Exocet 3

By duffa123 on Jan 18, 2018

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Working on my first 3"...hoping for more flight time and thrust vs 2" without being as loud / big as a 5"

Update - build complete! Concept was to build a high performing 3" without sacrificing camera quality. For that outcome I chose the Sparrow frame paired with the updated T-Motor F20's for power and a Foxeer Predator Mini for vision. Initial flight in my garage suggests that I'm in for a eye-opening experience, even after flying my 1106 powered micro for some time. Will update after a proper maiden - hopefully this weekend...

Update - wow does this thing rip!!! Couldn't be happier with performance in terms of sheer thrust, stability and general ease of control. I started flying with the stock BF PID's and didn't have to change almost anything to get it flying like a dream. Absolutely love the Predator cam - great resolution and impressive dynamic range. The T-Motor F20's have proven to be extremely powerful with a nice usable torque curve that makes the quad feel almost "weightless." Overall, I'm very pleased with the outcome of this build and wouldn't really change anything based on initial flights. Oh, for those who care, this build came in at 158 grams; I was hoping to be sub-150 but the camera is just too heavy!

Photos

Part List

Frame	Banggood.com (18 builds) Banggood.com	See Site
Flight Controller	HGLRC XJB F428-TX20 V2 Omnibus F4 Flight Controller 28A 2-4S Blheli_S ESC 25/100/200/350mW VTX for RC Drone (27 builds) Banggood.com	$79.00
Motors	4 x Tiger Motor F20II 1408 3750KV Brushless Motor (16 builds) Getfpv.com	$71.96
Propellers	GemFan Flash 3052-3 (2CCW-2CCW) Choose Color (37 builds) Pirofliprc.com	$2.99
FPV Camera	Foxeer Predator Mini Camera 1000TVL Super WDR FPV OSD (106 builds) Foxeer.com	$41.90
Antenna	Lumenier AXII U.FL 5.8GHz Antenna (RHCP) (148 builds) Getfpv.com	$14.99
Receiver	Frsky XM+ Micro D16 SBUS Full Range Mini Receiver Up to 16CH for RC FPV Racing Drone Banggood.com	$13.69

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Discussion

Arise Jul 18, 2018

Do you know the weight of the aluminium top part (the canopy) with its screws and standoffs? Without the carbon base frame. Thanks!

duffa123 Jul 19, 2018

Weighed one last night and it came in at 21g with screws and standoffs.

aero528 Jun 05, 2018

Looks good! What capacitor did you put on the F428? I've not been able to find the size requirements.

duffa123 Jun 05, 2018

I used a 330 uf cap but that's probably on the small end; some people use caps as large as 1000 uf but they're quite a bit heavier and harder to fit

aero528 Jun 05, 2018

Thanks! I have some 330uf caps lying around, so ill put one of those on. Does it clean up the video, or do anything else?

duffa123 Jun 05, 2018

I'm not necessarily and expert, but as far as I know, the caps are primarily used to clean up video.

amplificus Jan 23, 2018

The build looks awesome! I almost got that frame, but was worried about reviews mentioning the camera options were limited. Glad you found a nice one that works. What battery are you using? I'm assuming 3S with the kv rating on the motors, but you know what happens when you assume...

duffa123 Jan 23, 2018

Thanks for the compliments - I really love the Predator although it is a fairly tight fit! I am currently using 80C 850mah 4S batteries and haven't had any over-heating problems whatsoever, even after aggressive flying. Based on what I've seen, this seems to be the common experience with the V2 F20's.

AXIOM72 Jan 18, 2018

How do you like the Foxeer predator cam. i was gonna try one over the runcam swift 2 micro.

duffa123 Jan 18, 2018

Looked great for the ~30 seconds that I flew it in my garage :) Once I've had time to run some packs through this guy I'll post an update with a more detailed evaluation.

duffa123 Jan 20, 2018

Update - did maiden flight today and absolutely loved the Predator. My reference for comparison is a RunCam Micro Sparrow and the Predator blew it out of the water in terms of picture quality, dynamic range and detail. I would absolutely recommend it but also probably worth looking into RunCam Eagle 2 Pro if you're looking for the best image quality.

TjayFPV Jan 18, 2018

That is good looking quad.

duffa123 Jan 18, 2018

Thanks - its certainly my best build. I might still try to clean up the RX antennas, but other than that, I was surprised how clean it turned out.

TjayFPV Jan 19, 2018

It is really clean. Great job :)

FreeKill998 Jan 18, 2018

how'd you get the aluminum to be grey?

duffa123 Jan 18, 2018

The frame was painted that color from the factory. If it looks more grey than other Sparrows, probably just the lighting :)

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