Today we're running an experiement I've dreamt up for many months now!
The DJI drones are top of the line, right?
They're easy to setup and start flying, incredibly fun for BOTh newbies and professionals and
almost everyone in-between.. and this is for ALL their models, Phantom, Mavic, even their
more-affordable SPARK has crazy impressive technology packed inside.
So I thought to myself, as drone racing is becoming more and more popular, even ESPN
in getting in on the action, this is fastly becoming a NEW officialy sport.
Today we're gonna find out, Can we FPV DRONE RACE the DJI SPARK?!
I've done LOTS of videos on the Spark in the past, and if you HAVNT seen those yet, make
sure you check them out ill give you links down below to watch after this one.
The Spark is a STABLE and quite FAST drone platform, at UNDER-700 dollars, for the whole
package, drone PLUS controller combo pack, in Sport mode it can fly up to 31 mph (50
kph).
Now that's pretty darn fast!
It's NOT as fast as the professional racing drones, but still impressive.
The conudrum is... the video LATENCY between this incredible little 1080p video camera
on the Spark, transmitting through the air to the remote and then to your phone, is just
too laggy for nimble racing.
The pros, when flying around 50 to 100MPH in drone racing, need a VERY low latency for
response time.. thus they MOST often use an ANALOG signal with ROUGHLY around 25 to 40'ish
ms latency.
With the Spark, it's video latency is more in the 160-200 ms range.. that's more than
4-TIMES slower than analog which FPV racers are used to.
So, how do we fix this?
Way back I created one of my PERSONAL favorite videos and that was called HOW TO FPV ANYTHING..
and I show you how for easy and cheap, use these TINY fpv cams that have the transmitter
BUILT-IN, to attach to basically anything, and then receive a very fast, low latency,
analog video signal to your FPV monitor or goggles.
Today we'll be using this tiny FPV cam, the STX-252 and massively beautiful 10-inch Aomway
monitor both from gearbest, links will be down in the description.
Placement was a little tricky, since the center area was pretty small with no propeller overlap.
You can use hot-glue, tape, or velcro..
I went with a little mashup of both, and finally got it secured.
You want to make sure the camera isn't in a position to impact the propellers, camera
gimbal.. you get the idea.
SO, after charging up all the batteries, I went out for some test flying.
I even brought out Danny's custom built 5-inch quad, and also the DYS ELF.
We ran a few passes, and the key test was to see if I could race around with the Spark
similar to THAT of a normal fpv racer drone.. the analog video signal from the micro fpv
camera to my monitor was SUPER fast and sufficient.. how about the CONTROLLER input to the Spark..
well that was FAST enough too!
I was impressed!
I am FAR from a pro pilot, yet I felt very confident to fly through some time spaces
and make some millisecond response inputs.
You could EVEN add some racing gates to increase the challenge and fun.
So here's some of the cool benefits of this setup.
IF you already have a Spark and controller laying around, this add-on mod doesn't cost
a lot by any means, fairly simple and straightfoward, but now gives you a wanna-be FPV racing quad
to practice your drone racing skills.
I like the Spark for its stable flying platform.. lets say you get in trouble or signal cuts
out, it has the Return To Home feature built-right-in....
AND as a SUPER cool bonus, the 1080p HD camera is obviously ALREADY there with a gimbal mount,
so all your recorded footage on the Spark is going to look crisp and clean while allowing
you to fly a LITTLE more acrobatic via the FPV video feed... that analog quality isn't
so hot for sharing around.. the HD video is what you're after.
Now, for a possible negative, IF you crash, damage COULD cost you a lot of money, that
is IF you don't have the DJI Care protection plan!
Its actually a pretty sweet deal the more I learned..
DJI Care is for their older models, Care REFRESH is for newer models.
You basically pay a fee, thats tied to the product's serial number, and that offers you
TWO free placement drones for the year!
So lets say I crashed and BROKE my spark, or mavic, or even my phantom.
I send it in, DJI covers the shipping charges, and they'll say, repair is going to cost X-dollars,
but to fully replace the drone is only X-dollars.. so for that small additional charge, they
will send you a replacement unit, and you can do this TWICE in one year.
A LOT of accidents happen to new-time pilots, BUT also to veterans who are risking it for
those extra-cool-cinematic shots...OR like in my case, experimenting with FPV racing..
It adds a nice peace of mind when flying.
Also super cool, the Spark is currently discounted down 100-bucks for Christmas!
If you want to check it all out, I'll give you that links down below
Obviously, this whole FPV racing a Spark was more of a FUN experiment, but we now know
it CAN be done!
If you're looking to get a SUPER cheap toy-drone that's MADE for racing around, I'd recommend
looking to the DYS ELF.
They're micro drones WITH the FPV camera built-right-in, however, comparing to the SPARK, you WONT
be capturing nice stabilized 1080p video footage, limited range, and battery life is MUCH shorter..
check out my full review here!
Anyway, this was a fun little project, I hope you guys enjoyed it and maybe even learned
something new on flying FPV All video and products links are down in the
youtube description.
If you're new around here consider punching that subscribe button to stay tuned for my
future tech videos I posted all the time!
Also, find me on Instagram for behind the scenes.
And until next time, lets live authentic!