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Brand new from Brasil
#1
New to this quad world, everything is new! (can`t wait to make the jump and start flying) I`m an American living in Brasil and I enjoy all types of racing and photography...........so I think this new world of quad copters will be the perfect combination.

Right now I use my Hero 4 and film when I`m up to no good on my motorcycle.


I`m thinking LOS to learn the basics then go to FPV. I`m reading everything I can get my hands on and soaking up info like a sponge. Any advice on starting up will be appreciated. Looks like a REALLY active community!

Cheers.....
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#2
Welcome Clocktower Smile
To get you started, here is my shameless plug Smile
https://oscarliang.com/mini-quad-racing-guide/

It explains the basics, and links to all areas of mini quad and drone racing for further details. And don't hesitate to ask if you have any questions.

By the way is Brasil Brazil? Big Grin
Don't be a LOS'er, be an FPV'er :)  My Gear - Facebook - Instagram - Twitter
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  • Tom BD Bad
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#3
(04-Aug-2017, 12:18 AM)Oscar Wrote: Welcome Clocktower Smile
To get you started, here is my shameless plug Smile
https://oscarliang.com/mini-quad-racing-guide/

It explains the basics, and links to all areas of mini quad and drone racing for further details. And don't hesitate to ask if you have any questions.

By the way is Brasil Brazil? Big Grin

Hey Oscar,

No problem with your `shameless plug,` hahaha  all info is good, I want to learn all I can.

I did some net searching and saw that FPV usage was not legal here!!!  But...... I see that there is FPV equipment for sale. I`m guessing the FPV information was old. Looking forward to flying. I live in a small beach town in the south and have kilometers and kilometers of open space. (I will be able to fly out my front door with minimal problems)

Thanks again for the welcome and Brasil is the Portugues spelling of Brazil.

Cheers
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  • Oscar
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#4
Welcome to the forum Clocktower, this is a great community of people!

I would have recommend you take a look at Oscar's guide too.
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#5
Welcome again D! glad to see you with a thread where we can give you an even better welcome Smile

I came from racing with flying being new too... Funny thing for me is I really was in it to learn to race but I've not done much work with racing because I've enjoyed freestyle flying so much.

I really skipped over LOS (although lately I've experimented more and more with it) and went straight to FPV in acro mode. I think to a certain extent it's a little easier but I imagine that having the LOS experience probably supports some good habits.

Either way you've come to the right place to learn. These folks have taught me most of what I know Smile
carl.vegas
Current Quads: Operational: Diatone GT2 200 In need of repair: Bumble Bee, tehStein,  Slightly modified Vortex 250 
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#6
(04-Aug-2017, 01:46 AM)Snuffypot11 Wrote: Welcome to the forum Clocktower, this is a great community of people!

I would have recommend you take a look at Oscar's guide too.

Thanks Snuffy,

Just returned from Oscar`s site. YIKES..... a lot of information, more than enough to keep me busy for a while.
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#7
(04-Aug-2017, 02:16 AM)Carl.Vegas Wrote: Welcome again D! glad to see you with a thread where we can give you an even better welcome Smile

I came from racing with flying being new too... Funny thing for me is I really was in it to learn to race but I've not done much work with racing because I've enjoyed freestyle flying so much.

I really skipped over LOS (although lately I've experimented more and more with it) and went straight to FPV in acro mode. I think to a certain extent it's a little easier but I imagine that having the LOS experience probably supports some good habits.

Either way you've come to the right place to learn. These folks have taught me most of what I know Smile

Hi Carl, thank you for pointing me in the right direction.

Not sure where I will end up....... racing, freestyle, photog etc.....  Anyway, it`s a lot cheaper than racing motorcycles.

Not sure what`s first. Learning on a simulator, buying a cheaper ready to fly or doing a build? I still have a few bits of eye candy to buy for my bike, then I will start spending quad $$$$. Anyway....... in the meantime, I will keep reading/researching. Looks to be a blast.
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#8
(04-Aug-2017, 02:47 AM)D. Clocktower Wrote: Hi Carl, thank you for pointing me in the right direction.

Not sure where I will end up....... racing, freestyle, photog etc.....  Anyway, it`s a lot cheaper than racing motorcycles.

Not sure what`s first. Learning on a simulator, buying a cheaper ready to fly or doing a build? I still have a few bits of eye candy to buy for my bike, then I will start spending quad $$$$. Anyway....... in the meantime, I will keep reading/researching. Looks to be a blast.

Surprisingly enough for me... I am probably spending about the same on quads as I did autoracing... although I went for low-cost classes and racing events. At first I was going to list how much I spent on both but then I realized I may be ashamed if I admitted how much I've pumped into this hobby so far this year and how much I'll likely spend in the second half... Main point is: it's not a cheap hobby. For me, its easily more expensive than golf that's for sure. Of course someone more responsible than myself with a little less budget could absolutely avoid the kind of spending I have on teh hobby. 

As for where to start. The essential equipment that you'll use for all of those scenarios might be a good idea: Radio (50-200), Goggles (80-500), and Chargers (50-200). Then from there you'll be set for simulators, ARF quads, or builds
carl.vegas
Current Quads: Operational: Diatone GT2 200 In need of repair: Bumble Bee, tehStein,  Slightly modified Vortex 250 
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#9
Welcomes going to an American in BraSil from an Englishman in South Africa, migrating south is good! You have found a great forum here, D.! (This use of punctuation looks all wrong Wink )

I have just completed a 1st edit of Oscar's 'shameless plug' mini quad guide, (to shamelessly plug my editing skills!) it will probably take a few days to finalise and update, adding all the links, pics and photos, but it should be a bit more cohesive soon...
Windless fields and smokeless builds
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#10
(07-Aug-2017, 05:50 AM)Tom BD Bad Wrote: Welcomes going to an American in BraSil from an Englishman in South Africa, migrating south is good! You have found a great forum here, D.! (This use of punctuation looks all wrong Wink )

I have just completed a 1st edit of Oscar's 'shameless plug' mini quad guide, (to shamelessly plug my editing skills!) it will probably take a few days to finalise and update, adding all the links, pics and photos, but it should be a bit more cohesive soon...

Bom dia Tom,

I have been reading everything I can get my hands on the last few days. (slowly gaining knowledge) A few things to get for my motorcycle then I will shift my attention to quads and start dumping wads of money into my new hobby. Smile I don`t have to work, so I will have plenty of time to fly and crash.

Where in England are you from? I lived in the north for a few months and was stationed in Scotland for a bit over 2 years. (sub base at Holy Loch)

Anyway....... as soon as I get this going, expect a flood of tech questions for you and the rest of the gang.

Cheers!

PS
Oh yeah, played tons of rugby when I was in the UK.
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#11
(07-Aug-2017, 04:22 PM)D. Clocktower Wrote: Anyway....... as soon as I get this going, expect a flood of tech questions for you and the rest of the gang.

Questions give us something to do! more questions are good! I try to ask my share of questions as much as possible.
carl.vegas
Current Quads: Operational: Diatone GT2 200 In need of repair: Bumble Bee, tehStein,  Slightly modified Vortex 250 
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#12
(07-Aug-2017, 09:41 PM)Carl.Vegas Wrote: Questions give us something to do! more questions are good! I try to ask my share of questions as much as possible.

Ok Carl, you`re on. 

I`m pretty much a mechanical guy, but I love to read and learn things. How much soldering skill//knowledge is needed? I think my first quad will be a ready to fly model, but eventually I thinking building would be pretty exciting. Is soldering needed after some crashes and component replacements? I`m thinking about learning on my own right now because I know a lot of electronic pieces are heat sensitive. Don`t want to destroy an expensive part I`ve waited weeks for.

Anyway, your thoughts on this will be appreciated.

Thanks!
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#13
Saobwona D. (Hello in Zulu!) I'm a London boy, but I've been in SA almost 8 years now. Despite my grandfather and his father before him playing rugby for England, I am a football fan. Mainly because we were only allowed to play touch rugby in school, and I got banned after poking a kid in the kidneys 3 times and him refusing to 'be tackled' so I grabbed him round the ankles and threw him in a puddle! To the Scots though, I am just another 'Southern Jessie W@nk3r!" Wink

Re. soldering... It helps if you have some experience, but it isn't the hardest thing to learn. The most overlooked part of soldering is 'pre-tinning' - melt solder onto the wire and the pad you are soldering to, line the 2 up, give it a quick poke with the iron + solder, and it should melt the 2 together, it doesn't always go this smoothly though! Another tip I got from my buddy who works with sound equipment :- Hold your iron as close to vertical as you can get it, this aids the solder to flow off the iron more easily. Ideally you want to have a half decent soldering iron or station with fine tips (<1mm) and a thermostat to regulate temp. Another thing, Oscar recently bought some solder that was advertised as 60% lead, but it wasn't! High % lead solder melts quicker and at a lower temp than lead free or low lead content, limiting the chance of damaging components by overheating, its also hardens much quicker too, making the whole process a bit easier.

Re. RTF (Ready To Fly) quad. If you buy RTF then you will most likely get a FlySky TX with your quad, I am very happy with my clone of the FlySky I6X, but it isn't an X9D/Taranis or QX7 from FrSky, which seem to be the TX's of choice at the mo... Please note that FrSky and FlySky use different protocols so an FrSky RX will not work with a FlySky TX.

So taking into consideration that the TX you will receive with an RTF might not be your ideal choice, a BNF (Bind aNd Fly) quad is also pre built and often come with options to select the RX which is compatible for your TX. Almost every BNF with a choice of RX will offer FrSky as an option. Otherwise you usually have the option to purchase your TX as a combo with the relevant RX, which you would then need to solder to your FC yourself. Another thing to mention is that RTF and BNF will both (not always but usually) come with a battery, which will likely be a no-name cheapy, great to get in the air, but it will be the 1st thing you replace. Where PNF/PNP (Plug aNd Fly / Plug aNd Play) requires your own RX and battery, and can often come as a kit which needs assembly, PNF and PNP planes also often require you add your own servo's and sometimes even the motors too!

So all in all, my advice would be to get a TX and a simulator cable 1st, and start practicing on sims while you are waiting for your quad, if you get FPV goggles which can also plug into the PC for your FPV sim to be displayed in your goggles this might help overcome the initial disorientation of FPV as well, it goes away pretty quickly anyway. A micro quad, something like a tinywhoop, might also help sustain your interest if you become bored with sims. It can be flown indoors too if the weather isn't playing ball, and when you do finally get you proper quad, you can give the tinywhoop to a friend to try and get them into the hobby too...

another edit to add - If you do decide to get a whoop, ask us before you buy to make sure it's not just a kids toy.
Windless fields and smokeless builds
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#14
Here is some supplemental perspective.

On soldering, it was the part that I was most concerned about. My experience with soldering in the past was mostly just the time spent as a teenager playing with my father's tools without instructions or guidance. (luckily the most important safety info: don't burn yourself and dont let hot solder get on you, is obvious). This forum talked me through most of the learning process and I have now built 2 quads successfully and managed through a couple of repairs to fix mistakes.

3 things prepared me for soldering my first build:
A practice kit: https://www.amazon.com/Elenco-Practical-...+soldering
This thread that unseen started: http://intofpv.com/t-how-not-to-solder
Stu's $99 build video: https://goo.gl/kxgScb

On the RTF vs ARF point that Tom makes above... an ARF or Almost Ready to Fly quad is probably a better choice for long term interest in the hobby. This way if you get a proper radio you can use it. Not always does it require soldering to a board though. For example I have two ARF quads.
My Vortex 250 didn't even require any disassembly. It had a pigtail hanging out of a little hold in the back that I could plug a PPM receiver into. Later this lead to the demise of my reciever and I placed it's replacement inside of the body but still it was the easiest one to install.
The diatone
On my diatone GT2 I did have to solder but only to put together the two cable halfs. The receiver (and XSR) comes with a cable that has a JST connector and some wires, the quad came with tons of cables with connectors and some wires. I just had to line up the correct wires between them and solder them together and use heat shrink to protect from shorts and I was done with the soldering.

Tom's advice on radio and cable (on a Taranis the cable is just a USB micro) is invaluable. I have been telling everyone that I talk to that is new that they should get hooked up to a simulator because it's the best way to practice between batteries. I've become mildly competent at flying these days and I still fly at least 1-2 hours per week in-sim to try out the things that might make me crash and to run practice precision.
carl.vegas
Current Quads: Operational: Diatone GT2 200 In need of repair: Bumble Bee, tehStein,  Slightly modified Vortex 250 
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#15
(08-Aug-2017, 06:51 AM)Tom BD Bad Wrote: Saobwona D. (Hello in Zulu!) I'm a London boy, but I've been in SA almost 8 years now. Despite my grandfather and his father before him playing rugby for England, I am a football fan. Mainly because we were only allowed to play touch rugby in school, and I got banned after poking a kid in the kidneys 3 times and him refusing to 'be tackled' so I grabbed him round the ankles and threw him in a puddle! To the Scots though, I am just another 'Southern Jessie W@nk3r!" Wink

Re. soldering... It helps if you have some experience, but it isn't the hardest thing to learn. The most overlooked part of soldering is 'pre-tinning' - melt solder onto the wire and the pad you are soldering to, line the 2 up, give it a quick poke with the iron + solder, and it should melt the 2 together, it doesn't always go this smoothly though! Another tip I got from my buddy who works with sound equipment :- Hold your iron as close to vertical as you can get it, this aids the solder to flow off the iron more easily. Ideally you want to have a half decent soldering iron or station with fine tips (<1mm) and a thermostat to regulate temp. Another thing, Oscar recently bought some solder that was advertised as 60% lead, but it wasn't! High % lead solder melts quicker and at a lower temp than lead free or low lead content, limiting the chance of damaging components by overheating, its also hardens much quicker too, making the whole process a bit easier.

Re. RTF (Ready To Fly) quad. If you buy RTF then you will most likely get a FlySky TX with your quad, I am very happy with my clone of the FlySky I6X, but it isn't an X9D/Taranis or QX7 from FrSky, which seem to be the TX's of choice at the mo... Please note that FrSky and FlySky use different protocols so an FrSky RX will not work with a FlySky TX.

So taking into consideration that the TX you will receive with an RTF might not be your ideal choice, a BNF (Bind aNd Fly) quad is also pre built and often come with options to select the RX which is compatible for your TX. Almost every BNF with a choice of RX will offer FrSky as an option. Otherwise you usually have the option to purchase your TX as a combo with the relevant RX, which you would then need to solder to your FC yourself. Another thing to mention is that RTF and BNF will both (not always but usually) come with a battery, which will likely be a no-name cheapy, great to get in the air, but it will be the 1st thing you replace. Where PNF/PNP (Plug aNd Fly / Plug aNd Play) requires your own RX and battery, and can often come as a kit which needs assembly, PNF and PNP planes also often require you add your own servo's and sometimes even the motors too!

So all in all, my advice would be to get a TX and a simulator cable 1st, and start practicing on sims while you are waiting for your quad, if you get FPV goggles which can also plug into the PC for your FPV sim to be displayed in your goggles this might help overcome the initial disorientation of FPV as well, it goes away pretty quickly anyway. A micro quad, something like a tinywhoop, might also help sustain your interest if you become bored with sims. It can be flown indoors too if the weather isn't playing ball, and when you do finally get you proper quad, you can give the tinywhoop to a friend to try and get them into the hobby too...

another edit to add - If you do decide to get a whoop, ask us before you buy to make sure it's not just a kids toy.
Boa noite (goodnight in Portugues)

A wealth of information in your post, thanks Tom! I love researching and gaining knowledge, so I guess I discovered a good hobby yes?  After reading a few posts today and exploring YouTube, I think a FrSky/ARF combo will work for me. (too funny.......a week ago I had no idea what FPV meant)  Making progress.........   An ARF will be just fine I think, I want to wait until I know a lot more before I start choosing components and going for a complete build.

Bang good seems like a really good source for goodies. I see a lot of my cash flowing  toward these guys in the the future. Besides a wide selection, the ship to Brasil! I`m not sure what the postal system is like in SA, but it really sucks here. 

Haven`t flown as of yet, but I`m hooked already.

Take care and thanks again for taking the time for such an educational post,

P.S.
Good on you for throwing that nancy boy into a puddle.............     Big Grin
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