How to Get Help
FPV is just one of those hobbies where sooner or later (most likely sooner) you’re going to need some advice and help from others. Luckily, this hobby is full of people who understand this and you’ll almost always be able to find someone who can assist and give advice. Here’s some pointers to get you started.
The Face to Face Approach
Find a Local Community
There’s nothing like a bit of fact to face help, so if you are looking to get into FPV then try to find a local Indoor whoop club or racing club. Becoming a member of a club is the best way to get the support you need. But what about if you aren’t interested in racing – you just want to freestyle like those cool pilots on YouTube – well take some advice and learn to race first. Learning to race will give you vital skills which will make your freestyle (or any flying at all) better. Don’t just take this from me, listen to everyone out there – learning to race will make you a better all round pilot.
Buy Local
If you’re just getting into the hobby, try to buy local. It may be a bit more expensive than buying from overseas from one of the big international retailers, but that local connection can serve you well. If you are lucky enough to have an FPV shop in your city or area you’re on a winner already. The next best thing is to buy from brick and mortar retailers or online retailers in your country. These will typically be smaller more customer focussed retailers and you’ll be more likely to get aftersales support when needed.
Web Based Support
Okay so you’re all alone there in the outback or maybe you’re in a situation where you have no other option but to buy from overseas. Well, the next option might be just as good as the face to face support of a club. The internet is the biggest club of all and guess what – it’s full of experts (and others too who actually know something). So, get tech savvy and get social to build those connections and get your questions answered.
The Forum
Yes, the good old forums are still a great place to ask questions and get the answers you need. The great thing about forum websites is that they are like little time capsules – Even if someone had the same problem as you a year ago, the answer will still be there just waiting for you. The best thing is that they are free. Below are just three forums which have quite an active userbase at the moment.
FPV Drone Pilots Forum
<— Link (click it and bookmark it)
Quadcopter Forum
<— Link (click it and bookmark it)
YouTube
Get onto YouTube – No really! Sign up for your own YouTube account. You don’t have to upload your flight edits and most would probably prefer you didn’t anyway. But with a YouTube account, if you find some trouble-shooting video related to your issue, you can drop a comment and hit the creator up for answers. There’s just one unwritten rule in the world of FPV, your YouTube handle needs to end with the letters FPV – like CubeFPV.
Facebook Groups
Facebook groups are a great way to get connected with fellow FPV pilots. Many local FPV groups will have a Facebook page so it’s easy to find other FPV pilots nearby. For socialising or getting answers, consider joining Facebook and do a search for others in your area. Your favourite FPV shops will probably also be on Facebook.
Getting Social to Get Support
Social media is probably your best way to gain access to those who know the answer to your question. But before we go on here, we need to get a handle on two important concepts. Patreon and Discord.
Patreon
In the world of FPV there are so many people giving their time and effort to help others. Some are answering questions in forums or on social media. Some are spending hours making educational YouTube videos. One way we can support those who make our hobby better, is to give a little back to them. This is where Patreon.com comes in. Patreon allows you to give a small amount to specific content producers on a monthly basis to support and thank them for the work they do. With some content creators, supporting them through Patreon will also give you access to special content as well as their members only discord servers.
Discord
Discord is a website and an app for messaging. Individuals can set up a server and others can join the server to take part in the conversation. As opposed to a forum, a discord server is more of a live conversation and the larger servers always have a lot of members online at any given time. Signing up for a discord account and getting on some of the servers mentioned below is a great way to make friends and get answers fast.
Drone Community Server
Free Discord server – search for it from within the app to join the server.
A large community exists here with a wide range of varied topics. There are always plenty of members online.
UAV Futures Server
Free Discord server – search for it from within the app to join the server.
Another very active server with a smaller band of enthusiastic members who all work together to solve problems and make this hobby great.
Mr Steel Server
Free discord server – search for it from within the app to join the server.
Mr Steel’s server is always a hive of activity with possibly the largest number of online members at any given time.
Chris Rosser Server
Free discord server – search for it from within the app to join the server.
Chris’s server is one of the newest servers starting up at the end of 2021. But this server is growing rapidly with a well organised assistant structure and well categorised sections for all discussions. Definitely the place to be seen in the future.
FPV Know It All Server
Joshua Bardwell’s server is not free. You need to support him on Patreon to gain access to the server. Joshua is possibly the most knowledgeable of all FPV commentators and is very active answering questions on the server. However, access to his server also gives you access to all the other members of the server who are actually more likely to answer your question before Joshua gets to it.
Support How and When You Need It
Its Blunty
Blunty is one of those who is dedicated to furthering this hobby and willing to answer questions and help troubleshoot issues. He will answer your questions for free but as you can imagine, this keeps him very busy. But if you need more timely and personal support, Blunty also offers a paid for service for phone and remote-in support.