Totally New to RC, lots of questions

[NewLn]

HI all, I am completely new to RC and the Forums and just want to get some help setting things up. I have always wanted to fly multi rotors since I first saw it on Youtube. I got myself a little LaTrax Alias from my hobby shop just to try out quads, and I loved it. After watching many Flite Test videos and RC videos and reading up, I feel like i may be able to actually get started on my own quad. I am definitely a low budget flyer, so here is my plan. I want to fly FPV multirotors, so I decided to build a FT Gremlin. I am ordering the parts one by one because of my low budget. I should be getting the frame, FC, and ESCs later today. I then plan on getting the motors, then a battery charger, and the batteries. I didn't mention the Rx because this is one of my point of interest. I know this topic has been beaten to death on this forum but I am considering getting either a Spektrum dx6e or a FrSky Taranis d9x. I'm leaning towards the dx6e just because I am totally new to RC and would have no idea what I am doing on a Taranis or similar OpenTx transmitter. The only reason I am considering getting the Taranis is because it seems like a one and done Tx that would last me a while. After I get all the stuff for the quad, i plan on flying it Los for a while before moving onto FPV. Once I do fly FPV though, I would put a little hyperion camera on my gremlin and get some Marvell Vision 2 goggles. If you guys have any suggestions for me as far as getting started in RC I would love to hear it. I am looking forward to getting to know the community!

 

[rockyboy]

Welcome to the forums! :applause:

(Hah - beat you to first welcome again Jim! )

I think you're on a good plan there for getting into multi-rotors. I'm sure you'll be able to find some great folks to help you along the way - Psyborg in particular is an excellent resource for all things quad and gremliny here.

For the radio question, I don't want to seem like I'm putting you off, but I think you'll get a lot of your questions answered reading this current thread on the very same concern:

http://forum.flitetest.com/showthread.php?37587-The-Search-for-the-Perfect-Radio

It's not a long thread, but several very experienced and new people have chimed in with thoughtful information that I am confident will guide you in the right direction for you. I thought of it because I was about to type in the exact same advice to you that I wrote for the OP over there. Jim's post in that thread is also brimming with wisdom and good experience.

If that thread brings up more questions, or doesn't answer some you already had, please jump in over there so all the people subscribed to the post will see and be able to help out.

Welcome to the fun!

 

[NewLn]

So I got my flight controller today and I'm either confused or having troubles with my fc. I got it successfully connected to betaflight, but the gyro or orientation or what ever is off. On screen it show the back the quad as the front of the quad. Basically my quad is backwards. It also drifts around on screen when i am not moving it. Also, I don't know if this has anything to do with it but the little arrows on my board and the orientation on the board is different from the user manual. Has the manufacturer recently changed the board? Is this normal and I am just overreacting? Find out in the next episode of confused and frustrated pilot

 

[rockyboy]

There is a software setting in Betaflight that sets the board orientation - and it sounds like you need to run a calibration (also via Betaflight) to get the board to settle down and stay still.

 

[TazRC]

So I got my flight controller today and I'm either confused or having troubles with my fc. I got it successfully connected to betaflight, but the gyro or orientation or what ever is off. On screen it show the back the quad as the front of the quad. Basically my quad is backwards. It also drifts around on screen when i am not moving it. Also, I don't know if this has anything to do with it but the little arrows on my board and the orientation on the board is different from the user manual. Has the manufacturer recently changed the board? Is this normal and I am just overreacting? Find out in the next episode of confused and frustrated pilot

Emax does produce two different F3 Femto FC boards:

http://emax-usa.com/emx-fc-1710-f3-femto-flight-controller/

"Please note that Babyhawk Femto has a rear facing USB port, where as the standard Femto has the USB port is has a USB facing the side of the board orientation."

 

[NewLn]

First off I would like to say thank you both for the help. It really means a lot to me because I am not usually comfortable asking for help. Anyways, I think I got it worked out in BetaFlight, but I won't really know until I get everything and try and fly it . So decided to solder the ESCs on, because even if the orientation is off, I will still need ESCs on every corner. An hour and a half later I have all four ESCs and the battery connector soldered on (albeit with some pretty poor solder joints) and It still responds to BetaFlight so I haven't burned out the board or anything. Next up, Motors! (Once I save up the money for them.)

 

[rockyboy]

You're welcome! Let us know how it goes once you get the motors and are ready to get some air