RC tips for beginners

Waiting for your first FPV racer to arrive? Here are some essential accessories and helpful tips you should know about before you get started.

Get Extra Batteries

The standard kits come with a single battery, you need more to enjoy a decent flight time. Get 4 or more, so you have at least a guaranteed 20 mins of flight time.

Grab A Good Charger

Get one that’s powerful enough to charge all of your batteries. The iMAX B6AC is a popular choice and offers a variety of power inputs. If your budget allows the ISDT D2 is a more powerful option. When choosing, consider your intended location of charging, if you’re nearby a wall outlet then an AC input is required. If you want to charge with your car or another battery, you’ll need a 12 V input. Some have both options but not all.

Firebox/ fireproof place to charge

There is a lot of power in a battery and although they are generally safe, a damaged, puffed or incorrectly charged battery can explode. Charging outside, in a fireproof place, or in a metal box can prevent any risk of damage. There is only a small chance this could happen, but it is something you can easily do to eliminate the risk.

You Can Never Have Enough Spare props

You will crash, and you will need a stack of blades to make sure you can keep flying. We have a whole list of items you should put in your crash kit, but the blades are number 1.

Things You Should Know

Use the OSD flight timing

The batteries run out fairly quickly if you are flying you need to know the approximate battery time left, otherwise, it could die mid-flight and crash. Most FPC cameras will have an OSD, and you can gauge the battery level based on the voltage. You should aim for 14.7 resting voltage on a 4s, if you are at that voltage, bring the quad down and recharge/ replace the battery. Every quad and flying style is different, so you need to test your one. But I recommend starting at 4 mins then increase the time until you hit that voltage mark. You might be hitting more than 6 mins when you first start, but as you get better and push harder this time will reduce.

Betaflight Beginner Setting

If you’re able to connect to your ESC, you can reduce the change of burning out if you set Demag Compensation to HIGH.

This will prevent the motors from receiving power unless the rotors are spinning and in the right position. Preventing ESC damage if you crash and didn’t lower the throttle in time.

Build a Smoke Stopper

If you’re just getting into building a quad, know there are no built-in fuses; it only takes one crossed wire to fry a component. You can significantly reduce the chance of damage by building your own smoke stopper. Its a fast cheap and easy way to prevent burning out an incorrectly connected ESC or other components.

Got A Problem? Check youtube

There are some massive sources of information online, learn about Betaflight and general RC knowledge on RC groups and popular youtube channels. If you have an FPV problem it’s very likely someone else has had it too and has made a video about it, so head to google or youtube and you’ll be back in the air in no time.

Later down the track

The day will come when you’ll want to upgrade your transmitter and goggles. If you are ready to grab one, do your research as if you get a good one you won’t need to upgrade again. If you can try to find a local flyer and try out their gear.