[Moderator Edit] This is a clone of an old thread on reddit HERE. This user account is for a known spammer so has been banned to prevent them coming back later and editing the post with spam links. The thread will remain [undeleted] because other members have already added contributions that might still be useful to others.


A few years ago, I looked into building a basic quad, had a budget set, and was ready to pull the trigger on ordering everything... then life got in the way, etc., and I just couldn't swing the cost of a new hobby.
Fast forward to now, and I think I'm ready to attempt it again. Obviously technology improves over the course of 3/4 years and prices tend to drop as well. Also, I'm competent with soldering, assembly, etc, so I'd like to build it myself. Hopefully it'll save some money as well. That being said, what is a realistic budget for an entry level setup that I can tinker with and build from scratch?

I enjoy the process of building just as much as I love flying, but something to keep in mind is that with chip shortages and whatnot it’s typically gonna be cheaper to buy a bind and fly or plug and play quad right now.

Analog is gonna be significantly cheaper than digital.
Figure $200 for quad, $200 for decent used goggles, $150 to $200 for a decent transmitter. Plus charger, batteries, spare props, etc. (another $100 or so).

Buying used will be significantly cheaper. Check out rcgroups.com classified section- it’s how I was able to afford this hobby in the beginning.

Don’t go too cheap, or you’ll just end up spending more in the long run. I spent $50 on a cheap set of box goggles (although they actually served me well until the antenna mount broke off, and I was able to buy a new connector and solder it on, but then I wanted to upgrade so I ended up spending another $200 on used fat sharks and $70 on a new module), and spent $100 on a transmitter that was nothing but a headache and ended up spending another couple hundred on a Radiomaster tx16s that is serving me well.
If you want actual suggestions on what to buy, I or others can tell you what we think.


This guy is doing some bench clearing and says if you’re brand new to the hobby to reach out and he can set up with everything you need to get started for cheap:
https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthre...-a-bargain
^^^no affiliation and not me, although I did just buy some stuff from him.

All I can add is any RC hobby requires deep pockets to startup.

I know you can go budget but not everyone has the will power to resist temptations to get the next best goggle or transmitter or quad frame.

(16-Nov-2021, 03:27 AM)kafie1980 Wrote: All I can add is any RC hobby requires deep pockets to startup.

I know you can go budget but not everyone has the will power to resist temptations to get the next best goggle or transmitter or quad frame.

I don’t feel the need to buy the latest and greatest, but when I first started out on this hobby I did it on my own without reading or reaching out to people on forums like this, and went *way* too cheap. I wasted a lot of money unnecessarily buying things of shoddy quality or that didn’t actually communicate with each other.

So, new guy- post a list of what you’re considering getting and peeps here will happily tell you if it all works together and/or is worth buying in their experience. I wish I had initially.

To all members of this forum, please ignore this thread and don't bother to waste your time answering. This appears to be yet another copy/paste spammer who has just lifted an existing question from reddit with the intention of coming back later and editing spam links into the first post.

https://www.reddit.com/r/fpvracing/comme...r_beginner

If the OP can give an acceptable explanation as to why they've just copy/pasted a question form reddit then we can continue with the thread.

If anyone notices any spam links appearing in the first post, please reply back here so the user account can then be banned. EDIT: No point waiting around for that to happen. The OP is now banned already.