Decided to wrap up all of the wiring, mounting & minor trimming of the rear TPU part tonight.

Stuff is in there tight. The VTX barely fits in between those standoffs. But it's in there solid.

There's a few areas that could use improvement. I'm calling this prototype revision -X1

Now is when I stress about "did I bend the MIPI too many times" or "are the U.Fl connectors properly mated (can't really check visually)" or "did I smash the U.Fl when pressing them together" or "did I pinch a wire between the FC and ESC" or etc. etc. etc.

Although the geometry of that rear TPU part perfectly guides the U.Fl connectors/cables towards the center.

Tomorrow will be the smoke test and if successful BetaFlight setup for the VTx 

Liquid electrical tape is real good for making sure that u.fl connectors stay properly attached to u.fl jacks, and that u.fl jacks stay on the board.

Fingers crossed for a short free power up and a successful maiden.

You’ve got this.

Thanks Lemony !

Yeah, now's a good time to pause and let all them wires get used to their new bend positions

I'll remember that liquid electrical tape tip. Those U.Fl's need all the help they can get. I'm hoping that metal bar does it's job.

Okay - Mini Modelo time !!!

Sweet!

Passed the smoke test

New VTX & RX cables wired correctly

Made the required BF changes.

Updated VTX from V28 to V32 (this is an older one for sure)

Had to invert the camera 180° so a quick menu fix and we're ready for some test flights

I don't think I'll miss the side plates with LED pipes TBH.

81g lighter without the RunCam 5 Orange and TPU mount !

This quad flies amazing now with lower latency video. Definitely a keeper.

Not 100% comfy yet with the video system. Had a glitch at the end of the very first flight. It paused for split sec, then came back, but the latency was being reported at 135ms until just before I landed. Also, I didn't notice after arming and taking off that the signal strength of the video dropped from 4 bars (in standby mode) to 3 for basically the entire flight.

VTX was set at 1000 setting, and this appears to be an older unit. Perhaps some of that flakyness I've read about when attempting 1000-1200 ?

The antennas could be shadowed by the lipo at times I guess. I had some Scottish tape around the antenna globes to keep them from bending outward into the props - maybe this detuned the antennas a bit? I've since moved the tape to the plastic tubes the coax is inside of.

Trying to convince myself to tear it apart and double check the seating of those U.FLs. I didn't get anymore glitching when set to 700, so trying to decide how concerned I am ...

With the short twin antennae parallel out horizontal (it looks), you're not getting the best of any diversity element. A decent angle between them so one goes better angle as the other fades is preferable. If you look at the DJI Air Units they always angle out markedly.

Read Oscar's setup, image................

https://oscarliang.com/wp-content/upload...r-unit.jpg

Cool - thanks Raven !

Yea, this is definitely not optimal. 90° is the goal. I may have to look for some special TPU designs, or make one myself. Problem with these iFlight frames (deadcat and X) is the motors are really close to the rear of the 'fuselage' and the props will chop anything that protrudes out on an angle.

Just haven't seen this behavior on my other non-optimal antenna mounted quad where both antennas are shrink wrapped together (clear shrink). But, there's only a 4S 600mAh sitting in front of them, not the larger 1300, so ....

Good thing I got the long distance 'bug' out of my system last year after upgrading my 3" to CRSF and TBS Sixty9. All of my flying now is close by comparison.

Heading out for a few more flights now that I've finished the chores

1/2 dozen more flights. Something's going on. It froze/skipped two more times.

Once in 1080p mode, 700 power units.
Once in 720p mode, 700 power units.

When I turned on high bit rate (50Mbps), and high frame rate (100fps?), keeping 720p and 700 power units, the freezing/skipping stopped.

3 or 4 (I forget) flights in a row with no skipping once high bit and frame rates were turned on.

Oh, tried changing channels, 1, 7, 3, etc. No difference.

I'm going to check and see if the videos recorded on the air-unit have the same skips. If not it's a transmission thing. If they have them, maybe a power issue (hooked up to BAT?).

Grrrrrrrr

I’d probably be taking a close look at those u.fl jacks to make sure antennas are plugged in. I’d also probably take one of those antennas and zip tie it to a standoff so that it’s standing vertically.

Right now you’ve got a null zone in a direct line from the back of the quad, and that’ll be pointed at you every time you’re flying away from yourself.

Edit- I use omnis and fly on the other side of my house and shop, which means my signal is going through a house with steel siding and a cinderblock shop, with WiFi blasting through out it and all around it, both from my router and multiple wireless surveillance cameras. The blocking of the signal from the battery is really negligible- I don’t think it’s your problem, I think the problem is null zones resulting from antenna placement that isn’t ideal because they’re both in the same orientation.

Edit edit- if I’m recalling omni antenna radiation patterns correctly, they’ve actually got a null zone not just going straight out the top, but straight out the bottom as well- which would mean that with your current setup, you’d be in that null zone both when you’re flying away from yourself and when you’re flying towards yourself.

Okay, the on-board recorded videos have the skips as well. I wonder if BAT/GND on that FC 9-pin connector is wonky. Could tie them right to the lipo ... or one of these 5v/9v regulators ...

What’s odd is my 3" has the antennas side-by-side, touching even, and shrink wrapped to each other, without any of this happening.

Yeah, I'm going to tear into the U.Fls and make sure they're connected properly.

It will be interesting to see if it acts up with the current settings after some more test flights.

U.Fl connections look good.  They are centered and pressed all the way down.

I re-routed the MIPI as well, eliminating a rather sharp bend where it exists the taped area at the VTX.

I'll see how things continue to play out over some more test flights.  

I like flying with high frame & bit rates, but the recorded videos (goggles & air-unit) are compressed timewise and don't sync up to my audio recordings I originally thought selecting high frame rate (100fps) would result in 100fps video, nope, still 60fps, and not as 'smooth'.

Are they touching the case?

Yep - they have to be rotated as far as they will go.
You thinkin’ a grounding issue ?