Hi all! My fist post here

I build a 3.5" drone! Still waiting on props and half way through configuring Betaflight.

Frame:  FlyFishRC Volator VX3.5
Motors: Mamba Toka 2004 – 2900KV (I could not find recommended 1804 size motors, AU market is dry on those)
Props: HQprop T3.5x2.5x3GR-PC-1.5mm shaft
VTX:     DJI O3 Air Unit
Power: 6S 650mah battery
RX:   RadioMaster RP1 ExpressLRS 2.4ghz Nano
GPS: Foxeer M10Q 180 GPS with 5883  mag
FC:   SpeedyBee F745 AIO R.I.P. Mamba MK4 F740 AIO WIFI now

Weight AUW:  340g with 6S 650mah Dogcom battery.

What PIDs setting in latest Betaflight would you recommend, please?
Also, can it qualify as Racer? Will it race? lol 
I will be learning Acro flying on this, total noob here.

Wow, that looks like a beast.

Thanks! My capasitor disconnected and I just blew the AIO ESC Poor soldering skills.

Ordered Foxeer F745 AIO meanwhile.

Now comes the weird part.

Foxeer F745 AIO comes in four official varieties and one hidden

Official ones:
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Foxeer Reaper AIO V4 F745 MPU6000 35A Bluejay BLS 2-4S (SKU: MR1811)
https://www.foxeer.com/foxeer-reaper-aio...2-4s-g-542
Gyro: MPU-6000
Target BF: FOXEERF745V4_AIO

Foxeer Reaper AIO V3 F745 45A BLS Bluejay 2-6S (SKU: MR1687)
https://www.foxeer.com/foxeer-reaper-aio...2-6s-g-454
Gyro: ICM-42688-P
Target BF: FOXE-FOXEERF745V3_AIO

Foxeer Reaper AIO V2 F745 45A BLS Bluejay 2-6S (SKU: MR1671)
https://www.foxeer.com/foxeer-reaper-aio...2-6s-g-439
Gyro: BMI-270
Target BF: FOXE-FOXEERF745V2_AIO

Foxeer Reaper F745 45A BLS 2-6S AIO BetaFlight Inav (SKU: MR1659)
https://www.foxeer.com/foxeer-reaper-f74...inav-g-376
Gyro: MPU-6000
Target BF: FOXEERF745_AIO

The hidden one (SKU: MR1789):
------------------------
SKU: MR1789 is NOT listed on Foxeer website!

Foxeer Reaper AIO V4 F745 MPU6000 45A Bluejay BLS 2-6S (SKU: MR1789)
https://www.nextfpv.com.au/products/foxe...y-bls-2-6s
Gyro: MPU-6000
Target BF:  FOXEERF745V4_AIO

Also ran:
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Aikon F7 AIO Board - BMI270 F7 FC + 60A 3-6S
F745 is faster than F722

My ESC issues. Will be continued

Very interesting. Will be looking forward to seeing how yours pans out. I mentioned to mstc about building something similar and he mentioned this thread. Mine would be based on the slightly larger 2104 motors, but same frame, probably a 30A stack, for an overall freestyle type quad with crazy levels of thrust. Rough estimates for mine would be maybe 12:1 thrust ratio based on a 250g AUW.

Wow, full on, high quality build for your first!

Please get one of those spike absorbers/filtering capacitor things from matek(or similar): Voltage Spikes Filter, XT60-TVS (set of 5) – Matek Systems
I had a foxeer AIO (v2) and blew the mosfet drivers on it from a 6S setup.  I would reccomend a spike absorber.

For PIDS.  Start with uavtech 3" PIDs for BF in the presets area.  That's a good start.

Make sure your CPU status in BF configurator isn't too high.  

Leave rates stock for now as you learn.  Try to go into acro mode ASAP, horizon/angle mode is for dji pilots.  You will only need to unlearn angle if you stay in it for too long.

Take it easy and do things step by step, verifying as you go.  This hobby is a killer for compounded problems that are hard to isolate and fix.

Well done on your first build being top notch.   My first build was a piece of shit, lol...

Leave your O3 camera on auto settings for now, let it deal with exposure, etc. Just set a nice resolution that you are happy with. Don't worry about latency, being new to the hobby you will have that built into your motor actions/feeback loop eyes/hands, etc...

(09-Dec-2023, 11:19 PM)Pathfinder075 Wrote: Very interesting.  Will be looking forward to seeing how yours pans out.

Thanks! I swapped AIO to Mamba MK4 F740 AIO WIFI. Soldering stuff back right now. Mamba AIO looks nicer, its smaller, BL-Heli32, not Heli-S. It has 2 PCBs stacked, height is higher, but capacitor still fits on top, barely lol.

(09-Dec-2023, 11:19 PM)Pathfinder075 Wrote: Mine would be based on the slightly larger 2104 motors 

... right when I thought mine were too big :)

(09-Dec-2023, 11:44 PM)ph2t Wrote: Well done on your first build being top notch.   My first build was a piece of shit, lol...

Lol! Its not my first build, previous one is 7" LR, but I cannot learn Acro on it, too big, hence this Whoosh. And I made some stupid ones with Pixhawks/Ardupilot, until I found Betaflight. I still have pending TAROT IRON MAN 650 SuperLR project with T-Motor MN4010 and 15" props :)))))
My biggest mistake was building OpenHD digital open-source VTX. It took ages and few RaspberryPies. Once finally built I measured glass-to-glass latency and it was atrocious 250ms. Then I found DJI O3 Air Unit and then Betaflight. It was a journey, lol

(09-Dec-2023, 11:44 PM)ph2t Wrote: Please get one of those spike absorbers/filtering capacitor things

My new Mamba AIO lists this in specs:
- TVS Protection: Yes

It is sufficient? And should I use BF Acro Trainer or this is for wimps too

That would help yes, I think you should be fine. Just make sure you have a nice filtering cap, good quality Japanese made low ESR type. For 6S I would have minimum 470uF, 50V.

As for acro trainer I'm not familiar with that mode, sorry mate. I started on angle mode and wondered why my flying was so jerky. I figured out acro mode but it was hard at first, adjusting to the fact that roll/pitch/yaw wouldn't automatically center again.

Quote:My biggest mistake was building OpenHD digital open-source VTX. It took ages and few RaspberryPies. Once finally built I measured glass-to-glass latency and it was atrocious 250ms. Then I found DJI O3 Air Unit and then Betaflight. It was a journey, lol

Yeah I tried openhd as well before I got into dji/walksnail.  Yeah latency was crap and freestyle flying impossible.  It has come a long way though.   The latest permutation OpenIPC offers greater performance, and it is easier to put together: OpenIPC FPV System | Facebook

(12-Dec-2023, 12:38 PM)ph2t Wrote: The latest permutation OpenIPC offers greater performance

Nah, Im done with OpenHD, severe PTSD here I built entire ground station, with touch IPS screen and dual battery system that would allow on-the-fly change of the battery while keeping the link uninterrupted (ground RPi running). Based on Taranis QX7. That was a very stupid thing to do, finalising side issues before checking main design parameters (latency).

Now I run in a problem with my radio transmitter

You have to feel acro. It isn't so much a practice makes perfect skill. Some people struggle with it, others not so much. I started flying in angle, in sims and with my Meteor85, then one day I switched to acro mode in the sims and a month later I tried the same on my Meteor. I rarely use angle mode now, mainly only if I am trying to land in strong wind or if i'm taking off from somewhere at an angle like after a crash.

So to master acro, you have to feel the flight. The whole needing to correct your movements isn't a big deal, it's more instinctive. Anyway, it's hard to explain. You'll understand when you start flying it.

Acro Trainer is like a bad version of Acro mode. Your quad will turn and hold the turn, but you are limited by angle, so with say a 20 degree angle in acro trainer, you can only tilt the quad 20 degrees. I wouldn't use it personally. It will end in crashes. just learn in the sims for a couple of weeks, then go out in a field and try it out for real. The key is not to go slow, except when landing. When you are moving forward with some speed it's much easier to stay in the air and keep it level. To land, fly fairly slowly towards yourself and when you are close, disarm mid air or flick it into angle mode and do something similar.

(15-Dec-2023, 02:34 AM)Pathfinder075 Wrote: You have to feel acro.

I'm full on committed to learning it! I have DroneRacingLeague sim, and just finalised my transmitter issues (few EdgeTX reinstalls later). Apparently transmitters don't like 32GB SD cards. I had to create 4GB partition on a 32GB card (diskutil partitionDisk disk4 MBR MS-DOS EDGETX 4G free FREE 0).

Do you have experience with GPS configs? I have Foxeer M10Q 180 and it takes like full 5 mins to get 3D fix. I applied this hack to its larger sibling, Foxeer 250 and it gets 3D fix almost instantly, but not this one...