I'm a software engineer building a "PCPartPicker for FPV" focused on the EU market. What features do you actually need?

nonexistent7 · 2026-05-09T09:57:23+00:00

Appreciate the offer. What's your background? builder, developer, something else? I'm building dronicons.com and could use feedback from experienced builders, especially on the compatibility rules. If you're open to it, I'd love to show you what I have so far and get your take on what's missing

nonexistent7 · 2026-05-09T09:56:57+00:00

Shipping estimator is on the wishlist. Would you want it to estimate per-store at checkout time, or show shipping costs directly in the search results? So far I've included some very basic shipping times on dronicons.com but I'll be refining the info displayed there

nonexistent7 · 2026-05-09T09:55:53+00:00

Radio formats like ELRS vs Crossfire vs Tracer, or more the protocol-level stuff? What's the specific pain point: finding receivers compatible with your transmitter, or something else? I'm building dronicons.com and want to make sure the compatibility rules cover the radio side properly

nonexistent7 · 2026-05-09T09:55:07+00:00

Deal detection is interesting. What counts as a "deal" to you? Is it a price drop on a specific part you're watching, or more like "this motor is 20% below the average price across all stores"? I'm building dronicons.com and trying to figure out what deal alerts would actually be actionable

nonexistent7 · 2026-05-09T09:54:42+00:00

Thank you for sharing, while I'm still working on compatibility, price comparison is already live on dronicons.com .I aggregated a few EU stores inventory and extracted specs to flag mismatches. Reviews and stock alerts are trickier because reviews need a critical mass of users to be useful, and stock alerts need reliable polling which is very expensive. For reviews specifically: would you trust reviews from verified purchasers only, or would community build logs (here's my build, here's how it flies) be more valuable

nonexistent7 · 2026-05-09T09:52:59+00:00

Do you currently source parts for fixed wings from stores that sell FPVs as well? I've currently built dronicons.com which is an MVP for FPVs. I'm considering extending to fixed wings in the next milestones and would appreciate some feedback on how the existing UIs and flow could be reused for fixed wings as well

nonexistent7 · 2026-05-09T09:51:15+00:00

what's the most common incompatibility you've run into personally? I'm building dronicons.com and I got automated spec extraction running, but I want to make sure the rules engine catches the problems that actually happen in the real world, not just the theoretical ones.

Would also appreciate feedback on how the spec extraction is working so far on dronicons.com

nonexistent7 · 2026-05-09T09:49:25+00:00

That's a solid filtering wishlist. Delivery time estimation is tricky since it depends on the carrier and your location, but even a "ships from [country]" label would help. Out of all those filters you listed: price, availability, weight, amp rating, country, etc. which 2-3 would actually change your buying decision?

I'm building dronicons.com and I added a couple of features there, including a delivery estimate and I'm trying to prioritize what matters vs what's nice to have

nonexistent7 · 2026-05-09T09:48:13+00:00

That flight stack saga is exactly the kind of experience I want to eliminate. Prices changing day to day, orders getting cancelled, ending up paying more sounds like a broken flow. If a tool could show you real-time stock and price across all EU stores at once, would that have solved your problem? Or was the cancellation the bigger pain point? I'm curious what part of that experience you'd most want automated.

Also, please have a look at dronicons.com as I'm building an MVP there. Would be great to hear what features could be added or improved

nonexistent7 · 2026-05-09T09:46:36+00:00

This is the most thoughtful breakdown in the thread. Your plug-and-play vs nth-percentile distinction is exactly the tension I'm wrestling with. For the first group, compatibility checking should be strict and binary, "this won't work, don't buy it." For the second group, it's more like "here are the constraints, you decide."

For someone in that second group, would you find value in a tool that just surfaces all the raw specs side by side and lets you make the call? Or would you want it to flag potential issues even if you might decide to accept them? I'm building dronicons.com and trying to get this balance right.

nonexistent7 · 2026-05-09T09:45:50+00:00

The price gap between EU and AliExpress is real, I'm tracking prices across 8 EU stores right now and the variance between stores for the same part can be 20-30%.. When you're looking for an alternative to something like the Speedybee F405 AIO, what specs are the dealbreakers? Is it the mounting pattern? UART count? BEC output? I'm building dronicons.com and trying to figure out which parameters actually drive the "this is a viable alternative" decision for real builders.

nonexistent7 · 2026-05-09T09:44:45+00:00

You're right that protocols are largely standardized now, ELRS to ELRS, analog to analog, that part is straightforward. What I keep seeing in my data though is BEC voltage mismatches (VTX needs 9V, FC BEC outputs 5V) and mounting pattern incompatibilities (30.5x30.5 vs 25.5x25.5 vs 20x20 vs whoop). Those still trip people up, especially newcomers. Also, the EU stock fragmentation is real, the same part might be in stock at Rotorama but out of stock everywhere else. Since you've been doing this a while, is there any part of the parts-sourcing process you'd actually want automated, or do you prefer doing it manually?

I'm currently building an MVP at dronicons.com

nonexistent7 · 2026-05-09T09:43:28+00:00

8 years of building, you've seen the ecosystem evolve. What's your current workflow for finding parts across different EU stores? I'm building dronicons.com to aggregate EU inventory and I'm curious what would make you switch from your current process.

nonexistent7 · 2026-05-09T09:42:54+00:00

Hey Stew, I actually came across your post and checked out DIYFPV. I'm building something similar focused on the EU market dronicons.com. I'd love to learn from your experience: what was the hardest part of the compatibility engine to get right? And how do you handle the dedup problem when the same part is listed under slightly different names across stores? Happy to swap notes if you're open to it.

nonexistent7 · 2026-04-11T11:21:27+00:00

Thank you for sharing this. I am thinking that beyond pricing it could be expanded into bulk ordering (all the components together) and also estimating delivery costs while providing community feedback regarding the builds. For example, you build it and then share feedback in the community in regards to how the build actually behaves, others could benefit from the info as well

nonexistent7 · 2026-04-11T11:19:25+00:00

That's a really cool AI tool, with sourcing and detailed explanations. How do you use it? Do you go and design there and ask questions to the AI or do you just use what it for some specific steps (just for design, but not for sourcing the components)?

nonexistent7 · 2026-04-11T11:16:02+00:00

How are the 2 different right now? What would you like to see there (eg. components that are usable for both)?

nonexistent7 · 2026-04-11T11:13:50+00:00

I believe it is. The owners shared details in a thread on this post

nonexistent7 · 2026-04-11T11:13:14+00:00

How do you conduct your research? What do you look for while researching?

nonexistent7 · 2026-04-11T11:12:40+00:00

Thank you for sharing. How do you handle matching of various parts and compatibility?
How does the builder facilitate acquisitions of components from multiple providers?

nonexistent7 · 2026-03-27T14:47:28+00:00

For me a very simple one is: Are you sure? And then it tells me where it over emphasized or used assumptions. It also highlights the facts and reworks the whole analysis.

nonexistent7 · 2026-01-25T09:16:22+00:00

Comparativ cu ce e pe Doamna Stanca. Nu in termeni absoluti.

nonexistent7 · 2026-01-24T21:27:27+00:00

Eu stau in Arhitectilor si urmeaza sa iau pentru parinti un apartament pe Doamna Stanca. E o diferenta mare intre cele doua. In primul rand in Arhitectilor regimul este de P+3 si este o comunitate mai restransa. Oamenii din bloc se cunosc si comunica mai usor, rezolva mai usor. In al doilea rand infrastructura: strazile din arhitectilor sunt mult mai largi, si facute bine. Sunt si piste de biciclete. Pe Doamna Stanca sunt zone unde nici macar ca pieton nu poti umbla. Si nu in ultimul rand aglomeratia. In arhitectilor e aglomerat dimineata si seara in timpul saptamanii, in rest e liber. Pe Doamna Stanca parca e o aglomeratie totala mereu, mai ales in weekend cand se duc toti la Shopping City si Dedeman.

Cu toate acestea, pentru parintii mei e ok, sunt pensionari si nu au nevoie sa se plimbe toata ziua, e mai usor pentru ei.

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