TransTEC Frog Racer

By tophe75 on Aug 16, 2017

7  1,255  10

This is my take on the TransTec Frog Racer. This will be my third carbon build ( first: Martin II | second: Realacc X210 PRO).
I wanted a small and compact uni-body frame and no HD camera (well, not extra anyway as it turned out).

This is a tight build and I would not suggest this as your first build, other than that the build was pretty strait forward.
One thing to note is that the SBUS is on UART3, and don't forget to enable "LED Strip" in Betaflight is you want to use the LED strip which is RGB and programmable.

As for the FPV camera I choose the Runcam Split and as I did not intended to have an HD camera on it, this was a bonus, the only thing with the Split's HD recording board is that it only fits this fram one way (and that was not the way I planned it) but this was not a problem.

The Popsicle stick I made to be able to hold all four ESC wires down during soldering.
Some custom 3D-printed parts where also used, one small bracket to hold the RX under the top plate and a protection/stand for the battery.

I don't use the supplied beeper, instead I use "Beacon" in the BLHeli software for the ESC making the motors beep after set delay.
As I don't like the idea of wrap-in the ESC and arn with electrical tape I use an O-ring instead. Makes it look much nice I think.
Once everything is tested and working I will cover the exposed solder joints on the PDB/flight controller with black hot-glue.

This turned out to be a light build coming in at 320g/0.7lb (without battery) so hopefully this thing will move...

Under "Misc parts" I list other things that might be of interest that I use.

Photos

Part List

Frame

TransTEC Frog Lite 218mm Carbon Fiber 4mm Arm X Frame DIY Frame Kit RC Drone FPV Racing Multi Rotor (42 builds)
Banggood.com
$29.99

Flight Controller

HGLRC F3 V4 FC AIO OSD BEC PDB Current Sensor & 25/200/600mW VTX for RC Racing Drone (17 builds)
Banggood.com
$39.99

ESCs

4 x Racerstar RS20A V2 New 20A Blheli_S OPTO 2-4S ESC Support Oneshot42 Multishot 16.5 Dshot600 for X220 RC Drone (10 builds)
Banggood.com
$50.04

Motors

4X Racerstar Racing Edition 2205 BR2205 2600KV 2-4S Brushless Motor Purple For 210 X220 250 280 for RC Drone (10 builds)
Banggood.com
$31.69

Propellers

1 Pair DYS XT50433 5x4.3 CW CCW 3-blade Propeller FPV Racing Frame (3 builds)
Banggood.com
$1.99

FPV Camera

Runcam Split Black WDR WiFi FPV Camera 1080P 60fps 64G HD Recorder Low Latency With RC25G Lens (61 builds)
Banggood.com
$77.99

Antenna

Turbowing 5.8G 8dBi RHCP Mushroom FPV Antenna RX/TX RP-SMA/SMA Male Black (3 builds)
Banggood.com
$5.90

Receiver

FrSky XSR 2.4GHz 16CH ACCST Receptor S-Bus CPPM Salida Soporta X9D X9E X9DP X12S X Series (15 builds)
Banggood.com
See Site

Batteries

6 x TATTU 14.8V 1300mAh LiPo Battery Pack 45C 4S with XT60 Plug for Nemesis 240 Mini Tweaker 180 Micro Quad LRC Freestyle V1 MXP180 (9 builds)
Amazon.com
$111.78

HD Camera

GoPro HERO4 Session Video Camera GPCHDHS-102 (42 builds)
Phaserfpv.com.au
See Site

HD Camera

GoPro HERO5 Session (302 builds)
Getfpv.com
$199.99

Misc Parts

Turnigy nano-tech 1500mAH LiFe 3S 9.9v Transmitter Pack (Taranis X9D Compatible) (4 builds)
Hobbyking.com
$8.29

Misc Parts

2 x 1pcs NCR18650B 3400mAH 3.7 V Unprotected Li-ion Rechargeable Battery + Case
Banggood.com
$12.98

Misc Parts

ARRIS Fire Retardant LiPo Battery Portable Safety Bag 215*155*115mm
Banggood.com
$5.99

Misc Parts

FrSky Taranis X9D Plus 2.4ghz Radio Transmitter with Mode2 for FPV (62 builds)
Amazon.com
$269.00

Misc Parts

Suleve™ M3NH3 6mm M3 Nylon Screw Black Hex Screw Nut Nylon PCB Standoff Assortment Kit 25pcs (7 builds)
Banggood.com
$2.09

Misc Parts

Turnigy Universal Drone Storage Case (Black)
Hobbyking.com
$19.90

Misc Parts

Fatshark 7.4V 18650 Li-ion Cell Battery Case DC5.5*2.5 For FPV Goggles Video Headset without Battery (3 builds)
Banggood.com
$17.85

Misc Parts

Suleve™ M3NH4 M3 Nylon Screw Bolt Black Round Phillips Screw Nut Nylon PCB Standoff Assortment 5-25mm 20pcs
Banggood.com
$1.79

Misc Parts

Amazon.com
Amazon.com
See Site
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Discussion

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ratpunter   Feb 20, 2018  

How much did it weigh with everything on it?

tophe75   Mar 19, 2018 

320g without batteries

EmbuKingFPV   Mar 19, 2018  

Hey! Thinking of building a Frog myself, but I have an aio setup, how much is there space for a stack build?

tophe75   Mar 19, 2018 

As you can see from the images, there is just room for the two boards I have, FC with external ESC's and the Runcam Split board but it was tight with just the two.

Anthanium   Oct 03, 2017  

Very nice work on the carbon white style lines, how did you do that? + can you upload an image of the HD footage, I want to install the split myself but want to see how much the frame is in 'frame'. thanks!

tophe75   Oct 03, 2017 

The withe strips are made with a silhouette cameo 3 and some withe vinyl. HD photo is the last of the images, you just have to click on it to view the full image.

SkHaYMaN   Sep 09, 2017  

Nice build =)
Are you satisfied of your F3 V4 Flight Control Board?
And what about the runcam split in the frog frame?
Thanks!

tophe75   Sep 09, 2017 

I like them booth.
The only thing is, I can't figure out how to edit the OSD but I have not spent that much time to solve it.
One thing about the Split and the frame, you can't connect the Wi-Fi module once top of the frame is attached to the bottom plate.

Whiffles   Aug 16, 2017  

Very cool. I haven't seen a Runcam Split on this frame yet. It seems like a good combo. Does the frame show up in the HD footage?

tophe75   Aug 16, 2017 

yes it does, just a tad in the top corners (and not in the FPV view). I will upp load an image.

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