ImmersionRC RapidFIRE Review, supplied by Gearbest

[@CurryKitten]

Interested in a RapidFIRE, check out the (affiliate) link here - www.gearbest.com/receiver-transmitter/pp_009556084730.html?lkid=20190778

[@piig]

I watch your videos and everything makes sense! It’s a life skill of which you should feel proud. I’ll continue to support your channel because when I’m struggling to grasp a concept, or the truth behind kit, I usually turn to you and Lee. Keep up the brilliant work 👍🏻😊

[@CurryKitten]

Thanks for the kind words, always appreciated :)

[@nage83]

you explain everything so well, I'm just getting started not even built a quad yet or flown in acro. I got so many questions but I get lots of answers just watching your videos.

[@CurryKitten]

Thanks :)

[@murph1414]

I did a bunch of research before buying this module. Having only received it the other day it's still in the box. Thanks for sharing. Learned more in 20 minutes then all the other scratching I did. I went with the same antenna's, seeing you use them.... I feeling better about my decision. I love the new tech, it does hurt my brain trying to sort all this new stuff out at times. Model finder o.0 I didn't even know that was a thing, lol.

[@CurryKitten]

Yes, the recommended way to get the best possible results is to use two identical antennas orientated slightly differently, but for me that feels like a very specific use-case. My patch/pagoda combo seems to work pretty well in all conditions. That model finder is really handy - I put a 2s whoop down in the woods with no beeper and although using goggle signal and antenna RSSI is something I've used before to find stuff, this made it really simple

[@nasa1man]

Wow that’s amazing Didn’t think this would be a really good product . That has a lot of nice features. I am impressed thanks for the video

[@CurryKitten]

RapidFIRE is still unbeatable on areas where multipathing is an issue, nothing has come close to it so far. Trade off though, is I've had two weird camera/vtx combos that it didn't like.

[@MkmeOrg]

Finally ordered one of these :)

[@CurryKitten]

You'll certainly notice the difference around buildings. It's got the most useful model finder I've used in goggles as well - enjoy

[@MkmeOrg]

@@CurryKitten Excellent. A lot of money to shell out but I think I will be happy. Cheers!

[@CoreyFPV]

I recently moved to RF in my Attitude V4’s after my True-D 3.7 just broke. True-D was fine until the black screen of crash started happening. I think the biggest issue is the module cover. It just doesn’t do the job, short of super glue on your expensive goggles. The RF is simply plug and play with the V4’s and the bay door fits exactly how it should do. They have done a very good job as they send it out with 2 bay doors. No flash required as it’s done in the factory. Had it for 2 days now and flown it with Reverb and Chameleon Ti. It found the vtx freq straight away with no scan required. It does it’s job, it has dual signal bars at the top of the odd display, it provides a very clear signal. Wish I had purchased this in the 1st place.

[@MCsCreations]

Pretty nice module, man. Great review! 😊 And, as always, great flying! 😊

[@CurryKitten]

Cheers MC

[@MindRiderFPV]

The locator feature is pretty cool.

[@CurryKitten]

The locator in the RapidFIRES is definitely the best of the goggle modules I've tested so far. Veyr confident of just walking around with them on my head and following the beeps.

[@licensetodrive9930]

Thanks for showing the model finder 'geiger counter' thing, that's pretty cool and I don't recall seeing that in other reviews. I still can't quite bite the bullet and order one, the price isn't an issue but whether I'll actually find it worth upgrading, I'm using the original Fat Shark antenna diversity module I bought with my HD2's just over 2 years ago. I fly out in big spaces (see my vids) so no multipath problems like in bandos, and all my VTX's are on E1 so I rarely need to change channels/bands.

[@CurryKitten]

I feel bad I couldn't show that in a real situation - I had to use it in the woods when a 2s whoop went down, and it made searching for it a breeze. Obviously using VTX signal strength is one of the things I'd do anyway, but having it bepp (or tick) like that was really cool. Big open spaces though - I think everything will lok much the same

[@licensetodrive9930]

I could've done with that feature a few times, once over a year ago when my Kingkong 90GT got carried by the wind into the local fort grounds, I hopped over the wall and used the Bandicoot patch antenna to figure out what direction to walk, after a few minutes scanning I saw some walking legs in the goggles, some kind person had seen it crash, picked it up and was walking towards me :)

[@i-dronep.r.692]

Best review ever 👍could not have been any much clearer than that , thanks a bunch 😀

[@karldunn1464]

Lots of good information. Thank you.

[@rl2769]

Nice review mate. I finally ordered RapidFire.

[@My_Business_Randall]

What do you think is the best FPV goggle for under $250?

[@pmak10]

Good video, thank you. I have a question. How are you recording to an external DVR from the Fatshark V1s. I use the V1s and just got a Rapidfire module for them. I would love to be able to record video from them. Perhaps you could make a video on the subject.

[@CurryKitten]

External DVR's have fallen a bit by the wayside these days after most goggles now have them build in. But essentially that's all it is, the AV port in the side of your goggles can take an AV in, or send AV out, so you plug from there to your DVR and then record... pretty simple, it how we used to do it all. A recent external DVR I looked at was here kzbin.info/www/bejne/d2aXg3yjgsmUnrs but you can get some very cheap one from Banggood, for example www.banggood.com/Eachine-ProDVR-Pro-DVR-Mini-Video-Audio-Recorder-for-FPV-Multicopters-p-1061196.html?p=E81211714085201408XQ&KZbin& try and get something, I always record my flights just in case of a crash as it's another useful way of being able to pinpoint a lost model

[@pmak10]

Thank you for your help and information! I've had the V1s for years and never realized you could plug in an external DVR. I spent an hour and a half yesterday trying to find my Mobula7. Finally found it in my neighbor's yard.

[@lostjohnny9000]

Some good weather next week promised for UK but don't hold your breath!

[@CurryKitten]

Yes - at the moment, will the forecast hold out. I hope so !

[@palaHD]

So excuse the nooby question, these rapidfire systems just attach to the goggle end and then connect to any vtx without needing any special tx the quad end, thanks for the video by the way

[@CurryKitten]

Yes you could say that. A 5.8Ghz VTX just broadcasts video to the world, and the RapidFIRE attaches to your goggles and can pick that up. So technically there's no "connection" to the VTX as such

[@gerrysquire]

Could you post a link to the updated version video you mentioned ?

[@CurryKitten]

Never sure how well Facebook links work, but it should be here facebook.com/tony.cake/videos/10218254583379081/ failing that look for "ImmersionRC Hub" and Tony posted in there

[@gerrysquire]

@@CurryKitten thanks. it didnt work. i will search for it

[@CaribbeanZapatta]

the new Band Scanner feature ? it only does 4 bands ? I have not found a way to change that ?? honestly I just push the button till I find an image ..whatever ...

[@PudseyRc]

I love my Rapid Fire. I can fly the grounds where there are woods without any picture loss I used to swear by my ground station with a FR632 but much prefer the Rapid fire, No more chair and wires and tripods to carry around. I have also gotten better range with the Rapid Fire on my wings. I didn't want to go into the Goggles to do the mod either. I just made up a lead with a barrel connector off a used Goggle Battery soldered a xt60 and now power it from a 3cell in my pocket. I still use the goggle Lipo,s to power the Fan.

[@stevemann6082]

interesting to see the difference over the standard module, yeah its good but its 142 smackers. a little bit steep.

[@CurryKitten]

Yeah - I decided not to look at it in terms of price, and instead share what I thought, and then let people decide if it's worth it to them :)

[@fi7440]

I like the Menace antennas, but do yourself a favor and try two Lollipops II or even better two Lumenier Axiis , way better results i.m.h.o. ;)

[@CurryKitten]

Yes, I know that's the recommended config for the best picture. I think if I was in specific situations, I might use that, but I like the ease and flexibility of the patch/pagoda for most of my flying

[@fi7440]

I would say I fly in pretty much the same environment like you... so just give it a try...patch seems to be kind of useless most of the time ;)

[@murph1414]

I'll keep that in mind and give it a try in the future, thanks.

[@Dav2112]

Great review man. Ive been tempted to buy one of these, but my True D 3.6 still does the job for me so I think I’ll just stick with it for a while yet. It’s the HDO and Attitude V4’s that don’t need the extra power source using the ribbon cable with this module, the HD3’s still need the cable or the mod done to them, though I have heard of cases where folk have fitted them into their HD3 or Dom V3’s and were able to run it just fine without needing the mod or ribbon cable.

[@CurryKitten]

Lots of people swear by the Tru-D, and it's probably fair to say you won't get much more out of the RapidFIRE unless you hit a specific type of area to fly. I did try the module in my Dom's without the extra board, and it told me it had low-power, but certainly no effort to try it and see

[@gerrysquire]

I watched this to get your view count up 😀

[@CurryKitten]

Thanks Gary ;-) It all helps

[@gerrysquire]

@@CurryKitten Welcome Kev

[@Hellmuthsilva]

I just got the Rapidfire and I'm having some issues with it when I have it on legacy mode the signal works pretty well but when I put on Rapidfire the signal is worse the color is changed and when I'm flying it keeps changing the color and makes beep sound also sometimes the line on the top goes away is that normal I'm flying with a tiny Hawk doesn't make sense paying for it and not being able to use it

[@CurryKitten]

I've hit a few cameras which the RpidFIRE just doesn't like. It seems like the Caddx EOS2 in PAL mode is the worst. Even Legacy mode goes wrong with it. The beeps mean it's lost the video sync, and at that point you might have weirdness in the screen as it tries to get the sync back. I have seen videos of people flying RapidFIRE with the tiny hawk though. So 2 suggestions - 1, make sure you have the latest firmware on board,, and 2 if that doesn't help try pinging the problem along with a video link to ImmersionRC Hub group on Facebook to see if you can get some more info about what's happening

[@madforit9661]

Good vid Kev , you will have to do a review on the Truedx

[@gerrysquire]

kev?

[@CurryKitten]

I've been called worse, but Kev mainly confuses me :D

[@madforit9661]

It's a joke from last time I chatted on Fb and got your name wrong @@CurryKitten

[@CurryKitten]

@@madforit9661 Aha, memory like a sieve is what I seem to have no - no recollection of that until you mentioned it !

[@219dts]

Have you updated your dom V3 DVR to the latest firmware

[@CurryKitten]

I haven't done yet - I've downloaded it and looked a the release notes. I haven't really suffered from "black flashes", but I guess I'll try it soon

[@219dts]

@@CurryKitten tbh I wasn't either its just cleaned the DVR footage and made it a bit smoother but it's still DVR footage lol

[@didactylos4diddy474]

Difficult. I saw that it was a RapidFire video and that module is of no use to me, Then I saw it was a CurryKitten video and they are always interesting, I spent some time in a conflicted null state before my interest in the latter finally overcame my disinterest in the former. And whilst I can't use the tech it's fairly interesting to watch the lights flicker and the sounds beep ;)

[@CurryKitten]

Haha, well I appreciate you coming along for the ride anyway :)

[@EnglishTurbines]

Great review mate, even though I cant use a traditional Goggle....Immersionrc always seem to make a quality product and the features are innovative, I thought the Geiger Counter beeper direction finder was very useful if you are a micro quad flier. I wish IRC would make a decent DVR that would record a proper PAL signal, it's a shame their development seems to have died a death faced with the cheapo Chinese onslaught.

[@CurryKitten]

We talked to several of the guys from FatShark a few times on LDO and they are well aware that people keep going on about the quality of the DVR, but they are glacial at moving forwards. They only like to move in tiny increments to not create issues. That DVR was put in the goggles because it was cheap and reliable - same model in the early Dominators and the HDOs. I don't see IRC bringing out a standalone one - they'd be more likely to work on an internal one with FatShark if anything

[@CoreyFPV]

I went for True D 3.7 and it’s fantastic for how I fly. RF is always out of stock and too expensive. People see RR and have to have it. JB tested it all over the place and in different conditions. True D is just as good in the tests.

[@fi7440]

No, it´s def not. I upgraded and it´s another level. True D is good, Rapid is next level, period. Best money spend, the user interface, osd, update software...everything is better.

[@CaribbeanZapatta]

respectfully disagree. this is not brain surgery. they are all "different" with different "features". I love the smart scan in the Furious. The Band Scanner in RF is not the same ...I have not been able to rationalize the HDO got the red/black ones on sale $225. last summer and they are just fine. we are like lemmings being manipulated by the Chineese Manufactures ...

[@fi7440]

respectfully disagree! I can fly around my house with some trees in between... TrueD, big black outs, flickering, unflyable! Rapid no issues at all, clear picture all the way (same antennas) Other spot flying behind metal structures: True D fail... Rapid clean picture. Well for me it was like day and night, same for my buddy. Anyway, as I said True D is good, Rapid is better, if it is worth the double price you decide.

[@CaribbeanZapatta]

ok question the new band scanner function ?? push the button a few seconds it does its scanner thing ...it seems it only scans 4 channels ?? no way to change ???@@fi7440 numbers come up in boxes I have no idea what it means … I have a lot of kwads and all on diff channels (this summer project get all on same) do you understand the system ?? the new Furious system coming out soon seems to b e a challenge to RF ? and they have diff colored covers !!!!!! THATS IMPORTANT !

[@fi7440]

Have all my quads (11) on the same channel for sure. The manual OSD feature is so nice to just switch into another pilots flight, really like it! Update True D on MAC was a nightmare! !!! Had to do it on virtual machine with a lot a driver hassles, module went crazy hot in the process.... Rapid fire piece of cake! Well, there IS NO PERFECT MODULE. For ME Rapid Fire all the way. Peace!

[@TheTonstar1]

Cool vid bud

[@CurryKitten]

Cheer Ton

[@jvdmeulen]

V1.25 is in beta atm

[@CurryKitten]

Cheers - I tend to ignore beta code, unless there's something I was really waiting for. I'll wait until an actual release if not

[@jackdaniels7913]

🥃cheers🍻

[@pacoarcos2878]

HD3 need a mod to work with rapid fire.

[@CurryKitten]

I couldn't remember which was which, aside from the HDO definitely being ok. But you can mod your goggles or you can do what I did and use the extra power from the head tracker bay