(Part 2) Top products from r/TinyWhoop

I want to start by saying I’m not affiliated with Amazon, nor are any of the links affiliate links. I’m just a guy that looks for good bargains and wants to share what I found.

Background:

I live in Austria and I’ve been flying micros, the TinyHawk, Mobula7, M80, and a custom 65mm since the beginning of the year in my apartment. Austria has super strict laws regarding UAV’s and you need an expensive license to fly anything larger than 250 grams. Under 250g’s, you’re free to fly as you please as long as you’re not flying around a populated area. I decided to go with micros for the time being to keep myself under the radar and get my flight time in before I eventually move back to the states in a couple years.

I’m generally a price conscious person and I’ll spend a lot of time looking for good deals, usually through Banggood. I’ll stuff something in my wishlist and wait for it to go on sale, the transmitter I got for 85€, goggles for 40€ etc. So, when I started looking for a backpack to become a bit more portable and fly away from my apartment, I got a bit of sticker shock when I saw the prices on “quad bags”. A buddy of mine suggested the bag he has, the Lowepro Quadguard BP X2, but at 110€ it would be the most expensive piece of my FPV equipment, additionally I needed something that would be able to hold my 15.6” laptop that I need for school, which the BP X2 does not have the space for. I looked at the other big budget backpack that is recommended around Reddit, which is the Realacc Backpack, but again, no space for a laptop.

After digging and digging, I decided the best way to go would be to get a camera bag that has a laptop sleeve. Enter the AmazonBasics DSLR and Laptop Backpack. I want to take a moment to say that there are 3 AmazonBasics bags that have the same description, only their dimensions are different, I’ll link the backpacks at the end. Fortunately, I decided on the backpack a few days before Prime Day and was able to pick it up for 27€. At the time of this writing, it is not on sale and is listed at 34€. I got it in and opened it up and immediately spent the next hour trying to arrange the padded walls to fit everything that I wanted to stuff inside. The timing was perfect because I would be going back to the US for a 3-week trip to visit family in 5 different states and I could run a nice torture test on it.

Items I brought in the bag for the 3 week trip:

15.6" Laptop, 3” Spare Props, QX7 Transmitter, EV800, Diatone R349, Mobula7, TinyHawk, Sunglasses w/ Case, Lipo bag with 16 1s batteries and 2 4s batteries, charger for EV800, 65mm Spare Props, Lipo charger, spare parts, mouse, magazine, school book, 7" tablet, charging wires for tablet and laptop plus adapters, pens, and screwdrivers.

Review:

Pros:

• Price! 27€
  
• The size was just about perfect. I say just about perfect with two caveats that are not enough to make them cons. I would have liked the top of the backpack to not taper in. The base of the bag is deeper than the top of the bag by a few centimeters. Similarly, the top of the bag also curves in on the sides a bit. Not enough to take away points, but enough that it is noticeable.
  
• Zipper feel. It’s a funny item to include, but the zippers feel really good, not overly robust, but incredibly smooth.
  
• Large laptop sleeve, good for up to a 17” laptop.
  
• Straps felt secure, additional straps for across the chest and waist are provided to help distribute weight. I found that I didn’t need the waist strap and there is no way to remove it without cutting them out, I was usually able to fold them over themselves to keep them out of the way, but I would have preferred to not have them. I did use the chest strap, however.
  
• Adjustable interior pads. These were really convenient; they gave a lot of options for configurability. I ended up not using the two longest pads though.
  
• Front pocket held a surprising number of items.
  
• The bag stood upright on its own with it fully loaded.
  
• Fit as a carry-on underneath the seat of every plane I was on, including some small regional jets! (some planes were tighter than others)
  
• Did I mention the price??
  
  Cons:
  
  
• Side pockets are fixed with a Velcro cover. This may not be a con to some people, but I would have rather had a mesh pocket with elastic. That would be much more versatile for my usage, that being said, I was able to stuff my laptop charger into the two pouches. (Main cable in one, and the brick in the other. My brick is pretty small, only 80cm or so YMMV).
  
• No straps on the outside of the front of the backpack to strap a larger quad. You could buy one of those adapters from ebay.
  
• It does have a feeling of being a little cheap, in my travels I didn’t have any fraying, but other reviews I read have reported fraying and seams unraveling after only a few months. I was generally quite mindful of the bag and didn’t throw it around too much.
  
  

  Overall:
  

  
  You can’t beat it for the price. If you’re a budget conscious flyer like me, and lets face it if you stuck around to read all of this than you are, it’s a no brainer just go and buy it.
  
  

  Links:
  

  Amazon.com - AmazonBasics DSLR Camera and Laptop Backpack Bag - 13 x 9 x 18 Inches
  
  Amazon.de - AmazonBasics DSLR Camera and Laptop Backpack Bag - 13 x 9 x 18 Inches
  
  Suggested Buckle Mounts for Backpack

For being tipsy and full of turkey, you didn't do too bad on those purchases! The 65S Lite and the 800D are both good products for the price. The Beta65S Lite is also a really good flying Whoop out of the box, and can rip when you upgrade the firmware down the line.

The 65S comes with the "stock" version of Silverware. Eventually, you want to upgrade that Beta65S Lite to NFE Silverware. Do that that, you need an STLINK programming tool. Personally, if you've never flown before, I'd wait on doing the upgrade though. NFE Silverware rocks, but it's pretty aggressive. The default Silverware on the 65S Lite is better tuned for a beginner. If you want to program the board, just look at the YouTube video on flashing the 65S Lite to NFE Silverware - it goes through all the steps. The programming pads are tiny, so I ended up just stealing some leftover legs from resistors and shoving those in the pads and then into the connector to the programmer. It wasn't pretty, but it worked.

You definitely want a good radio - the QX7 is probably the better option. They're more expensive on Amazon than through another retailer. I like RaceDayQuads as the prices are good and the shipping is very fast. For the Bayang protocol, you just need a cheap multiprotocol module. The iRange is very good, but expensive. Personally, this cheap one works just fine even though it's fairly short range. BETAFPV has a slightly cheaper and much longer range one, but it can potentially bend the pins on your radio, so I don't really recommend it until that gets fixed. Figure spending about $150 for your radio gear, more if you get a better battery for your radio. (It comes with an attachment for AAs, but it will eat those batteries annoyingly quick.)

The 300mAh battery should work on the 65S Lite - although they are REALLY fast the first 30 seconds or so. I like them, but they might be a bit much for a beginner.

For a charger, there's a bunch of 1S battery chargers out there, most of which are the same design. You also need some power supply to it, but those are super cheap.

For batteries, there are plenty of options. I fly BETAFPV 260mAh for my primary battery, mainly because they come in packs of 8. The 300mAh ones give very long flight times, but they are pretty aggressive. GNB batteries are some of the best, but they are physically longer than other batteries. Crazepony 260 HV batteries are cheap and work well enough. Just remember that you need the PH2.0/PowerWhoop connector instead of the smaller JST 1.25 connector.

For the VTX, you can either keep that as a spare, or mount that to your truck. I doubt it has the right connection to plug right into your whoop batteries, but you can get a PH2.0 pigtail and solder that on to the camera power wires. That will let you connect right to your main flight batteries.

​

Looks good. Qx7 is the best radio to start with, but it doesn't come with a battery. The FrSky battery sold on Amazon is good, so is this one from HobbyKing. You're gonna need a charger, I like the ISDT q6 Pro.

take your time, and if you haven't already, invest in a proper soldering station. Doesn't need to be extravagant but should have the ability to change tips and adjust temp and be rated around 60 watts. This one is a great option for the price. Also get tweezers and a smaller tip for the iron

https://www.amazon.com/Aoyue-Variable-Soldering-Station-Removable/dp/B00MCVCHJM/ref=sr_1_35?keywords=soldering+iron&qid=1572874794&sr=8-35

Emax Baby Hawk (amazon doesn't sell the BNF version):
https://www.emaxmodel.com/babyhawk-85mm-brushless-drone-bnf.html

Taranis Q X7:
https://www.amazon.com/Frsky-Taranis-Transmitter-Racing-Drones/dp/B06XQWQ7C3/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1504715829&sr=8-1&keywords=taranis+qx7

Eachine VR-007 Pro:
https://www.amazon.com/EACHINE-Goggles-Headset-Glasses-1600mAh/dp/B072M8FL3Z/ref=sr_1_2?s=toys-and-games&ie=UTF8&qid=1504715875&sr=1-2&keywords=eachine+vr+007

These are far from the best components you can buy, but for the money they're hard to beat. Also, I believe the Babyhawk comes with 1 battery. You'll definitely want a few more, as well as a charger.

Yeah if it came with a kit it's probably lead-free. I'd just get a pound of 63/37 or 60/40 tin/lead rosin core solder, small diameter. Kester is my go-to. Super easy to work with and a pound should last you years. This is my go-to flux. Pricey but the two in combination actually make soldering enjoyable.

why not get the inductrix FPV RTF??

https://www.amazon.com/Blade-BLH8500-Inductrix-Quadcopter-Monitor/dp/B01MDJGKMA/ref=sr_1_6?s=toys-and-games&ie=UTF8&qid=1484356564&sr=1-6&keywords=Blade+Inductrix+FPV

Get a better charger and 4 more batteries and you'll be in good shape.

I'd suggest getting spare frames and props too - and a micro phillips driver if you don't have one.


Also add:
A frame stiffener

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N0PCQRL/ref=ox_sc_act_image_3?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=AGAPEEYYP9AEK

Some glue:

https://www.amazon.com/Homax-730657-Professional-Welder-Adhesive/dp/B005UJNH7E/ref=sr_1_1?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1484357233&sr=1-1&keywords=welders+glue

and some spare props

https://www.amazon.com/Blade-Prop-Set-White-Inductrix/dp/B01344STS8/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1484357289&sr=8-3&keywords=inductrix+props

Thinking of the 3 blade myself for my next round.

Thank you!

Here's what I plan on buying so far

• Crazepony camera
  
  
• Crazepony battery foam
  
  
• Crazepony upgrade motors
  
  
• Eachine ev800
  
  
• USB Charger
  
  
• Crazepony batteries
  
  
• Blade Inductrix RTF
  
  I plan on soldering the camera to reduce weight.
  
  Should I get anything else? Or swap any products?
  
  Thanks.

TS100 is great and portable. But if you don't care about portable, The Hakko FX888D is better.

Yes 4.2 or 4.35 you must get a charger capable of charging LiHV to charge to 4.35 though. I have this one https://www.amazon.com/Turnigy-Accucel-6-Balancer-Charger-JST-XH/dp/B00T3RKONE

Which look like this.

https://www.amazon.com/Bangcool-Battery-Balance-Charging-Parallel/dp/B017SRLW0O/ref=sr_1_7?s=toys-and-games&ie=UTF8&qid=1467398152&sr=1-7&keywords=balance+board+charger

Maybe something like this

Depends entirely on what you are building.

Looks like a Fatshark Teleporter

Find it here for just the headset

Here for almost same price but more kit

here ya go