These are all parts that have been sitting in bins so I decided to get a frame and see what happens. The stack is from my old iFlight Cinebee HD and still have the Cinebee motors attached in the pic. I will remove those to use the Mambas. I have already been informed that the motors I will use are undersized, but for my flying style, and using low pitch bi-blade props, I think I will be ok. I will definately be checking the motors for overheating on the first test flights.

Components of the build:
Frame - Armattan Tadpole 3" Micro Frame - 19.5g
Motors - Diatone Mamba Toka 1202 6500KV - 4.9g ea
Props - HQ Prop T3x1.5 Durable Bi-Blade 3" - .78g ea
FC - iFlight SucceX Micro F4 16x16 Stack/Combo (F4 FC, 15A 4in1 ESC, 25-200mW VTX) - 7.7g
RX - FrSky R-XSR 2.4GHz Micro Receiver - 1.5g
VTX Antenna - HGLRC Mini Hammer 5.8GHz U.FL Antenna RHCP - 2g
Camera - Caddx Ant Nano 1200TVL CMOS PAL/NTSC FPV Camera (1.8mm) - 2g
Weight W/O Battery - 55.42g






I have just started but will be updating as I go along...

I’m curious to see how this one flies.

Its coming along a little quicker than expected. This is a whole lot easier than working on little whoops... First time ever soldering motors in. Just need to finish assembly and figure out how to secure the antennas.There is a slot for the VTX antenna, so it should just be the RX antennas...

Great job for your first solder!! My first one was uneven lengths all over the place lol. I can't zoom into the images so just make sure absolutely no stray solder is bridging any of the pads.

As for the antennas, I typically just used zip ties to the arms and heat shrink the antennas to them. But due to the orientation of the RX, one will be shorter than the other. Or you could zip tie to the tail and the difference in lengths will be less apparent - just keep them away from the VTX antenna.

Well its ready for Betaflight to make sure everything is set up right including motor direction.

For soldering I picked up one of these (Hako FX-901)  a couple of years ago because my Weller soldering station did not have a tip small enough to work on whoop boards. It has a very fine tip and works superb.
https://www.amazon.com/Hakko-FX-901-Cord...8779&psc=1

The base of the VTX antenna clamped perfectly between the back of the top plate, and the rubber antenna holder. For the RX antennas, I used pieces of antenna tube and hot glued, zip tied them to the bottom of the back arms.

I don't see any solder between the motor pads but will check with my meter to verify there are no shorts.

Looks great!

Hi Brett,

Nice Looking Build     Good Job 

Unfortunately, when I connected to Betaflight to check motor direction, one of the motors isn't working properly. I don't know if its the FC or a motor as I haven't had the chance to troubleshoot it and honestly am fed up with problems with these things so it is just going to sit until I am in a much better mood.

This is one of the main reasons that I use connectors on my motors.
It is a Royal PAIN in the A** to unsolder two motors just to see if the
issue is with a motor or the FC. I had this issue with on of the FC
boards on my Rescue Quad. Since I have the motors on MR30
connectors, I simply swapped two of the motors and determined
it was the FC. I was actually glad that it was the FC because I do 
NOT have any spare motors.

For small motors, I use the standard JST 1.25 3 pin which actually 
comes installed on some of the motors and is what is used on tiny 
whoop FC boards if they have connectors.

For medium motors, I use standard Servo connectors. I have used 
these on everything from 1404 to 2203 motors with no problems.
Some say they are not the best, but they have always worked for
me. An advantage over other connectors is that they are NOT keyed
so you can unplug, flip over, and plug back in to change the motor
direction.

For BIG motors such as the 2407s that I have on my Rescue Quad,
I am using the MR30 connectors {yes, they are keyed}. These are
basically a 3 pin XT30 and will handle high current draw.

I know that a lot of folks say that there are issues with connectors
on the motors, however, I have NOT found any. They don't come
apart, they don't "short out", no issues. Ok, they do weigh something
so there is that, but as of this date I have not found that to be an
issue. 

Now, if there is a special case, I might solder the motors directly to
the FC, but that is rare. Plus, I absolutely HATE soldering anything
on the FC when it is installed in the quad even motors. I solder
everything on the bench, then install the whole thing as a package
like you have done with this build.

Anyway, just my thoughts   

I have done lots of soldering in my days and that part only takes me a couple of minutes. That doesn't bother me so much. What really bugs me is the fact that something went bad, and now have to pay more money to replace something. It seems most of the stuff that makes up our quads is just cheap china made crap...

Great looking build! I sooo understand that feeling.  I find the quality of my work degrades as my level of irritation rises. The point of diminishing returns comes fast, so I just set it aside until I actually want to work on it again...

(19-Aug-2022, 11:21 AM)iFly4rotors Wrote: I absolutely HATE soldering anything
on the FC when it is installed in the quad even motors. I solder
everything on the bench, then install the whole thing as a package
like you have done with this build.

The pic above with the motors attached to the ESC board, are the old Bee motors from the Cinebee. I desoldered those and mounted the stack to the frame and then soldered the new motors. I did it that way so I knew how long the new motor wires had to be. After spending a couple of years soldering on whoop boards, soldering the motors while mounted was a walk in the park...

(19-Aug-2022, 09:03 PM)drumgod Wrote: Great looking build! I sooo understand that feeling.  I find the quality of my work degrades as my level of irritation rises. The point of diminishing returns comes fast, so I just set it aside until I actually want to work on it again...

I am getting to the point where I am just going to purchase BNF quads. I love flying, not troubleshooting, or really building for that matter. This build was just to use parts that I had sitting except for the frame... Now its going to sit for some time!

Personally, I think that is really the way to go...BNF.  My first three brushless,
open prop, quads were BNFs; TinyHawk Freestyle (original, not the II),
GEPRC Phantom (analog), Flywoo XBot3. The XBot3 died after a few flights,
but the other two are still flying. I also have a BefaFPV Meteor 65s BNF which is
still going strong. I also picked up a second Phantom after losing the first one.

For the most part, I build to get someting that I can not buy. However, I also 
enjoy the building part of it. At this point, I have a lot of things in the parts bin
so I could potentially build several quads without buying anything...or maybe 
just a specific item that I want.

That said, all of the quads that I have built {the ones that I have not lost} are
also still flying except those that I have dismantled for the parts which are now
in another quad. No problems, No issues. Even the BetaFPV and iFlight FCs have
worked fine with no issues. So, I really can't complain about the parts that I have
used, nor the quality. Maybe I am just lucky.

It has really only been the last couple of JHEMCU boards that have had {what
appears to be} hardware problems or bad components.

UPDATE:

After the move to a new house, I am now back working and able to spend money again...

I am pulling the motors, FC, and Ant camera from the build as I have still not had the time (or desire) to troubleshoot them. There is no problem with the Ant camera, I just want more resolution.
I have ordered two different sets of motors, a whoop style FC and a Foxeer Nano Toothless 2 camera. The Toothless is going to be my new "go to" camera as it has a 1/2" sensor and shows better detail. I also ordered a few new batteries going by what iFly4rotors has said about them. Gaoneng GNB 1100mAh 3S 11.4V 60C/120C Lipo.

These are the new parts for the build:
Armattan Tadpole Whoop AIO Board Bracket Kit
DarwinFPV ELRS2.0 F411 15A Bluejay Ultralight/Whoop AIO
RCINPOWER GTS 1204 8000KV Motor
RCINPOWER GTS V2 1207 7500KV Motor
Foxeer Nano Toothless 2 Standard 1.8mm Lens FPV camera 1/2" Sensor
HappyModel Diamond 25x25 25-200mW 5.8GHz VTX w/DVR
Foxeer Micro Lollipop 5.8GHz U.FL Antenna

I am going to try the 1204 8000KV motors first. I think they should work well for what I am looking for which is something to easily carry the "Thumb Pro" and still get longer flight times. The 1207 7500KV motors weigh less than half a gram more each which would be almost twice the power for under 2 grams added weight.
For props, I am going to start out with 3" Bi-Blades as they are quieter and give better flight time (usually).

I am still awaiting the parts but will update as I go along.
Here's hoping for no more problems...