Losing motivation / Equipment issues

[jakexie6]

Hey there. I've been doing this whole RC thing for a while now and it has been really fun. However recently a lot of my things have just been breaking partly due to me pushing things and partly due to me and my dad having to cut "corners". I realize that a lot of things in this hobby you can't skimp out on, but yet I skimp out on them and find that two months down the line karma hits me smack in the face. I'm not able to do major purchases for nice equipment that will last me for a while, so far the only thing that can push a decision like that is a fatal crash such as when the FT Sea Duck that I had just made crashed into the water due to a faulty radio (BTW that plane had only been completed for about 45 minutes before the plunge). To be honest I'm not very patient but the issue I'm having is that I'll be flying, have a crash then be set back 2 months due to activities out of my control. Going this cheap way has been doable but frustrating at best, infuriating or unsafe at worst. This hobby is something I really enjoy doing and it's something I want to do, but I'm starting to lose the spark that kept me going.

 

[Chuppster]

Hey there. I've been doing this whole RC thing for a while now and it has been really fun. However recently a lot of my things have just been breaking partly due to me pushing things and partly due to me and my dad having to cut "corners". I realize that a lot of things in this hobby you can't skimp out on, but yet I skimp out on them and find that two months down the line karma hits me smack in the face. I'm not able to do major purchases for nice equipment that will last me for a while, so far the only thing that can push a decision like that is a fatal crash such as when the FT Sea Duck that I had just made crashed into the water due to a faulty radio (BTW that plane had only been completed for about 45 minutes before the plunge). To be honest I'm not very patient but the issue I'm having is that I'll be flying, have a crash then be set back 2 months due to activities out of my control. Going this cheap way has been doable but frustrating at best, infuriating or unsafe at worst. This hobby is something I really enjoy doing and it's something I want to do, but I'm starting to lose the spark that kept me going.

Man, that stinks! Maybe we can try and help you with your troubles?

Why do you think your radio went out? What kind of radio do you use?

 

[Hai-Lee]

I know your pain very well! I also took many a misstep and wandered into many dead ends before I hit on a better but still cheap path.

Buy a good radio, (expensive is not necessarily good), and it should have dual antennas for both the transmitter and receiver. I now use the Turnigy verion of the SkyFkly iA6. Rxs are cheap almost expendable!

Then build your own planes and I use paper clips for pushrods and I also buy cheap servos for all but the "Keeper" builds! Until you are able to fly on reflex I would stick to pusher designs there are plenty of them and some are quite high performance. Do not stop building even if you start building a replacement for the plane you have just finished or the next model that you wish to learn to fly or evaluate. You will have a squadron of bare aircraft eventually or a number of replacements to swap out at the flying field if you crash a plane. (take your glue gun and tools with you just in case).

Find a local club and hang around them even when not flying because occasionally a club member will crash or get really tired of one of his planes and either throw /give it away or even offer it for sale at a bargain price. I have 7 crash rebuilds or survivors that I fly regularly at the club that gave them to me! I have also repaired and returned a few to the club members who were extremely grateful especially after I did a few tweaks to them whilst I was repairing them! My Ex crash and old models gifted to me are:- A bixler 1.1, A Sig Fourstar 20 EP. an eflite Sea Fury, A Trojan, A Hellcat, A P40, and a HK Mini Saturn 3D.

Determination to fly is the only way to overcome a lack of funds. I KNOW! I DID IT!

Just what my experience has been.

have fun!

 

[jakexie6]

Thanks for the kind words! I got sick of my cheap Chinese radio Fs-t6. And replaced it with a radio that I still use. The QX7S and that was the only time we bought something of that cost as we knew that if we didn't swap it we would just be wasting money. The reason I mention it is because crashes like that pull all energy out of me, especially after spending a lot of time building and painting the plane. As for clubs I'm a member of the local club with great people. I personally got gifted a Radian Pro while traveling (Which flew away in the wind, still don't know where it is after 6 months) and a Super Cub Lp which still flies. Just recently getting to the field and flying my planes or watching them flying has been difficult with my schedule. It is weird with me I'll have a great month of flying followed by a month where everything of mine breaks. Very interesting. I do love the hobby it has a great reward and it has a feeling of satisfaction that I can't find anywhere else. Here's a video of me flying my cub at a balloon busting contest, skip to 5:31 if you just want to see me but a lot of great people in my club are in the video. I hope it can bring a smile ☺️

 

[PsyBorg]

Several things I learned real fast about the hobby and gear.

Research everything you buy and not get it because it seems popular. Aka stay off the bandwagon.

Next was you dont have to get everything at once. Save up for better gear and get them a piece at a time. Nothing says you have to get it all at once.

It took me over 10 months to a year to get parts to build my last quad the way I wanted and was happy with it.

On a final note ANY TIME you feel down about the hobby read any of my threads of me trying to get a fixed wing in the air. Trust me you will feel much better about your situation hehe.

 

[DamoRC]

@Chuppster , @Hai-Lee , and @PsyBorg make excellent points and I agree.

@jakexie6 - thanks for sharing that video - it looked like a lot of fun and you can fly a plane well, something @PsyBorg only dreams about right now

Stuff is going to happen and it can be frustrating. Perhaps you might expand your horizons in the hobby beyond the excellent flying you do into areas like design and scratch building - that way, when you might have the time, but not the cash, you can focus on designing and building your dream plane while you wait for the next critical part to come in. I see that you are a one of our younger members, and you remind me of DamoRC Jnr who has, sadly, lost interest in flying as much as he use to. But a new crazy / big / dumb design seems to renew his interest - perhaps it can maintain yours?

Best of luck, keep your head up, and keep us posted.

DamoRC

 

[BS projects inc.]

If you want cheap and reliable get the Flysky Fs-i6x. I haven't had a single issue with it and it has a lot of features.

 

[kilroy07]

I think we can all share setbacks (I know I certainly can and I've only been in active in this hobby for a year now!)
Here's my most recent where I lost my F-16 on just her second day out (3rd or 4th battery I think).
https://forum.flitetest.com/index.php?threads/xf-viper-foamboard-f-16-edf.54501/page-6

While it is very disheartening to loose an aircraft especially right after spending some time on it, I think you have to accept the fact that accidents will happen from time to time... I think that's one of the things that makes it so exciting... Will it fly, will I be able to handle the new design, 4 channel flight etc... Gets the heart racing. Sometimes it's my ability (or lack thereof) that brings the plane down, sometimes I messed up the build and other times it's just dumb luck.

I too have started with some pretty basic (cheap) equipment, but I second the flysky i6-x recommendation. Not only is a great place to get started but receivers (I like the 6 cha for most of mi planes) is only around $15.

I think the cheaper stuff can get you by IF you understand the limitations. It may not have been the radio that failed you seaduck, but the ESC. I was having brownouts (where the servos worked too much and pulled enough voltage from the BEC to reset the receiver.)
I came here (to the forums) seeking guidance and the community really helped out!
https://forum.flitetest.com/index.php?threads/are-escs-consumable-items.53742/

To sum up, losses are going to happen, but everyone here has a great story to tell about "That time I...."
It's just part of the hobby, take some time to morn the loss then jump back and build an even better Sea Duck!
(Personal I'd love to see pictures when you get it finished, I have yet to build one myself, it keeps getting shuffled down my build list...)

One final note, if you can take some video of your flight. Not only can it help others help you (if you have more trouble) but it's a great way to remember all that work you put into building the models!

This community is great not because they celebrate your successes (and they do) but because they celebrate your spectacular crashes (as long as you have video ) and attempts at being awesome too!

Hang in there and hopefully we can meet at a Flite Test event in the future!

 

[jakexie6]

Thanks guys. Really this is the best part about this hobby, sharing your struggles and within mere hours having people supporting you, giving tips helping you through the tough times. I think I'll start doing more scratch builds, what personally I've found out about this hobby is it's a lot more fun with a plane that flies well but a plane that you don't care about. If you spend 100 hours building a masterpiece if it crashes well...that sucks. On the other hand, a 30-minute build that you threw together it can crash in the most spectacular of ways and you get a laugh out of it along with a buddy flying with you. I'll go back to my old ways and just build. Build the airframe then when my plane crashes steal the servos and stuff them in that airframe, seems like fun . But really thanks so much, it seems hard to find positivity in the world right now with a lot of things going on. But whenever I turn the corner to look at the RC community I can only see happiness. A bright light in a storm. I hope someday I can be like you guys, helping people out with any issues they have. Sharing my experiences and helping them through tough times. Thank you so so much.

 

[jaredstrees]

I had to laugh when I did this. She was such a pretty arrow, too. Lasted all of 15 seconds on her maiden. Keep flying, building and crashing. All part of the fun!

 

[Bricks]

When I first got back into the hobby I never spent time and energy making the plane look pretty I knew it was not going to last. Put just enough on to tell top from bottom and flew. It did 2 things made building faster and kept my planes lighter, lighter always flies better then heavy.

 

[FoamyDM]

I have nearly thrown in the towel three times now. I feel your pain.

Return here with your tales of woe and soon you will be trying to build the next plane.

 

[PsyBorg]

Here are some motivational pics from my last attempt at flight. I will mull it over, think of how best to do repairs and get it back to the field.

 

[jakexie6]

Got that feeling back now. Thanks so much for everything that you guys have said. Good thing I got two planes waiting for me to build now.

 

[sprzout]

I'll second that maybe your problem was the ESC. My first FT Bushwacker build, I was flying it and about 100' up, I tilted it to make a turn and it just rolled over, nosed down, and dove like a lawn dart. I tried to get left stick to spin it flat, and then elevator to nose up and get it level, but it didn't respond to nose up until about 3' from the ground - at which point, it was already going too fast to recover. Landing gear hit, ripped off the bottom of the plane, and the prop smacked the ground and broke.

Several of the guys at the field were suspicious, saying it was the OrangeRX receiver I was using, and because it was cheap, that's what caused the failure.

Nope.

It was actually my own hand that caused the fault. I soldered up an XT60 connector for either the first or second time eve, and I diddn't get a solid solder on it. It made good connection for a while, but vibration cracked the solder, and it was only intermittently making connection, which is what allowed me to "sort of" pull up out of the way at the last minute.

I have since cut and re-soldered a good HOT solder, making a solid connection, and no shorting.

I will also throw in m $0.02 on the radio, for what it's worth, although there are a lot of people here that feel it's a waste. I myself fly with a Spektrum DX6. I paid $200 for it, and I did so for a couple of reasons:

1) The quality of the gimbals felt much smoother than other, cheaper radios.

2) The radio felt good to hold, and ergonomically, I could hit all of the switches without a problem.

3) My radio has the ability to talk to me and tell me that I have 30 seconds left, or even do a countdown from 10 sec. to zero on my battery timer. That's a BIG thing for me vs. just hearing beeping.

4) There were a lot of other people at my field who fly with Spektrum. This meant that I had a bunch of people around me that had gone through setup trials and tribulations on that same radio, so if I had a question on how to set up a specific configuration, odds are that someone else there at the field had come across it and done it.

Now, you may find that you don't need the voice talking to you, and you may feel like you can go it your own with reading the manual; that's fine. But the first two things are things to pay attention to when you're wanting to fly smoothly and precisely. If you have a radio that sucks to hold, or it's a REALLY heavy radio, you're going to hate holding it. And yes, a neck strap will help hold the radio, but heavy radios will weigh down on your neck, so pay attention to that as well. Don't go cheap if you're going to end up with hand cramps from trying to flip the throttle kill switch!!!

And I say that whether you go Graupner, Futaba, Spektrum, Flysky, Turnigy (I wouldn't, but that's because I have a beef with HobbyKing), Frsky, etc. Don't buy the cheapest JUST because it's the cheapest you can get. I mean, you can get a Spektrum DXe for $59, and then OrangeRX receivers for anywhere from $10-$25, depending on how many channels you need...I wouldn't personally recommend the DXe if you plan on flying multiple planes, because you have to reprogram it every time you change to a new plane; that's one of the costs of going cheap (at least, with that option). But, it is a cheap option...I would say to look at what options you get with each radio, and get the one that's the best for YOU.

 

[jakexie6]

I'll second that maybe your problem was the ESC. My first FT Bushwacker build, I was flying it and about 100' up, I tilted it to make a turn and it just rolled over, nosed down, and dove like a lawn dart. I tried to get left stick to spin it flat, and then elevator to nose up and get it level, but it didn't respond to nose up until about 3' from the ground - at which point, it was already going too fast to recover. Landing gear hit, ripped off the bottom of the plane, and the prop smacked the ground and broke.

Several of the guys at the field were suspicious, saying it was the OrangeRX receiver I was using, and because it was cheap, that's what caused the failure.

Nope.

It was actually my own hand that caused the fault. I soldered up an XT60 connector for either the first or second time eve, and I diddn't get a solid solder on it. It made good connection for a while, but vibration cracked the solder, and it was only intermittently making connection, which is what allowed me to "sort of" pull up out of the way at the last minute.

I have since cut and re-soldered a good HOT solder, making a solid connection, and no shorting.

I will also throw in m $0.02 on the radio, for what it's worth, although there are a lot of people here that feel it's a waste. I myself fly with a Spektrum DX6. I paid $200 for it, and I did so for a couple of reasons:

1) The quality of the gimbals felt much smoother than other, cheaper radios.

2) The radio felt good to hold, and ergonomically, I could hit all of the switches without a problem.

3) My radio has the ability to talk to me and tell me that I have 30 seconds left, or even do a countdown from 10 sec. to zero on my battery timer. That's a BIG thing for me vs. just hearing beeping.

4) There were a lot of other people at my field who fly with Spektrum. This meant that I had a bunch of people around me that had gone through setup trials and tribulations on that same radio, so if I had a question on how to set up a specific configuration, odds are that someone else there at the field had come across it and done it.

Now, you may find that you don't need the voice talking to you, and you may feel like you can go it your own with reading the manual; that's fine. But the first two things are things to pay attention to when you're wanting to fly smoothly and precisely. If you have a radio that sucks to hold, or it's a REALLY heavy radio, you're going to hate holding it. And yes, a neck strap will help hold the radio, but heavy radios will weigh down on your neck, so pay attention to that as well. Don't go cheap if you're going to end up with hand cramps from trying to flip the throttle kill switch!!!

And I say that whether you go Graupner, Futaba, Spektrum, Flysky, Turnigy (I wouldn't, but that's because I have a beef with HobbyKing), Frsky, etc. Don't buy the cheapest JUST because it's the cheapest you can get. I mean, you can get a Spektrum DXe for $59, and then OrangeRX receivers for anywhere from $10-$25, depending on how many channels you need...I wouldn't personally recommend the DXe if you plan on flying multiple planes, because you have to reprogram it every time you change to a new plane; that's one of the costs of going cheap (at least, with that option). But, it is a cheap option...I would say to look at what options you get with each radio, and get the one that's the best for YOU.

Thanks for feedback! I knew that the radio was the main issue, I had had several range issues prior to that fateful day. I was just too cheap to get a new/better one. My esc's from the build still fly today, never a single issue. As for my soldering I like to say that I'm decent at soldering. I have a soldering station that we got from Amazon for a good price. After I got some new tips for the iron it worked and still works like a champ. Thankfully I have upgraded to the FrSky QX7S (Also gives me some bling at the field) and that radio is yet to fail me. I also expect this radio to last me at least for another 5 years if not longer. Paired with my awsome radio is the X8R receiver which I don't have issues with. But since I'm on the topic of the receiver I might as ask you guys about a small issue that I've been having. When I connect the radio and the receiver my radio will randomly say "Telemetry lost" "Telemetry regained" or something like that. Only happens when I'm on the ground and it is yet to cause a crash or near crash. However if anybody knows what the cause of this could be I would greatly appreciate it. Not a RSSI issue or anything just starting to kill me ears. One last thing, I've changed the title of the thread to add "Equipment issues" as I see that this is helping me in many more ways than I imagined. I thought I would add it so that both of the topics that are discussed in the thread are mentioned.

 

[Nathaniel Stuart]

Thanks for feedback! I knew that the radio was the main issue, I had had several range issues prior to that fateful day. I was just too cheap to get a new/better one. My esc's from the build still fly today, never a single issue. As for my soldering I like to say that I'm decent at soldering. I have a soldering station that we got from Amazon for a good price. After I got some new tips for the iron it worked and still works like a champ. Thankfully I have upgraded to the FrSky QX7S (Also gives me some bling at the field) and that radio is yet to fail me. I also expect this radio to last me at least for another 5 years if not longer. Paired with my awsome radio is the X8R receiver which I don't have issues with. But since I'm on the topic of the receiver I might as ask you guys about a small issue that I've been having. When I connect the radio and the receiver my radio will randomly say "Telemetry lost" "Telemetry regained" or something like that. Only happens when I'm on the ground and it is yet to cause a crash or near crash. However if anybody knows what the cause of this could be I would greatly appreciate it. Not a RSSI issue or anything just starting to kill me ears. One last thing, I've changed the title of the thread to add "Equipment issues" as I see that this is helping me in many more ways than I imagined. I thought I would add it so that both of the topics that are discussed in the thread are mentioned.

I have same thing happen to me as well. I watched some videos about that and it only happens if your transmitter is too close to the receiver or your attenna is disconnected .

Hey there. I've been doing this whole RC thing for a while now and it has been really fun. However recently a lot of my things have just been breaking partly due to me pushing things and partly due to me and my dad having to cut "corners". I realize that a lot of things in this hobby you can't skimp out on, but yet I skimp out on them and find that two months down the line karma hits me smack in the face. I'm not able to do major purchases for nice equipment that will last me for a while, so far the only thing that can push a decision like that is a fatal crash such as when the FT Sea Duck that I had just made crashed into the water due to a faulty radio (BTW that plane had only been completed for about 45 minutes before the plunge). To be honest I'm not very patient but the issue I'm having is that I'll be flying, have a crash then be set back 2 months due to activities out of my control. Going this cheap way has been doable but frustrating at best, infuriating or unsafe at worst. This hobby is something I really enjoy doing and it's something I want to do, but I'm starting to lose the spark that kept me going.

I have used a taranis qx7 for a while now and highly recommend it as a amazing radio for a great price. One of the only gripes I have about the taranis is the interface. It is a little technical but after a few times it becomes old hat😀. Also if you need help just try searching YouTube there are plenty of open tx tutorial videos.

 

[jakexie6]

I have same thing happen to me as well. I watched some videos about that and it only happens if your transmitter is too close to the receiver or your attenna is disconnected .


I have used a taranis qx7 for a while now and highly recommend it as a amazing radio for a great price. One of the only gripes I have about the taranis is the interface. It is a little technical but after a few times it becomes old hat😀. Also if you need help just try searching YouTube there are plenty of open tx tutorial videos.

The interface was quite the learning curve. Logical switches, lua scripts, that all took me at once. After watching a few videos thought I got accustomed with it very fast. Nice to have those options though!