Have any of you Phantom Pilots stepped into FPV racing?

[mrgoodwrench]

I've owned a Phantom 3 Pro for 6 months or so now and I've had a blast! Its been a great machine and I've learned a lot about just how sophisticated the flights systems can be.

Before the Phantom, I played with several different quads ranging from mini's to Syma X5 and X8. I've become a pretty competent pilot flying with no GPS or altitude hold or wind drift compensation. Flying the Phantom seems incredibly easy after learning on the lesser machines.

I recently sold some old 'toys' and now have some spare change and would like to get another quad. I want something I can be a little more 'careless' with. I was looking at the 250 racers and was wondering if any of you Phantom pilots had any experience with any of them. How stable do they fly compared to the phantom? I noticed some of the Walkera runners tout an onboard GPS system. Does this give you similar features compared to the Phantom? Return to home?

I've been researching for hours now and just can't decide if the racing quad is the direction I want to go. I want more speed, power, and maneuverability but I also want it to be stable and relatively easy to fly.

Anyone with any experience in this area? Any input would be greatly appreciated.

 

[msinger]

You might get a better response if you post this over at DroneRacingPilots.com.

 

[mrgoodwrench]

I was unaware msinger, thank you. Are the majority of the users there phantom owners as well?

 

[msinger]

I don't know. I'm assuming they are all into racing though.

 

[Vertigo]

Ive done the opposite, i flew racing quads before I bought a phantom. How do they compare ? Well, not at all. Its a different tool, for a different purpose and frankly,a completely different hobby. One that doesnt pay off in nice video's (*), but in pure adrenaline.

Do not bother with GPS, you dont want it on a racing quad. And even if you want it, there are no good solutions.

The key to success is learning how to fly without auto level stabilization and without auto throttle (and obviously, without gps) that you used to with the phantom. You dont need a fancy quad for that, just about any quad that doesnt have a baro (or lets you disable it) and that has "acro mode" will be suitable to learn.

The first hurdle will seem trivial, but isnt: throttle management. Even in stabilized mode, you will find it hard to maintain altitude when hovering. Just practice hovering, do punch outs and recover, hover, punch out, etc until it bores you.

Next up is disabling autolevel, so flying in 'acro mode'. In this mode, your pitch/roll control sticks do not control the roll/pitch angle of the quad, but the rotation speed. So if the stick is neutral, it wont return to level, it will just maintain its current angles. To return to level hover, you need to steer it to level. This will take you again many many battery charges. In this case, hovering is actually more difficult than flying,
for me, its much easier while flying FPV. Line of sight, I still find it difficult today. Flying FPV, and doing it 2 or 3 "mistakes high", it quickly becomes more natural. Just have a switch on your remote to autolevel it when you need it.

(*) it can produce awesome video's, but it will take many years of practice until you can do stuff like FGA:

posted this before, but its worth reposting

 

[mrgoodwrench]

Thank you for your insight Vertigo. Learning to hover without all the 'auto' stuff is where I started, just with less powerful machines. I'm pretty comfortable flying manually with no auto assist. Flying the Phantom is simple in comparison.

What model would you recommend? At first, I thought maybe the gps would be an important feature so I'm glad I asked. Are the ready to fly kits a good option or should I build one from parts?

I was looking at the walkera runner and the eachine 250. Any experience with walkera's goggles that come with their rtf kits? Am I better off buying a separate FPV system?

 

[Vertigo]

Id stay away from Walkera, both their goggles and their quads. Awesome brand for helicopter, quads, nope.

eachine is excellent value. By no means the "best" out there, but for a first racing quad, its an excellent choice. If you're willing/ready to spend more and you want something prebuilt, the Vortex is also quite good, though you may want to replace the camera.

As for goggles, I love my Skyzone goggles, because of their diversity (2 antenna's), so I can use one directional and one omnidirectional antenna. Helps a lot. Whichever you buy, you are used to a HD resolution screen though, prepare for some old school noisy TV quality. But on the bright side, zero latency, and that is what you absolutely must have.

 

[flpholt]

I've owned a Phantom 3 Pro for 6 months or so now and I've had a blast! Its been a great machine and I've learned a lot about just how sophisticated the flights systems can be.

Before the Phantom, I played with several different quads ranging from mini's to Syma X5 and X8. I've become a pretty competent pilot flying with no GPS or altitude hold or wind drift compensation. Flying the Phantom seems incredibly easy after learning on the lesser machines.

I recently sold some old 'toys' and now have some spare change and would like to get another quad. I want something I can be a little more 'careless' with. I was looking at the 250 racers and was wondering if any of you Phantom pilots had any experience with any of them. How stable do they fly compared to the phantom? I noticed some of the Walkera runners tout an onboard GPS system. Does this give you similar features compared to the Phantom? Return to home?

I've been researching for hours now and just can't decide if the racing quad is the direction I want to go. I want more speed, power, and maneuverability but I also want it to be stable and relatively easy to fly.

Anyone with any experience in this area? Any input would be greatly appreciated.

check out the aton from traxxas is fast and steady

 

[mrgoodwrench]

check out the aton from traxxas is fast and steady

I have and it was a fun quad, just underpowered and I had lots of range issues with mine.

 

[mrgoodwrench]

Id stay away from Walkera, both their goggles and their quads. Awesome brand for helicopter, quads, nope.

eachine is excellent value. By no means the "best" out there, but for a first racing quad, its an excellent choice. If you're willing/ready to spend more and you want something prebuilt, the Vortex is also quite good, though you may want to replace the camera.

As for goggles, I love my Skyzone goggles, because of their diversity (2 antenna's), so I can use one directional and one omnidirectional antenna. Helps a lot. Whichever you buy, you are used to a HD resolution screen though, prepare for some old school noisy TV quality. But on the bright side, zero latency, and that is what you absolutely must have.

The stuff from Vortex looks awesome! I don't mind the cost so much but I think I'm leaning towards the eachine just to test the racing waters. After this, I'll likely build one from parts. Thank you again for all your input.

 

[mrgoodwrench]

I wonder if DJI will enter into the realm of racing quads any time soon?

 

[flpholt]

I have and it was a fun quad, just underpowered and I had lots of range issues with mine.

did you every fly it in expert mode I was thinking about getting one how fast is it

 

[theTastyCat]

That is mindblowing! Thanks for sharing. Totally different animal from Phantoms - and I DO NOT HAVE THE MONEY TO START ANOTHER HOBBY SO THANKS FOR NOTHING!!!!!

 

[Vertigo]

The stuff from Vortex looks awesome! I don't mind the cost so much but I think I'm leaning towards the eachine just to test the racing waters. After this, I'll likely build one from parts. Thank you again for all your input.

Sounds like a plan Ive built at least half a dozen, but if I ever buy another one, its going to be prebuilt, something like the vortex. All the fine soldering and hours of ESC flashing, PID tuning, etc gets tedious after a while. But dont let that stop you, if you pick your parts carefully, you do end up with something better than anything out there RTF. Also easier/cheaper to repair after a crash and you gain a lot of knowledge on how the thing actually works.

 

[Vertigo]

That is mindblowing! Thanks for sharing. Totally different animal from Phantoms - and I DO NOT HAVE THE MONEY TO START ANOTHER HOBBY SO THANKS FOR NOTHING!!!!!

Ha! You're welcome Here is another for nothing then, but I can watch these vids all day long (and honestly, it makes all phantom vids look so boooooring):

BTW, you could always sell your phantom, and buy an FPV racing setup for the money

 

[mrgoodwrench]

did you every fly it in expert mode I was thinking about getting one how fast is it

Faster than the phantom for sure. I'd guess 45mph or so. I bought one used cheap and it had been hurt a little. Didn't fly very stable and I traded it away a short time later. I don't really care for traxxas products in general. Have a few of their trucks and have mixed opinions.

 

[flpholt]

Faster than the phantom for sure. I'd guess 45mph or so. I bought one used cheap and it had been hurt a little. Didn't fly very stable and I traded it away a short time later. I don't really care for traxxas products in general. Have a few of their trucks and have mixed opinions.

I heard can go 60 plus if you change pitch

 

[sandman259]

Just picked one of these up...check them out. Cheap but well made with a great adjustable controller. Super fast and agile and pretty durable as well. Only have flown it a couple times so far but way different then a phantom. It like flying a syma x5 on steroids.

Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots mobile app

 

[flpholt]

Just picked one of these up...check them out. Cheap but well made with a great adjustable controller. Super fast and agile and pretty durable as well. Only have flown it a couple times so far but way different then a phantom. It like flying a syma x5 on steroids.

Sent from my iPhone using PhantomPilots mobile app

still waiting on a honest review after you had it awhile

 

[Vertigo]

thats KmH, and its not mine. I once clocked my 250 quad at 110 KmH with a GPS logger, but straight line speed isnt what gives you the kick with these machines. This is: