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Considering freestyle

Roadking

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Belmont, NC
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aerialdroneservice.myportfolio.com
Hi all. I am strongly considering getting into doing some freestyle drone flying. I currently fly a DJI Phantom 4 and do commercial work. I have a Part 107 certification.
I'm thinking of starting by getting a Taranis XD9 Plus and practicing on a simulator. I know I can practice with my P4 but I want to keep business and pleasure separate.
Depending on how that goes I'll dive into getting Fatsharks and a micro quad, under 250g so no registration needed.
From what I've read, I'll need to get the FCC Technician license too, to operate the XD9 (aghhh!).
Anyway, that's what I'm thinking. I'll be looking at this site and appreciate any opinions, ideas and guidance you can provide.
Hopefully I'll get to a point where I can contribute too.
 
If you don't mind me saying, you have all you need to fly. Forget the FCC. Seriously
Check his out:

X9d is great, plus this drone

Plus these goggles

...And you're hooked. The controller and goggles will work when you upgrade.

welcome
 
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If you don't mind me saying, you have all you need to fly. Forget the FCC. Seriously
Check his out:

X9d is great, plus this drone

Plus these goggles

...And you're hooked. The controller and goggles will work when you upgrade.

welcome
Exactly what I was going to post. The investment sits on your head and around your neck, without it you may as well throw your quad off the balcony and watch it explode on the ground as you won’t be able to see it or fly it without the correct gear. All my 2”, 3”, 5” and 6” gear runs off the same controller and the same goggles. Such is the addiction that my wife asked me how many quads do I need. The answer is X + 1. I have X....
 
If you don't mind me saying, you have all you need to fly. Forget the FCC. Seriously
Check his out:

X9d is great, plus this drone

Plus these goggles

...And you're hooked. The controller and goggles will work when you upgrade.

welcome
rtkDarling - thank you for your reply and suggestions. I think the frsky x9d plus is what I'll go with since it seems to be a popular choice and at around $200 not too big of an investment.
I appreciate you recommending the goggles because I assumed fatshark was the way to go, and they are quite pricey (like $500+). It sounds like the Eachine EV800D's are a good choice and being in the $100 range really helps to get me going.
Also, the TinyHawk drone is reasonably priced and seems like a good start.

Other than those 3 items, what else is recommended? Extra batteries? What type? Chargers?

Thanks again and i appreciate everybody's input. Just getting started and even though i've been reading a lot I still am a bit unsure.
 
rtkDarling - thank you for your reply and suggestions. I think the frsky x9d plus is what I'll go with since it seems to be a popular choice and at around $200 not too big of an investment.
I appreciate you recommending the goggles because I assumed fatshark was the way to go, and they are quite pricey (like $500+). It sounds like the Eachine EV800D's are a good choice and being in the $100 range really helps to get me going.
Also, the TinyHawk drone is reasonably priced and seems like a good start.

Other than those 3 items, what else is recommended? Extra batteries? What type? Chargers?

Thanks again and i appreciate everybody's input. Just getting started and even though i've been reading a lot I still am a bit unsure.
You'll want some extra batteries, but the Tinyhawk does come with a little 1s charger.
the batteries look like this

They often wear out fast, those little batteries, but they're cheap.
Fatsharks are nice, but I'm still using my EV800d after 2 years so...
 
OK Ready to go:)
Just ordered everything. Hopefully it will all be here by early next week.
Thanks again for your advice. I really appreciate it. Wasn't sure about how much to spend just diving in, but it sounds like the goggles and radio should be solid. Once I'm good with the drone I'll look into getting a bigger one, although I'm hesitant to go above .55lbs because then I'll need to register it and fly according to FAA rules. Since I'm a certified sUAS pilot I can't risk monkeying around.
Total for everything with the extra batteries and a set of props was $400. Much better than what I thought.
 
OK Ready to go:)
Just ordered everything. Hopefully it will all be here by early next week.
Thanks again for your advice. I really appreciate it. Wasn't sure about how much to spend just diving in, but it sounds like the goggles and radio should be solid. Once I'm good with the drone I'll look into getting a bigger one, although I'm hesitant to go above .55lbs because then I'll need to register it and fly according to FAA rules. Since I'm a certified sUAS pilot I can't risk monkeying around.
Total for everything with the extra batteries and a set of props was $400. Much better than what I thought.
Well done for taking the great advice from @rtkDarling. I’ve seen so many people go in half baked, get frustrated and chuck the hobby in by going down the cheapo route. As for upgrading and keeping under the weight/registration rules, you are spoilt for choice and still continue to have a great time. Over here in Australia, we are about to endure a new range of registration forcing us to pay $20 per recreational quad including a range of other measures. Many people including myself saw this coming and switched to racing/freestyle quads to avoid dealing with that bureaucratic rubbish. My DJI stuff sits on a shelf gathering dust whilst the smaller fleet gets to go outdoors most days.
 
Don't hesitate to come back if you have any questions with the setup. It's fairly straight forward, but it is a single path through a deep forest; easy to get lost the first time.
 
Don't hesitate to come back if you have any questions with the setup. It's fairly straight forward, but it is a single path through a deep forest; easy to get lost the first time.
Thank you. I'll give it a shot and then come cryin' when I'm lost. :rolleyes:
 

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