Fresh build to help keep me sane during quarantine. This is the 5th (?) quadcopter I've built. Went with the Source One 7" deadcat frame for stack space, props out of view, and overall versatility. Splurged on the eye candy XING 1777kv motors and I the plan initially is to run Azure 6" or HQ/Gemfan 7" props, plus I have some 7" bi-blades I'm curious about. The TBS nano diversity and Pro32 VTX is the obvious choice in most LR builds right now. Mamba F7 60A stack is overkill, but hoping it will be future proof (>2 year?) and live on if I change directions in a re-builds or substantial motor kv swap. On-board bluetooth is intriguing, hoping that's as smooth as it sounds. For the first time in one of my builds, I went with an on-board HD cam. Hoping the Tarsier V2 will suffice with good enough footage on the days I don't want to charge or risk a GoPro.

I was determined during this build to keep it clean and not attach anything to the top plate. First, I dropped the frame cage down 5mm with new standoffs. Next, the Tarsier went in easily up front, but takes up all the front compartment space. I like the simple standoff mounts for the camera, but it makes the lens stick out too far in the front. I'll need to get a 3D print bumper to protect from easily smashing the lenses in front crash. For the main stack, I used 5mm stack spacers at the bottom to connect the bottom up frame screws with the top down stack screws, which to my surprise worked out great. As usual for me, the hardest part of the build was soldering on the battery lead and cap with the right orientation and inclination. FInally got it so the cap sits nicely towards the back and above the VTX. For ventilation, the VTX sits alone in the back propped up on double-sided tape feet. With the VTX and cap taking up most of the back compartment space, the only place left for the rx was under the stack, which works out pretty well given the 5 mm spacers I used. There's just enough give in the wiring for me to unbolt the stack and get to the rx underneath, but hopefully I won't need to do that very often. Most of the wiring routes under the stack as well, which when twisted together makes for a pretty tidy build. I know it's better to vertical mount one of the antennas, but it's just a pain to accomplish. Over time I'll bend one of the T's down a bit to get it off angel a bit form the other, which should reliably get me out as far as I'd ever need to go.

Still planning to add the gps on to the frame, as soon as I can figure out where to put it. Guessing I'll have to get a beaver tail 3D print to hang it off the back. I mounted the buzzer, but didn't realize until it arrived that it's a new style and doesn't connect to anything. Apparently it detects a crash and then goes off on its own.