Armattan Tadpole 2.5" Ultralight Micro
By outcastfpv on Dec 21, 2019
While in the middle of building i just connected the flight controller and spun up the motors for correct motor direction, im running reverse motor direction on this as i usually do with small builds. One of the motors i found to be very noisy so as i purchased 5 motors i just quickly swapped it in; videos listed below.
I thought it would be tidier to run the vtx wires under the flight controller, bring them up the back and then just stick the vtx down on the flight controller. For the XM Plus receiver i wanted a lot of slack in the wires if i later needed to add the capacitor after the first flight so i left them a little long and then looped them up on top of the receiver. I also decided to just snip the runcam nano2's wires and just direct solder them to the FC instead of soldering a corresponding connector as the distance is so short and the runcam's harness is pretty long.
For the hover test i was just going to use the HQ 2.5 3 Blades and even maiden with them, then afterwards i would try the HQ T65mm 2 blades and the Avan Rush 2.5
I added pics of the Black and Red colours, the red stands out but i think i would stick with the black.
Props to eventually Test:
Emax Avan Rush 2.5
HQ TX2.5X2.5X3 3-Blade
HQ T65MM 2-Blade
According to my cheap digital scale:
Dry Weight: 69.4 grams
Flight Weight: 109.8 grams (w/ 3S 450mAh Battery)
First Flights:
First motor test where i found a really noisy motor:
Here i connected another motor quickly without routing the cables just to see if it was good, which was not noisy:
Photos
Part List
Frame |
Tadpole
(30 builds)
Armattanquads.com
|
$35.00 |
Flight Controller |
MAMBA STACK F411 /134 Dshot600 4S NANO
(17 builds)
Diatone.us
|
$39.99 |
Motors |
4 x T-Motor F1103 FPV Motor, 2-3S, anthrazit
(3 builds)
Shop.rc-hangar15.de
|
See Site |
FPV Camera |
RunCam Nano 2
(184 builds)
Shop.runcam.com
|
$19.99 |
FPV Transmitter |
TBS Unify Pro32 Nano 5G8 V1.1 VTx Video Transmitter
(400 builds)
Pyrodrone.com
|
$29.95 |
Antenna |
Micro U.FL RHCP Antenna
(5 builds)
Armattanquads.com
|
$4.00 |
Receiver |
FrSky XM+ 2.4GHz Micro ReceiverDefault Title
(1149 builds)
Racedayquads.com
|
$15.99 |
Batteries |
ACE Tattu 11.1V 450mAh 75C 3S1P Lipo Battery XT30 Plug
(7 builds)
Banggood.com
|
$12.35 |
For a first quad, do I buy a Tinyhawk Freestyle 2 or do a build with this frame? could the Tadpole run 2s for longer flight times with less power? Thanks for any input y'all
That's hard to say. These small quads can be a pain to build for even regular builders. For someone that never assembled one before it could be extremely difficult. You can always just purchase one, Armattan sell this as BNF on their website. And you would have to have a larger 2S over a 3S to get more flight time. Which may further hurt efficiency. The Tadpole is not a light build. If its low power long flights you are after maybe the Freestyle 2 is a better choice for you.
Oh snap! I am gonna have to build one of these Tadpoles. The 2.5" VS1's are my absolute favorite prop and this frame looks PERFECT to fly 'em. Nice build!
Thanks, im not sure why but i seem to have completely forgotten about the box full of gemfans i have. Never occured to me to test them and i still have 10 bags of 8 2.5 inch props in varying colours. Although that sharp tip does get extremely irritating after a crash or bump as i like to check props when straightening them by spinning the motor with my finger and making sure its tracking correctly, I have lost count of the amount of times my finger has been pricked or scraped by one
I can't really tell much of a difference between them, so i put back on the HQ's for now, my plan was to leave them on for a while and then switch over to the avan's later once i was used to the HQ's, if there was a noticable difference i should notice after being used to one first. However weather has been terrible for a while now, i havent got much flight time. i have been tryin to test Tattu's new r-line 550 since they are approx the same weight. The Tattu 3S 450's are 43g. the Tattu 3S 450 long's are 40g and the new R-line 3S 550 longs are only 45.8. i can say so far they are defintely much better. i consistently dont get low voltage warnings on punchouts
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This is easily the cleanest build I've ever seen. I absolutely love how you wired the motor wires and signal wires from underneath and around the boards.
Thanks, i still fly it, still one of my favourites, the second one of them i built and posted on here i added a buzzer so i added a buzzer to this one later. I used an r-xsr on the second one and used a connector for the camera instead of straight soldering to the FC. Still prefer this build myself though
i am collecting parts and about to start this build. Any reason why you used a connector on the camera?
i was planning to direct solder.
Excellent! I used a connector because this was my second build and removing connectors to direct solder wasn't even on my radar. I do this for my ultralight builds but for my quads that I fly in harsher environments (where I'm more likely to bash a camera) I stick with the connectors for easier swaps. I have destroyed and replaced the camera on this build twice.
Also, I HIGHLY recommend using the 3" frame instead of 2.5" frame. Better prop selection, quieter, more efficient. I will probably swap these parts to a 3" frame sometime soon.
Good luck!
really appreciate this reply...
sadly, the 2.5" frame is already on the way
ill fly either the avan rush or the azure 2540
i got the 2.5 in part because i love my th2fs!!
I just realized that this isn't my build! I replied thinking this was my Tadpole build, sorry! Nonetheless, I have a 2.5" Tadpole build on here as well, which I love. It's got crazy power and has taken a beating, mostly wish I went with 3" props because I have two 3" toothpicks and could share props between them all.
makes total sense
i have a gtb339 that i feel has almost TOO MUCH power in my smaller / tree covered yard. (until i turn on throttle scaling)
so i was kind of looking for something with a slightly lower power to weight ratio.
When I first built mine I hadn't been flying long so i had to scale it down to 80% - but have since scaled it back up now that I'm a better pilot.
Hi wmcewan, on this built i actually didnt use a connector for the camera as i didnt think there would be enough room with camera uptilt but on my second build of this here: https://rotorbuilds.com/build/21384 i did find there was enough space to use a connector so i just tried it. plus i like to be able to disconnect easily if i ever wanted to change it rather than having to solder again
cool - yhanks!
I'm so excited to get started building
yeah its a great build, the diatone stack works nicely and is very cheap, when i get a chance to fly its mainly this, the limitless prototype i built or the recent babytooth 1S i added here which is surprisingly fun, its powerful and quite and takes a 1S battery, couldnt believe how it performs, its impressive
id love to build a babytooth if those damn fpv cycle motors were ever in stock!