great teacher stay safe and stay around im with you thanks
7:00 Nah... I flew my real drone long before I could put the sim drone through a full race course. Didn't crash the drone until I was quite a few flights in. Maybe that was in part to my using ArduPilot instead of Betaflight, which means I had the option to switch immediately to GPS position hold if anything went badly (which I mostly just used for takeoffs and landings).
One of the wonderful things about FPV is how different everyone's journeys can be :) It is so unique to each person, and what works for one might not work exactly right for others. Makes the whole thing so much more interesting! Generally sim first is better, but for some people just getting out there is the way to go.
@@BaconNinjaFPV Yeah - I do love the open-source, DIY nature of FPV. It's really one of the main reasons I enjoy it.
I did do a fair bit of sim flying first - I could at least fly it about in an open area reasonably well, I just couldn't turn sharply or get it through things as small as gates are. I thought flying the real one would be way harder, then somehow when I finally tried on my real quad, it felt pretty much the same and I didn't have much trouble with it.
Thanks for the great advice in the video.
One correction/FYI: a helicoil is not a device for removing broken screws (you’re thinking of an EZ out). A helicoil is a threaded insert that is used to repair or reinforce damaged threads 😅
Thanks!
Thank you!!!
I started researching on fpv drones long time ago around 2016 and back then we didn't have Sims or guide videos. I remember the first drone I had was a brushed LOS drone that I made. Considering the size of that thing, I should have practiced soldering.
Soldering is not too hard to do with the right equipment (so don't go cheap on that) but being a noob in soldering and starting my fpv life with a brushed tiny drone, alot of things was bound to go wrong.
and it did. 4 brushed flight controllers broken within a month. The store owner even took pity on me and gave the fifth for free. Everything was so discouraging especially as a kid that used my saved money.
eventually I did get things to work but I didn't have any luck until 2 years later when we had better parts and cheaper goggles and....tiny whoops (which honestly sparked alot of micro development). Great first quad that I got was the ladrc tiny 6s.
few years later, I've flown several micro drones, have built most of them except my tinyhawk freestyle. I've also got myself a 3d printer and a cnc to design my own frames and the last 5 drones I've owned were all using frames I designed.
Dont get discouraged guys....it may take time but it is a Hella fun hobby. The feeling of flight and the first dive you take just feels so refreshing. like letting off steam which is why I actually fly.
I really appreciate you sharing all of that with us! I have often thought about diving into designing my own frames...but haven't quite gotten to bite the bullet on a CNC mill, lol. I own some really large format CO2 lasers, tons of 3D printers, and spent quite a bit of time as a traditional machinist, so that kind of stuff is right up my alley. Some day it may just happen, but who knows. It must be a great feeling getting your own design up in the air and seeing it fly like you designed it to!
@@BaconNinjaFPV I'm not gonna lie when I say that my cnc is actually my 2nd machine (2nd to my 1 3d printer) and if I can use a janky cheap cnc to make frames I'm sure someone like you who has more experience could. That said, sourcing good carbon fiber sheets have been a pain in my ass lately.
Thanks for the advice . All good information that I will take on board. Love your tutorials. New subscriber !
7 Months in currently. I bought a Beta85 back in April and it took until May to work out how to get the Jumper T-Pro and Beta85 to work together (ELRS fun and games). I then managed to fly it in Angle mode in my house (barely). So my first mistake was probably buying a 2S quad. The second was thinking I had any chance of flying it outside, even in angle mode. Thankfully I did put in about 2 hours in Freerider, so i wasn't a complete noob. My first flight outside included me learning about wind, about how scary it is when you suddenly go from the ground to about 50m in the air while wearing goggles but can't tilt forward to come back down, while also worrying about people around me (no one cared enough to come over). So I dropped the throttle, did a long turn and fell out of the sky slowly, applied throttle and landed pretty well in front of myself with about 30 secs of flight and called it a day. No crash, but needed some clean underwear.
I'm now 7 months later, fly acro on some level in Liftoff Micro and Freerider and am struggling to repair the 2 prebuilt drones i bought (Beta85 and Cine8) and solder the Meteor75 I am building as a winter/indoor flyer. I'll get there eventually. Joining a community for FPV pilots was a very smart idea and I've had lots of help from the members there (IntoFPV).
Thank you for sharing your journey my friend! Yeah you gotta love when the angle limits are stock and you get too high up, lol...it is always one of those spiral in place situations until you can get back to seeing the ground. Also, 2S will sure make a house feel small wont it? I do lots of indoor flying with a 75mm 2S, but it sure wasn't something I did without a whooooooole lot of crashing for a while, lol. When it comes to repairs, that is one of the steepest learning curves by far. Lots of people think the pilot side is hard, but they hit a whole other wall when it comes to maintaining the hardware. You will absolutely get there, and on the other side of it you will be even more proud of those quads than you already are! That Meteor75 is gonna be a ton of winter fun for sure.
thanks bacon ninja, that was great. my first 65mm bnf arrives tomorrow after weeks of sim practice. cant wait!
Stay concise? 36min of concise I know cuz I listened,
What I love about Bacon is he gets straight to the point no matter how long it takes.
Fly true Brother Bacon Thanks for the Advice Aloha
Good tips I’ve been flying about 7 months. Started with dji fpv. Did cinematic stuff learned acro, broke it. Moved on to 5” and cinewhoops and never been happier!
Oh man, that DJI FPV quad loooooves to break when it crashes, lol. I bet you have a whole lot less problems with that on normal cinewhoops and 5" quads!
@@BaconNinjaFPV yeah I knew it was pretty fragile getting into it and I realized I shouldn’t try any tricks I might not be able to land. But I had some very insignificant tree branch touches that caused the props to break like glass. Finally I barely touched a palo verde tree in Arizona and the whole thing just went down and broke the camera and fc in half. It’s a trade off cuz the AI safety features did save my butt a couple of times flying around cities. But my nazgul is a lot more resilient and I can still do cinematic stuff if I want.
This Video really applied to me personally, i made mistakes but thanks God have not lost Any Drones yet except for one when i tried to fly it and i had no idea how to.
Thanks for the video. My first FPV Drone (2 inch toothpick Draknight ) arrives tomorrow. Been practicing on the sim with my radio for a while now and looking forward to trashing it lol!
Option 3, I always love a refresher course on the do's and don'ts its easy to develop bad building habits due to constraints of builds.
That is absolutely the truth! Sometimes I find myself thinking "man it would be easier if I would just not care about how this would hold up"...and right about that time I break something, lol.
Happy Thanksgiving love the video
Thank you, and happy Thanksgiving to you as well!
Some great info here, much appreciated! I think most newbs flash as part of initial setup is because there are tons of setup videos out there that tell you to do this.
just built my first 5in FPV quad following your videos now have to put in some hours on the sim, tried to fly the drone and have to replace the props already lol
Definitely get a bunch of spare props, even with more skill you'll be happy you have them.
Have fun with your sim time, if you're just forcing yourself to do drill after drill it can get boring, but if you're having fun with it doing the type of flying you plan on doing every so often it's definitely easier to learn.
@@Afro__Joe yea I went ahead and ordered a 10 pack. Already killed one motor and my ESC from crashing Im guessing. Great learning exp. I will be replacing the whole stack to do a few upgrades I didnt know about before.
what SIM do you use?
I’m really loving your videos mate. So engaging and very educational. JB 2.0 👏👏👏👏👏
Thank you so much :) I have more hair, that part is for sure, lol.
I am building my first drone at the moment. I am almost done and have all the parts staged and ready to go. Got a rm pocket and the drone is 5 inch with the speedy bee stack.
Awesome video. I'm fairly new to the hobby but I'm trying to learn everything I can.
Six to seven years ago I bought FPV drone kit+box googles and flew the drone few times full speed to ground or tree and stopped, since the drone was broken. I was confident that my "console era thumbs" would easily handle and understand how to control the drone...no...The transmitter just didn't "fit" on my hands at all. Now I think I'll invest in the better transmitter first and practise in a sim, since I've owned the liftoff as long as I can remember.
24:00 Umm, no. Props *do* need to be "grip death tight". I put mine on as tight as I can get them, and then I try to push it a bit tighter. If I don't, I can easily get a prop coming loose in flight (which has happened to me more than once). Never had a problem from putting props on really tightly.
So usually if you are over tightening your props, you won't have an issue until you suddenly do, lol. Most of the time it is fine and nothing happens, other times you crack a hub during a crash and explode the prop. They should never be loose, and tight is right, but there is a limit for sure given they are made of polycarb and stress fractures do happen when the nuts are cranked down.
@@BaconNinjaFPV I'm just saying, I've had *so many* props come loose on takeoff or in-flight despite how tight I crank them down... Maybe I'm just somehow not managing to get them as tight as you can...
I got my first beginner FPV kit, the TinyHawk 3 Freestyle. I can confirm that the included ELRS remote does work with DRL Simulator, you just need it to be fully powered on while plugged in.
Some older videos describe how to set it up in the device manager. But mine was detected without doing anything. Do a full calibration, and define the halfway point of the left stick or you won't have proper throttle control.
How do you like it? It was a 50/50 decision between that one and the one I ended up ordering a 2 inch toothpick called the Draknight .
It was an amazing learning experience. But after one month the throttle gimbal started to fail and give awful jitters.
I should have landed but I kept flying on it. I made it about 15 minutes, crashed into wet bushes and fried the AIO FC, possibly more.
Emax has zero replacement electronics on their website specific to this drone. So I'm at a crossroads of going down a rabbit hole fixing it. Or just take the wonderful experience gain and move on.
@@brandon9689 Oof I can certainly understand that. I did my first FPV flight yesterday and have done about 8 packs since. I can't believe how well the Liftoff sim prepared me for this. I have been practicing on a micro in the sim and my Draknight drone flies very similar. It's a 2S battery 2inch drone but man this thing moves. It's like 120 bucks I posted my first ever flight under my RUclips nothing special but pretty psyched lol
Hi You are right, this is a though hobby. I recently returned to FPV after 2 years. My Nazgul5 I went to fly on a rush, And Forgot to Raise my VTX, On my First Flip, I lost Image and lost control, Broke the Frame and VTX. Bought a Crux35 HD DJI On the second flight, Got a DeSync, and Fall out of the sky and Broke a Frame. I was gutless but Kept Going bought another frame a different one as I could not get a Crux35. Small Distraction with huge cost, My Tinyhawk Connected the radio on the incorrect model, Flew to the moon broke the bottom plate I can't find this frame anywhere and EMAX fits on emax stuff mainly. MY Whoop is the one that keeps me flying when all my quads go down. I now Got my Nazgul Fixed with a TBs Source one and is Flying, my Crux now is a Knight 35 my Tinyhawk Freestyle is now a Race version. This has been though, forgetting things, rushing to fly, not setting your things right is all very easy to happen and very costly. Now Waiting for some dry days to be able to Go all out with my babies...
it is such a tough hobby!! Sorry to hear about all of that bad luck though...it seems like frames are out to get you and always breaking, lol. Also, yeah it is really terrible when you break something EMAX and can't get their replacement parts :( nothing you can really do with those motors or board from the TH since the mounting is so specific. Hopefully now that you have some things that are air worthy again, you can get decent enough weather to get out and send them! It is a constant struggle, but in the end it is totally worth it. It is all of the trials that make the payoff so exciting, even though the trials feel really terrible in the moment, lol.
Awesome video brother nice presentation and good points. I always say if it ain't broke don't fix it! 🤟😎👍🔥🔥🔥
Thank you sir!!! If it ain't broke, dont fix it, send it, break it....then fix it, lol.
Liftoff is definitely good. It helped me understand what i got myself into. My first goal was learning what the sticks do. I definitely ended up upside down the whole time. Second goal was not crashing for 15minutes. Now i have to try race gates.
I'm a Year in fpv I started out with the Dji system digital. Only way to go
I own 3 iflights & 1 mark 5
lucky man....I started back in the day we had to individually put this "connector" on the chips of our escs to flash it....and board cameras omg....there was a time everyone was debating between cmos and ccd
well congrats on your first year my friend!! I started out on analog, but I dont regret that for my flight style, lol. You got a nice little fleet there going with some really solid choices!!
I got in on the tail end of the CMOS and CCD debate, lol. Never had to do the individual FTDI flash though....well at least not for drones. Done a ton of those for other nerdy things, but well before I even knew a drone could need it!
Only been in fpv for almost a year bought 4 and built 4 the struggle is real with the diy stuff
the struggle is absolutely real!!! I think deep down all of us FPV pilots really like that struggle though, lol. We all wanna torture ourselves a little bit :p
Within the first minute I’m thinking, “I can’t get my drone flying again without twitching and I don’t know why. Time to start all over again if another motor swap doesn’t fix it…”
“Don’t be discouraged…”, I was just talking about this. I had one motor burn and then the next week one literally flew off the quad. Since then I swapped motors and now it twitches. The hardest part of the hobby I’ve found difficult to accept is, things happen for no reason. I watch your videos and some other pilots and we rarely see the troubleshooting. The hours of trying to figure out why this happened. It’s also hard to not compare my simple crash to Phantom’s huge wreck where he just flips over and flies away. Meanwhile, mine just fell out of the sky and is essentially inoperable now. You have to learn to enjoy soldering, have parts and tools on hand, and follow a method for troubleshooting. I’ve learned just enough so far to cost me more money. lol My problems are sometimes hard to explain and even harder to find a “perfect video” to fix… so learn to enjoy the journey. It is satisfying though when the one piece you repaired or replaced fixes all problems (until the next).
The ol' twitch after a necessary motor swap...always a hard one my friend! That kind of stuff is absolutely the hard part of this stuff. It never seems to be super clear at first what the reason for a problem could be and feels totally random! It is also always super hard to find someone who had the exact same thing and can just tell you exactly what to do to fix it....that almost neeeever happens, lol. I rarely have really large issues with my gear anymore, but I have been building robots and doing this kind of stuff since I was a kid so for me its less about poking around to find the problem and more knowing immediately it could be one of a small group of things. I know that isn't everyone's experience with this stuff, and that makes it even harder! For that issue BTW, I woud be looking at the ESC. Chances are if you burned up a motor before the original swap, you damaged a FET and now it isn't working quite right which would cause your twitch. Sometimes a twitch turns into a desync mid air and that comes across as a random falling out of the sky. I would take the motor you replaced, put it on a different arm, and put that arms motor back in its spot. If it still does the same thing and rolls the same way when it drops out of the sky, you got yourself a bad ESC. At the end of the day, all of this hard stuff makes it that much more satisfying when everything goes right! If this hobby wasn't so difficult, I probably wouldn't be anywhere near as interested in it as I am, lol.
I will look into and at the ESC in great depth. I haven’t done that yet. It’s only fallen out of the sky once which was weird because there was no sound from the beeper afterwards and the battery was still attached to the drone but disconnected. So that was random and luckily it happened in the front yard. I happened to have my brand new go pro on it so I caught it on video.
The twitches had been present since the motor swap. I decided I wanted to try different motors since I had them for another build and so I went from Xing 2 2207 1855kv to Axis AE2306.5 1960kv. I just bought another Xing to replace the motors back to how the build was originally to see if that solves it. I’m not confident that’s going to solve it. One day I had flown and told my wife the twitches were pretty minimal and I had a solid day of flying so I wasn’t going to touch ANYTHING. Since that day, it twitches like crazy just hovering. I have everything for another build for the Walksnail setup I pre-ordered so if I can’t figure it out beforehand, it’ll just be tinywhoop, cinewhoop, or baby ape flying until Christmas. Luckily I have others but if I didn’t, I would be hard pressed to continue. However, when I look at the other drones… the only one stock is the Protek and I haven’t flown it too much yet. Everything else has upgrades, new parts, etc. so why would the 5” build be any different. It’s all about figuring out what I like and sticking to it. Unlike the military where “if it ain’t broke, break it” lol I feel like fpv is more like “if it ain’t broke, just wait…” lol
to a frame designer...crashing might actually be one of the more fun parts when you know you have a good design...I've had one design where I was already purposefully doing harder and harder tricks in hopes to either find resonance or to crash hard
I find myself doing this too even though I didn't design them. If a company sends me a frame, im gonna do my best to destroy it! lol. When I was a kid I remember putting my own lego cars and buildings together and crashing them endlessly so that I could figure out how they broke and build the next one even better. This stuff gives me those same vibes. Destruction equals progress!!!! lol
@@BaconNinjaFPV exactly right!! somehow crashing is still part of the fun and it's part of the experience. Just as you mentioned, just like in frame designs, you just gotta push it hard and see where it breaks and improve on that.
Your recomendation about not flashing the latest firmware deserves top votes. I made that mistake with my first drone. I guess I learned afterwards having to flash back to an older release and find the original diff. I have the compulsion to flash any new drone I get but I resist the temptation until I have put a bunch of packs on it. Even then I think hard about it before making that change.
I tell new people into the hobby that they shouldn't flash a drone to a new release unless there is a specific need to fix a known problem, or if they want a specific feature.
I see so many people run into this same thing in the beginner groups. It seems like the right thing to do since we update lots of other electronics we get as soon as we get them out of the box...this just isn't one of those, lol. I am right there with you on not jumping to flashing right away even now. I am moving to BF 4.4 just because I want the ELRS 3.X compatibility for my SPI based quads and the MSP VTX control for my bigger ones. If it wasn't for those features I would probably be putting that upgrade on the back burner.
Hi Mate, "short" video much appreciated 😉👍
lolol. I said that before I looked up and realized that I had been recording for 45mins. It felt short to me at the time! Thank you for stopping by to check it out.
Great video! I can confirm your theory on flying in a self level mode, (Angle mode won't let you flip at all, Horizon mode will let you flip, but still brings it back to level, very awkward). I got into the hobby in my late 30s, only flew Angle mode a day or two, switched to Horizon mode, for about a month, then got injured at the fire dept. and had to take almost a year off. When I got back into flying, I was so happy to just be doing it again, I didn't want to push myself and crash, I just wanted to fly. I ended up being stuck in Horizon mode for another year, kept telling myself, how much better could Acro be, I don't need it. Finally I said F-it, and I literally took any self leveling modes off my 3 drones at the time, so I was forced to fly Acro. I almost quit after the first day and sold everything, but by my 2nd pack on day two, that muscle memory started kicking in, by the end of the day, It literally felt like I just started flying for the first time ever, the difference in control and maneuverability was profoundly better!!! That was 5-6yrs ago, and I still try to fly a pack or two a day. So don't be like me kids...lol.
BONUS TIP: In Betaflight Ports tab - Never, Ever I mean E V E R... Tick the MSP button in the first column to "off", it WILL brick you're flight controller, learned that the hard way.
AAAHHHH!!!!! Never thought of the sun lasers! Thanks for an awesome video 😀
I started about 8 years ago with a micro walkera 3d helicopter I smashed that thing apart and rebuilt it probably 6 times over simulators we're not as easy to interface with then ha now have 2m long range wing and a 12" quad with a kk2 board haha and three 3" quads
yeah I was very surprised at the level of sim end user accessibility when I started out since prior to that my experience with flight sims was flaky ones at best, lol. I have really been wanting a 12", or even 10" for that matter, quad...but I just can't bring myself to buy components at those kinds of costs. Maybe some day I will get over it and let my wallet burn! lol
Great list so true! lol I just started 😢but I love it
Welcome to the hobby!!! Some of the best moments are starting out, so I hope you enjoy them as much as you can :)
I am so glad I am trying the simulator first. I would have wrecked my first drone in the first flight. Within an hour I was able to fly around all the gates without crashing. Simulator is a must for a poor boy like me! Practicing while I'm saving up. Going to get a controller first that I can use with the simulator. Then building a cheap drone so I can learn how to fix it after crashing
Everyone starting out in FPV should be required to watch this video. Your points about how muscle memory plays THE role in FPV is something that if you don't get it, it will get you! FPV = Muscle Memory - PERIOD! Great video! Great tips! Great advice! Thanks... but I wish I had seen this video a long time ago!
lol, I think subjecting them to looking at me may lose the hobby a lot of great potential pilots :p I really appreciate you checking it out!
I'm happy I found it. I've been researching a first drone. This confirms it is worth the stick time and waiting for a sale. 😬
Great video!!!! Please make videos on learning fpv from start
Thank you!! I have quite a few ideas in my production pipeline around start up stuff, so I am sure you will see it pop up on the channel periodically! Everyone's beginner journey is so different based on their individual preferences, budget, and natural instinct. Still though, there are quite a few things where someone might choose one road or the other, and I will do my best to help them navigate that!
That's true
Great video brother. I started with a Mavic mini 2 a couple of years ago and finally stumbled over a few FPV videos and fell in love with the communal aspect. Starting off with the cinematic approach, I’ve been slowly collecting the necessary tools and watching a ton of instructional video have fallen victim to the hype train a little bit so I got stuck with the Avata goggles waiting patiently flying in the sim getting motion sick on the reg now trying to decide what analog goggles I want to try while wrecking my tiny hawk 3 over and over but loving every second thus far! Fantastic info for us n00bs, I will be watching all of your content. Thank you so much🙏
Thank you again!! I have honestly never flown a Mavic, but always thought they would be super useful for commercial work. There is soooooo much to learn on the FPV side of this drone stuff, it can be a real up hill battle. I picked up the Avata/goggles/motion controller setup for my wife and she really loves it! Good news now though, because those goggles can support that new O3 air unit and it looks like a firmware update is coming really soon to support the older gear! Don't watch too far back, because some of that stuff is realllllllly embarrassing, lol.
@@BaconNinjaFPV haha you should see my pathetic flying to this point ! yeah I picked up the Avata not really realizing how new it was only to absolutely love it, then wishing I had done a little more research and gotten something else. So while I’ve been waiting for Dji too unlock the new goggles, I got a Tiny Hawk 3 and have been just practicing. Meanwhile I’ve been loving the Avata for cinematic drone filming, but then limited to only the dang motion controller lol. Still just struggling to get fully immersed into FPV. Of course limited by budget, I’m now carefully planning my first build psyched that the goggles 2 have finally started taking new firmware updates to make them more compatible. Have you been strictly analog before you picked up the Avata? Just curious if you maybe have the fatshark or the goggles V2
I am about to start my journey into this sport.im waiting for for my first tx in mail now its a radiomaster tx 12 i been watching u n Joshua none stop last few days i feel like i have a shot at having fun without to much getting to me quitting before i start.
3:25 This definitely applies to any part of the drone, but it shouldn't apply to radio, goggles etc. Crashing an FPV drone is normal, but if someone's frequently breaking goggles, then probably something's quite wrong...
for sure! If you find yourself with constantly broken goggles or radios, something isn't quite right.
Awesome video! Thanks for making this! Saving me lots of money! 😊 👏
You are very welcome! I have bad news though...in the end, you will wind up spending that money on something entirely different in this hobby :p
@@BaconNinjaFPV haha, that's very true!
@@BaconNinjaFPV But just the tips of not leaving the goggles in the sun was great. I had forgot that and would probably have made that mistake on my new goggles 2..
gemfan mck V2 and most other gemfans you can tighten them super tight no problerms. Some props it matters if the nuts are too tight and they can break at the center, but not modern gemfans.
I have had HQ and Gemfan both blow up on me lately....but that is probably just how I am flying the things, lol. I do think that when it comes to stiffness and durability, Gemfan is a solid option. I usually go HQ when I want something a little lighter with a little more give.
DJI 03 is the current hype train. Vista's are amazing and tough and work great.. but everyone just HAS to have the 03. Never got hyped trains..
Absolutely, the 03 system is currently on a hype train...well, sorta, lol. The image quality and ability to use it as a your primary action cam is 95% hype train for sure. I will say though, the range and penetration differences are absolutely real. Now that isn't important to everyone, and idk if it is worth $100 on its own, but it does exist. Im just gonna be over here flying every variant of every system and enjoying them all anyway, lol.
@BaconNinjaFPV I'm just gonna fly vista's. I need more stick time with reliable gear. Vista's work for me. Now I just need to get better at flying and have fun lol
@@xORLOCKx hey, that is a perfect way to look at it :) at the end of the day, all that matters is that you are having fun.
hey. Love it- what a nice picture-farewell- amigo- 😊
Thank you!
Your multimeter will beep when on the continuity setting until the capacitor is charged so saying that it shouldn’t beep at all is misleading. Your ohm meter uses voltage from the meter battery to sense a potential difference. Once the capacitor is charged there really is not much of a potential difference so it stops beeping. Switch the leads around and it will momentarily beep again. A good meter set on the 200k ohm setting will probably still read some resistance across the XT60, but that’s not an indicator of a dead short. 199,000 Ohms of resistance is not a problem. 2 ohms would be a problem. When your meter is set on the continuity mode (beeper) it’s looking for paths to ground that have very small amounts of resistance like less than 40 ohms for example. There are paths to ground in the electronics when the board is off. We don’t need to go into a deep dive on ohms law and how a meter works but telling people that a beep means they have a dead short to track down is pretty confusing for a new guy. If you get a continuous beep then you might have a problem. If it beeps for a split second then stops it’s more than likely the capacitor charging.
Please make a video on how to back out a screw with a helicoil. A helicoil is a threaded insert and it’s not something you would use on a stand-off. It’s something I would use to repair the threads in and engine block, but I wouldn’t use it to extract a screw from a stand-off. I would bet they don’t make a helicoil to repair the threads in a stand off. My guess is you don’t own a helicoil kit and have never repaired the threads in an engine block. 🤓. Most guys would grind the head off the screw and try to turn it out with a pliers or a small vice grip if not just pitch it.
I appreciate your insight! It is true that when the cap is charging it can beep momentarily, however that test is better than just plugging a pack in with no prior test at all if they don't have a smoke stopper. Even smoke stoppers aren't perfect, nothing really is. Always better to be cautious than not with a new build. As for the helicoil, you are again correct that it is an insert. I was referring to a helicoil removal tool for the extraction of a stripped out bolt where the head is still in tact. For that, they do have kits small enough to extract M3 bolts from the head pocket. They actually work pretty well for it! Not so much about repairing the standoff, since really that is just easier to replace and I guess you could run a tap through it if you realllly wanted to work for it, lol. I haven't spent much time doing thread work on engine block, but I did spend quite a few years as a machinist running lots of turret mills and lathes. I really appreciate you stopping by and hope that anyone down in the comments gets some clarity from you additions!
Great video and thanks for sharing new subscriber and look forward to future content
Thank you so much, I really appreciate it! :)
7:00 Sim flying is important, but I disagree with what he said here. I did "flipidy flops" first in free flight and taught myself to control the drone before even looking at the simulated race courses. I think this approach is important because this way I was able to learn the basics of turning and holding altitude - necessary skills for completing a course - without discouraging myself.
And no, I didn't "ruin my neural pathways." Not that I'm a neuroscientist, but I don't think that's how the human mind works.
To anyone starting on a simulator, my advice is to just log time. Spend as much time as you can with your fingers on the sticks and the drone in the virtual air, and your brain will learn how to control it. Then, once you've built a foundation of muscle memory, set yourself to bigger tasks like completing a course.
That's what worked for me personally.
I started out with an old hubsan h501 back in 2017. Now I've got a 7", 10" that i built after killing many other drones in between. Happy Thanksgiving!
Man a 10" would be a ton of fun to fly!!! Maybe some day I will get into that super large class. I really enjoy my 7" and I bet a 10" would be awesome! Happy Thanksgiving to you as well my friend!
Very nice tips.
An alternate way to learn for those who can afford it, is to start out with a DJI Avata. The Avata in "Manual mode", is basically Acro mode. Definitely recommend going into a SIM as a first step still, and then changing controller rates, as Avata stock rates are horrible. The advantage of the Avata is that if you ever feel out of control in manual mode, you can flick it into normal mode while in the air, and the electronics will "catch" and keep it hovering. Advantage 2, you now have DJI goggles to move onto an advanced drone that has an O3 air unit
I made this flashing my first drone mess up. Can confirm it sucks. I have my stock configuration saved, but on the mamba f722 stack the fc now isn't paired to my esc. So I'm buying a drone to fly while I fix this first build drone
being a risk taker, I have never bothered with a smoke stopper, so far so good :)
hey if it works for you then roll with it!
great video man, thanks for posting, if I may ask, what screwdrivers does one need to be on the safe side, I am getting the Geprc cenelog 30. I understand there are some standards, if you or anyone here may point me in the right direction. highly appreciated :)
I’m sitting in the living room watching and my wife says “is that Seth Rogan?” Hahaha. Great video man. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. I learned that the hard way
lolol...basically the same thing but instead of being into smoking the devil's lettuce, I am into smoked meats!
Great advice .....what antennas you recommend for the skyzone o4x goggles?
Thank you! I always love options from TrueRC. Their Singularity omni antennas are great, and the XAir series of patches do a great job as well. As for if you should be running omnis, patches, or a mix...that really depends on what you are doing with the drone. I like an omni and a patch on my Steadyview since I do go out quite a ways in front of me, but also find myself flying behind myself at times. If you are never going very far from yourself or don't have many obstructions, running two omnis is fine. I wouldn't ever run two patches unless you know for sure that you will always be out in front of yourself and plan on going a looooong way.
@@BaconNinjaFPV cool man I was about to order the o4l and went to raceday quads and the o4x was on sale for 423$ ..I hit buy now as fast as I could
Thanks Bacon Ninja for some excellent tips.
I'm a cat person here as well. They are my friends and don't ask for much in return.
You are very welcome!!! I have always loved cats since I was a little kid. Their lack of direct expression of emotion really resonates with me, lol. When they show you love, you know they mean it because they don't feel like they have to do it. For some reason it feels like a deeper connection...plus warm fuzzy cuddles are the best.
Pilot distance is important too because if everything goes well you are going to land close to where you are, and maybe the person right next to you is flying far away, and your quad can still mess up a litte his video if you land next to him.
I absolutely agree, and that is a great extra point about it! Along with potentially drowning out your buddies, sometimes the sound of the quad being near them throws them off too. I know that personally I prefer to be able to hear my quad as it helps me keep the throttle under control a little bit better....and hearing another quad land near me or take off near me can really throw that off, lol.
@@BaconNinjaFPV absolutely, I like to call out when I'm going to plug in the battery, when I'm going to take off and when I'm going to land, so people next to me is aware.
Great video! The easy way to learn is from someone else's mistakes. They hard way is to learn from our own.
Thank you!!! I think it is always a good idea to try and make the road a little easier to travel for the next person :)
Which long range goggles for beginners would you recommend either digital or Analog that out perform Dji distance wise?
Flashing a FC is required in Betaflight 4.3 before checking motor rotation. Ask me how I know? 😉
lol, I am guessing you had a fun experience with it!! I mean, if you want to set the motor direction from BF then yeah you have to have flashed up to at least 4.3.0, but on a BNF that comes pre-set up that image will be representative of however they configured it from the factory without any kind of flash. I guess there is always the one off case where they don't do it right and then you would have to spin the motors in BF to test it, but you could just do that with the sliders one at a time without having to flash it too. What was your experience with it?
@@BaconNinjaFPV It was a new build. I did the moongoat build and the Cricket FC needed a FW update / Flash before I could use the motors tab to test motor rotation. It was my third build and my 1st year into FPV. Started with DJI fpv, but not my cup of tea. More a diy type.
@@blizsgarage8487 Honestly, and I know its bad, I have always wanted to give the DJI FPV a shot just for giggles. I know I am not supposed to....but still, lol. Yeah on a new build if you want that motor rotation wizard you for sure have to have 4.3! Back before that, it wasn't too much harder really though. You just had to go to use the sliders to see which way they were going in the motors tab, then go into BLHeli configurator and reverse the ones that were wrong. That wizard makes it suuuuper simple though, and I don't miss the old way at all, lol. BTW, mooooongoat! I have always wanted to build one of those too. Cricket is da bomb!
Been flying the dji fpv in Manuel for 2 years wanting to get the evoque am I jumping the gun I know how to solder but that’s all I know
So, update Betaflight or downgrade the TX module when they have different ELRS versions?
My Mobula7 has ELRS 2.x while my Radiomaster module has 3.x.
You have absolutely right in the learning curve part. 😄
for that particular instance, upgrade to BF 4.4 :) I would have put it the other way around, but since they just released 4.4 it is ok to do now. Just be careful with the ports tab since it doesn't come over correctly from 4.3 or lower. The learning curve is non stop, lol.
@@BaconNinjaFPV I noticed some OSD errors when loading the backup but atleast I got it to bind and fly at a basic level now. 🙂
Won't be able to fly it for real until Mars/April when the goggles arrive anyway so I have time to figure out the rest.
Thank you for the awesome videos!
Learning alot from them.
Inches per foot is always 12. Got it
lol, its always 12...unless its 13!
Good video, would be great if i saw it when started. for ones want tune and learn, its good to watch chris rosser videos about filter and pid, and one advice for new pilots its, dont use dji radio with o3 air unit drones, its good only for dji drones, soon or later you can lose conection and something really bad can happen, i learned it in the bad way. And the gimbals dont give good control as others good radios with fullsize gimballs. The sim is the best tip to learn, i will also say its good to use the liftoff and the liftoff micro drones. Flying good on both make u completelly ready to fly in real world.
Good day sir. I followed your tutorial on how to flash ESC and it was successful but later it suddenly not functioning appearing on the speedybee app was ESC/Motor Protocol not configured, then I try to flash it again on ESC configurator but
my esc cannot configure when i hit readsettings its hanging?
I used Speedybee BLS 50A 4-in-1 ESC
Hope you can help me, thank you in advance.
Don't try inverted yaw spins too low, too soon. It leads to an explosion of parts. 😢 I took it alot slower after my first -500.00
My dad's a flying instructor so i pretty much grew up flying and playing msflight since 98'. I'm pretty good with a fixed wing, it feels very natural. But drones and helicopters feel so weird I just can't get over it.
Any pointers for the conversion?
The goggle burn in thing is definitely something i wouldn't have thought of. thankyou for potentially saving me from ruining my goggles when i eventually get a pair.
I only have drone racing league. Am I missing out on a more realistic simulator when it comes to physics?
Been watching lots of fpv vids lately. My understanding is each sim has pros and cons but DRL is one of the best. I think the most important part is finding a sim you can use the radio you will be using with your quad.
I totally agree with Blair! Yes there are more realistic sims, and on the other end of that there are more graphically impressive sims. At the end of the day though, what is important is you have one that works with your gear and you spend time in it. Having said that, Velocidrone is my go to for realistic feel, and TRYP is my recommendation for the best blend of graphics and decent physics.
@@BaconNinjaFPV im looking for physics based realism. If you think DRL is up to par then I will stick with it.
@@brandam4179 DRL isn't bad by any means. Personally it feels pretty floaty for me and is really geared for that long form racing. Velocidrone is for sure better at the physics, and that is partly because it lets you control the options a little bit more. I actually did a video a while back about how to make VDrone feel as real as it can if you wanted to check that one out and see if it is for you. On the up side, it is never a bad idea to have Vdrone in your library since it is a major hub for the racing scene and there are even live competitions run on that platform.
@@BaconNinjaFPV thanks for the info. Ill download VD and watch your tutorial on proper set up. I agree that DRL does feel strangely floaty.
Loved this.
What’s up bro,
The things you should do, many things I did in the beginning because I didn’t have any one to get help from until I found RUclips 🤣 but I started with Velocidrone and just started flying in acro, it sucked big time for days, until it clicked.
Testing with the multimeter with a capacitor, it can beeb shortly Great video as always 👍🏻👍🏻 stay safe
Thank goodness for RUclips! lol. I didn't really have anyone through my journey either, and I spent soooo many hundreds of hours listening to RUclips vids to gather the knowledge I needed for making it through that. Look at us now!! lol. Acro does suck at first, but tooootaly worth it and the best part is all of the crashing is free when you do it in the sim. I don't know how much it would have cost me if I had to just go out to the field and crash a drone that many times...I would probably be living in a box at this point. Also, good point on the multimeter. If there is any voltage differential in the cap it can fake the meter in to a false short! Always a pleasure to see you in the comments my friend, and I'd say that even though we are too far apart to ever get to fly together, you sir are one of my FPV buddies!
@@BaconNinjaFPV same here buddy or as I think of it friend😉
@@apachesmokewoundedsniper If somehow I ever find myself on that side of the world, we are for sure flying together!!
@@BaconNinjaFPV same here bro, and your always welcome
I’ve been mostly Helicopters then planes along with a few boats so it’s been so-called fast dones until recently that I’ve stepped up to a real quad and it’s really taking some effort learning all this Beta flight , flash and going to my laptop and all the firmware, protocol and all the rest of this and just seems to be so confusing so far maybe it’s that I need to slow down i’am 65 ain’t got a lot of time ok, thanks!
Taking some slow steps at first is for sure a good way to approach it. There are just sooooo many things you have to learn, from either others or just outright failing until it makes sense, and it can get really frustrating at times. Heli's have all the complicated linkage, but FPV quads have all the complicated robot things, lol. As long as you don't get too frustrated and you are willing to fail at it a whole bunch of times, things will start to click and all those FPV skills will get acquired. The important part is enjoying the ride!
Wow! Learning to racing first is so frustrating! Because the gates are very close to the ground so I spend all time crashing against it. Isn't it better to do kind of freestyle as "explorer" first? At least that way you are able to know the general basics of controlling a drone and discover a way to very smoothly fly fpv
@allaboutbikesRealmHopper hi there, thank you for your reply. My comment was a month ago and I don't remember exactly if this video promotes to learn racing first. But I do remember that I took some practice level in FPV.Skydive and it started with racing with gates very close to the ground. Very frustrating. I learnt freestyle (discovery) flying in the same SIM and it gave me more flying basics in a better way. Now I'm practicing in DRL, highly recommended; Not racing at first at all.
It's not just muscle memory. Of course, it is very important, but after 5000 hours in simulators, I can now fly with one hand, using a Steam controller (gyroscope), or a simple gamepad. In my opinion, the skill is not in the fingers, but in the head.
Sometimes you have to flash your drone. Elrs 2 and 3 compatibility issues force this
I thought angle mode was not the same a horizon mode, since horizon mode does let me do flips and rolls just a lot slower... now I am confused
Angle and horizon both work using your accelerometer rather than the gyro to control rotation speeds, so they do share quite a bit of the same flight feel and control mechanics. Gotta love horizon for letting you go all the way over though!
@@BaconNinjaFPV oh now I see, then you have introduced a new concept I was completely unaware of. I heard of "gyro" and "accelerometer" recently and had no idea what they were. I will do some research on it. Thanks a lot. I am very new to this, i picked it up just two weeks ago so I am studying as much as I can. It is fascinating! There is a lot to learn, but that for me, it is what makes it soo attractive,. I am just doing a simulator for the moment, about 30hrs in, starting to get the hang of it. Getting a mobula 8 next week, yet i don't feel ready yet, but I got it for fear of them running out of stock here in the EU. Loving your channel and seeing the evolution, and thanks for the support without being a snobby about it! Looking forward to some more videos! Cheers!
Thanks for the tips from somebody who is working on hour 25 in liftoff and has ordered his first drone. But to be honest "there are no apple products in my home" is what got you the sub 😂
When I started I was so stupid, when I heard do not put your goggles in the sun...I would never face the sun when I flew....my buddy said no sun where the lenses are dumb arse hahahah 😅😂😊
hey, I dont think that is dumb, you were just taking the advice as literal and thats not a bad way to interpret it! At least you knew the advice existed!!
@Bacon Ninja FPV hahaha I treated my quads and gear so carefully 😆....I'd break a prop and freak out....it got to a point that I wasn't taking any chances..bbhahahaha I really like watching you...your to the point and not a dik about it....when your starting out it feels like your a baby dear in the woods....hahaha peace man happy easter
Great vid! In following them as I try and make my first drone (with speedy bee) I’ve tried everything to discover a short but can’t find it 😭 and just want to get airborn, there is a vote from me to do a “how to find a short video!” Thanks, Sam
It is on my list for sure! Congrats on diving into your first build though, even if you are having to chase down a short :( I find that usually it is something touching between two pads or a solder ball that snuck its way into a place it should't be. The short (pun intended) version is, take your multimeter in continuity mode and check every pad close to any place you soldered a positive wire to. Start with the main leads, then work your way across the board to your power wires for he receiver and camera. Hopefully some of them don't beep, but if you find one that stands out there is a good chance it is that one.
@@BaconNinjaFPV hi dude thanks for the detailed help, I managed to identify the soldering on the red XT60 cable connection to the ESC was very dodgy, atrocious soldering and was partially disconnecting, restored that and I’m now back in the game. Now I need to figure out how to solder the ELRS Lite to the board and then connect the RC controller 😬 I’ll take a good look through your vids. Thanks again for your content without people such as your self taking the time to teach others it would inaccessible to many. Thanks from Leeds, UK. 👊
@@BaconNinjaFPV also thanks for your short pun 😂
New guy tips from a new guy
Indeed. We were all new guys at some point. Thank you again for checking it out!