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[SirGunner]

@Steviegeek

He’s got his DJI’s for that

Thats a really good point Steve lol

[clinkadink]

@SirGunner

You might find you have props in the camera view as the O3 has a really wide fov

Yes, I considered that, but being 4K, I could always crop it slightly.

@Steviegeek

He’s got his DJI’s for that

Exactly

[clinkadink]

@Yith

It’s a really expensive stack. Be very careful soldering it. When I started I was already quite experienced with soldering, but I still managed to trash several cheap stacks.

Wise words. Thanks Richard. I haven’t bought it yet, so if anyone has any better recommendations, let me know

@Yith

• If completely inexperienced with soldering get a practice board.
• Get a decent temperature controlled soldering iron with several tips. You’ll need a big one for the battery connection and fine tip for the other pads.
• Leaded solder is easier to use than lead free.
• Flux is essential.
• Cover the rest of the board when soldering to a pad to prevent splats. I use kapton tape for this. Its useful for other stuff as well. JB loves the stuff.
• do a visual inspection before applying power
• use a multimeter before applying power
• use a smoke stopper for first turn on
• wire bits up one by one and check they work before moving on… don’t wire the whole quad before powering on for the first time

I have been soldering PC and laptop motherboards, including car instrument panels on and off over the last couple of decades. I used to reflow GPU chips on graphic cards too. I use unleaded solder now, but have the flux, kapton tape and all the other bits and bobs. I will need to buy some new tips though for my Aoyue 2900 station which provides 200 to 480 °C.

[Yith]

@clinkadink

I have been soldering PC and laptop motherboards, including car instrument panels on and off over the last couple of decades. I used to reflow GPU chips on graphic cards too. I use unleaded solder now, but have the flux, kapton tape and all the other bits and bobs. I will need to buy some new tips though for my Aoyue 2900 station which provides 200 to 480 °C.

Sounds like you’re well sorted!

So, just be careful around the ESC… Higher currents are involved than perhaps you are used to. Smoke is very possible. Personally I use a bench power supply with current limit and not lipo batteries when working on the bench. It makes fires a lot less likely. If you have one, then I suggest you use it. It scares me a little whenever I see someone plug a lipo into a quad on the bench.

[Yith]

@clinkadink

Wise words. Thanks Richard. I haven’t bought it yet, so if anyone has any better recommendations, let me know

Cheaper might be better for a first quad build. But these days stacks are expensive.

Do you really need all those fancy features? Wifi, etc? You might just lose, it first day out, in the River Derwent, near Matlock. I suppose the O3 is already a big chunk of dosh…

The stacks I started with were just £25 from aliexpress, and still I was pissed off when I destroyed them. That was back in summer 2021… lol, how things have changed in such a small amount of time. They were crappy 16mm ones though.

Don’t buy this… even if you could find it:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32828686273.html?spm=a2g0o.order_list.order_list_main.312.21ef1802j4hcUH

[SirGunner]

In the current market £80 for an F7 wifi enabled FC with a decent 55A ESC is pretty good. He wants to be doing speed runs to get on the leader board so he will need a decent esc. Its a catch 22 as you could buy cheap and then have to upgrade so end up buying twice, or you can buy better gear in the first place but potentially lose it. One thing I do know is that cheap escs are more susceptible to blow in a crash or turtle mode. Maybe Ive been lucky but Ive not blown a single motor/esc/fc yet (famous last words) lol

[SirGunner]

@clinkadink

I use unleaded solder

I cant stand unleaded solder

[Yith]

Yes, I’d not skimp on the ESC current… But, really, do you need Wifi?

A high ESC current rating also does mean it’s less likely to burn out on the bench! So well worth the extra cash…

Wifi… I’m less convinced about.

[SirGunner]

@Yith

But, really, do you need Wifi?

Need? Want? Its the same thing right?

[SirGunner]

As I said before I actually agree on the Wifi. I would go specifically looking for it but if it happens to be on there then its a bonus I guess. To be fair I think Karls suggestion of the SpeedyBee adapter would be a good option. Covers you for all your quads then and not just the wifi enabled ones

[Yith]

So, this is the sort of thing I’ve been getting.

Diatone Mamba Basic Stack F405 MK2 F50 50A BLS 4-6S - Unmanned Tech UK FPV Shop

But I can see that as well as the Wifi, you’re actually getting a few other good bits on that stack you’ve found…

• 9V BEC rated at 3A rather than 2A
• BL Heli32
• Barometer

All three of those are desirable and it’s only £30 difference… (more than my original stack)

[clinkadink]

@Yith

Personally I use a bench power supply with current limit and not lipo batteries when working on the bench. It makes fires a lot less likely. If you have one, then I suggest you use it.

Yes, I have a 80W 3-in-1 switching power supply. It’s about a foot deep but very slim (in the middle below).

[Yith]

A very nice setup… a lot better than mine and a lot tidier… lol

[SirGunner]

@Yith

(more than my original stack)

The price increases have been crazy haven’t they?!
My first stack I bought was a £70 SpeedyBee V2 with 50A ESC and that was an expensive stack at the time. Now the same equivalent SpeedBee stack is around £120-130 and thats only around 1.5 years ago

[Yith]

@SirGunner

The price increases have been crazy haven’t they?!

Yes… what scares me is that at the time the cost concerned me… now I look back and it was peanuts.

I mean really… my first FPV camera and VTX was £10.50 shipped from china. Now I’m paying over £100.

8.87￡ 31% OFF|Original Eachine Tx06 700tvl Fov 130 Degree 5.8ghz 40ch Smart...

[clinkadink]

@SirGunner

I cant stand unleaded solder

I had to use it as I was repairing customer’s laptops. The move to lead free solder was great for business, as it is the #1 reason for GPUs, mobos, consoles failing … creating endless work for repair shops. Going forward I’ll switch back to lead as its my own stuff.

[clinkadink]

@Yith

So, this is the sort of thing I’ve been getting.

Looks decent. I don’t need the wifi, so this may do.

@Yith

9V BEC rated at 3A rather than 2A

It states 9V 2A in the spec. So is this 2A or 3A?

• BEC:3.3V 0.5A& 5V 2A & 9V 2A

[SirGunner]

My first vtx was TBS Unify Pro32 HV £40 and camera was Caddx Mini Ratel £30. Just checked prices and theyre around the same price now lol I guess analogue hasnt suffered the price increases as much as the digital side

[Yith]

Ah sorry… yes, both 2A.

So just a bit extra amperage on the ESC, barometer (which isn’t needed if you use GPS) and BLHeli32… I’m not sure about that being needed. You can always flash BluJay (I’ve never bothered) All but one of my quads run plain BLHeliS… Though the one that runs BLHeli32 is my favourite.

Also watch out for UART count. That basic has three, which should be enough (unless anyone thinks otherwise)

1. GPS
2. RX
3. VTX

[SirGunner]

@clinkadink

It states 9V 2A in the spec. So is this 2A or 3A?

That wont power your O3 reliably Chris. Although you could get that and then power your O3 either from Vbat or a seperate BEC