How should beginners begin FPV racing: DIY or buy a FPV Sets?

FPV drone racing has become a very popular activity recently worldwide.There are many asks about how and where to start FPV drone racing. Here I will write a article on how to start drone racing especially for beginners.

Basically there are two ways you can start FPV drone racing.
1.DIY:Build drones using parts you get at RC shops .
2.Buy a FPV Sets.

1)DIY:

One of fun parts of DIY FPV drones is that you can choose parts of your taste. Here I’ll try to build a FPV Quadcopter for example.

Step 1: Watch the video!

You can watch https://youtu.be/dXdIpJnSBI8

Step 2: What you need?

1.4 motors
2.4 ESC
3.1 RC transmitter and receiver
4.1 Flight controlle
5.1 Lipo battery Tattu 3s 1300mah lipo
6.250 Quadcopter frame
7.Wires
8.Assorted tools
Optional
1.Fpv Camera
2.Fpv transmitter and receiver

 

Step 3: Frame

Begin by roughly build you frame and attaching motors to the arms of the FPV Frame.
When you finished, the drones should be like the last picture.

Step 4: Solder on ESC

Install the motors to the esc’s by soldering them.

Step 5: Programing Flight Controller

Now its time to program the flight controller
Flash the board , and make sure all the settings are correct.

 

Step 6: Wiring

This is where things might get confusing.
I have added a diagram that helped me when I made my quadcopter.Notice that two wires have been reversed. This switches the motors direction on the quadcopter in order to lift it into the air.

Step 7: Debugging and Testing

Now its time to test and debug the FPV Racing Drone.Using the assorted tools on clean flight, check everything is working
Most important:
1.Reciever
2.Motors
3.Mode

Step 8: Add battery

Now simply plug in your battery and let the flight controller calibrate itself for about a minute.
Battery recommend:Tattu 3s 75c 1300mah lipo

Some tips：
Fly in open fields
Use a FPV Battery Lipo alarm
Be careful

Thats it go and fly your quadcopter!

Here comes another option: Buy almost-ready-to-fly racing drones.

2)Buy professional FPV Sets

While there are pretty much FPV racing drones in the market, I would recommend two famous FPV racing drones.

A,ImmersionRC Vortex

Well-designed ARF racing drones which has two models: 285mm and 250mm sizes. 285mm-sized Vortex has a super light weight body which makes the quad fly quite fast. On the other hand, the 250mm-sized Vortex Pro released recently has more powerful motors with faster flight controller processing speed. Many teams used Vortex Pro at World Drone Prix Dubai, which shows that this quad meets professional requirements.

B,Team BlackSheep Vendetta

Well-known and new ARF racing drone. Clean-and-neatly design with no wires that are visible on Vendetta.
Other than the design, another defference from Vortex is its speed controller capacity that can go with as high as 6 cell batteries. As you are a beginner, you’d better not try batteries higher than 4 cells as these are too powerful for beginners. 2 cell lipo batteries is good for beginners.
Once you get these ARF racing drones, you just need FPV Lipo batteries-Tattu 3s 75c 1300mah lipo, goggles/monitor, controller and RC receiver to start drone racing. I will touch upon how to fly ARF drones in another article.
In conlusion, I would surely recommend FPV Sets to beginners who want to start drone racing immediately.It is really hard to build a quad successfully by yourself as you often end up in a situation where your quad won’t fly at all due to bad soldering, wiring or some other problems.And make sure you get enough batteries.For most FPVs,3s~4S ,1300~22000mAh LiPo battery would be great,like Tattu 3s 75c 1300mah lipo.
It is recommeded to DIY drones by yourself to gain basic knowledge of FPV Racing Drones, which will help you when you need to repair drones,this will save time and money.