How to build a 7-inch long range FPV Drone for $150 in 2024

[@hoardersam10]

Want to go bigger? My 10-inch build for $200 can be found here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/o6rcdGuKbK-Vqdk

[@CCC0122]

Great Video! May I ask, what kind of tape do you use for putting something in-between a board and an external vtx? Shrink wrap around the vtx..? Or 2 sided sticky tape?? Regular electrical tape?? Thx Trying some DIY with whoops and I'm swapping the goober canopy and camera from the newbee drone blv5, to the 80mm frame , with 1102 22000kv motors ( both betafpv. The external vtx is screwed partially into the betafpv, meteor75 pro canopy. So the Goober doesn't have those screws and has a larger camera sensor, so no room for the Meteor75 's vtx. I'm going to lay it on it's own wires -plus adding some tape on the board to help insulate the vtx heat from board

[@onestopmodshop6926]

hi I bought everything you listed here and im having trouble with my OSD, when i select ntsc the goggles display large Chinese symbols

[@hoardersam10]

@@onestopmodshop6926 Try clicking 'font manager' and uploading the font to the OSD chip

[@okaraaze1087]

Hi. Huge fan of your videos! Is your BetaFlight tutorial applicable to any drone build? Thanks

[@hoardersam10]

@@okaraaze1087 Yeah the core concepts are the same for any build

[@Marcus-xl9kr]

Since I first saw this video and ordered the kit from the links, I've started collecting all kinds of different stacks frames rx and tx and cameras hahaha such a cool hobby

[@hoardersam10]

Welcome to the hobby, its a great time to start a hoard of drones :)

[@Mr.Thermistor7228]

​@@hoardersam10I've been lagging on getting into it because I also am into a few other massively time consuming hobbies but I think it's finally time I go for it too

[@Marcus-xl9kr]

My video OSD shows weird Vs all over the screen? I get picture but what ever is causing the lettering is overlapping the picture. Any ideas how to fix?

[@paulinbardon7627]

@@Marcus-xl9krsometime its just dirty connection , buy alcool isopropilique and learn how to clear your solder on vtx and camera

[@smproductions3294]

Just ordered the kit. Very exited. I'll slowly get everything else I need. Cannot believe the price of these now. I'll be teaching my 11yr old to build it also. Hell have a blast.

[@jdonez8347]

How's the build coming? Was everything available?

[@fpvfreestyle5899]

Love the 1am betaflight programming, shows you put alot of effort into your videos. You deserve more subscribers, loved this video. You earnt yourself a sub

[@waylonk2453]

I noticed a timestamp from 06:15 too. This man is dedicated

[@ericstanford5419]

Such an innocuous video with severe implications. You can also frame this as “Here are some very cheap and effective drone parts that you can take advantage of - brought to you by the war economy!” We truly do live in the future.

[@Mr.Thermistor7228]

Sure it is accelerating parts availability/development but it would have happened regardless. Drone technology is constantly and rapidly evolving itself

[@okaraaze1087]

Sure but so can everything. We arnt going to use this to kill people, we're going to use this to have fun in our back yard and in a park. Your clothes are created by slaves who work away in 3rd world countries with almost zero pay. Are you going to stop wearing clothes?

[@ZeSpektrum]

We're making parts kits for Ukraine here in Finland and I picked couple good tips here. War has changed.

[@maxkraus7063]

actually you are wrong, parts got more expensive thanks to the war. this hobby was getting more and more affordeable before 2022

[@TaigiTWeseDiplomatFormosan]

ANGEL OF THE FPV NEWBIE 0.0

[@jdonez8347]

Legit AF. Your overall know how and knowledge is extensive wish I had half the knowledge wanting to get into drones, appreciate your tips and videos brother...

[@tygetb7785]

Just subscribed after this video. I felt so alone trying to make my first build. I made all the mistakes possible. You really streamlined it. Thanks. I had given up after the first one crashed on me

[@TheTubejunky]

I want more than ONE of these! Anyone else have this issue? This hobby is addicting!

[@waylonk2453]

Thanks for putting this out. It's encouraging to see that one can be built so cheaply

[@Cpm_hassaan]

i love this guy how heshows how cheap everything actually is!

[@Mr.Thermistor7228]

Anyone can see how cheap it is lol

[@anegg2090]

​@@Mr.Thermistor7228am I trippin or is it more like $500 for a drone

[@GR33ZY.A1]

Fpv drones are not cheap 😅 specially when they break

[@Tiger_Li]

Just built this from your guide, thanks for all the helpful resources!

[@TheFrightHaven]

Hey Sam , love ur videos and ur work and I just wanted to give you a big thank you for using all of this easy to get stuff so we can all follow along, you really are the biggest help for me when it comes to learning electronics, I basically study your videos! Thanks dude.

[@zarrck]

Making sure there are no quirks with the drone over a lake ... this man got some balls alright

[@mjodr]

First thing I noticed, too! Maiden right over water, lol

[@yamashe8480]

Nice video. Clean and to the point. No unnecessary background music and noises. I will be subscribing. Please do a 10 inches FPV as well and maybe how repeaters work for long range flights. thanks

[@waylonk2453]

Repeaters interest me as well, not sure how legal it is though. A HAM license might come in handy for FPV control signal repeater use on the amateur bands.

[@Mr.Thermistor7228]

​@@waylonk2453do they operate on the same frequencies?

[@waylonk2453]

@@Mr.Thermistor7228 HAM bands overlap with the ISM (drone) bands a bit, with HAM sometimes covering an extra channel's width above/below the ISM. I think HAM has access to a special chunk of spectrum around 3300MHz that would be suitable for video transmission, but I'm not sure. Here is the FCC document to reference for all frequency band questions: transition.fcc.gov/oet/spectrum/table/fcctable.pdf

[@DanielJohnFPV]

Yooooo, that's crazy. If you go to those links everyone is talking about shipping to Ukraine. Crazy times

[@domzyorgon]

what even more crazy is, that these things popped up recently, its like they locked these items for Ukraine? I also got recommended alot of KIT 7" and 10" drones with generic chinese items like these motors... its priced super low, around 150€ for 10"

[@badgermetal]

They have assembly lines set up there and are using them up or breaking them faster than they can build them.

[@kylelandor7825]

​@@badgermetalwont help them and the west will.still bankrupt you little drone cowards

[@Hunter_Bidens_Crackpipe_]

Slava Russia ❤

[@jarredelijah6803]

The pussy country? Back by every other pussy countries? Can't even fight their own war

[@samuelbusse2028]

ive been loving my radiomaster pocket.

[@JasonRidesmoto]

Haven't built a drone in over 5 years... looking forward to building one of these! Thanks man

[@KevinNestor84]

Thank you for the explanation of the difference in flight characteristics between a 5 and 7 inch drones! I have a 5 inch that I have always felt was like trying to fly a rock through the air, compared to the toys I had been flying previously. Now I will plan on moving up to a 7in to fly that around as that sounds more like what I am looking for!

[@hoardersam10]

Glad this video helped! It's definitely a different flying experience.

[@JoeMirabella0]

Thank you for the inspiration in getting started in a very expensive hobby. I have followed what you have done in the video plus some. I have purchased Remote ID, incorporated a buzzer, gps ( M100 on uart6 - no compass ) and have probably taken my drone apart, re-soldered, fixed, fried parts and so on many times because of the crashes in the last few weeks. I was way over the $150 getting started but it has been worth it. Lessons learned: do not solder when powered on, take the damn screen protector off on the eachine goggles, GPS has to be 115200, use flux, buy extra screw kits - M2 and M3, 3D printing is frustrating - etc.. things to figure out: receiver staying bound / connected consistently, battery weight/size vs flying time, storage voltage, and actually getting out and flying more than 50' away from me without getting nervous - thank you again!

[@joshwolff2386]

wow, I havent flown pfpv sense 2016, insane how easy they have made beta flight and getting thing setup. I remember having to memorize the code for getting into bootloader mode etc.. also crazy how cheap things have gotten from the war... the last 5 inch i built that was top quality stuff was over 350 while working at a hobby shop getting everything at cost.. the fastshark hd just came out when out when i got out of it. we were flying f2/f3 boards..

[@aelsi1337]

built this and its working great lol thanks again man.

[@SkelaKing]

What sort of tube did you put on this thing? I’ve got one built too and I’m looking for a good starting point besides default beta flight

[@Ryan.Rivera]

@@SkelaKingsup dude, I built this and tuning was a bitch. Constantly tried to fly away on me. I landed on UAV Tech - 6”/7” with medium build quality and 16 & 24 esc pwm settings. All my pid profile settings are at 1, same for my d term filter multiplier, and my gyro filter multiplier is set to 0.4. It is good enough for me to fly the thing relatively smoothly, and motors stay cool. I’m sure it could be improved. I’m just going by feel with it, no black box referencing. Hope this makes things easier for you or someone else, and if someone has a better tune I hope they leave a comment

[@SkelaKing]

@ did you have to do anything special with you’re ESC firmware?

[@Ryan.Rivera]

@@SkelaKing I updated to blue jay so I could change the start up tune, when I was flashing you have to choose the PWM frequency, I chose 48, but apparently 24 is better for bigger quads.

[@bt2706]

@@Ryan.Rivera Commenting to come back to this later - thanks for sharing this info!

[@drink_kompot3656]

Earned your self a sub, first video that was so easy to understand. I will probably look for more information before I buy anything. But I think I will buy the parts from your list as your video was very informative (including the software part!).

[@guacam4ya103]

Awesome video man, Im looking forward to the 10 inch build

[@amaan4423]

i have order all the stuff mentioned in the video, superexcited to make this up

[@Ryan.Rivera]

How did it go?

[@sebastiannavarro7109]

update? how do you like it

[@Thewhitepearlfocus]

Great video 👍 everything explained in depth.

[@TaigiTWeseDiplomatFormosan]

ANGEL OF THE FPV NEWBIE 0.0

[@rogervlog.]

Great video Boss from Philippines 🎉🎉❤

[@rmnd2020]

I subbed because I want you to show us more and always detailed like this. This is how we should help each other people ! Nice one

[@FrameProdutions]

Have you gotten to adding the GPS yet? Really interested in the results. Great video!

[@LynxGenisys]

Nice! I just got into fpv a couple mnths ago after watching n dreaming for a year. Picked up a used dji fpv with goggles V2 with flymore kit. I have since bought the adapter and wildfire analog modual, antennas etc, and now just orderd a radiomaster pocket elrs. (I'll order the new higher power elrs 1W modual for it when it comes out.) The goal is long range flying, so now I'm watching builds. The best part, is with a littke patience, you can slowly build up and buy components etc over time. Can't drop 2k on a whole drone setup, but 50-100 every couple weeks is do-able! Also i can now pretty much buy any ready to fly plane/glider/drone and im ready to go. (Also, AIO cheap fpv camera and stuck it on the kids rc car! 😂😂😂) Now.. this.. or.. maybe I'll check your 10" first! (Ultimately, one of each!)

[@zacharygilbert3919]

I can’t wait for the 10” build!

[@hoardersam10]

Just posted it!

[@forrestallison1879]

That's nice, I was thinking about building one of these for a while. Nice to know that they're getting really cheap. When I priced it out a couple of years ago it was pretty expensive. Add to this that you could probably take apart a drill battery or something and make a 6s2p battery and have mega flight time

[@Scrubpilots]

Can you do a video about adding gps with elrs in the F4V3?

[@digsky]

damn this video really saved me, I was about to spend AU$176 on name brand 7 inch motors! Also I would love to see the 10 inch build

[@dennisvandervloet8640]

Thank you for showing this. I was looking at those kits recently but found no one on KZbin that has build them. Nice video, you have got yourself a new sub :)

[@Mr.Thermistor7228]

The TS80P soldering iron is the GOAT, but the ones you recommend are also ideal 👍

[@wrightwells]

Wow great links,I was just going to build a mark 4 and had found a bundle on Ali but your links are cheaper

[@raul0685]

Love the video so much details thank you

[@peterdlynes]

It's very nice of you to give us all this information. I think I will do it.

[@trontrontrontron4]

nice build man, going to build this now.

[@johncooper7636]

I like the idea of connectors for the motor wires, not sure why I never thought to do that

[@pyrojason]

Very cool, hopefully the programming side gets even easier with time as it's still pretty daunting. Maybe not as much as those tiny solder pads haha, gotta get the scope out.

[@anti-popfpv4638]

Right on time! I've been wanting to build a big 10inch.

[@chrisbee5481]

Jhemcu has great budget FCs and ESC'S. Also amax F7DC frame is so good for it's money.

[@marko4480]

thank good for war you just maybe rebooted my old hobby lol

[@colinjohnson5515]

Thanks for the beta flight tutorial. I have a prebuilt but I want to know how to config it.

[@TheKakan1337]

Do you think they can lift a rpg-7 and how bad would the jamming be if it's used in Russia?

[@rykertallis9604]

What’a great video, keep up the great work

[@Thiago_TS_BR]

Very nice project for the budget !

[@DWilson01]

Yoooo we need this in a 5 inch!!!!

[@Mr.Thermistor7228]

That's what I'm sayin

[@a2js2]

Ill be bulding the 10inch as soon as you drop the video.

[@brianthegreat4807]

I second that.. im a scenario paintballer, i need a heavy lifter =)

[@waylonk2453]

@@brianthegreat4807 Sam made the vid and you can find the link above. 10" quad stronk

[@brianthegreat4807]

@@waylonk2453 I'll be building that in January when I get home. planning on doing it with the HDZERO system.

[@waylonk2453]

@@brianthegreat4807 Would love to see footy of the thing, especially in paintball. Airsoft has been the driving force behind my FPV interest

[@davidlee50]

Helpful in so many ways, thanks.

[@ricardoruss8308]

Gracias por tu video facil de entender y muy ameno

[@comosaycomosah]

Dude!!! Genuinely appreciate the video I been wanting to get into this but uh poor lol

[@Hellfire_FPV]

Awesome video, really nice watch

[@HuskerTheCat]

everything looks great but personally i would invest a little extra money in the frame. you don't need 100$ frame or anything but just something a little stronger. You can buy 7 inch arms for the TBS Source One or i think you can even buy the 7 inch frame as a kit.

[@jon_espi10]

When i open the link it says its going for 60 dollars

[@HuskerTheCat]

@@jon_espi10 well worth the extra money.

[@Ghosthj-ox1mm]

Bro keep going i love your content

[@Marcus-xl9kr]

This is extremely helpful! Amazing content!

[@brianthegreat4807]

great work! ill be waiting for your 10" vid

[@aelsi1337]

very nice build

[@nickm9134]

As someone who wants to get in to FPV drones and is very savvy with wiring/schematics etc.. this was a great video for me to get inspired to get my feet wet. what would you recommend for intro goggles?

[@hoardersam10]

If you can find them, the genuine Eachine EV800D goggles are the best value for the money. I think aliexpress is out of stock but Banggood I think still has them

[@shawnispoppin]

just got into fpv, only have whoops so far, had no idea how cheap you could build a big one for now! noice!

[@DronePH-2024]

GREAT BUILD BROTHER HAPPY FLYING❤

[@ragunathvamadevan3209]

i have bought a DJI Avara 2, to be honest i didn't know i can build one, ill use your videos and build one..

[@dominicvenner3811]

How’s the Avata?

[@ragunathvamadevan3209]

@ very good.. but it will get the full speed with manual control not with the motion control 3

[@ejg3855]

Looking forward to the GPS integration video!

[@MatthewTaylor3]

I'll try to build this this month end

[@IAb-de2xo]

I would love to see a 10 inch for unde 200 $ video :)

[@waylonk2453]

I second this. Or $250, allowing for a higher quality frame and motors.

[@IdoVoly]

What's the expect range on this one?

[@darrenstettner5381]

Range is so dependent on environment.

[@smalkglass9869]

thank you for the vid, i will be doing this build soon :) Can the fc take a gps?

[@William_NS]

Ive built about 30 quadcopters in the last year and a half. Probably 17 or more have Happymodel ELRS receivers in both 2.4G and 915Mhz. All of them came with wires. I'm not sure why yours didn't. I am in the US market so maybe that's the difference? Who knows, but I've got more spare wires after 30 builds and many repairs than I'll ever use! 😂

[@waylonk2453]

Dang, 30 quads is a lot! It's encouraging to hear as someone who is going to try my hand at it soon.

[@jeremykagak3328]

Seen vid. Thought I can diy, started watching Learned very quickly outa my lane 😂😂😂😂. Hey I live in alaska, wanna do a 7 inch and a 10 in build for a new sub.??? I would love to have a unit for hunting but can't bring myself to buy big box store junk.......

[@spb1179]

Very nice tutorial!

[@levinxs1421]

Sub'd, keep up the great work

[@Chubbza5]

Have you done any videos with a diversity elrs receiver? Learning a lot from you!!

[@hoardersam10]

My geprc build has a diversity receiver: kzbin.info/www/bejne/gl7JYmCeo5mghbc

[@tribeofkingsministryint.7093]

Very nice, new to the scene, how do I become your prodigy to keep me from making mistakes and wasting money?

[@justinbryce1888]

Can we do that whole setup bit just upgrade flight stack

[@star_fire0849]

That FC supports GPS, Beeper and VTX at the same time?

[@jackalvee1927]

very infomative video hope to do a build someday, do you have any battery recommendations?

[@hoardersam10]

I just tried 6s 2200mah and I really like it

[@joshuamiller7207]

Could you possibly link the type of battery’s that you used for this build?

[@aaroncadena6398]

Will this work with DJI goggles 3 and manual controller? Great video btw

[@hoardersam10]

You would need a DJI compatible frame (20mm wide camera) to use a DJI O3 and goggles 3

[@amagro9495]

Congratulations on these amazing videos! Could you also share the links to the hardware used to build this drone (soldering iron, bolts, etc.)? Thanks.

[@hoardersam10]

Added the links to the description. Thanks for the comment!

[@3dinosprinting1]

Cam you make a video with what are the pros and cons of the 7 inch and the 10 inch? and what is the flight time on the 7 inch, does it worth building the 10 inch if i want more flight time?

[@niklikehd]

Can i use the FS-ia6b and the Flysky FS-i6x Controller on this drone build. Thanks for this amazing build Tutorial.

[@omega42587]

Just bought all of it

[@Whatthellisthisthing]

Lmk how it goes

[@brianthegreat4807]

I built this and its awesome! My first quad. In the video you mention its 3s-4s, and i cant find any reason its not 6s?

[@hoardersam10]

Congrast! Yeah on a 1300kv motor you should be able to use it on 6s as well

[@esemer8]

Radio expresslrs better fcc or lbt? Version? Could you help?👏🏼😁

[@hoardersam10]

FCC ELRS is the best. LBT ELRS is fine, you can re-flash it to be the FCC version

[@Actually_Homeless]

This might sound crazy, but would I be able to skip analog with this setup and do the dji o3 air unit?

[@Ryan.Rivera]

I’m just going to comment since I’m here, I’m certainly no expert… idk if the stack he used would be able to connect to the o3? You could look it up on the link, but I kind of doubt it. So you might just have to upgrade the stack, besides that yes it is definitely doable.

[@aaa888aaai]

wonderful video indeed,.....

[@Lucky420fpv]

Bro’s goat

[@yp3661]

Sam, I built this drone and everything is working great except I don't have a video feed in my goggles. I have the OSD, but the video is just a black screen. I'm hoping you can assist as I'm at my wits end. Checking with a multimeter, I don't have any voltage coming out of the FC where the camera is soldered in. There is a pad nearby that has 5v and I'm tempted to resolder the power wire over there to see if that works but I don't want to fry anything.

[@hoardersam10]

I'd try swapping between NTSC/PAL and doing a full power cycle of the drone when switching

[@yp3661]

@@hoardersam10 Just wanted to follow up in case anyone else runs into this issue. I did try switching from NTSC/PAL and even auto with no change. What did end up working however, was moving the power and ground wires from the camera to the same pads as the vtx. Unsure if I fried the pads or they were junk from the factory, but it works and I'll be flying soon so that's good enough for me. Sam, thanks again for your videos. I literally would never have built one if I didn't find this tutorial.

[@hyperfocus.]

Hey, great Video 😊 I just build it with the same components. Could you provide the PIDs you jused? I chose to use an speedybee stack I had laying around and the 7 inch flies horrible with the stock PIDs. Thanks 😊

[@hoardersam10]

I used stock PIDs for my build, but I heard the UAVtech 7" preset is pretty good

[@jamesisadude9187]

Cool video

[@F-ItSeNdItFPV]

Great video bro can’t wait for 10 inch build 🤙🛩️✈️🚀

[@Wind_Rapport]

fantastic video - new sub!

[@lezir2781]

is it posibble to do the same bould on a 5 inch frame for more frestyle

[@carbon0006]

Heyy do you have „expected“ specs on this guy? Meaning range and carry load and the weight of the drone? I would appreciate it :)

[@tasnimalvee4631]

earned a sub.

[@fenilmistry4851]

Can you do a lift comparison on your 7 and 10 inch. Want to how much it can carry.

[@nonstop9907]

what wires can we use for the different parts? just incase their not included? just a little worried but definitely Interested in learning more about this process.

[@sinanyboyee6625]

Can I use an LiLo battery for this?>