Birdbrain RC Kittilyt 6

By BirdbrainRC on Jun 26, 2018

5  248  4

After maidening the Kittilyt 8 and reviewing the footage (finally got myself a proper GoPro), I was absolutely blown away by the video quality the camera puts out. Obviously the 7" rig is a bit of a speciality quad, with the huge antennas it's not ideal for chucking around, so I spontaneously decided to build myself a 5" version for freestyle flying. Don't see many deadcat frames these days, especially in miniquad size, so it appealed to my taste for weird layouts :)

Frame is exactly the same as the 8" version, just the arms are shortened for 5" props. Turns out it can still take 6" props provided smallish batteries are used, or bottom mount and go huge for long range. 5.5" could be a sweet spot, I'll have to get some in to try.

For the build, I gutted the first Mahou Shoujo prototype - finally killed the baseplate on it at a race after hitting a tower so hard it collapsed. Usually I'd pick lower kv motors and individual ESCs for a freestyle build, but I used what I had.

Build was uneventful except for needing some custom length nylon standoffs for the stack (cut down with a scalpel) to fit with room for the battery strap and antenna coax to run above - certainly a lot easier than cramming UHF gear and a huge 1.3G VTX in like the 8" build!

Setup was easy since the electronics came out of another build - changed layout from plus to X, checked motor directions, then put in a custom deadcat motor mix after.

Maiden was the next day - honestly, I was blown away. On stock PIDs and my normal rates it flew beautifully, rolls and flips were crisp and rapid. I've always gone for 2300kv motors for freestyle builds in the past, but I think this has converted me fully to high kv for everything.

One slight weakness that I found in a hard crash was that the screws I'd used for the front standoffs were too short, and they stripped the standoff threads, with the whole camera cage separating from the rest of the quad. I've since replaced them with longer screws, and added more length to the camera plates that should reduce the force applied to the screws in crashes.

All in all, I'm delighted with how this one turned out. I'm switching focus a little from racing to freestyle at the moment, so I might have to build myself a second one just in case!

Photos

Part List

Flight Controller

Omnibus F4 V6 Flight Controller (5 builds)
Unmannedtechshop.co.uk
See Site

ESCs

Anniversary Special Edition Racerstar REV35 35A BLheli_S 3-6S 4 In 1 ESC Built-in Current Sensor for RC Drone (112 builds)
Banggood.com
$34.05

Motors

4 x Motor 2305-2550KV (2-6S) AMAXinno (3 builds)
Eu.amaxshop.com
See Site

Propellers

HQProps DP-S5X4X3-PC
Electricwingman.com
See Site

FPV Camera

FOXEER Arrow V3 2.5mm 600TVL 4:3 HAD II CCD PAL/NTSC IR Block Mini FPV Camera Built-in OSD MIC (131 builds)
Banggood.com
$25.40

FPV Transmitter

ChaosFPV VTX[T] Video Transmitter (25-800mW, 7-24V, BetaFlight Telemetry) (8 builds)
Unmannedtechshop.co.uk
See Site

Antenna

Pagoda-2 Omnidirectional Antenna (9 builds)
Unmannedtechshop.co.uk
See Site

Receiver

FrSky XM Plus EU-LBT 16CH Tiny Receiver with SBUS (15 builds)
Hobbyrc.co.uk
See Site

Batteries

Turnigy Graphene 1300mAh 4S 65C Lipo Pack w/XT60 (8 builds)
Hobbyking.com
$20.99

Batteries

HobbyRC Rubberised Battery Strap 250x20mm
Hobbyrc.co.uk
See Site

Radio

Jumper T-Lite 16CH Hall Sensor Gimbals CC2500/JP4IN1 Multi-protocol RF System OpenTX Mode2 Transmitter Support Jumper 915 R900/C (23 builds)
Banggood.com
$69.99

Radio

FrSky Taranis Q X7S Radio w/ Upgraded M7 Hall Sensor Gimbals (Carbon Fiber) (25 builds)
Getfpv.com
$187.99

Radio

FrSky TARANIS X-Lite (Black) (65 builds)
Hobbyrc.co.uk
See Site

Goggles

ORQA FPV.One OLED FPV Goggles (12 builds)
Getfpv.com
$549.00

Goggles

FatShark Dominator HD 2 Hydro-Dipped Urban Cam Grey and White FPV Goggle
Hobbyking.com
See Site

HD Camera

Hawkeye Firefly 6S 4K WiFi Sport HD DV Camera - $75.31 |GearBest.com
Gearbest.com
$75.31

HD Camera

HawKeye Firefly Q6 4K 120 Degree Angle Action Camera - $59.14 |GearBest.com (2 builds)
Gearbest.com
$59.14

HD Camera

GoPro HERO6 Black - Waterproof Digital Action Camera for Travel with Touch Screen 4K HD Video 12MP Photos (5 builds)
Amazon.co.uk
See Site

HD Camera

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

HD Camera

RunCam 5 Orange 12MP 4:3 145°FOV 56g Ultra-light 4K HD FPV Camera for RC Drone (20 builds)
Banggood.com
$102.49

HD Camera

GoPro Protective Lens (GoPro Official Accessory)
Amazon.co.uk
See Site

Misc Parts

Matek FC Vibration Damping M3 Standoff (2 builds)
Hobbyrc.co.uk
See Site

Misc Parts

PANASONIC FM Series 1000UF 35V LOW ESR CAPACITOR FOR ESC NOISE REDUCTION (36 builds)
Taco-rc.com
$1.49

Video Receiver

Furious True-D V3.5 Diversity Receiver System Firmware 3.8A (FatShark Attitude Version)SKU: FPV-RX-TRUD3.8A (27 builds)
Furiousfpv.com
$68.00

Video Receiver

ImmersionRC RapidFIRE w/ Analog PLUS Goggle FPV Receiver Diversity Module (179 builds)
Banggood.com
$149.00

Radio Module

TBS CROSSFIRE NANO TX (9 builds)
Pyrodrone.com
$69.95

Radio Module

Frsky R9M Lite - Radio Transmitter Module (Black) (11 builds)
Getfpv.com
$47.99

Radio Module

FrSky R9M 2019 900MHz RC Transmitter Module w/ Super 8 Antenna (ACCST/ACCESS)Default Title (17 builds)
Racedayquads.com
$45.99

Backpack

MultiStar Premium Multirotor Travel Backpack
Hobbyking.com
$47.03

Backpack

TORVOL QUAD PITSTOP BACKPACK PRO (5 builds)
Risingsunfpv.com.au
$359.99

Accessories

TrueRC True-MOX 868MHz Antenna
Hobbyrc.co.uk
See Site
Show stores (14)

Discussion

Sign in to comment

Devonfreestylefpv   Oct 08, 2018  

great video!  like this build!

0blivious   Jun 27, 2018  

I am a huge fan of the deadcat frame myself, and could you elaborate on the custom deadcat motor mixer? Is it Firmware? Thanks

BirdbrainRC   Jun 27, 2018 
1

Yeah, you set custom mixes in the CLI. I've been using this incredibly helpful little tool to generate the mix: https://www.iforce2d.net/mixercalc/ - you plug all the dimensions in, then it spits out the CLI command for the mix for you to copy and paste straight into the configurator.

Only reason I start with an X during setup is that when you use a custom mix, the graphic for the quad in Betaflight configurator is replaced with a block instead, so I check motor numbers and directions are right before putting the mix in.

0blivious   Jun 27, 2018 

Thank you so much! I never was aware of the custom mix!

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