Wanted to share my first Walksnail build with you guys.  This build was completed last week and I have been having a lot of fun with it.  I chose a small frame for my first build so I could fly it around the house.   Outside of course.    Forgive me there is a bit to share in this thread, I'll try to keep it brief!

Parts list

• Armattan Tadpole 3" - HD version
  
• RCINPOWER - 1204 5000kV motors
  
• MAMBA F722 MK1 AIO FC
  
• Walksnail VTX with nano camera
  
• TrueRC singularity LHCP VTX antennas (x2)
  
• MATEKSYS 9V BEC
  
• HM EP2 ELRS RX
  
• EMAX AVAN Mini 3" props
  

Like my last couple of digital builds I did a bit a research as the WS stuff is pretty new kit and needs a bit of thought when it comes to the installation to ensure longevity.

• VTX orientation - The JST connectors on the airunit can be easily damaged, having the power/uart JST connector facing the rear of the quad reduces this risk
  
• U.FL connectors on VTX - there are two of these and the antennas need to be secured well with strain relief - Those TrueRC antennas aren't cheap!
  
• BEC powering VTX - Just to be safe I'm using a MATEKSYS 9V BEC to power the VTX - All I have had is success with these on my digital builds so far
  

I chose the Armattan tadpole HD version for the following reasons

• Small!
  
• Has two mounting options for a front and rear stack.  The front is AIO 25.5mm and the rear is a mix of 12x16/20x20.   Unlike the non-HD tadpole, this one has the 25.5mm stack in the chassis, the original tadpole has to use an adaptor to mount a 25.5mm AIO.
  
• Nice big camera cage - in the end I should of used the micro sized WS camera and not the nano one - you will see in the videos the camera cage because of the nano camera sitting quite (safely!) far back.
  

Base build, here is the mamba FC with the power capacitor, MATEK BEC and HM ELRS EP2 receiver installed.   Like my recent builds, I'm going down the wire harness route with all the auxiliary components taking the room of the rear stack.   Yes the battery leads are long, I wanted the XT30 to pop out the back.  I had to rotate the FC to make sure the USB connector didn't conflict with any of the JST connectors on the VTX.

Keep in mind:

• VTX has two JST connectors and you need to be able to get to both, all the time.  One is for power/uart and is obviously critical but the other is to access USB on the vtx for firmware updates AND access to the onboard DVR - yes all WS vtx have an onboard DVR, sweet!
  

Battery goes to FC, from FC there is the filtering capacitor.  Connected to the filtering cap is the MATEKSYS BEC (configured for 9V) which is then passed into the loom/JST connector for the walksnail vtx.  To me this ensures that the vtx is getting some well filtered power.   This is a 4S quad.  Powered by 4S 450mAh BONKA lipos.

Ideally I wanted to use some RCINPOWER 1207 motors I had, but one of them died which is a pity.  I took a chance and used the 1204 motors I had in the parts box - was worried they just wouldn't have the power but in the end they seem fine.  Needed a bit of tuning though to stay smooth and definitely RPM filter made a difference once I turned that on.

I attached the TrueRC antennas to the VTX and then played around with the orientation, noting the design points I outlined above.  I used a lighter to heat and shape the vtx antennas to match the outline of the quad and to be mounted on the arms.


Bringing the VTX and FX together for the flight stack.  Now you can see the wiring layout for the power/uart JST connector and the U.FL connectors on the antennas.   Also, trying to keep the vtx antennas at a 90degree angle to each other.  This way when you're in the dead zone of one antenna the other antenna is fine. 


Here you can see the vtx clearance for cooling and the strain relief on the vtx antennas.   That 4 pin JST sitting in the vtx heatsink is the USB connector.  I fly with this plug covered as it attracts crap, cut grass, etc...


I am happy with the layout for now.  So I installed the cable ties to secure everything.  Also the vtx antennas are reinforced with some cable ties to keep them rigid.  Here are a couple of pics before the top plate goes on.



Out for some flights, testing, etc...

Tuning log:

• Originally running without RPM filtering, wasn't handling the best on throttle punchs and propwash was easy to trigger.   Even with less P and D not the best.  
  
• Installed bluejay 0.16 with rpm filtering made it a lot better.
  
• D at 0.8 on simple sliders
  
• TPA at 1200 given the power/weight is solid with this quad.
  
• Filters at 1.2 I think
  

Here is a rip around my house which is undergoing some major renos = sh1te everywhere....
This is DVR from the googles, the system is running 1080P at 60fps, it is freakin amazing.


This is some comparison footage between the onboard DVR and goggle DVR.


Watch them in 4K if you can. 

I'm only flying in 1080P mode atm, for me this is walksnail's greatest unique selling point, otherwise I would just stick with DJI.

Wow. pretty small build.

Nice clean build. I dig the wire loom/harness idea, I might have to use that on my own builds.

That’s some pretty impressive 3” flying in close quarters, and that goggle dvr footage looks amazing. If that’s what it actually looks like while flying, I can definitely see the appeal of digital.

Here's a little lunchtime rip:     This thing is great at the park, can't hear it at all unless you're up close.   HD is the sh1t, flying between high voltage power lines is prolly stupid but looks so cool.

Dude, you’ve got way bigger balls than I do.
As soon as I see a power line I tend to panic- I can’t imagine intentionally flying through them. That roll in the middle of them was pretty damn sick though.

I’ve really gotta try digital one of these days.

(20-Dec-2022, 04:05 AM)Lemonyleprosy Wrote: I’ve really gotta try digital one of these days.

What goggles do you have man? Do they have a HDMI input?

(20-Dec-2022, 05:19 AM)ph2t Wrote: What goggles do you have man? Do they have a HDMI input?

I’ve got FatShark Attitude v6. They do have an hdmi input.
But, my hobby budget is currently close to nil, and even if I scraped together a couple hundred for a digital vrx- those digital vtx’s are expensive.

I’ve got enough parts and analog gear on my shelf (part of that is thanks to you, so thanks again!) to build multiple quads at no cost. Adding $100–ish to a build for a digital vtx and cam just isn’t currently feasible. Especially given how often I manage to burn vtx’s out (It rains 75% of the year here so everything has to be made water resistant- water resistant means less heat dissipation.)

One of these days though, I’m gonna try it out. I keep considering doing a Ruby or OpenHD build just to see what clearer video is like- but I don’t want to stomp all over my and my neighbors WiFi.

Until then, I’m happy flying analog- but some of these digital videos like the one you posted above make me more aware of what I’m missing.

I’m tempted to hook my goggles up to my laptop so that I can watch that video through them while holding my transmitter and making “zoom zoom” noises.

Pretty sure I’d still panic when I saw the power lines though.

lol..

The walksnail firmware doesn't catch the OSD in the DVR recordings yet but my LQ dropped dangerously low when I approached the 2nd tower, that's when I decided to turn around.   Rough estimate with google maps puts it at approx 160m as the crow flies.   that was eLRS on 50mW, I bumped it up to 500mW and LQ didn't miss a beat at the same spot   Mind you I'm running the EP2 ffs, lol...

I would have thought that the high voltage lines would stomp all over your rf signal. Doesn’t sound like it though.

That's a really nice build and well documented. Very impressive flying an awesome video.
I dream of that day when I try digital, got me thinking of the most economical way to do so.

This is where I will probably end up next year at some point when i have spare cash. I'm looking at the Recon HD goggles, but will probably modify them since they come with places to add SMA connectors and external antennae. But as Lemony mentioned, the cost of the VTX is pretty crazy. i mean it's the same for HDZero. But nevertheless I will probably absorb it at some point and build something. I (personally) think that 3" is a good size for a small ripper. People talk a lot about 5", but 3" is more stealthy and sometimes able to get to places a 5" won't go.

It looks a good build. Hopefully you post more flight videos up, you make good ones that are fun to watch.