Recently, multi-rotor systems in all their manifestations have attracted increasing interest in people. Whether it's DJI Phantom and Inspire class vehicles, or huge octocopter-sized cars, or vice versa, small but nimble copters, a la Hubsan x4, but my attention was attracted by high-speed quadcopters ~ 250th in size, having an insane amount of traction and speed. Many of you have probably met fascinating videos with races and freestyle quadrocopters. Looking at them, it seems: what it costs to buy an aggregate and soar into the sky, make turns between obstacles and deftly overtake rivals, but unfortunately this is not so ...

Exactly a year ago, the idea of ​​trying myself as a pilot was realized and I began my long and thorny journey into the world of radio models, speed and altitude. I am not at all disappointed in the acquired hobby; it has tightened my head. When in seconds you soar up into the sky, you hear the roar of engines, you pass the track with the best results - these are just indescribable feelings. But all this has a downside. Falls, breakdowns, eternal repairs and breakdowns again, long evenings with a soldering iron and the need for a large number of spare parts. A year later, I would like to share all the joys and hardships of this hobby, to warn someone against mistakes, and for someone it is possible to help make a choice whether he needs this hobby.



The theme of racing quadcopters is extremely voluminous. Here and radio equipment, and batteries, and the configuration of engines, speed control, flight modes, PID settings, and much more. I will try to meet the acceptable number of characters, unfortunately, omitting many things. But if you have any questions, I will gladly try to answer them in the comments.
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Quadcopter selection

The first mistake on my way was to buy a Chinese plastic quadrocopter for “try”. I licked for a long time and looked at the kits for assembling with brushless engines, but the price ... As a result, I decided to buy at least something, namely the rather popular Syma X5S model. It is possible that this copter gave me initial ideas about the management and operation of hardware sticks, but now I can say with confidence that for the same money it is better to buy radio equipment and a cord to connect it to a PC, train on a simulator and simultaneously save money for everything else. For example, now I fly with the FlySky FS-i6 equipment - this is one of the most cost-effective devices on the market, at a cost it is comparable to the Syma X5S, it allows you to fly in simulators and with some modifications use 10 channels instead of the six. Well, since we are talking about hardware, I recommend also to take a closer look at the Radiolink AT9.



The choice of components for the aircraft itself is a topic for a separate article and probably not even one. I can only say that X-shaped frames, such as QAV-R and Alien 4/5/6 with a beam thickness of at least 4 mm, are currently relevant. Suspension system with engine size 2204/2205/2204 2300-2600KV and regulators of at least 20A. Well, I will say that it does not make sense to buy a top configuration at once - during training you will fall and crash an insane amount of times, the engines will wrinkle from the blows, the rev regulators will burn, and the frames ... oh, the poor frames. Therefore, I recommend to buy at least a couple of engines to the reserve, one additional speed regulator and many, many propellers and preferably strong ones (for example, DAL 5040).

FPV glasses / helmet selection

First I have to disappoint you a little. In the majority of videos, the flight picture is simply gorgeous ... Of course, why wouldn’t it be gorgeous if the shooting goes on GoPro Black and even at 60fps? But the pilot sees something completely different, namely, what begins in the video above from the 20th second. The picture is an analog signal of PAL / NTSC format, transmitted at a frequency of most often 5.8 GHz. Unfortunately, digital formats can not yet be on the level of delays with an analog signal, and sometimes the interference is much better than the frieze of a picture for a second. For reference: at high speed in a second the copter flies ~ 25 meters, so it is obvious that for now there is no place for the figure.



At this stage, I also made a mistake in the Miserly Pays Twice series. From the Chinese cinema glasses I made an analogue of FatShark Teleporter V3. Of course, the device turned out convenient and even better than its eminent relative, but still it was not worth the money and time spent. In the end, I pushed wet toad legs off my neck and bought good Carl Zeiss Cinemizer Plus glasses. I must say that the price of used points came out slightly more expensive than spent money on a homemade counterpart. As a result, I recommend buying good FatShark Dominator points, FatShark Base, Boscam GS920 and many others at once. The cost of FPV points is high, but remember that they can serve you for a very long time. If you still do not want to spend a lot of money, it is better to think about the helmet Quanum Goggle V2 or its analogs.

Preflight preparation

So, the cherished boxes with accessories on our table. In one of these boxes, there must be a LiPo battery and not one. Batteries are the first thing you need to be careful with. For quadcopters, high-current batteries are used, which, unlike batteries in telephones, can be extremely explosive. A LiPo battery can be compared to a gasoline canister — by itself it will never catch fire, but if you are not careful with it or stored in the wrong place, then surely it will not lead to anything good. With batteries in the same way: in storage mode, which is not under the scorching sun, it will never explode. But during charging, be sure to monitor the process, especially when your charger and batteries are not broken. It is quite possible, the charger will continue to supply voltage after reaching the required threshold, the battery will recharge, the lithium will begin to pass into a gaseous state, the battery will inflate and after some time will break and ignite. If the battery starts to inflate and warm up - immediately throw it into the bath or other refractory place! If the battery is charged and its depressurization occurs, all the same as described above will happen, the same will happen in case of a long-term short circuit. Well, now think of gasoline, by itself it never ignites. So do not panic!



One more thing to remember! Do not run a quadrocopter on a table with screwed screws! Never! The torque of the engines is very high, in case of a problem, you will get a circular saw on your table, and not just one, but 4! In some cases, you can allow the quadcopter to rise on the floor, but only when you are confident in its behavior, and in no case do not take off at home above the level of 10 centimeters! This height is quite enough to test the PID controller settings. Once upon a time, I was filmed a stupid, but visual video: on the quadcopter, the engines are several times weaker than those that are usually installed now, but this does not prevent them from cracking down on the cucumber. To secure the material a small photo. And again - without panic, gentlemen! Just keep it safe.

Far from flying away. Hands do not catch. On grandmothers do not fall.

Here comes the turn of the first flights on FPV. When you first wear a goggle or helmet, for obvious reasons you do not see what is happening around you and during the flight you will not be able to take it off before landing. For this reason, I highly recommend going to the field with friends and asking them to observe the flight. If you have problems with video or control in seconds, the copter may be very far from the place you saw. In the presence of high grass, the search for loss alone can take hours. In addition, a friend will always tell you whether there are people on the field and whether something has fallen off from your device. And the first time it is better to fly close, not very high and be wary of trees.

Falls ...

The first time you will fall a lot. A lot to fall. Very, very much fall. And after you learn how to fly normally, you will also fall. The usual practice during the flights in the field to change several sets of screws. Well-assembled quadcopters rarely hit the tree or the ground (for example, hitting the tree in a video resulted only in replacing one screw); The main enemy are concrete and metal structures. A collision with a concrete pillar at a speed of 100 km / h does not bode well. Personally, my concrete structures became the fault of 3 engines and several carbon rays.


A small part of what you break.


Yes, yes, it was a pillar ...


The minimum set that is worth taking with you.

Search for a company

The passion for quadcopter is an excellent reason to make friends with different people in your city, united by a common passion. Several times I met people with copters in the park and just approached them to get acquainted (which I probably didn’t do in any other situation), I met some thanks to forums and public in social groups. Thanks to this hobby, in just one year I have made many good friends with whom to have a good time.


And you will attract a large number of onlookers.

A big plus of joint flights is help in setting up, transfer of experience, help with spare parts. Sometimes the problem with the equipment is simply implicit and for its localization you have to change a bunch of components with which your friends can help. And they will give you a chance to try new propellers and gaze at the new model of glasses. In addition, it is sometimes convenient to make joint purchases, and indeed together more fun!

Do not despair!

A little about sad things. Most likely, you will find a lot of breakdowns, sleepless nights in an attempt to adjust something. Sometimes I just wanted to drop everything and sell. It seemed that in the Acro mode it was simply impossible to fly, and the equipment would never work as desired. Some leave the hobby because of similar problems, but personally I follow the adage “Patience and a little effort!”. For example, now, after the next flight, the quadcopter is lying around with the problem of transmitting the video signal, but probably it is worth taking for granted. I have in stock another transmitter in case the installed one has completely failed.

About finance

I know many people are interested in this question. Let me be frank: the initial costs will be at least 35,000-50,000 rubles. You will need to buy the copter itself (~ 10.000-15.000 rub.), Radio control equipment (~ 5.000-15.000 rub.), Glasses and ground FPV equipment (~ 10.000-25.000 rub.), Charger (2.000-5.000 rub.) And batteries. (1,500 rub for piece). But you have to understand that many of these things will remain with you for a long time, and the further upgrade of components will not cost so much. In addition, most of the components are better to buy a pair. Yes, yes ... Everything can break, but wait, for example, a new flight controller you'll be a month. That is why I do not worry about the fact that my kopter now lies with a non-working video signal transmitter. Now my average spending on hobbies is 2,000-3,000 rubles. per month, it is comparable to the cost of any other popular hobby.


Photo from one of the first flights on the first quadcopter.

Thanks for attention! I hope someone this article was at least somewhat interesting and useful. Even more, I will be glad if it becomes an incentive to join our ranks. Have a good flight!