Hello everyone, Just thought I'd take the opportunity to say hi' and introduce myself. Also I'd like to tap into the global think tank that is this forum so I don't make any school-boy errors from the get-go. I've recently bought a syma x5c-1 and an indoor airhogs mini drone for my little lad (6 yrs old) for xmas and planned on flying the syma together outside which is what sparked my interest, cue two weeks of watching nearly all of uav futures excellent videos on YouTube. Which is leading me to two trains of thought with one overriding factor- money, do I build a quad and develop all the skills I need with the extra cost of tools etc... pushing back the time by months to get flying or do I just go down the rtf route and upgrade or repair as required.
I'm thinking of a wizard x220s rtf and just fly LOS - hovering, opposite boxes, fig 8's then bite the bullet and get a really good radio (x7 taranus) and aomway goggles.
My limiting factors are of course spare cash so it will only be two lipos to start with and maybe an upgraded charger, additionally I'm only running a chrome book laptop although I have managed to download betaflight to look at it already.
If anyone has any thoughts I'd appreciate the advice.
17-Dec-2017, 11:50 AM (This post was last modified: 17-Dec-2017, 11:53 AM by Oscar.)
build or RTF has always been the chicken or egg question, there is no right answer.
I built my first quad, and I would do that again if I were just starting. And get the QX7 now, This will probably save you some money buying duplicated items.
Awesome, looks a great build, can you recommend where to buy these parts in the UK as I'll probably way up the cost of to the new wizard RTF which is around £175 and make a deal on a radio charger upgrades?
I recommend getting your parts from the same vendor, it's easier to manage.
Banggood is a controversial vendor because they sell a lot of clones, but they offer free shipping and prices are usually lower than local RC shops (online and offline), and they are pretty good with replacing/refunding faulty parts (from my experience). I usually recommend them to beginners for these reasons. Also you don't usually get charged custom tax buying from them. Shipping can be a bit slow though usually takes 2 weeks to arrive in the UK.
Buying locally in the UK is faster, but you generally get charged more for VAT and shipping, and often things are out of stock... I only use them when I need something urgently.
17-Dec-2017, 11:51 PM (This post was last modified: 17-Dec-2017, 11:52 PM by Carl.Vegas.)
Hey Wild, welcome to the forum!
If I were to do it over again I'd probably repeat my own experience much like Oscar says. The difference between Oscar and I though is that I started with an ARF model rather than build.
I would recommend going ARF (Almost ready to fly or add receiver and fly depending on who you ask) rather than RTF. The reason is you might as well start with a good radio like the QX7 that Oscar suggests. RTFs are going to ship with a cheapy radio that may or may not work with other equipment. Also, first builds can be a bit failure-prone and having a start with something more robust is nice, or it was for me.
Wizard is a bit low-end and I've known folks who've had problems with them early on. They have ARF versions I think but it might be better to go with something a little more robust.
carl.vegas Current Quads:Operational: Diatone GT2 200 In need of repair: Bumble Bee, tehStein, Slightly modified Vortex 250
Can I ask you to cut and paste links to what your parts are and put them in your post?
Having to click through lots of abbreviated mobile phone screen shots and search for each part listing is far more work than you should expect someone to do as well as answer your question!
Hope this is better, I'm buying this piece at a time starting with the frame or the tx depending on how much green I've got left after Xmas with three kids!
Obviously this req's straps, xt60, lipo and goggles etc, etc..
Thanks very much for taking the time to look as I'd hate to buy something all the way from china to find out it it's incompatible or redundant.
Ideally start with the TX (if finances allow) so you can get started with flying sims asap, oh and practice your soldering if you're rusty/inexperienced... The more you crash virtually, the less you will crash in real life, theoretically anyway! Sims are also a great way to introduce your youngsters, without the physical dangers you can face in the field.
If you can pull yourself away from cool flight vids on youtube, do some research on the configurator that you will be using (I guess BetaFlight). It should help demystify your first set up a bit. I also think that the FC is a good thing to get early on, when purchasing bits over time, so you can plug it in and get it communicating with your PC. Some computers (Not mentioning any names WINDOWS) make it a real headache getting the configurator to recognize that the board is connected. Try to avoid the frustration of having a fully built quad, charged batteries and great weather, then it takes 6 flipping hours to download all the drivers and sort the PC out to get everything talking to each other!
If you get a combo deal for the TX and RX, then you should be able to (temporarily) solder the RX to the FC and make sure that they are communicating as well.
The downside of buying bits over time, is that the technology advances so quickly that there will be something better available before your FC (or whatever) has even been delivered. Sod's law applies heavily in this hobby, watch out for the only puddle in the vicinity... You will find out soon enough...!
(24-Dec-2017, 08:59 PM)Tom BD Bad Wrote: The more you crash virtually, the less you will crash in real life, theoretically anyway!
I wish this was the case for me... it seems I am always learning something in the simulator that I crash when I do... and then I go out in the real air and crash there as well... that's why I am always repairing my quads, cause I beat them up so much! lol.
More virtual crashes can mean more real life crashes... but it's OK if you want that to be the case like me!
carl.vegas Current Quads:Operational: Diatone GT2 200 In need of repair: Bumble Bee, tehStein, Slightly modified Vortex 250
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