Meatball Racing

Radio Control Blog

Converting to XT60

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I did quite a bit more flying this summer than I did rc car racing. As the weather turns cold flying will be limited to golf dome outings with the local electric club and indoor FPV. In Minnesota the on-road guys drive on carpet indoors, so it’ll soon be time to race. One thing I’ve grown to like that is commonplace on quads and planes is the XT-60 connector. So I decided to upgrade all of my cars and even my rocket launcher to it.

Technically, an XT-60 pair is 2g heavier than a pair of Deans connectors, but with all of the other advantages, I’m still switching.
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Eachine DVR

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Let me start by saying that the Eachine EV100 DVR (made for the EV100 FPV goggles) is cheaper and almost certainly works with other goggles. It can be powered directly by a 2S battery, which is commonplace for FPV goggles.

It is the add-on DVR I would buy today for only $15 if I hadn’t already purchased the Eachine ProDVR.

Stu (Stew?) confirms that the EV100 DVR is A-OK.

But if you’re like me and have the ProDVR read on. [Read more…]

Best budget flying radio: Taranis Q X7

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Hands down this is the best radio you can get for around $100. The hobby is moving so fast, it’s incredible what this thing can do! When it first came out, I was skeptical as the go-to radio for most people flying multi-rotors was the Taranis X9D. The X7 has a form-factor very similar to the first Horus which was not initially well-received. But what FrSky had done with the X7 was take everything that was awesome about the X9D (OpenTX, haptic and audio feedback, telemetry, serial module communication) and put it in a Horus-shaped budget package.

I’m not going to go through everything about this radio, there are plenty of other reviews out there – several linked to from here. I just want to suggest an awesome setup that will not only do telemetry with FrSky receivers, but also Spektrum, FlySky, and any other multiprotocol module protocols that support telemetry.

This is a great complete transmitter/receiver setup that will cost you less than $200 and will control just about everything:

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Cheali Charger – free 4-button charger upgrade

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If you have one of the ubiquitous “4 button chargers” you can likely upgrade the firmware to Cheali Charger. You’ll have to do some hacking to get there, but if you want to add features like LiHV and NiZN charging, and have 30 battery memories, it’s the way to go.

Example chargers that are eligible:

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Flite Fest East 2017

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I was finally able to get to Flite Fest in Ohio near Canton. It’s a 12-hour drive from home in Minnesota. To split up the time on the way out, we took the SS Badger across Lake Michigan. They have an eastbound red-eye option that leaves at 1:30AM (Central) and arrives 4 hours later at 6:30AM (Eastern). Even though it makes the trip technically longer, the downtime is much appreciated.

In hindsight, I wish I had arrived at the departure dock earlier. They encourage you to arrive an hour before departure. Ideally I would have arrived before midnight so I could be asleep by then. We got there around 12:45AM – but I was just glad to have the opportunity to rest. Getting a stateroom for the red-eye is a must:

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3D FPV

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I only have some cheap FPV gear, but if I were to go all the way, I would get the Skyzone 3D FPV googles and camera, or maybe just a craft big enough to carry an old GoPro Hero 2 3D rig.

Sure it seems like a gimmick, but 3D FPV seems like a natural pairing. Until I win the lottery and can afford a Skyzone setup or even a rig large enough to carry an insane 3D GoPro rig, I’ll just have to live vicariously through others.

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