I'm about to build my first diy quad, I'm not a beginner in electronics or programming, I'm just looking for some recommendations.
I wasn't expecting the total price to reach 641€ as shown in the screenshots, but I also need EVERYTHING - transmitter, screen, VRX, battery, charger, etc.
Looking for recommendations on where can I spend less, and yes I know I chose an H743 FC where most people will recommend a SpeedyBee F405, but I don't mind speding 60€ more for future proofing and better performance.
       

Might I ask what the receiver module is for?

Get goggles mate. Screens are a bit shit for fpv. You need the immersion otherwise your peripheral vision will create too many distrations. This is a quick response on the motor skills hobby.

I dunno about that external magnometer or compass thing, may not be compatible with betaflight.

Also, get more than one battery. See if you can get it in the EU cause that battery will take forever to ship from china via boat. Lipo restrictions on air shipping.

Get the f405, you won't notice the difference.

Emax eco v2 motors, cheaper with excellent performamce.

(19-May-2023, 05:05 AM)Suros Wrote: Might I ask what the receiver module is for?

The VRX or the ELRS receiver?
VRX for the screen+VTX.
ELRS receiver for the built-in ELRS transmitter on the TX12Mk2.

(19-May-2023, 05:36 AM)ph2t Wrote: Get goggles mate. Screens are a bit shit for fpv. You need the immersion otherwise your peripheral vision will create too many distrations. This is a quick response on the motor skills hobby.

I dunno about that external magnometer or compass thing, may not be compatible with betaflight.

Also, get more than one battery. See if you can get it in the EU cause that battery will take forever to ship from china via boat. Lipo restrictions on air shipping.

Get the f405, you won't notice the difference.

Emax eco v2 motors, cheaper with excellent performamce.

I prefer screens to goggles, honestly.
I was actually going to ask about the compass as well, if I should get an HMC5883L or QMC5883L or another chipset, and if I should choose an I2C or SPI compass.
I usually buy my cylindrical cells from eu.nkon.nl but they don't sell any LiPos and I honestly do not know where to buy any LiPos in EU...
I could save 60€ on the FC+ESC stack, but I don't mind paying a bit extra for future-proofing and extra performance.
The Emax Eco II set is 12€ more expensive than the Xing-E Pro set.

I have looked and stopped after the first item. With XING motors, you may well be looking at a flight time of 4-5 minutes tops, and then 45 mins plus to recharge with only a single battery.

Also, the battery, though good, is very expensive from your source, I'm in the UK (not usually cheap!) and your price converted is just under £30, whereas I pay £25. I'm therefore suspicious of the other prices, but don't have the time to compare.

Re: the F4 suggestion, in performance terms you will be unlikely to tell between a good F4 and a F7, and its a likely good saving, but if you are hanging a lot of extra gear on the FC Board, as you seem to be doing, a F4 may not have the number of UART connections you will need.

Forgot to mention, I'll be using a Bainianxing BU-1025TF GPS that I had already bought, it's a uBlox 10 with 1MB I2C flash. But neither the FC nor the GPS have a compass.

Does anyone know if the Gemfan Hurricane 51466 MCK V2 propellers will fit on the Source One V5 frame?
Also, what is the biggest battery that I can fit onto this frame?

(19-May-2023, 07:00 AM)bsdinis Wrote: Does anyone know if the Gemfan Hurricane 51466 MCK V2 propellers will fit on the Source One V5 frame?
Also, what is the biggest battery that I can fit onto this frame?

It would be very unlikely that a 5.1 prop would not fit a 5" frame, and even if it did, minimal prop alteration would be easy.



To avoid weighing down so agility and flight duration is adversely affected I use the following on my various 5" quads:-

4S - 1550 to 1800 GNB
6S - 1350 to 1550 GNB  

I get 7-8 minutes of freestyle from a 1550 6S, other than depths of winter where 5 minutes (even with battery warmer bag) is more likely.

(19-May-2023, 07:48 AM)BadRaven Wrote: It would be very unlikely that a 5.1 prop would not fit a 5" frame, and even if it did, minimal prop alteration would be easy.

As an example, I have a 4" frame with motors usual on a 5".  5" props would be too big, 4" not load the motors enough, so I have trimmed and balanced some 5" down to fit, even to fitting to the space so the fronts are a little smaller than the rear. They ended up over 4.5". Works really well!

Would any of you replace any parts from my list? I'm still a little bit hesitant to pull the trigger, it's almost 700€, I just want to make sure I don't get any buyer's remorse after getting everything shipped.

(19-May-2023, 06:10 AM)bsdinis Wrote: The VRX or the ELRS receiver?
VRX for the screen+VTX.
ELRS receiver for the built-in ELRS transmitter on the TX12Mk2.

Unless you build some manner of adapter, you might find that the video receiver doesn't have any way to connect to that screen. Those are almost always designed to just socket into the side of a set of goggles. If you insist on using a screen, find a VRX that will output to a cable. Honestly though, flying with a screen is really hard unless it's fairly large. I'm talking 15 inches minimum. I have a cheap little screen, but I hand it off to people who want to see my flying.

(19-May-2023, 01:44 PM)Suros Wrote: Unless you build some manner of adapter, you might find that the video receiver doesn't have any way to connect to that screen. Those are almost always designed to just socket into the side of a set of goggles. If you insist on using a screen, find a VRX that will output to a cable. Honestly though, flying with a screen is really hard unless it's fairly large. I'm talking 15 inches minimum. I have a cheap little screen, but I hand it off to people who want to see my flying.

I'm not scared of 2.54mm pin headers.

Depends what you are flying. If it's a Cine or Long Range build shouldn't be an issue using a screen. If it's acro/freestyle get spares of everything because flying a screen while doing freestyle will cause a lot of distraction and you are going to smash it to pieces on a regular basis. If you need proof, look for a rotor riot video where Drew flies using a screen and crashes several times. The thing is, why get such a small screen. if you are going to make the commitment to fly using a screen, then get the biggest screen you can carry and build a flying rig designed to use it, so basically have the screen and radio in a frame and a proper lanyard system for it, like they use for the big cine lifter type drones. Basically make your life easier. Oh and use ear buds or similar to block the drone noise so you concentrate on the screen and don't look back and forth.

I don't for the rest of the parts, I think everyone else covered those bits. I personally like certain parts and manufacturers and only buy from them. I buy everything locally, because if you get a bad motor and have to ship back to China you are suddenly looking at a month to get it in the air. If I'm sending to a shop 100 miles away, 2-3 days or less. Use Ali for spares and stuff you don't need quickly, things you don't mind waiting a month for.

(19-May-2023, 01:55 PM)bsdinis Wrote: I'm not scared of 2.54mm pin headers.

Alright, as long as you know what you're getting into. A lot of people who get into this don't know how to wire anything yet, so I try to make sure they don't buy stuff and find out that their choices weren't the best.