The Flying Monkey Chameleon

By Flying Aboo on May 22, 2017

5  401  0

A few minor changes to how I intended to build this. The Foxeer Arrow V2 is toast, I managed to crunch a SMD resistor when screwing the camera to the frame. Also the Arrow V2 took allot of cutting and filling away at the housing just to get it to fit. I will be replacing it with a Runcam Swift 2. I still intend on getting a TBS Unify in there, but the Eachine VTX fits in ok(after cutting off the SMA connector and soldering a pigtail to the VTX).

I opted to use a separate PDB even though the Betaflight F3 has one built in. It serves a few purposes, the BF F3 is a renowned for being hard to solder the ground wires to. It also made for a cleaner build when pairing it with 4 capacitors and I would rather have the pads ripped off a easy to replace PDB if the wires get yanked on than having to replace the FC. The only down side is the mah is not correct in the OSD.
I used insulation tape on the back side of the PDB and then double sided tape to stick it directly to the frame being very careful to make sure that it doesn't short out on the carbon. I then used steel M3 screws coming up from the bottom of the frame that go through the PDB into the anti vibration rubber mounts, then some rubber washers on top of the rubber mounts under the FC which is finally secured down with nylon nuts.

I had some 3mm red acrylic cut which I used tiny strips of double sided tape to stick on top of the ESC's and then heat shrink on each end to give them a little protection from prop strikes. The ESC's are stuck down to the arms using double sided tape, the motor wires are tapped to the arms with insulation tape and the ESC's wires are cable tied down(these will be replaced with black cable ties at a later date).

Photos

Part List

Frame

Chameleon (163 builds)
Armattanquads.com
$90.00

Flight Controller

Betaflight F3 Flight Controller (134 builds)
Hobbyrc.co.uk
See Site

ESCs

4X Racerstar RS40A V2 40A BLHELI_S BB2 OPTO 2-5S Brushless ESC Dshot 600 Ready for RC FPV Racing Drone (4 builds)
Banggood.com
$57.99

Motors

4X Emax RS2306 Black Edition 2400KV 3-4S Racing Brushless Motor For RC Drone FPV Racing Multi Rotor (19 builds)
Banggood.com
$77.49

Propellers

2 Pairs Gemfan Flash 5152 5.1x5.2x3 3 Blade CW CCW PC Propeller for 180 250 280 for RC Drone (31 builds)
Banggood.com
$3.92

Propellers

Lumenier T5050 Tri-Blade - Butter Cutter Propeller (2x CW + 2x CCW) - Transparent Black
Hobbyrc.co.uk
See Site

FPV Camera

Page Not Found - Banggood.com (23 builds)
Goo.gl
$51.86

FPV Transmitter

Eachine TX526 5.8G 40CH 25MW/200MW/600MW Switchable AV Wireless FPV Transmitter RP-SMA Female (120 builds)
Banggood.com
$12.92

Antenna

Aomway 5.8GHz FPV 4 Leaf Clover AV Transmission RHCP Antenna 1 Pair Blue Red w/Canopy For RC Drone (114 builds)
Banggood.com
$11.99

Receiver

FrSky XM Plus EU-LBT 16CH Tiny Receiver with SBUS (15 builds)
Hobbyrc.co.uk
See Site

Batteries

Turnigy Graphene 1300mAh 4S 65C Lipo Pack w/XT60 (112 builds)
Hobbyking.com
$20.99

Power Distribution

Matek Systems PDB-XT60 W/ BEC 5V & 12V 2oz Copper for RC Drone FPV Racing Multi Rotor (139 builds)
Banggood.com
$4.69

Misc Parts

Armattan Chameleon Arm Guards (TPU only)
Multirotorspares.co.uk
See Site

Misc Parts

Armattan Connector Saver (4 pieces) *Discontinued (4 builds)
Armattanquads.com
$2.00

Misc Parts

5cm RP-SMA Male to RP-SMA Female Right Angle Cable For FPV RC Drone (4 builds)
Banggood.com
$1.99

Misc Parts

TL-242 Thread Locker & Sealant Medium Strength (2 builds)
Hobbyking.com
$1.21

Misc Parts

4 x Panasonic Aluminium Electrolytic Capacitor 330μF 25V dc 10mm FM Radial Series, Through Hole Electrolytic, ±20%
Uk.rs-online.com
$1.40

Misc Parts

Amazon.co.uk
Amazon.co.uk
See Site
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