[inis]

Hello everyone. I know there is a introduction section however I'm not here to introduce myself. Trying to figure out if I should come back. Long story short, I'm a huge OP fan. Have been from the get go. However when things switched off, like most. I had several choices. Originally I signed up for here, progression was slow to start. I ended up going with Taulabs and from the revo to a sparky2. Eventually he merged with Dronin which I followed as well. However I've got a bit of a situation, which holds me from continuing my builds. Dronin is almost entirely built around race drones. I do not care for race drones. I like building larger scale (450 to 1200), long range drones with lots of features. I've visited the forums over the last few weeks, and seems like Libre has taken off nicely since the last time I've been here. However is this for me?

FC list:
cc3d's
1x revo
5x sparky 2's

Most of the time I run the revo or sparky2. All of my drones are custom build, from paper sketch to cad designed frames to milling the CF plates myself. I wouldn't say they're fragile but if I break a frame, it takes some time to get back into the air as normally I don't cut multiple plates due to cost.

Additionally to this, all of my setups are nearly identical with exception of uarts. I use a ghetto antenna tracker with a data link over openlrs to gather gps and other data on the ground.

Just not finding the support I need for my type of flying, almost bit the bullet and went pixhawk late last summer. But just couldnt do it. Thoughts?

[TheOtherCliff]

Your set of desired features is the same as mine.  I like autonomous control more than racing, although I use the cheapest off the shelf parts that do the job    like $15 kits, $5 motors, and $4 ESCs.

LibrePilot supports all your FCs.

But I would expect TauLabs to support waypoint and various GPS flight modes too and if I had used TauLabs for a long time, and was familiar with it, I might be tempted to stay with it.

On the other hand, LibrePilot may have a forum that works better for you.  I know I am here and help in the forums, and I do GPS stuff with both quads and airplanes...

Also, "next" version builds are available for the times between major releases.

[inis]

Your set of desired features is the same as mine.  I like autonomous control more than racing, although I use the cheapest off the shelf parts that do the job    like $15 kits, $5 motors, and $4 ESCs.

LibrePilot supports all your FCs.

But I would expect TauLabs to support waypoint and various GPS flight modes too and if I had used TauLabs for a long time, and was familiar with it, I might be tempted to stay with it.

On the other hand, LibrePilot may have a forum that works better for you.  I know I am here and help in the forums, and I do GPS stuff with both quads and airplanes...

Also, "next" version builds are available for the times between major releases.

yeah Taulabs went dead and no longer has updates. He merged with Dronin, however it seems that only sparky2 updates the come are minor glitch updates. Nothing more. I think I might build a small 450 test drone with a sparky2/librepilot firmware, see what happens.

[TheOtherCliff]

For external mag we support OP GPS Platinum (v9), Pixhawk (/APM) via I2C (FlexiPort or Sparky2 I2Cport), and DJI/Naza.  The good thing about the GPSv9 and DJI is they use one port for both GPS and mag.

[inis]

For external mag we support OP GPS Platinum (v9), APM via I2C (FlexiPort or Sparky2 I2Cport), and DJI/Naza.  The good thing about the GPSv9 and DJI is they use one port for both GPS and mag.

I've been using i2c for compass and then another port for gps. I really really like the CSG shop GPS's. On my 1000 I use this http://www.csgshop.com/product.php?id_product=184 , i get around 32 sats within 20 seconds. Its pretty awesome.

[TheOtherCliff]

32 sats...  there is "sats found" and "sats used". 

As an alternative that costs 1/6th as much (about $15 plus cheap shipping), here is one that also has an M8N GPS and an I2C mag in it.  I can't guarantee I've bought this exact one, but certainly many like it and they work fine.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Ublox-NEO-M8N-GPS-Module-w-Compass-GPS-Bracket-APM2-8-APM2-6-Pixhawk-Flight/253178717637

[inis]

32 sats...  there is "sats found" and "sats used". 

As an alternative that costs 1/6th as much (about $15 plus cheap shipping), here is one that also has an M8N GPS and an I2C mag in it.  I can't guarantee I've bought this exact one, but certainly many like it and they work fine.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Ublox-NEO-M8N-GPS-Module-w-Compass-GPS-Bracket-APM2-8-APM2-6-Pixhawk-Flight/253178717637

sats found, used is still pretty high in the mid 20's to high 20's. Pretty instantly. I also get around 15 in the basement of my house, most of the time the cheaper ones I can't get a lock at all.