This morning I burnt out a VTx... it's actually the 4th VTx that have I had for the bumblebee and the very idea of buying a 5th makes me frustrated. I won't go into the details of what happened other than to say I have a pretty good idea as to why it died on me and I should be able to pop a new one in and have everything working fine. 

Yesterday I decided that today was going to be a full 10 battery flying day. I had some spots that I wanted to go, got batteries charged up, was ready. This morning I got the car packed up, went to the first spot, got set up... Got in the air, and noticed a strange electrical burning smell... I figured it was a nearby diesel truck that was parked in the parking lot. Maybe that's why he was parked there? I dunno... Flew around, made a pretty cool pass around a little hill thing staying low to the ground with the curve of the land and busted into the dirt... crash! hey fun, I am used to that by now. I went out and grabbed it no prop damage nice!

I got back to base (my car) fixed some zip ties put the quad back on the ground... armed... view was fuzzy, then went out... noticed the smell again... picked it up, really noticed the smell (ever sniffed a quad's butt before? I can honestly say that I have now!)... checked channel display on VTx... no lights... definitely the VTx is dead...

So I am a half a battery in... and already done for... at least with my main quad. I have the pirat with me but still haven't really got it tuned and I'd rather do that work at the RC park... so it's off to home for me. 

Where this becomes extra discouraging is... it seems I am at a point in my learning and in the hobby where I am never able to just go fly. I never finish all my batteries before I am grounded because of problems. I think it's been almost 2 months now since I've flown 10 batteries for a full flying day. It feels like there is constantly some catastrophic issue that needs repair that I have to wait on a part for or doesn't show itself until after I am already out in the field (like my Rx  issues). 

Some of this has to do with the fact that I am getting better at flying. about 1/3rd of issues are from crashes like when I had to replace a motor on the bumblebee and the diatone currently being out because it doesn't have a camera. Still it's kind of got me feeling like it's a never ending cycle of screwed up equipment. 

Do you guys ever go through these phases of frustration? if so, what do you do to get through it? fly less risky? use better parts for builds? take a break? use it as an excuse to build a new quad that takes advantage of everything you learned when building the first 2?

Crashing and equipment failures...the cost of doing business Carl.  While I was learning to fly FPV (still am), I got so discouraged I almost threw the whole mess in a garbage can.  I was sooooo tired of struggling to keep it in the air (and not doing a very good job at it) and then hunting the damn thing down after the last thing I saw in the camera was the makings of a furious cartwheel or the bark of a tree .......or the back of my head (yes I did).  Anyway, there is a member on this board who is not around a lot anymore (our loss) that gave me constant encouragement and it is largely because of him, I kept at it.  Then one day I realized there was alot less crashing and a lot more flying and all of a sudden it was FUN!  I've never looked back.  Do I still crash?  Oh hell yes....some pretty horrific ones from time to time.  Do I still break stuff?  You betcha!  Does stuff just seem to break on it's own?  yep.  Do I fly less risky? Nope......can't learn and improve if you never take a chance (within reason)....Do I take a break....well thats still pretty much built into my schedule.....you mentioned flying 10 packs a day....it will take me at least two weeks to fly that many packs.  Once I retire, I might get to be a 10 pack a day guy too.  If you're feeling overwhelmed and frustrated, then take a break...certainly nothing wrong with that.  I'm pretty sure you've got the bug and I dont see you giving up any time soon......and thats a very good thing!!

When i break a quad... i put it aside and fly my other ones until i can get myself together to fix it - or until i run out of other quads

Yes it's frustrating, especially when it's not an easy fix i.e. have to take apart half of the quad, or have to wait (and pay) for parts...

Thanks SirDude.

10 packs is my standard full 2-4 hours flying day... usually Saturdays and I generally bring lunch with me  I think as for flying skills go, part of my problem is that I am learning more and getting better. Now that I can fly thought a gap that's only 4-5' big at speed while ascending and accelerating there is much more than can go wrong with that than when I was gently traveling towards a plastic gate that would break a prop or two lol. Despite the reduction in total time in the air I have started to turn another corner in my learning where certain techniques come to me rather than me intentionally trying to find them and figure them out. I still don't quite know what it means but my improvement definitely feels different and more advanced these days than before.

FF, putting it aside is what I've been doing for 2 months... only now I am typically down to just the Vortex... maybe I should spend a full day just flying it for the fun of it... get used to that big bulky monster again! After all my others being about 500g or so AUW the heavier more awkwardly shaped vortex seems to take a lot of extra work to fly the way I want it to but it's still a decent quad and it's what I learned on

What's getting me now is how each time I fix something... there is another problem before I can even enjoy the fix.

I think what I might do is a combination... I'll order a new VTx from china on purpose... and maybe a new camera for the diatone... and a new frame for the ghost. Then spend the next 3 weeks only flying the vortex and or simulators for a while... get back to my early days of practicing and learning and kinda re-build from the basic blocks again... I mean that's the kind of stuff they do in Karate movies isn't it? 

yeah... that's it... I'll do it like a Karate movie... :ninja:

drats... no ninja smiley

I've been fairly discouraged in the last couple of weeks, a combination of bad weather, and trying to eliminate jello from my new runcam split (still haven't completely fixed this). Yesterday was a clear and perfect day for flying, and the thought of further jello troubleshooting was a real downer, so i decided to ignore it completely and just go fly for fun with no concern for video quality. I charged up all 4 of my packs and hit a local football oval, and by the time I was finished I just felt happy!

It's easy to get discouraged at times, there is nothing wrong with taking a break for a bit and re-approaching the issue when you're refreshed.

(06-Aug-2017, 09:11 PM)Carl.Vegas Wrote: yeah... that's it... I'll do it like a Karate movie... :ninja:

I'll meet you in DOP's garage in a bit...! 

This forum has kept me in the game! You guys with your constant encouragement, inspiring vids and stories is whet gets me through the dark times! Carl, your problems remind me of my buddy's Landrover, when everything is working perfectly it put pressure on the entire vehicle so that the next oldest part breaks down within a few days!

(07-Aug-2017, 03:46 AM)Snuffypot11 Wrote: I've been fairly discouraged in the last couple of weeks, a combination of bad weather, and trying to eliminate jello from my new runcam split (still haven't completely fixed this). Yesterday was a clear and perfect day for flying, and the thought of further jello troubleshooting was a real downer, so i decided to ignore it completely and just go fly for fun with no concern for video quality. I charged up all 4 of my packs and hit a local football oval, and by the time I was finished I just felt happy!

It's easy to get discouraged at times, there is nothing wrong with taking a break for a bit and re-approaching the issue when you're refreshed.

Hey Snuffy... I think this is similar to the approach that I am considering. Just fly the old stuff and simulators and not care about if it looks good, or if I can do the things I've been trying to do lately, or any of it. Just get in the air and have fun. Yesterday I spent about an hour flying on liftoff, mostly in the stadium, just circling above the seats trying not to hit the roof switching between the first and second level. It was hypnotic almost and a lot of fun  so I think I am already on the right path.    

(07-Aug-2017, 04:46 AM)Tom BD Bad Wrote: I'll meet you in DOP's garage in a bit...! 

This forum has kept me in the game! You guys with your constant encouragement, inspiring vids and stories is whet gets me through the dark times! Carl, your problems remind me of my buddy's Landrover, when everything is working perfectly it put pressure on the entire vehicle so that the next oldest part breaks down within a few days!

 he has popcorn in there!

That's true, maybe part of the issue is that I need a little perspective. Part of why I haven't really had much problem with being very discouraged so far (other than being really ticked off about individual issues... but never all the issues at once like it feels like now) is because I've had this place to keep me going. I read pretty much every post and ask just about any question that comes to mind and try to help the people I happen to have insight on their problems or I try to ask probing questions that might help others help and it keeps me going  

Mentioning land rover though... now you've put it in perspective that I hadn't considered before. I didn't just go through this kind of phase once with auto racing but a few times. Unfortunately the end of my time with auto racing was a phase like this that ended in my car being garaged for the last 3 or 4 years now. The difference is even catastrophe (all quads being dead beyond repair) just means I'd need to spend another 300 bucks to build a new one. So it's better than auto racing because its easier to recover. So I am going to try to keep that in mind while I try to do karate zen basics.

Thanks guys!

I really understand your frustration Carl.

I've not been on much recently as my vacation is over and I'm back to work. I've also started learning how to fly fixed wing which has resulted in some fairly spectacular and destructive crashes. What with rebuilding foam board airplanes, building a spray booth for my new airbrush, fixing various quads and getting back into the groove at work I've not found any time for surfing the forum or much else.

At the moment, it feels like I have more stuff that's broken or half completed than anything else. The fact that the weather has been poor and windy every day really doesn't help either.

yeah... I feel for you Unseen and definitely can relate back.

I think one thing that I have confirmed is that I am a flyer first and a builder more as a way to fly. I learned to build so that I can repair problems as they occur (which I've had to do more than I expected). I think I need to find a friend that is the opposite that I can work with building and flying on, but that can come later.

So this plan above might turn out to be exactly what I needed. Essentially what I've done is taken away the pressures of building and repairing by focusing on simulator time. Also with simulator time I don't have to wait to charge up batteries or for enough time to drive the 20-60min each way that it takes to get to a flying spot so I've got more stick time already this week than I typically would in a month (including my typical hour or so of simulator time that I usually put in).

I also have started to fine tune some overall techniques in the simulators that I've always admired seeing a lot of the experienced guys do in their youtube videos. I also got a new computer with pretty nice graphics so I may upload a simulator video before it's all said and done.

As for parts: yesterday I ordered a new frame for the ghost, a new camera for the diatone, and a new VTx for the bumblebee so once they're in my "fleet" as folks have called it, should be operational again. Well with the exception of the ghost as it may take some extra work to get rebuilt since it's getting a whole new frame and all. For now my mind is clear of all three though and I am focused on flying. I'll worry about the repairs in 3 or so weeks when everything gets here from China.

you need multiple quads Yup the worst I've had is I break an arm on first pack
Learned the lesson in the hard way, and now I bring 3 every time just in case

(11-Aug-2017, 03:31 PM)Oscar Wrote: ... and now I bring 3 every time just in case

Its all right for some! Oscar's biggest problem - Choosing which 3 to bring!?
Knowing my luck, my 1st pack would end in a crash into the bag, breaking the other 2!

I need to get to a place where I am flying the same equipment on each of the quads. I already have 4 minis but none of them can inter-exchange parts and none of them fly remotely similar to one another. After I get the ghost guts in a Martian I think the flying part might be a little better off but we'll see... If I like that Frankenstein build then it might be my new standard and I'll just build a couple more like it. For now though, I am focused 100% on flying only... no building or repairing for me for 3 weeks!

I've been through this before, and it was mostly video related issues I ran into. I used to buy the cheap vtx from banggood for $15, I find that those crap out after a while. Using quality electronics will keep you in the air and in the long run actually save you money because a lot of them have warranty coverage from the manufacturer.

The Asgard FC, TBS unfiy pro and hs1190 v3 are all solid electronics, but I guess everyone has their go-to gear. I used to do almost a weekly visit to the local shop, but I haven't had to replace any of these parts all summer!.

With all that said, you should show up with at least 3 good working quads on fly day. If you break all of them in 1 day, that's probably a good time to call it quits anyway. I used to frankenstein quads too but I ended up losing out in some races because of bad equipment / build. Focus on building 3 good machines and you'll get more flight time in the long run.

Thanks to everyone for some good advice and words of encouragement. As for having 3 good quads I am a little ways off from that. I think I have about half to 2/3rds of my preferred elements locked in at this point. It would be great if after 2 builds I was an expert or at least knew enough to have strong opinions, but unfortunately that is unrealistic.