PicklePick 35 HDZ Max - possibly the ultimate HDZero toothpick

By caffeine goat on Sep 07, 2022

15  517  1

I'm too lazy to write this one up properly, so I'll limit it to a loose list of bulletpoints.

  • Successor to my PicklePick 35 HDZ Lite build - not holding back this time, going all out.
  • 3.5mm thick 3.5-inch PicklePick 2019 frame.
  • Matek diversity ELRS receiver, antennas taped to the underside of the back arms.
  • Capacitor sticking out back to clear the props since no space inside the canopy. It feels solid like that, but in subsequent builds I will put it on 24AWG wires and tape it to the power lead in the same position it is now, just to protect the legs from breaking if the battery gets jerked in a crash.
  • 19x19mm canopy variant for the HDZero Micro v2 camera. If I knew that the Nano v2 was about to come out I'd go with a Hyperlite Toothpick canopy instead as it's just plain better.
  • Holes in the AIO are widened to make it fit on the non-standard 26.5x26.5mm BetaFPV-style mount. Might not work with some FCs, namely those with magnetometer pads on the edge of the PCB next to the mounting holes.
  • VTX uses the DJI air unit plug for easy maintenance - the whole top assembly with the canopy, camera, antenna, and the VTX comes off as one part and gives access to the FC.
  • BlueJay ESC firmware.
  • 4S 450mAh Lipos.
  • 150g AUW. Doesn't feel floaty anymore.
  • It's a rocket.
  • With heaps of range (for a toothpick).
  • Zero frame resonance and little to no gyro noise.
  • Actually flies well with the default Betaflight tune this time.
  • Tune is at the point where it feels solid and precise. Betaflight screenshots with PID sliders and filters below. One thing left is to tune the dynamic idle.

The experimentation continues - the v3 will feature 6S 520mAh Lipos, the Pickle Toothpick 2022 4" frame, possibly a wider-than-stack canopy, and the Avatar VTX.
Also upcoming: a very experimental 5" 2S Lion sub-250g long range/endurance toothpick with projected cruise times of over 30 minutes (a pessimistic projection).

Bonus video: DVR from the first flight that got me that gyro graph.
Bonus video 2: Looking for any signs of bounceback or propwash.
Bonus video 3: Testing it with a Go 2 ziptied on top. Stabilised in Gyroflow, flown with LiHV batteries of the same weight.

Photos

Part List

Frame

PicklePick (4 builds)
Cncdrones.com
$10.00

Flight Controller

JHEMCU GHF405 PRO Bluejay 40A 3-6S AIO Whoop Flight Controller (10 builds)
Pyrodrone.com
$66.99

Motors

4 x iFlight Xing2 1404 3000KV Motor (2 builds)
Pyrodrone.com
$63.96

Propellers

Avan Scimitar 3.5x2.8x3 3528-3 Propeller 2CW+2CCW Red (9 builds)
Pyrodrone.com
$2.99

FPV Camera

HDZero Micro Camera V2 By Runcam (13 builds)
Pyrodrone.com
$50.00

FPV Transmitter

HDZero Whoop HD Video Transmitter By Divimath (25 builds)
Pyrodrone.com
$49.99

Antenna

TBS Triumph Pro (U.FL RHCP) (32 builds)
Pyrodrone.com
$19.95

Receiver

Matek ELRS R24-D 2.4GHz Receiver (16 builds)
Pyrodrone.com
$19.99

Batteries

Tattu 450mAh 4S 75C LiPo Battery - Long Size XT30
Getfpv.com
See Site

3D Printed

Pickle Canopies for Toothpick style micro fpv quad (14x14 and 19x19) by ledroneclub (4 builds)
Thingiverse.com
See Site

Misc Parts

HDZero MIPI Cable 40mm (4 builds)
Pyrodrone.com
$6.00
Show stores (4)

Discussion

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caffeine goat   Oct 26, 2022  

The build has been moved to Avatar 1S VTX, the page will no longer be updated.

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