Are the Fatshark Dominator goggles analog? I see a deal for almost $100 off and I am not sure on what is required. I wouldn't mind upgrading from my Scout HD Box goggles. I guess I have to buy the antennas and battery separate, but is there anything else I need to buy. Youtube videos I see show HD. Any insight is appreciated.

If you mean the FSV1125 goggles as per the link below then yes, they are Walksnail Avatar HD compatible HD goggles...

https://www.fatshark.com/product-page/dominator-headset

The reason for $100 of is because the Walksnail Avatar Goggles X just got released which are the new successor to the FatShark Dominator HD goggles (and the Walksnail Avatar HD goggles which are the same goggles as the FatShark Dominators, but in black), so they are trying to offload any remaining stock of those older goggles.

The FatShark Dominator HD goggles don't come with any antennas, while the black Walksnail Avatar HD equivalent do.

Be aware that with Caddx now seemingly having dropped FatShark as a partner and with Red Cat supposedly having got rid of FatShark from their inventory of sub-companies, there may be no support or spare parts for the FatShark Dominator HD goggles if anything goes wrong with them.

(11-Nov-2023, 01:27 AM)SnowLeopardFPV Wrote: If you mean the FSV1125 goggles as per the link below then yes, they are Walksnail Avatar HD compatible HD goggles...

https://www.fatshark.com/product-page/dominator-headset

The reason for $100 of is because the Walksnail Avatar Goggles X just got released which are the new successor to the FatShark Dominator HD goggles (and the Walksnail Avatar HD goggles which are the same goggles as the FatShark Dominators, but in black), so they are trying to offload any remaining stock of those older goggles.

The FatShark Dominator HD goggles don't come with any antennas, while the black Walksnail Avatar HD equivalent do.

Be aware that with Caddx now seemingly having dropped FatShark as a partner and with Red Cat supposedly having got rid of FatShark from their inventory of sub-companies, there may be no support or spare parts for the FatShark Dominator HD goggles if anything goes wrong with them.

Do you know if the same holds true for the Recon HD box goggles, Snow?  

Even if support is being dropped I'm tempted to grab a set.  If they were in budget then I'd probably grab the Dominators, but the Recon HD would suit me fine for the type of flying I do.  Also the price is affordable for me.  Worst case you buy them and you need to get straight on to FatShark and order a bunch of spares straight up.  Although in the grand scheme of things what goes wrong with them?  I've had my non digital goggles for over a year and nothing has gone wrong with them.

@OP, it's up to you, but if it was me i'd probably buy them.  They might not be supported, but my guess is FatShark will keep spares for them, at least for a couple of years.  If they break down during warranty, send them back and ask for a replacement.  

Also the Recon HD box goggles are definitely selling at a good price point currently, but you said you already have those, so you have a spare set of WS goggles.  If it was me I would get them, pick a known solid firmware and install it and never upgrade it beyond that.  Things can go wrong if you are constantly updating firmware.  So don't and save yourself the hassle.  Or if you really must, then do say an upgrade every major version.  Don't buy into the beta testing bs.

(14-Nov-2023, 12:55 AM)Pathfinder075 Wrote: Do you know if the same holds true for the Recon HD box goggles, Snow?  

Even if support is being dropped I'm tempted to grab a set.  If they were in budget then I'd probably grab the Dominators, but the Recon HD would suit me fine for the type of flying I do.  Also the price is affordable for me.  Worst case you buy them and you need to get straight on to FatShark and order a bunch of spares straight up.  Although in the grand scheme of things what goes wrong with them?  I've had my non digital goggles for over a year and nothing has gone wrong with them.

If rumours of FatShark having been dropped by Caddx and Red Cat are true then I would be surprised if FatShark continued to manufacture, sell and support the Walksnail Avatar HD equipped Recon HD goggles, so I would assume those goggles to also follow the same fate as the Dominator HD goggles. The only reason you can probably still find the Recon HD goggles in stock is because not many people seem to be interested in them so there is probably still some amount of unsold new-old-stock sitting in vendors stock cupboards. So if you want a pair then I would probably think about getting some sooner rather than later before any remaining stock gets depleted.

From the stories I have read, FatShark support is shockingly bad these days. They used to have a reputation of being one of the best FPV companies for after sales support and would usually answer email within a day, but their support went to complete   after Red Cat took them over and people often seem to end up waiting weeks for an answer to a problem, or they get radio silence with no answer at all. I recently contacted them about a black replacement faceplate for my FatShark HDO's and it took them two weeks to reply back to me where they simply just told me I was out of luck. So for anyone who purchases any FatShark products, go in with an expectation of zero support or spare parts, then you won't end up being disappointed if/when you get none.

I'm tempted. Was looking to grab a set at Christmas or maybe in the New Year sales. The way i look at it, is the life of these products is probably 2-3 years, but maybe it would be better to get a proper set of analogue goggles, with an hdmi in and get the vrx module. it seems buying into DJI is a no go nowadays, Caddx is making the whole WalkSnail architecture just as expensive and nothing ever seems to be heard from HDZero.

I will probably bide my time instead. It seems the whole digital thing is a shambles right now. See if I can pick up a set of DJI version 2's from one of the FB groups. i keep seeing them come up for reasonable prices. At least spares will be possible.

I agree that digital FPV systems are a complete minefield. You just have to pick your poison and hope you made the right choice. All the digital systems out there currently have their pros and cons. I'm still rocking the DJI FPV Goggles V1 and the original DJI Air Units / Caddx Vistas which continue to work perfectly fine for my needs, as long as DJI continue making the Vista for that system which they seem to be doing for now (both Caddx and RunCam continue to sell that system). While I hate DJI as a company, I sort of like the fact that their OG digital FPV system is completely reliable/stable and firmware updates have stopped coming which means you aren't forever updating them every few months like some of the other systems, and the WTFOS root hack and packages adds all the desirable features that DJI left out.

The Caddx Walksnail HD system is still a beta product in my eyes. The whole firmware thing is a total mess with each new release seemingly breaking as many things as it fixes. Some people are happy that but it's the sort of thing that can start to frustrate other people no end. It's not so easy to just say stick with a particular firmware version when Caddx seem to release new hardware every other month which is only supported by newer firmware versions, so you are forced to upgrade all your Walksnail gear because it's already been proven that having different firmware versions on the Goggles / VRX compared to the VTX's doesn't always play out very well.

HDZero has gone quiet purely because of the slowdown in firmware releases (which suggests that it's becoming more stable), and because it's mainly been adopted by the racing scene which is a niche sector of FPV. I still have an HDZero Whoop Lite VTX in a box, so I really need to get off my backside and get a whoop build done with it so I can experience the system for myself. They apparently have something new coming soon but no-one knows what that is other than the likes of Ryan Quellet and the other HDZero test pilots who are close to Carl's development team, but they are sworn to NDA's.

The DJI O3 system is clearly the best in terms of image quality and penetration, but DJI still don't listen to their customers which means the system still has outstanding bugs and features from over 6 months ago that they just aren't bothering to address. There is also only one camera available for the system which you can only get from DJI and no replacement lenses available, so if you break one it will costs you ~$100 for a complete new camera. There is also noise of some new DJI goggles (which will probably be named the Goggles 2 V2 ) and new air units which feature the new DJI P2 chipset due to the P1 chipset now apparently being end-of-life, and there is a possibility that DJI may use the O4 system in their new kit which will mean yet another new system from DJI.

I probably went off topic a bit from the OP's original question but I think any answers for that were already provided, and this is sort of related. Hopefully all this discussion hasn't given them an even bigger dilemma

(14-Nov-2023, 02:07 AM)Pathfinder075 Wrote: I'm tempted.  Was looking to grab a set at Christmas or maybe in the New Year sales.  The way i look at it, is the life of these products is probably 2-3 years, but maybe it would be better to get a proper set of analogue goggles, with an hdmi in and get the vrx module.  it seems buying into DJI is a no go nowadays, Caddx is making the whole WalkSnail architecture just as expensive and nothing ever seems to be heard from HDZero.  

I will probably bide my time instead.  It seems the whole digital thing is a shambles right now.  See if I can pick up a set of DJI version 2's from one of the FB groups.  i keep seeing them come up for reasonable prices.  At least spares will be possible.

If you fly a lot of micros, I would say WS is easily the cheapest, best looking, and feature packed option. Mixed opinions on its durability and not the best penetration, but for a 8g $80ish VTX/cam package, you get very nice 1080p digital feed, free onboard DVR, decent transmission if you don't fly in challenging RF environment and easier to setup than analog.

If you are a bando basher, then going with DJI vista/V2s probably a more reliable/durable option but would likely cost you more even if you only get used gear. Better penetration than WS, but no free onboard recording. Image is nice but I would say WS is prettier (1080p and better color balance), but I do see better with the Polar's WDR - maybe thats just my eyes or also the larger V2 FOV.

I like the image of Walksnail and for some of the flying I do in open environments without walls and concrete, it would be the best solution. But i also fly the odd bando where I might be 300m away from the craft on the other side of a large concrete building. In that type of scenario it would probably be pretty bad. I don't see a perfect solution. If you HDZ or WS you can't fly bandos.

On analogue, putting decent antennas on my kit made a lot of difference, i'm thinking of trying rapidfire if I can find a receiver and maybe using one of the more powerful vtx, maybe a 600-1000mW and see if that improves things. The stop gap might be the Turtle HD/Analogue. I see Hawkeye has a Turtle/Split style camera/vtx/dvr solution that is available for reasonable money. Downside is it's a 30x30 board mount. That might be my stop gap, but the 30x30 mount is a problem. I mostly prefer 25x25 nowadays.

Nothing is a perfect match. I have an eye on a 1200mW analogue vtx that is apparently like a cheaper version of unify. The signal is supposed to be very good out to about a mile, not that i intend to run it at 1200mW (very often). It will probably get run at 600mW mostly, but while the picture isn't crystal clear, the VTX costs £15. I will probably try that first.

After Christmas, if I can find some DJI V2 or maybe V1, I might try DJI. I got offered a set of V1 goggles a few months back for around £150 and foolishly didn't get them. Kind of wish i had. I am probably only going to use them for bandos and fly everything else on analogue.

(15-Nov-2023, 12:36 AM)Pathfinder075 Wrote: After Christmas, if I can find some DJI V2 or maybe V1, I might try DJI.  I got offered a set of V1 goggles a few months back for around £150 and foolishly didn't get them.  Kind of wish i had.  I am probably only going to use them for bandos and fly everything else on analogue.

Those are some famous last words that many an FPV pilot have uttered  I can almost guarantee that once you've flown with a digital system you will feel spoiled and will find it hard to go back to analogue with most of your analogue fleet then remaining on the shelf gathering dust and seeing very little air time. I do still occasionally fly analog, but only really the micro quads when I'm not able to fly something bigger. If you want to keep flying your analogue gear then I suggest that you do NOT purchase or even try any digital gear 

That was my worry if I went to WS. The cost of adding WS to 4 or 5 builds, plus the spares required from smashing them into the ground from time to time. Destroy an analogue vtx and camera equals £30. Destroying a WS vtx and camera, could be over £100.

Maybe I should invest in better analogue and forget this digital folly.

There are some bando flyers on WS, I think also if you get the larger dual antenna VTX and use focus mode it may work. The Lite VTX on stock dipole antenna did just fine on my first bando, not a lot of walls but it was moderately large grounds.
As for those analog recording options, I would say they are meh... and you will have to deal with compromised FPV feed, added latency, low bit rate dvr, etc. And at that price/weight you already have a WS VTX which records a better image plus gives you the nearly the same HD in your goggles. For the Hawkeye, maybe you are referring to their Split v4 that does 4k. The recorded image on that is ok, but with some issues and latency is quite high on the FPV feed. I have a box of these recording "HD" split cameras collecting dust, I wouldn't recommend dropping any coin on them.
DJI will cost more, but if you like bashing quads then it maybe cheaper in the long run. I haven't bashed up any of my digital VTXs yet, although I've had plenty analog ones fail over time (I do buy the cheapest ones I find though, but have lost some TBS ones too).
If you try digital and end up liking it, then your eyes are telling you something. If you don't have the deep pockets to upgrade your fleet, just make sure you control yourself that you upgrade only one setup at a time, maybe limit yourself to one a month. You won't regret having switched earlier, and if you go slowly maybe by your forth or firth upgrade another new system will come out and make you want to jump...

Actually in terms of using the Hawkeye Split v4, I was planning on using it to record video, but not use it for the analogue feed. Kinda like use it to record the 4k video, but use a lower mounted Caddx Ant or similar as the actual low latency analog flight camera. So run both systems simultaneously, but only send data back on one of them. I like the fact the Split v4 is lighter than a full blown action camera and somewhat more aerodynamic. The possibilities of using it to capture video for youtube interest me, but i understand any analogue feed output from it would be a laggy mess. So i would run it only as a capture device. i would run a different camera for flying. The irksome thing is the size of the board. It would work with my 6s build only, since that is a 30x30 size build. Would be useless on the smaller quads. I'm currently looking into a thumb pro mount for the micro canopies I like. They will have to use more mainstream tech.

Much easier just to get the Hawkeye Thumb, it is the same board per Hawkeye without adding much weight and you don't have to worry about mounting it inside the quad making it easier to move quad to quad and probably light enough even on a 3". There are some issues with using gyroflow at 4k, but otherwise its ok. I don't remember if it has jello in bright sun like the RC Thumb Pro, but suspect it would be quite similar.
This is a comparison with DJI DVR, it is the slightly larger Naked version that had the 30x30 in a case, but essentially the same camera.
https://youtu.be/TGBiXe8R8uw?si=v3xHgufRPFWXb89t