Taking a break from all the cinewhoop quads I just built, here is something a little different. I bought this frame at CNC Drones when they had a sale that included the carbon fiber upright and battery pad for free. I kind of miss placed the battery pad, so that is why it is not in the picture yet (I found the battery pad, so I was finially able take a picture showing the dry weight, 625g). This not the typical camera layout that I am use to and I am curious to see if there is much of a difference when the GoPro is mounted lower than the FPV camera.

The ESC was rotated so the power leads are pointing forward because I wanted XT60 plug coming up from the front. Initially I did not plan the ESC position this way but I was lucky that the length of the motor wires still works. So, I can rotate it forward or backward and it will still work. Plus, this also give me more room to place the capacitor too. To keep the motors wires clean I soldered the wires to the bottom of the esc, so now do not see any motor wires except the ones going in the bottom of the esc.

I also rotated the flight controller 180 degrees to match the ESC and now the wire harness will be on the same side. I guess I did not have to rotated it, but I might need a longer cable.

Here is the 3D printed XT60 holder I plan to use. Basically, I found some random XT60 holder on Thingiverse, and I remixed it to fit the FR7 frame. I also had to adjust the hole where the XT60 is inserted because the original design was too loose. Finally, I printed a mirrored version of the XT60 holder because the positive and negative is flipped on the ESC in relations to the position of the XT60 mount. Instead of the having the power crossed I can simply 3D print a mirrored version of the XT60 mount.

Since I plan to use mount the DJI Air Unit at the rear of the quad, the stand camera cable is way too short. I had to do some modifications in order to use the Caddx 20mm camera cable. First, I took some random spacer I had extra from a different build (3D printed blue spacer I used for a naked Caddx Vista conversion) and I used it on the Air Unit. I cut the spacer down the middle so it can be slipped over the cable. The spacer was thick enough to give it a tight friction fit to the Air Unit.

Since the rubber grommet for the camera was glued to the back plate and was destroyed when I tried to remove it, I 3D printed a replacement. Only one was needed but I printed some extras, just in case.

Here is how it looks like when it is all put together. In order for the 3D printed grommet to fit over the wire, I had to cut a slit down the middle of it so it can slip over the wire.

Next up is the GoPro mount. I really like the look of the one that RookieFPV created in thingiverse, and the best thing of all is that I did not need to modify anything. I wished he created one for the GoPro Hero 9/10/11 too.

I was debating if I wanted to double side tape the DJI Air Unit to the frame or 3D print something. As you can see in the picture, I chose the latter. Where did this mount come from? I was one of the 3D models for a Floss 2 race frame that I bought a long time ago. Since the distance between the 2 standoff (the width of the quad) are the same, this mount fit perfectly without any modifications. If you know anything about this mount, you might have notice that I am using it backwards. I had to use it that way because the rear antenna mount will need to be modified to share the use of the standoff. This mount will accommodate the Air Unit in either direction, so I just used the mount backwards. Another reason why I used a mount and instead of double side tape, is because the 3D printed mount gives me a gap on the bottom of the Air Unit to run some wires. That way it will keep everything nice and neat.

With the added NOS bottle, I think is will totally make this 7" quad "fly." :) For those who does not know, it is a sticker that you can buy from RDQ that you wrap around a 1000uf Panasonic 35v capacitor.

Update ( Mar 1, 2023) - BF 4.4.0 - BH 2507 1500KV

The first thing I changed was the XT60 mount because the angle was too steep and it made it difficult to plug in the battery. This new versions is 55 degrees and the previous version was 35 degrees.

I switched from a GoPro 7 Black to a GoPro 11 Mini and I remixed a mount that I used on the AOS 7 built to fit on the FR7 v6 frame. The nice thing about this case is that the GoPro is held in with a single clevis pin on the top of the case. Now, it is very easy to mount and remove the GoPro from the quad. You no longer need to slide the camera out of the tight TPU printed case.

I switched all the motors out to BH 2507 1500KV motors because I hope the smaller motors will increase the flight times.

Betaflight 4.4.0 with GPS Rescue

Videos

Test Flight (Turn OFF your speakers!!!)

Max Flight Time Test - 13 Minutes with CNHL 1800mah 6s Lipo