FPV Vapor (first impressions review)

seajones

Junior Member
After much waiting, its here... the FPV vapor.
So far so good, open the box and its a Vapor, with a few extras.
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First of course is the camera/transmitter. Wow is it small!

I do like the wire that they used for the antenna. Its flattened into a rectangle and seems quite rigid. It also cam with a lens cover to help protect it when not in use.
However, I was surprised that it did not come with a case. The PC boards are exposed. The standalone camera from horizon shows it in a case covering at least the sizes and top. Also the Channel select button (which is not documented anywhere that I can find) is a pain to use since there is nothing to push against and very little space between the antenna and the button. The wing on the Vapor are delicate so force or sharp objects are out of the question. You have to press the button while its powered on to no metal objects like a screwdriver. I ended up using a plastic "spludger" to carefully push the button. Only 7 of the eight Fat shark channels are available which can mess you up if you are counting click. Also the camera board gets pretty hot to touch.
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One cool feature that I didn't notice in the documentation is the clear prop. for shooting video through and it is very clear and seems well made but still add some jello/blurring. But the picture is usable to fly with if not production quality.

Overall it flys OK, like a heavy vapor. 80% throttle to climb cruise between 60-75% depending on the breeze. Definitely take off near full throttle, but beware with the heavy wing loading, flying at full throttle can be a bit much and send you into a dive (over stressed wings?) Generally a bit faster the the floaty Vapor, but still slow enough for a Gym if your careful. As with all Vapors use it outdoors only in very calm conditions.

Flight times seem pretty good but of course you cant hear the LVC pulsing so i have brought it in after about 3 min with a 3.9V reading, so I'm thinking more like 5 mins instead of the 6 min in the manual.

So far I'm really enjoying it.
 

Montiey

Master Tinkerer
Very cool!
I would but one, but I don't have a receiver setup, and i'm too broke for the entire setup. :p
 

Craftydan

Hostage Taker of Quads
Staff member
Moderator
Mentor
Thank's for the review. I've been wondering about the practical fun value of a vapor for FPV, and it does look like a fun little flyer (even if they cut the flight time dramatically). I've also wondered how that little module picked channels (or if it was fixed freq), and you've answered what none of the sales literature would say . . . Thanks!

Yeah, at high speed or high wing loading, vapor wings can flutter horribly. In past I've had some success tying a tension line length-wise between the center and ribs, to keep the wings from flexing too much.