[StrikerBusa]

I've been in rc for quite a while now ( since I've been about 14), I've flown planes and stopped at 1/4 scale aerobatics. I got into 3d heli flying, and got bored of nitro cars and trucks kinda quickly. Recently I've been looking into quadcopters and tricopters flying in fpv. I've done some research and think I want a tricopter, but, I have no idea where to start, with ground stations antenna boosters, goggles, volt meters lol it's kinda making my head spin.

So what I'm wondering is where to start, I'm reading up on laws and quite sure I'm going to be flying in the mountains and away from the city. What am I going to need to fly a couple of Km's away, record the video, and am I going to be able to do this on a 1500 budget?

Thank you for any help and advice

[eball]

http://rcexplorer.se/

This guy if you have not seen his stuff befor makes a really soolid cheep tricopter frame. Im about to start on one. probly about $200 inc batteries

I would recomend building the copter and flying it a bit to get used to it as you begin to collect the fpv stuff and add it on later.

if you looking a geting a first time quad I would recomend an Aquacopter they are prettymuch indestructable and waterproof so also snow proof for a canadain winter

hope this hleps

[StrikerBusa]

That's pretty much what I was going to do for the tricopter, fpv manuals.com makes a pro tricopter delrin kit I was looking at, I'm just unsure or what I need in terms of ground station signal booster so on an so forth,

[eball]

Im just starting into that. with stuff I had been using on an rc boat. so far I have been using a gopro with wifi remote linked to I pad and a hobbyking cheapie 5.8ghz transmitter range is not fantastic but Im looking into building some different antenas.

sorry

[flyboysnow]

i have flown fpv for the last 2 years now and made the mistake of buying everything at once and going out and loosing my plane due to disorientation. i now fly a dji 450 quad with a naza which i LOVE!!! and i use a 900mhz 500mw transmitter on a hornet osd and a ready made rc 600 series camera which has such good low light qualities i fly all through the night on weekends! i had a multiplex twin star with fpv and a fy31ap which something went wrong and right after takeoff it did a roll at full power and pull into the ground. so just remember to always triple check your system and dont push the limits on range! i have learnt that story more than once! go with a quad they imho are easier to fly and seem easier to build and setup. yes you could get a fairly good setup for $1500. i recommend dji they are cheap! easy to build and awesome flying kits! pm me if you have any questions!
I gotta pick up another tripod as one of my antenna sits on the ground as you can see in the last pic. anyone have any good alternatives to a tripod?

[buffythesaint]

Start off by keeping it simple. If you want to go 2km, get a UHF system like Dragon Link, EzUHF. All my gear, I use Dragon Link with no worries of lossing rc link. I'll post some pics of my ground station in a bit, not on the PC I'm using ATM. A simple directional patch antenna for farther range or flying just in front of the antenna, in close. You get get into diversity also with two vrx's/antennas. It will pick the best video signal for your googles/monitor. I have googles but I mainly use a 19" led tv to fly with, much more relaxing for me.

[buffythesaint]

Here are some pics of my ground station. I power everything with a 3s battery and HK distribution power bar. Two lawmate 1.2 vrx's, 8dbi directional patch antenna(for distance) and a 3dbi omni rubber ducky for in close and behind me. The Oracle for Diversity control and a FPVJapan DVR for ground recordings. I run audio/video cables to my monitor, setup away from my tripod. It is way easier to setup.

A couple of pics of my TBS Discovery quad. Very simple setup with Naza FC, TBS Core PSU/OSD, 500mw 1289 vtx, Dragon link UHF. It's a blast to fly and I can get 10 mins + for flights.

BTW, I would go with a quad, no servo for yaw movement and easier setup with a FC like the Naza.

[martinic]

I started off with an RCExplorer inspired tricopter using a KK Blackboard 5.5 controller. It was a great way to learn. I found the tricopter to be more forgiving in setup exactly because of the tail servo.On a quad, you need to be able to trim out for neutral yaw - something that is not a factor for a tricopter which tilts to maintain yaw.

I started just building the tripcopter and getting it working well. That took weeks. Only after that did I add a camera, then later a video link for FPV. I learned a lot along the way and didn't move on to the next step until I was comfortable.

If I were starting over today, I would get a KK2 board and any number of the decent $30 500 size quad frames (e.g. X525 or similar), then get it flying well.Then I would add an Immersion RC 5.8gHz video system with a $50 security camera and circular polarized antennae (e.g. Immersion RC Spironet). For video, I would buy a set of FatShark Attitude SD goggles s with the built-in 5.8 receiver. That would be it. Aftter getting that all working and having some good FPV flights under my belt, I would add a simple OSD and a groud station video recorder (FPV Japan DVR or similar). Then I might add an HD onboard video camaera (GoPro or similar).

Today my setups look similar to buffythesaint's, with diversity (dual) receiver ground station setup and a long range system (LRS) for RC control.

[StrikerBusa]

I think I'm going to order a tricopter probly from rc explorer and just build it up, I have access to a large shop to tweak it out during the winter, learn along the way, this seams like a large project but I'm looking forward to it, I just have to get rid of my other camera gear and nitro bikes to fund this project

[StrikerBusa]

Anyone have any suggestions on rx/tx, I've been doing some reading on the 1.2ghz to 5.8 ghz and still don't know what one to buy. Futaba fasst???

I'm still lost in all this electronics lol more reading to be done I suppose.
Thank you to everyone so far for the experience stories and advice. It's much appreciated