Featured News

Chris Fravel

21 June 2024
In this episode...
The Droning Company's <a href="https://www.thedroningcompany.com/news/categories/chris-fravel" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chris Fravel </a>and <a href="https://www.thedroningcompany.com/news/categories/sam-karp" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sam Karp</a> take a deep dive on two leading action cameras for FPV pilots: the <a style="color: #ba372a;" href="https://amzn.to/3xqY9Os" target="_blank" rel="noopener">DJI Osmo Action 4</a> and the <a href="https://amzn.to/3xqDTMZ" target="_blank" rel="noopener">GoPro Hero 12 Black</a>. 
<h5>Watch</h5>
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New Episode of FPVlogs is Live!

Product News

22 January 2024
By Sam Karp
I&rsquo;ve been in the market for a new cinewhoop ever since my trusty Shendrones Squirt v2 finally bit the dust after 4 years of being an absolute workhorse. Cinewhoops are what I end up flying 9 out of 10 times during commercial shoots and as much as I love my 5 inch quads, they just don&rsquo;t see nearly as much professional use as my cinewhoop. So, I need to build a new one, and it needs to be good. 
Originally I was planning a build around the Cinelog 35v2, but as soon as I saw that <a href="https://www.speedybee.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">SpeedyBee</a> had just launched their own 3.5inch cinewhoop platform called &ldquo;The Bee35&rdquo; I immediately knew that I had to give it a try. SpeedyBee has already become one of my favorite brands in FPV due to their incredible F405 and F7 flight controllers, but I haven&rsquo;t gotten the chance to check out any of their frames. Until now that is, and spoiler alert, I&rsquo;m very impressed with what I&rsquo;ve seen so far. Let's take a deeper dive into what I like, and dislike about the Bee35.
<h5>Components</h5>
<img src="https://media.thedroningcompany.com/images/tincy/FDHm4DVdSxlHDbglpnUEsY5FD1jKb9U29fsgGLc8.png" alt="" width="462" height="462" />
Here&rsquo;s a list of all the parts I used for this build along with the Specifications for the Bee35 Frame:
&bull; Frame - Bee35 Pro (Pro version is required if you want to use the DJI 03 Air unit)
&bull; FC/ESC Stack - SpeedyBee F405 Mini
&bull; Motors - FPV Cycle 23mm Short Motor 2350Kv
&bull; VTX - DJI 03 Air Unit
&bull; RX - TBS Crosfire Nano with Immortal T antenna
&bull; Props - Gemfan D90
&bull; Battery - 1200mAh 6s Tattu R-Line
<h5>Specificiations</h5>
&bull; Wheelbase - 153mm
&bull; Top Plate Thickness - 3.5mm
&bull; Bottom Plate Thickness - 2mm
&bull; Camera Mounting Distance - 19/20mm
&bull; ESC/Motor Mounting Height - 24mm
&bull; Flight Stack Mounting Holes - 20x20/25.5x25.5/30.5x30.5mm
&bull; Video Transmitter Mounting Holes - 20x20/25.5x25.5mm
&bull; Propeller Size - 90mm
&bull; Motor Mounting Holes - 12x12mm
&bull; Weight - 138g
&bull; CNC Heat Sink - 15g
&bull; Camera Gimbal (Optional Add-on)- 28g
&bull; Recommended Motor - 1806/2004/2006
&bull; Recommended Kv - 4S/2500-3500Kv, 6S/1800-2300Kv
&bull; Recommended Battery - 900-1500mAh 4S/6S
<h5>Design and Build Quality</h5>
Right off the bat you can tell everything about this frame is high quality. The carbon fiber is cut extremely well with no sharp edges. The plastic prop guards/ducts feel sturdy with enough flex in them to withstand some abuse without immediately cracking. Even the 3D printed TPU parts look and feel surprisingly good for 3D printed parts. However, the real star of the show is the CNC machined camera mount, and if you got the &ldquo;Pro&rdquo; version to use an 03 Air Unit, the CNC Machined bottom plate. All together the kit feels shockingly premium for something that only costs $35.99, or $39.99 for the &ldquo;Pro&rdquo; version.&nbsp;
<img src="https://media.thedroningcompany.com/images/tincy/dYDfz9ciFIkoKxuU5yqVut77xBOT0WRFeM2aGHEf.png" alt="" width="466" height="466" />
One of my favorite design features of this frame is how it reroutes the flight controllers USB port to the back of the frame. Because the flight controller is completely surrounded there&rsquo;s no direct access to the USB port on the flight controller. Usually this would be a huge issue and make any betaflight configurations an absolute nightmare requiring you to tear apart the frame in order to access it. Clearly SpeedyBee realized this and thoughtfully included 2 USB extension cables (1 USB-C to USB-C and 1 Micro USB to USB-C) that reroute the connection to the back of the frame perfectly enclosed by an included 3D print. It&rsquo;s a small detail, but one that saved me from wanting to pull out my hair during configuration.
Included with the frame is an optional 3D printed GPS mount, I didn&rsquo;t end up using a GPS in my build, but it&rsquo;s a nice inclusion for those who want to set up GPS functions such as return to home in either Betaflight or iNav.
<img src="https://media.thedroningcompany.com/images/tincy/od4DZXG8xuymhyP1gZIivgbaB5Ow817MIFtkGnx9.png" alt="" width="459" height="459" />
Not Included is the &ldquo;Bee35 Removable Gimbal&rdquo;. It&rsquo;s an optional vibration damper you can pick up from the SpeedyBee website for an additional $5.99. This in theory should help capture smoother footage by isolating the GoPro from the rest of the frame. I didn&rsquo;t end up using one for this build and so far haven&rsquo;t noticed any vibrations that would cause issues with the GoPro footage, however it&rsquo;s not a bad idea to pick one up just in case. I really wish SpeedyBee would have just included this part with the frame.
<h5>Assembly and Compatibility</h5>
Assembly for this frame is&hellip;.strange to say the least. SpeedyBee does a great job with instructions showing how to get everything&nbsp; put together, but if you&rsquo;ve never built an FPV drone before, you might find yourself getting a bit confused unless you&rsquo;re following a tutorial. Unlike typical quads where you have a bottom plate that houses all the components and a top plate to secure everything, the Bee35 is almost built upside down in comparison. Well, it is built upside down, not only is it a &ldquo;pusher&rdquo; style quad meaning the motors are facing down instead of up, but the whole flight controller and ESC stack gets installed upside down. Now, there&rsquo;s nothing wrong with doing this and I&rsquo;m fairly certain other cinewhoop frames like the Cinelog 35v2 work the same way. It just adds an extra step in betaflight to reprogram the flight controller&rsquo;s orientation and I thought it was worth mentioning.
There are two versions of this frame, the &ldquo;Bee35&rdquo; and the &ldquo;Bee35 Pro&rdquo; As far as I can tell the only difference between the two is the bottom plate. The regular Bee35 comes with a carbon fiber bottom plate, whereas the &ldquo;Pro&rdquo; version comes with an aluminum CNC Machined bottom plate specifically designed for the DJI 03 Air Unit. So long story short, if you&rsquo;re planning on using an 03 Air Unit, get the &ldquo;Pro&rdquo; version, for everything else, the normal version will work just fine.
One to note is that if you plan on using an 03 Air unit, a full sized 30x30 flight controller and ESC stack will NOT fit. I did a test fit with the SpeedyBee F7v3 and it was a few mm too tall. I ended up using a F405 Mini stack, but even that was a bit of a squeeze. I&rsquo;d highly recommend looking at using an AIO board like the T-Motor F7 AIO or the GepRC F722 AIO. You might run into issues if you use anything larger than a 20x20 stack.
<img src="https://media.thedroningcompany.com/images/tincy/dlFwmysJ5a62kVdUMKIW3QQXCqtHqYVxsWEPL4LV.png" alt="" width="469" height="469" />
<h5>Performance&nbsp;</h5>
This thing flies like a dream. I was honestly shocked the first time I flew it. In comparison to how floaty and underpowered my Shendrones Squirt v2 was, the Bee35 is a joy to fly. Because of its low profile prop guards the wind doesn&rsquo;t push it around nearly as much and it feels rock solid. On top of that it has plenty of power, more than enough for typical Cinewhoop flying. I can even do some light freestyle with it, although I don&rsquo;t necessarily recommend it.&nbsp;
As far as flight times go, I&rsquo;m also really impressed. For each of my flights I was using 1200mAh 6s batteries from Tattu. Depending on the wind, and how aggressive I'm flying, I can push anywhere from 7 minutes, to my longest flight being around the 10 minute mark. Flight times with FPV drones are usually on the short side of 4-6 minutes, so I was really happy to see how long the Bee35 could stay in the air. Flight time is especially valuable on Cinewhoops where you&rsquo;re often doing one continuous shot.&nbsp;
<h5>A New Favorite</h5>
The Bee35 is currently my favorite frame for 3.5 inch Cinewhoops. The components are high quality, it&rsquo;s lightweight, durable, performs well, and in my opinion looks really sharp. I do wish they just included the GoPro vibration damper by default, instead of charging an additional $6 for it, but that&rsquo;s really my only gripe at the moment. It does have a few quirks like not being able to use a 30x30 stack with the 03 Air Unit, but overall it&rsquo;s a great package for the asking price of $39.99.
<h5>Learn More</h5>
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Best Cinewhoop Frame For $40!

14 December 2023
By Sam Karp, The Droning Company FPV Columnist
In the rapidly advancing world of FPV drones, the pursuit of optimal power, reliability and flight time remains constant. <a href="https://genstattu.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tattu</a>, a renowned name in drone battery tech, has been making waves with its R-Line 5.0 series of batteries. With an impressive 150C discharge rate, compact form factor and an attractive price point. These LiPo batteries could be the new gold standard for FPV. In this review we&rsquo;ll dive into key factors that make these batteries so optimal for FPV and help you decide if they&rsquo;re the right batteries for your current, or next FPV build!
<h5>What&rsquo;s Included</h5>
The Packaging is very straightforward with no extra or unnecessary fluff, just straight to the point. The batteries come in a yellow cardboard box with plenty of foam and bubble wrap to protect the battery during shipping. Included in the box is an instruction sheet, an optional balance lead protector, and the battery itself.
<h5>Design</h5>
<img src="https://media.thedroningcompany.com/images/tincy/nriYEpVY0fgduJrtYUCrRVJ6g6dM5a8erlT4bGz4.jpg" alt="" width="689" height="446" />
The first thing that immediately stood out about these batteries is how compact they are in comparison to other 6s LiPos with a similar capacity. Comparing the 1400mAh 6s Tattu batteries to my 1300mAh 6s batteries from CNHL, the Tattu batteries are actually quite a bit smaller despite having a larger capacity and a higher discharge rate of 150c vs 100c.
The story is the same for the smaller 1200mAh version as well. Comparing them to my favorite budget freestyle batteries, the &ldquo;Speedy Pizza&rdquo; 1200mAh, the Tattu batteries are slightly more compact, while maintaining the same capacity and again a higher discharge rate of 150c vs 100c.
Along with the smaller size comes some weight savings as well, with the 1200mAh Tattu battery weighing only 197g on average, and the 1400mAh version weighs in at roughly 222g on average. This is invaluable for lightweight builds such as racing quads, where you need the quad to be as light and quick as possible without sacrificing power, or Cinewhoops where you want the flight time to be as long as possible without making the quad too heavy.
<h5>Capacity, Discharge Rate, and Performance</h5>
Like I mentioned above, the Tattu R-Line 5.0 comes in two versions. A 6s 1400mAh battery with a discharge rate of 150C, and a 1200mAh 6s version also rated at 150C.
In a previous article of mine I talked about what the C rating is and how it affects performance. Here&rsquo;s a brief quote from that article to bring you up to speed:&nbsp;&ldquo;A LiPo battery&rsquo;s C rating indicates its power discharge capability. It represents the maximum safe continuous discharge rate of the battery in relation to its capacity. In simpler terms, it tells you how quickly the battery can release its stored energy without overheating and damaging itself. A higher C rated battery will be able to deliver more amps, and maintain a high amp draw for longer periods of time with less voltage sag. In essence, a higher C rating = more punch from your battery and that&rsquo;s what we want.&rdquo;
So yeah, higher C rating = more punch and better performance from the battery. Your typical 6s FPV battery will have somewhere around a 100C rating. Tattu has really gone above and beyond with their rating of 150C. Before testing these batteries I had my doubts as to whether or not I&rsquo;d notice any difference, but wow. After just the first flight I was able to tell a massive difference in performance. Full throttle punch outs felt incredibly powerful and I was never left wanting more. Performance throughout the flight felt extremely consistent with little to no battery sag towards the bottom of the voltage.
As far as flight times go, it&rsquo;s going to vary massively based on what you&rsquo;re flying, how you&rsquo;re flying, and what components you&rsquo;re using on your quad. My testing consisted of my custom 5 inch FPV drone on the Impulse RC &ldquo;Apex Evo&rdquo; frame, running the 25mm motors from FPV Cycle. I also did some testing with my newly built Cinewhoop on the SpeedyBee &ldquo;Bee35&rdquo; frame and the 23mm short motors from FPV Cycle.
For my 5-inch drone I would get roughly 4-5 minutes of flight time with the 1200mAh battery, and around 5-7 minutes on the 1400mAh battery.
With my Cinewhoop I opted to only test the 1200mAh battery as I feel it fits the 3.5 inch Cinewhoop platform better than the larger 1400mAh battery. But even with the smaller 1200mAh battery I was pushing 7-9 minute flights which I was not expecting at all but I&rsquo;m extremely happy with.
Again, this will all depend on what you&rsquo;re flying and how you&rsquo;re flying. If you&rsquo;re an FPV drone racer, you&rsquo;ll most likely get significantly less flight time than someone cruising slowly over the trees. So take my results with a grain of salt, as yours will likely differ. But based on my experience the R-Line 5.0 batteries performed extremely well for flight time.
<h5>Durability and Longevity</h5>
It should come as no surprise that FPV pilots demand the most from their drones. Pushing them to the absolute limit. This often ends up resulting in a crash, it&rsquo;s almost inevitable that you will at some point crash your FPV drone and when you do you want the components to be able to withstand multiple impacts. Now, I can&rsquo;t say I&rsquo;ve deliberately tested the durability of the Tattu R-line batteries, but I have had a number of crashes while flying with them and each time they&rsquo;ve held up extremely well with only minor damage to the plastic casing containing the cells. On top of the physical abuse FPV pilots put our equipment through, we also put a lot of internal strain on the batteries. Whether from racing, performing high throttle freestyle maneuvers, or even pushing the batteries to their absolute minimum voltage when returning from a long range flight. We need to be sure the batteries we choose will be able to hold up to these harsh demands. In my testing the Tattu R-Line 5.0 batteries performed exceptionally well in this regard. During one flight in particular I had an issue with my on screen battery readout (an error in betaflight not having anything to do with the batteries) and inadvertently drained the cells past the safe minimum voltage of 3.2v per cell. By the time I realized what had happened the battery was already drained to around 2.9v per cell. I thought for sure that I had damaged the cells and ruined the battery. I set it aside thinking I would have to toss it, but after letting it sit for around 10 minutes the voltage recovered back above the 3.2v threshold. After more testing it hasn&rsquo;t suffered any noticeable damage and still flies like new! Now, I don&rsquo;t recommend ever draining a LiPo beyond 3.2v per cell, but it&rsquo;s something to keep in mind if you&rsquo;re ever in an emergency situation.
<h5>Price and Value Proposition</h5>
<img src="https://media.thedroningcompany.com/images/tincy/7g9rSVa50ZDaAuaOgJnfL54IDFeQzoGhAM8y4Fmi.jpg" alt="" width="677" height="451" />
The Tattu R-Line 5.0 batteries really stand out from their competition. Not only for their top tier performance, but also their very attractive price points. The 1400mAh version is priced at $40.99, while the 1200mAh version comes in at $35.99. While I wouldn&rsquo;t exactly call them &ldquo;cheap&rdquo;, the fact that they&rsquo;re so compact, reliable, and have a remarkable 150C discharge rate, makes the value they provide for the money unmatched. When compared to the competition such as the &ldquo;Lumenier N20&rdquo; series which costs approximately $20 MORE at $60 per battery, you can start to see why the Tattu R-Line series is such an incredible value.
<img src="https://media.thedroningcompany.com/images/tincy/vqliUTKMKNOATyTcc3xALmoT5mRbtN2wFWfKMrA2.jpg" alt="" width="677" height="451" />
<h5>Conclusion</h5>
In conclusion, the Tattu R-Line 5.0 LiPo batteries, with their compact design, impressive 150C discharge rate, and attractive pricing, are undeniably a top tier option for FPV drone pilots, and in my opinion, they&rsquo;re the gold standard for FPV batteries and they&rsquo;re now my daily driver choice for FPV. As the drone racing and freestyle community continues to evolve, Tattu has once again proven that they&rsquo;re at the forefront of battery technology. The investment in the Tattu R-Line 5.0 series is undoubtedly worthwhile for anyone seeking unmatched power and reliability for their FPV drones.

Reviewed! Tattu R-Line 5.0 Batteries

07 December 2023
By Sam Karp
The 03 Air Unit is an incredible video transmission system, and its onboard recording capability is shockingly good. Being able to record full 4K at 120fps and transmit a live FPV video feed is groundbreaking for the world of FPV. It's not quite to the levels of a full size GoPro or DJI Action 4, but I'm willing to bet it's good enough for the vast majority of people, and it allows for 4k/120fps recording from sub 250g FPV drones like the Cinelog 20 or the Pavo Pico without being dragged down by the additional weight of a full sized action camera. Here's what you need to get started recording high quality footage from your 03 Air Unit.
<h5>What Are ND Filters and When to Use Them?</h5>
If you want to achieve that &ldquo;cinematic&rdquo; look for your footage, you'll need to pick up a set of ND filters. Neutral Density (ND) filters control the amount of light let into the camera's sensor. Think of them as like a pair of sunglasses for your camera. On a bright day they cut back the light and darken the overall image allowing for proper exposure. This is especially important on cameras like the 03 where you have a fixed aperture. Without using an ND filter the only way for your camera to properly expose the image would be to raise the Shutter Speed, thus reducing the amount of motion blur captured in camera. We need to lock that shutter speed in order to achieve a nice cinematic amount of motion blur. That's why ND filters are so important. They allow us to choose the settings we want, lock them in, then we select an ND filter to properly expose the image.
I personally use the ND filters from K&amp;F Concepts but any ND filter set for the 03 Air unit will work just fine. Try to pick up a full set consisting of 4/8/16/32 filters. But if you're on a tight budget, just pick up an ND 8 and 16, those are the filters I use 90% of the time.
<h5>Basic Settings&nbsp;</h5>
Now that you have your ND filters we can dial in the settings. So power up your drone (if you're indoors always take the props off first) and grab your goggles. Keep in mind that the image transmission from the 03 Air Unit to the goggles is tied to what settings you decide to record with, changing these settings will affect your recorded footage, but will also affect what you see when flying the drone. So while these are the best settings to record cinematic footage, if you're not planning to record footage with your 03 Air Unit and are only using it as a video transmitter, just leave everything set to auto and enjoy the flight! That being said, let's dive into these settings!
<h5>Aspect Ratio 4:3 vs 16:9</h5>
In the settings you have the option between two aspect ratios. 4:3 and 16:9. Typically I prefer to fly at 4:3, it gives you more information as a pilot by expanding the FOV vertically. But since we're prioritizing high quality video, choose 16:9. For whatever reason you only have the option to record 4k footage with the 16:9 aspect ratio. When using 4:3 you're limited to recording at 2.7K. So we'll be using 16:9 so we can record at 4K.
<h5>Resolution and Frame Rate</h5>
Here we have options all the way from 1080p/30fps to 4K/120fps. The resolution you choose won't affect the video feed in your goggles, but the frame rate will. So if you choose to record at 4K/30fps, you'll be flying at 30fps, which is definitely not ideal as you're only getting a 4th of the visual information that you would when flying at 120fps. Because of this, higher frame rates like 60 or 120, will be much smoother and easier to fly with. So I'd recommend sticking to at least 4K/60fps for most situations, or 4K/120fps if you need super slow motion.&nbsp;Both 4K/60 and 4K/120 use the exact same bitrate of 150Mbps, so if you can manage flying at 60fps instead of 120fps, you'll actually have a higher bitrate per frame in the recorded video.
Here's a list of all the resolution and frame rate options along with what bitrate they'll use. Higher bitrate generally means higher quality.
1080p/120fps - 100Mbps
1080p/100fps - 100Mbps
1080p/60fps - 80Mbps
1080p/50fps - 80Mbps
1080p/30fps - 40Mbps
2.7K/120fps - 150Mbps
2.7K/100fps - 150Mbps
2.7K/60fps - 130Mbps
2.7K/50fps - 130Mbps
2.7K/30fps - 80Mbps
4K/120fps - 150Mbps
4K/100fps - 150Mbps
4K/60fps - 150Mbps
4K/50fps - 150Mbps
4k/30fps -110Mbps
<h5>ISO</h5>
As a general rule of thumb you want to keep the ISO as low as possible. The ISO is your camera's sensitivity to light, the higher the ISO the brighter your image. This is useful when there isn't enough natural light to properly expose your image. However if you push your ISO too high you'll start to introduce noise and artifacts. Because of this we want to keep the ISO as low as possible, ideally at its base value of 100. Typically I'll leave the ISO set to auto, but then set the max ISO limit to 400. That way if I fly into a dark area, the ISO will increase and I'll still be able to see where I'm flying without introducing too much noise to the image.
<h5>Shutter Speed</h5>
In simple terms, the shutter speed will affect how much motion blur is in your video.&nbsp;
Lower Shutter Speed = More motion blur
Higher Shutter Speed = Less motion blur
A lower shutter speed will also let in more light and a higher shutter speed will let in less light. This is why we needed those ND filters, so we can lock the camera to a lower Shutter Speed and achieve a nice amount of motion blur without overexposing the image.
With any camera the most natural and cinematic shutter speed will be double your framerate. So if you're recording at 60fps, your shutter speed should be 1/120, or for 120fps it should be 1/240. This holds true for FPV drones as well&hellip;for the most part. Because of the nature of FPV a lot of what you'll capture is fast moving action shots, or freestyle footage with lots of fast flips and maneuvers. In situations like this, the &ldquo;double your frame rate&rdquo; rule can actually cause too much motion blur and result in a blurry mess of a video.
So here's my recommendation.&nbsp;
If you're flying something slow like a Cinewhoop, or you'll be flying very smoothly with no quick movements or sharp turns, follow the double the frame rate rule. 60fps at 1/120 Shutter speed.
If you're flying a 5inch freestyle drone and doing lots of fast movements, acrobatics, chasing a car, or anything where the camera will be moving quickly with frequent sharp turns, double the double your framerate rule. By that I mean record 60fps at 1/240 instead of 1/120. This will cut back on the motion blur while not completely eliminating it and it will make the video appear less blurry during fast action.
<h5>White Balance</h5>
To be completely honest, I usually leave the white balance on auto. It's something I always forget to adjust when I'm flying, so leaving it on auto lets me forget about it and just fly. It's not going to affect image quality and you can always set it manually if you prefer.
<h5>EIS</h5>
Just like DJIs Osmo Action, the 03 Air Unit has built in image stabilization called &ldquo;Rocksteady&rdquo;It does a decent job smoothing out the footage and getting rid of any bumps or sudden jarring movements, but it can only do so much. If we turn this off we can actually take the RAW unstabilized footage and run it through a software called &ldquo;GyroFlow&rdquo; This software does a much better job than the onboard stabilization. More on GyroFlow later, for now, just turn off EIS.
<h5>Advanced Camera Settings</h5>
Color Profile. There are two color profiles we can choose from &ldquo;Normal&rdquo; and &ldquo;D-Cinelike.' For our purposes D-Cinelike is the way to go. It provides a much flatter image than the normal profile. It's not quite a LOG profile, but it's the closest we have. This will give us more control in post for color grading.
Sharpness. By default the sharpness is set to 0, but we want to lower it to -1. The default setting of 0 is a bit too digitally sharp, and since we're going for a cinematic look we want a slightly soft image. You can lower this value to -2 if you want a softer image, but I think -1 strikes a nice balance of retaining details without being overly sharp.
Noise Reduction. Again, by default this is set to 0, but we want to set this to -2. We want the camera to do as little noise reduction as possible, this will retain more details in the highlights and shadows. We can always add noise reduction in post if needed.
<h5>What is GyroFlow?</h5>
Now that we have our settings dialed in and we've recorded some test footage, we can take that footage and run it through GyroFlow. GyroFlow takes the gyroscopic data from the camera and syncs it with the unstabilized footage. Then it crops in slightly and makes the image buttery smooth. Luckily, there aren't too many settings you need to worry about in GyroFlow with the 03 Air Unit. You can drop a clip right into the program and it will pull the lens profile as well as the gyro data automatically. Here are the two settings I end up changing depending on the situation.
Smoothness. Typically I'll reduce the smoothness from 0.5 to 0.25. This reduces the crop slightly and still provides plenty of smoothness to the footage.
Low Pass Filter. The other setting I'll sometimes enable is the Low pass filter. Occasionally with the 03 Air unit you'll run into some weird &ldquo;Jello&rdquo; effects if the camera isn't mounted on a shock absorber. Turning on the low pass filter will usually fix that issue.
<h5>Full list of the best Cinematic Settings for the 03 Air Unit</h5>
ND Filters. ND 8 and 16 are my most used filters
Aspect Ratio. 16:9
Frame Rate and Resolution. 4K/60fps for most situations, 4K 120fps for super slow motion.
Shutter Speed. For 4k/60fps use 1/120, or 1/240 for fast action shots. For 4k/120fps use 1/240, or 1/480 for fast action shots.
ISO. Auto 100-400 max.
White Balance. Auto.
EIS. Off.
Color Profile.&nbsp;&nbsp;D-Cinelike
Sharpness.&nbsp;-1
Noise Reduction. -2
Remember, the settings provided here serve as a foundation, a starting point to help get you started capturing cinematic footage. Feel free to experiment and fine-tune based on your experience and flying style. Embrace the learning process and get out there to fly!

DJI 03 Air Unit Overview

10 October 2023
By Sam Karp
LiPo (Lithium Polymer) batteries play a critical role in powering FPV drones, and selecting the right voltage and capacity is important for optimizing your drone&rsquo;s performance. It might seem technical at first, but once you get the hang of it, it&rsquo;s really not all that complex. Here&rsquo;s a breakdown of what you need to know.
<h5>Battery Voltage</h5>
LiPo batteries consist of individual cells, each of these cells have a voltage range of 3.2 volts when fully depleted, to 4.2 volts when fully charged. This voltage range is the safe scope of operation for a LiPo cell. Overcharging the battery, or fully depleting the battery could potentially cause irreversible damage to the cell. Best case scenario you&rsquo;ll have a dead battery that just won't hold a charge anymore. Worst case scenario you&rsquo;ll have a fire hazard on your hands. I&rsquo;ll go over how to properly charge a battery later in this article, but to ensure you don&rsquo;t discharge a battery too far, I&rsquo;d recommend landing your FPV drone at around 3.5v per cell.
<img src="https://media.thedroningcompany.com/images/tincy/LSdTSiBhBIIoSzd0Ysaar7tz2IHQmcj0kLqP0n3M.jpg" alt="" width="461" height="307" />
The four cells on a 4s battery.
Typically when purchasing an FPV battery you&rsquo;ll be looking at either 4s, or 6s batteries. All that means is they&rsquo;ve taken a single LiPo cell and connected it in series with other cells to increase the total voltage of the battery. For example, a single cell ranges from 3.2v to 4.2v, whereas a 4s battery has 4 total cells and will deliver a combined voltage of 12.8v to 16.8.
LiPo batteries also have what&rsquo;s referred to as a nominal voltage, also known as its &ldquo;storage voltage&rdquo;, which is typically around 3.7 volts per cell. This represents the average voltage level that a LiPo battery needs to maintain during storage or when it&rsquo;s not being used. It&rsquo;s super important to note that keeping a LiPo battery constantly full, or depleted, can lead to cell damage over time. So storing the battery at the 3.7v nominal voltage is ideal for long term battery health and performance.
When you&rsquo;re purchasing a LiPo battery, you&rsquo;ll find the nominal voltage listed on the label of the battery itself, or in the description of the product. For 4s batteries that voltage will be 14.8v (3.7v x 4 cells = 14.8v) and for 6s batteries that voltage is 22.2v. (3.7v x 6 cells = 22.2v)
<h5>4s vs 6s</h5>
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Now that you know how these batteries work, what&rsquo;s actually better, 4s or 6s?
Keep in mind the voltage of each. A 4s battery will range from 12.8v to 16.8v and a 6s battery will have a range of 19.2v to 25.2v. That&rsquo;s a pretty hefty jump in power output.
If you plan on flying a 5 inch FPV drone, or something larger like a 7 inch, I&rsquo;d highly recommend investing in some quality 6s batteries.There isn&rsquo;t really any downside to going with 6s other than being slightly more expensive, but with that you&rsquo;ll see increased flight times as well as a significant jump in power output.
Plenty of pilots still fly 4s, but more and more pilots are making the jump to 6s and it&rsquo;s definitely worth it, especially if you&rsquo;re starting from scratch and don&rsquo;t already have a stockpile of 4s batteries.
Now if you&rsquo;re flying something small like a 3-inch quad or a very small cinewhoop like the Cinelog 20, you won&rsquo;t need the extra power that comes with 6s and you can absolutely pick up some 4s batteries and save some money. Typically those lighter quads won&rsquo;t need as much power and will fly great on 4s.
In general, if you&rsquo;re flying 5-inch like most FPV pilots, 6s is the way to go. You&rsquo;ll have noticeably more power to your motors, as well as longer flight times. Just make sure that your flight controller, ESC, and motors are rated for the voltage of a 6s battery. If not you&rsquo;ll run the risk of frying electrical components.
<h5>Battery Capacity (mAh)</h5>
So you&rsquo;ve selected your battery type, either 4s, 6s, or some other variant. What size battery should you get? And what does mAh even mean? Let&rsquo;s take a look!
Milliamp hours, or mAh is the capacity of the battery. A 1100mAh 6s battery will have the same voltage output as a 1500mAh 4s battery (19.2v to 25.2v) but the larger battery will be able to output power for longer, which should lead to a longer flight time. So if a bigger battery means longer flight time, why not slap a larger battery on a 5-inch drone and call it a day? Well at some point the battery starts to add so much weight to your quad that you&rsquo;ll need to use a lot more power to keep it in the air. So it will be heavy, fly worse, and actually negatively impact flight time. You have to keep in mind that larger capacity batteries will also be physically larger, and heavier. So you can&rsquo;t slap a 1500mAh battery on a 3 inch drone and expect it to fly very well, if at all. You&rsquo;ll need to find a good balance of weight and capacity to make sure your drone can lift the weight and fly well, but also maximize the flight time.
Here would be my recommendations on what mAh batteries to get assuming you&rsquo;re flying a 5 inch FPV drone
For 4s batteries look for something around 1300mAh to 1500mAh.
For 6s batteries look for something around 1100mAh to 1300mAh.
These are just rough guidelines based on what I enjoy flying. I know pilots who fly with larger batteries, and those who fly with smaller batteries. As long as your quad isn't negatively impacted by the weight, it won&rsquo;t matter too much.
<h5>Lipo Battery C Rating</h5>
When you look at a LiPo battery you&rsquo;ll often see the letter C followed by a number, something like C50, C75, C100, or C120. This is the battery's C rating. A LiPo battery&rsquo;s C rating indicates its power discharge capability. It represents the maximum safe continuous discharge rate of the battery in relation to its capacity. In simpler terms, it tells you how quickly the battery can release its stored energy without overheating and damaging itself. A higher C rated battery will be able to deliver more amps, and maintain a high amp draw for longer periods of time with less voltage sag. In essence, a higher C rating = more punch from your battery and that&rsquo;s what we want.
Here&rsquo;s a quick example of how a C rating impacts performance.
A 1300mAh battery with a rating of 100C will be able to safely push up to 130 Amps continuously. (1300mAh x 100 = 130,000mAh or 130 Amps)
A 1300mAh battery with a rating of 50C will only be able to push half of that at 65 Amps continuously. (1300mAh x 50 = 65,000mAh or 65 Amps)
If all of this seems confusing, just aim for a battery with a rating of around 100c. Higher C ratings can be beneficial, but I wouldn&rsquo;t recommend going much lower than 75c if you&rsquo;re flying 5 inch FPV drones. Over the years, FPV battery manufacturers have had a pretty good track record of offering batteries around the 100c mark, so just shoot for that and you&rsquo;ll be more than happy.
<h5>How to Charge and Store LiPo Batteries</h5>
Charging your batteries correctly is not just important for a safe flight, but also for extending the overall life of your LiPo. Here&rsquo;s what you need to know;
Battery Connections. LiPo batteries will typically feature two connectors: the main power connection (usually an XT60 or similar plug) and a balance lead. The balance lead will look slightly different depending on what type of battery you&rsquo;re charging, 4s or 6s, with an additional wire going to the lead with each additional cell in the battery. The main connector is used for charging and discharging the battery, while the balance lead ensures that each cell within the battery maintains an equal charge, in other words, it &ldquo;balances&rdquo; the cells. If the battery cells started charging at 3.2v but for some reason one cell started charging at 3.5v, without a balance lead that cell would end up getting over charged and potentially cause damage to your battery.
<img src="https://media.thedroningcompany.com/images/tincy/H42D43Jwn7unqatjpm3LAnFW96IYbY8V33mYt2cl.jpg" alt="" width="636" height="328" />
Battery plugs.
C-Rate Charging. Similarly to discharging, charging a battery also uses C rates. The C rate represents the charge or discharge rate relative to the battery&rsquo;s capacity. For example, if you have a 1300mAh battery and charge it at 1C, you&rsquo;d be charging it at 1.3 Amps. 2C would be 2.6 Amps, and 3C would be 3.9 Amps. Most LiPos can handle charging at 2C or 3C, and it&rsquo;s fine to do so if you&rsquo;re pressed for time, but I&rsquo;d recommend sticking to 1C for 90% of your charge cycles. Repeatedly charging at a high C rate can damage the battery overtime and shorten the overall lifespan.
<h5>Summary</h5>
We&rsquo;ve talked about the voltage range of LiPo cells, emphasizing the importance of staying within the safe operating range of 3.2 volts when fully depleted, to 4.2 volts when fully charged. Over charging or over discharging a battery can lead to irreversible damage and shorten the lifespan of the battery. Remember the nominal voltage of 3.7 volts per cell is ideal for prolonged storage.
4s vs 6s. When deciding between 4s and 6s batteries, it comes down to the power that you need. For 5 inch FPV drones, the voltage jump provided by 6s batteries offers longer flight times, as well as some extra punch that will definitely put a smile on your face. So 6s would be my recommendation for flying 5 inch FPV. 4s is perfectly fine, it&rsquo;s just a bit out classed by 6s.
Battery Capacity (mAh). Battery Capacity, measured in milliamp hours (mAh), is super important for flight time. Larger capacity batteries can offer longer flight times, but at some point the battery starts to add so much weight to your quad that you&rsquo;ll end up using a lot more power to keep it in the air. So it will be heavy, fly worse, and actually negatively impact flight time. Striking the right balance between capacity and weight is essential to maintain agility and maximize flight times. For 5 inch FPV drones I&rsquo;d recommend 1300mAh to 1500mAh for 4s and 1100mAh to 1300mAh for 6s.
LiPo C Rating. The C rating tells you how quickly the battery can release its stored energy without overheating and damaging itself. Higher C rating means more punch and consistent power delivery. Aim for a battery around 100C.
Charging and storage. Charging and storing LiPo batteries safely is extremely important. Ensure secure connection with both the main power connector (usually an XT60) and the balance leads. Ideally you want to charge at 1C for most charge cycles to preserve battery health.

What You Need to Know About FPV Batteries

Trending News

09 August 2023
By Sam Karp
In my previous article <a href="https://www.thedroningcompany.com/blog/introduction-to-fpv-drones" target="_blank" rel="noopener">&ldquo;Introduction to FPV Drones&rdquo;</a> I went over the basics of what FPV is, as well as a few steps that you could take to get started learning to fly FPV. Today I&rsquo;ll be diving a little deeper by giving a few suggestions on how to actually get started flying. Well, flying in a simulator at least. In my experience, this is the easiest and fastest way to get started with FPV.
In this article I&rsquo;ll cover what FPV simulators I use, controller recommendations, what the different flight modes are, as well the basics of how different stick inputs affect the drone. Let's get started!
<h5>FPV Simulators</h5>
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FPV Simulators are an essential part of learning to fly FPV. Flying in the virtual world is a safe and risk-free space to practice and enhance your skills as a pilot. If you crash in the real world you risk causing damage to not only your drone, but also to public/private property. In the simulator you can crash as many times as you like and simply press a button to start over and try again.
In addition to being a much safer way to learn FPV, flying in the simulator also means you&rsquo;ll only need a controller to get started. Overall this will help you get a better feel for if you want to pursue FPV, and if you don&rsquo;t like it? Well, you&rsquo;ve only spent around $100 on a controller and you haven&rsquo;t spent hundreds if not thousands of dollars on expensive equipment just to find out that this isn't for you. Although I do have a hard time believing that you won&rsquo;t be immediately hooked like I was.
Here are my recommendations for great simulators to get you flying in no time.
<a style="color: #ba372a;" href="https://store.steampowered.com/app/410340/Liftoff_FPV_Drone_Racing/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Liftoff FPV Drone Racing</a>. This is the simulator that I&rsquo;ve put the most time into at close to 50 hours. The physics are close enough to the real world that most people won't really be able to tell the difference, it has plenty of content and some amazing drone customization if you want to really dial it in and get as close to the real thing as possible.
<a href="https://store.steampowered.com/app/1682970/Uncrashed__FPV_Drone_Simulator/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Uncrashed FPV</a>. This, in my opinion, is the most graphically impressive FPV sim out there. It&rsquo;s kind of bare bones with only a handful of environments and tracks. But it&rsquo;s very pretty and great for practicing freestyle. For that reason alone I have over 20 hours flown in this one.
<a style="color: #ba372a;" href="https://www.velocidrone.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Velocidrone</a>. I&rsquo;ve never personally tried this one, but I know plenty of people who swear by the physics in this sim. It has plenty of environments and tracks and you really can&rsquo;t go wrong with this one.
<a style="color: #ba372a;" href="https://store.steampowered.com/app/641780/The_Drone_Racing_League_Simulator/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">DRL Simulator</a>. This is the official simulator of the Drone Racing League. I feel like that&rsquo;s all I really need to say about it. It has plenty of content, drone customization and even a tutorial that will teach you how to fly. If it&rsquo;s good enough for the DRL it&rsquo;s good enough for me.
<a style="color: #ba372a;" href="https://store.steampowered.com/app/1278060/FPV_SkyDive__FPV_Drone_Simulator/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">FPV SkyDive</a>. This is the only free FPV simulator on the list, so if you don&rsquo;t want to shell out an additional $10-$20 for a simulator this is a great starting point. Just keep in mind that it is free, so it won&rsquo;t be as polished as some of the other sims on this list, but it will definitely get you up and flying!
<h5>FPV Controllers</h5>
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In my experience the best way to get started flying is by picking up a controller that can be used both in an FPV simulator, as well as to fly your first FPV drone. A controller will be your primary interface with the quadcopter by taking your inputs, then sending them directly to a receiver mounted on the drone. There are a variety of different receivers that each use a different RF protocol. Typically when starting out you&rsquo;ll be using a standard 2.4ghz protocol such as FrSky or FlySky. These receivers are fine for beginners, but more advanced pilots should look into something along the lines of TBS Crossfire, or the open source Express LRS (ELRS) for a more stable, longer range connection. As you look for a controller, try to find something with a &ldquo;4 in 1 transmitter&rdquo; built into the radio. This will give you the most flexibility starting out, and more often than not, there will be a module bay for an external RF transmitter to allow you to upgrade later if you want to.
<a href="https://tinyurl.com/mphw55fw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Radiomaster TX 16s Mk2</a>. Fantastic full featured controller. This has become the standard for a lot of pilots and I&rsquo;ve been using the slightly older Mk1 for years. It has fantastic full sized &ldquo;hall effect&rdquo; gimbals for precise control, a large color display, and it comes with ELRS or a 4 in 1 transmitter built in. It is a little on the large side, so keep that in mind if you have smaller hands as it could be uncomfortable for some. $200.
<a href="https://tinyurl.com/54ybetys" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Radiomaster Boxer. </a>Very similar to the TX 16s but more compact and it has a smaller black and white screen vs the TX 16s&rsquo;s large color display. If I had to start from square one with FPV this is the controller I would get. It&rsquo;s not too expensive, it has the same fantastic full sized &ldquo;hall effect&rdquo; gimbals as the more expensive TX 16s, and it still comes with ELRS or a 4 in 1 transmitter built in. $140.
<a href="https://tinyurl.com/42bs6s7m" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Radiomaster Zorro</a>. The Zorro is a great option for anyone looking for more of a &ldquo;gamepad&rdquo; style controller. It&rsquo;s much more compact than the other controllers I&rsquo;ve mentioned and you also have the option for either ELRS or a 4 in 1 transmitter. The only downside is that it uses smaller gimbals. I wouldn&rsquo;t consider it to be a deal breaker; they're still great gimbals, but in general larger gimbals will give you slightly more control over the drone. $120.
<a href="https://tinyurl.com/5ea75xhe" target="_blank" rel="noopener">BetaFPV Lite Radio 3</a>. This is the controller I would point you towards if you aren&rsquo;t too sure that you&rsquo;ll like FPV and maybe you just want to buy a controller to test out flying in a simulator. It&rsquo;s cheap, it works, and if you do decide to keep flying FPV you&rsquo;ll be able to use it with your first drone. Since it&rsquo;s so small and lacks a screen you&rsquo;ll probably grow out of it quickly, but it would make a decent controller to dip your toes into the world of FPV. $60.
<a href="https://tinyurl.com/hwpnchat" target="_blank" rel="noopener">DJI FPV Controller v2</a>. This is a controller that I can only recommend if you know for a fact that you&rsquo;ll be flying something with DJI&rsquo;s digital FPV system. Either DJI&rsquo;s Avata drone, or something with their 03 Air unit. The Controller V2 is great, very similar to the Radiomaster Zorro in terms of size, but it will only work with DJI products. I will say that it is an extremely seamless connection to set up if you are flying DJI, but if you think you&rsquo;ll fly anything else, maybe look elsewhere. $200.
<a href="https://tinyurl.com/3d53wzp3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Honorable Mention: </a><a href="https://tinyurl.com/3d53wzp3" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Radiomaster Pocket.</a> As of right now this radio is available for PreOrder. So I unfortunately don&rsquo;t have a ton of information about it. It looks to be another fantastic controller from RadioMaster, almost a shrunk down, more compact Radiomaster Boxer. If this is available by the time you&rsquo;re reading, pick this up instead of the BetaFPV Lite Radio 3. It&rsquo;s cheaper, has more features, a screen, and if it&rsquo;s anything like other controllers from Radiomaster, it will last a lot longer. $55.
Keep in mind these are just my suggestions. There are tons of great controllers out there, but I&rsquo;m just aiming to get you started with a few options that I know will work well. All of the controllers that I&rsquo;ve listed (minus the DJI controller v2) have an external RF module slot, and the option for either built in ELRS, or a 4 in 1 transmitter. Starting out I would just grab the 4 in 1 as it will work most standard 2.4ghz receivers, and down the line you can always get an external ELRS or Crossfire module for longer range.
<h5>Understanding Stick Controls</h5>
<img src="https://media.thedroningcompany.com/images/tincy/NGPmwqafIOunnwOuA9374J8cZQue1VToRqlFVfec.jpg" alt="" width="437" height="427" />
Image courtesy <a style="color: #000000;" href="https://oscarliang.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Oscar Liang.</a>&nbsp;
Our resident drone expert Chris &ldquo;The Drone Geek&rdquo; Fravel has an excellent article on understanding the basics of drone operation and stick movements that you can check out <a href="http://www.thedroningcompany.com/blog/drone-flying-for-dummies" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.
I&rsquo;m going to do my best to convert what he talks about into FPV.
There are four axis of control on any aircraft. Roll, Pitch, Yaw, and Throttle.
Roll is controlled with the right stick by pushing left or right. This will roll the drone to the left or right.
Pitch is also controlled with the right stick, but this time by pushing forward or backwards. Think of pitch as either pushing the nose down, or pulling it up.
Yaw is controlled with the left stick by pushing left or right. Think of yaw as spinning the drone similarly to how you would turn your head
Throttle is controlled with the left stick by pushing forward or backwards. This controls how much power is sent to the motors. This stick will be slightly different from all the other inputs as it won't spring back to the center. Instead, it starts all the way at the bottom at 0%, holds its position, and gives you the full range of motion to 100%. Throttle control is one of the more difficult things to get the hang of when first starting FPV, especially if you&rsquo;re coming from something like the Mavic where the &ldquo;throttle&rdquo; is less of an actual throttle and more of a &ldquo;go up or down&rdquo; command.
Flight Modes
Keep in mind that how far you push the stick, the drone will react differently depending on what flight mode you&rsquo;re using. Here are the different flight modes you&rsquo;ll most likely run into when flying FPV.
Acro. This is the bread and butter of FPV. Acro provides full manual control of the drone. There is no self leveling, putting control completely into the hands of the pilot. If you tilt the drone forwards and release the stick, the drone will maintain the angle you&rsquo;ve set it in. If you hold the stick in any direction the drone will continuously tilt in that direction until you let go. So if you shove the right stick all the way to the left, the drone will do barrel rolls to the left until you release the stick. There is a learning curve to it, but if you&rsquo;re going to learn FPV, this is the mode you should either start with, or at least work your way up to. It offers by far the most amount of control, and once you get the hang of it, it&rsquo;s the most fun.
Angle. Angle mode works most similarly to something like the DJI Mavic. This mode will automatically level the drone when the pilot releases control of the sticks. This offers a bit of a safety net when flying, but try not to rely on this too heavily. When you&rsquo;re in angle mode the drone won't tilt beyond a set limit, while this makes it easier to pick up and fly, in the long run it limits your overall control of the drone and you won't be able to perform a lot of the maneuvers that FPV is known for.
Horizon. Horizon mode is the awkward middle child between Acro and Angle mode. Much like in Angle mode the drone will automatically level itself when the pilot lets go of the sticks, however when the pilot tilts the sticks past a certain threshold, the drone behaves more similarly to Acro allowing for the drone to do things like barrel rolls and loops. But it&rsquo;s still not as precise as Acro mode.
Other flight modes do have their use case, a lot of tiny whoop pilots prefer to fly in angle mode for instance, but for the most part try to learn how to fly using Acro. It will give you the most control over the drone, and if you&rsquo;re aiming to race, fly freestyle, or fly for cinematic purposes, Acro is the way to go.
<h5>Conclusion</h5>
So that&rsquo;s everything you need to know to get started flying in an FPV simulator. I&rsquo;d recommend practicing at least 30 minutes a day for a week or two before venturing into the real world. The simulator is a fantastic tool for learning how to fly and you should try to utilize it as much as possible before moving onto flying something like a 5&rdquo; FPV drone. Again, crashing in the simulator is free, so take your time and embrace the learning curve. Crash as much as possible in the digital world before flying IRL. Once you get the hang of it, It&rsquo;ll feel like second nature and before you know it you&rsquo;ll be hooked!

Introduction to FPV simulators and controllers

31 July 2023
<img src="https://media.thedroningcompany.com/images/tincy/X0GVloj0z7wFKRxUaJAyaOgI7XWmDMYGQWCjNR1k.jpg" alt="" width="87" height="87" />
By Sam Karp
[Editor's Note: Sam Karp is The Droning Company's newest columnist. He is an FPV drone expert, so please watch for his upcoming column, Sam Karp on FPV.] 
If you&rsquo;re interested in the constantly evolving world of drones you&rsquo;ve probably heard the term &ldquo;FPV&rdquo; get tossed around, or maybe you&rsquo;ve seen some mind bending footage of FPV pilots on social media. But what exactly is FPV? And how does it differ from a traditional drone like the DJI Mavic? Well, you&rsquo;ve come to the right place, in this article I&rsquo;ll be breaking down what FPV is, what makes it different from other types of drones, and finally, the first steps I would recommend to anyone who&rsquo;s interested in diving into the world of FPV.
<h5>How is FPV Different from Other Drones?</h5>
&nbsp;So this is the biggest question I get asked and I&rsquo;ll start by defining what FPV is. FPV drones, or First Person View drones, get their name from the fact that you fly the quadcopter using a pair of low latency goggles that make you feel as if you&rsquo;re sitting in the cockpit of the drone. This gives an incredibly immersive and exhilarating experience.
Most of us are familiar with DJI and their Mavic series of drones. These drones are commonly praised for their ease of use, stability in the air, advanced sensors, GPS, and having a gimbal stabilized camera system. This makes them perfect for aerial photography, stable video, as well as other things such as radio tower inspections. The primary difference between this type of drone and FPV (With a few exceptions) is actually their lack of these advanced sensors and GPS systems. FPV drones have no automated features so it relies solely on the pilot's ability to fly. This allows for incredible agility and acrobatic maneuvers creating the possibility for shots that would be impossible with any other type of drone.
<h5>Different Types of FPV Drones</h5>
When it comes to FPV there&rsquo;s tons of variation in the types of drones that pilots build and fly.
The two most common are 5 inch freestyle/racing drones, and Cinewhoops.
Five Inch Freestyle drones are the most common. They&rsquo;re insanely powerful and relatively light weight. These are the types of drones that you&rsquo;ll see doing crazy acrobatic maneuvers, chasing drift cars, and diving down cliffs and waterfalls. They&rsquo;re also the most common size for FPV racing and in general they&rsquo;re the most fun to fly.
<img src="https://media.thedroningcompany.com/images/tincy/LlsUoeuLSoghVSrta2SWDSnRxv7ADrH2jM1SpsmQ.jpg" alt="" width="462" height="462" />
Cinewhoops on the other hand are specifically designed to be smaller, have prop guards for safe flying indoors and around people. These drones are known for slow, cinematic flying. Making them perfect to fly through a house for a real estate video, filming an event, or any kind of close proximity flying.
<h5>Flight Times</h5>
If you&rsquo;ve flown any DJI drone before, you&rsquo;re probably used to upwards of 30 minute flight times, maybe even longer in the case of their newer offerings.
FPV drones will generally have a much shorter flight time due to their higher power consumption and smaller batteries. On average you can expect anywhere from 4-8 minutes of flight time depending on your setup.
You also need to be much more mindful of when to land an FPV drone. Unlike DJI, FPV drones won't tell you an estimated flight time remaining. That&rsquo;s something the pilot needs to keep track of by keeping an eye on the battery voltage. A fully charged Lipo cell will be at 4.2v, and fully depleted it will rest at 3.2v. Lipo batteries can be finicky and if you drain them past the 3.2v threshold it can cause damage. We&rsquo;ll get into proper battery info and how to take care of them in another article, but for now the general rule of thumb is to land at 3.5v per cell. So if you&rsquo;re flying a 4s battery, that would be around 14v. A 6s battery would be 21v. This keeps you well within a safe range to make sure your batteries are healthy, and in a pinch you&rsquo;ll still have a little extra juice to fly home.
<h5>Digital vs Analog</h5>
There are two ways to receive a live video feed from your FPV drone. Either from an Analog Video signal, or a Digital Signal. They each have their pros and cons, so let's have a look.
FPV has traditionally been flown using an analog video signal and is still the preferred video transmission for pilots who race FPV competitively. The primary benefit to analog video is its extremely low latency, typically around 20ms. When you&rsquo;re flying around a race track at 80Mph latency is extremely important. The downside to analog is the video quality received in your goggles. Typically it&rsquo;s only a resolution of 480p
This is where the more recent jump to a Digital FPV has been beneficial. Digital video systems, such as DJI&rsquo;s 03 Air Unit, are capable of a much higher resolution. In the case of the 03 Air Unit you&rsquo;re looking at a live feed with a resolution of full HD 1080p. The difference in resolution is night and day. It feels like looking through a GoPro, rather than looking at an old CRT Tv. The only issue with this bump in resolution and video quality is the increased latency that comes with it. To get that bump in resolution, you go from 20ms of latency, to 30ms of latency. Now for the vast majority of people a 10ms difference will go unnoticed, but for pilots who compete in racing it can be a big deal.
My recommendation for most people would be to go with digital. It can be a little pricey to get into, but the overall boost in quality is well worth it.
<h5>How to Get Started</h5>
As a beginner to FPV, be prepared for a steep learning curve and a few crashes along the way. Crashing happens, it&rsquo;s part of the learning process, and part of FPV as a whole. If I were starting from scratch with FPV these would be the steps I would take to learn how to fly.
&bull; Start with a simulator. Like I said earlier, you will be crashing. There&rsquo;s no avoiding it, and it&rsquo;s much cheaper to crash in an FPV simulator like Liftoff or Uncrashed FPV than in the real world. In order to use a simulator you will need a controller. I highly recommend picking up something like the RadioMaster Boxer, or RadioMaster Zorro. For beginners I would pick up the versions with the 4in1 transmitter. This will give you the most flexibility for pairing to traditional 2.4ghz receivers. And both the Boxer and Zorro have module bays if you ever upgrade to something like Crossfire or Express LRS.
&bull; Once you&rsquo;re comfortable enough flying in the simulator, move onto flying something small in the real world. Something like the Emax Tinyhawk or any other 1s &ldquo;Whoop&rdquo; type drone. Emax actually makes a ready to fly beginner kit that comes with a controller you can use in the simulator, as well as basic analog FPV goggles and the Tinyhawk itself..
&bull; Now that you have several hours in the simulator and experience flying in the real world, it&rsquo;s time to move up to 5 inch freestyle. Several companies sell ready to fly FPV drones that are fairly simple to set up and that&rsquo;s probably the easiest route to go, however I&rsquo;ve always been a huge advocate for building your first full sized FPV drone. There&rsquo;s definitely a lot that goes into building an FPV drone and I&rsquo;ll have another article soon going in depth on how to do so, but just know that if you do build one, you&rsquo;ll be fully equipt with the knowledge on how to repair it when you inevitably crash and break something.
<h5>Conclusion</h5>
FPV drones have carved out a niche in the drone industry. Offering hobbyists and professional pilots an exhilarating and immersive new way to capture footage. While they differ significantly from traditional drones, FPV provides the freedom for creative aerial maneuvers and unique shots. Whether you&rsquo;re a beginner or a seasoned professional, embarking on an FPV journey will give you an experience like no other.
<a href="https://www.thedroningcompany.com/pilot/samuel-karp" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Click to visit Karp's Pilot's Profile</a>
<a href="https://www.thedroningcompany.com/blog/pilot-s-story-samuel-karp" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Click to Read Karp's Pilot's Story</a>
<h5>Watch One of Karp's Videos</h5>
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Introduction to Fpv drones

Pilots

07 July 2023
<a href="https://www.thedroningcompany.com/pilot/samuel-karp" target="_blank" rel="noopener">By Samuel Karp</a>
As a kid, I loved anything RC related: cars, boats, amphibious vehicles, helicopters, planes &ndash; you name it, and I probably had one. However, it wasn't until around 2016 that I stumbled upon quadcopters or 'Drones'. Something about them really spoke to me, and I knew I had to try one. So, I went on Amazon, found a cheap $50 quadcopter, and started the descent down what has been the deepest rabbit hole of my life. I can't remember the brand, but it was one of many cheap drones along the lines of the Syma X5SW. It wasn't a high-quality drone, but it had a live feed from the camera, and it was a blast to fly! It even had a 'flip' button where it would at least attempt to do a flip, but would usually come crashing to the ground.
While I was having a fantastic time flying that cheap quadcopter, it couldn't record any sort of usable footage, and my skills and interest quickly outgrew what it was capable of. Fortunately, DJI had just launched their very first entry to the 'Mavic' series of drones, the 'Mavic Pro'. It took what their previous line of 'Phantom' drones was capable of and shrunk it down into a small, foldable package that you could take almost anywhere with you. 4K footage, gimbal-stabilized, GPS recovery &ndash; everything DJI is known for in a tiny package? Where do I sign?
I saved up, and with the help of my parents as a partial birthday gift, I pulled the trigger and ordered one. I was beyond excited when it arrived. I still remember the first moments flying it, seeing how stable it was in the air, and how it blew my mind that I could let go of the controls, and it would just sit there, using all its sensors and GPS to hover in the air completely stationary. Compared to my previous cheap drone, this felt like witchcraft. Immediately, I became obsessed with learning cinematic drone maneuvers and how to get the most out of the onboard camera. I learned about resolutions, frame rates, and the corresponding shutter speed to match.
That Mavic would see too many flights to count as I used every excuse I could to go fly, and it traveled everywhere with me. It would spark a love for filmmaking inside of me. This is what I want to do. So, I studied for the part 107 exam, took it, and became an FAA-certified drone pilot. On top of that, I purchased a Sony a6400 camera and DJI gimbal to use in addition to drone footage. With the combination of cinematic drone and camera footage, this opened the door to filming real estate, weddings, and all kinds of events.
Eventually, I stumbled across some FPV footage on YouTube and was completely blown away. Creators like JohnnyFPV and MrSteele were capturing footage with drones that I didn't even know was possible: acrobatic tricks, incredible car chases, and stunning dives down mountain waterfalls. I had to know how they did it. I needed to fly like that! Well, it didn't take long to learn that they were using self-built FPV drones, AKA racing drones, with a live video feed transmitted to a pair of goggles, letting them fly 'First Person View'. They also used a GoPro strapped to the top to capture footage. I've always been a tinkerer, and the DIY nature of FPV spoke to me immediately. So, down another rabbit hole I went, researching how to fly FPV, how to build one myself, how to solder, what parts to get, and who the heck is Joshua Bardwell? After hours of researching, flying in the simulator, and flying my first FPV drone, the Tinyhawk II, that I purchased for practice, I eventually felt comfortable enough with the controls to build two different FPV drones.
<img src="https://media.thedroningcompany.com/images/tincy/upzU3hk3tIVv07dpYNJM85yCskSP6HpRH3ktmOuv.jpg" alt="" width="339" height="450" /> <img src="https://media.thedroningcompany.com/images/tincy/tHrYFDZxYAuboETgYpWzQp84uWUOKRfnjoJm3FMb.jpg" alt="" width="339" height="451" />
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The first was a Shendrones Squirt "Cinewhoop" style drone. It was small enough to fly safely around people and objects, but large enough to carry a full-sized GoPro. This allowed for some amazing close proximity flying, and it's still one of my favorite drones. The second was a full-sized 5-inch racing drone. I probably put around 20 hours into the simulator and at least 10 hours flying the Tinyhawk II before moving onto the 5-inch. But I don't think anything could have prepared me for the raw power and speed that even a 4s FPV drone could have.
I started my FPV journey in 2018, but fast forward to today, and I've had some truly amazing opportunities open up within the world of FPV. One of which has been Stuart Smith with The Droning Company reaching out and asking if I could write articles on FPV for his website. As much as I've already done with drones and FPV, I can't help but feel like this is just the beginning of what's to come, and I couldn't be more excited.
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