Posts: 11 Threads: 4 Likes Received: 2 in 2 posts Likes Given: 4 Joined: Aug 2022 Reputation: 0 Posts: 4,550 Threads: 38 Likes Received: 1,245 in 1,064 posts Likes Given: 430 Joined: Aug 2020 Reputation: 118 Avoid Bangood like a plague. HobbyKing is fairly outdated for quads. GetFPV works great if its local to you. Prices are fairly reasonable IMO. I even bought stuff from them and paid postage all the way to Australia. The receiver and controller need to be re-considered. Get a ELRS 2.4 GHz system (#not sponsored). Probably best getting 6S lipos instead of 4S as you can just apply a throttle cut in Betaflight and "Bob's your uncle". The analog video feed to your phone will have latency and so get goggles instead. Posts: 858 Threads: 108 Likes Received: 106 in 83 posts Likes Given: 344 Joined: Nov 2019 Reputation: 3 For the love of anything sacred, get the ELRS sytem like Kafie said. Proud team pilot for brands I love: Dquad - Happymodel - Gemfan • Posts: 932 Threads: 49 Likes Received: 192 in 157 posts Likes Given: 186 Joined: Jul 2020 Reputation: 11 GetFPV is a reputable company, I’ve bought a lot from them and never an issue. Race day quads is another really good vendor in the states. Just be careful when ordering stuff that has been backordered as sometimes the stuff can be months out. • Posts: 858 Threads: 108 Likes Received: 106 in 83 posts Likes Given: 344 Joined: Nov 2019 Reputation: 3 Pyrodrone is by far my favorite to buy from. Last year I ordered a boxed set of motors and one was bad. Pyro didn't carry that motor anymore outside of the set, so I had to buy the one motor from Amazon at about $5 more. Pyro asked for the receipt from Amazon and paid me the amount. No hassle or anything. Love those guys. Proud team pilot for brands I love: Dquad - Happymodel - Gemfan Posts: 11 Threads: 4 Likes Received: 2 in 2 posts Likes Given: 4 Joined: Aug 2022 Reputation: 0 (18-Aug-2022, 08:00 AM)kafie1980 Wrote: Avoid Bangood like a plague. HobbyKing is fairly outdated for quads. GetFPV works great if its local to you. Prices are fairly reasonable IMO. I even bought stuff from them and paid postage all the way to Australia. The receiver and controller need to be re-considered. Get a ELRS 2.4 GHz system (#not sponsored). Probably best getting 6S lipos instead of 4S as you can just apply a throttle cut in Betaflight and "Bob's your uncle". The analog video feed to your phone will have latency and so get goggles instead. https://www.amazon.com/Happymodel-2-4GHz...QXCZ3?th=1 Like this? Will it be compatible? Why is it better? • Posts: 858 Threads: 108 Likes Received: 106 in 83 posts Likes Given: 344 Joined: Nov 2019 Reputation: 3 (18-Aug-2022, 09:18 PM)bdrones Wrote: https://www.amazon.com/Happymodel-2-4GHz...QXCZ3?th=1 Like this? Will it be compatible? Why is it better? It will be compatible with a controller like the Zorro. It's a much more solid rx link. FrSky is ancient. Proud team pilot for brands I love: Dquad - Happymodel - Gemfan • Posts: 787 Threads: 23 Likes Received: 621 in 429 posts Likes Given: 819 Joined: Jun 2020 Reputation: 31 18-Aug-2022, 11:16 PM (This post was last modified: 18-Aug-2022, 11:18 PM by brettbrandon.) (18-Aug-2022, 09:18 PM)bdrones Wrote: https://www.amazon.com/Happymodel-2-4GHz...QXCZ3?th=1 Like this? Will it be compatible? Why is it better? As I mentioned on the other forum, Amazon is almost always more expensive for the same thing... In this case, almost twice the price! Amazon $24.99 RDQ $13.49 https://www.racedayquads.com/products/ha...gKWfvD_BwE • Posts: 5,968 Threads: 47 Likes Received: 2,798 in 2,259 posts Likes Given: 7,778 Joined: Jul 2019 Reputation: 97 Hi bdrones, First, get the goggles. Trying to use your phone for FPV is awful. In theory, this might be a good idea, however, in reality, it is NOT. Maybe if you are "flying" a DJI drone that basically flies itself and will likely stay put if you drop the transmitter. FPV is quite the opposite, if you drop the transmitter, you drone will likely crash since no one is controlling it. Next, I would reconsider the Radio Remote Control Transmitter. The one you have chosen only has the FrSky D8 protocol. The Pro Version does include a few additional protocols including D16. Do yourself a favor and consider moving up scale here, you will be glad you did, especially if you decide to go with ELRS. Unless you get a RadioMaster TX16S II with ELRS built in, you will need to buy and external module for the Transmitter as well as receivers for the quad. This is the one place that I would not skimp on. Although you did mention cinematic, you didn't say what you expect from this Build. Do you want fast, furious, and short Fly Times; that translates to ACRO stunts, Freestyle, and Racing. The other end of the scale is endurance with Long Fly Times, smooth flight, stable flight characteristics...cinematic often falls more in this range. I mention the goal or purpose of the build because the components are quite different for one type over the other. The parts list looks more like an ACRO, Freestyle, build. As for vendors: PyroDrone is my number 1, go to vendor. They have pretty good inventory, nice website, they ship fast {they are in CA, I am in FL and I generally get my orders within a few days}, and their customer support is excellent. I had an order that I did not receive and they refunded my money...ALL of it. They are only seconded by Amazon. RDQ is my number 2 vendor. They are also pretty good, however, I rate their support behind PyroDrone. I have asked for information in the past and did not receive a satisfactory answer. Odd, considering that they build and fly drones. The do ship pretty fast, usually I get my orders within a week. I have ordered from GetFPV in the past, they are decent and ship pretty fast. From my perspective, their inventory is sometimes a little short and their prices are not any better than other places. I often find it challenging to collect enough parts from them to place an order. That said, I generally consider them in 3rd place. I will order from then if they have something that I need or just can't get anywhere else. Ah, Amazon. I do still order drone parts from Amazon even though it may cost a little more. First, I generally get Amazon orders in a day or two...sometimes on the day that I place the order. Amazing. Next, I have FREE shipping so there is that. However, mostly due to Amazon's AMAZING return and credit poliy; they are SECOND TO NONE anywhere on the planet for any product. They don't hassle you even if it is your mistake. I have recently ordered 2 sets of 4 motors (yeah, 8 total) and got them the next day. Show me another vendor, ANY venor, that has that kind of delivery for FREE. No, I don't work for Amazon, but we buy tons of stuff from them. I stay FAR Away from Banggood. They have the worst reputation on the planet. They might be cheap, but you may wait quite a long time to get your order. I pay attention to what others have said and I believe them. So, I DO NOT order from Banggood. • Posts: 787 Threads: 23 Likes Received: 621 in 429 posts Likes Given: 819 Joined: Jun 2020 Reputation: 31 Personally I don't see it as free delivery from Amazon when it costs well over $100 a year for prime... • Posts: 771 Threads: 5 Likes Received: 443 in 325 posts Likes Given: 209 Joined: May 2021 Reputation: 14 (19-Aug-2022, 12:24 AM)brettbrandon Wrote: Personally I don't see it as free delivery from Amazon when it costs well over $100 a year for prime... More like $140 per year now. I find that Amazon at best price matches high volume very popular items. Those are the items they generally stock whether they're the actual vendor or not. I've never seen a drone part be cheaper at Amazon in the things I've looked for. Not to mention they almost never have an item I'm looking at to price check or is sold out. RDQ, Pyrodrone and GetFPV have all done great by me and each one of them has a little something or brand the other doesn't. The only standout for me is RDQ will have you a tracking number the same day as the order. Aside from Amazon Prime, I've never seen a vendor quicker to put your order in the mail then them and I've been online shopping back when Amazon was only a book store. Posts: 2,717 Threads: 84 Likes Received: 1,435 in 1,078 posts Likes Given: 859 Joined: Apr 2022 Reputation: 43 Amazon used to be ok, but it's a POS now. High prices and almost everything coming from China. in some ways eBay isn't all that much better, but for me, better the devil you know. Go with the shops that only really sell RC parts and drones/planes/etc. The ones recommended by Sevro, tend to get recommended a lot, so they are obviously doing something right. Try Not, Do or Do Not - Yoda Posts: 787 Threads: 23 Likes Received: 621 in 429 posts Likes Given: 819 Joined: Jun 2020 Reputation: 31 19-Aug-2022, 04:16 AM (This post was last modified: 19-Aug-2022, 04:36 AM by brettbrandon.) RDQ has gotten most of my business as they seem to have the most selection to put the whole order in and I get the order within days. Pyrodrone is newer to me but they went to bat for me with iFlight and took care of me. They are now getting more of my business. GetFPV is third on my list. I had a problem with them a year or so ago (don't even remember what it was) and haven't purchased much there since. I would still recommend them though. Amazon I only purchase from if I have to. He is an example of what happens when someone gets too big, too rich, and too greedy... • Posts: 787 Threads: 23 Likes Received: 621 in 429 posts Likes Given: 819 Joined: Jun 2020 Reputation: 31 19-Aug-2022, 04:35 AM (This post was last modified: 19-Aug-2022, 05:10 AM by brettbrandon.) For your transmitter and receiver, I would agree that ELRS is probably the best choice right now. It is very quickly gaining ground and I think it will soon be one of the most available protocols. I looked at the Radiomaster Zorro transmitter suggested by JinxFPV and agree that the ELRS version would be a great choice for that sized controller. https://www.racedayquads.com/products/ra...gIukfD_BwE It has a bay in the back to add other protocols down the road if needed. If you prefer a little larger controller in your hands, I would suggest the "RadioMaster TX12 MKII" ELRS version. https://www.racedayquads.com/products/tx...2849&_ss=r It also has a bay in the back for additional protocols down the road. Both of them have Hall-Effect gimbals which I swear by (replaced the standard ones in my QX7 a couple of years ago). They are much smoother than standard gimbals. Both controllers can be plugged into a computer to use with simulators (highly recommend doing some sim flying before the real thing). I know you said you want to build the quad, buying the parts is generally more expensive than getting one already built. The other advantage is it generally comes pre-tuned so it should fly great out of the box. This is just a suggestion to get you going right away and come closer to the $400 mark you mentioned. By the time you get a charger, batteries, ect, you will still be a ways over $400. Here is a suggestion complete with ELRS... It also comes with a GoPro mount. https://www.racedayquads.com/products/ge...1917771889 • Posts: 5,968 Threads: 47 Likes Received: 2,798 in 2,259 posts Likes Given: 7,778 Joined: Jul 2019 Reputation: 97 Yes, you are correct about Amazon Prime, however, we have Prime for other reasons; we buy tons of stuff from Amazon so we make out on that. Shipping would be astronomical for all of the stuff that we buy. I have a long rationale, but will save that for another time. For me, the fast delivery and NO Hassle returns means a lot. In any case, you would incur shipping without Prime. Yes, they do not always have the parts that you want, still, they do have quite a bit. On the other hand, most of the connectors, kits, bolts, wire, solder, etc. etc. etc. are NOT available locally. If not for Amazon, I would be searching all over the place for these things. Yep, I don't pay shipping since I have Prime. • |