Sub 250 5 inch midrange

By Kl79 on May 10, 2020

15 787 7

So I thought about building a sub 250 5inch for a while and while on lockdown. With the while exploring my spares I saw I had a R9 MM and with the inverted S(F)-Port could get telemetry out of it. Since I was going to add an R9 I thought I'd add a TBS GPS but this would be in phase 2 of the build. So I had to find the best AIO combo and it seemed that the BETAFPV 20a AIO was popular and seemed stable so I managed to get the V3 version with an extra UART.

With the BETAFPV X-Knight 5inch frame I had to make some adjustments to ensure that the Emax 1606 motors could be installed so our came the dremel...I'll admit that it wasn’t the most clean job but it was good enough. With the motors installed onto the AIO I moved onto the R9 MM. As this wasn’t the OTA version I installed a molex picoblade connection so I can upgrade the firmware easily. Based on some research I have standardised for the flex firmware with F-Port configuration and utilised the un-inverted S-Port to the FC.

With the VTX I decided not to go for smartaudio as there is easy access to manual controls.

Recently seeing some reviews on the Toothless 2 I thought it would be a good shout to give it ago and have tried it in low light and was very impressed. I used the Diatone pickle canopy and printed it using TPU.

All up weight without battery - 156g

All up weight with 3s 850mah battery – 230g

Just need lockdown lifted so can go for a maiden.

Photos

Part List

Frame	BETAFPV X-Knight Carbon Fiber Frame Kit (11 builds) Getfpv.com	$16.99
Flight Controller	Toothpick F4 2-4S AIO Brushless Flight Controller 20A(BLHeli_S) (26 builds) Betafpv.com	$59.99
Motors	4 x EMAX RS1606 3300Kv Micro Motor (12 builds) Racedayquads.com	$51.96
FPV Camera	Foxeer Toothless 2 Nano Starlight FPV Camera (2 builds) Unmannedtechshop.co.uk	See Site
FPV Transmitter	Happymodel Diamond VTX 5.8G 40ch 25mw-200mw Switchable VTX with DVR (4 builds) Pyrodrone.com	$18.99
Antenna	RDQ 5.8GHz U.FL Dipole FPV Antenna - Linear (84 builds) Racedayquads.com	$2.99
Receiver	FrSky R9MM Long Range 915MHz RC Receiver - Get Yours Today! - RMRC (114 builds) Readymaderc.com	$20.80
Batteries	GNB 850mAh 3S 80C LiPo Battery (XT30) Hobbyrc.co.uk	See Site
Misc Parts	TBS M8 GPS Glonass (52 builds) Team-blacksheep.com	$10.05

Show stores (8)

Like Copy Part List Follow Kl79

Discussion

Bob Tegland May 16, 2020

You said "Based on some research I have standardised for the flex firmware with F-Port configuration and utilised the un-inverted S-Port to the FC." How, if I kmay ask, did you get the Fport to talk ot an uninverted UART? I am going through this struggle right now, so thanks if you reply. It wouold mean alot. Thanks.

Kl79 May 16, 2020

Hey Bob, If you are using a Frsky R9 MM receiver then it already has an inverted S-Port connection built in (check the manual to ensure you are using the right one) and all you need to do is ensure that you are using the F-Port firmware (as I said I’m using the flex firmware and ensuring that the receiver and transmitter are using the same version of the firmware). If you are doing that all you need to do then is to utilise the TX UART on then FC. I used a molex pico blade connection on it as that is what is used with the R-XSR so it’s just easier to update the firmware when need as this one is not an OTA one. There is also an article from Oscar Liang explaining this. Link below. Hope that helps?

https://oscarliang.com/setup-frsky-fport/

Bob Tegland May 16, 2020

Thank you, I will give it another try. I think I flashed the OTA firmware to the receiver by accident. I am using an HGLRC AIO F4 FC, and the sbus pad lifted off, so this is my last hope for that FC is by using TX1 and the R9. You didn't have to changed the inverted status of your UART? Or did you use the inverted port on the R9?

Kl79 May 18, 2020

Hi Bob, if you look at the link it will show you how to hookup the R9 on a F4 flight controller. But yes you will need to input the inversion comands on in the CLI. Thanks

dafunk May 14, 2020

"I had to make some adjustments to ensure that the Emax 1606 motors could be installed"
This is precisely why I went for the ET 5inch frame by Racer X. It accomodates for 20mm stacks in addition to 25.5mm

Overall i don't think having replacable arm adds much if light morors are selected as the lightness of the quad makes it crash resilient

Kl79 May 14, 2020

Good shout, I picked up the x-knight frame via amazon prime and it came pretty quick. I didnt mind doing the adjustments...I guess I like doing things the hard way! :)

dafunk May 15, 2020

impeccable result m8, I like the watermelon accent green/pink
the attention to details is very present with the prop nuts in pink and the 3d printed cable organizer :)

Guides & Reviews

109 22,060 39

Build a 5" Long Range Drone - Transformer Ultralight

Jun 21, 2021

AirbladeUAV has done it again and this time they've brought long range to the 5" class! Based on the popular Transformer Mini, the new Transformer 5" Ultralight adopts a lot of the same design philosophies with larger props and more payload capacity. It can fly upwards of 20 minutes on a 4 cell Li-Ion battery pack and in ideal conditions it's got a range of over 4 to 5 miles. In this guide I'll walk..

67 17,609 64

Build a DJI FPV Cinewhoop - QAV-CINE Freybott Edition

Mar 04, 2021

With the release of the DJI FPV Drone cinematic FPV has become a lot more accessible, but you certainly don't want to crash a $750 drone! The QAV-CINE Freybott is a compact, lightweight cinematic FPV drone that can take a hit and keep going. It's a lot safer to fly indoors and around people. With a naked GoPro or the SMO 4k you can capture some great stabilized footage. In this guide I'll show you..

Guides and Reviews