FPV Gates Assembly Guide

 

While our team at FPV Gates works hard to supply you with the best fabric for your drone racing gates, we leave the assembly process up to you in order to minimize shipping and product costs for our customers. In this guide, we’ll be showing you what parts you need, how much you should expect to spend, and how to assemble your own set of regulation 5'x5' FPV Gates for your drone racing track using common materials from your local hardware store and a set of our FPV Gates fabric.

What you’ll need: 

• (x10) 1” x 10 ft pvc pipe

• Around $3.75/pc (Home Depot will do $2.50/pc if you buy 10)

• (x10) 1” T connector (or 90° connectors, if you don’t plan on stacking any of your gates)

• Around $1.25/pc

• (x10) 1” Straight connector

• Around $0.5/pc

• Total: Roughly between $40 and $55, depending on place of purchase and bundle deals.

Optional, but recommended:  

• 10x 2’ Rebar (for standing up gates in grass/dirt -- if you plan to use our gates on a hard surface please see the end of step 3*)

• PVC Cutter or Saw

• Measuring Tape

• Paracord or Strong Zip Ties (for attaching the panels together via the grommets)

Step 1: Measure your PVC runs and Cut

Each gate requires two pieces of 10’ pvc. One piece gets cut once at 7 feet (leaving a 7’ length and a 3’ length). The other piece gets cut into 3x 3 foot sections. Now you’re left with:

• 4x 3 foot sections (two 3’ are combined for each gate side)
• 1x 7 foot sections (this will be used for the top of the gate)

Repeat this process until you’ve got all of your PVC cut.

Step 2: Attach your connectors to your PVC

Slide your 7’ PVC length through the top orange top panel. Attach a T connector (or 90 degree connector) to each side. 

While the connectors are usually a tight enough fit, If you have glue/epoxy and want to use it, make sure to apply it to each connector during assembly. Please note that we don't recommend this, as the gates won’t be able to be taken apart, making transport more difficult.

Next, get your remaining 3 foot PVC lengths. Take two of the 3 foot lengths, and combine using the Straight connector. You now have a 6 foot length, which we will use for the sides of the gate. Repeat this twice for each gate. Once you have all of your 6 foot lengths created, slide them through the sides of the orange top panel, and attach to the T connector.

 

Step 3: Assemble the gates

Now it’s starting to look like a racing gate! Take your white side panels, and slide them over the 6 foot length on each side of the gate. Line up the grommet on the white panel with the grommet on the orange panel, and use a strong zip tie or paracord to attach them together. Repeat this for each side panel.

Congratulations! Your gates are now built. Standing the gates up requires different materials depending on the ground you’re working with:

• On grass/dirt, we recommend sliding each side of the gate on to 2’ rebar that has been hammered/pushed into the ground.
• *On hard surfaces, such as pavement or concrete, we recommend that you build “stands” for the bottom of each gate side, using two t connectors and your leftover PVC. We also recommend you use a weight, such as a sandbag, to hold the stand down.

Step 4: Fly! 

Now that your track is up, it’s time to get out there and enjoy your new FPV Gates! Whether you’re practicing alone to improve your skills, or flying with a group of friends, your new track is going to be a blast.