[TangoEchoAlpha]

Hello everyone. I'm looking for suggestions for places that sell good quality OpenPilot Revolution boards (Clones acceptable) with a bundle/kit of the basics like the antenna, GPS, OPlink, and distributor board.

I've taken a look on various sites like Ebay, Banggood, and a variety of other obviously Chinese sites with silly names.

[f5soh]

Hi,

There is clones that follow original Revo design and others with rerouted designs / different component size.
Just avoid the one with colored outputs.

Choose a GPS with Mag integrated, i2C Mag and Naza GPS are supported now using the next branch from our repo.

[jbarchuk]

Yeah but he asked for actual vendors. It's 'ye olde wilde weste' of the new millennium.

Ebay can be a very scary place. There was a thread recently in RCG about a receiver 'for use with spektrum Tx' and a -picture- of an actual Spectrum Rx. The real Rx is $120 and the copy was $40. (If it sounds too good to be true it probably is.) After negotiation with Paypal about the wording of the ad he got his $ back.

Banggood is mostly skank.

Hobbyking has an actual physical presence in the US and prices more in line with what they -should- be.

[hwh]

Everyone has different experiences with each vendor.  I've had good experiences with HobbyKing, Banggood, and even eBay.  I've had a few problems but they've all been worked out.  I've even purchased a fair amount via AliExpress but I don't really recommend that to beginners because AliExpress is like eBay, a site where a lot of small (and some large) sellers list items.  You can get really good deals but you never really know who you're dealing with.

On eBay you try to get the seller to fix whatever problem you have and if they don't you escalate it to eBay CS.  They've refunded me the couple of times I've had a problem with a seller. I've been on there since Dec 1998 and never had a problem that I couldn't get the seller to resolve or eBay customer service to refund.

HobbyKing sent me a $70 transmitter (TGY9x) that had one switch that didn't work reliably, I sent them a 30 second video of it not working and they sent me a new transmitter, the whole thing.  They didn't want the old one back so I spent 36 cents on a switch, 20 minutes taking it apart and replacing the switch, and have a free (actually 36 cent) transmitter.  I know other people who've had bad experiences and hate HobbyKing.  As with all sellers it varies.

Banggood ships from both China and the US, they have a warehouse in California.  I've gotten a few bad items from them but they've replaced them after seeing a video.  For some reason all Chinese sellers seem to want a video of the problem and then replace the item.  If you pay with Paypal you could get them to refund if you couldn't get satisfaction from the seller.

As you've probably guessed by now, I buy a lot online, almost everything but food.  One thing I do on eBay is run a search and then click "within 100 miles" in the left bar and see what nearby US sellers there are.  Then I try with US only.   There are several big fulfillment centers that eBay sellers use that are in Northern NJ and get things to me in central NJ within 2 or 3 days.

Late night and boredom have made me run on a bit, I think I'll quit typing and go to bed...   

[TangoEchoAlpha]

Hi,

There is clones that follow original Revo design and others with rerouted designs / different component size.
Just avoid the one with colored outputs.

Choose a GPS with Mag integrated, i2C Mag and Naza GPS are supported now using the next branch from our repo.

Ah the low quality Revolution name on the clone shows its fake. Reminds me of the time Amazon (yes, Amazon and not a third party seller) sent me a clearly bootleg Arduino. The printed text on the board was of such low quality that it was immediately obvious tht I got a fake. Had to make a fuss over it to Amazon in order to get a replacement.

[TangoEchoAlpha]

Can anyone actually send me links directly to the listings for a good Revo board or kit? I'd prefer ebay since I can pay with Paypal and dispute things if something goes awry.

[Sator Codex]

I have mostly shopped at HobbyKink and Banggood.
Banggood is fairly good. IF! you have the time to wait for the items to actually
show up. So far shortest deliverytime (CN airparcel, a plane that goeas on a boat?) 3 weeks. To sweden.
Longest is 9 weeks..

HK, longest deliverytime. 2 weeks and 1 day.
Shortest. 3 days. (paid extra for UPS)

Had a non working display on a Turnigy 9x transmitter. Little fiddly to get the claim to go thrue.
Bt a video fixed it. Though I bought it from the UK store. replacement was shipped from china.
Dey never wanted the faulty unit in return. So I have a spare unit to salvage parts from.

So far. I have reasonable good experience from HK.

[TangoEchoAlpha]

When shopping around, I could not find any boards with the original layout. The only ones I could find were the ones with colored inputs. So I settled on getting one from one of the more well known companies, Hobbyking.

Accelerometers and Magnetometer seem to work well after calibration in the GCS.

What else should I do to test the function of the board?

[Mateusz]

When shopping around, I could not find any boards with the original layout. The only ones I could find were the ones with colored inputs. So I settled on getting one from one of the more well known companies, Hobbyking.

Accelerometers and Magnetometer seem to work well after calibration in the GCS.

What else should I do to test the function of the board?

Does it have good barometer with +-0.5m noise ? https://forum.librepilot.org/index.php?topic=311.msg10740#msg10740
Is the baro a good high precission one ? MS5611-01BA03 ? Check markings on the baro.
Is it ARM Z ? (Z = production version best one). Other are 1,2,A,Y I think that's the correct order of prototypes, to the left more bugs in the chip and possibly cheaper on the market, but check stm32 documentation. I am only sure Z is good and 1,2 are worst.
No shorts ? I can't think of anything else what can go wrong.

[TangoEchoAlpha]

When shopping around, I could not find any boards with the original layout. The only ones I could find were the ones with colored inputs. So I settled on getting one from one of the more well known companies, Hobbyking.

Accelerometers and Magnetometer seem to work well after calibration in the GCS.

What else should I do to test the function of the board?

Does it have good barometer with +-0.5m noise ? https://forum.librepilot.org/index.php?topic=311.msg10740#msg10740
Is the baro a good high precission one ? MS5611-01BA03 ? Check markings on the baro.
Is it ARM Z ? (Z = production version best one). Other are 1,2,A,Y I think that's the correct order of prototypes, to the left more bugs in the chip and possibly cheaper on the market, but check stm32 documentation. I am only sure Z is good and 1,2 are worst.
No shorts ? I can't think of anything else what can go wrong.

Darn. Mine is Arm 2. And that's why I like to inspect goods before purchase. Can barely even read the tiny, tiny text on teh barometer but it looks like the good one.

[Mateusz]

Maybe 2 works, I don't know check stm32 specs

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

[f5soh]

- revision "Z" is dec 2011
- revision "1" is oct 2013
- revision "2" and "Y" are jan 2015

http://www2.st.com/resource/en/errata_sheet/dm00037591.pdf

[Mateusz]

Ok, looks like I was mistaken. Sorry. It's always good to verify with specs.

[TangoEchoAlpha]

- revision "Z" is dec 2011
- revision "1" is oct 2013
- revision "2" and "Y" are jan 2015

http://www2.st.com/resource/en/errata_sheet/dm00037591.pdf

Thanks. That's an odd system. Would have been nice if they just use version numbers.

[TangoEchoAlpha]

Hi,

There is clones that follow original Revo design and others with rerouted designs / different component size.
Just avoid the one with colored outputs.

Choose a GPS with Mag integrated, i2C Mag and Naza GPS are supported now using the next branch from our repo.

What's wrong with the colored inputs type? Can't find anyones other than that. Hobbyking's which i picked up has colored inputs.