Hi guys! Well, as you can see in the title, I have been flying for a couple of years using the EV100 (I know, terrible goggles, but I got them for around 50$). I have been lately upgrading my gear, and right now my biggest drawback are by far my goggles. The thing is that I don't know if it's worth upgrading to a top tier video system, specially since I don't know if I will be able to fly a lot in the next one or two years as I'll be studying abroad.

Would you go for an acceptable budget system for now, or go for a top (or at least mid) tier one? I thought of going DJI, but maybe they might turn out not very "future proof", since if I invest in top tier gear I would expect to use it for at least 3-4 years. Also, on the other side, I was thinking of just selling my EV100s and going for something like a pair of EV800Ds to use for 1-2 years until I upgrade to something better.

Thanks in advance!

If you want to go for a top tier, DJI is the all the way man. Never look back to analog. You will never miss analog, once you experience DJI system .

DJI = Ticking time bomb

I have the DJI FPV system but I still enjoy flying my analogue stuff. I actually have more confidence with my analogue gear knowing that the video feed isn't just going to suddenly disappear. I get quite nervous flying with my DJI setup, especially when the video feed starts stuttering because I have no idea if I am going to end up with a frozen or black screen which can then take up to 30 seconds to come back again if that does happen. I don't currently have GPS rescue capabilities on any of my quads. The image quality through the DJI goggles however is amazing, but I just don't have the same level of confidence flying with it than I do with my analogue gear, so I am always a little on edge.

If you are looking to stick with analogue then it might be an idea to go for some mid range goggles like the Skyzone SKY04L or the FatShark Attitude V6. Both of those have LCOS screens instead of OLED which significantly reduces the cost. Otherwise just do as you suggested by going for all out budget range goggles to tide you over and get the EV800D's.

(14-Jul-2021, 10:40 AM)SnowLeopardFPV Wrote: I have the DJI FPV system but I still enjoy flying my analogue stuff. I actually have more confidence with my analogue gear knowing that the video feed isn't just going to suddenly disappear. I get quite nervous flying with my DJI setup, especially when the video feed starts stuttering because I have no idea if I am going to end up with a frozen or black screen which can then take up to 30 seconds to come back again if that does happen. I don't currently have GPS rescue capabilities on any of my quads. The image quality through the DJI goggles however is amazing, but I just don't have the same level of confidence flying with it than I do with my analogue gear, so I am always a little on edge.

If you are looking to stick with analogue then it might be an idea to go for some mid range goggles like the Skyzone SKY04L or the FatShark Attitude V6. Both of those have LCOS screens instead of OLED which significantly reduces the cost. Otherwise just do as you suggested by going for all out budget range goggles to tide you over and get the EV800D's.

Thank you for your answer! Yeap, I guess my problem is I would love to make the change to digital, but the cost + the fact that DJI might pull the plug in the next years on their standalone FPV system makes me a bit skeptical. And at the end of the day, good analog gear is on a similar price point to digital (not considering the price of air units and so oc). If you were me, would you invest in good gear or in something sort of a "transition" (budget for 1-2 years before upgrading)? I just upgraded to TX16s + ELRS (among other hardware), so I feel that going budget on my video link might be wasting the rest of my gear.

DJI digital system will continue to exist. It is likely that it may not receive updates from DJI directly, but its current state is more than enough for many pilots. You don't need to worry about it. Caddx is a official manufacturer of DJI digital system for FPV. This is a good sign. DJI system is a future proof. You don't need to worry about. It is time to explore digital

(14-Jul-2021, 11:14 AM)MadFPV Wrote: Thank you for your answer! Yeap, I guess my problem is I would love to make the change to digital, but the cost + the fact that DJI might pull the plug in the next years on their standalone FPV system makes me a bit skeptical. And at the end of the day, good analog gear is on a similar price point to digital (not considering the price of air units and so oc). If you were me, would you invest in good gear or in something sort of a "transition" (budget for 1-2 years before upgrading)? I just upgraded to TX16s + ELRS (among other hardware), so I feel that going budget on my video link might be wasting the rest of my gear.

in terms of value for money, the old highend lcd goggles like fatshark dominator v3 or an hd3 are best value for money in my eyes. oled is nice but not in terms of value for money in comparison. i use a fatshark hd3 and boughtbit used from a buddy for 150$ - im totaly happy with that.

your ev100 has a very small fov, pretty all more modern goggles will make a huge difference in experience therefor, i believe you cant go truly wrong on other lcd goggles ;-)

(14-Jul-2021, 11:56 AM)hugnosed_bat Wrote: in terms of value for money, the old highend lcd goggles like fatshark dominator v3 or an hd3 are best value for money in my eyes. oled is nice but not in terms of value for money in comparison. i use a fatshark hd3 and boughtbit used from a buddy for 150$ - im totaly happy with that.

your ev100 has a very small fov, pretty all more modern goggles will make a huge difference in experience therefor, i believe you cant go truly wrong on other lcd goggles ;-)

Thanks! I was thinking of maybe something like that, going for a cheap pair of second hand fatshark and using them for 2 years max. What's your opinion on the HD3? Aren't they a bit old? I have seen a couple of offers around 200€ (240$) here in Spain, but maybe that's a bit expensive.

(14-Jul-2021, 11:44 AM)johnwhip Wrote: DJI digital system will continue to exist. It is likely that it may not receive updates from DJI directly, but its current state is more than enough for many pilots. You don't need to worry about it. Caddx is a official manufacturer of DJI digital system for FPV. This is a good sign. DJI system is a future proof. You don't need to worry about. It is time to explore digital

I know, I just want to try DJI so badly, but it's just so expensive   I guess I could afford the goggles, but with the air unit it might be just too much.

200$ on a good looking hd3 seems ok to me, on 240$ i would like to see a module :-) thats my personal interpretation.
my one at 150$, used a lot but in well conditions anyway, was a very good offer by my buddy...

(14-Jul-2021, 06:51 PM)hugnosed_bat Wrote: 200$ on a good looking hd3 seems ok to me, on 240$ i would like to see a module :-) thats my personal interpretation.
my one at 150$, used a lot but in well conditions anyway, was a very good offer by my buddy...

I see, that sounds good! I have just been offered either a pair of Dom V3 + Pro58 for 150€ or a pair of HD3 + TrueD for 260€. I just don’t know if I can justify going for the HD3s given that I might go digital in 2 years or something like that. Is the Dom V3 (5 years old in this case) a good pair of goggles with the Pro58 or those extra 100€ for the HD3 give way more value for 1-2 years of use?

the difference between the donv3 and the hd3 is the fov. its a bit bigger than the hd3, some peoples doesnt like a huge fov, anyway both are much bigger about field of view compared to the ev100.

both are good choices, i dont know the pro58. a used true-d is worse for up to 50€, its a nice module, i use it by myself.

the dom has 16/9 option while the hd3 is limited to 4/3... but it doesnt seems important to me.

as you are unsure the less expensive offer sounds geeat enough, i belive you cant go wrong with both, 150€ on a quality fpv gear... or even 250€... you cant go wrong, no fear ;-) not to big difference between them.

(16-Jul-2021, 11:08 AM)hugnosed_bat Wrote: the difference between the donv3 and the hd3 is the fov. its a bit bigger than the hd3, some peoples doesnt like a huge fov, anyway both are much bigger about field of view compared to the ev100.

both are good choices, i dont know the pro58. a used true-d is worse for  up to 50€, its a  nice module, i use it by myself.

the dom has 16/9 option while the hd3 is limited to 4/3... but it doesnt seems important to me.

as you are unsure the less expensive offer sounds geeat enough, i belive you cant go wrong with both, 150€ on a quality fpv gear... or even 250€... you cant go wrong, no fear ;-) not to big difference between them.

Thank you so much for your answer, definitely super helpful! I guess I will go with the Dom V3 then, for what you are saying the upgrade over the EV100 will still be quite huge, and that is basically what I was looking for. And not planning to do ultra long range, so I guess that Pro58 with a couple of good antennas might still get me at least to 1km or something like that.
Again, thank you so much!

The Eachine Pro58 is a great budget module, made even better with the Achilles firmware installed on it. But sadly Eachine now appear to use an older version of the STM32 F1 MCU on the newest Pro58 modules which means you can no longer run the Achilles firmware on them. See another post HERE about that. It is still a great module on the stock Pro58 firmware but you just can't make it better anymore. You could of course try to find an older pre-owned version of the Pro58 module which has the newer F1 MCU on it, or which already has the Achilles firmware flashed to it by the seller.

EDIT: The Eachine Pro58 still appears to be JB's recommended budget option -> https://www.fpvknowitall.com/ultimate-fp...rk-modules

(16-Jul-2021, 12:49 PM)SnowLeopardFPV Wrote: The Eachine Pro58 is a great budget module, made even better with the Achilles firmware installed on it. But sadly Eachine now appear to use an older version of the STM32 F1 MCU on the newest Pro58 modules which means you can no longer run the Achilles firmware on them. See another post HERE about that. It is still a great module on the stock Pro58 firmware but you just can't make it better anymore. You could of course try to find an older pre-owned version of the Pro58 module which has the newer F1 MCU on it, or which already has the Achilles firmware flashed to it by the seller.

EDIT: The Eachine Pro58 still appears to be JB's recommended budget option -> https://www.fpvknowitall.com/ultimate-fp...rk-modules

Wow, thanks for the info! I think there should be no problem with the one I've been offered, as I guess it has a couple of years already. And the owner told me something about flashing Achilles, so it's possible that I will receive it flashed already.