Drones and RC Aircraft

[Scout Trooper]

There's been a lot of discussion about drones in other threads but I wanted to give us a place to sperg about the intricacies of the remotely-operated aircraft hobby (and profession if you happen to be a Part 107 commercial operator or your country's equivalent).

My own brushless FPV is pretty fast, but what Ukraine is using are terrifyingly quick & accurate.

What are you currently flying? What's your FPV setup?

As I've probably mentioned, I'm an electric fixed-wing guy (2-2.5 meter wingspans) primarily but I have a (relatively) cheap Holy Stone for SAR-ing my drones in case I lose one. After seeing this footage I'm thinking of something bigger that can actually do the recovery as well.

Hopefully we can keep it civil as we focus on the technology and applications. I know that this stuff can have a controversial component as they're used in a variety of capacities by various actors worldwide.

It might just be me but I get excited seeing new drones/UAVs from regardless of their origin.

If we are discussing military drones let's stay focused on the technology, capabilities, and regulatory aspects. If we get into weapon employment please don't post gratuitous graphic footage.

 

[quaawaa]

What’s the best drone that isn’t made in China?

 

[Scout Trooper]

What’s the best drone that isn’t made in China?

It depends on the requirements for your application and budget, of course.

Assuming you're looking for something like a quadcopter, you're going to have a difficult time finding something at the lower end of the price spectrum that is American made.

Your best option at the lower end is either something like a Parrot (
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07D5R2JKL?th=1) or to assemble it yourself from components.

Some or all of the components (frame/airframe/chassis, motors, speed controllers, camera transmitter & receivers, RC controller and receivers, telemetry radios, flight controllers, etc.) are going to be either made in China or made from Chinese components themselves.

The good thing with some of the more inexpensive DIY flight controllers is that you have to flash the firmware and software (usually iNav or ArduPilot) yourself so you can be relatively certain what is going on with the hardware.

The bigger your budget is, the more options you're going to have with American/non-Chinese quadcopters.

 

[Otis Mallebrok]

As I've probably mentioned, I'm an electric fixed-wing guy (2-2.5 meter wingspans)

1) How do you build your wings?

2) How heavy is your plane?

3) Do you consider quadcopters gay?

 

[Scout Trooper]

1) How do you build your wings?

I let the Chinese or whoever it is build them, mine are all EPO foam strengthened with carbon fiber or plastic tubing.

Examples:
RMRC Anaconda

https://www.readymaderc.com/products/details/rmrc-anaconda-kit

MFE Believer

https://usa.banggood.com/Believer-1960mm-Wingspan-EPO-Twin-Motor-Aerial-Survey-Aircraft-FPV-Platform-Mapping-RC-Airplane-KIT-p-1178800.html?cur_warehouse=CN

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qf4x5XhHvD4

Finwing Air Titan (no longer being produced, I believe. I got mine used)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9stpfujoUcA

2) How heavy is your plane?

I run 6S or higher so I end up with pretty heavy take off weight. There is a little fluctuation depending on if I'm using LiPo or Li-Ion batteries.
The Air Titan is the heaviest at around 6.3kg/~13 lbs.

The other two are about 5kg/12 lbs.

3) Do you consider quadcopters gay?

Quadcopters have their advantages and place but I think they are overused because they are relatively simple to operate and can compensate for an inexperienced operator. It's also relatively easy to get sensors/cameras oriented in the right direction and keep them locked on.

However I have heavier payloads with multiple cameras. gimbals, etc. and generally longer loiter times. I can also handle "engine out" scenarios without immediately plummeting or losing control. The tradeoff is your sensor/camera setup becomes more complex to compensate for having to be constantly moving.

I am seeing a lot of VTOL fixed-wing coming to the market and I must confess that my current in progress builds are MFE Fighter 4+1 VTOL models (basically a quadcopter with a puller/tractor motor).

https://en.makeflyeasy.com/index.php/fighter-vtol/

The terrain where I am really does not work well with the belly-landing style of drones so I either have to attach landing gears which limits the terrain I can take off from (vs a thrown takeoff), go VTOL, or build some kind of launching apparatus.

 

[Night Crawler]

I wish there was a way you could attach a wireless speaker onto a drone so you could fly over some niggers while either calling them niggers or play a recording of the word nigger. It would also have a camera so you watch the chimpouts.

 

[Car Won't Crank]

What’s the best drone that isn’t made in China?

Basically the whole hobby relies on Chinese made parts, specifically the electronics like motors, flight controllers, radios, antennas, cameras, etc. A lot of the flight controller and radio protocol innovation in software and hardware happens in the west and are open sourced that the Chinese are able to implement on the cheap. It results in cheaper parts for the end consumer, which I can't complain too much about. If you really want you can make your airframe from wood and insulating foam.

Back in the early days of programmable radio transmitters ~2008, the Spektrum DX6i was benchmark for multi model memory radios that could be had at relatively high price of ~$180. However, it only has 6 channels and 10 model memory. Now for around the same price, the Radiomaster TX16S can be had, which is a totally different class of digital programmable radios. Many pilots have moved to that now and is also my radio of choice. It's really hard to beat EdgeTX and custom channel mappings or any kind of control logic. The hobby has also started to move to the open source ELRS protocol which implements LoRA and offers comparable to better performance as TBS Crossfire at a much cheaper price.

My loadout for now are sailplanes for FPV from the likes of the Volantex Ranger 2000 and Mini Talon. Sometimes I chuck a flying wing for adrenaline rushes.

 

[888Flux]

@Scout Trooper what RX system are you using for fixed wing? I have been not having very good luck with 2.4 GHz ELRS for long distances. I'm looking at switching over to Crossfire

 

[Scout Trooper]

@Scout Trooper what RX system are you using for fixed wing? I have been not having very good luck with 2.4 GHz ELRS for long distances. I'm looking at switching over to Crossfire

I have a Crossfire Micro TX and Nano RX so that a second person can independently control a camera gimbal. I also have a Micro RX that I haven't been able to get to work yet.

Crossfire is good as long as you're not trying to use it alongside a 915Mhz telemetry radio (assuming you're in the US).

Normally I run a Dragonlink V2 433Mhz (which you will need a Ham license for) for controlling the aircraft.

http://www.fpvpro.com/dragon-link-v3-advanced-complete-system

Dragonlink also offers a 915Mhz version but the downside/upside is that I believe is in the power output range (1W) that requires Ham licensing.

I was using Immersion RC's EzUHF 433Mhz for a brief period as well. It was pretty straightforward to get working. The only weird part is how inexpensive it is. That part made me nervous.

https://www.amazon.com/ImmersionRC-EzUHF-8-channel-Diversity-Receiver/dp/B01B699H0M

Edit: I went down this road because I use a 1.2-1.3Ghz video transmitter for the "FPV" signal and 5.8Ghz for the gimbalized signal controlled by the second person. This pretty much eliminated any 2.4Ghz TX/RX as far as I could tell due to harmonics.

 

[Car Won't Crank]

@Scout Trooper what RX system are you using for fixed wing? I have been not having very good luck with 2.4 GHz ELRS for long distances. I'm looking at switching over to Crossfire

What's your ELRS gear? There were some range issues on early iterations like the BetaFPV tx module. I use the full size Radiomaster Ranger and have no issues flying past line of sight.

 

[888Flux]

What's your ELRS gear? There were some range issues on early iterations like the BetaFPV tx module. I use the full size Radiomaster Ranger and have no issues flying past line of sight.

My ELRS gear is a Happymodel ES24TX Pro backpack for the Radiomaster TXS16. and just in time of making my post, it decided to completely stop working. Can't update it at all using ELRS Configurator anymore. So I'll probably be getting a new one

 

[Car Won't Crank]

There's finally a nice budget flight controller for fixed wing flyers from SpeedyBee called the F405 wing. Looks pretty feature packed for only $40 USD, can run iNav and Ardupilot.

 

[Scout Trooper]

There's finally a nice budget flight controller for fixed wing flyers from SpeedyBee called the F405 wing. Looks pretty feature packed for only $40 USD, can run iNav and Ardupilot.

Have you picked one up? I have some of the Matek fixed-wing controllers (F405 and F743) and my main complaint is I suck at soldering and there are SO. MANY. PINS.

 

[Car Won't Crank]

Have you picked one up? I have some of the Matek fixed-wing controllers (F405 and F743) and my main complaint is I suck at soldering and there are SO. MANY. PINS.

Yeah I got one the F405 Wings. This is some funny ass timing though because Speedybee has released a new, smaller fixed wing flight controller called the F405 Wing mini for only $36 USD. Same features as the F405 Wing but smaller at just 14.3g compared to ~25g for the F405 Wing. I believe it also has some hardware fixes. Of course you aint gonna put one of these in a tiny whoop so weight savings aren't too big of a concern, but the smaller size opens up a lot of smaller airframe options.

What kind of soldering iron do you use? My soldering was pretty shit too when I was using a no name soldering iron with a hot to cold temp control. I got the Pinecil v2 and with a little soldering practice on a junk pcb, My solders are so much better. Pinecil is worth it for all the features and how cheap it is. I never knew how big of a deal having a digital temp control could affect my solder joints.

 

[Car Won't Crank]

Seems there aren't many RC plane or drone enthusiasts on here. In the latest bit of cool news, Radiomaster has released a new transmitter called the GX12 that has built in 2.4 GHz and 900MHz using their Gemini dual band switching protocol at a really cheap price. Lot of cool stuff is happening in this hobby lately.

 

[Lister The Stupid]

Finally got my soldering iron, so I'm ready for more advanced builds/repairs.

 

[Gaysquirt]