For me this was an eye opener of how much you put into this. No matter how you see it you are catering a tiny niche market. For the money, time and energy you invest you might as well keep it closed source, find manufacturers in China, flood the market and then create a new design that cannibalize the old one and keep the cycle going.

Don't open source, you are worth much, much more than that as an individual and business. Maybe once someone creates an alternative, then consider releasing.

Love the real deal u. Keep doing what you do and being awesome and creative. Without people like you and others this hobby will be short lived. True innovator in the hobby. Keep your research and development to yourself. Let it vanish.

You are a walking wealth of information, Alex! So for me, I really enjoy this kind of video from you. I would like to think that most of us out in the community would love to see you succeed. You have been bringing some great innovations to the table and you deserve to be recognized as such!😀

You're great mate . We admire your work and significant contribution to FPV hobbies .Cheers from Australia

I love this format, very open and honest, will always watch everyone you do. Every antenna in my 5.8 FPV feed is yours except I still run my spironet patch, nothing gives me the performance of my Mad Mushroom and Triumphs. Make your magic and keep your secrets, I will continue to buy from the actual inventors like you!

I'm always happy to spend money on VAS products because I know how much you are dedicated on what you are doing .

Always have enjoyed your work Alex... Your crazy passion for the hobby is inspirational! Ever since owning my first BlackOut frame, I always go the extra mile to look out to support those who continue to push the boundaries of design & function to advance our hobby further. I hope you are able to recycle some of those failed projects & maybe even get a few dollars back? Please let us know if there is more we can do to help :)

Alex, after watching and rewarching all your videos from VAS I built a 1.3ghz station with your pepperbox and I could NOT BE HAPPIER! Thanks for all your hard work. I’ll be supporting you in the future. Keep it closed! Quality over quantity my friend.

Thank you for what you do

always enjoy your vids!

IB Crazy! Dude I've been buying your antennas for years. I wouldn't open source that 1.3ghz. Keep it for another day to bring out. I would hate to know you went open source on that project and it ruined your business. "Keep making em, and I'll keep em flying"! Off script videos are cool sometimes, let's everyone know your only human, and showing us some of what it takes to make those outstanding Antennas helps me appreciate them a little more. I have just about everything you put out on the market in 5.8ghz love your product. Keep it coming!!! Thank you for your contributions to this hobby.

That’s crazy, Alex, true dedication to your work right here, love your antennas mate, the Crosshair Extreme and Ion on my goggles gives me super clean video, normally I run 200mw but after flashing new firmware to a couple of my quads the VTX output got knocked down to 25mw (must be something to do with me having Smart Audio hooked up) and I was flying the same spots I usually do without even noticing I was on 25mw!

After watching all this, I have absolutely no issue with paying triple the price for your products. You are a man obsessed and I love you for it :)

The Vid Title made me Sub! I am going to buy VAS antennas in the near future just to give a little support for what you do!

Keep it closed source!!! Because all the prototypes the people that would benefit from have not invested in. Meaning that expensive pile of junk that you showed us today is your sacrifice to find what works. Your competitors would just get a free gift and like you said are trying to put you out of business. On an other note for this post, I think you being able to make your own circuit board and to make your own prototypes would be beneficial even if you have to hire someone who knows how to do it. You would be able to get what you need almost instantly and wouldn't have to order 100 of them you could just make one at a time until you get the perfect Design that you are looking for. Good luck buddy also don't look at all that stuff as failure, it's a learning curve because you wouldn't be where you are at today with out learning. Real world lessons I get the most out of. You are one of the best companies for this hobby keep up the amazing workmanship and products. Happy landings from Tucson

fan for life here... not sure you should give away your hard work... your time and money worth so much... even if someone copies your products I know where I spend and will be spending my money... thanks for making this hobby soooo much better

Awesome, love this format of videos :):):)

Awesome work :)

really moving seeing a glimpse of the effort you put into your work. please don't open source. if it takes a company such as your own to go belly up for people to realize just where purchasing clones is taking the hobby, it will be too late. I appreciate all you do for the fpv community and will continue to stand by your products Alex. Stay aloft and stay crazy!!!

You are spending a lot of time for developing something to the hobby. I really appreciate this honestly!!! I personally did not know that you developed the cover leaf antenna that surprises me. And the fact that how many $ you spent for developing... Amazing. There is a point where you need to decide to give something back to the peoples but it should not mean it should be free or opensource and you are already gave a lot of things... Keep the license and create a quality product not like any chinese companies and the peoples will decide to buy your products if they understand the benefits of your research and way how well products are made. I also like the way how you present your researches how to proof. Keep up the good work!

I like your format. I was in a related business years ago, and have marketed several boards since (CNC laser stuff), It's surprising how similar your operation looks/functions. Finish the 1.3 Airscrew and make some money when the time is right. Don't give your time and talent away.

Im coming from the mini quad scene and have started to dabble in the long range scene, you're a generous bloke and I think you have already given enough to the 5G8 FPV community. I have gained more of an appreciation for what you open sourced back in 2012 now (crosshair) that I am trying to fly 2G4 for distance. I want to eventually go to 1G3 and to be honest I wouldn't settle for a cheap Chinese clone if Im sending a wing 10's of kilometres out. keep it in house and those of us that want perfection will pay for it.

There is no reason to give away your hard work. For the diy guys you could do a how to video on how to make a simple antenna or share knowledge on how to build. Awesome video man

I think your an awesome person for showing us the behind the scenes of your work RnD There is a lot of people that don’t know how much hard work and money you put in! This let’s us know who to support! Companies like yours!... I have 7 of your antenna’s because I believe in all the hard work you do!... Don’t open source if it means bad news for your company we will support you as long as you are honest with the public like you have been and these videos also help get more support!... I think you should have one person go thru all the boards and other new parts that did not work for your application and re-sell them on eBay and Amazon get some of your money back and put into another project! I’m 100% sure there’s people out there that can use and will buy those parts!... Keep up the awesome work you guys are doing over there!

U are such a gent and a scholar Keep up the yawd work

I haven't the knowledge of the 1.3ghz stuff to comment there, but this video was enough to let me know I need your antennas in my life for xfire long range :)

man, i’m buying only Yours products ,big fan , never have a single problem with Your designs. hope everyone doing the same! f... clones! Your hard work is priceless!!

i had no idea what takes to make antennas. i enjoyed watchng i learned a lot thanks Alex.

You will never be over done no matter the competition open sours is grate for us but time and money is not free but it also doesn't push innovation all in all it's a hard call but you will always be my go to for a top notch no bs antennas Ps. I like this off the cuff video style you look better and more free to be you not a scrip... just me saying lol your doing grate and amazing things every day and I along with so many others will stand behind you and your top notch originals no matter the price!

I love open source....but please keep your hardwork close sourced Alex and keep yourself in the industry!!

Really enjoying your Ion - works a treat. Sometimes I wonder if the only way to compete with the clones is to work with a producer in China who can produce and sell the item under your trade name at the same price that the cloners can. I bet people would choose the genuine branded item over the similarly priced clone. You benefit from being first to market and cheaper production costs due to scale of sales. Doing that would mean they risk not being able to sell their clones. Tough game.

Don’t open source Alex...very few people follow their passions in life...the work you do is amazing...thanks for the help over the years.

Alex, could you perhaps take a failed project such as the 1.3GHz pentas, and try to explain it. Some theory of operation would rock! Maybe a DC to daylight talks related to antenna design too. The purpose would be to either bore to death or spur eager interest in some younger folk.

Amazing video. I use VAS on all of my Quads and Goggles. I'll never switch. As Always, Keep Em Flyin. :)

Hola Alex. I am about 5 years in this hobby learning from the bottom flying fpv. Since i learned in your fpv series, the antennas are the most important part of the equipment because they are the only link with the precius fpv plane. I had at least 12 antennas ( and one plane spectre) from VAS in 5.8 and 1.3 and their worth every peso i spent. Please dont open source the antennas , because your work has the highest quality i have used. It will be copied and selled with bad quality. Cheers from.Chile.

Hell no!!! Don’t open source!!! We will gladly wait for your expertise!

Do not open source it you deserve every bit of credit and we need more made in America products I’m tired of 💩 products if it work buy your stuff cause you are putting your blood sweat and tears in it and obviously give it 110% 📡 it isn’t easy what you do an all the knowledge you know

opensource older products, keep the new stuff for yourself. maybe sell "diy kits" for people as an alternative to buying cheap clones . look at prusa development & lulzbot, hasnt hurt them to opensource their stuff.

Bro you do so much work and the community benifits greatly from it. You deserve to atleast recouperate your cost and make a respectable profit. Open source is cool, but your one of the best researcher in this field and if your out of business, who else has the enthusiasm and determination to push this tech. I feel intially, open source would open the market with loads of cheap and decent antenna which is great for me right now but what would drive any company to do the R&D if they are making healthy profits with minimal effort selling your inventions.

Keep up the good work. Really looking forward to a smaller 1.3 antenna with a wider frequency range. TrueRC singularity is okay but way too narrow.

Nice video showing that side, I'm an electronic engineer so know the background of what goes into things, and time and again see people in the community having no grasp of that, so well done on the video. I like the unscripted IBcrazy vids, they end up a bit too long for my liking, but they are interesting so I eventually get around to watching them. As for open sourcing, open sourcing is awsome for bedroom inventors, and for professionals who work on home projects when they get home. It can work as a business too adafruit being a good example. But if you do all the hard work then just throw it out for people to make then I dont think that would be a good business move. If you want to do something open source maybe get the community involved on the design input too, whilst the average FPVer might not have much to add there are some others out there with ideas (eg when the pagoda was born) maybe their ideas with your experience could lead to something.

👍✌️

Always protect your R&D! I think open source projects are great, if they start open source. The perceived value of many heads contributing. Your doing all the heavy lifting. Let’s be honest, cloners are stealing knowledge/time. Alex, I don’t have the same expectations of your edits....you deliver technical information that no amount of rendering can compete with:-)

I only use vas !!! keep up the good work!!!!

👽👍

Like this video more then the others Don’t release the 1.3G antenna cause I’d rather buy your gear and know it’s going to work then buying same else’s and the dam think is crap and doesn’t work Every time I’ve brought one of your antennas and I have 11 of your different types they just work and work very well thank you

What are you trying to do Alex? You have the best antennas already. Your prices are excellent and your quality is unmatched. Just relax and cash-in. Your crosshair on goggles and dipole on quad is all i need and i get perfect image. If i want range ill put a triumph on quad. Pilots dont go 10km everyday unless they're special. Don't spend money on open source. Spend money on new car instead.

Few people are loyal to brands, the majority are loyal to their money. Join hands with a good Chinese manufacturer, get an NDA signed, announce the new product publically and let the manufacturer in China make them with both brands on the product. Same deal you did with TBS on the triumph antennas. As the old saying says, "if you can't beat them join them". ...and that's my MHO.

I like the iBcrazy mix; some well produced videos, some more candid like this. Do not open source that project because you're worth too much.

Yeah... the average consumer has no idea of how much time, effort and money that goes into a viable product before it come to market... Been there.. Done that... and it still goes on. ;-) Open Source is a way to give your hard work away to the competition. You will be giving away all your knowledge and expertise in a product that you developed, financed and designed. Open source is good for a guy with an idea that doesn't want to develop on his own $$$ or run a business Basically... Open Source will give you the name and acknowledgements while the bank is re-possessing your car and home due to no income .

The reason industrial espionage is such a problem in companies...R&D is so much $$$$$..!!!

Have you thought about working with a Chin drone manufacturer. I believe Bob Roogi does something like this?

I like this format - keep the airscrew closed maybe sell as a kit - use proceeds for R&D

I really enjoyed this look at the "inner workings". Don't open source it Alex.

cardboard and a flamethrower on the desk means U R crazy. please keep on doing those scientific videos...really very interesting. I would sell the failures as a ''functional antenna'' to Chinese traders. because they work at least a bit and they aren't able to test it. equalize. if they copy the nonfunctional antennas....they would get what they deserve^^

Don't open source the 1.3G "Airscrew" , IMHO ... love your products, keep up the good work.

Well it comes to mind the question "What it means to you, when you say it doesn't work" I mean with a really small (baloon & or a antenna tuner circuit) can they still be useful! You can still sell those ones that are not up to your stringent specks... and all the people on the community try to experiment & learn with them! and as long as you sell them let us say for 50% profit over your cost! you'll have loose nothing..and those that don't really want to build it them self can "Like me, buy some of your products..and get the top notch dead on the mark great quality that we expect for our money!! Just my humble thoughts.. I know perfectly when one have a antenna that no matter what is impossible to tune to what in our mind was supposed to be the cream of the crime...

Could you do something like a kick starter where you work out how much you need to raise to recuperate your development cost and if the community feels it is worth enough to fund it you release it as open source? You could also have tiers with kits and pre-built antennas.

Keep your designs , one day you may say hey it is time to make this one work. Cloners have taken enough from developers like your self.

You should select does parts you have lying around that do perform well and sell them as DIY kits to maybe recover some of the costs. Those UHF antennas despite the size if perform well might find some interest as tripod mounted option to yagi or patch antennas. Other wise don't let Chinese get any rights to your time taken away from your life.

Even though I would like to see the 1.3 Airscrew project open source since I would really like a smaller antenna I don't think it's a good idea. We need you in business not out of it... regards from Norway, Europa.

Hey I just had a thought......would it be possible to create a drone frame that is itself an anntenna?

RF Prototyping is a nightmare!

Don't open source, keep up the great work!

Dipole microwave antenna like the diamond anttena can it be used with r178 wire cause THTS the wire I used with the attena mod I did.

We get it, that's why we spend are money on your products! Where is the long ion?

I'm sure you've thought of this, but would a cheap PCB CNC help reduce prototyping costs?

No don't open source it THTS ur baby your hard work

"Please let me know what you think I should do with the 1.3GHz Airscrew antenna." SEND ME ONE ASAP

I would happily pay you over a Chinese company who just copies other people's design, don't go open source, please keep it private so you have the funding and motivation to keep innovation moving forward. Your work has a big impact on FPV and it means a lot to me and my fellow pilots. Thanks for your contribution to FPV and keep up the great work! Also, I really enjoy this new format, but I honestly feel like you're revealing too much. If anything, keep up educational videos that help normal people understand how the video system works and what's considered best practice.

I never build a zagi rc :(

I think you already know the answer... Hell no don't open source. Not with your r&d expenses. However, you could do it for some of your fails and see if anyone else can make a go of them.

Watching this makes me wonder how much it would cost you to buy a machine to mill your own pdb boards. :)

do NOT opensource, keep going with your great job

Everybody says "ummm"...the ones that don't edit them out for the cutesy high energy look. You're the antenna god....nuff said. I'm a 1.3 guy and I have noticed over the past 5 years that it has lost it's popularity from what I've seen. Great for me when I go to an event...there's always a 1.3 badge available. But is it still worth your efforts? I think the 5.8 crowd is planted. Even if you can shrink the 1.3 down, those guys still have a smaller lighter antenna with 5.8. Just my 2 cents.

jlcpcb? would that make prototyping cheaper?

Dont open source - just keep being honest and there for questions.

It sounds like you need to invest into an antenna design/simulation/analysis software... A decent one.

Didn't you use 1.3ghz at Joe Nall? Your antennas were pretty small. I flew with you at the FPV area and thought you said you were on something different.

Why are you getting boards in 100ct minimums? Lots of places you can get 2 or 5 or 10 boards, which for prototypes is about all you need. Then you wouldn't end up with boxes and boxes of useless pcbs kicking around (and not paying for them either). Also what antenna modeling software are you using? Sure the 3d RF modeling software is expensive, but you might end up with less wasted garbage sitting around.

Keep it closed source! I only buy the real deal VAS!

With that amount of money you could have gotten a bunch of pcb manufacturing stuff to prototype instead of ordering big batches of failed product.

Don't open source it! Intellectual property is good to keep to yourself. I'd love to see it for the DIY hobbyist... however it will be picked up by mass production in China. Mass production won't care about QA and market will be filled with crap

Iike the video open Honestly behind the scenes. Do not open source it.

Don't be a patent troll... Open Source everything having to do with radiophysics. Live-stream your research, and ask for R&D donations on the stream. Keep the brand itself; we need more innovative products, but you could better leverage who you are to this scene and create more brand loyalty. Also, if we can directly offset your R&D cost, while creating a near-constant engagement with the consumers of this technology to guide where you take it (so you don't overproduce an unwanted product), it could be a win-win in terms of lower pricing for a premium product for us, and higher and more reliable profitability for you. All of that R&D waste is loss in profit for you, and higher cost for us. I'd feel better donating directly to meaningful scientific innovation that I can actually witness, and paying less for a product that will inevitably be destroyed in a crash ; ). Also, better antennas absolutely means safer flights! That fact isn't promoted enough.

Do not open source, your hard work and effort will be ripped off! Id rather buy from you!

nice talking, i don't care about the umms and ahhs, it's similar to Linus Tech Tips

No to open source

Keep it closed. Seems to me a kit is just as easy to clone as a finished product, so sell it as a kit if you don't want to sell it as a finished product, Not sure what the time period is for the all those prototype/dev models but it seems to me you are doing a lot of throw something at a wall and see if it sticks. Can you make smarter investments, e.g. instead of iterating like crazy, try get a consulting engineer to see if they can make a suggestion on solving some of those last 5% of solution for the almost there products. There have to be other RF engineers with R&D experience in this space - the bands are ISM (for the most part) so other people are making products in those bands. Maybe it's time for a little investment in yourself and a it of formal education (from what I recall of your life story you're pretty much all self trained)? Unfortunately business is an arena you have to compete with a whole lot of people with low morals - and from what I can see most of it started in US think tanks and corporation 30 or 40 years ago, where the pursuit of short term maximum corporate profit and maximum personal gain (bonusses for increasing short term profit) was seen as the best thing to do. The reason "China" can clone your products is because 20-30 years ago American corporations abandoned their "expensive" employees to exploit a cheaper overseas wortforce. Unbridled capitalism. Don't drink the Koolaid. They did the same with my industry ( IT and comms) - except in my case it was even easier, because in most cases you don't need to be physically present in the marketplace. TBH it really annoys me when most FPV related companies make this complaint. Unless they are employing manufacturing people in their home country and only buying products from their home country to the extent possible, then I don't think they really have a valid moral argument when they complain about cloners. Kudos to you Alex you appear to be one of the only well known companies in the FPV industry that is doing it right.

Nooo never release the info unless someone is going to innovative it with you !

Look at the lens when you do vids not the screen :) Open source sucks. This hobby would be further along if the originators made actual companies and were rewarded for their ingenuity. Most people have no idea what it takes to run any type of company.

Dont open source it. You just showed us yourself why, and explained exactly why you shouldn't go open. its crazy how much your put into revisions, and failures to get something that works. to have it open source is to shoot yourself in the foot.

don't open source it. This hobby has already been hit hard by copycats. Frames, actioncams, antennas, flightcontrollers...

Dont open source

Don't open source!!!

Hell no you’ve put to much work into making them work why open source when it’s already done just finish it an sell open source works if you need help obviously you don’t do no need to take money outa your pocket to line Lazy cloners

Hell no you’ve put to much work into making them work why open source when it’s already done just finish it an sell open source works if you need help obviously you don’t do no need to take money outa your pocket to line Lazy cloners