The noise pattern in the FPV video is from 1W ELRS close to the goggle antennas. We use 100-250mW ELRS power with a VTX like this. I just finished my Pro Spec build - really could have used some of your tips while I figured out how to build mine. Thanks for the video!
This is similar to something I have been saying for years. I quit FPV racing because the gates kept getting smaller and smaller. I can get through them most of the time, just like most other pilots, but the times when I do hit the gates often result in damage that I have to repair and with the hobby getting more and more expensive those repairs add up to more and more money over the years. When I first started the courses were more pylons than gates and the gates that were there were really large. Then the gates started getting smaller and smaller to the point that people were destroying drones at every event. This raises the cost of the hobby too much for me. I have never understood the desire for tiny gates. A pylon course or at least a much large gate still provides plenty of opportunity for more skilled pilots to shine by cutting the corner closer than the competition or by taking the wider line for more speed in the turn but with less risk of doing potentially hundreds of dollars in damage to 4 of the 5 drones in the race because everyone tried to get through a gate that isn't much larger than a single drone. Basically larger gates or pylons would also make racing more accessible.
I generally find more organic or natural tracks more fun anyway, something with a bit of distance and interesting scenery and obstacles rather than just gates in a field.
I like MultiGP and all, but it really annoys me that they went the route to create their own 7" spec rather than adopting the already established Street League spec. Yes, I'm aware of the beef that occurred between the two, but the last thing we need is to divide an already small class of racing.
It's not that the people are weird and unusual for wanting to watch the fastest drones, it's just that they've never actually done it in their life. My dad is a very fast drone racer and we can't even see his 5 inch drone when he's racing. It goes way too fast. But when he races his Street League or tiny Trainor with LEDs on it it is so fun to watch. People just need to experience drone racing more in real life
This video makes me feel a lot better about when I build a drone. Seeing a super experienced drone builder having some of the same issues and having to undo, and redo things just like how i do ha.
I love 7-inch spec racing. I've spent many happy hours playing DRL sim. I love that the tracks tend to have larger gates further apart and are much more 3D. I love everything about it. I really love watching the DRL events too. If anyone is on the fence, I highly recommend giving it a try.
I love how even the kid goes "Is this a full punch-out?" Aside from that, I think the core of this racing is that people would build a long-range underpowered quads and try to max their performance.
I just had my first streetleague race this last weekend. It is a blast! They are air pigs lol. I think its better for spectators and I feel it makes you better at flying. I LOVE STREETLEAGUE!
Nice. I do like when drone racing "slows everyone down" so the average person can understand what happening. And on a weird note: When my ESCs get too close to the frame or nuts, and I turn to 3d printing, instead of printing and actual spacer, I usually make a very thin (0,6mm) insulation square, with all four holes, and slide it under the ESC. And the same between ESC and FC, if I feel they're too close.
Adding a full "insulation square" could cause your ESC to overheat by reducing airflow and most common 3D printing materials can't hold up to the possible temperatures that ESCs could get to. PLA can only withstand 50-60 Celsius before melting and ESCs can easily go above that, especially if you starve them of airflow and put a thermally insulating material (plastic) right on them.
I appreciate your knowledge and that you share it. Thank you. Allow me to reciprocate. Please move your softbox lights and/or camera angle so that your lights do not reflect in your glasses, doesn't. Very distracting when you are trying to pay attention to you. Usually, a small adjustment is all that is needed to rectify this.
This is good news, Joshua. When X-Class was introduced I was happy. Then Covid intervened. Just a spec-class 7” may make watching and flying FPV races a lot more fun. Thanks for sharing!
Love This 7" love JB! Since starting last year, I've built about 10 drones, and being late to the scene, decided I wanted to be edgy and never touch 5". Built 1.6 to 7.5 x8 cinelift. Currently my favorite X frame is the 7", which I built specifically for gopro usage over the ocean, and because I had leftover components from the x8 and the frame (and extra motors) was surprisingly dirt cheap. Waterproofed the hell out of it, even put pool noodles on the arms, steady regardless of those ocean gusts, fun and floaty and no issues. But big disclaimer on the 7" clone frame I got, was experiencing insane instability from the start and into a month of troubleshooting vibration issues. Eventually it was simply the arm screws supplied not being long enough, as well as needing a specific dampener that went through the top base plate for the stack.
I discovered this kind of fun in Velocidrone :) and then built myself a UWL spec whoop from spare parts I had. The racing drones are not for freestyle, so the satisfaction is even greater when I make them do tricks.
Never noticed that constantly changing square white panel reflection in your glasses before. Something changed. It was annoying, But great content , as always.
Not relevant to this video. But after watching a lot of your videos including other fpv RU-vidrs ofc, I finally got myself a fpv setup and I had my first flight today after a lot of practice in the simulator via your simulator toturial on leurning how to fly. And man I am so happy I made the choice to get one drone. O my god it is amazing and what a rush is it to fly a fpv drone irl. Thank you for your videos and thank you for inspiring me to get in this hobby ❤🎉
That spacing below the ESC was indeed very little, totally agree with you. However adding the stands-offs you chose might be too much vibration dampening impacting the performance of the flight controller. I would suggest using nylon nuts instead.
This is so awesome thank you JB! I built my own Pro Spec and I love it! I learned something new today about the LED low mode. Also JB you need to run the Pro Spec preset if you haven't already. Mine flies really good and locked in! Cheers
So much of this parallels the RC car racing scene. Really. Some of the classes got so fast even the pros couldn't drive a good race if they didn't specialize in a specific class for a significant time. Handful of course that break that mold but keep in mind we are talking serious talent, world champ level drivers and not even all of THEM could pull it off consistently. Classes that set some limits on powertrains and had higher minimum weights became wildly more popular. Now race development has got to the point where those "slow" classes are getting pretty dang fast. The barrier to entry for new blood in the hobby has always been a big part of what has limited its growth. Serious competition just becomes its own worse enemy eventually. Meanwhile, the "bashing" part of the hobby just keeps on going.
NASCAR Restrictor Plate racing has arrived. No more 426 Hemi's, forget the winged cars, Hee, hee! Actually, I do see real merit there for the setup. Neat!
Reminds me of cars in a way. I like driving RWD stick cars because they handle in a way that's fun to drive not because they are the fastest best handling things out there.
I've been flying a UWL spec 75mm and they do a similar thing. Limited motor selection, rpm limit, and a weight range. It's a grossly underpowered quad for freestyle but definitely the miata of the quad world where you can go full throttle without breaking things. Also, just pull the 20x20 threaded inserts out. If you're not mounting to them then don't keep them.
I want one. It almost reminds me of playing the DCL sim where you really have to focus on your lines and I have 1000 hours in it so I'm kinda curious what I could do with that lol seems very competitive too which is fun!
You are absolutely right, I always wondered why they don't introduce xclass race with big huge monsters, it would make fpv racing really popular :D And actually all the car races does this, all of them regulated, like 30 years ago in rally class B they had 1000 hp cars, but they were too fast.
I wonder how it compares to my Blackout quad from 2014, running two-bladed props on 3S, with a Naze32 running Cleanflight. You remember the one Charpu build on Tested? Man, that video cost me a fortune... 😁
Josh, Alien tape your using for the electronics might be good, but it doesn’t work for holding heavier things like picture frames or mailboxes like in the infomercial, I know you say it’s 👍🤔
Fun vid. Good to see you're also still figuring out where to place things.. Just wondering why you didn't use an xt60e and didn't consider to put the vtx on top of the stack?
Fantastic flying and tutorial, Joshua! Thanks a bunch! 😃 But can you change the rates for a race like this? Because it could help... Well, a little at least. Anyway, stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊
I think they should do a budget spec league simply using the cheap $5 rs2205 clone motors and a 1300mah 4s battery, all other specs is bring what you got... Those motors can only do so much but they are cheap to replace, they are limited power, about half a good 2207 and they handle like a dream with the right props... The point is they even the playing field and you can race a $100 drone competitively!
Disconnecting and reconnecting MIPI cables should feel sketchy. While most connectors are rated for thousands of connector cycles, *MIPI connections are often rated for about 20 connection cycles.* You don't want to be making those type of connections very often. I personally always hate when a product requires me to disconnect the O3 camera's cable. That's the only MIPI connection I have to deal with semi often. Usually it's to use the O3 in a gimbal but I've had a few quads which required disconnecting the O3 camera to assemble the quad properly.
i just throw on a lion 4s pack on my 4inch lr explorer and try to freestyle so i understand how this must feel. Fun fact i make 18650 packs and putting one on a 5 inch drone nuters the power band so much it makes it hard to fly. it needs 50% throttle to lift off and the turns are wide and u must hit the throttle wayy before u need em
Thats similar to F3C versus 3D freestyle flying on collective pitch helicopter contests. On 3D flying more sicko you go better point you get. On F3C you have a bulky under powered helicopter that you have to perform pre defined tricks in a designated area without going off the track and doing it as accurately as you can. They are both insane in their own way and one is an equally important and impressive skill as the other
I really wouldn't mind 2 inch spec racing. Might actually be able to participate. By the way, how the heck are we supposed to tune these quads if they're handing out some random props?
It would seem that by limiting the speed to the point where you can sit at full throttle for a full race they are partly taking some skill out of it and artificially limiting how fast someone could actually be. You don't have to worry about battery or throttle management just like in the simulators. I see it as similar to reducing an F1 car's speed so much that they can sit there at full throttle and never touch the brakes.
Your HDZero is experiencing numerous glitches and lost blocks. Could this be due to incorrect antennas on the VTX, or is there some radio interference in your area?
I'm looking to move into the HD world. I already have a lot of analog quads and planes, and really don't want to switch them all to HD. What would you all say is the best HD goggle that also does analog?
The fact is top tier drone racing is about practice a making your skill and ability better. Trying to slow down pilots and close the skill gap is not going to happen. The top tier pilots will simply practice to the point that the skill gap will 100% still be there. They will be cutting so close to the gates the time gap will still be huge.
Ohh nice... I have a Street League Prig... been using the Spec7... haven't needed the Prig yet.. but nice... I am zero threat to anyone at any race... so....
I got a problem with my speedybee f405 v4. I just build a fpv drone, it works fine but, i got one major problem. My altitude meter us acting wired, when i arm the altitude resets to 0 than i go flying, when i am going to lower to the ground the altitude is -10 or somthing. The problem is, does the drone unarm when gps resque is active at 0 meters? So it unarm middel in the sky. Pleas help
@@IvanEfimovLimon It’s a matter of confidence after a few crashes. I have a hard time trusting myself at all for any type of flight. I have had to throw a few drones away that should have been simple up and down flights. I had to get someone else to fly my recent build. I just don’t have the feel for it.
Hi, not on topic of this post, but I have a protek25 and am having such a strange issue during flight. Do you offer any sort of service for help on tuning or figuring out what is wrong. I have re set everything back to factory settings on beta flight and problem still occurs.
Racing needs to be interesting to watch for the average spectator, and drone racing has always struggled with that. Watching a drone whip around gates is just not fun to watch, it's interesting, it's impressive, but how long can you really watch that for? I used to race RC cars, and it was so fun to watch the highly skilled racers. They would stay relatively close close together, while maintaining theirs lines. Fighting for a position or two at a time, it was a blast. We also need some better drone racing games that aren't trying to be sims. I really think that could spark interest in racing. Think Star Citizen, but simplified to the point you can use a Transmitter to fly something through gates, skimming the ground. Or maybe even something akin to Pod Racers from Star Wars.
Just getting into this.... Got a controller and a sim.... Just curious though, has anyone combined Lazer tag with a drone obstacle course and maybe some augmented reality? I can imagine an augmented reality X-wing and TIE fighter...
I see absolutely no point using HDZero here - quads are slow and heavy, and O3 latency is stable enough. The main obstacle now is probably race organizers that ban HD systems. Also it's possible to cheat since RPM limiter is only enforced in software. Either FC or the ESC can be patched to report lower than actual RPMs. You can even reflash a BLHeli32 ESC with modded AM32 and since it's proprietary you won't even be able to readout the firmware to verify it's original BLHeli32.
I subscribed to you and I'm about to support your channel..thank you so much for everything you do to teach us fpv. I'm having trouble flashing a binding phrase on my RM Pocket ELRS. I watched a video but not getting it. I want to use it for all my mini quads SPI ELRS. Can you please tell me what video will help me set my radio ELRS bind phrase? Please
Great insight and great video. Personally, i think handing everyone the same brick with motors and slowing down the race is....bad. Sure, it levels the playing field and makes the race more about flying a clean line which can be measured and disected like every play on a football game. But. I completely dissagree it will be a race about the best pilot. ANYONE can practice clean lines in....slo-mo....until they get it right. Only the best and most capable pilots can twitch it with pure muscle memory. THEY are the best pilots. And putting them in a straight jacket to make it.....fare.....for people without those skills is just dumbing down the field for lesser pilots. I say that knowing i am not one of those great pilots. But i would rather be awed by sheer amazing inate skill than watch a disected repay of how this or that pilot navigated a corner. Just my opinion.
This is an age old problem and seems to happen every time there is a competition. I'm the rc world go back to the 90s for rc car racing. It didn't take long before your average person could no longer afford the cost of all the top of the line stuff to compete. In the late 90s they had to start making spec classes because people just stopped competing because they didn't have thousands of dollars to put into the cars. There are spec classes in pylon racing. There are probably similar criteria in rc boat racing. Even in non rc sports there are regulations that have spec classes. the On road rally circuit has spec classes. Why this happens every time is beyond me. Once you start racing something mechanical you need to have spec classes so that the average person can compete and have fun and like in this case the spectators can have fun too. Lol a drone with a 6s 5000mah battery would be fat and a little slower but have sufficient run time to do a few laps.
Why would you use Analog??? O3 that thing... might as well see if weight isn't an issue... 😜 just noticed after watching again... those rainbow boxes look like squares... so HDZero?
@@JoshuaBardwell ahh dang... Really surprised no one at DJI pulled the Race mode trigger and slam dunked it... fixed latency max 200mw.. 120fps... picture quality be damned...
Fixed latency is impossible in an i-frame-based compression method like H.264 or H.265. The exact reason why DJI is so resilient is also why it can't do fixed latency. The best case is, you do like Walksnail race mode, and you put the retransmission timeout super low, and you get latency down to like 15-20 ms most of the time. It gets a lot more stable, but still varies. They would also need to fix the channels to match Raceband and limit output power. Basically, they don't care, and they won't do it (IMO).
