Wich part of your quad are you the most picky about ?

[rose basin]

And Wich on part of the quad do you tend to cheap out a bit ? Personally, I am mainly picky about my frame and video line (camera, vtx and antenna) and I usually cheap out on the fc and the batteries

[granite valley]

Frames and motors... The rest of the electronics kinda fall into place from the samples we get

The ratio of FCs and quads I have is like 2:1

[rose basin]

Wich part of your quad are you the most picky about ?

[lapis elbow]

The batteries, because they can burn my house down.

[cedar pilot]

I always like having a good stack from Diatone, I'm tired of speedybees catching on fire and my GepRC one having components fall off

[rose basin]

I can relate to the GEPRC fc having components falling off, it's an 80$ GEPRC fc

[cedar pilot]

womp

[rose basin]

Oh ok, ahah, it literally feel off

[granite valley]

yeahhhhhh this really does not look like their fault

[granite valley]

neither does this... voltage regs don't tend to blow up out of nowhere. Their schematic for this board was within the specs given by the manufacturer IIRC

[rose basin]

Honestly tho, I have no idea what happened, it was sitting on my bench plugged into usb and in a battery to reorder the motors, and then it smoked out of nowhere, and I know nothing shorted since the FC is conformal coated, and it shouldn't be enough to overheat it since it is only 1 layer and there was a fan blowing on the quad

[cedar pilot]

this happened over a year ago, looking back at the crash that caused it I think a branch might have gone between the top of the frame and the FC and knocked it loose then it came off when it hit the ground

loud video btw

[rose basin]

If you have an explanation, I would gladly hear it

[granite valley]

when a component "falls off", it usually does not take its traces with it

almost every time it's due to a bad solder job, but clearly not the case here

[granite valley]

did you let the coating dry off completely?

[rose basin]

I conformal coated it about 3 weeks before the accident

[granite valley]

hm

[rose basin]

So I would assume yes, when I applied it it was under a fan and rotating

And I left the components dry for 48h

[granite valley]

no metal poking it?

[rose basin]

Nope

I am 100% sure it isn't that

And each wires I have that was running inside and isn't soldered on something is heatshrinked

[granite valley]

I don't want to shill any brand here, but stuff going up in flames due to poor manufacturing is luckily mostly a problem of the past. I also don't want to blame you or anything you did to it... I don't think it's anyone's fault really

[rose basin]

It's probably bad luck, but it doesn't change it's annoying

And I think some FC/esc on average are luckier than others

[rose basin]

*if you had to shill a brand, which one would it be ?

[granite valley]

I take my job as a walking billboard seriously

[cedar pilot]

Radiomaster sponser is a W

[granite valley]

if I had to pick one that doesn't directly sponsor us, it'd probably be Airbot or Skystars

Airbot is working closely with us and making dev boards for new stuff that comes out, and Skystars just makes good reasonably priced stuff

[rose basin]

So basically your brand recommendation for an fc is axis flying ?

[granite valley]

sponsorship or not, I think they do have some good electronics. Nothing stellar, but they work without many issues AFAIK

[cedar pilot]

Skystars is my #2 preferred brand to get a stack from

[rose basin]

And hq props, they are my prop manufacturer of choice personally if they have the prop I want

[granite valley]

but the frames and motors are really good, I'd happily recommend those

[cedar pilot]

HQ and Gemfan are even to me, I just get what would be best for what I want

[granite valley]

Gemfan props tend to be a little more efficient IIRC, since they use fancier blade shapes

[rose basin]

Idk, apparently hqprops have better alignments of the blades and better vibrations

Idk if it is true

But the placebo works

[granite valley]

but HQs are more durable, and since they're simpler, they can be easily bent back without much detriment

[cedar pilot]

these things are impossible to break

[rose basin]

Also one thing I noted about the hq props, is that everytime I have a bent hqprop it becomes quieter but doesn't loose power, where has the gemfan ones get all crappy

[granite valley]

I am really fucking thankful for the sponsorships, but they're mísy from brands I'd recommend anyway - HQ, Radiomaster, and Dogcom too I suppose

Axis stuff is great, but the stuff they make (flight electronics, motors and frames) is in a market with so many other brands that it's mostly just a preference thing

[rose basin]

personnally I prefer cnhl or gnb for the batteries, they are cheaper, and I can't feel the difference anyway so long has the battery is light enought and has enought power

[granite valley]

Dogcom covers the top end market, CNHL and some GNB packs don't really compete there

[cedar pilot]

CNHL and GNB are definitely better value, but dogcom are good for nyoooom

[rose basin]

well, I don't see the point in an expensive battery

they will get crushed just has easily, and don't offer that much more

[granite valley]

If they didn't sponsor us, I'm sure I'd still be buying CNHLs. But I can definitely see why people would go for high end packs now that I tried them

CNHL batteries are huge in comparison to these

Not a big issue but it's one of the noticeable differences

[rose basin]

I mean, if you want high end, get the thunder power steele davis lunar landar edition, at 52$ per battery, for an 1100mah 6s

[cedar pilot]

I love how my CNHL Ministar 1250mah batteries are quite a bit bigger than my Speedypizza 1200mah ones

[rose basin]

yeah I get that, it's really annoying how tall they are

[granite valley]

Dogcoms are used by the top racers, that's plenty good enough for me lol

[cedar pilot]

$10 of the price is the Steele in the name

[rose basin]

I would have preffered them to be less tall, so it doesn't obstruct the antenna has much

[rose basin]

yeah, but what does a more expensive battery gives you compared to a cheaper one ?

[granite valley]

Better current output and energy density

Not necessary for most regular flying ofc

But there are definitely people who can make use of it

[rose basin]

I guess i'm just not good enought then

personnally, I only flew 1s not that long ago, so it already feels like the cnhls have no voltage sag

[granite valley]

I didn't either until I tried to really push it

So I'd still be happy with CNHL

[rose basin]

I tried lately (today) to push myself a bit more on freestyle, and the only thing I feel is limiting me is probably just my video, cause analog isn't the best match to fly in a forest

but I would see the lower weight being usefull if you are actually good at freestyle or racing

but you could also just build a lighter quad

[cedar pilot]

with a racing quad its already meant to be as light as possible, and for freestyle using a lighter frame could sacrifice durability

[rose basin]

yeah I know, but not everyone flies in bandos

and a quality light frame should be able to withstand dirt and branches

[slate flicker]

More weight, better tossing. 🍆
You can totally get a 5" under 250 grams, but freestyling light drone is about like trying to play baseball with a balloon.

[rose basin]

I would disagree with you on this one, even if it is completely based upon personal preference, you are right that going down to sub 250 with say a 2fiddy frame is too light for a 5", but personally, if given the choice, I would go for a light 5" rather than an 800g 5" with a full sized gopro on, I prefer having a better responsivness quad rather than a more throwable quad, since in my testing of taping heavy stuff to my quad to simulate a heavier frame without having to buy a new frame, I felt like I could get more done on a lighter 5" at around 550-600g than a heavy one, even if an 800g quad is a ton of fun, even if I am incapable to be precise with one

[final chasm]

it just needs to look clean. I'm not a huge fan of double-sided tape.