Back in November of 2019 I convinced my dad to help me build a drone. Finding parts and learning about it all was really straightforward and easy thanks to the help of a friend who has built a few drones before. But man we really hit every single problem there could’ve been when building the drone but it taught us a lot.
First problem we ran into was the fact that our frame didn’t fit a full size camera! That was a silly problem with an easy fix. After that it was a matter of trying to figure out how to wire parts together since the diagrams provided by manufacturers were vague. Ultimately wiring worked well and it’s about as good as it can be, the main problems came from software.
On the topic of software issues, one problem was that the motors had to be corrected in software because all four motors were spinning the same direction. That was really easy to fix but annoying nonetheless. Another issue was getting the transmitter to properly communicate with our FC (flight controller). That one in itself was a real pain but thankfully the RCGroups member for FrSky was able to help us with that. I’ll make a post detailing what was wrong and how we fixed it soon. There were a handful of other problems that we encountered and I will likely post about them eventually.
Honestly there’s actually not much we would’ve done differently looking back. The only thing I would change is a frame with a taller interior, since the Armattan Badger is kind of tight space wise. Besides the frame, black propellers were a stupid idea. I remember thinking “why would you want multi color propellers if you’re flying FPV.” Oh how wrong I was to think that! I’ve picked up light blue and pink propellers to use on the front and back to let me know which direction I’m facing if I’m flying line of sight.
And last before we get to the parts I’d like to say that I’ll probably post a video soon me of flying in the field nearby. I’ve got one full video already but it’s not great because I was flying in 15mph winds! Was quite slow in winds of that speed, so not great.
Drone Parts and Setup
These are the final parts for the drone. Things that were omitted were small, miscellaneous things like connectors, adapters, wires, etc that were needed.
- Frame: Armattan Badger 5″
- Motors: DYS Samguk Series Wu 2206 2700kv
- PDB: Matek FCHub 6s PDB
- ESCs: Xilo 40A BLHeli-S 2-4s ESC
- FC: FrSky RXSR-FC Omnibus F4 V6
- VTX: ImmersionRC Tramp HV 5.8ghz
- Camera: Foxeer Falkor 2 Mini
- Propellers: HQProp DP 5.1X4.6X3
- Antenna: Xilo AXII SMA 5.8ghz Antenna (LHCP) (Omnidirectional)
- Antenna: TrueRC X-Air Crosshair 5.8ghz Antenna (LHCP) (Directional)
- Batteries (3): Xilo 1300mah 4s 100C LiPo Battery
- Battery Charger: PulseBattery Pulse PLC100 Ultra
- Radio Transmitter: FrSky Taranis X9D+ 2019
- Radio Transmitter Battery: FrSky Taranis 2600mah Battery (Aloft Hobbies)
- Goggles: Skyzone SkyO2C
- Goggles Battery: Fatshark 1800mah 7.4V Battery Pack USB Charging
Quick Notes
Two antennas are listed in the Drone Parts and Setup, one of which says “Omnidirectional” on the end and the other says “Directional.”
The Xilo AXII, the onmidirectional one, is a set of 2 so one antenna connects to the VTX and one goes on the goggles. The TrueRC X-Air Crosshair, the directional one, goes on the goggles as well.
The Skyzone SkyO2C goggles have a dual-diversity receiver installed, so I use both the omnidirectional and directional. If the drone is in the range of the TrueRC X-Air, I get much better signal but if I leave the range of it then my Xilo AXII is used instead. This is not necessary but it’s nice to have since my goggles support it.