Armattan Gecko 3

By freejack on Jul 04, 2020

12 826 3

Armattan Gecko performance build. No measures where taken to make this build lightweight -- chasing grams using Armattan's Gecko frame would be the wrong choice anyway.

iFlight Xing 1408 3600KV together with Aikon 35A V2 4in1 ESC equipped with metal heat spreader deliver robust performance.
This ESC can only mount sideways in the Gecko frame, otherwise the discharge pads won't have room. It's not too bad after all -- motor cable routing came up quite clean.

Front stack features RunCam split DVR, TBS Unify Pro32 VTX mounted on the 20x20 stack mount together with the RX.
The remaining amount of free space between cam and front stack is used to squeeze in the Vifly Finder 2 buzzer.

This results in a solid dry weight of 180g. No, this build will never be even close to sub 250g...

With T3056C props this Gecko flies 4+ m even with a 4s 650mAh, 850mAh are obviously a better fit. Everything stays cool -- F4 flight controller, ESC and motors. Sound is quite aggressive, some 5" are more subtle.

Photos

Part List

Frame	Gecko (66 builds) Armattanquads.com	$75.00
Flight Controller	Aikon F4 MINI2020 + OSD (5 builds) Drone-fpv-racer.com	See Site
ESCs	Aikon AK32PIN 4-in-1 35A 6S 20x20 "VERSION 2" (11 builds) Pyrodrone.com	$64.99
Motors	iFlight 4pcs XING 1408 3600KV 2-4S Brushless Motor for 130-180mm FPV Racing Drone Micro Quadcopter (Unibell) (7 builds) Amazon.com	$1.00
Propellers	2 Pairs Dalprop Cyclone T3056C 3056 3-blade Propeller for RC Drone FPV Racing Multi Rotor (4 builds) Banggood.com	$2.62
FPV Camera	RunCam Split 3 Series (89 builds) Shop.runcam.com	$69.99
FPV Transmitter	TBS Unify Pro32 Nano 5G8 V1.1 VTx Video Transmitter (400 builds) Pyrodrone.com	$29.95
Antenna	2pcs Foxeer Lollipop 85.5mm 5.8G 2.3dBi RHCP UFL Super Mini FPV Antenna Red/Black For RC Drone (106 builds) Banggood.com	$19.99
Receiver	FrSky XM+ 2.4GHz Micro ReceiverDefault Title (1149 builds) Racedayquads.com	$15.99
Misc Parts	ViFly Finder 2 Buzzer - Lost Drone Finder/Locater/Alarm (174 builds) Racedayquads.com	$14.99

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Discussion

DoubleJackOnTap Jul 04, 2020

Nice! Thats how a Gecko should be - stuffed. I think they fly better with the extra weight. Mine is similar and flies like a 5”. Harder to tune but tons of fun.

freejack Jul 04, 2020

BF 4.2 with RPM filtering runs already quite OK with stock PIDs. Roll tracks really fine, pitch has some minor bounce back -- expected this due to the asymmetry along the axes . The Aikon FC has logging, so this will ease the tune.
It won't become a jello free cine whoop for sure, especially not with a RC Split. But hell yeah, it's really so much fun to fly this beast.

DoubleJackOnTap Jul 05, 2020

BF 4.2 with RPM was a huge improvement for mine. I dont have logging so unfortunately i haven't been able to use that to tune out all the shakes. Still one of my favorites.

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