Blue Bayou

By Hypurr on Nov 10, 2017

7  443  0

Final Update: This thing flies great, smooth and fast. Tough, too. It's hit the ground and other things more than a few times and everything has held up well, just battery straps and props were causalities so far. Camera/VTX/antenna combo work well together. Very happy with this build. On to a tiny one now.

Update 2: Got the camera in yesterday and installed it last night. Everything is working great so far but the real test will be this weekend. So far the little inline filter for the VTX power seems to work fine. I wasn't seeing any interference issues when arming the motors and applying throttle but I won't really know until I give it a proper test. I still am trying to find a more permanent way to mount the receiver antennas but this temporary way will at least give them some protection.

Update and new photos:
Got the FC installed and setup. Had a few issues, motor 3 gave me fits until I calibrated the ESCs and getting SBUS to work took a little trial and error but everything worked fine in the end. Took my first test flight today and after getting an incorrect rotation worked out and TX calibrated in BF, it flew great. FC is working good and I didn't notice any weirdness flying LOS.

Camera and VTX should be in this week and then the real test will begin.

Previous updates:
My latest build. Just got the FC in today and should be doing testing and configuring this weekend. There are still a few parts to choose, this frame makes you think long and hard about how to get things to fit, especially when you are stubborn and refuse to put the ESCs on the arms of the frame. I think I have everything worked out and will add more as my progress continues.

To make the receiver fit I removed it from its case and depinned it. I needed the antenna wires to be shorter and come out the same side as the wires so I looped them around then shrink wrapped it. This made it just small enough to fit where I want it.

Photos

Part List

Frame

Crazepony GEPRC GEP-LSX5 Frame X230 Carbon Fiber FPV Frame with Output 5v 3A and 12V 0.5A BEC PDB for Racing Drone QAV-X210 QAV-
Amazon.com
$63.99

Flight Controller

Lumenier ALPHA AIO Flight Controller (F4 FC, 4x 30A BLHeli_32 ESC, OSD, PDB, Curr) (22 builds)
Getfpv.com
$69.99

Motors

4 x LDPOWER FR2305 2300KV Brushless Motor - $19.81 |GearBest.com
Gearbest.com
$79.24

Propellers

DAL 5045 Blue V2 Propellers 3-Blade Bullnose "Indestructible" 4XCW and 4XCCW Ideal for 250mm-310mm Quadcopter, Racing,
Amazon.com
$12.97

FPV Camera

RunCam Swift 2 FPV Camera Integrated OSD MIC, 600TVL DC 5-36V WDR NTSC Full Size Cam for FPV Drone and RC Hobbies, Black (32 builds)
Amazon.com
$32.99

FPV Transmitter

AKK X1P 5.8Ghz 25mW/200mW/600mW Switchable FPV AV Transmitter with Pigtail for FPV Racing Drone (17 builds)
Amazon.com
$14.99

Antenna

RC-group 2pcs 5.8G FPV Antenna EMAX Pagoda 2 Antenna Omnidirectional Transmitter 50mm Flat Panel Antenna 5dBi RHCP SMA Male Red (4 builds)
Amazon.com
$19.99

Receiver

Turnigy iA6C PPM/SBUS Receiver 8CH 2.4G AFHDS 2A Telemetry Receiver (7 builds)
Amazon.com
$16.95

Batteries

ZOP Power 14.8V 1800mAh 65C 4S Lipo Battery XT60 Plug (12 builds)
Banggood.com
$19.99

Batteries

Turnigy nano-tech 1300mAh 4S 45~90C Lipo Pack
Hobbyking.com
$19.60

Power Distribution

L-C Power Supply Filter 1A 16V Input for Indoor and Outdoor FPV Mini Racing Drone 2pcs by Crazepony
Amazon.com
$6.99

Radio

FrSky Taranis Q X7S Radio w/ Upgraded M7 Hall Sensor Gimbals (Carbon Fiber) (25 builds)
Getfpv.com
$187.99

Goggles

Fat Shark Dominator HD3 Core FPV Goggles (87 builds)
Getfpv.com
$399.99

HD Camera

GoPro HERO5 Session (303 builds)
Getfpv.com
$199.99

Misc Parts

25ft - 1/4 inch Flexo PET Expandable Braided Sleeving - BlackBlue - Alex Tech Braided Cable Sleeve
Amazon.com
$7.99

Misc Parts

Matek Systems 90dB 5V Loud Buzzer Lost Model Beeper Built-in MCU for CC3D Naze32 F3 F4 Flight Controller and PPM Receiver (3 builds)
Amazon.com
$6.90

Video Receiver

Furious True-D Diversity Receiver Module 5.8GHz System V3 Firmware 3.9 (30 builds)
Getfpv.com
$62.99

Radio Module

FrSky R9M Transmitter Module (69 builds)
Getfpv.com
$49.99

Accessories

FrSKY 900MHz Super 8 Antenna for R9M and R9M Lite Module - FCC Version
Rotorgeeks.com
$20.24
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