As title says - I just got this tiny FPV combo from TMART.COM (thanks Jack ) and here's few words about it. What to expect and some of MHO about it. So, without further ado lets get to it.
F-02 is one of the three Boldclash FPV combos. It's designed for micro multirotors such as Tiny Whoop Inductrix or Eachine E010 but it'll be also useful in any design where low weight is top priority.
Product page can be found here:
http://www.tmart.com/Boldclash-F-02-AIO-...56305.html
What's in the box:
BOLDCLASH F-02 comes in nice and sturdy cardboard box.
At the bottom we'll find frequency table with all available channels
First thing that shows up after lifting the lid is manual.
Interior is filled with thick foam to protect our precious electronics from harsh couriers
Buried deep inside the foam lies the combo - VTx, camera and two spare antennas.
The Equipment
Modular design of the Boldclash F-02 allows PCB's to be disconnected from each other and used separately. Such approach has its advantages and disadvantages. On the one hand, it allows some freedom in equipment placement on the FPV platform and makes it easier to connect external devices such as OSD or on-board recorder. On the other hand - that's two extra connectors that could be damaged during crash and extra cable means extra weight. It's not much but in micro quads every milligram counts.
Camera module dimensions: 14,9mm x 12,6mm which is almost as stated in the manual (14,2mm x 12,2mm).
"Almost" is caused by tiny bumps on the sides of the PCB - leftovers from production process.
Height with lens: 13,1mm
Weight: 1,6g
Camera module has single switch to flip the image upside down (short press) or to change camera mode between PAL and NTSC (long press). Current mode and image position is indicated by two green LED's
VTx dimensions: 17,2mm x 16,7mm x 5,8mm
Weight 2,62g
There's also switch on VTx module - long press selects frequency group, short press selects particular channel from the frequency group. Six blue LED's indicate selected freq group whereas eight green LED's show which channel is selected from the group.
Contrary to the current trends, supplied antenna is not a cloverleaf but sleeved dipole.
It seems that manufacturer aimed for increase in antennas damage resistance but by doing so, he not only forfeited benefits of circular polarization but also gave user tough choice - either replace commonly used CL antennas for linearly polarized whips or face signal loss due to mismatched polarization.
Antenna length: 25,4mm (48,3mm in total with cable)
Diameter: 5mm
Weight: less than half gram.
F-02 combo is supplied with two spare antennas but to make things harder, soldering pads are covered with some black goo.
Cable connecting both modules measures 32,7mm (w/o connectors) and weights less than 0,3g.
Whole combo weights 4,54g which is exactly as advertised
Tests:
According to the manual, F-02 accepts 2,9-5.5V which means it should work with 1s and typical BEC no problem.
Power consumption: 230mA@5V and 310mA@1s (approx. 3,7V).
Camera module is provided with 4,3V from VTx module (no load output = 4,45V).
Camera FOV is 118 deg. - pretty close to advertised 120deg.
Delay (with SKY-700D as receiver): 12/100 sec .
IR sensitivity – camera can see TV remote's IR LED so it seems that lens are not IR blocked.
Working temperature - after approximately 5 minutes, VTx reaches 60C and stays there so it is safe to perform some bench tests without additional cooling.
Advertised power output is 25mW. Let's see what we can achieve with such tremendous power.
Camera and VTx were placed on tripod. For the tests I used well known SKY-700D as receiver.
In the open (no obstacles, antennas can see each other perfectly) signal was crystal clear @100m.
For range test with obstacles I used building with two external and two internal walls.
Single wall poses no problem - image degradation insignificant
Two walls cause a little bit of snow
Three walls - strong signal degradation, image barely recognizable
Four walls - complete signal loss
Summary – IMHO Boldclash F-02 is a well built, nicely designed and (what's very important) properly described in the manual FPV set. Anyone who needs lightweight VTx/camera combo with broad frequency range won't be disappointed. Only noticeable drawback is the antenna as most 5.8Ghz FPV sets use circularly polarized antennas but taking into consideration that indoor environment is not "antenna friendly" - that dipole can be quite advantageous.
Below You'll find video version of this review. Video is in Polish but I added some translation - just enable the subtitles. It also contains some fun with this gorgeous FPV platform
F-02 is one of the three Boldclash FPV combos. It's designed for micro multirotors such as Tiny Whoop Inductrix or Eachine E010 but it'll be also useful in any design where low weight is top priority.
Product page can be found here:
http://www.tmart.com/Boldclash-F-02-AIO-...56305.html
What's in the box:
BOLDCLASH F-02 comes in nice and sturdy cardboard box.
At the bottom we'll find frequency table with all available channels
First thing that shows up after lifting the lid is manual.
Interior is filled with thick foam to protect our precious electronics from harsh couriers
Buried deep inside the foam lies the combo - VTx, camera and two spare antennas.
The Equipment
Modular design of the Boldclash F-02 allows PCB's to be disconnected from each other and used separately. Such approach has its advantages and disadvantages. On the one hand, it allows some freedom in equipment placement on the FPV platform and makes it easier to connect external devices such as OSD or on-board recorder. On the other hand - that's two extra connectors that could be damaged during crash and extra cable means extra weight. It's not much but in micro quads every milligram counts.
Camera module dimensions: 14,9mm x 12,6mm which is almost as stated in the manual (14,2mm x 12,2mm).
"Almost" is caused by tiny bumps on the sides of the PCB - leftovers from production process.
Height with lens: 13,1mm
Weight: 1,6g
Camera module has single switch to flip the image upside down (short press) or to change camera mode between PAL and NTSC (long press). Current mode and image position is indicated by two green LED's
VTx dimensions: 17,2mm x 16,7mm x 5,8mm
Weight 2,62g
There's also switch on VTx module - long press selects frequency group, short press selects particular channel from the frequency group. Six blue LED's indicate selected freq group whereas eight green LED's show which channel is selected from the group.
Contrary to the current trends, supplied antenna is not a cloverleaf but sleeved dipole.
It seems that manufacturer aimed for increase in antennas damage resistance but by doing so, he not only forfeited benefits of circular polarization but also gave user tough choice - either replace commonly used CL antennas for linearly polarized whips or face signal loss due to mismatched polarization.
Antenna length: 25,4mm (48,3mm in total with cable)
Diameter: 5mm
Weight: less than half gram.
F-02 combo is supplied with two spare antennas but to make things harder, soldering pads are covered with some black goo.
Cable connecting both modules measures 32,7mm (w/o connectors) and weights less than 0,3g.
Whole combo weights 4,54g which is exactly as advertised
Tests:
According to the manual, F-02 accepts 2,9-5.5V which means it should work with 1s and typical BEC no problem.
Power consumption: 230mA@5V and 310mA@1s (approx. 3,7V).
Camera module is provided with 4,3V from VTx module (no load output = 4,45V).
Camera FOV is 118 deg. - pretty close to advertised 120deg.
Delay (with SKY-700D as receiver): 12/100 sec .
IR sensitivity – camera can see TV remote's IR LED so it seems that lens are not IR blocked.
Working temperature - after approximately 5 minutes, VTx reaches 60C and stays there so it is safe to perform some bench tests without additional cooling.
Advertised power output is 25mW. Let's see what we can achieve with such tremendous power.
Camera and VTx were placed on tripod. For the tests I used well known SKY-700D as receiver.
In the open (no obstacles, antennas can see each other perfectly) signal was crystal clear @100m.
For range test with obstacles I used building with two external and two internal walls.
Single wall poses no problem - image degradation insignificant
Two walls cause a little bit of snow
Three walls - strong signal degradation, image barely recognizable
Four walls - complete signal loss
Summary – IMHO Boldclash F-02 is a well built, nicely designed and (what's very important) properly described in the manual FPV set. Anyone who needs lightweight VTx/camera combo with broad frequency range won't be disappointed. Only noticeable drawback is the antenna as most 5.8Ghz FPV sets use circularly polarized antennas but taking into consideration that indoor environment is not "antenna friendly" - that dipole can be quite advantageous.
Below You'll find video version of this review. Video is in Polish but I added some translation - just enable the subtitles. It also contains some fun with this gorgeous FPV platform