1RetroFPV - ZMR250 -

By KM|fpv on May 24, 2020

5  97  0

I know it, nearly everyone got this frame in some version (or manufacturer), is there anybody still flying it? i bought this as a complete kit with;

  • frame (zmr250 full carbon and red aluminum standoffs)
  • 5040 props
  • motors (emax 2204 - 2300kV)
  • escs (emax BLHeli)
  • cc3d flight controller

i had some trouble with the PDB i've bought, because it supports the naze32 and replaces the top-most-bottom-plate and have some bits for video filtering, the buzzer and some pads for some more features. the main problem is caused by the naze32, with vbat provided to the vbat pads, the naze32 prodvides power to the escs by connecting the usb cable which causes many more problems.
anyway, i've tried a mostly broken airbot f4 flight controller which motor resources are mapped around, to get 4 motors working (3 motor outputs lost their pads) and i've connected an oldschool micro-minimOSD to get informations in the video feed, but something wasn't working as expected. most of the time i've got only the MWOSD in my goggles, sometimes (really short time) there was a video from the fpv cam.

at least, i've an omnibus F3 left and i've wired everything up to get this old one back in the air. So i've soldered the four motor signal wires and the corresponding grounds to the flight controller, together with the buzzer signal lines and -of course- the vbat power supply.
next upon my list was the RX which is the FS-A8S with modified firmware for RSSI on AUX10 (or channel 14) which never worked on the PPM/SBUS port (even i've switched from i.Bus to s.Bus) because there is no documentation on how to use this RCin. as the usb port is ripped off (and also the sdcard slot), i'm using betaflight (usb rescue builds - yes, i "forced" the devs to make this as separate branch) and UART1 is for MSP, so i'm using UART2 for the i.Bus RX.
because this one is oldschool or retro if you like to say so, i'm still using the emax motor/esc combination but this time with HQprops 5045x3 bullnose props, which would perfectly fit a ducted frame, if there is any for 5 inch props.
the camera is an older fatshark one, with an unknown lens, which maybe will be changed for a foxeer one. sadly, the cam is 5V only and has no settings...very oldschool. i like this cam anyway, because a very good friend gave it to me as a gift.

i'll post some videos of the first ever fpv flights, when the weather changes (raining right now and will stop...maybe in june?)

Updates:
Don't know what is wrong with this beloved ZMR250, but still today I got problems with the camera and the osd. I think the camera is defective - I'm a bit sad about it. It changes between OSD, camera and nothing at all in half second intervals.
I've managed to solder to the USB testpins on the underside of the flight controller and now it works fine over USB - no more "broken USB rescue" images. Okay, it's a F3 and the latest betaflight version is 4.0.6 but hey, better than baseflight.
Btw I've changed the esc to blheli_s ones, when this is going to fly, it should be smooth af.

Photos

Part List

Frame

US $6.36 41% OFF|QAV250 ZMR250 Quad Frame Carbon Fiber Drone Mini 250 FPV Quadcopter kit / Power Distribution Board PDB 5V/12V B
Aliexpress.com
See Site

ESCs

4 x Racerstar MS Series 15A ESC BLHeLi_S OPTO 2-4S Supports Dshot600 for RC Drone FPV Racing Multi Rotor
M.alibaba.com
See Site

Motors

4 x US $14.57 21% OFF|Emax MT2204 2204 2300KV Brushless Motor CW CCW Motor for DIY Mini Multirotor Racing Drone 210 250 270 Robotcat
Aliexpress.com
See Site

Propellers

4pcs 5045 3-Blade Propeller CW CCW Props for Mini FPV QAV250 QAV210 Quadcopter
Ebay.com
See Site

Propellers

US $10.46 12% OFF|8 Pair 5045 Propeller CW/CCW Props for 250 280 RC Quadcopter Multirotor|5045 propeller|cw propellerprops 5045
Aliexpress.com
See Site

FPV Camera

US $7.23 41% OFF|FPV 1000TVL 1/3 CCD 110 Degree 2.8mm Lens FPV Camera NTSC PAL Switchable + TS5828 48CH 600mW Transmitter for FP
Aliexpress.com
See Site

FPV Transmitter

US $12.35 52% OFF|High Quality Eachine VTX03 Super Mini 5.8G 72CH 0/25mW/50mw/200mW Switchable FPV Transmitter|transmitter tray|
Aliexpress.com
See Site

Antenna

US $9.9 |2.4ghz 5.8ghz wireless cloverleaf antenna dual band wifi antenna rp sma male connector|connector fc|antenna 900mhzconne
Aliexpress.com
See Site

Receiver

US $9.99 |Flysky FS A8S A8S V2 2.4G 8CH Mini Receiver PPM i BUS SBUS Output For Flysky FS i6 FS i6S Airplane FPV Racing Drone tr
Aliexpress.com
See Site

Batteries

2 x Brainergy LiPo 3S1P 11.1V 1350mAh 45C XT60
Freakware.de
See Site

Batteries

2 x Tattu 1300mAh 11.1V 75C 3S1P Lipo Akku Pack mit XT60 Stecker für UAV Drones FPV Racing Quadcopters Flugzeug wie TBS Gemini, IRC
Amazon.de
See Site

Batteries

2 x 1x Multistar Racer 1400mAh 3S 65C -130C Lipo Pack für FPV Minis (Gold Spec)
Ebay.com
See Site

Power Distribution

US $6.36 41% OFF|QAV250 ZMR250 Quad Frame Carbon Fiber Drone Mini 250 FPV Quadcopter kit / Power Distribution Board PDB 5V/12V B
Aliexpress.com
See Site

Radio

Jumper T-Lite 16CH Hall Sensor Gimbals CC2500/JP4IN1 Multi-protocol RF System OpenTX Mode2 Transmitter Support Jumper 915 R900/C (23 builds)
Banggood.com
$69.99

Radio

Flysky FS-NV14 2.4G 14CH Nirvana Transmitter with iA8X Receiver 3.5 Inch Display Open Source (19 builds)
Banggood.com
$179.00

Radio

[US$83.99~93.99] JumperRC T-Lite V2 2.4GHz 16CH Hall Sensor Gimbals 150mW Built-in ELRS/ JP4IN1 Multi-protocol OpenTX Remote Con
See Site

Goggles

ORQA FPV.One OLED FPV Goggles + Free Bonus (FPV.PRO Antenna Set, FPV.Connect, FPV.Battery) (4 builds)
Getfpv.com
$649.99

Goggles

FatShark Dominator V1 Headset System Goggles Video Glasses 640 X 480 VGA
Goodluckbuy.com
$270.49

3D Printed

QAV250 Low profile landing gear for SunnySky 2204s by meekaah
Thingiverse.com
See Site

HD Camera

RunCam Thumb Pro W (8 builds)
Shop.runcam.com
$89.99

HD Camera

Hawkeye FIREFLY Q6 Airsoft 1080P HD Multifunktions-Sportkamera für FPV
Banggood.com
$60.59

HD Camera

RunCam Thumb
Shop.runcam.com
$49.99

HD Camera

Insta 360 Go AI Auto Editing Hands-free Smallest Splashprooof FlowState Stabilized Sport Camera (8 builds)
Banggood.com
$203.90

HD Camera

[CA$109.65 5% OFF] Mobius Full HD Sport Kamera 1080P 30FPS 720P 60FPS Für Multirotor rc teile from Spielzeug Hobbys und Roboter
See Site

Hardware

US $0.7 6% OFF|U.FL/IPX IPEX UFL to RP SMA SMA Female Male Antenna WiFi Pigtail Cable ufl ipex 1.13mm Pick Your Length|Connector
Aliexpress.com
See Site

Video Receiver

Eachine PRO58 RX Diversity 40CH 5.8G OLED SCAN VRX FPV Receiver for FatShark Goggles (37 builds)
Banggood.com
$31.50

Video Receiver

ImmersionRC rapidFIRE w/ Analog PLUS Goggle Receiver Module (179 builds)
Getfpv.com
$159.99

Radio Module

JUMPER AION ELRS – avion à haute fréquence 2.4G TX NANO, avec aile fixe, avec télécommande
Fr.aliexpress.com
$35.47

Radio Module

ImmersionRC Ghost Lite Next Gen 2.4GHz RC Transmitter Module
Getfpv.com
See Site

Battery Charger

Toolkit M4 Pocket Schnellladegerät für 1-4 LiPo DC 80W 5A XT30 XT60 Eingang USB-C Eingang/Ausgang
Engelmt.de
See Site

Battery Charger

Online-Shop Ultra Power UP-S6 6x4,35 watt DC 1 s Balance Ladegerät Entlader Lade Hub 6-in-1 ladegerät für RC Micro MX MCPX Li
De.aliexpress.com
See Site

Battery Charger

Online-Shop Ursprüngliche SKYRC IMAX B6 MINI Balance RC Ladegerät/Entlader Für RC Hubschrauber Wieder spitze NIMH/NICD Flugze (6 builds)
De.aliexpress.com
See Site

Battery Charger

US $66.99 |HTRC T240 DUO AC 150W DC 240W 10A Touchscreen Dual Kanal Batterie Balance Ladegerät Entlader Für RC spielzeug Freie
De.aliexpress.com
See Site

Soldering Iron

MINI TS100 Digital OLED Programable Interface DC5525 Soldering Iron Station Built-in STM32 Chip (264 builds)
Banggood.com
$49.99

Soldering Iron

QUECOO Electric Soldering Iron Kit T85 96W Repair Tool Welding Solder Rework Station Heat Pencil Smart Portable Solder Iron Tips
Quecoo.com
$23.99

Tools

Pro'sKit 900-015 Helping Hands Soldering Aid (2 builds)
Amazon.com
$10.00

Backpack

Realacc X-lite Sender Edition FPV RC Drone Umhängetasche Handtasche für FrSky X-lite / X-lite S / X-lite Pro
Banggood.com
$25.99

Accessories

Radio master ag01 mini cnc halle gimbal für tx12/zorro funksender fernbedienung
De.aliexpress.com
$84.00

Accessories

Orqa FPV.Connect (2 builds)
Shop.orqafpv.com
$68.95

Accessories

Happymodel Moxon 2.4GHz antenna for ExpressLRS TX module SMA plug for ES24TX Series For DIY FPV Racing Drone
Xt-xinte.com
$3.63

Accessories

FatShark Face Plate Frontplatte V2 mit Lüfter für die Fatshark Dominator kaufen | FPV24.com
Fpv24.com
See Site

Accessories

TATTU 2500mAh 2S1P 7.4V LiPo Battery DC3.5mm With LED Indicator Button For Fatsahrk Aomway Skyzone Eachine Goggles (7 builds)
Banggood.com
$24.95

Accessories

ESP8285 ESP-M3 integr. 8Mbit Flash WiFi WLAN Serial Modul +25 dbm Low Power 20µA
Amazon.de
See Site

Accessories

Androegg ESP8285 ESP-M1 integr. 8Mbit Flash WiFi WLAN Serial Modul +25 dbm Low Power 20µA
Amazon.de
See Site

Misc Supplies

AchilleΣ Plus for Eachine PRO58 / RealAcc RX5808 Pro Plus OSD
Achillesfpv.eu
See Site
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