Hi, I'm just starting out on my journey into quads and FPV.  I have very little kit, but have been watching a lot of youtube vids and reading a bunch of websites.  I think I have a fair idea what i want

I have a donated Jumper controller with ELRS built in, so far.  I am looking at either a BetaFPV 95X or Pavo30 for my first drone, but since neither comes with ELRS I assume I will need to buy a receiver and solder it myself, so looking at PNP options for both.  For video I will probably go with the Skyzone Cobra S.  I will buy things as funds allow, so hopefully have a basic setup by June/July.

Overall I want a quad that can be flown outside primarily, but also has some poke and would be slightly forgiving when piloted by a noob.  I might also get a smaller, quad for indoor use.  Mostly though I want to be able to head off and fly outside.

Future wise, I would like to look into using drones professionally.  I have some ideas of where i could integrate them into things I already do, work wise.

Welcome to the site, I guess if you ask enough people you'll get different answers all correct in some way or another. When I started a year ago there seemed to be a lot of suggestions for a cinewhoop like you're talking about for their first quad. Also a lot of suggestions to go with a 5" quad as your first. Personally I'm very much in the later now.

With these whoops being plastic for the most part I think the potential for damage is much greater and I don't know if there are available parts readily available outside of ordering direct from China. While you may get some protection flying around people, would you need to be flying around people right away? They also can't carry much so you're stuck with the smaller cams if that is your ultimate goal.

The 5" quads also fly much better, I think they're more resilient in an environment like a field. It took me forever to crack my first Nazgul arm and it was still flyable since it didn't crack all the way through. The Roma is another good first quad or even the GepRC Mark 5 which Bardwell just released a video on today. Sure you'll go through some more props without the prop guards but there are a ton of available 5" props to be had.

Welcome  

Ah Yes, In the beginning... decisions, decisions...

Given that I want to  minimize my entanglement with the FAA, my  primary focus is the
sub-250 gram category. So, I view this decision as perhaps the first one to make.

If sub-250 gram is a concern, then the smaller quads will be the focus. Even though
I have built sub-250 gram 5 inch quads, these are NOT Freestyle Bando Killers nor
racers. A sub-250 gram 5 inch is more of a cruiser.

Now, keep in mind that the first quad will not be the last. There will likely be many
if you stay in the hobby. So, don't try to get everything in the first quad. 

Whoop quads are not bad. First, they actually are quite durable. I have yet to break
a whoop on any of my quads that have them. Second, whoops can be flown in the
house with relative safety. It is not about breaking the quad, it is about protecting
objects and living things from getting cut by a blade.

Both of the whoops you listed should be ok for indoors or outside. 

If you don't need an indoor quad, then you might consider an open prop quad
that will work where you want to fly. A 2.5 inch or 3 inch works pretty well if the
location is small. A 5 inch needs some space.







 

I think I'm more in the camp of start with something fun with enough poke to fly outside in far from calm conditions and 6-12 months later get something better. I would definitely like to build my own at some point, maybe a freestyle drone as my first build. But for now, it's more a case of getting something that's fairly bulletproof to learn on, but while still having enough power to make life fun and interesting. I suppose I need to start building up a list of places I can fly it. Maybe find some people local to me that fly as well. I had a quick look at fpvuk and a few pins popped up near to me.

I think when i get the drone and receiver I might be asking some questions about how to integrate them both. I kind of have an idea, and a few videos have touched on it, but mostly it seems to be crossfire and tracer. But that's for another day, when I have the kit.

@iFly4rotors. I'm UK based so no FAA, although we do have the CAA, but I don't think they are quite as hardcore as their American counterpart. I think its mostly put your pilot number on the drone and don't do anything unusually stupid while flying it. Whether anyone actually does that I have no clue. If you are flying anything heavier than 250g I think it's a requirement. But I haven't fully explored this.

Welcome!

EDIT: I just realised after writing all of the below that I forgot to say welcome to the forum, so "Welcome to the forum"

(25-Apr-2022, 05:56 PM)Pathfinder075 Wrote: I'm UK based so no FAA, although we do have the CAA, but I don't think they are quite as hardcore as their American counterpart.  I think its mostly put your pilot number on the drone and don't do anything unusually stupid while flying it.  Whether anyone actually does that I have no clue.  If you are flying anything heavier than 250g I think it's a requirement.  But I haven't fully explored this.

It depends. If you follow the rules by the book then you need to pass the CAA flyer test and get a flyer ID, then also register yourself as an operator and put your operator ID on every quad that you own including tiny 20g whoops because any hobby FPV quads with a camera fitted to them needs to have an operator registration ID clearly visible on them. Hobby FPV quads all fall under the A3 sub-category of the Open Category because none of them have a certified "C" rating.

You also need another person with you to act as a spotter whenever flying FPV and you are prohibited from flying beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) which basically means no more than a few hundred metres out so that if you lift your googles you can easily see your quad, as can your spotter.

And then there is the 25mW maximum legal output power limit for your 5.8GHz video link, plus similar low maximum legal output power limits for the RC link.

Now you can probably see why a majority of FPV pilots fly illegally in one way or another. It's up to you what rules you abide by but as long as you fly responsibly well away from any people (i.e. not in a local park where you might upset people, but in the middle of nowhere where there virtually no other people) then you won't draw any unwanted attention to yourself or risk any confrontations either with members of the public or the authorities.

One other thing to note is that breaking model aircraft rules is now classified as a criminal offence in the UK and not just a civil offence as it is in a lot of other countries. So if you break any rules just make sure you don't get caught.

If you want a bit of light bed-time reading then take a look at the CAP 722 document HERE  All the rules and regulations are defined in there. There are also some other documents to ponder over HERE.

If you join FPVUK you can get a waiver for some of the rules under Article 16, but in order to qualify that does require that you are following all of the other rules & regulations.

The bottom line is that I don't think the EU/UK rules are any better or more lax than those in the USA.

You will find plenty of past rants on this forum from me about all of the nonsense rules and regulations in the UK around flying model aircraft and FPV.