Affording the drone / multirotor hobby | Making small amounts of money bigger

This post will be a bit off-topic but bear with me, I still think it's useful information.

People try to tell us all the time that the drone / multirotor hobby does not have to be expensive. People say that we can get started in this community on any budget. But just because many people say this, it does't make it true.
The truth is, drones cost money. They can cost a lot of money or they can cost a medium amount of money, but they're never cheap. I built my 250 racer on a very tight budget and it still ended up being more than £500 when you include the FPV gear.
Now I'm not someone who has £500 spare lying around, so exactly how did I manage to do this?
Anyone who knows me in real life will know, I spend a lot of time thinking about how I can turn my small amounts of spare money into bigger amounts. Ive tried matched betting, trading bitcoin, hiding cash from myself under the washing machine etc. And while all of these worked (to some degree) they did not work well.
The problem was, I wanted to turn £5 into £50 in half an hour. It just wasn't possible. So I again started out researching other ways I could potentially turn a profit, it was then that I realised something quite obvious.

If something has been consistently valuable for thousands of years, it probably will continue to be valuable for the next few. If people have made money doing this same thing for thousands of years, it will probably still make them money now. Why was I spending my time worrying about these new cryptocurrencies like bitcoin when there was something else?
It was at this point when I decided to take the plunge and try out this ancient method of making money.
I bought gold.

It paid off! After a year, I was able to sell my small amount of gold for a little profit. So not only was it the perfect way to force me to save some money (cause you can't exactly spend it while it's gold) it also appreciated in value. It was this, and solely this, that made me able to build my quad.

Now I'm not saying gold will make anyone a millionaire overnight, that is simply not true. But if you want a good way to save money, then gold is for you. I will be going into a lot more detail about this on a new blog I have created (theyellowmetal.blogspot.com) about gold, but essentially gold resists inflation. So if you want to save some money over a period of time, gold will be more stable and consistent in the long run than USD, EUR, GBP etc. As these currencies become worth less every year, gold doesn't. So owning some gold can help you save without your money depreciating over time. And it really does work.

So why am I writing this post now. Quite simply it's because of BitGold. BitGold is a new(ish) online company that have opened up gold to a lot more people. If you want to buy small amounts of gold (like me) from a regular shop etc. you end up paying a premium on top of the gold price. This premium can average around 7-25% and it severely reduces any profit you make, even if gold prices jump much higher. BitGold offers us the chance to buy gold in any quantity, big or tiny, for a flat 1% fee. It's a great service, 1% really is the best when you're talking about buying gold. The gold is allocated to you and stored in secure vaults in many locations worldwide and is fully insured, all for free. If BitGold were to go bankrupt, don't worry, your gold will still be yours as every amount you purchase is legally allocated to you. You can also request they deliver your physical gold to you at any time, a brilliant service, excellent for building a trusting customer base.
Another great feature of BitGold is the prepaid MasterCard. After depositing just 1 gram of gold (£27.74 €34.73 or $39.64 at the time of posting this) you are able to apply for this card (again, for free). This card allows you to withdraw your gold balance back to your local currency at any time and spend it anywhere that MasterCard is accepted. Even withdraw money from machines with it.
These features all make BitGold a new leader in money and I genuinely believe in the services they are offering. I wouldn't write this if I didn't believe it myself.

Investing money in gold isn't just spending your money, it's more like changing the currency. It forces you to save it and might earn you little interest in the process.
As I said, this is one of the main reasons I was able to afford to construct my drone and now that BitGold exists I think it may be even more effective.

To get an extra 5% on your first deposit please click on one of my adverts in this post or on my referral link here: BitGold 5% extra free!

(then once you've got an account, deposited at least 1 gram and signed up for the free MasterCard, send your link to people too, their referral and affiliate systems are very generous!)

Hope this helps some of you, it really helped me!
Happy flying (and happy saving too!)

Update 31/3/16

Hi everyone,

Just a quick update and apology for the lack of posts so far. I know I still need to finish the guide to building an FPV racing quad (Part 1 here, part 2 here and part 3 here) but I've been very busy with university work recently. It is coming though, along with a number of other posts.
I also want to release a YouTube video along with the final part of the guide but we'll see if that happens closer to the time.
Happy flying everyone!

3D mapping of land by a quadcopter / drone

Got another video that I found online and thought was really interesting. FliteTest showcase some cool software to enable 3D mapping of land. Even if you don't have a phantom or similar kit, the service they talk about will stitch any geotagged jpegs together to create a map. With a bit of ingenuity, even your 250 racer could be mapping your land in the future.

Drones / multirotors TED talk

Hey guys, just a quick post.
Check out this TED talk that I saw today. Drones really are going to be the future, in so many ways.
Hope you enjoy it, the end of the video is beautiful.

What stuff do you need to build an FPV system on a quadcopter / drone? (Part 3 - Comprehensive guide to building an FPV racing quad)

This post will cover everything you will need to build a complete FPV system for your quadcopter / drone.
As well as another standalone post, this is also part 3 of the comprehensive guide to building an FPV racing quad (check out part 1 here and part 2 here). Part 4 will be the build guide and will be posted in the next few days.

As with the rest of these posts so far, you may already know some of these parts so just scan through and read the parts that are most relevant to you. This is your quad, remember that. Do it the way you want to.
So, what exactly will we need for an FPV system?

Camera - The camera you will want to get will vary depending on the type of quad you build. For example, for some aerial photography (AP)  platforms it is perfectly acceptable to use a GoPro as the FPV camera, but for racers there will be too much latency (lag) between the image and what is actually happening. As this guide is mainly for racing quads, we will look at issues surrounding these. The number one concern you will want to think about when choosing a camera for a racing quad is latency. Latency is the time delay between when the quad moves and when you see it move through the camera. Although latency in pretty much any system is much less than a second, for racers, that is still far too much. Racing quads move fast and you have to be able to react to changes as soon as they happen. In order to make latency as little a problem as possible, make sure you choose a CCD board camera with a resolution below 800TV lines (600-700 is better). You will want to choose a CCD camera and not a CMOS, as CCDs react better to changing light conditions and are less prone to distort the image when vibrating. Another factor to consider here is also the field of view (FOV) and it mainly comes down to personal preference. Most people's favourite field of view is the one they use, because they're used to it; so don't stress over this topic too much. The field of view, measured in degrees or implied by lens size (mm (less mm = wider FOV)), shouldn't be so wide that you struggle to realise where you're facing due to the distortion; FOV also shouldn't be so narrow that you have no idea of what is happening in the space around you (especially in proximity flying). To provide you with more info, I use a 2.1mm lens and thats about as wide (smallest lens size) you will want to be using, I may even get a narrower FOV camera in future. But like a good shirt, as long as you feel comfortable, you're using the right size.
CCD board cameras are not very expensive so you'll have a good range to choose from no matter what your budget is. My recommendation is to get something like a Sony security camera, they're very good, a good name and it's what I personally use and I think it's pretty good. You can get a camera on an open circuit board or one in a housing. In the housing it may be easier to mount (especially when you progress to tilting it (more on that in another post)) but it may also be substantially heavier and take up a lot more space, so bare this in mind. As long as it follows the guidelines above though, no matter what brand and type of camera it is, you'll probably be just fine with it.

Video Transmitter (VTx) - The VTx is an important component of the FPV system, sending the signal from the camera to the receiver so you can see the image. The VTx also dictates what frequency the signal is sent at and that is the main factor to consider when purchasing one of these. Most racing quadcopters use 5.8GHz VTxs and if you don't know much about this kind of thing then stick with that and you'll be fine. In general the lower the frequency, the better the penetration of the signal, but the larger the antenna has to be. 5.8GHz allows slight penetration, such as through light woods, fences, thin walls etc. and the antenna is a nice small size.
Another important consideration for VTxs is legality. The multirotor / drone community has bloomed at a very sensitive time in the world and the last thing we want, is to add fuel to the arguments for restricting their use because we broke laws on issues such as VTx transmission. In the US, you are legally allowed to use the 5.8GHz frequency as long as the power of the Tx is below 1W. Here in the UK (and I believe the rest of the EU also) the rules are much more restrictive; we can use the 5.8GHz frequency but only at 25mW or less power. So when choosing a VTx at 5.8GHz make sure you follow the respective rules. As a Brit, I can tell you 25mW works just fine so don't worry about the drop in power. Extra benefits of a low power transmitter are that it has less weight, it's normally smaller and it uses less power, obviously. If you choose to use another frequency, I suggest you look up the rules for that frequency in your area before proceeding.
When choosing a transmitter there's a couple of things you will want to make a note of, firstly the bands it can use (small differences in frequency that give rise to the different channels of that frequency) and whether the antenna connecter is SMA or RP-SMA. If you have a specific pair of video goggles or a receiver already in mind, make sure the Tx you choose can broadcast on the bands that your receiver will pick up. SMA vs RP-SMA is a completely useless argument as they are both identically as useful as each other, so just make a note of which one your VTx is but don't worry about choosing a VTx because of this. As for recommendations, you can't really go wrong as long as you choose something in the frequency and operating power that you've decided with the bands that you want to use. I personally use a generic non-branded 25mW transmitter with Bands A, B, C and Raceband from banggood and it works just fine.

Antennae - The main reason why the power output of the VTx doesn't matter that much is because of the antenna. As long as you are using a good set of antennae, you will not struggle to receive a clear picture from your aircraft. Most VTxs come with a linear dipole / whip antenna... Please don't use it. It's not that they're useless, they definitely do work. They're just terrible. You should get a pair of circularly polarised (CP) antennae in order to make sure your signal stays clear and works well. I won't go into the details of why because many people have done that elsewhere on the internet, all you need to know for now is that CP antennae work and they work well, so use them. When choosing your antennae make sure that the one you put on the VTx and the one on the VRx are polarised the same way, either right-handed or left-handed (RHCP or LHCP) or you're antennae will be almost as useful as the linear dipole ones already mentioned. Also antennae are built with a specific frequency in mind so make sure you get 5.8GHz antennae if your system will be using 5.8GHz etc. As long as you satisfy all these points, you won't really be able to go too badly wrong here but as a recommendation, I use Fat Shark/ImmersionRC SpiroNet LHCP 5.8GHz antennae and they work brilliantly. I will probably always use them. As the antenna is so important however, maybe stay away from the low build quality generic ones for this section.

Video goggles / screen / VRx - I've decided to combine VRx and the displays for a few reasons. Most video goggles either come with a receiver or have one built in and even if they don't (or if you choose to use a screen) receiver choice is essentially dictated by your choice of transmitter so it's not hard to choose one (Just make sure it's the same frequency and bands as the Tx).
The main decision to make here is goggles or screen? There are some obvious pros and cons to each. Goggles are not cheap, they are very far from cheap and while LCD screens also can be quite expensive they tend to be cheaper and more versatile than video goggles. Video goggles can mean better immersion in the experience which is both more fun and (some would say) focus you more on the flying. Goggles are also normally easier to set up and use and will come with their own power source. Goggles will also either come with a receiver built in or a module bay for taking one. The choice here is up to you but, in my personal opinion, goggles are better and they're all I have experience with, so we will focus on them now.
Goggles have a few different things to consider other than price (although that is another big factor). Firstly, FOV is again an issue with goggles. In this instance, the larger the field of view the better as it will help you get better immersion in the experience instead of squashing everything onto a small screen. Screen resolution is also another factor and like any screen, more is better. The aspect ratio of most FPV cameras will be 4:3, so a 4:3 screen (or a screen with enough resolution to compensate for the wrong aspect ratio) will work best. And lastly, the receiver itself. Some goggles will come with built in receivers so make sure they will have the channels and bands you want to use. Others will come with a receiver bay, so make sure that they also come with the right module, or that you get the right module separately. In terms of recommendations, there is already a clear leader in terms of market share in this section... FatShark. I personally use the FatShark Attitude V3s and I think they are brilliant in most ways. Like all products, they have some drawbacks (such as the fogging issue) but I will cover them in later posts, including how they are easily fixed. FatShark aren't the only manufacturers of good quality goggles though so make sure you do your research and choose a product that is right for you. You don't want to make such an expensive investment without knowing it's the right choice first.

So this concludes part 3 of the comprehensive guide to building an FPV racing quad.
Remember, like all the other posts in this series, this is a guide and not a rulebook. Build your machine how YOU want it, it's yours. But the more you know the better, so I hope this is a useful resource.
If you haven't already, make sure you check out parts 1 and 2 as well as checking back here in the next few days for part 4, the build guide.

Happy flying everyone!

Update on TheDroneSite YouTube channel

Just a quick update on the YouTube channel. 

To cut a long story short, the weather, university and other commitments are pushing back the date of the first video. BUT I do intend to have it finished within the next 5 days, as soon as I'm finished with the "comprehensive guide to building an FPV racing quad" (check it out here). I'm sorry :/

I have a fair amount of footage that I could just upload raw, now. But lots of people upload flying videos to YouTube and I want my channel to be a bit different. 

I have ideas for some mainly-indoor videos. These may be what my first uploads are due to the bad weather, but rest assured more outdoorsy videos will be coming soon. 

In the mean time SUBSCRIBE TO MY CHANNEL >>>HERE<<<. I know there's no videos yet, but you never know, there might be good ones in the future!! 

Thanks everyone, 

Happy flying!

What parts you will forget to buy while building a quadcopter / drone (Part 2 - Comprehensive guide to building an FPV racing quad)

This article will cover all the necessary parts you will need to build a quadcopter / drone that you might have forgotten to buy / that no one told you you'd need.

As well as a standalone article, this is also part 2 of the 'Comprehensive Guide to Building an FPV Racing Quad' (Part 1 linked here). Parts 3 and 4 will be posted in the coming days.

So, why is this article necessary? Well if any of you are like me, and I'm sure at least someone reading this is, you're going to have been very eager to build your quad. You did your research and you've bought everything you need. But then things arrive and suddenly it becomes clear, there's actually quite a bit more you're going to need. So how did that happen? Well there's a number of components and parts that a lot of other resources assume you already have or assume you won't need. But in reality, they're pretty essential. So here is my list of parts you might have forgotten.

PS. If you haven't forgot all the items on the list, great! That's good! Just scan through and see if you've missed something just in case.

Transmitter/receiver - Yes, believe it or not, people do forget to get one of these before starting their build. It's important to remember your Tx and Rx because your drone probably won't be much fun without them (in that, you won't be able to fly it at all). Choosing your transmitter is going to be one of the most difficult decisions you make and, if it's your first transmitter, it could end up shaping your transmitter preferences for the rest of your life in drones.
When choosing a transmitter, one of the most important decisions to make is whether you will fly mode 1 or mode 2. The difference here is that mode 1 has yaw and pitch control on the left stick, whereas mode 2 has yaw and throttle. Mode 1 does have some clear advantages (in that it separates pitch and roll across both sticks, meaning you don't accidentally roll when pitching forward) but in my personal opinion mode 2 is still far more convenient. My recommendation for any new pilot is to use a mode 2 transmitter - everyone else (mainly) uses mode 2 and it just makes more sense for anyone who's played a video game before (it's even more accurate to real aircraft). Essentially, unless you have experience with mode 1 and you know you prefer it, choose mode 2.
A second consideration with transmitters is the number of channels. Channels are the number of individual signals the transmitter can send; technically a 4-channel transmitter will be able to control a mini quad just fine but that is not recommended. Six channels or more is my recommendation here - with six channels you'll be able to program a switch to arm/disarm the drones motors (very handy), and another switch to flick between modes (such as rate or angle mode (more on this in a subsequent post),  as well as still having the four channels required for throttle, yaw, pitch and roll.
After all of this, you still need to decide on exactly what transmitter brand and model you would like. The number one best way to choose is to try other people's and see what feels best for you. If, like me, that's not an option, you will have to research into different brands and see what they have to offer. Some main names in the transmitter region, known for good quality and reliability, are Futaba, Spektrum and FrSky (An entertaining review of the FrSky Taranis by Rotor Riot is linked here). The main issue with a lot of good quality transmitters is the price. If money is an issue for you then the FlySky FS-i6 is a very capable 6-channel budget transmitter. It is in fact the transmitter I use and I have seen a number of very experienced pilots also using this transmitter. Some people may dislike the feel of the gimbals but, if you're not too fussy, there are really very few issues with this Tx and it is therefore my recommendation.

LiPo Charger - Another essential tool is the charger. Without this, not only will you not be able to fly your quad again after its maiden use, you're also going to be at risk of destabilising the extremely temperamental and hazardous LiPo cells (but more on that in the LiPo safety post to follow). Choosing a LiPo charger is an important decision and you will need to make sure it has a few features. Firstly, unless you have a car battery to hand, make sure you obtain a charger with an AC input. A lot of chargers don't have this which can sometimes make it difficult to charge your batteries. You may also want to buy a charger with a storage charge function, this enables you to run your batteries down during a flight and recharge them to a safe storage voltage when you are finished (again, more on why this is important in a later post). Alternatively you can just discharge your batteries in the quad until they are at a storage charge voltage and then stop.
By far the most important thing about a LiPo charger though is that you must make sure it has a balance charge feature. This means the charger will need to have a balance plug on it for the LiPos balance plug to go into whilst charging. And again, for reasons I will explain in a later post, this is ESSENTIAL. Just make sure it has a balance port and you'll be okay for now though.

Allen / Hex Keys or screwdrivers - Frames and motors almost always require allen keys to assemble. Don't get too excited to build your new quad if you don't have a set of these lying around, you might find it hard without them.

Soldering Iron - You are going to have to do some soldering when you build your quadcopter. Don't be intimidated by this, soldering is both easier and cheaper than most people expect. When buying a soldering iron you don't need to get anything fancy, just something that works. If you have the time and money to shop around, smaller tips are easier for the small and precise soldering required here, but don't worry about it too much, anything will work fine.

Solder - Nobody likes the idea of lead products. We all know the risks associated with using lead products. But with solder, a 60/40 tin/lead alloy is the only way to go. You can pick up lead-free solder quite cheap, but anyone who's ever used lead-free solder will tell you, it's just not very good, especially for this type of soldering.
Just make sure you have good ventilation while soldering and everything will be fine.

Heat Shrink -  Another essential piece of equipment a lot of people fail to mention is heat shrink tubing. Make sure you get enough of this in a variety of sizes (and colours if you would like that). Its very cheap and infinitely useful, even beyond just insulating your soldered wires, heat shrink can be used to hold things in place. If you plan on mounting your ESCs on the arms of your quad, a large size heat shrink is especially useful as its very good at holding them securely in place.

Nuts - Before I started flying my quad regularly I saw that most experience pilots fix there props to their motors using nuts as oppose to the nice-looking heads that come with the motors. I wondered why they did this until I was flying one day and had a minor crash (it really was very minor). When I retrieved the quad two of the props had came off, they hadn't broken, they had just unscrewed the head and came off. Of course, in long grass I had no chance of finding those tiny little heads on the top so had to rush over to a hardware store and pick up some nuts to screw my props back on. Not only are nuts great for being spares, they also seem to be less likely to unscrew themselves so I would recommend picking up a few of these before flying.

Double-sided tape - Another infinitely useful material for constructing these craft. Double sided tape can be used to secure your components in specific position inside the frame of your quad. I personally use double-sided foam tape to secure my Rx, my VTx, my power distribution board, my ESCs etc. Double-sided foam tape has the benefit of providing vibration dampening as well as adhesion and is one of my top recommendations in building a quadcopter.

Velcro - Like double-sided tape, velcro is used by different pilots in different ways. I think most would agree however that it is a useful material to have available to you during building. I personally use velcro to secure my HD camera (not that camera I use for FPV) to the top of the quadcopter. It holds it in place, provides a bit of vibration dampening and also allows me to remove it when I need to. I also use the fluffy side of the velcro on the top deck of my quad frame, which is where I mount the battery. I use this to provide a softer surface for the battery as well as to help the battery not get crushed into the top of the bolts of the frame when I secure the battery straps tightly. Some people like to add velcro to the batteries themselves and secure them in place in the same way I do with my HD camera, the choice is down to the individual but velcro is still a must-have for everyone.

Battery Straps - Another overlooked necessity. You are going to need to secure your battery in place on the frame and a battery strap is the best way to do this. After hearing that Lumenier battery straps offer high levels of grip, I bought a pack of 3 straps from them. Although I use them and they are very good, I feel that they are probably no better than any other battery strap. So my recommendation here is to make sure you purchase battery straps, but not to worry too much about which ones. As long as it holds your battery in place, you have nothing to worry about.

Cable Ties - Another excellent material, cable ties can be used for so many things on quadcopters and many pilots use them in different ways. Personally I use cable ties to hold my motor wires down against the arms of the quad, as well as to support the antennae on the top. I also use them as a system to ensure my HD camera doesn't fly off the top of my quad in a crash, you don't want to lose a GoPro or mobius in long grass for no reason, so make sure you secure them some way somehow. Some other pilots fashion landing gear from cable ties and also use them to hold components in place. I assure you, you will find a use for them and they are a must-buy for your build.

FPV Antenna - I know I've yet to cover the FPV materials yet in this guide mini-series. But the FPV antenna for the VTx is something you could very possibly forget, so it belongs in this section. If you buy decent video goggles you are likely to get at least one circularly polarised antenna for them, but maybe not necessarily two. You might not even get any at all if purchasing from some manufacturers. VTxs often come with terrible little dipole antennas that are (almost) worthless so don't waste your time using them. If you don't know whether or not you are going to have enough antennae, then pick up some more RHCP or LHCP antennas for the frequency you will be using. Especially if, like me, you live in the EU where 25mW VTxs are the maximum we're allowed, a good set of CP antennae make all the difference. Don't worry though, there will be much more on this topic in the next section of this guide, "choosing the FPV equipment".

HD Action Camera / Accessories - Not essential but always fun. Having something to record your flight footage on is a great bonus in my opinion and I love the ability to look back over my flights in HD. Obviously, the best choice in this section is almost definitely a GoPro, but this doesn't mean it's the only choice. For this you will want to choose a HD, wide-angle lens action camera. GoPros, though brilliant, are expensive. I have a GoPro, I've had it since before I built my drone and I love it, but I would never mount it on my drone. I don't want to risk damaging such an expensive camera, especially as I would have to mount it without it's case. Another brilliant choice in this section is the Mobius action camera. It is substantially cheaper than a GoPro (I got mine for less than £60) and it is also quite a bit lighter. It can record in full HD at 30fps or 720p at 60, while this isn't as good as a GoPro it is still very good. So like most things, the choice here is again up to the individual. GoPros will provide better footage but it is a larger risk, is it worth it for you? (There will be a whole post dedicated to camera equipment for filming your drone flights, both on the quad and on the ground, so look out for that in the next week)

Spares - Obviously spares are optional. But if you really want to enjoy your flight then please make sure you get spares. This extends to almost every component but the main things you'll want spares for are props, buy lots. Props will break almost every flight as you begin so having plenty of spares is a good call. You may also want to have a spare motor or two as they can often take a beating in crashes. A spare ESC or two will also be helpful in the case of blowing an ESC in a particularly aggressive flight. One more component to make sure you have at least one spare for is your battery. You want to make sure you have another battery so you can make the most of your flight times and also incase you damage a LiPo, you won't have to call it a day and go home feeling sad.

This list is not exhaustive but I think I have covered the main things. If you can think of anything else then please leave a comment to let us all know!
I hope this post has been useful to you and if you will be following the "Comprehensive Guide to Building an FPV Racing Quad" series then keep an eye out for part 3 - "Parts for an FPV system" which will be posted tomorrow.

Happy flying!