In /rcg/ we discuss anything & everything remote controlled - multirotors, fixed wing, cars, rovers, helis, boats, submarines, battlebots, lawnmowers, etc.
>How do I get started with racing drones? https://oscarliang.com/mini-quad-racing-guide/ https://www.fpvknowitall.com/ultimate-fpv-shopping-list/
> How to build a racing drone (16 part video series from Joshua Bardwell) https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwoDb7WF6c8mWARrcxtX_G6yytK7QFHID
>What about planes? https://www.flitetest.com/
>What about aerial photography, is DIY viable? Buy a DJI if what you actually want is to take good photos/videos, go DIY if what you actually want is a fun project.
>I want a cheap RC training plane that is turnkey. XK Beaver Eachine Wing Dragon OMPHobby T720 Hobbyzone Champ (used only)
>I want a good FPV fixed wing platform. ZOHD Drift Sonicmodell AR Wing Finwing Albabird
>I want a basher fixed wing model for doing crazy shit that is easily repairable. RCFactory, Hacker and other similar profile models
>I want a dirt cheap drone to fly around my yard/garden Syma X5C
>I want a dirt cheap drone to fly inside my house Eachine E010/Hubsan X4
>What are some good YouTube channels for learning or fun? Joshua Bardwell - https://www.youtube.com/@JoshuaBardwell Painless360 - https://www.youtube.com/@Painless360 Flite Test - https://www.youtube.com/@FliteTest Peter Sripol - https://www.youtube.com/@PeterSripol RCModelReviews - https://www.youtube.com/@RCModelReviews Andrew Newton - https://www.youtube.com/@AndrewNewton RCGutt - https://www.youtube.com/@rcgutt RC Test Flight - https://www.youtube.com/@rctestflight Think Flight - https://www.youtube.com/@thinkflight Tail Heavy Productions - https://www.youtube.com/@TailHeavyProductions
Radiomaster pocket, 18650s and literally any RECENT sim
Also unpopular opinion, flying a DJI drone like a nwo with an RC3 kinda helps fpv a little
Flying a DJI feels like driving a Prius in eco mode, then when you power on a ELRS controlled fpv drone and you hear telemetry on…. It’s like getting behind the seat of a modified dodge viper, no abs, no traction control, manual transmission with a race clutch
Even a whoop feels fucking powerful and sporty after a day or two of flying a DJI neo
>Local fb group posted “drone parts. Free.” >“Oh, sweet. I’d like to know how to build a whoop.” >picked up the box and came home with these treasures. >mfw.png
>>2976836 Always dreamed this kind of set up 7 years ago but was too poor to afford it. Even though I already have O4 pro quads, I’ve always wanted to try build and try analog.
The box came with extra AIO ESC’s, cameras, motors etc…
I got a fuck ton of batteries that are 5+ years old and idk if they’ll charge well but the ones I’ve tested had a steady ~3.7v.
>>2976839 keep those used lipos in a vented ammo can just to be safe. who knows if they were ever discharged past 3v
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Anonymous02/17/26(Tue)17:26:58
>>2976839 Man, I would've skipped away if he only gave me the motors. Nice. Make good use of those!
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Anonymous02/20/26(Fri)01:43:12
I'm going to buy another ELRS radio. I have a Boxer and it's basically perfect for my current mostly quadcopter needs, but I'd like a few more switches or buttons for futureproofing. I'm looking at a GX12 Crush currently because the TX16 looks like overkill (I don't care about a color display or touchscreen). Is there anything else I should consider?
>>2977564 Whats the make and model? Cost? Last RC anything I had was a pontiac firebird Radioshack ZipZap, my brother had that same jeep. Wanting to get back into it
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Anonymous02/21/26(Sat)18:00:06
>>2977750 HStar D43, got it here for $30 or so, there are discounts active
A bit off subject but how hard would it be to create a follower drone with talking ai? I feel like the tech is already there but no one is making them.
>>2980318 wow, I forgot that character exist. What a great design.
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Anonymous03/09/26(Mon)15:54:55
>>2980317 >Battery tech is ages away from being reasonable for anything flying (you will change that pack multiple times an hour) >Have fun miniaturizing the computing and other hardware to make a buddy robot (also, see point one again) >Other than impromptu selfies it wouldn't be able to offer many functionalities a phone can't already do >VRRRRRRRR behind/beside you constantly with available propulsion methods for flying >If you make your bot ground-based instead it's now constantly underfoot and likely in an urban hellscape begging to get trampled upon and caught in obstacles It could probably be done as a proof of concept if you use 5G to offboard the computation, but we can't practically make anything like that now in a way that's better than wearables or just a phone.
DJI neo already has hand signals, voice command, follow orders.
Also has the nest in your palm land feature
Throw an Amazon echo or a speaker that connects to an off board Amazon echo and you can mimick Star Wars robots in the real world why you would do this no idea
DJI neos are kinda cool, had one when I hooked up with this girl I was seeing shortly and made a little video with her
Video looks cooler than it really was in reality that Neo is loud as fuck and kinda kills the mood a little
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Anonymous03/09/26(Mon)20:30:21
>>2980363 That kind of solves the miniaturization issue but not the rest. Even with magic nuclear batteries I can't see a commercial version of the idea doing well so long as propellers are being used for lift without some giga autist giving us way quieter blades. Even that would leave the "why" question open since a set of wireless earbuds connected to your phone gets you all of the voice command stuff unobtrusively and your fancy selfie camera can just deploy when you need it (maybe at a voice command, even). Until AI or drones are more capable, those abilities seem better separated.
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Sieg03/09/26(Mon)22:15:35
>>2980371 I’m not sure what battery my DJI Neo is because it’s encased in plastic and has a proprietary 3 battery charger at one time thing
But they look to be about 2S lipos and I’m getting pretty good flight times out of it
Again you’re right a DJI Neo is a flying selfie camera that follows you there really is no reason to have it follow you around all day
But since it has onboard gps and return to home on battery low signals
You could theoretically have it go home to a dock and charge wirelessly roomba style through nagsafe style connection
All the tech is there but again it’s basically just a flying phone
Actually now that I think of it, if you just incorporate an AI search engine into the DJI fly app you don’t even need the Amazon Alexa (you have to connect the DJI Neo to your phone when flying line of sight, to fly fpv you just connect to a controller and headset the N3 or the goggles 3, those things are expensive though I bought the goggles 3 for $550 and the N3 were like $275 and regret both, if you want a DJI drone just fly from your phone or RC3)
fuck you and your high CG chassis, ECX, I have a 3D printer and too much time on my hands
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Anonymous03/15/26(Sun)19:12:46
Anyone have a gps speedometer they recommend for a rc car?
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Anonymous03/16/26(Mon)10:56:54
>>2981325 I'd just strap my phone to it, personally
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Anonymous03/18/26(Wed)03:18:57
>>2976836 I did that on Craigslist once (got raped, it turns out though).
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Anonymous03/18/26(Wed)03:22:38
>>2981325 Install beta flight on a flight controller, then GPS is just another $10-20
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Anonymous03/19/26(Thu)19:27:39
Got a dji mini 4k and I flew around for a few minutes and now I’m bored and don’t know what to do. I lose connection fairly quickly due to buildings
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Anonymous03/20/26(Fri)04:14:50
>>2981986 You got a camera drone and decided to use it around a bunch of obstructions? That's a you problem. Radio waves aren't magic. More data speed means shorter range, and HD video takes a lot of data. Get out of the city if you wanna go fly. Just don't do anything retarded that'll give the FAA more excuses.
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Anonymous03/20/26(Fri)19:43:48
>>2981325 I use my bike computer (lezyne macro) I'm sure there are plenty of cheap ones on amazon now
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Anonymous03/20/26(Fri)19:48:14
I thought the ban was just on dji stuff I didn't realize it was ALL NEW DRONE OR DRONE RELATED SHIT goddamn even if I don't fpv, transmitters, receivers are affected. Are ESCs affected? Servos? Anything car related? I was looking forward to the new digital fpv systems too like openipc and beta but looks like we're fucked there too. With ELRS and Edgetx (and openipc) being open source could we just make tx/rx in burgerland out of arduinos or rpis? Or are the rf chips chink only too?
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Anonymous03/20/26(Fri)21:46:17
>>2982169 The FCC is finding out that what they tried to push was retarded. Nobody is obeying that shit.
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Sieg03/21/26(Sat)14:54:25
>>2982169 Yeah and ELRS just dropped support for non-Esp32 based hardware
So with the newest iteration of ELRS they no longer support the only NDAA compliant chip.
So you’re stuck with literally one tbs crossfire reciver and transmitter
If I was tbs crossfire knowing federal agencies and statesite businesses that contract with the government have to comply I’d be jacking up their prices to hellfire missle prices as they have no alternative other than go pro on a kite
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Anonymous03/21/26(Sat)16:10:17
>>2982169 The FCC ban is targeted at products that are both 1. New to market 2. UAV specific Or 3. Fuck you, DJI, ROFLMAO If you're just bashing you should be fine until the already approved radio equipment loses support/popularity, but I expect them or another agency to try something a step further within a few years. Heck, the FCC already said they wanted to regulate parts outside of their jurisdiction but then had to walk that back, I expect more attempts as wartime UGVs gain popularity. Don't panic, but stocking spare parts would be wise.
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Anonymous03/24/26(Tue)17:08:09
>>2982252 well it's still open source could Intel theoretically fab something compatible here? although it would be a gorillion dollars, no competition allowed huh >>2982257 but do they define uav specific I mean any rc thing could be argued as uav specific
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Anonymous03/24/26(Tue)18:00:20
>>2982689 They're doing their level best not to define anything unless they're nailed to the wall or it's convenient for them and I'm running on memory. You may want to read those statements yourself if you're interested, they aren't all that long or jargony. >I mean any rc thing could be argued as uav specific Lawyers will always try to torture language and logic until text means what they want it to, but as written, the aerial SPECIFIC requirement should mean that any (common) basher part you want shouldn't be a concern because your car doesn't fly. Commonality would mean legality even if an RC plane uses the same parts. Shared parts are (should be) safe, but I don't expect this to be the last restriction and with the right lawyer and wrong judge anything can happen.
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Anonymous03/27/26(Fri)10:27:32
>>2975889(OP) I need a motor to operate up above 75C, preferably up to 90C. What’s the chance a random cheap little alibay BLDC will handle this continually? What about a cheap brushed DC motor? If I understand, it’s the curie point of the magnets that are often the limiting factor, that and the lubrication in the bearings, brushed motors are more likely not to use ball bearings so I guess they’d be worse, but I think they also don’t use rare earth magnets so maybe they’d be better? I can probably test a BLDC by dunking it in a pot of water as it boils and spinning it continuously while measuring the temperature, not sure about a brushed motor.
If I do have to buy a special high-temp motor for this, do you guys have any recommendations! As cheap as possible really, just for some low-speed rotation of a filament spool as it dries. If needed I can gear-down by a factor of ~50 or so using belts, so I wouldn’t want an extremely fast motor. Also I don’t plan on having a ratchet mechanism or whatever, so being backdrivable is a must, no gear-motors. Steppers are an option, but high-temp steppers get expensive from what I’ve seen.
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Anonymous03/27/26(Fri)16:20:22
>>2983045 there's high temp grease available. since you're printing things just print a way to have the motor rotate the spool but be outside the dryer enclosure. yes the magnets will degrade.
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Anonymous03/27/26(Fri)18:38:58
>>2983068 I want to weigh the spool as it dries, so the motor must be mounted to the filament holding base. I didn’t think it was a matter of degrading but rather of perfectly functional vs completely dead. A half-dead BLDC might still have enough torque for a slow rotation.
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Anonymous03/28/26(Sat)02:12:25
>>2983076 Or maybe I can just put fan blades on the thing, so the fan’s airflow spins the filament…
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Anonymous03/28/26(Sat)02:33:52
>>2982169 Just a tip, if you plan on ordering anything overseas that is "banned"
Just order it from those chinese websites like banggood or aliexpress instead of direct from manufacturer. CBP goes after packages sent from specific exporters, and if they're targetting a company like DJI or flywoo they'll intercept those packages.
Aliexpress, alibaba, and all those shit chinese websites would be impossible for CBP to enforce.
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Anonymous04/01/26(Wed)15:20:37
I want to build my own shitty quadcopter. Any good starting point? I can figure out stuff by myself just want some help from more experienced people
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Anonymous04/01/26(Wed)15:24:37
>>2983747 Joshua Bardwell is your friend. Check the OP.
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Anonymous04/02/26(Thu)16:50:16
>>2983076 just weigh the entire contraption.............................................
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Sieg04/05/26(Sun)06:35:11
>>2983747 Honestly just buy a tiny whoop and a t8l Fly line of sight in your house until all this war shit blows over in a year or two
If you start building a drone now by the time you’re finished soldering the last motor wire to your esc, the FAA will make it a felony to fly whatever microprocessor your FC is running without an experimental aircraft autorotation and a part 107
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Anonymous04/07/26(Tue)02:20:56
>>2975889(OP) Hey ya guys. Just a question, is it alright to play a drone simulator with a game controller? I'm gonna try Liftoff with just a PS controller. Though if I need to use an RC to play the simulator, is the RadioMaster Boxer good?
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Anonymous04/07/26(Tue)04:16:34
>>2984827 You can play using a game controller but you won't get the best experience because the Y-axis autocentering on the left stick will mess with your throttle control. I also don't like them as much for fine control. If you're really just dipping your toes in to see if you like the idea at all it is doable though. I found it helpful to set things up so the quad just about hovered at center throttle. The Boxer is a great controller, but you can save a few bucks going for a Pocket or Zorro instead.
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Anonymous04/07/26(Tue)05:29:59
>>2984855 I'd recommend against the Zorro. The batteries are too damn small, so the runtime sucks.
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Anonymous04/08/26(Wed)04:24:05
>>2975889(OP) I am very confused by the terminology used. Drone to my understanding is an Unmanned Vehicle. UAV to my understanding is an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle. A quad copter is a machine that has 4 vertical thrust. RC is a remote control device.
What I am trying to figure out is what is a vehicle that doesn't have an RC controller attached to it called? And what is going on in that realm of things.
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Anonymous04/08/26(Wed)07:43:57
>>2985032 Usually you just add "autonomous" to the term; drone was supposed to refer to autonomous vehicles, but the term has evolved till the point it usually means "RC quadcopter".