FPV HUB

Hi guys

The above question just occurred to me.  So many people on here post really detailed build threads and spend a lot of time making their craft look nice. Others seem to spend a fair bit of time flying and burning batteries, and others edit videos and have wonderful flight footage.

So- would be interested in people's opinions above.

For me- while it was new and I was learning- I enjoyed the technical bits of building a craft (so long as it wasn't too fiddly and worked as it should!) but now it's just a pain and takes ages. It's all pretty straight forward when you get the hang of it- unless you move on to new tech and then that's just a ball ache getting it to work smoothly again!

I love to fly of course- but like in all areas or my life- sports, driving etc- unless I'm pushing my limits I find it a bit boring. And pushing things means I'm more likely to lose a plane and face financial ruin- so in truth the flying experience, whilst exhilarating, is quite nervous at times. It's why I have always favoured wings- the idea of floating around up there for hours is nice, but after 5 mins I get bored and want to hammer it around- only wings can do that :)

The video editing I always find dull and have never really bothered. I watch the video once after flying and then get bored. Maybe one day I will have a big sort out and cluster all my videos into 1 20 min film and be done with it.

Interesting topic, it's a good question and one I had to think about a while.  I knew instantly, it wasn't the building - although I love getting new things, I do tend to procrastinate quite a bit before settling down to build something, and then tend to split it into little jobs over multiple nights.  I love getting something in the air for the first time, but building seems to stress me

So I am a pure YouTube whore, give me a new something and I'll probably make a video about it.  I also quite enjoy getting footage together and grabbing some music and seeing if I can make it all flow together nicely.

But if I don't fly for a while, I will start getting annoyed and really miss it.  You know it's bad when your wife tells you to go and fly something as she doesn't appreciate me moping around like a gloomy teenager.

So it is the actual flying I like, and flying with a friend or two that boosts the flying several hundred percent.

I love the flying aspect - I find building pretty tedious nowadays because it's just a chore to get to the end goal which is to go out and play :laugh:

Having said that, I do like to scratchbuild things to see if they'll work - again though, it's more about having fun when flying the "creations" than actually building them. Gluing servos in, soldering wire extensions is just crazy boring now because it's nothing new or challenging. Thankfully as I have progressed I usually have something pre-built like ESCs -> Motors that I can just chuck on an airframe instead of having to spend hours soldering.

I do enjoy watching the HD videos back though especially if it's been a nice calm flight with nice light (sunrise or sunset for instance). I like if I throttle down when high up and it's just a little bit of wind noise, it just seems so serene up there.. just the clicking of servos and not much else :)

But yea - love being out and flying. I too get a bit agitated if I've not been out for a while.

One thing to add, I don't really bother posting videos much any more unless there's a "highlight" like an enthusiastic landing. Noone wants to see me blatting around the same field over and over again but that's just what I do... other "highlights" or subjects I might upload are narration (when I have something to talk about) or a maiden. Anything else is not worth the effort, certainly not going to spend hours adding music etc only to get the ~100 views I normally get lol. I prefer the raw sounds anyway.

Its all about the flying.  ;D

Maidens used to give me the best buzz, as you never really knew what was going to happen. Once you had a reliable setup and you could fly around all day with out issues it was less fun. The excitement of something failing any second and having to go in to emergency recovery mode was always great.

Racing quads do have a similar buzz, not that something is going to fail, but you are on the edge of crashing so often it just keeps the heart pounding. Thankfully you can just pick them up and take off again so it doesnt cost a fortune.

Never been a fan of building. I always say i am a pilot not a mechanic. If racing quads were a pain to build i would pay someone to do it for me lol. Luckily i can build one from start to finish in about 4 hours, so its not too bad.

I do enjoy making videos, but i mainly make them (flight videos) for myself. Reviews ect i do if i think others may find the information useful.

Haven't done it yet, but really curious about the Fpv thermal soaring.
Arduino vario is a pretty simple project to do.

Quote from: rank on September 02, 2016, 05:27:47 PM
Haven't done it yet, but really curious about the Fpv thermal soaring.
Arduino vario is a pretty simple project to do.

This is IMHO a fantastic form of fpv.     That's why I designed the Skyhook :)

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I like all aspects, I like the build, the technical challenge of pushing range etc and of course the flying. I also like the meets and friendships I've made through the hobby.

Quote from: rob.thomson on September 02, 2016, 05:36:31 PM
This is IMHO a fantastic form of fpv.     That's why I designed the Skyhook :)

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I got myself an Arduino board today, well it got delivered today.
Now to learn something new.

Personally I prefer flying these days.
Used to enjoy building, but its time confuming these days and little space to build in.
Also mini quads came along, and you can guarantee I'll break an arm when it hits the deck.
Whether that is slow and gently or at full pelt.

And rebuilding it is now soooooo boring and tedious.
Like Ratty says, it can be built in a couple of hours and flown.

But in a crash with a broken arm, the enthusiasm to take it apart to fix it again, and then put it back together is pretty annoying.

I also haven't brought anything new for sometime fpv wise.
I don't mind putting together a shiny new heli though.

So I guess it depends what i'm building.
Tough one.

Quote from: rob.thomson on September 02, 2016, 05:36:31 PM
This is IMHO a fantastic form of fpv.     That's why I designed the Skyhook :)

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

Loving the look of it! And if you wanna see one flying over the landscapes of Bali, I will gladly accept the gift )))

Been flying LOS for more years than Id like to admit to....FPV is a whole different world, a heady mix of technical, electronic, photography, video....A real challenge, and a fairly steep learning curve about various equipment and most importantly its limitations.
  The ability to fly further, higher, lower....than LOS offers, by a big margin. I think that covers it.
Oh, and reviewing the HD footage after.

:vulture:

Building is a necessity, it can be enjoyable but it's just a preamble to the main event.   Looking at the footage lets you relive the moment but flying is what it's all about. It's an out of body experience, a trip. Trying to reach the clouds or skimming the earth, away from the everyday.

It's hard to say really but I suppose I like all of it. I love building planes from balsa which is what I was doing when I joined the forum. All the FPV stuff I have learnt from most of you lot on here and now is the time to say "Thank You!" to those people.

The flying is the best bit of it all and going for range but at low altitude, anyone can fly high. Testing home made Yagi antennas and all that stuff.

I don't post many videos simply because they are boring, I don't really have the time and tbh I don't know how to edit the pictures.

I love the apm, yes it's probably the most complicated FC out there but when you get it tuned it's just great and there are so many features, most of which you'll never use.

To top it off I find it's always more of a pleasant experience when you have someone to go flying with, it's nicer for me as I always have company when it comes to the "walk of shame" lol.

If you'd have asked me 3 years ago, I'd have said the flying with no doubt in my mind. I started FPV because like most of us here I suspect, we always wanted to fly but perhaps couldn't afford the real thing.

Since then,  the limitations on where I can fly without being shouted at, the crappy weather and the mountain of jobs to do at home have actually changed my view as I do love tinkering on an airframe in the evenings. Whether it be an existing foamie or a new plan to cut and build out of foam board.

The end result is still to fly FPV but I find myself really enjoying the model building part much more than I thought I would.

Well,  I've always like the challenge of building a thing and getting it to work,  so I still get some enjoyment out of the technical side of fpv plane building. 

When I was younger I had boundless patience and time but nowadays with work, wife, 3 young children and endless house maintenance or diy, I just have almost no time and I only get chance to get on with things when the kids are asleep or my wife has gone to bed...... even now whilst typing these few lines I've already been broken off twice by the youngsters! 

So late nights are the only time I get time to work on a  plane, often after 11pm.    With work in the morning,  trying to get things to work till maybe 2:30am,  that should just work has become a real turn off with this hobby.

I just want to get out to fly nowadays with the minimal amount of fuss and that still just isn't happening.   

When I am out flying ,  I really like either end of the spectrum, either something really fast like the funjet ultra or something that floats around gently with a pan and tilt so I really get that feeling of being a bird, high up looking down.  I'm not too keen on things that are middle ground.

I love  getting low down across the hedges and fields with the wings... that feeling of being up front is still quite exhilarating.  I had all kinds of plans to get out loads this summer, it never happened much,  now I have plans to get out as much as poss this Autumn & winter........... :+   

oooh  having read that back, I've grumbled on about what I don't enjoy about this hobby almost  as much as what I do.  Maybe I should have started a separate thread.   :D

Interesting guys. Almost everyone has followed the same path- initially enjoying the building while it's new and a challenge , until it becomes repetitive and is just a means to an end.

I suppose this explains the interest in mini quads. They are fairly build and forget, plus a quick build and very robust. Plus not that expensive- you can probably have 4-5 mini quads for the price of 1 long range full autopilot go pro plane.  If you smash it up, you can use a spare one and be back in the air in 5 mins.

Krikey makes a good point that building can at least be done at anti social hours or in poor weather. Perhaps you should get into night flying mate?

For me it's the latter 2. Like everyone else I initially like building, but now it's just hassle. At the moment I have much more bench time and when I do get out flying it's testing what I've been building, invariably crashing then having to go back and rebuild. I'm just trying to get to a steady state with a few reliable aircraft so that I always have something airworthy when the weather is right!

I do enjoy editing the footage and watching it back, as it's something I can do whatever the weather. I'm too impatient though and want to quickly edit things together and get it online, so I really should spend more time to make it better quality.

I really want to do some more 'short' kind of clips, with ground footage to set the scene and stuff. I did one a few years ago at some waterfalls but really want to do more like that. Ideally I need to get a video area set up in the loft, with some lighting and stuff for doing more reviews. It's on the lengthy to-do list!

depending on the day of the week and what mood I am in all of them! some days I don't feel like flying but want to edit or make something. etc...

/Steve

I like researching what gear to buy and how to put it together. I've always thought the journey better than the arriving.

I like quad shots like this
https://youtu.be/KUOhpQDDME4

Landing!

Quote from: BigT on September 06, 2016, 03:56:13 PM
I like quad shots like this
https://youtu.be/KUOhpQDDME4

All that video needs is a few of those girls kissing in the water at the end and it would be the most shared clip on YouTube.