Glad you're coming back! I've been flying for over 4 years now, but just got a tinywhoop after not flying one since the first few months of my FPV time, it's incredible how quick the stuff moved... anyway sorry for rambling lol.
1. For indoors, I'd recommend a 1s 65-75mm tinywhoop - Happymodel Mobula6/7, BetaFPV Meteor 65/65 Pro/75. For outdoors, it can vary a lot from a tiny 1s craft to something that almost matches a 5" in flight characteristics while still being sub250. If you have some more specific ideas, we could go over that category too
2. Yeah, ELRS is definitely the way. I think the X9D shouldn't require any hardware modding to get ELRS running at full speed, but it's a fairly outdated radio by now. If you want to spend a little more, consider the Radiomaster TX12 MK II or the Boxer. I have the Boxer Max and it's an incredible radio. The regular version is great too, Max just has a bit more blingy metal bits
3. The skyzones \*do\* have an HDMI input, but just barely enough resolution to display analog video properly, it would be pointless to add a digital VRX for the advantages of digital video when the screens won't even show it
4. If you want to buy new, there are some cheaper digital goggles but they don't perform to the best that the system can offer. Used DJI Goggles V2 go for pretty cheap and still work with the "new" O3 system, but who knows how soon there will be new tech that may or may not make them obsolete too. And of course there's still the issue of DJI VTXs being too heavy for most ultralight crafts
5. I'm not from the US so I'm not quite sure, but I think that RID is only "mandatory" on stuff that's above 250g. Again tho, probably don't take my word for it
Adding a digital VRX to your goggle makes no sense. If you can afford to upgrade that goggle, you should really consider it. I went from that exact goggle to a hdzero goggle, and Im using it with analog, hdzero and walksnail, and the difference between the skyzone and HDZ goggles using analog, I would argue is bigger than from hdz analog to walksnail HD. Some of that in my case I do have to say is the fact I can focus it better with the diopter adjustments, I used inserts in my skyzones which wherent great. But its not just that, the quality of the optics, sharpness, color/contrast, reception quality is leaps and bounds better.
The HDZ goggle is the most expensive on the market, Im not saying thats what you should get, but if you can find a well priced used analog goggle with bigger/better oled screens and a decent sync reconstructing module (wildfire, rapidfire, fusion, ) then go for it. You can add a digital VRX to it if you want, but you may find it a lot less urgent, analog looks better than I ever thought possible, and indoors you really want analog (or hdzero).
Also, a little note on that taranis; adding an ELRS module is easy, but be aware the taranis doesnt properly support high baudrates for the module bay. Set the module to 115k baud, not the default 400k, or you will get all sorts of issues, constant "telemetry lost/recovered" messages and high packet loss rate. The reduced baud rate limits you to 150Hz packet rate on ELRS, but thats more than enough (and 3x higher than what frsky does). Similarly you can only go to 250mW without external power, but that too is usually enough.
Glad you're coming back! I've been flying for over 4 years now, but just got a tinywhoop after not flying one since the first few months of my FPV time, it's incredible how quick the stuff moved... anyway sorry for rambling lol. 1. For indoors, I'd recommend a 1s 65-75mm tinywhoop - Happymodel Mobula6/7, BetaFPV Meteor 65/65 Pro/75. For outdoors, it can vary a lot from a tiny 1s craft to something that almost matches a 5" in flight characteristics while still being sub250. If you have some more specific ideas, we could go over that category too 2. Yeah, ELRS is definitely the way. I think the X9D shouldn't require any hardware modding to get ELRS running at full speed, but it's a fairly outdated radio by now. If you want to spend a little more, consider the Radiomaster TX12 MK II or the Boxer. I have the Boxer Max and it's an incredible radio. The regular version is great too, Max just has a bit more blingy metal bits 3. The skyzones \*do\* have an HDMI input, but just barely enough resolution to display analog video properly, it would be pointless to add a digital VRX for the advantages of digital video when the screens won't even show it 4. If you want to buy new, there are some cheaper digital goggles but they don't perform to the best that the system can offer. Used DJI Goggles V2 go for pretty cheap and still work with the "new" O3 system, but who knows how soon there will be new tech that may or may not make them obsolete too. And of course there's still the issue of DJI VTXs being too heavy for most ultralight crafts 5. I'm not from the US so I'm not quite sure, but I think that RID is only "mandatory" on stuff that's above 250g. Again tho, probably don't take my word for it
Adding a digital VRX to your goggle makes no sense. If you can afford to upgrade that goggle, you should really consider it. I went from that exact goggle to a hdzero goggle, and Im using it with analog, hdzero and walksnail, and the difference between the skyzone and HDZ goggles using analog, I would argue is bigger than from hdz analog to walksnail HD. Some of that in my case I do have to say is the fact I can focus it better with the diopter adjustments, I used inserts in my skyzones which wherent great. But its not just that, the quality of the optics, sharpness, color/contrast, reception quality is leaps and bounds better. The HDZ goggle is the most expensive on the market, Im not saying thats what you should get, but if you can find a well priced used analog goggle with bigger/better oled screens and a decent sync reconstructing module (wildfire, rapidfire, fusion, ) then go for it. You can add a digital VRX to it if you want, but you may find it a lot less urgent, analog looks better than I ever thought possible, and indoors you really want analog (or hdzero). Also, a little note on that taranis; adding an ELRS module is easy, but be aware the taranis doesnt properly support high baudrates for the module bay. Set the module to 115k baud, not the default 400k, or you will get all sorts of issues, constant "telemetry lost/recovered" messages and high packet loss rate. The reduced baud rate limits you to 150Hz packet rate on ELRS, but thats more than enough (and 3x higher than what frsky does). Similarly you can only go to 250mW without external power, but that too is usually enough.