Inspired by u/uavfutures, I've set out to build yet another $99 quad, this time with a look that would make Edward Cullen jealous.
This being my first ground-up build I had to use every resource available to put Goldy together in the least smoky fashion. H/T to UAVFutures, Oscar Liang, the Propwashed crew, Bardwell, and the immortal Project Blue Falcon. Without their expertise the hidden obstacles and pitfalls in a build like this would be enough to turn everyone away but the most stubborn builders.
2 takeaways, from this build:
- The Omnibus F4 Pro Power-In wire routing was tricky, not sure it was worth the tangle of wires and solder pads to get the current sensor to work, but it felt like a great achievement getting it to work without anything burning up.
- Don't pot any solder connections with hot glue until you have everything together and sorted. After wiring up my ESC's to the FC and testing the motors (with a SmokeStopper (TM)) I discovered the #1 & #3 motors were turning the wrong way. Positive I followed the wiring diagram supplied by RacerStar I had potted all connections. Well, it takes a while to clean everything off enough with a blade, not to mention breaking and re-soldering the connections. Time that could've been dedicated to other pursuits...
It looks good on the bench, lipos are charged, maiden later today!
Post maiden report:
Flys pretty well, hell of a lot more power than what I was used to with the ARFs I've flown. PID tuning went OK, but ultimately ended the day, after 5 packs, when tuning roll. Rolled over into the ground from about 8 feet up, heard something pop on impact. Screws in the standoffs stripped out, the ones included with the kit are pretty short, and there was a little crack in the top plate. Quick fix there, nothing else seems like it broke. Motor test OK, VTX and camera still functioning.
Other issues:
- FPV camera seemed pretty cheesy, dull, fuzzy picture even when compared to the AIO cam I can on my whoop. Could be the mounting technique I used screwing the flex mount to the front plate. As the plate is just slotted into the frame it vibrates quite a bit, hot glue will be an addition upon reassembly.
- More seriously, ESC calibration was off causing motors to spin up at different rates from low throttle. This lead to some wheels off flying after high speed climbs. I tested this high enough from the deck that it never lead to a big impact, but this will need to be sorted out. Also noticed that motors wouldn't get to speed until ~40% throttle, making take-offs fairly interesting.
Overall pretty happy with the build, I'd recommend a better camera, and a different RX antenna mounting style. Happy flying!
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Part List
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Try hot gluing the camera to the bottom plate, than zip tie it down to the frame. It worked on an old zmr250 i have
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i am not able to mount the camera not screwa came with it and zip tieing it down is not possible
I used something like this:
https://www.banggood.com/LANTIAN-Mini-Adjustable-Fixed-Base-FPV-Camera-Mount-for-Racing-Lens-p-1231995.html?rmmds=search&ID=223
Then I drilled some holes in that camera plate at the front to screw the mount to. After you get things buttoned-up I would recomend putting some hot glue in the slots that that face plate goes into in order to keep the camera steady.