Hello everyone,

I am new to this forum and, and I was wondering if anyone had a good freestyle fpv drone under 200$ I know the limit is pretty low but I just wanted to know if there is no fpv drone of decent quality under that price range...

Regards

https://oscarliang.com/cheapest-fpv-drone-build/

here it is, oscars suggestion for your request :-)
pretty close to 200$

Darwin BabyApe is under $200. It would get you started and you could upgrade it a little as money became available or take the parts and put them on a better frame.

If not maybe something like this.

(09-Mar-2024, 08:13 PM)NewToFPV Wrote: Hello everyone,

I am new to this forum and, and I was wondering if anyone had a good freestyle fpv drone under 200$ I know the limit is pretty low but I just wanted to know if there is no fpv drone of decent quality under that price range...

Regards

Hi NewToFPV,

So, do you have anything yet OR are you starting a ground zero? 
Do you have any experience flying a quadcopter and do you have
any soldering and assembly skills?

Is $ 200 your total budget?  For everything? Or, just a quad?

If you have nothing, then you will need everything:
1) A quad.
2) Transmitter
3) Goggles
4) Batteries
5) Battery Charger
6) Some tools
7) Extra Propellers
8) Repair Parts (when something breaks and it will).

In addition to having resources (money) for parts and such, if you
lose the quad, then you will need another one to stay in the game.
The initial cost is just the beginning. 

Of course you will also need a computer to run configuration software. 
Although it is possible to use a phone for some things, in my opinion
a computer is still better for bench work. 

ELRS is the current popular RC Link protocol, so the transmitter will
likely use ELRS. Cost?  Starts about $ 70 USD and then it goes up.

Then there is the choice in the video subsystem. Given your budget,
you are looking at analog systems; both on the quad and for the goggles.
Analog goggles start at about $ 50 USD and go up from there. You can
get a decent set of goggles for about $ 100 USD. 

Starting with nothing, it will realistically cost about $ 350 to $ 400 USD
to get you started. 

That said, if your total budget is really $ 200 USD, then a combo kit which
includes everything starts at about $ 240 USD. Now, that will have a smaller
quad, but it will get you started and in the air flying.

Some will also suggest that you get a simulator and practice a lot of hours
before you actually fly. However, it is not absolutely necessary.

Some will say only learn and only fly in ACRO mode. Again, this is the most
challenging mode to fly and is NOT mandatory or even necessary. You can 
start out in ANGLE mode until you get the feel of the controller and learn 
how to fly. By the way, there are NO bad habits. The controls work the same 
way in all flight modes. 

Back to the quad itself, there are several decent small BNF (Bind aNd Fly) quads
out there ranging from about $ 100 USD to about $ 150 USD. In my opinion, the
GEPRC SMART Toothpick Freestyle (formerly the Phantom) is still one of the best
small freestyle quads on the market for about $ 130 USD. This is still one of my
favorite quads to fly. This is my preference.

The EMAX Tinyhawk II for about $ 140 USD is another good choice. Yes, I have
one and like it as well.

Now a word about building. First, building is NOT cheaper than buying a BNF. 
The advantages of building are that you know how to repair the quad when it
breaks. Yes, it will break. Plus, you will get the experience of building something.
Although building is fun, it does require some soldering skills and, of course, all
of the tools necessary for soldering and assembly.



Later, iFly 

If your total budget is $200, then it's going to be hard to find something, but not impossible. So lets say that is for everything, then bare bones spec.

BetaFPV Literadio 2 SE ELRS can often be found on FB Marketplace for not a lot, say $30 or less
BetaFPV VR02 goggles can be found for roughly the same on FB Marketplace
Darwin BabyApe ELRS $95 (GetFPV)
SkyRC e3 2-3S Charger $15
CNHL 3S 650mAh 2x Pack $16
plus some shipping costs

Total would be around $200.

Hello everyone. I'm new here and I already have a problem ?. How to solder the VTX Range racer for this FC as in the picture

You didn't post the picture.

But to solder an analog VTX to a FC, in general.

Case 1 - VTX that handle Video In/Out
Power wires go to 5v and gnd pads. Video Out on VTX goes to Video In on FC and vice versa for the wire coming back to the VTX. Smartaudio/Tramp goes to a UART or soft serial, so say TX1 or on some FC you will have pad called S5 (some Happymodel FC have an S5 pad which is a soft serial).

Case 2 - Cam out goes to FC
Power wires go to 5v and gnd pads. Cam out goes to Video In on FC and Video Out on FC goes to Video In on the VTX. Smartaudio/Tramp goes to a UART or soft serial

Most VTX I use go use Case 1, mostly the Happymodel Diamond VTX and Whoop VTX, plus the OVX variants seems to use the same method (basically most VTX that use connectors for the camera).

On digital I think you either use a connector if you have one. If not, power to power pads and everything else goes to UART (TX/RX). It's not really my forte.

Hi Dragon,

Quote:How to solder the VTX Range racer...

Without having any pictures of the VTX nor the FC, let me give it a shot anyway.
I couldn't find Range racer, however, I did find Race Ranger, so I will work on the
assumption that this is what you have. Since I don't know what FC you have I 
have opted to illustrate with an FC that I actually use. The majority of VTX units
have power wires (Red +, and Black GND), a Video IN wire (yellow) this is the feed 
that the VTX will send to the goggles, and a SmartAudio wire (green in this case).

The Racer Range pictured also has 5+ Volts and GND to power a camera should 
the FC not have power leads for the camera, however, most of them do, so I
generally power the camera from the FC rather than the VTX. This VTX has only
one video (yellow) connection. Since, I want to see the OSD information, the
video wire on the VTX is connected to the Vout on the FC. The Camera is connected
to the Camera connections on the FC. 

If you don't want to see the OSD information, then the camera feed (yellow) could 
be connected to the VTX video. NOTE: It does NOT work to connect the yellow
video wire on the VTX to both the FC and the Camera. Been there, tried it, it was
more than awful. Short answer, do NOT do that. Pick one of the other. The VTX
video (yellow) wire should connect to the FC or the Camera, but NOT Both.

This is a standard wiring method.


Some VTX models do have a video input for the camera, 
but the one shown is NOT one of them.


Later, iFly  

(11-Mar-2024, 12:36 PM)iFly4rotors Wrote:
Hi NewToFPV,

So, do you have anything yet OR are you starting a ground zero? 
Do you have any experience flying a quadcopter and do you have
any soldering and assembly skills?

Is $ 200 your total budget?  For everything? Or, just a quad?

If you have nothing, then you will need everything:
1) A quad.
2) Transmitter
3) Goggles
4) Batteries
5) Battery Charger
6) Some tools
7) Extra Propellers
8) Repair Parts (when something breaks and it will).

In addition to having resources (money) for parts and such, if you
lose the quad, then you will need another one to stay in the game.
The initial cost is just the beginning. 

Of course you will also need a computer to run configuration software. 
Although it is possible to use a phone for some things, in my opinion
a computer is still better for bench work. 

ELRS is the current popular RC Link protocol, so the transmitter will
likely use ELRS. Cost?  Starts about $ 70 USD and then it goes up.

Then there is the choice in the video subsystem. Given your budget,
you are looking at analog systems; both on the quad and for the goggles.
Analog goggles start at about $ 50 USD and go up from there. You can
get a decent set of goggles for about $ 100 USD. 

Starting with nothing, it will realistically cost about $ 350 to $ 400 USD
to get you started. 

That said, if your total budget is really $ 200 USD, then a combo kit which
includes everything starts at about $ 240 USD. Now, that will have a smaller
quad, but it will get you started and in the air flying.

Some will also suggest that you get a simulator and practice a lot of hours
before you actually fly. However, it is not absolutely necessary.

Some will say only learn and only fly in ACRO mode. Again, this is the most
challenging mode to fly and is NOT mandatory or even necessary. You can 
start out in ANGLE mode until you get the feel of the controller and learn 
how to fly. By the way, there are NO bad habits. The controls work the same 
way in all flight modes. 

Back to the quad itself, there are several decent small BNF (Bind aNd Fly) quads
out there ranging from about $ 100 USD to about $ 150 USD. In my opinion, the
GEPRC SMART Toothpick Freestyle (formerly the Phantom) is still one of the best
small freestyle quads on the market for about $ 130 USD. This is still one of my
favorite quads to fly. This is my preference.

The EMAX Tinyhawk II for about $ 140 USD is another good choice. Yes, I have
one and like it as well.

Now a word about building. First, building is NOT cheaper than buying a BNF. 
The advantages of building are that you know how to repair the quad when it
breaks. Yes, it will break. Plus, you will get the experience of building something.
Although building is fun, it does require some soldering skills and, of course, all
of the tools necessary for soldering and assembly.



Later, iFly 

Hello,

Thanks for your response I am searching for a BNF fpv drone, I have the Lite radio 3 pro ELRS and the VR03 goggles...
My solder skills are pretty good so I actully also want to build one.
But if I would build one I would want to buy a kit.
I have a little experience cause at this point I am flying the meteor 65 pro.
Thanks everyone to give me an answer it means a lot to me!
Regards

---

(11-Mar-2024, 08:33 PM)Pathfinder075 Wrote: If your total budget is $200, then it's going to be hard to find something, but not impossible.  So lets say that is for everything, then bare bones spec.  

BetaFPV Literadio 2 SE ELRS can often be found on FB Marketplace for not a lot, say $30 or less
BetaFPV VR02 goggles can be found for roughly the same on FB Marketplace
Darwin BabyApe ELRS $95 (GetFPV)
SkyRC e3 2-3S Charger $15
CNHL 3S 650mAh 2x Pack $16
plus some shipping costs

Total would be around $200.

Thanks for the response I will take a look at it!

(09-Mar-2024, 11:25 PM)Pathfinder075 Wrote: Darwin BabyApe is under $200.  It would get you started and you could upgrade it a little as money became available or take the parts and put them on a better frame.

If not maybe something like this.

Thanks!

---

(09-Mar-2024, 09:44 PM)hugnosed_bat Wrote: https://oscarliang.com/cheapest-fpv-drone-build/

here it is, oscars suggestion for your request :-)
pretty close to 200$

Thanks!

(11-Mar-2024, 08:33 PM)Pathfinder075 Wrote: If your total budget is $200, then it's going to be hard to find something, but not impossible.  So lets say that is for everything, then bare bones spec.  

BetaFPV Literadio 2 SE ELRS can often be found on FB Marketplace for not a lot, say $30 or less
BetaFPV VR02 goggles can be found for roughly the same on FB Marketplace
Darwin BabyApe ELRS $95 (GetFPV)
SkyRC e3 2-3S Charger $15
CNHL 3S 650mAh 2x Pack $16
plus some shipping costs

Total would be around $200.

Thanks but I have already the Lite radio 3 pro ELRS and the VR03 goggles...
I also have som battery's, a charger etc...
But thanks for your response!
Regards

Hello
I was wondering if someone knows a few good quadcopters with a camera on board that records HD, but you can use it with analog googles?
Regards

(05-Apr-2024, 09:37 AM)NewToFPV Wrote: I was wondering if someone knows a few good quadcopters with a camera on board that records HD, but you can use it with analog googles?

Not anymore unfortunately. The best cameras for that setup used to be the RunCam Hybrid and the Caddx Tarsier which are both dual lens cameras with one being dedicated to the analog FPV feed and the other being dedicated for onboard 4K recording which meant that you didn't get any of the issues you get with the "split" type cameras which used the same lens for both onboard recording and the FPV and just made the image and latency of the FPV feed feel odd.

Maybe you can still find a pre-owned one of the above two dual lens cameras somewhere on the used marketplace if you look hard enough, but they were discontinued 2-3 years ago when digital systems appeared on the market.

Your only other option is to mount one of the lightweight stick type cameras on the quad for onboard HD recording such as one of the following cameras:

• Insta360 GO 3 (~$360 USD; The original GO and GO 2 are also options but are discontinued so generally only available on the pre-owned marketplace unless you can find a vendor who still has some new-old-stock in their warehouse)
  
• RunCam Thumb (~$45 USD)
  
• RunCam Thumb Pro (~$90 USD)
  
• Caddx Peanut (~$260 USD)
  

Make sure you look at some reviews of the above 4 cameras if you decide to go that route. The more expensive ones yield better results, so it depends what you are after and what your budget is.

Hawkeye also do a cheap version of the Thumb Pro with reasonable image quality. I did muse over putting a split on a quad, but mounting the camera where the action cam would go and not actually connecting anything but the power and trigger pads to the FC. Kind of a poor mans action cam, but considering you can buy a Hawkeye 4k for £50 or a Runcam Orange for around £80-100, it doesn't make sense unless you have a split in your spares box.

But i'm one of those that would never buy a GoPro and would buy the cheapest solution, especially for bandos. I want something that if it gets destroyed flying somewhere doesn't require me to remortgage my house to buy a replacement. So a £40-50 action camera is more than adequate for what I do. I am also not an FPV celeb or influencer or reviewer or anything in particular. I just like flying and sometimes showing my friends my random videos. There are already far too many people doing reviews and crazy flights and only a handful of them are any good at it. That area is already over saturated.

I have a Rancam Split lite here that records HD 1080 60FPS onto a SDcard, and it's also the flight camera, actually the recording are O.K., the main issue is flight footage going back to the goggles is rather narrow field of view, and very low dynamic range, and not a joy to fly with, so I am no longer using the camera.

If your going to be spending money, it might be time to consider something like a 1S Walksnail Camera setup and adding the Walksnail VRX to your analog Goggles. The Walksnail setups now come with 32G on board recording, and the recording output can be fairly amazing once processed.

e.g.


I love to know what the upscaled that video with, it's amazing output of the Walksnail 1S VTX.