(23-Nov-2021, 03:28 AM)kafie1980 Wrote: I am still shaking my head thinking why not ELRS? Why Ghost?

This transmitter is a joint venture between Orqa and ImmersionRC and it is probably ImmersionRC's best or last chance to try and get Ghost into the mainstream. Figures clearly show that Ghost is used by very few users (for example, the straw poll HERE). I hardly hear of anyone using Ghost apart from a few racers most of which are probably sponsored by ImmersionRC anyway so they don't really count, and we very rarely get any questions on here about Ghost compared to the other RC Links out there so that probably says quite a lot about it's (non) popularity. If the Orqa FPV.Ctrl doesn't take off and help to promote / push up sales of Ghost then there could be a chance that ImmersionRC will abandon Ghost or stop investing any more development time in it like they have with a number of their other products.

Looking at the Kickstarter figures today, they have still only made 71 sales in 4 days out of the 2400 units that are up for grabs at a promotional discount price. Behind the scenes I'm sure there is a lot of disappointment and maybe also a bit of panic going on.

The only way this transmitter might ever support ELRS (or other modules for that matter) is if Orqa was to buy out ImmersionRC's share of the product and then implement the CRSF protocol (and maybe other protocols) into the firmware themselves. Unless that happens, ImmersionRC are never going to allow any protocol other than Ghost to be used on the FPV.Ctrl controller because that could then be another nail in the coffin for Ghost.

Why would Orqa put their success with the FPV.One goggles on the line for IRC? Or even partner with IRC at such strict terms? Clearly a bad business decision.

I really admire IRC (Tony Cake) for the technology they bring to the table but they always abandon it half way. They even seemed to have abandoned their best selling Rapidfire without any updates for almost 2 years.

It seems Ghost may end up in a similar situation eventually soon.

Additionally ELRS legality in EU is under question (i.e. 2.4Ghz lacks LBT).
It's OK for amateur use, but to bet your business upon it?
Therefore it's too early for EU manufacturers to produce handsets with ELRS built-in.

Let's wait for ELRS to gain strength and mature (like with this LBT).
Only then someone can pick it up and go through all the certifications.

(23-Nov-2021, 11:38 AM)Sherghan Wrote: Additionally ELRS legality in EU is under question (i.e. 2.4Ghz lacks LBT).
It's OK for amateur use, but to bet your business upon it?
Therefore it's too early for EU manufacturers to produce handsets with ELRS built-in.

Let's wait for ELRS to gain strength and mature (like with this LBT).
Only then someone can pick it up and go through all the certifications.

You know this ELRS Github request on EU compatibility well enough: https://github.com/ExpressLRS/ExpressLRS/issues/5

It was amongst the first 5 issues submitted when ELRS Github project was setup.

ELRS makes no revenue to be able to pay for CE or LBT certifications. Unless hardware vendors are willing to spend money to certify their receivers/transmitters.

Lets kill Ghost/Crossfire/Tracer so we have nothing legal to fly with Thumbs up for ELRS.

(23-Nov-2021, 11:38 AM)kafie1980 Wrote: Why would Orqa put their success with the FPV.One goggles on the line for IRC? Or even partner with IRC at such strict terms? Clearly a bad business decision.

I have no idea, but Orqa and IRC already have some kind of partnership deal with the direct integration that Orqa provide with RapidFIRE on their FPV.One goggles. That tight integration doesn't exist for any other analogue modules on the market.

(23-Nov-2021, 11:38 AM)kafie1980 Wrote: I really admire IRC (Tony Cake) for the technology they bring to the table but they always abandon it half way. They even seemed to have abandoned their best selling Rapidfire without any updates for almost 2 years.

It seems Ghost may end up in a similar situation eventually soon.

Once the 6.14 version of the Tracer firmware gets released with the option of either LoRa or FLRC modulation just like Ghost allows, I think Ghost are going to lose even more sales to Tracer. It's unfortunate because we do need competition in the market to keep prices low but there are always going to be winners an losers. Unfortunately Ghost seems to have found itself in that latter category mainly due to the emergence of ELRS. TBS have such a strong following in the RC Link space that I think they will be able to put up a better fight against ELRS with their LoRa enabled version of Tracer than IRC will be able to with Ghost.

I was an IRC fan boy and had a couple of Tramp HV vtx’s, the Rapidfire module, the PowerPlay DVR and still want the RF Power meter v2 if I can find one for half the price as it’s again a discontinued product. I am only left with the Rapidfire module right now.

I so wanted Ghost to succeed but never trusted IRC would actually continue supporting it. I maybe wrong, I don’t mind being wrong.

TBS on the other hand tries its best to keep a product running and they support old products as much as they can. I still have the Crossfire Micro TX v1 module and it gets the same firmware updates apart from a hardware limited 250mW output power. They never gave up on Fusion till this day.

(20-Nov-2021, 11:25 AM)SnowLeopardFPV Wrote: Well another 12 hours later and 15 hours into the Kickstarter launch and there are still only 55 purchases. Prior to launch there were people on social media who were unhappy that Orqa were releasing sales to the whole world rather than giving their "VIP" group exclusive early access. I guess everyone including Orqa probably thought that the controllers would all sell out like hot cakes in the first few hours. It seems those people had nothing to worry about because there are still plenty of the original units up for grabs at the lowest tier price.

Interesting they sold so much   I really dont understand the product whatsoever but thats just me.

(23-Nov-2021, 12:50 PM)jasc Wrote: Interesting they sold so much   I really dont understand the product whatsoever but thats just me.

Putting aside the closed eco-system of the FPV.Ctrl coupled with the fact that you can only use Ghost with it, something else seems to have gone seriously wrong with the marketing and launch of the FPV.Ctrl controller.

Compare this launch to that of the TBS Tango 2 and the TBS Mambo. All stock of both of those TBS transmitters sold out completely within hours of launch, and to this day you can still sometimes struggle to get hold of either of them unless you're prepared to pre-order and wait.

(23-Nov-2021, 12:57 PM)SnowLeopardFPV Wrote: Putting aside the closed eco-system of the FPV.Ctrl coupled with the fact that you can only use Ghost with it, something else seems to have gone seriously wrong with the marketing and launch of the FPV.Ctrl controller.

Compare this launch to that of the TBS Tango 2 and the TBS Mambo. All stock of both of those TBS transmitters sold out completely within hours of launch, and to this day you can still sometimes struggle to get hold of either of them unless you're prepared to pre-order and wait.

Idk if its marketing. There is nothing to love about or freak out: a tight / closed ecosystem gamepad controller. WTF? Already there and price is the only real selling point.
If some starter asks you: "Should I get it?" everybody will say: "Meh, no...." you cant choose, no OTX/ETX, no ELRS, no CRSF. Buy a decent TX (or an used one) you can later use for everything and you can watch videos about how to do stuff. And a this point the horse is dead. So dont ride it....

They should have release/teased/kickstarted an Orqa2 mit focus adjustment (I sold mine, because thats missing and was the initial point to get interested in it..)
buildt in HDzero,
analog module
and their great DVR
and it would have caught so much attention and hype .... They could integrate HDzero control with Ghost and their OSD and really hit it out of the ballpark....

(24-Nov-2021, 07:04 AM)jasc Wrote: They should have release/teased/kickstarted an Orqa2 mit focus adjustment (I sold mine, because thats missing and was the initial point to get interested in it..)
buildt in HDzero,
analog module
and their great DVR
and it would have caught so much attention and hype .... They could integrate HDzero control with Ghost and their OSD and really hit it out of the ballpark....

New Orqa goggles will be getting announced in the coming weeks, but they're not expected to be digital. I might be wrong but from the rumours doing the rounds it sounds like they will likely be a revised "V2" version of the now discontinued FPV.One goggles, maybe with some of the features that were missing from the original version such as the built in optical adjustment.

I highly doubt that Orqa will implement HDZero into any of their products. They have already confirmed that they are working on their own proprietary HD system (maybe even jointly with ImmersionRC who have a lot of knowledge in the VTX space), so anything they do with HD in any of their goggles will use their own HD technology and not someone else's.

horizon hobby is one of rhe big players in the market, not sure if cooperation is what we like... a strong player more could improve the market overall, but a cooperation of big players seems just income increasement and not that much progress for the market/community
maybe orca will sell a spektrum transmitter next time xD

Looking at their kickstarter numbers i guess this product is due to be abandoned soon.

Even BetaFPV has sold more LiteRadios than this. LOL

Both Orqa and ImmersionRC seem to have gone suspiciously quiet for the past few days but Orqa did post the following a couple of days ago on Facebook (HERE), so they are either genuinely pleased with what was less than 70 Kickstarter sales at that point in time, or they are putting on a brave face in the hope that sales will start to dramatically increase as word gets out. It has to be said that their choice of vendors does seem a little odd. None of those are mainstream resellers who will be advertising their products to the masses. Maybe some of the big vendors have already shown a disinterest in stocking the FPV.Ctrl. Who knows, but those are the first people I would get to stock a new product for maximum exposure.

Orqa Wrote:Our Kickstarter campaign for Orqa FPV.Ctrl is fully funded in the first 24 hours! Thanks for all the support and early pledges.

First companies to carry Orqa FPV.Ctrl starting from January are FPV Experience - STEM, OnPoynt Drone Ranger and Beagle Drones, rising stars in the field of FPV drone education and training for beginner drone pilots. We are excited to welcome many more!

Support our campaign on the link bellow:
https://bit.ly/fpv_ctrl_kickstarter

What? Beagle Drones: The guys who were selling a ZMR250 clone BNF for $500. They were famous at one time for the marketing videos they were paying people to post on youtube. Try and visit their website.

A man is known by the company he keeps.

Orqa ohh Orqa!! what are you doing?

so they sold some (2 or 3) of the big packs. and just 25 single units. So the companies above probably ordered through kickstarter
And they claim it succesful. Well, depends how you sell it.
Some guy also said somewhere he will make stuff great again.... Always depends on your point of view