XAircraft new to this forum



Welcome to the forum Wildtech !

The best radio depends on a number of different parameters.Firstly, are you going to be using it for FPV. If so you need to decide on the frequency you are going to use for the aircraft control and the FPV transmitter as you cannot use the same for both. In the UK most people settle for 2.4GHZ for the radio and 5.8GHz for the FPV, but you may want to drop the aircraft to the older 35MHz setup and then use 2.4GHZ for the FPV, which will give you a better range. There are other combinations available as well.

Next you need to decide on the number of channels you are going to need, and what type of switches they need to be (variable or direct switching). These are for adjusting various settings in flight, or controlling the camera gimbals, lights, w.h.y

Finally you may prefer one manufacturer against another (Spektrum -v- Futaba - JR MacGregor)

Sorry to muddy the waters, but hope this may help you to move toward a good decision.
Ian
 

wildtech

Member
Thank for your reply im new to the forum and also new to fling helicopter. i would like to purchase a quadcopter and need good information to make a good purchases.
I live in montreal canada and i speek french, what does FPV mean i know it as to do with video but i thought that cameras was control with the same radio. why two different frequency ?
 

Bonjour Wildtech, comment ca va ?

I am afraid my french is pretty limited these days, although I used to speak it fluently about 60 years ago !!!!!

FPV means First Person View, in other words, flying the quad from inside the cockpit using a laptop, or better yet, receiver goggles such as Fat Shark. This means that you can fly just as if you were in a real aircraft, looking out of the front.

There is no way you can use the same frequency for flying the quad and for the camera/TV transmissions back to you. Thy MUST be on different frequencies, and even weirder, the FPV frequency must be higher than that used for the quad itself (strange but apparently true)
HTH ?
Ian

Thank for your reply im new to the forum and also new to fling helicopter. i would like to purchase a quadcopter and need good information to make a good purchases.
I live in montreal canada and i speek french, what does FPV mean i know it as to do with video but i thought that cameras was control with the same radio. why two different frequency ?
 

ChrisViperM

Active Member
Hello wildtech

As first step I would recommend you read this:

http://www.multirotorforums.com/showthread.php?1617-Before-you-buy-please-read-this
http://www.multirotorforums.com/sho...-getting-started-with-multi-rotor-helicopters

For you as a "beginner" I would recommend a FUTABA T-8J 2.4GHz. Many people here in the forum use it (good if you need support) - you can use receivers with S-bus, if the Flight Control supports it (most Flight Controls do, and if not, use it in the traditional way). The T-8J 2.4GHz is not too complicated to set up but will keep you happy once you are more experienced.
http://www.futaba-rc.com/systems/futk8100-8j/index.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y05swYNKhhc

Whatever radio you buy, make sure you know what mode you want - more info abou this here: http://www.rc-airplane-world.com/rc-helicopter-transmitter-modes.html


For controlling the flight of the Copter you need a receiver, and over the last couple of years, 2.4GHz has established as some sort of standard. Some basic info here: http://www.frmc.org.uk/2P4.htm
Sometimes there is a device attached to Copters which is called gimbal - in easy words a craddle to carry a camera which can compensate movements of the Aircraft and keep the camera "steady"... here an example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&v=EBHpQ7ZOXNs&NR=1
The compensation is done by the Flight Control's software, also the manual movement of the gimbal (via the Radio).

If you want to use a camera and want to see what the camera is seeing, you need a "video down link" , which means you need to "send" the video to the ground, and to do so, you need a different frequency, in many cases 5.8GHz. Controlling you Copter and sending video on the same frequency will not work without serious problems. A transmitter will grab the video from the camera and sends it down to a receiver where you can watch the image on a monitor or through special video glasses (FPV) Some basics about FPV: http://www.fpvpilot.com/Pages/FAQs.aspx

I have to warn you....you are about to get into a very interesting, but nevertheless tricky hobby which needs some pacience to get it right....and it's not cheap. I could give you here just a very quick overwiew and it will take some efford from your side to get all the bits and peaces together. You will find a lot of helpful people on this forum, but the "homework" can't take anybody away from you.

If you are completely new to this hobby, I would strongly recommend to get something like this: http://www.rchelicopterfun.com/blade-mqx.html. The Blade MQX is "cheap", almost unbreakable, a lot of fun and can get you very easily into this hobby without frustration. (Also watch out here for the mode....)

Good luck

Chris
 

Jackella

Member
Bonjour Wildtech, comment ca va ?


the FPV frequency must be higher than that used for the quad itself (strange but apparently true)
HTH ?
Ian

thats not strictly true Ian,lots of guys run FPV frequencies lower than the TX/RX ones, and works fine..
 
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Thanks for that correction jackella, it was just my understanding from reading that it was usually the other way around. It makes sense that it can be either way .
 

wildtech

Member
thank chrisviperM for your good advices i will read and read before making any purchases. il will a you say buy a blade MQX to get the feel of it. as it for the radio i saw on a site that it can take up to 10 channels to run all the options would nt it be best to but buy futaba 10 channels ??
 

ChrisViperM

Active Member
It depends how much money you want to spend.... More channels will never give you problems...but in most cases 8 channels is enough. If you get a Blade MQX, buy it with the optional "cheap" Radio since the Blade is only compatible with Spektrum Radios. Theright version is called
"Blade MQX RTF (Ready To Fly) - Mode1 or Mode2 - and comes with a little MLP4DSM 4-Kanal DSM2 Radio....a few $$ more to spend, but no headache. Once you like the whole thing and get some experience, take the next step and get a Futaba and a bigger Copter.

Chris
 

wildtech

Member
Thank chris after that i would like to have a xaircraft x650.
what do you thing is it a good machine......and do you know why the x650 is so expensive compare to other machine ??.
 

kloner

Aerial DP
the 8j can be switched from mode 1 to 4 inside the computer so theres no different modes to buy.

I've had spektrum, jr and now am sold on futaba.
 

ChrisViperM

Active Member
the 8j can be switched from mode 1 to 4 inside the computer so theres no different modes to buy.

I've had spektrum, jr and now am sold on futaba.

I guess for him as a beginner it might be not so easy since you have to take the radio apart, that's why I was referring to something like this: http://www.skyhobbies.com.sg/pagelink_radio_systems.html

Thank chris after that i would like to have a xaircraft x650.
what do you thing is it a good machine......and do you know why the x650 is so expensive compare to other machine ??.

If you mean: why is the Xaircraft x650 more expensive than the Blade, the answer is simple: the Blade is a small "toy" and the x650 is a grown up Copter, and the x650V is even more expensive since it has 8 rotors (you also get it with 4 rotors for a lot less money) You should also have a look at the DJI F450 (Quad) and the DJI F550 (Hexa). These are widely spread and you will find a lot of resources in case you need help. xAircraft might be good but is a bit exotic. A very important factor is the FlightControl, and I don't know much about the xAircraft FlightControl. That's something you have to research.

Here would be a good special offer for DJI : http://www.flying-hobby.com/shop/f450-quadcopter-futaba-8j-24g-ready-to-fly-p-10205.html

But if you want to stick with x650:

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1326529 .....sorry Bart
http://wiki.xaircraft.com
X650 Value Manual 1.6.pdf(X650V-4)
X650V-8 Parts Assembly.pdf

Chris
 

kloner

Aerial DP
lets try it this way, checkout page 91

http://manuals.hobbico.com/fut/8j-manual.pdf

you push a button on the front from within a menu. There is one radio, it is usually defaulted to mode 2 but he can change it to anything without taking out a screw

the best part of being new and this radio is it uses s-fhss which is the same stuff long range systems use. it works a long ways out and is open source so now the receivers which used to be such a significant cost to a futaba system is now $30 ea from futaba, not a clone
 
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ChrisViperM

Active Member
...s-fhss is a major point. Didn't know that it's used for long range flying....and the best thing: I can use it with my brand new T18 MZ......thanx for the info

Chris
 

kloner

Aerial DP
i think it's open source....... why so popular and cheap. these lrs guys have been refining the crap out of it for a while
 

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