Armattan Lite Mongoose 5"

By Etolier on Jul 03, 2018

2  332  0

So far I really like the Armattan Lite line of frames - There's no lifetime warranty but the cost is much lower, that's a pretty good deal still. I've replaced one arm on the frame after a negligent 1/2 mile flyaway crash, but shipping was quick and the price on replacement arms is alright.

This quad used to have old Emax Bullet Pro ESCs, but for whatever reason with this build they could stay synced, and although flyable, the constant and random twitching was enough to change to the Wraith Mini ESCs and Dshot1200, which has been smooth.

The RS2306 motors were spares from an older quad that got binned, they're still great after a few bearing changes. They swing the Gate Breaker well, plenty of grunt and still have an angry top-end.

The Mach 2 VTx is now completely compatible with Betaflight 3.4, there used to be some confusion with smart audio implementation, but now everything works without having to use alternate versions. It's the best VTx I've used primarily because it's got an onboard mic, runs straight off VCC if you want, option for MMCX, pit mode all the way to 800mw, and it's $25, half the price of the leading brand! Compared to the Unify HV in a spot I fly frequently, breakup is consistently similar - I'm every bit as confident in the signal with the Mach 2, I'm real glad the smart audio compatibility issue is resolved.

Joshua Bardwell and RaceDayQuads put together a really solid flight controller with the JBF4. As someone who settled on the CLRacing F4S almost exclusively across a whole fleet of quads, I can say the JBF4 is every bit as good as the F4S. I use boards like these because I typically build a quad and use all three UARTs as well as separate ESCs, with only the onboard PDB. The JB board has a much higher level of finish in the solder mask and pads - the ESC pads straddle the hardware, which I don't like as much as the F4S layout, which has the pads aligned to the top and bottom rather than the corners, however the JBF4 has all of the relevant pads on the top of the board, whereas the F4S still has two UART pads underneath the board, which means I've usually got to remove the whole board. Initially I was bummed that the newest version no longer has an SD card for blackbox logging (like the F4S), but I've found that the onboard flash is more convenient (and I don't have to worry about forgetting my logging SD card). I'll definitely be using this FC again soon.

The only bad thing about the Predator Micro, for me, is that the betaflight camera control doesn't work perfectly in this setup, for whatever reason. I've heard that some people have gotten all but the 'up' input to work with a wide range of inline capacitor and resistor values, but at that point I'd rather use the included joystick to set up the camera once and then just put up with those settings until I need to take the quad apart sometime in the future. The standard Predator V2 camera control functionality works great, I'm not sure why the Micro requires a setup that is out of range for most F4 Betaflight boards.

I don't race much, but practice with this quad has been pretty enjoyable considering it started as a mix of unused spares and was polished off with fresh ESCs and a nice FC. It's got a good "ripping" feel.

Here's an HD video with this frame in a slightly different parts configuration, including a Split 2 camera.

Photos

Part List

Frame

Mongoose (10 builds)
Armattanquads.com
$38.00

Flight Controller

RDQ Bardwell F4 3-6S 30x30 Flight Controller V2 - JBF4 AIO FC w/OSD (159 builds)
Racedayquads.com
$34.99

ESCs

4 x Wraith32 mini V2- 35A 32bit BLHELI ESC (9 builds)
Store.myairbot.com
$59.96

Motors

4 x EMAX RS2306 White Edition 2400kv FPV Racing Motor (87 builds)
Racedayquads.com
$79.96

Propellers

Lumenier 5x5.3x3 - Gate Breaker Propeller (Set of 4 - Mad_Air White) (12 builds)
Getfpv.com
$3.99

FPV Camera

Foxeer Predator Micro V4 1000TVL 16:9/4:3 NTSC/PAL CMOS FPV Camera w/ OSD PLUG VERSION - Choose Your Color & Lens (149 builds)
Racedayquads.com
$23.09

FPV Transmitter

VTX - All Video Transmitters (555 builds)
Racedayquads.com
$24.99

Antenna

Lumenier AXII Stubby 5.8GHz Antenna (RHCP) (232 builds)
Getfpv.com
$14.99

Receiver

FrSky R-XSR 2.4GHz Micro ReceiverDefault Title (936 builds)
Racedayquads.com
$21.99

Batteries

RDQ Series 14.8V 4S 1300mAh 100C LiPo Battery - XT60 (88 builds)
Racedayquads.com
$20.49

Radio

TBS Tango 2 Pro - FPV RC Radio Drone Controller (103 builds)
Team-blacksheep.com
$199.95

Radio

RadioMaster TX16S Hall Gimbals Built-in USB-C Multi-Protocol Module Radio PRIORITY SHIPPING INCLUDED (96 builds)
Heli-nation.com
$149.99

Radio

FrSky Taranis Q X7 2.4GHz 16CH Transmitter (Black) (263 builds)
Pyrodrone.com
$104.99

Goggles

ETHIX V2 GOGGLE STRAP (2 builds)
Pyrodrone.com
$15.95

Goggles

Fat Shark Attitude V4 FPV Goggles Anniversary Edition (20 builds)
Getfpv.com
See Site

HD Camera

RunCam 5 Orange
Shop.runcam.com
$109.99

Misc Parts

Lethal Conception -Spoiler (2 builds)
Drone-fpv-racer.com
See Site

Video Receiver

ImmersionRC PowerPlay - FPV DVR (h264, 60fps)
Pyrodrone.com
$89.00

Video Receiver

SpiroNet 5.8GHz 13dBi LZR Antenna (RHCP)
Pyrodrone.com
$24.99

Video Receiver

TrueRC Singularity 5.8 SMA 90 Degree Long Antenna RHCP
Pyrodrone.com
$19.99

Video Receiver

SINGULARITY 5.8 stubby SMA - TrueRC Canada
Truerc.ca
$19.99

Video Receiver

ImmersionRC rapidFIRE w/ Analog PLUS Goggle Receiver Module (179 builds)
Pyrodrone.com
$149.99

Radio Module

TBS Crossfire Yagi 915mHz
Team-blacksheep.com
$49.95

Radio Module

TBS Crossfire TX - Long Range R/C Transmitter (9 builds)
Team-blacksheep.com
$208.95

Radio Module

True-MoX 915 |
Truerc.ca
$19.99

Battery Charger

iSDT D2 Smart Balance Charger (11 builds)
Getfpv.com
$129.99

Soldering Iron

TS100 PORTABLE SOLDERING IRON W/XT60 Power Cable (26 builds)
Pyrodrone.com
$58.99

Accessories

ETHIX Neck Strap (3 builds)
Team-blacksheep.com
$6.99

Accessories

FrSky Vantac M4 4mm CNC Aluminum GRAND LOTUS Gimbal Stick Ends
Pyrodrone.com
$11.99
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