A Beginner’s Guide to FPV – GetFPV Learn

https://www.getfpv.com/learn/new-to-fpv/fpv-beginner-guide/

Welcome to the world of FPV Multirotors!

If you’re here reading this, then something inspired you to do a little
research into FPV multirotors as an FPV Beginner. It can be a little
intimidating when you are first starting out, but stick with it, the
rewards far outweigh the challenges. This series of articles is here to
help you navigate your way through those challenges, and give you a
good deal of insight into what you need to know to proceed. While not
all encompassing, you will have a good knowledge base with which to
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What is FPV? Simplified for an FPV Beginner.

FPV or First Person View is the most unique experience of interacting

with your aircraft through a level of immersion that is unparalleled by
anything short of virtual reality. In its most basic form, it takes you,
the pilot, and transfers your visual consciousness into the body of a
fast, agile, and precise flying machine. It gives you a whole new and
awe inspiring view of the world around you that only those who fly
FPV get to experience. There are really about three different schools
of FPV multirotor flying; racing, freestyle, and aerial photography.
There’s nothing saying you can’t do more than one of these, or all
three! They each have their exciting aspects and there’s a community
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Freestyle Flying

Freestyle flying is all about your environment, your multirotor, and

the interaction between the two. It might be finding that new gap that
your multirotor barely fits through, dodging ghost branches as you
dance through your local park, finding cool new locations in which to
explore, or finally learning that new trick that you saw on someone’s
flight video. Freestyle is a form of expression in flight, more focused
on acrobatics and exploring your environment. Freestyle also has the
added benefit of helping to prepare you for racing by pushing the
limits of your multicopter through learning control. As an FPV
Beginner, this is most likely where you will start in your journey!
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FPV Racing

FPV racing consists of flying either solo, or with a group of other pilots,
through a series of obstacles, flags, and gates. As with all racing, the
goal is to get first place, either by beating all the other pilots to the
finish line or getting the best time on the track. While this may sound
simple at first, most tracks will not only push the limit in terms of
speed, but will also test your ability to maneuver your multirotor
through all aspects of control. Many races come down to who has the
fastest reflexes and can find the best line in the track.
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Aerial Photography
Aerial photography is just that, viewing and recording whatever your
chosen subject matter is from the air. This is a great way to explore
the world around you, and gives you a unique experience of taking
your photography literally to a whole new level. Aerial photography
also has many practical uses, such as showing unique views of real
estate, area mapping, or even filming movies![/vc_column_text]
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How a Multirotor Works: FPV Beginner

A multirotor has four control points; roll, pitch, yaw, and thrust, and
each of these work both independently from one another and can
work together to create more complex movement. Let’s start with an
exercise to show each of these controls. Hold your hand out in front of
you palm down. Rock your hand from side to side, that is your roll.
Now, tip your hand forward, then backward, that would be pitch.
Keeping your hand palm down, turn your hand left then right, that’s
an example of yaw. Last, again, keep your palm face down, and lift
your hand higher in the air then bring it back down, there is your
thrust. Now, when you start to combine roll with thrust, your
multirotor will shift either left or right. When you pitch forward the
multirotor will start to move forward, and when you pitch back, it will
move backward. Yaw is generally used to change your heading, or the
direction your multirotor is facing. The more thrust you provide the
faster the multirotor will gain altitude, and the roll and pitch
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To build or not to build, that is the question…

When you first get into the hobby as an FPV Beginner, there is that
little thing in the back of your mind that we like to call “instant
gratification”. While there is no shame in buying a pre-built
multirotor, and there are some great builders out there that will be
more than happy to provide that for you, a word of caution; you will
crash your multirotor…. many, many times. There are times where a
part will not survive your crash, or a wire will get jarred loose, and
unless you are fantastic with electronics, you may not know how to
conduct repairs. By going through the steps to build your first
multirotor as an FPV Beginner, you will understand how the parts
work in conjunction with one another, as well as how to fix anything
that might be broken. Plus, there is nothing as satisfying as building
something that once complete, can take to the skies!

Note: There are a few skills necessary to properly build a multirotor,

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Components of a Multirotor: FPV Beginner

Parts and components for FPV multirotors can be broken down into
three distinct categories, the flight system, the power system, and the
FPV system. The flight system consists of motors, propellers,
electronic speed controllers (ESC’s), flight controller, and the radio
receiver. The power system consists of the battery and the power
distribution board. The FPV system contains the flight camera, the
video transmitter (VTx), and the antenna. While multirotors can
definitely fly without the FPV system, and many pilots out there
definitely enjoy the experience, adding the FPV system adds in that
level of immersion that makes the experience that much more
fulfilling. All your components are mounted on your multirotor
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Frames

Frames are the backbone, the skeleton of your multirotor. This is

what all your components will mount to, and will ultimately dictate
what the multirotor will look like. There are hundreds of frame
designs out there, and many pilots create their own custom frames
that fit their individual flying styles. Frames are measured in
millimeters, not from front to back, but diagonally from center of the
motor mount on one arm, to the center of the motor mount on the arm
directly diagonal from it. This will give you some general information
about how big the overall frame will be so you know what to expect. It
will also give you some insight into how big a propeller the frame is
meant for (most frames will let you know what size prop it is designed
for). Frames are often designed with a specific purpose in mind,
either racing, or freestyle. While you COULD do both with any kind of
frame, the performance will often be biased toward one. This is
something to keep in mind when selecting your frame.

Read more about FPV Multirotor Drone Frames here.[/vc_column_text]

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Flight System Components: FPV Beginner

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Flight Controllers

The flight controller is essentially the brains of your multirotor, and is

easily the most complex component of the flight system. Built into the
FC are sensors that tell the onboard firmware the orientation of the
multirotor, and also takes in input from the pilot and using the two
sets of data, sends commands to the motors to move the multirotor as
commanded. Flight controllers are complex pieces of equipment that
can be programmed to varying degrees to essentially tune your quad
just like you would a racecar. You can also determine how much
control you want to give your flight controller over the multirotor,
such as allowing it to auto level your quad when not given a
command. Most pilots who fly FPV however fly in a mode called
“Acro” which does not allow the FC to control the quad beyond user
inputs. It will basically only exert influence to maintain the position
of the multirotor as the pilot has commanded.

Read more about FPV Multirotor Drone Flight Controllers here.

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Electronic Speed Controllers (ESC’s)

ESC’s are powerful components on the multirotor that take the
commands output from the flight controller and translate it into
commands for the motors that tell them how fast to spin, what
direction to spin in, and when to stop. They do this by taking power
from the power system and data from the FC and turn that into three
phase electrical pulses that the motors feed off of. By providing more
or less power, the motor spin faster or slower in response. Each motor
of the multirotor has a dedicated ESC that drives it because in a
multirotor flight system, each motor will almost always spin at
different speed than its partner motors. This is due to a multirotors
flight characteristics, balancing, and outside influences such as wind.
Like the flight controller, the ESC has firmware that drives the
calculations.

Read more about FPV Multirotor Drone Electronic Speed Controllers

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Motors

Motors provide the power that puts your multirotor into the air. Most
motors for multirotors are classified as brushless motors, and work by
using three phase power to drive electromagnets that spin the motor.
While relatively small, brushless motors are fairly powerful. These
motors have been used in model aviation for many years, and are the
components that draw the most power from your system. Motors are
rated by two size numbers allowing you to pick the size you need for
your multirotor, as well as the Kv rating, which is defined as the RPM
of the motor per volt. As an example, if you have a 2206 – 2450kv
motor (a very common motor for 5” multirotors), here’s how it breaks
down; the 22 stands for the diameter of the motor, the length in
millimeters around the outside of the motor housing. The 06 stands
for the height of the motor housing in millimeters. If you are running
a 4 cell battery, the nominal voltage would be 14.8 volts. Take the Kv
rating of 2450 and multiply it by 14.8, giving you an RPM of 36,260.
This would be the maximum RPM under no load, meaning with no
propeller attached.

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Propellers

Propellers, or props, provide the thrust of the flight system. Attached

directly to the motors via the motor shaft, they spin just as fast as the
motors do. There are many, many different styles and sizes of props
out there, all made with different materials, different blade pitch,
different blade shapes, and different number of blades. Propellers are
rated in terms of size, blade number, and blade pitch. For example, if
you have a 5 x 4.5 x 3, then you have a 5 inch propeller, with a 4.5’’
pitch, with a total of 3 blades. The pitch is defined as how far forward
the propeller will move in one revolution. In the case of our example
prop, it would move forward 4.5”. So all things being equal, a
propeller with a 3” pitch would not generate as much thrust as our
4.5” pitch when spinning at the same speed. The material that the
propeller is made of will also affect the durability of the prop when it
hits something such as a tree branch or the ground, as well as change
the weight of the prop itself. Spinning a heavier prop will also
consume more power from your multirotor, so you have to find the
right balance here.

Read more about FPV Multirotor Drone Propellers here.

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Radio Receiver and Radio Controller

The radio receiver (Rx) is the component that takes the commands
from the pilot’s radio controller and feeds that information into the
flight controller. Here, you want choose an Rx that matches up with
your radio controller, often determined by brand and or model of
controller. There are many brands of radio controllers out there, and
this is often up to a pilot’s preference. You want to select a radio
system that fits your needs in terms of features, size, ergonomics, and
range. When it comes to selecting a radio receiver, this generally
comes down to features and size, as well as latency of the overall
control system. Latency basically means how long in milliseconds it
takes for your commands from the controller to be implemented on
your multirotor, and standard logic applies that lower latency is
better.

Read more about FPV Multirotor Drone Radio Receiver and Radio
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FPV System Components: FPV Beginner

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Flight Camera

The flight camera is your window to the world of FPV. Through it you
have access to a remote eye in the sky that will bring you on board
your multirotor. There are many different types of FPV cameras, and
most of them owe their creation to security camera technology. From
that, many companies have developed FPV specific cameras of various
sizes, quality, ranging from basic 600tvl standard definition cameras,
cameras that specialize in low light situations, and HD cameras with
1080p resolution. One thing to remember though is that the more
information the camera provides, the more potential latency you
introduce into the system.

Read more about Multirotor Drone FPV Cameras here.

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Video Transmitters (VTx’s)

Video transmitters do just that, transmit the video from your flight
camera out in a way that your goggles or ground station can capture it.
They range in size, power, and features, and provide the pilot with the
wireless technology that makes the entire FPV system possible. They
are designed with many possible frequencies that can be used both to
work in the environment that you fly in, as well as make it possible for
many pilots to take to the sky all at once. The VTx is rated in terms of
milliwatts (mW), which gives the pilot an idea of how far the VTx can
transmit. Proper management of your VTx is one the finer points of
learning to fly in groups, as well as just good manners. Bad
management of this single component can lead to causing accidents
among your fellow pilots as well as some hurt feelings, so be careful.

Read more about FPV Multirotor Drone Video Transmitters here.

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Goggles

Your FPV goggles are your visual link to your FPV multirotor. While
you can use a ground station and a monitor to fly FPV, that option is
not quite as immersive as using a set of goggles. There are many
different styles of goggles, ranging from DIY versions that you can
assemble yourself, to ready to go models with a ton of features, such as
DVR capabilities. These function similar to virtual reality headsets, in
that the image is displayed on a screen directly in front of your eyes,
making you feel like you are a part of you multirotor as it speeds
through the skies. The googles have a component called the Video
Receiver (VRx) that like any other FPV component, comes in multiple
styles and capabilities. Attached to them is an antenna, very similar to
the one attached to your VTx on you multirotor, but again come in
different types, styles and technology that determine how far away
you can fly your multirotor from where you are at.

Read more about FPV Multirotor Drone Goggles here.

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Power System Components: FPV Beginner

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Power Distribution Boards

Power Distribution Boards have helped to simplify wiring of a

multirotor tremendously. Not that long ago, multirotor components
got their power by a complex system of wiring all the components
directly together in a system called a wiring harness, but then power
distribution boards came into favor. On the board, the battery is
wired to the board through a connector, and from there, your
components are all wired into the board. The board very simply
provides power to all the components. There are several features to
some boards just beyond simple power distribution, such as power
filtering that helps keep the power going to your components “noise”
free, providing cleaner, more reliable power. They also have features
that can provide power of different voltages to different components,
to help keep components effective at their optimum voltage levels.
Read more about FPV Multirotor Drone Power Distribution Boards
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Batteries

Batteries are the primary power sources of your multirotor and can
have a huge impact not only on how long you fly, but how powerful
your total multirotor is. Multirotors are generally powered by a
battery technology call lithium polymer batteries, and are made up of
individual cells. Each cell have a voltage rating of 3.7 volts, and by
adding more cells to the battery, you add more voltage. If you
remember our conversation above about motors, the speed at which a
motor spins is dependent on how much voltage the motor is provided.
The more voltage, the faster the motor is capable of spinning.
Choosing the right battery is also a very fine balancing act in terms of
weight vs. power. The more weight you add to the multirotor, the
shorter the flights, and the more weight the motors have to push
around. Out of all the single components, the battery will add the
most amount of weight to your multirotor. Batteries are rated by both
voltage and amp hours. Amp hours tell you how long the charge on a
battery will last while under load; the higher the amp hours, the
longer they will last.

Read more about FPV Multirotor Drone Batteries here.

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Conclusion

Please, don’t let your quest for knowledge as an FPV Beginner stop
here! This was just a simple overview of FPV multirotors and what
makes the work. Dive deeper into our more part specific articles that
will provide a much deeper level of information and advice on how all
these different parts work and how they work effectively together.
There is a whole world of FPV for you to explore and understand as
an FPV Beginner, and so much joy out of getting into this wonderful
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Category: New to FPVBy GetFPVFebruary 2, 2018
Author: GetFPV

http://getfpv.com
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