Simple, long range micro brushless build. Started with a fresh out of the box Emax Babyhawk PNP, added 1.3ghz for video, TBS Crossfire Nano for the receive, and that's it. The goal with this is to experiment with 1.3ghz video and long range flight on a micro brushless quad for exploring and enhanced penetration. This has only been hovered and lightly flown around my apartment. Long range flight will be tested when winter weather clears. Video receive is Fatshark Dominator V3's with a NexWave 1.3ghz module and TrueRC Singularity omnidirectional antenna. Will update this build as testing happens.

Update 1: https://imgur.com/gallery/WxO3l not sure why this didn't save a week ago. Was able to fly a radius of 2/10's of a mile from where I was standing with mainly a clear picture. Static occured randomly and at inconsistent times like when turning around in a 180 degree yaw to return back to where I was standing. Other than that it was a solid flight overall. Went behind trees along walkways and was glad to experience the benefits of 1.3ghz penetration. Because the stock babyhawk frame is cramped, I plan on transferring everything to a new frame this evening and tomorrow night. I currently fly this in acro due to the angle of the flight controller while in the stock babyhawk frame. I'll keep this updated as things progress. Excited for it, as I was not expecting as smooth of an experience while using both crossfire and 1.3 video.

Update 2: https://imgur.com/5zPgKAt swapped stock components to a frame I had from a previous build. I used electrical tape to hold things down and give it a stealth look. I have tape over my 1.3ghz vtx antenna for support in case of roll over landings. On my second vtx because of a burnt out vtx final due to a roll over causing the antenna to break off. I did another flight this morning here in the city and got loads of static at just under 2/10's of a mile. You'll notice I got rid of the Runcam Micro for a simple, more tiny whoop style camera to save a little bit of weight. The weight saved from the camera will go into a more robust VTX antenna to get rid of the stock vtx whip. I feel like it is good to plan for the upgraded VTX antenna now, as I foresee it being the bottleneck of this system and it's long range capabilities. I thought I was recording video correctly on my new fatsharks but it has been user error all along. I plan on recording video and having that uploaded in the next few days. Something I just thought of is giving more separation between the vtx and the rest of the electrical on the quad. shifting the vtx 6 inches directly backwards to help get rid of the static. i'll give it a shot.

Update 3: (https://imgur.com/nA03kW0) Quick flight from inside my office at ground level, standing at the window. Signal was the same as the last update, only this flight I decided to push it past where signal broke up in my previous update. Broke passed that barrier and signal cleared up and found that if I kept the quad at a certain angle the signal stayed solid. Where I stopped is where I turned around and the screen went blank and had to fly it back with memory. This flight was recording finally! Woo-hoo! If the youtube link isn't posted here than I haven't had the chance to upload it yet. I plan on uploading the dvr recording this evening. Tonight's agenda is to add length between the immortal T and VTX.

Update 4: (To quickly update the build thread on this, below is copy+pasted from a message I had sent another member when they had asked about building their own micro long range quad.)

"To start - I ditched the 1.3ghz video about a month or so back. Reason simply was due to the lack of proper antennae to really get the most out of the build. Happy to say that I have at the ready a 1.3ghz crosshair antenna, 1.3ghz RMRC receiver and a 25mw 5.8ghz transmitter to use as a repeater for linking up the video feed to my goggles. The tripod I am using to mount all of this on will be in later this week. I have not given up on 1.3ghz and if your budget allows for it, it should really be considered, especially for a 3 inch build.

Current state of the build: everything is the same as listed in the build thread except two things:

• I ditched the stock babyhawk props for some 2840 triprops that required the floss trick in order to pressure fit to the motor: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B071FN9V78/ref=ohauidetailpageo05s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
• VTX is a 200mw 5.8ghz AIO camera/vtx unit from amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MY3QSIE/ref=ohauidetailpageo00s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
  With the tbs crossfire micro TX at 100mw, the stock TX antenna, tbs nano receiver w/ immortal T receiver antenna, 200mw 5.8ghz vtx I can go a low altitude flight distance of 1.6 miles over the city before control link starts to fuss due to interference. This morning I placed the order for the full sized crossfire TX and diamond antenna which should, in theory, limit my range to battery capacity from here on out.

Video proof of solid 1 mile flight and connectivity here:

I'll update the build thread shortly so folks are kept in the loop on this.

My suggestions for your build:

• TBS Crossfire TX...get the full sized one. Simply for long range freedom and worry free, low altitude flights.
• Diamond antenna...typically a long range micro will be flown one direction and back. best to have the insurance of a directional antenna to not lose your build.
• 1.3ghz is great for penetration, and 200mw 1.3ghz transmitters are the way to go, even with their vertical antennas...the only requirement to actually enjoying a micro 1.3ghz build would be a proper directional ground station antenna. omni's don't work great.

Don't be too afraid of the 1.3ghz+crossfire combo. In my experiments I never had any interference or connectivity issues. Always test your gear over a field for insurance purposes and to not lose your quad my man. The crossfire stuff is the best of the best. I would go as far as saying TBS is the way to go over dragonlink for quad platforms."

Should anybody have any questions, I'm an open book. Don't hesitate to ask!