Rapid Fire Review – Rapid Fire Vs La Forge Video TX Module

Recently I purchased the Rapid Fire module for my headset since my La Forge was not really giving my good video feed at my local practice spot. Granted I fly from inside of my truck most of the time because it’s hot and humid in Florida. On average it’s over 93 degrees and super humid which is almost as bad as being in a steam room.

Today I’d like to share my thoughts on how well the rapid-fire performed. It’s worthy to note that if you don’t have the Fatshark HDO’s you will need to mod your FS Goggles. I have the FS Dominators V3’s and I had to basically mod my headset for the module to get the power it needs to work properly. Here is a video tutorial that is perfect for showing you how to mod your FS goggles, all you need to do is bridge the L1 regulator. Some Dominator v3’s that are older have the L1 regulator in a different location than shown in the video, but the same concept from the video applies.

Will My Fatshark’s Work Without The Mod?

There is a ribbon cable provided with the rapid fire which I believe can be used as an alternative solution but the wire will be messy to deal with. You may end up having the wires going from the module to the right side of your goggles like the La Forge setup required. In my opinion, its much cleaner to do the mod so you don’t have to worry about wires being damaged on the outside of your Goggles.

If you don’t mod your Googles the rapid-fire will operate on low power mode which is basically only going to use one band instead of 2 simultaneously. This just means that only one attenae will be getting the video instead of 2 at a time.

Is The Rapid Fire Better Than La Forge?

In my opinion, the La Faforge video receiver combo is not as good as the Rapidfire receiver. With my Rapidfire receiver, I was able to get a really clear video feed while sitting in my truck and flying at my normal spot for practice. Below you can see someone video that is recorded when I had my La Forge set up, then the next video shows the Rapidfire in action at the same location.

La Forge & Diversity Module Combo Video:

Rapid Fire With Mod Video:

I will probably be selling my La Forges for cheap if anyone is interested lol. The proof is in the video quality, I can’t afford not to use the Rapidfire over the Laforge at this point. When you race in a location that is not an ideal RF environment you need to have the best type of video receiver possible. In the videos above I am in a horrible RF environment not only because I’m in my truck, there are also metal fences everywhere, trees blocking my LOS with rain drops and dew all over it, score boards that are metal which I fly behind and more. For me, having exceptional video receivers is a must which is why I bought the Rapidfire.

At a major race, if there is a ground station available, you will probably be better off using that so that if something happens you can contest the race event ground station instead of shooting yourself in the foot and using your own gear. Usually if you use your own video modult you are not allowed to contest anything if you have bad video during a run.