If you could start over in FPV what would you do or not do?

[GoldCraft]

I know we all bought alot of the wrong stuff when we started out. What do you wish you did from day one that would have saved you grief and $. This could be real useful info to newbies.

For me it would be buying an LRS from day one. I crashed my EZ* 3 or four times screwing around with a 2.4 booster for my DX7. I fried my my RF board once also.

Also I would have bought a good set of googles . Wasted money on a cheap monitor that I couldnt see in the daylight and died 6 months later.

Things that worked out well for me was going with the EZ* as a platform . Eagle eyes diversity system.

Its funny how I read a ton of info and still ended up buying a bunch of junk.

Lets here it.

[Trappy]

Very simple: Never buy junk. I've wasted at least 6 months of my FPV career with junk. Go with the best component for the job, or save up until you can afford it. Anything in between just means you need to search planes and start over a few times.

[SENTRY]

Hmmm.

Well - I talked a lot of smack at "the other place" and did a lot of research before I got started. I bought very good gear the 1st time out. I only had about 10 flights on modded 72 before going to LRS. The irony is that BELADOG was the 1st guy that presented FPV to me online. GOLDCRAFT was the 1st guy that allowed me to see an FPV plane in person - and I saw my 1st FPV flight via his monitor. DEREK_S is the person that taught me the "FPV-centric skills" that I'd need to be successful - advanced soldering, building harnesses, building on paper beforehand - etc. I think I'm luckier than most - I had some local support and a bunch of great guys. I've had some great successes considering I don't think I've had but about 25 FPV flights - I couldn't be happier. I've got something on the bench that will either be a BIG failure or hurt some people's feelings - LOL.

I will say that the shortcuts often-times end up being long-cuts... not worth it. YES it can be done on a budget - I've seen it. But the odds are highly not in your favor if you really wanna push hard with sub-standard gear.

[Reverand Blue Chip]

I'm thinking that I would have gone with 1.2/1.3 instead of 900 - but it wasn't available. I probably would not have bought the tracker again - fact is - I am going to sell the one that I have - I'm not even sure that I would buy a LRS again. I spent countless hours messing with the tracker only to not have it work. I simply don't have the time to invest in it. The LRS - I really haven't pushed it too hard - but I know that there is a ton of interference around me in that band... I have really only taken it 2 miles past my old 72 system...

Knowing what I know now - I may have bought a different starter plane than the E*. It's a great platform - but definitely has its limitations.

I would actually embrace the simplicity again - and just fly. One thing that I wish I had done earlier - OSD.

[airbagit13]

+1 My biggest mistake was buying 900 gear. I bought 2x 900 RXs, 2 patch antennas, skew planar, cloverlead, bi quad, omni and like 3 transmitters.

Luckily for me FPV gear holds its value pretty good so I only lost like $100 once I sold it all.

Dont get me wrong if you fly out in the country 900 is fine but for me here in the city it was a nightmare.

[IBCrazy]

I was pretty fortunate that the only peice of equipment that was poor was my camera. However now, I'd build my own antennas and not even consider linear ones (I started with store bought linears, of course), and I also know what cameras to buy. I'd also use 1.3 or 2.4GHz to start out, not 900. That's about it.

My planes were scratchbuilt for FPV right from the start. I stuck with 72MHz since I was p*ssed at Spectrum.

As far as crap gear, I bought what I thought was the best. I had a Remzibi OSD right from the start (happykillmore, the software developer for it is a good friend of mine). Turns out the camera was the only crap component! Did I get lucky? Maybe.

-Alex

[roberto]

All the 1.2 video gear from ebay... big mistake... luckily didn't cost any planes but didn't buy me 1km range either...

Now I always buy the best available at least for my GS, it's gear that you will never lose and will help protect the gear that can be lost.

[imdone]

I decided to go with the best I could find! thats why im not in the air yet! almost there though.

[SENTRY]

^ LOL. Take your time - progress slowly. The funny thing is that I notice that the guys that are good get simpler and simpler with their setups... the guys that are just starting have crap gear - and the guys w/ "medium" experience have all the toys - return to home, diversity, and other bells and whistles. I look at the 10 most successful guys (by my own metering stick) - and they all have 1 thing in common - SIMPLICITY.

[Bajas]

All the 1.2 video gear from ebay... big mistake... luckily didn't cost any planes but didn't buy me 1km range either...

Now I always buy the best available at least for my GS, it's gear that you will never lose and will help protect the gear that can be lost.

Same with 2.4from ebay...
From now on all my videogear will have the LAWMATE on them....