The Impulse Helix was out before I started this build, but I want a quadcopter that was primarily going to be LOS and it happen that a Warpquad 230 popped up for sale second hand. So I purchased that and weighed up the options of replacing the existing MotoF3 found in the Warpquad simply for the 4S-6S capability, as it turned out, I accidently knocked a resistor off the MotoF3 trying to move the XSR receiver around; despite replacing the resistor I couldn't get voltage from battery through to the FC so I figured it was a good enough excuse to look into the Helix FC / PDB. What followed was various Helix parts being incoporated into the build. The idea was always that this would be a LOS quad first and foremost, but having the ability to quick attack an FPV pod was going to be a part of the build, so between the Helix components and the need to quick attach an FPV pod, quite a few minor modifications were made to accomodate the changes.

A small portion was shaved from the lower arms to house the RX between the arms. Where the MotoF3 was I used a 1.5mm Warpquad 200 plate to softmount the Helix FC. Because the FC is isolated from the stack by the soft mount it meant the standoffs weren't quite tall enough to allow the top plate to comfortably clear the FC. Initially I was using 2.5mm nylon stand offs to give me the additional height I needed, but felt the final clearance looked too tall (I'm vain) so I shaved the nylon locknuts from 2.5mm down to 1.5mm, allowing the top plate to clear the top of the FC without compressing the board at any points to ensure it remained isolated from any hard surfaces.

The Helix FC / PDB is physically smaller than the MotoF3 board and more exposed on the Helix design, giving easier access to components. To keep everything accessible in the Warpquad frame, I used a dremel to widen some identations as well as create others to make sure I could always access the USB, there was no strain on the battery wires and generally route wires. An upshoot of the Warpquad design was that I was able to route ESC power and signal through the Warpquad plates so no wires loop over and are exposed, it looks neater (again, I'm vain).

At the front of the frame you can see 24awg blue and black wire; that goes to a typical servo style JST connector that when used in Acro, is just tucked back into the frame, but can be pulled out and provides power for the FPV equipment when attached. The FPV pod is attached by removing the 4 lock nuts in the center of the frame and simply screwed down and power attached making taking it from a more Warpquad looking standard frame to FPV quad as simple as doing up 4 screws. It's entirely possible I could have used the Helix VTX and camera pod without issue, well, there was one issue, I don't have the funds on hand and I already had a camera pod and VTX going spare. Maybe in the future I'll use the Helix VTX and camera pod.

I also tried to keep in theme, Blue & Orange is how I usually run all components, wires and props where possible, unfortunately the spacers are still purple :/