Unless stated Otherwise, All Frames and parts are all purchased with my own monies and I am not paid to make any endorsements or recommendations for a particular product, I just share my views on the subject matter.



Thought I would share my views on the Speed Addict 210-R FPV Racing Frame from Catalystmachineworks.


I went for the 4mm heavy duty version along with the added optional extra Gopro and Gopro session HD mounts.


This Frame is superb, The quality is simply amazing and the attention to detail is second to none.

The 4mm Kit comes with everything you need in terms of hardware for the frame to be built, you will of course need to supply all your own electronics .
Small things like blue anodised screws for the whole frame, including motor screws is a really nice touch.As is the FPV camera bracket and 3D mount , Ninja Flex RX holder. Also comes with RX antenna tubing.

The Carbon fibre is simply a sight to behold, beautifully finished and did not require any sanding on my part to make parts fit.

The frame is designed for certain pieces of hardware to give it that completed look ,as though everything is meant to be there not just stuck inside. Not only that but board cams will not fit, nor will a full size VTX.

It is worth noting that your electronic hardware needs to similar to the following.

1. PDB, I used The PDB as recommended by catalystworkmachines .The correct type of PDB is very important as the Battery cable needs to come out of the RHS of the frame and as such requires the Battery Pinout on the PDB to face that side, as well as the ESC pads facing front and rear of the frame. For those that do not want to look for the board, here is.  http://www.catalystmachineworks.com/coll...racing-pdb

2. A small VTX is also a requirement, I used the small Hawkeye vtx and fits perfectly, and I believe is recommended by catalystmachineworks. http://www.catalystmachineworks.com/coll...w-raceband

3. A HS1177 FPV camera is a must as the 3d bracket is designed for that particular camera. http://www.catalystmachineworks.com/coll...fpv-camera

4. Motors and esc's are your choice and so long as the esc's fit on the arms and still clearance for the PDB enclosure nuts on the top plate you will be fine.  This is all noted in the detailed build manual available online.

5. TX: again, this is something that needs to fit in the small areas of this frame and as such, anything like the Frsky D4R, X4R-SB and TFR4-SbB will fit easily and pretty much what the RX antenna holder is made for.


I recommend doing a dry build on this frame before you commit to cutting wires etc, as you really have to make this a super clean build, and excess wires will get in the way and of course will make the whole thing look messy.

The actual build does take some time as you have to solder pretty much everything with the PDB attached to the frame, and The PDB sits below the bottom plate in a kind a of PDB enclosure, which by the way also acts as a good flat platform to land on.

If you are not comfortable cutting wires and doing direct soldering to the PDB and Flight controller then this frame is probably not right for you, unless you can bribe a mate to build it for you.

There are really no hidden danger/warning areas that will catch you out so long as you follow the manual ,Very Important you do that.


My Hardware Specs:

Emax 2205 2300kV Red Bottom motors
DYS XM20A v1 ESC's
HS1177 FPV Cam
Hawkeye 200 mW VTX
ATAS PDB
SPRacing F3 flight controller
DAL TJ5045 Triple Props.
1300mAh 4S Bonka, Tattu Lipos


My AUW as you see it in the pics is 617 grams.



Here are a couple of completed build Pics.








I enjoy building, but have to say this was one of the most rewarding.

Running Betaflight 2.6.1
Airmode
Luxfloat


Test flight and hovering completed just waiting to do a proper FPV flight and tweaking the PIDs somewhat.

I highly recommend this frame in terms of quality, I cannot vouch for it's performance as yet, but if it fly's as good it looks I am sure it will be Awesome.

Check out CatalystWorkmachines here: http://www.catalystmachineworks.com/


I will post flight video once I have tuned to my liking and got a couple of good flights in.

She's quite a beauty ... great build.

I just received the same in BNF config ... only hovered in the foyer ... been raining something fierce. Extremely stable with zero drift.

(14-Apr-2016, 01:18 PM)almadillo Wrote: She's quite a beauty ... great build.

I just received the same in BNF config ... only hovered in the foyer ... been raining something fierce.  Extremely stable with zero drift.

Thanks, and you have a beauty there as well,

love your review and build log! I agree 100% what you said..

Only thing I don't like is the limitation on PDB..

The one they sell isn't the best and I often lost my OSD overlay when doing acro moves... Little bees are the ones to blame but the LC filter could have done a better job

Anyway, great frame and perform well

Awesome review, thanks Biggles! I'd recommend the FrSky XSR for tight builds like this one. Only one connector and a bit slimmer size.

Great review with great attention to important details. The frame is sharp and the build is flawless. You almost don't want to fly it and mess it up at all.
Regarding the PDB, could you not use a PDB the same size and route the power cord to the RHS? Or possibly one of PDBs with OSD like the QuadRevo or RedRotor OSD? I agree with Oscar and not really wanting to use that specific PDB. I'm sure there are worse, but there are many that are better. You have the first hand knowledge and would know if there is some kind of work around for this. Looking forward to the flight video.

(14-Apr-2016, 11:12 PM)Rook Wrote: Great review with great attention to important details.  The frame is sharp and the build is flawless.  You almost don't want to fly it and mess it up at all.  
Regarding the PDB, could you not use a PDB  the same size and route the power cord to the RHS?  Or possibly one of PDBs with OSD like the QuadRevo or RedRotor OSD?  I agree with Oscar and not really wanting to use that specific PDB.  I'm sure there are worse, but there are many that are better.  You have the first hand knowledge and would know if there is some kind of work around for this.   Looking forward to the flight video.

I got the Demon Core, Atas PDB and the Matek PDB around when I was building it... they either wound't fit, or looked awkward to work with... 
I will keep you guys updated if i find one PDB that works better! for now I will just hold my acro aggression haha

(14-Apr-2016, 01:52 PM)Oscar Wrote: Absolutely love your review and build log! I agree 100% what you said..

Only thing I don't like is the limitation on PDB..

The one they sell isn't the best and I often lost my OSD overlay when doing acro moves... Little bees are the ones to blame but the LC filter could have done a better job

Anyway, great frame and perform well

Guess I am a rogue. I used the RROSD PDB, and while it was a bit tight, it worked just fine for me. I also used a Aomway 200mw VTX and only had to 'circle" the cable extension to get a clean fit. My build is rock solid,

I do have a separate issue where my Video isn't being passed through the RROSD, (my whole reason for getting this PDB was the OSD). I ended up bypassing it so I could fly...man does this frame fly!

(17-Apr-2016, 03:15 PM)Hebrews12v2 Wrote: Guess I am a rogue. I used the RROSD PDB, and while it was a bit tight, it worked just fine for me. I also used a Aomway 200mw VTX and only had to 'circle" the cable extension to get a clean fit. My build is rock solid,

I do have a separate issue where my Video isn't being passed through the RROSD, (my whole reason for getting this PDB was the OSD). I ended up bypassing it so I could fly...man does this frame fly!

Have to agree, this frame sure does fly very very well. Love it

Wow! What a great review. Really happy you are enjoying our new frame. By the way, we have a 250-R version coming out soon for 6" props. Also, we are working on a 195mm "X" frame called 'The Stig'. The Stig is like nothing anyone has ever seen before. Quite a bit different than every existing frame by a long shot. 

(20-Mar-2016, 11:15 AM)Oscar Wrote: Interesting! going to share that !
In the video i don't see a stage where the lipos are charged before shipping. But they always come with storage charge, i wonder if they already possess energy right after assembly...

(21-Apr-2016, 02:23 AM)catalystmachine Wrote: Wow! What a great review. Really happy you are enjoying our new frame. By the way, we have a 250-R version coming out soon for 6" props. Also, we are working on a 195mm "X" frame called 'The Stig'. The Stig is like nothing anyone has ever seen before. Quite a bit different than every existing frame by a long shot. 

What's the timeline for the Stig? I am budgeted for next couple months to get a second Taranis and some kind of Goggles. But after that I would love to start my next build. Your 210-R is my favorite. I almost certainly will buy my next frame from Catalyst!

(21-Apr-2016, 04:05 PM)Hebrews12v2 Wrote: What's the timeline for the Stig? I am budgeted for next couple months to get a second Taranis and some kind of Goggles. But after that I would love to start my next build. Your  210-R is my favorite. I almost certainly will buy  my next frame from Catalyst!

Thanks! We are hoping to release her before the summer hits. For each new design I make enough prototypes to hand to all the team pilots. They test and give feedback on what needs to be revised. Then I take that info and alter design and we cut a production run. This method may be slower than some companies but it results in quality product. Our motto is quality not just spit out crap and call it a day.

(14-Apr-2016, 11:21 PM)Oscar Wrote: I got the Demon Core, Atas PDB and the Matek PDB around when I was building it... they either wound't fit, or looked awkward to work with... 
I will keep you guys updated if i find one PDB that works better! for now I will just hold my acro aggression haha

Mate, did you try this one from Diatone?? Looks really good but I don't know how the LC filter is, there are no comments at the moment.
http://www.banggood.com/Diatone-V8_3-LC-...52002.html