about myself, retired airline pilot with too much time on my hands more so coz of the pandemic. been into RC for at least three decades of my life going on and off due to work. flew airplanes and helis with more interest doing the fun stuff, 3D aerobatics, etc. i have always looked down on quads on the get go due to poor implementation, FCs from tech of not so long ago. i also downplayed the fpv concept as just a higher form of video game carry over into the RC world. i have always thought drones were fully stabilized machines where anyone with so-so skills can muster.

until recently this FPV discipline has caught my fancy. i have come to discover these machines are no different from my FBL helicopters flying in rate mode! after a few clicks at banggood came my happymodel moblite7, flysky transmitter, and EV800D box goggles. setting up the FC was a total PITA which took a good half day of my life as i am not a very tech savvy hobbyist! after that ordeal came the  initial LOS flights at rate mode which as i expected was totally uneventful as i have a decent hand in handling FBL helis. 

now comes the fun part! on comes the FPV goggles and this is the most humbling experience in my RC hobby life. dang this thing is terribly difficult to fly looking into that small tv screen! i spent the entire session picking up the drone after countless times i just had to crash and hit disarm for fear of a fly away and utter disorientation! i flew in a vacant grassy patch which was totally featureless making it more difficult to establish visual reference points.

i know many of you may think i should have started out with a simulator. but i picked a very light tiny whoop in lieu of a sim. after my initial session on the grassy patch i flew a couple of packs indoors where the moblite7 had some rather ouch moments hitting walls, floors, and anything hard inside my living room. the thing just kept coasting along without a single scratch! thanks to my innate skill to hit the disarm switch! as a glimmer of hope, i did find that brief a-ha moment when i seemed to have the thing under control hovering for a blissful 20 seconds! oh yes, there may be some hope for an old goat like me after all.

the whole initial experience further piqued my interest and posed a challenge to my middle aged RC skill set. now i have a profound respect for the youtube fpv fliers who make it all seem like child’s play which is very far from being so!

i have a very steep learning curve ahead and signing up with intofpv hopefully should fill me in on precious information from the more experienced members. all for now, cheers and be safe!

Welcome to the forum

Welcome Hawk01 !!

There are several of us "Old Goat" retirees around here, so you will fit in just fine.

Scott

thanks for the warm welcomes! it is good to know that i am not alone…

Welcome to the forum.

i hope its fine to place my initial inquiries within this thread i opened so here it goes:

while the challenge of flying fpv is VERY daunting, my less than perfect eyesight is not helping my cause. i use +2.00 reading glasses and still have decent distance vision. i bought an eachine EV800D due to cost and suggestions that box goggles are easier to use on the get go as a newbie. in its stock form i am able to appreciate the display and am able to read the OSD with some amount of squinting without my reading glasses! i have read some crafty fpv folks have diy’d mounting their prescription frames inside the EV800D box. i would appreciate if anyone who already did this mod show me their project! pics would be most appreciated!

second of all, i successfully updated the moblite7 firmware and set it up with betaflight following the inclusive owner’s manual. however, i encountered a major hitch with BLheli. i followed the manual and was able to update the ESCs but something went amiss since there was a discrepancy in the option list from which i was supposed to flash the new firmware. it ended up as being “unidentified” by BLheli. i feared the poor ESCs had become toast or bricked but fortunately they still work despite this setup fiasco! which got me thinking, do i really need to set up the ESCs with BLheli??? as my moblite7 flew just fine as it is after updating to betaflight 4.2.XXX. i was only interested conmecting to BLheli for diagnostic purposes and hopefully tweaking the chime settings as an aid for searching the quad in event of loss.

hoping the folks chime in! thanks!

I do not have an EV800D but here is an example if you have a 3d printer and can print something basic: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4716911/files

Can you confirm what ESC configurator you used? The Moblite7 comes with blheli_s esc's and requires the BLHeliSuite which you can download from here: https://www.mediafire.com/folder/dx6kfaa...LHeliSuite

Note: Do not use the 32 bit versions of the BLHeliSuite as that is not compatible with the Moblite7 ESC's.

(24-Nov-2021, 02:34 AM)kafie1980 Wrote: I do not have an EV800D but here is an example if you have a 3d printer and can print something basic: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4716911/files

Can you confirm what ESC configurator you used? The Moblite7 comes with blheli_s esc's and requires the BLHeliSuite which you can download from here: https://www.mediafire.com/folder/dx6kfaa...LHeliSuite

Note: Do not use the 32 bit versions of the BLHeliSuite as that is not compatible with the Moblite7 ESC's.

hey thanks for the assist! in the absence of any specific guidelines i think i actually used the 32bit version as you suggested to avoid. if that is the case i assume i must use option #1 on the mediafire link??

(24-Nov-2021, 02:34 AM)kafie1980 Wrote: I do not have an EV800D but here is an example if you have a 3d printer and can print something basic: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4716911/files

Can you confirm what ESC configurator you used? The Moblite7 comes with blheli_s esc's and requires the BLHeliSuite which you can download from here: https://www.mediafire.com/folder/dx6kfaa...LHeliSuite

Note: Do not use the 32 bit versions of the BLHeliSuite as that is not compatible with the Moblite7 ESC's.

sadly i do not have access to a 3D printer nor do i know anyone who provides that service nearby. i may need to muster my mickey mouse engineering skills to get this done! on the get go, i have thought about a similar implement to hold the framed lenses in place, i just need to find the right workable material to use…

(24-Nov-2021, 03:06 AM)hawk01 Wrote: sadly i do not have access to a 3D printer nor do i know anyone who provides that service nearby. i may need to muster my mickey mouse engineering skills to get this done! on the get go, i have thought about a similar implement to hold the framed lenses in place, i just need to find the right workable material to use…

You could carve a holder out of wood or some kind of plastic 

Even the 3d print designs you will find online may not suite your glasses so you will need some custom work done anyways.

If you can design your own, most FPV shops offer a 3d printing service or will atleast recommend you one they use.

(24-Nov-2021, 03:02 AM)hawk01 Wrote: hey thanks for the assist! in the absence of any specific guidelines i think i actually used the 32bit version as you suggested to avoid. if that is the case i assume i must use option #1 on the mediafire link??

Just download this exact file: https://www.mediafire.com/file/yaxfwc5e8...a.zip/file

I rarely recommend direct links to exe files because these days the internet can be a scary place.

(24-Nov-2021, 05:12 AM)kafie1980 Wrote: Just download this exact file: https://www.mediafire.com/file/yaxfwc5e8...a.zip/file

I rarely recommend direct links to exe files because these days the internet can be a scary place.

hmm, if i recall correctly that is the file i downloaded where the ESC’s did update after following the moblite7 manual instructions. however, things went sideways when i attempted to flash the FW. that is when the ESCs became “unidentified” so i did another attempt which proved futile. fortunately it did not freeze nor brick my escs. they are still usable despite updating only the betaflight firmware.

which leads me to ask, is it absolutely necessary to update BL heli for whatever purpose despite the ESCs workiing ok?

Tell you the truth you do not need to update any firmware on your quads if you are not comfortable at this point in time.

BLHeli_S has not had much updates for a long time but in case you need to make any changes such as reversing motor directions or beeper strength in the future.

You should be able to fly just as well on the factory tune.

(24-Nov-2021, 09:45 AM)kafie1980 Wrote: Tell you the truth you do not need to update any firmware on your quads if you are not comfortable at this point in time.

BLHeli_S has not had much updates for a long time but in case you need to make any changes such as reversing motor directions or beeper strength in the future.

You should be able to fly just as well on the factory tune.

my purpose was to hopefully increase the beeper volume only. otherwise the ESCs are working fine. as for the FC board i just had to update firmware as the controls seem off during initial connection.

i am never comfortable tweaking with software related matters in general especially if everything seems to be in working order. these actions when done incorrectly can result in dire consequences like losing data (dump file) or worse bricking the FC totally!