Here I am trying to throw together a list of parts that are affordable, yet gives you the performance required to build a competitive mini racing drone.
Most of the parts are selected from Oscar's 250 Mini quad parts list, and I have also added some of my own choice of parts.
I am sure there are many people like myself who are constrained to a tight budget so using expensive parts such as Cobra motors, KISS esc's, just isn't a feasible option. With race quads, the sizes generally range from 180mm to 300mm diagonally and what I've noticed recently is that 180's seem to be a fair bit cheaper to build than the more popular 250 size whilst still packing the performance we all desire.
There might be cheaper parts out there than what I have listed, but they might not perform as good. Also you may notice about this list is that I'm suggesting more powerful options than most beginners builds. I believe that as a beginner, having more available power (within reason) actually makes it easier to learn than on an under-powered craft. This also means you'll be buying all of your gear (batteries included) once, and once only and therefore making the entire learning process cheaper.
Frame:
Look for something that's made from real Carbon (if you're only paying $20 for it, you don't stand much of a chance of it being real carbon).
Buy something that's well supported and easily obtainable to you. Some frames worth looking at: QAV180, ZMR180, Tweaker 180, Airhog 180 and there's plenty of others out there too. Expect to pay between about $35 to $90 USD.
If have any question or want any suggestions just let me know.
Motors:
DYS1306 - 3100KV
Very basic little motors for 180 builds, works great on both 3S and 4S. Although personally I think it's pushing it a bit too much on 4S and might shorten life.
RCX 1306 3100KV Motor
Very similar to the DYS one, depends on which one you can get cheaper from where you are based.
DYS1806 – 2300KV
They've been around for ages, available everywhere, well built, cheap and fairly tough. Perfect for a learner with a 180 quad.
ESC (Electronic Speed Controller):
These devices are used to control the rpm of the motors. Each motor have one ESC.
DYS SN20A or BL20A
LittleBee 20A
The DYS SN20A Had some quality control issues a little while back but they are really cheap and size is very small and light. Active braking and OneShot compatibility makes these ESC's nice and fast to respond, resulting in a very stable (yet agile) quad. LittleBee performs even better, and they have a bit more higher quality also more expensive.
Expect to pay between $10-15USD each.
Flight Controller:
As the name suggest it is the main board which controls the flight of Quadcopter. It mixes the control inputs you give and turns them into logical commands for the motors. There are many of options here, depending on what you want to do with your quad but since this is a “racing” build, this should be a flight controller aimed at racing.
Naze32 Rev5
If you are looking for something that is simple, widely supported, and cheap, probably go for the Naze32 Rev5 (There are many other good boards, even better boards, but this is the mostly used and one of the cheapest). Anyway whatever board you get, just make sure it's 'cleanflight' compatible. Cleanflight is the software that's running on the flight controller, and it is arguably the best at the moment (Actually Betaflight is in terms of flight performance, but it's almost the same thing and compatible with the same boards).
There is also the Naze32 Rev6, but the 6500 Gyro isn't the best sensor and many people are finding this board hard to tune.
Props
4x4.5 Bullnose in either Gemfan or HQ. (Buy Lots!)
Some people prefer triblades because you get more thrust from them, but i think they are a lot less efficient, so you get less flight time. Also Triblades are very easy to break so it costs more and goes against the spirit of this post being cheap!
Batteries:
The battery is one the most important part of our Quadcopter. This is power source for the whole system.
One of the biggest differences between a 180 and a 250 quad is the size and cost of batteries that are required. For a 250 build, you would want batteries that are at least 1300mah in capacity and are 4s (have four individual Lipo cells, commonly referred to as 14.8v) and have a High C rating. This means you'd be up for at least $30 USD for each battery (and one or two just isn't enough, trust me!). Due to the smaller props on a 180 you don't put as much strain on the battery as you do with a larger build, so you can get away with cheaper batteries.
I use 1000mah 4s 25c Lipo packs for Hobbyking on my 180, and get between 4 and 5 minutes depending on how aggressively I fly. The best part is that these batteries are less than $10 each!
I see a lot of people also use 1500mah 4S too. They are a little heavier but gives you more flight time and probably more punch too.
Camera:
HS1177 or Runcam Sky.
At the moment, this is the camera of choice and I highly recommend you don't skimp on your camera. There are cheaper options out there, but they are CMOS instead of CCD which means they are prone to Jello ( from vibration which there will be lots of on your quad) and generally take a little longer to switch between light and dark situations which can end in disaster.
There was another discussion on the forum about which is the best FPV camera is these days.
VTX (Video Transmitter):
One thing worth noting with video transmitters is that there are maximum power regulations which vary country to country.
Normally you can get 25mW, 200mW and 600mW VTX. 25mw is more than enough for most races and has the advantage of being the lightest and the cheapest.
When choosing a VTX also look for:
• 32 channels - there are now raceband as well so the total channels go up to 40.
• Small form factor (180 frames won't give you much space)
I recently found this Hawkeye 200mW on the forum looks pretty great. It provides you the extension cable instead of the gold connector which save a lot of weight if you plan to use the extension lead anyway.
That's all! Let me know if you have any questions.
Happy flying!
I love to share and help people! Flying Mini Quad is the best!