Steam FPV

08/12/2024

AOS v1 3.5 by – Resurrected.

A few years ago (a few?), I bought two frames. Actually, the AOS v1 3.5 was my first 3.5-inch build, but it ended up gathering dust. Why? Because I wasn’t exactly great at building back then!

Since then, I’ve moved on to the AOS v2 and AOS Evo (RIP v2 – it cracked a few months ago, but the Evo is still alive and kicking on 6S). Recently, I decided to give the original v1 another shot and rebuilt it with some upgrades:
• New 4mm thicker standoffs
• A completely redesigned O3 cradle with a sturdy antenna holder (modeling this in Blender was a challenge, but it fits tight and works perfectly!)
• A slightly modified front camera mount, now equipped with GPS for the Flyfish Mini M10.

So, why do I like the v1? The thicker plates make it much stronger. In my experience, both the v2 and Evo feel quite fragile. Plus, the original bolts, nuts, and standoffs that come with the frames are pretty weak.

Long live the new old AOS v1 3.5! Oh, and it even fits 3.6-inch props.

19/11/2024

Atlas 4 mini LR, quad that took me weeks to tune , replace motors and vtx . But in the end it’s ok for its purpose. As advertised it supposed to be ideal match for O3 and with proper motors I’ll be real LR… I couldn’t. Initially unused tmotor 1605 3850 , then upgraded to hglrc 1804 3450 . Basically it flies with literally any tune but wobbling . I got rid of o3 and installed vista which is way better. It is wobbling (shaking ) on higher throttle but FC easily filtering all noise and it flies great. With 1804 and ! Attention ! 2500 LIon GNB I can fly 10-15 mins at fast speed and even freestyle and it pulls it . Yes, LiOn. On 4024 biblades :) as hd I use caddx peanut butter will make proper mount for go3s which is a bit better and 4K . So problem solved . But no O3 . Those rubber insets are bu****it . Not helping . I wish they made front part without cnc or at least with straight holes on plates to replace with tpu printed cam holder as I do in all sirens and aoses. Also logic is missing - they claim to overprotect the o3 cam but legs are thin and fragile . And if it’s LR … anyway , quad is tuned and if not try to do really hard freestyle it’s great for LR even being a bit overweight . But if you’re looking for really lightweight tools for LR better go with Flywoo or Rekon.
Yesterday I tested atlas )in my stories . And I felt I fly really freestyle - it’s goes fast , accelerates fast and goes high . (In story with roadblocks) speed 50-60 kmh on cruise with easy to turn and even fast yaw . But it really needs good PID running . So does the experience.
Frame: Atlas 4 DC
AIO: JHEMCU F722
Motors: Aelous 1804 3450kv
Props: 4024 biblades
VTX: Vista with Polar cam (classics )
TPU: all@self made as originals are not good and not suitable for my purpose
GPS: HGLRC mini 10
rc: ELRS EP3 2,4 (have no idea if it’s HM or HGLrC or Geprc :)) they all good
HD cam: at the moment Caddx Peanut

PS contacted flyfish rc via their support desk and never get any response . “Good support”. In know they sucks :)) but I still like and use and will use o3 antennas and gps mini from them . Probably nothing else

08/10/2024

Lipos for 3.5” 6S 🚀 (Review post)

About half a year ago, I switched my small fleet to 6S, and I haven’t looked back. With lower capacity lipos but higher voltage I feel a more power ⚡️. Here’s a quick weight comparison between the ones I use:

• GNB 550 - 83g
• Tattu 550 - 87g
• TBS LiHV 660 - 96.6g
• GNB 700 - 116g

Honestly, I feel that the Tattu 550 has the longest energy reserve 🔋. The GNB 550, despite being slightly lighter, drains faster. Could just be my flying style as I tend to push it hard 🔥.

The TBS LiHV 660 performs really well in-flight but drains quicker if you rip 🏁. The GNB 700, despite its larger capacity, loses out due to its weight, giving it the same flight time as the others. If you fly calmly, you might get a bit more airtime out of it ⏳.

For now, I’m sticking with the Tattu 550 as my primary lipo for the 3.5”.

I’ve tested these on a few frames:

• Siren F35
• AOS Evo 3.5
• Lil’ Matey by

The AOS Evo has the best flight time with serious 1506 RCInPower motors, while the Siren F35, running T-Motor 1604 with lower KV, doesn’t match the flight times but is quieter and more stable at low throttle 🔄. The Lil’ Matey on Smoox 1507 can either rip or cinemate 📹—super versatile!

All the FPV gear I use is bought at my own expense, and no one influences my opinion. 🛠️✌️

09/09/2024

Quadmula Siren F5 Split - back in the air!

After a genius-level crash that *literally* melted my top plate (thanks to an exploding LiPo), I waited *only* 2 months for Quadmula to restock the parts. 😒 but delivery itself took just 5 days from Taiwan to Bratislava!🏎️

And of course, my trusty Foxeer FC almost bit the dust—again. Gyro issues? Shocker! That’s the *third* Foxeer FC with gyro problems. So fragile. 😑 Goodbye, Foxeer… 👋 Replaced it with the Mamba MK4 F7 v2 (after reading way too much documentation, but hey, now I can control the VTX on/off remotely. Fancy, right?👌).

Here’s the updated build:

- 🛠 **Frame**: Siren F5 Split (OG)
- 🔩 **Stack**: Mamba H743 MK4 v2 dual + old 50A T-Motor Velox ESC
- ⚡ **Motors**: T-Motor Velox 2208 1750kv (train power, baby 🚂)
- 📡 **ELRS**: HGLRC Hermes 2.4
- 🧭 **GPS**: Fly Fish mini (seems to work… )
- 📺 **VTX**: DJI O3
- 🧩 **TPU**: Tim O’Brien
- 🛎 **Buzzer**: Viflybuzzer v2

Oh, and don’t forget the *magical* shaman dance I had to do just to squeeze the ESC and FC into a perfect 20mm space. ✨

05/09/2024

🚁 New LongRange FPV Quad Build

I’ve just completed another LongRange FPV quad, and after some testing, it’s finally ready and flies very well! I was lucky to get nicely finished frames from AliExpress, as they usually come with a cheap finish and raw carbon without chamfered edges. This build is based on the Mark 4 v2 7” frame, which is often used for kamikaze builds but also great for a proper long ranger.

🛠 Build Specs

• 🖼 Frame: Mark 4 v2 7 Inch
- Replaced original 35mm standoffs with 30mm for a narrower profile
- Cam cage replaced with a TPU model

• 🔄 Motors: Skystars koko2808 1300kv
- Initially worried about cheap clones, but they turned out to be nearly perfect and well-performing

• 🧠 Flight stack: HGLRC Specter F60 (F405+60A Bluejay) w/ MPU6k

• 📡 VTX: Original DJI Air Unit with 2 antennas + Starlight Cam (16:9)

• 📶 Antennas: iFlight Albatross x 2

• 🎮 RC Link: Happymodel Diversity 2.4GHz ELRS

• 🛰 GPS: HGLRC M10 5883

• 🔊 Buzzer: Vifly Buzzer v2

• 🖨 TPU Parts: Self-modeled rear parts for Antenna, GPS, ELRS, and cam cage

• 🔋 Battery: 4500 GNB LiIo packs
- Nearly 15 minutes flight time with GoPro 10, with 5 minutes reserve
- Also have 5500 GNB LiPo (flight time not yet tested)

• 📹 HD Camera Mount: Custom TPU mount for GoPro

I really like this build as the frame has lots of space inside and is easy to route. The GoPro (HD cam) mount was a challenge, but I managed to create a sturdy TPU solution that holds well.

26/07/2024

🔝GPS , ELRS , SMA holder for Source One v5 👍🏼
When making my Source One v5 7 inches I found I can’t find fitting sma and gps ( M10 5883) holder so nice made them myself . So here they are , will also fit regular 5 inch as body size is the same . Tested with good signal reception and results . Has 2 parts one is just sma holder second is gps holder with handy elrs ears to fit antenna under . Print with your favorite TPU 95A.
Available on
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:6708703

21/07/2024

This is how you put vifly finder mini into Cinebot 25. It fits quite good all way down to the bottom of the frame with ducts . And you have a real working offline buzzer …
This is self assembled Cinebot25 , not original one but works as expected (what else ?)
Changes/differences :
- HakRC F722 dual gyro Bl32 AIO 45A
- Xing 2 4600 kv motors 1404
- O3 antenna (it’s longer and fits better than DJI)
- Gemfan 5 blade props (form have 4 blade ), tried 3 blade but it’s more noisy

14/07/2024

AIO after drone spent 5 mins in salted water puddle . Luckily I recovered drone but most of its components probably dead . trying to clean … but video remains .. soon

05/07/2024

Vacation bag - fits Siren F35 with full props and 3 lipos, spare props and more stuff for small repair , second bag has Googles Integra and Tango 2 with elrs module . That’s it . Small and fits in any 15 L backpack . Cheap and effective:). Bought those bags on aliexpress dirt cheap and thought they are garbage but after all it was worthy ! No need to look after expensive stuff with bright labels - make it your own !

29/06/2024

She decided to nest 🪺. Too hot 🥵 tech Mega 5 (bcrow swift) !

25/05/2024

Making (again after first great failure and still don’t know why it happened ) 7” Source One v5 DC… but have short wired motors … 2807 emax eco II 1300.. is it make sense to use race wires ? Or fuse wires and not to worry ? (Already bothered ) … and how I hate soldering power cables …. My biggest nightmare those hairy thick wires …

10/05/2024

01/03/2024

My personal opinion on HDZero … I have freestyle v1 and v2 . V2 on max power heats like a solder , very hot . I have 90 fps cam and 60 fps . I literally do not feel any effect on 90 fps vs hd in 60’fps . Just video is less resolution and more analog like . Absolutely no effect on my eyes . Moreover I do not notice any better visual feel compared to dji vista and no need to say O3 . I’m not a racer , but when I see lag on vista I can feel it and my brain glues the delay and reacts so I do it ok . I absolutely do not feel any benefits with hdzero in terms of instant video feed without delays I just do not notice it . It’s even worse as one you have small walls it starts droping flakes .. ok . I tried hdzero , it’s may be ok for some purposes but I definitely will swicth back quads with hdzero to vista and o3 . And I’d say HDZero freestyl v1 less heating than v2 .

28/02/2024

Another low vibration and generally amazing quad - .tech Mega 5 or frankly it’s a rebranded BCRow Swift (by ) I still don’t get their relations but they are ok with sharing one quad (and foxeer version is way cheaper with all tpu included). It was originally made with intent to accommodate o3 but … cnc side plates aren’t good for o3 , it’s worked but once tiniest screw gets loose - o3 picture is wobbly . I wasted lots of time for pid tuning, etc . Nope. Manufacturer didn’t make much effort just to release cnc with holes and grommets/insets so this frame was rebuilt with vista where its signs and whistles. Great frame with great hardware , well thought holes and routings . Yes, now they made v2 and its o3 ready .. but seriously? Just cnc plates for o3 is all we needed. . And worst part - top/bottom plate holes aren’t opposite so you simply can’t replace cnc with regular standoffs and use TPU holder from :( . Nevertheless- frame is great 👍🏼

19/02/2024

Boxer ELRS. It’s actually good . But I still think TBS Tango Pro 2 is my favorite and Ethix mambo is second .. or equal . Zorro is completely unusable :( and I haven’t met anyone who’s happy with it . But , again, I’m with Tango 2 with HM elrs slim module and it’s same stable and cool feel :)

30/01/2024

HDZero googles are perfectly matching Foxeer WildFire analog module via extension adapter . Both are perfectly fitting without any screws . Also feels very handy and convenient. Now I can fly analog when needed . But not really needed :) at least I know I can . Swipe through all photos to see from a different angles and final look . First resisting, but now I can say I like HDZero and just as another flavor of ice cream :)