This review was nearly a DISASTER: HDZero Freestyle V2 VTX 

Waiting for your range test video eagerly!

Will be a bit awkward if it's not defective but the range is just so poor that it seems defective

I really like your range test videos because I do my testing very similarly. HDzero really keeps confusing me, because there is not a huge difference in penetration if I compare the freestyle vtx v1 at 1 W with the whoop lite vtx at 200 mW. I suspect that either my freestyle vtx is not really having 1 W output power or the whoop produces significantly more output power. I am not sure what it is.

@@BumbleBeeFPV At 1w its 5x more power and with RF to double the range you need 4x the power. No matter how much line of sight open range HDzero gives you it doesn't help with multi pathing and interference when flying around obstacles. One thick tree is enough to full screen rainbow HDzero at 1w.

@ That has not been my experience with 200mw

I was wondering the exact same thing!

There can be another issue: if this screw trick fixes a power output it also may broke GPS 3D Fix again because more VTX power can interfere with GNSS modules :D

Nah I think we should just forget about jb's hdz reviews.

JB is not an HD Zero fanboy. But likes getting free stuff. His review was more penetration based for some reason.@@elxero2189

JB did say he was getting about 500 mW on R8 though, so unfortunately doesn't seem like that was the issue.

Really, craziest test I have ever seen. What they need to use a torque wrench at the factory?

Why the adapter for update cable, and it's not even included?? Why is the securing of the antenna made of plastic? Great work with the form factor, but the rest makes me want to just quit HDzero now. Update cable was fiddly before, but now it's even worse lol...

I think if you use rigid spacers between the boards and a nut on either side you should be able to keep things secure. I agree that a flex connector would be better.

Yes 1 watt is illegal they cannot ship it unlocked

The lower the band, the higher the power. Every vtx does that

​@@miquelmarti6537so do you use alsways channel 1 if youre alone?

You won't have this issue with production units.

@@ChrisRosser uff :) Can do you test flight with max power?

Its like they forgot to put some spacers btw the stacks. Eagerly waiting for my unit to arrive.

@@miquelmarti6537 Thanks, I just read on the discord HDZero forum that the heat sink was machined in error and the RF is grounding out to the heat sink. I am a fan of HDZero and as long as there’s an explanation of what happened and it’s fixed no big deal.

Because of a lack of EM isolation when decased

No need he doesn't really care. Just saves face when he needs to

I feel bad that the Hdzero vTX had this defect. I have pulled down my video until I can test whether my vTX was affected by this issue. I'm really grateful to Chris for putting in the time building up his lab and discovering results like this.

The 1Watt coming from the HDZero is true 1Watt, DJI's 1.2Watts, is not. I don't recall the true power output of DJI, but Chris does have a video on it. I believe it's this one: - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Vbw7eabpiZQ.html

Power really doesn’t mean much, especially comparing against different systems. This VTX with its nearly 1.4W of power on R1 compared to a vista at the 200mW setting likely have the same performance. Range wise when the Avatar 1S 350mW board first came out I tested it long range against the 1200mW vista, cranked, and signal integrity and range was WAY better on the 350mW board. It’s honestly all over the place in my experience. Even so, I fly HDZero 60% of the time, so it definitely has it’s place.

Vista 1200 mW includes antenna gain. Output into the antenna (what's being measured here) is much lower.

Check out my earlier vtx power testing video. The vista only outputs about 300mW conducted output power.

I'm not sure, but putting mechanical pressure on a chip can affect internal band gap voltage references which could be used to control power levels.

​​@@ChrisRosserThis product is not safe to be used as a video link.

This has been fixed in production. So it's not an issue that will affect users.@@stst8301

It comes with the googles

@@miquelmarti6537 thank you sir

Measure the power consumption. Should be 14W on R1 @1W. Also this doesn't affect production units.

Just use a BEC, it’s honestly pretty low effort. And build reliably goes up exponentially. I’m using the Freestyle VTX on an 8S build. I primarily use the Matek 6-30V 5/9V BECs BTW as they are small, cheap, and reliable.

I am waiting for this to be tested. My naked Vista tolerates 1000mW, just need to be flying to keep it cool enough. Hopefully same for this HDZero unit.

@@bcc1955 I'd expect the same performance as the original one w VTX which does not tolerate being decased

Learn how to read graphs

You'll be upset to learn that decibels are logarithmic too...

It is perfectly pictured and he explains that in another video comparing all the systems, because doubling power wont equate to double range.