TorqueFPV Hornet HD 3"

By CappyAmerica on Jun 29, 2020

18  889  2

The Hornet HD by TorqueFPV is lightweight micro quad designed around the Caddx Vista.

I used the Caddx Nebula camera with Vista. Because the Nebula is nano-sized, and the Hornet HD frame assumes a DJI camera (19x19), I had to use the nano camera bracket included with Nebula. The camera mount that comes with the Hornet HD frame is very thin printed TPU. This is mounted on two 20mm nylon standoffs, and the rear of the top plate is mounted with one 20mm nylon standoff. The Vista is attached using the 45 degree tabs on the top plate (which also serve as a mount for the TPU battery strap included with the frame kit). This mounting allows for the Vista to hang down just above the BetaFPV AIO FC (about 2mm clearance).

The BetaFPV AIO v3 ESC/FC fits perfectly, and has sufficient UARTS for using DJI even if you decide to use Crossfire. The BetaFPV AIO has a capacitor attached to the XT30, and I did not add any additional capacitors, however I did power the Vista directly from the battery leads instead of through VBAT pads on the AIO.

The Xing 1404 4600 on 4S give this little quad a real 5" feel, but after several flights, I think that the TPU camera mount is too thin and causes jello at high RPMs, so I made the following changes:

  • Replaced nylon standoffs with a M2 aluminum 23mm standoffs. This also will permitted shorter steel screws to fasten the standoffs to the top and bottom plate, and give some more clearance for Vista cooling (now about 4mm).
  • Switched to DJI camera to provide more rigidity in the TPU camera mount.
  • Switched to Avian 3x2.4x3 props added a little weight (now 115 grams), but the jello is now gone. The Gemfan Hurricane 3x1.6x3 were a little light for these Xing motors.

After replacing the 20mm nylon standoffs with the 23mm aluminum standoffs, the TPU camera mount seems a little more rigid. I also went back to the DJI camera because it fits better in the TPU camera mount and makes it more rigid as well.

Photos

Discussion

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-X3-   Jun 30, 2020  

With such motors you could try some higher pitch props like the HQprop 3x3x3 !
I use them on my Micro Martian with Emax ECO 1404 6000kv and it has some good punch !

CappyAmerica   Jun 30, 2020 

I switched to Avian 3x2.4x3 and those still give me about 6-7 minutes, while adding a little weight. Much smoother for these motors.

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