14-Jan-2021, 12:41 PM (This post was last modified: 14-Jan-2021, 12:43 PM by iFly4rotors.)
Hi Andreab,
The connector is for a digital system; either DJI or Vista. The VBAT+ pin is battery voltage {unregulated}. However, both DJI Air and Caddx Vista are designed to be powered with battery voltage. The DJI Air unit takes 7.4 to 17.6 {3-4S} while the Caddx Vista can use up to 6S voltage. Reference Oscar's article. Since these units are actually designed to run from battery voltage, that is why the VBAT+ is provided instead of a regulated voltage. So, a Vista unit {and even a DJI Air} certainly should work fine with that board since it is rated at 4S. In fact, with a small whooped quad of this size and not running batteries larger than 4S, the Vista unit should be fine.
If you wanted to use a BEC, you could, but it wouldn't be necessary and you would have to clip the power wires and connect them to it.
Check out the iFlight Alpha A85 with Vista it has the same frame as my Tiny-Black-85 and I'm pretty sure they don't use a BEC on it.
14-Jan-2021, 01:32 PM (This post was last modified: 14-Jan-2021, 01:40 PM by iFly4rotors.)
(14-Jan-2021, 12:51 PM)andreab Wrote: Ok, thanks for the clarification! I though Vista/DJI needed a stable 9v bec rather than a floating vbat, but you know this better than me .
BTW, do you ever sleep? You seem to be active at any time of the day
Hi andreab,
Here's what I will say about powering components:
Many of them including VTXs, digital systems, and others are designed to run with power directly from the battery {Yes, fluctuating} voltages. On the other hand, there are limits. You can't power the DJI Air unit with a 6S or 8S battery because it exceeds the voltage limit. VTXs are similar; as long as the battery voltage is within the range of the component, then you are go to go.
That said, providing a stable voltage does, in some cases {but not all}, provide better performance from the component. Furthermore, there may be other reasons to power a component with an external BEC. For instance, I am now powering the GPS in this manner in order to bypass the FC circuity for faster satellite fix. Therefore, I generally consider all the options and determine what works best for a given situation.
Yes, I do sleep; generally between 10:30 pm Eastern Time (in Florida) until about 4:30 am. But, sometimes I get up earlier than that.
15-Jan-2021, 05:15 PM (This post was last modified: 15-Jan-2021, 05:17 PM by andreab.)
As it was going to be a quite boring day, I spent some time improving my whoop:
- Swapped the motor from betafpv 1105 5000kv to 1103 8000kv (3.8g each, they do match in weight the grprc 1202) - Swapped antenna from Sigma to BeeBrain Clover (1.5g less) - Installed buzzer (0.8g more)
The weight went down 7g (10%), it flies better and slightly longer (I got 5 min in light acro on a 3s 550mah).
How can your one be so heavy considering you are already saving 7/8g from the split camera I have installed? It's the frame? The canopy? Does it worth it?
Andrea - "If you want to check your quad durability, let me fly (crash) it"
First, I think the frame is little heavy for a whoop at 15 grams, but it does have a nice carbon fiber brace. The stack with capacitor comes in at 17 grams. The motors are about 16 grams. I also used M2 x 15mm steel bolts with steel lock nuts...and... I bolt on the props. Plus, I have a buzz with its own battery. Also, plastic antenna tubes that are also secured with steel screws. Oh yeah, I do use connectors for the components and the wires are longer than most people would use. Everything adds up.
On the positive side, it is only 6 grams heavier than yours.
Also, the factory build with a Vista unit is 87 grams. So if you replace the Vista with analog that should put it about the same.
Thing is, I don't see anything that I would want to change.
I’m looking for another 85mm frame to make a sort of freestyle whoop, that should be a good compromise between weight and durability as I will probably crash it more than the cine-version above. Would you suggest the alpha?
Andrea - "If you want to check your quad durability, let me fly (crash) it"
(15-Jan-2021, 10:35 PM)andreab Wrote: I’m looking for another 85mm frame to make a sort of freestyle whoop, that should be a good compromise between weight and durability as I will probably crash it more than the cine-version above. Would you suggest the alpha?
Hi andreab,
Yes, I would recommend the iFlight A85 TinyWhoop Carbon Fiber FPV Frame for Micro Indoor Drone.I bought mine from AMAZON and I am thinking about getting another one. The frame is quit a lot sturdier than other whoop frames that I have used. In fact, the actual whoops are a lot less flexible than most. I agree that this frame seems to be quite durable and is a good balance between weight and durability.
If you leave off the buzzer, the antenna tubes, the prop bolts...and...use nylon bolts and direct solder everything; I think you could get the weight down to at least 65 grams... maybe even 60 grams.
Plus, If you ever wanted a Vista unit, it would fit.
18-Jan-2021, 03:59 AM (This post was last modified: 18-Jan-2021, 04:03 AM by Trung Phan.)
(17-Jan-2021, 07:25 PM)andreab Wrote: Nice! How does it fly with the 4s 650? I think the battery is heavier the the quad, but I’m not expert on the bottom mount
It really fast, you can roll and flip here and there but don't expected it split s and poweloop haha, I build this for flying around the place has many people, tree exploration and easy to carry. 650mah has an advantage is it perfect hold the 4 points of the plastic frame make it more stable without bottom carbon fiber. I even get 8 minutes of flight time on 850 3s but it feel really heavy.
29-Mar-2022, 10:03 PM (This post was last modified: 18-Sep-2022, 12:50 PM by iFly4rotors.)
Took the Tiny-Black-85 out to the Farm yesterday for a spin around the property. She flew really nice. This is the BEST whoop that I own. Although I have flown her in the house a few times, outside is really where it is at. Very nice little short range whooped quad.
Edit: Additional information:
This flight was with my standard GNB 3S 1100 mAh battery. Although I was having fun with it, after 7 minutes, I was just ready to land. Yes, the battery still had plenty of juice left. It was just me getting tired of flying circles and dodging the trees. Overall, it was a very good flight. I will push it another day.
(15-Jan-2021, 10:35 PM)andreab Wrote: I’m looking for another 85mm frame to make a sort of freestyle whoop, that should be a good compromise between weight and durability as I will probably crash it more than the cine-version above. Would you suggest the alpha?
while it is crazy heavy at 27g, its still possible to stay below 75g buildweight. on lightweight batteries its pretty rigid. i have a pnp of it with 1104 labled (but they are 1106 motors in truth). its very old but there is no comparable one, heavy "racewhoop" frames comes close but they are for bigger size. i guess it should perform way better as a freestyle whoop with actual parts than my pnp backtahn: https://excelrc.com/products/eachine-aur...struction/
The weight doesn't bother me since it flies great; just the I like it. I built this whoop for easy cruising outdoors and SLOW easy flights indoors. She has plenty of power for that. Since I don't do stunts, the actual weight is sort of irrelevant to me.
A couple of days ago, I did swap out the Caddx Ant for my standard Foxeer Razer Nano. I have tried the Ant a couple of times, but the image quality just does not seem to be as good as the Foxeer Razer Nano 1200TVL. Even though people say that a 1200TVL is not any better than a 600TVL due to the VTX transmission, I can tell the difference. I don't know why, but image quality that I see and compare is quite markedly better. Other than this change, she is still the same. The dry weight has increased to 77.8 grams, but that is ok with me especially if I get better video.