My last true build was back in 2015. After a long break from building, flying, and crashing, I’m back at it.  I’m going down the FPV racing road and having a blast flying FPV.  Having built a giant hexacopter in the past, I’m now building the exact opposite, a tiny tiny micro quadcopter with two inch props.

Frame

I found this iFlight iX2 frame on Amazon for $16.99.  It’s a 100mm frame built for two inch props and a micro FPV camera.

Electronics

• Flight Controller: Lumenier MICRO LUX V2 – F4 Flight Controller + OSD
• ESCs: Lumenier Mini BLHeli_S 12A 4-in-1 OPTO ESC DSHOT
• Receiver: FrSky XM+ SBUS
• Video Transmitter: AKK FX3 5.8GHz 25mW-600mW VTX with OSD
• Motors: BeeMotor 1108 5000KV brushless motor
• FPV Camera: RunCam Phoenix Oscar Edition 1000tvl 2.5mm lens
• FPV Antenna: Lumenier Micro AXII SMA 5.8GHz Antenna (RHCP)

Assembly

I haven’t done much soldering over the last few years, so it was a little tough to start back up on this build.  The electronics are all 20×20 mounts.  They’re very, very small.  So soldering wires to the pads on the flight controller was challenging.

I got the entire electronics stacked in the middle, but I’m probably going to need to rotate the FC 90 degrees to make it easier to access the USB port for configuration.

During assembly, when I’ve got the bird powered, the RunCam gets quite hot.  Not sure that’s normal or not.

I’ve got the receiver bound to my transmitter and I can arm the props.  I’m waiting on proper sized/powered batteries to fly it.  I strapped a 3S 450 on it but it was waaaaay too big.  I tried to liftoff with it but instead the props flew off and landed on my neighbor’s roof!

Maiden Soon

I hope to do a true maiden flight in the next couple of days.  Stay tuned.

I’m now in the middle of testing the ImmersionRC rapidFIRE 5.8GHz google module.

This module is a diversity (two antenna) receiver for Fat Shark goggles, and other products which are designed to accommodate this particular module architecture.

The module intelligently “predicts” analog noise and rebuilds the signal to avoid breakups in video quality, rolling, dropped frames and so forth.

The rapidFire is controlled via a 5-position joystick.  The stick allows the user to select features and change the configuration of the module, as well change channels.

I’ll be posting my full review in the coming weeks after I’ve had ample time to experience the module with varying setups and environments.

Stay tuned.

After a ton of research on FPV (first person view) video goggles I finally made the decision to go with the Fatshark HDO.  I’m diving into the world of flying FPV quadcopters designed for speed, agility and acrobatics.  This is a departure to the world I’ve been in with large GPS based, auto-leveled quadcopters and hexacopters.

The HDO is Fatshark’s “flagship” FPV goggles. They feature a new OLED display technology which produces more vivid colors, sharper images, and higher contrast ratios than other goggles.

In addition to simply being goggles, they have a built in DVR, cooling fan, rechargeable USB battery, carrying case, and more.

Not In The Box

Not included with these goggles is a receiver. So along with the goggles I chose the Lumenier rapidFIRE diversity module (red part with antennas in photo above). I’ll be reviewing that as well.

I’m in the midst of putting together the best setup and testing.  Stay tuned for the full review soon.