Introduction
With the price increases that have occurred in recent years and continue to persist, building an affordable drone has become increasingly challenging, but not impossible. In this guide, I will list some websites where you can purchase budget-friendly components. Additionally, I will provide two examples of cost-effective builds, one for freestyle and one for cinematic drones.
It’s important to note that when constructing a drone, it’s essential to have a clear understanding of the frame on which you’ll be mounting the electronics. This helps you determine the available hole patterns for mounting and select components that are compatible with these measurements. Furthermore, you should possess the skills for soldering/desoldering, know how to connect various components, and be capable of configuring the system once it’s assembled. In this brief article, however, as mentioned earlier, I will solely focus on listing the components for two budget-friendly builds.
Websites And Economic Fpv Drone Components
Let’s start by listing the websites where you can purchase materials for our budget-friendly build. Unfortunately, there are fewer sites with excellent prices, but fortunately, there are still some available.
For materials for a budget build, you should consider purchasing from the following sites:
- Mepsking.com: This site offers great prices on stacks and motors. It’s a good option to consider once you’ve chosen the frame to buy stacks and motors that are compatible with that frame.
- Stonehobby.com: Excellent for choosing receivers, video systems, GPS, buzzers, etc. This site offers the best prices.
- Aliexpress.com: It provides a wide selection of budget-friendly frames.
- Banggood.com: While it used to be an excellent e-commerce platform, unfortunately, it now offers very few items at a good price. Prices have also increased on this site for other products.
In addition to these websites, it’s always advisable to conduct market research on other retailers. Often, you can find components at lower prices on the original brand’s website for the part you’re seeking. Other times, you might find items at the same price, but with faster shipping options on different websites.
What is the best 5 inch Freestyle Fpv Drone under $200?
How to choose the components of 5-inch Freestyle Fpv Drone under $200?
Below, I will provide an example of an affordable 5″ freestyle drone build using components sourced from the previously listed websites:
- Frame:clone QAV-S 5 inchs 223mm 225 X-type Split kit 5mm arm carbon fiber frame with 3D printed TPU support parts for RC FPV Racing Drone. – 25$ (from aliexpress.com)
Excellent frame, ideal for freestyle, with the option to easily replace various parts at a low cost; it comes shipped with TPU prints included.
- Stack: GEPRC TAKER F405 BLS 50A Stack – 58$(from stonehobby.com)
2-6S / Blheli_S / IMU: ICM42688-P(SPI) / uart 6 / Weight: 7.7g
- Motors: MEPS 2207(bundle) – 60 $ (from mepsking.com)
6s / measures: ⌀28.93mmx31.5mm / Weight: 34g
- Vtx: 20x20mm Jhemcu Vtx20-600 5.8g 40ch Pitmode 600mw– 20$ (from aliexpress.com)
Input Voltage: 7-26V / Number of Channels: 40CH / Transmission Power: PIT/25/100/200/400/600 mW / Interface: MMCX / weight: 3g
- Cam: Beast mini FPV Camera 1800TVL 5MP 2.1mm 1/1.8 “inchs – 8$ (from aliexpress.com)
Image Sensor: 1/1.8-inch HDR Starlight Sensor / Image: 16:9 / Horizontal Field of View: 165° / Horizontal Resolution: 1800TVL / Dimensions: 191920mm / Weight: 5.9g
- Rx: RadioMaster RP1 ELRS 2.4GHz Nano Receiver w/ UFL Antenna – 20$ (from stonehobby.com)
Operating Voltage: 5V / Minimum Receiver Update Frequency: 25 Hz / Maximum Receiver Update Frequency: 500 Hz / F1000 Hz / Weight: 2.2g (including antenna)
The Characterictics of this 5 inch Freestyle Fpv Drone
The total cost for this freestyle drone comes to $191.
This build is certainly excellent for learning to pilot, especially if you want to have fun in abandoned buildings where crashes can be quite intense. With affordable components, when something breaks, it can be replaced at a very low cost.
In this build, the propellers are included, as MEPS provides them with the bundle. However, should you wish to replace them, I recommend the J37 propellers for these motors. They offer the right level of responsiveness and provide excellent control over the quadcopter.
Power should be supplied by a 6s 1300mAh LiPo battery. Additionally, the motor bundle includes 5 motors, providing a spare one in case of need.
What is the best 2.5 inch Cinematic Fpv Drone under $200?
How to choose the components of 2.5 inch Cinematic Fpv Drone under $200?
Below, I will provide an example of an affordable 3″ cinematic drone build using components sourced from the previously listed websites:
- Frame:BETAFPV Beta95X V3 2.5 inchs 100mm –5$ (from aliexpress.com)
An affordable frame for those looking to venture into the world of indoor and outdoor cinematic drones, bearing in mind that, being a small drone, it is affected by the wind / Weight: 39.09g
- Aio: HAKRC F4126 F411 AIO Flight Controller ICM42688 BLHELI_S 20° – 37$(from aliexpress.com)
IMU: ICM42688 / Barometer / BLHELI_S / 2-4S / weight: 7g
- Motors:FLASHHOBBY A1106 1106 4500KV/6500KV Outrunner Micro Brushless– 40 $ (from aliexpress.com)
3S / Configuration: 9 n12p / Stator Diameter: 12mm / Shaft Diameter: 1.5mm / Weight: 7.8g (with short wires)
- Vtx: BETAFPV M03 25-350mW 5.8G 65-85mm – 20.5$ (from aliexpress.com)
output power:25/100/200/350mW / Power supply voltage range:4.5-5.5V / passageway SEL:SmartAudio / VTXInternal dimensions:18X14mm / weight:1.1g (Without antenna)
- Cam: RunCam Nano 2 1/3” 700TVL 1.8mm/2.1mm FOV 155/170 Grads – 16$ (from banggoodcom)
Image Sensor: 1/3″ CMOS / Horizontal Resolution: 700TVL / Dimensions: L14mmW14mmH16mm / Net Weight: 3.2
- Rx: ELRS Lite Receiver ELRS 2.4G – 17.5$ (da aliexpress.com)
Dimensions: 10mm * 10mm * 6mm (tower), 11mm * 10mm * 3mm (plate) / Telemetry Power: 17mW / Input Voltage: 5V / Weight: 0.47g (with SMD Tower ceramic antenna), 0.53g (with SMD flat ceramic antenna)
The Characterictics of this 2.5 inch Cinematic Fpv Drone
The total cost for this cinematic drone is $144.50.
You can mount a naked action cam like a GoPro or a BetaFPV Insta360 SMO on it; On a drone with a gimbal, unless it has the O3 air unit, it’s necessary to install a secondary camera (similar to the ones listed earlier) in order to capture videos with improved quality, free from interference or image quality degradation caused by signal reduction, as experienced with DVRs.
In this build, I recommend using HQProp 2525 2.5×2.5×3 three-blade propellers; you can find them on AliExpress for $15, which includes 12 pairs (equivalent to 24 propellers, providing you with 6 spare propellers).
Power should be supplied by a 3s 450mAh LiPo battery.
CONCLUSIONS
These are just two examples of budget-friendly builds. With the right knowledge, both in terms of assembling a drone and understanding the market, you can discover many other combinations that enable you to create an economical build.
In both versions, I’ve opted for ELRS as the transmission protocol due to its excellent cost-to-performance ratio. It allows you to spend less while ensuring top-notch transmission in terms of both latency and range. However, it does require the installation of the appropriate firmware on both the radio transmitter and the drone’s receiver. Additionally, it may have some rare bugs that could, in some cases, slightly prolong the binding process. Alternatively, there’s the TBS Crossfire, which is pricier but is known for almost effortless binding.
For digital builds, if you purchase the Caddx Polar available on Stonehobby.com, you’ll need to add an additional $100.
Furthermore, I recommend reaching out to people in your network who often share 5-10% coupon codes, which can further help you save money.