Pavo Pico or how to get 4K recordings with 4 small boxes in your backpack
After a couple of months of struggling whether I really want to get the new DJI FPV Goggles 2, the price finally dropped. While I usually don’t want to spend ridiculous amounts of money on FPV drones, it is an expensive hobby. So I kinda needed to get over it. My primary concern was that I don’t fly much recently. The biggest problem being - I can’t really fly within the city’s limits with most of my quads. Ever since DJI made the Air Unit O3, I questioned whether it’s reasonable to move away from the GoPro and replace it with DJI’s Air Unit, since it also has a gyro on board. Quality wise all I found on the internet is that for professional use, at least GoPro is a must, but still.. the O3 quality seems comparable to Go Pro Hero 6, which is what I’ve been using so far with my 6S drones. But am I a professional FPV pilot? My biggest concern is still weight and security of flying in urban areas. So lightweight, safe drone should still be my weapon of choice.
Another thing is portability. I used to bring a whole backpack with a charger, 6S batteries, a huge DJI controller and bulky DJI V1 goggles. That has finally changed! All I need is a tiny transmitter, portable goggles, 1S batteries and USB chargers and a 2S drone. Even to take the analogue setup, all I need now is another goggles, a box with 2 Tiny Whoops including few more 300mah batteries and I am ready to go. It has never been this lightweight before!
Goggles
First thing to do is to upgrade the digital system. The DJI FPV Goggles 2 are costly, but man it’s worth it. The image is razor sharp. Those OLEDs are crazy if it comes to contrast and the ‘true blacks’. Not to mention the resolution. You get to see the full OSD from BetaFlight. The googles are finally same in size as analogue systems. I can hardly find and down sides.
The Air Unit O3 now has a built in gyro, so GyroFlow can easily stabilize your videos and is free! I would even risk saying it’s easier to use than ReelSteadyGo.
The only thing I’m missing is audio recording, not only on the drone, but also on the goggles. I use ORQAs for analog flying and attaching a microphone to the goggles is a fun upgrade - at least for commentary and your own notes. GoPros or most of the HD analog split recorders did record audio on the drone. While it’s not a must, for freestyle videos it’s kinda cool to have the prop sound in the background.
The drone
I do like the BetaFPV brand. Have been flying a lot of their Tiny Whoops and always liked them. So I look up a few of the 2S micro cinewhoops, but Pavo Pico struck me. After they upgraded the board to 2-3S I knew that’s the way to go. And my first flights with a 3S battery do show potential for some freestyle even. I still worry about durability, but time will tell if I suck enough to break it early on :D
A useful upgrade: I soldered together a double 1S-XT30 battery connector to be able to use 2 550mah batteries which fit nicely into the frame and give quite good flight times. What’s most important is that I don’t need to bring a 2-3S battery balance charger with me anymore and I use the same batteries for my Meteor75 Pro or Mobula75 HD.
I bought a Vifly Whoopstor 3 recently, which allows storage voltage charging, but in fact small USB chargers are enough if you don’t care about their longevity that much. Just a warning though: be diligent when it comes to sorting charged and discharged batteries!
ELRS Transmitter
The last thing I complained about so far was having 2 transmitters. Whether flying analogue or digital, I had to bring a separate transmitter with me. So obviously I had to have 2 - the official DJI transmitter and a Taranis Q X7. While I liked them both and they felt good in my hands as well, they just had to go. They are both bulky and having to run around with both was ridiculous.
So after some thought, I’ve decided for a BetaFPV LiteRadio 3 Pro with ELRS Nano TX Module. It’s super portable, light, fits my GoPro bag, I can fly my old FrSky drones and with a simple 45 degree SMA plug to SMA jack, I can easily keep the antenna on all the time, to further decrease ‘ready to fly’ time when unpacking. I could probably decide to go for TBS Tango which is similar in size and undisputedly has a better build quality, but.. ELRS is usually built into Tiny Whoops, has wider support and is cheaper. And the range is probably good enough anyway.
The only thing I had to change was my button mappings - the 2 way switches suck for arming your quad (or actually disarming) - it requires additional movement of your finger before it disarms, which for safety reasons is unacceptable to me. So I changed it to the 3way switch and it works ways better!
Oh and for a crab gripper it isn’t as comfortable as the bigger size radios. Something to keep in mind when deciding for.
Air Unit O3 light mod
One thing to consider in the future is a lightweight upgrade for the Air Unit to use it on the Pavo Pico. It reduces weight by 1/3 mostly by removing the casing. It does unfortunately reduce the time it starts to overheat significantly, so I am not yet convinced about it. It might be a good idea, but not until I start earning money with flying I’m afraid. I just don’t want to overheat the thing. And man it gets hot even without tearing it apart! One promising option though is Flywoo naked 03 lite. I saw a cool idea with putting the Unit underneath the props to cool it, but I need to do more research.
Long range drone
So the last thing I’m missing is a long range drone. Going for a sub 250g drone forces me to use 4S battery, so a proper charger and a new set of batteries will need to come along. Not decided yet.