So I was flying this little micro copter for a few days now and I have to say it is amazing for flying at home. I installed Betaflight 3.2.2 immediately on it and found perfect settings for it so it flies really well (check out my screenshots in the gallery below).
Eachine E010S
PIDs Settings
ESC Settings
The PIDs are surprisingly high but it seems this is needed for brushed micro quads.
I really recommend the following to enjoy flying over the winter days.
– Do not install the canopy and fly with as little weight as possible.
– Use the rubbers to keep VTX and cam from falling off after hard landings.
– Buy more LiPos and a multi charger to charge more and fast.
– Buy few spare props.
You probably already watched the video and you already know how good looking the JJRC H43WH is. It’s made of ABS and stiff so it will be hard to break but keep in mind that it’s not made of carbon so you better not fly it full speed into a wall.
I was surprised how stable the little quad is because I was testing similar toys in the past and it was pretty damn hard to keep them hovering above the ground. There is a small drift to the sides but you can pretty much get rid of it by using the trims inside the mobile app. So to get started flying the crab you basically just charge the battery over the USB charger, download the mobile app, connect the app to the drone and use the touch screen of your phone to fly it. You use touch buttons to steer in all directions, make it do flips and rolls. There are also buttons for taking of, landing. Please be aware that you shouldn’t fly it further away than 30 meters, keep in mind that it’s being controlled over WIFI. The quad copter is harder to steer when it’s windy so take this into consideration when going outside.
You can take photos with the crab and also record videos. Everything is saved nicely through the mobile app on the phone. I was using an iPhone 6 for my review and everything was working just fine. The little camera inside is 720p so has a frame size of 1280 by 720 pixels. It records with 25 frames per second and with a bitrate of 1405kbps. The quality of the photos and videos is obviously nothing special but what would you expect for this amount of money anyway.
The battery is a small 1S 500mAh battery and it takes about one hour to charge it. It lasts only 5 minutes so if you plan to take the little guy for a hike I suggest to purchase more batteries.
If you transport your drone folded you need only 38 by 150 by 96 millimeters. Unfolded it takes 150 by 150 by 27 millimeters. It’s light with 75 grams (including battery).
I’d say that for just USD37.99 it’s a pretty good deal for people who just want to take a sneak peek on playing with quad copter toys.
Mobile App I
Mobile App II
The Give Away
You can get the JJRC H43WH for free. How?
Like my Facebook page, find the post with this review and comment “I want that drone!”.
Subscribe to my YouTube channel find the video with this review and comment “I want that drone!”.
From all comments one user will be picked randomly on 23rd September 2017. The user has to be active YouTube subscriber.
The winner has to pay shipping from me to his destination and will receive this quad copter for free.
Airbot is the very first manufacturer with the 35A rated and DSHOT1200 capable BLHeli_32 ESCs.
Wraith32 ESCs + OMNIBUS F4 Pro
Wraith32 ESCs
Wraith32 Pinout
The potential KISS ESC killer is 32bit based and runs a Cortex-M0 at 48MHz. This should allow the ESCs to be extremely efficient and run motors as smooth as never before. The ESCs are packed with features like auto timing, voltage and current limiting and even telemetry.
Specification
designed for 35A
2-6s capable
includes current sensor
small sized with 15*30mm (31mm including signal and GND pads)
RGB LED inside
The Build
My kwad with the Wraith32 ESCs will be built out of following parts.
Quality of the ESCs is very good, as usual for Airbot’s products. The golden plated pads are super easy to solder. I’ll probably turn over the ESCs and solder the motors on the other side because then I don’t have to cross + and – wires on my PDB.
Wrait32 @ EMAX RS2205S
Wrait32 @ EMAX RS2205S
Airbot mentioned that adding some tin to the long pad on the side will increase current capacity so I’ll do that as well.
Wraith32 @ Kwad I
Wraith32 @ Kwad II
Wraith32 @ Kwad I
The Wraith32 ESC are longer than KISS ESCs or Racerstar 30A V2 ESCs and it has to be taken into account (they’re also about 6mm thick). I wanted to make motor wires a bit longer and it’s now a pretty tight fit on the arms. The RGB LED is now on the bottom of the ESCs but it’s easier to connect them to the PDB for me that way.
OMNIBUS F4 V3
The FC is soldered and the new BLHeli 31.3.0.1 works well. The ESCs get recognized as “Airbot_Wrait32_ST”. Current Betaflight 3.1.7 does not have the necessary code for the pass through function so the one from RCGroups thread has to be flashed.
BLHeli_32 I
BLHeli_32 II
I don’t recommend flashing the pre-production ESCs with Airbot_Wraith32_ST_Multi_31_2.Hex. I just bricked my ESC #1.
A, B, C, D and E frequency bands (each with 8 channels) = 40 channels
4.3 inch display with 480×272 pixels resolution
500cd/m2 screen brighntess
OSD with frequency and battery status
OSD language can be changed
functions like adjustable contrast and brightness
switchable between 4:3 and 16:9 (really cool feature)
Delivery
googles themselves
1600mAh 1S battery
simple manual
USB charging cable for the battery (yes, it’s charged over USB)
antenna
alcohol pads to clean the screen
Dimensions
pretty low light @ 215g
battery is 23g
size is 18cm x 15cm x about 10cm
Verdict
The goggles are a great deal for spectators or beginner in the world of FPV. My family really enjoyed watching me fly. They fit large heads like mine and smaller ones so kids can use them as well. The adjustable straps make the goggles very comfortable. You get a soft foam face frame so it feels really good on your face as well.
What could be better?
For that price actually *nothing* but there are still features that every *professional* pilot would miss.
screen resolution
diversity receiver
dvr recorder
channel auto search function
OSD should be optional (if you have OSD on your kwad)
Eachine DVR03 is able to record in 720p @ 30fps! You can get the camera from BG. It’s currently only USD29.99.
Pictures
Eachine DVR03 DVR AIO Front
Eachine DVR03 DVR AIO Back
Eachine DVR03 DVR AIO Micro Card Slot
Eachine DVR03 DVR AIO vs QX95 and QX105 BAT
Eachine DVR03 DVR AIO Weight
Eachine DVR03 DVR AIO Height
Eachine DVR03 DVR AIO Width
Eachine DVR03 DVR AIO Height With Antenna
Eachine DVR03 DVR AIO LCD
Due to its weight it’s best to put it inside frames from about 105mm of size.
Features
VTX with switchable power 25mW/50mW/200mW
5.8Ghz with 72 channels
nickel plated four leaf antenna
120° camera
micro SD card slot for HD video recording
microphone is on board
Package Contents
AIO Eachine DVR03 camera
adapter for Eachine batteries
user guide
Specs
powered input between 3.2V and 5.5V (1S battery)
1/4 CMOS, 520TVL, 120° camera with 1 mega pixel resolution
NTSC/PAL switchable cam (can be done over OSD)
DVR resolution is 640×480 @ 30 fps (Fatsharks)
HD resolution is 1280×720 @ 30 fps
VTX @ 200mW uses up to 860mA
Dimensions
41.5mm height with antenna
18m without antenna
29mm width
light weight with 11g
The Video
Take a look at the following video in which I compare HD footage to DVR footage from Fatsharks. I additionally compare DVR footage from Eachine BAT QX105 and the Eachine DVR03.
Summary
Good for recording 720p @ 30fps HD footage in air crafts but definitely not for FPV racing.
The Good
Unreal amount of features, including power switchable VTX and micro card slot for recording DVR video.
Extremely easy to set up over buttons with LCD screen and OSD.
Comes with a microphone.
The Ugly
HD video quality could be slightly better.
Sharpness could be set slightly better.
Gets very hot.
The Bad
The worst thing on this AIO camera is the latency for FPV goggles. It’s huge (unusable while recording HD) and therefore the camera can’t be used for FPV racing on micro quads.
Now I’m 150% sure that you can’t fly this quad inside a small flat like mine. It’s lightning fast and mostly suited for outside action or extra large rooms.
This little speeding machine features very *very* powerful 1020 core less motors (black edition). It comes with built in receiver (FrSky, DSMX/DSM2 or FlySky) and an AIO FPV module with 25mW VTX with 48 channels and a 600TVL CMOS camera (M7 lens with 120 degrees field of view) with adjustable angle (how cool is that? ;)). The most exciting feature however is the built-in Betaflight OSD and telemetry output which I never saw on a micro quad like this.
And did you see those pictures? The quad looks extremely cool and it has configurable LEDs! 😀
Accessories
Accessories I
Accessories I
Accessories II
Accessories III
Accessories IV
2 spare motors
4 spare props (2x CW and 2xCCW)
2 600mAh Eachine batteries
USB charger
split wire for parallel charging of 2 batteries
prop removal tool
velcro tape for attaching batteries
user guide
Dimensions
71g
56g
14g
7g
1.6mm
66mm
45mm
24mm
Kwad itself weights 56g.
With battery 71g.
The frame is extremely durable, it’s 1.6mm thick. I crashed it many times on concrete and against trees but it still flies great without hiccups.
The battery is 14g and 24 by 45mm.
Propellers are 66mm long and extremely durable.
One motor is 7g.
Firmware
I flashed newest BFL 3.1.1 and I recommend to flash this version as soon as the quad arrives. The target was OMNIBUS and one can pretty much leave all PIDs as they are but for my taste RC rate must be increased. The QX105 can be flashed without pressing any buttons on the flight controller because the boards jumps into DFU mode automatically.
Betaflight 3.1.1 OMNIBUS Target
Betaflight 3.1.1 OMNIBUS Target
Flying
Well… see for yourself. I can’t believe how fast that little guy is. It’s outstanding! I used and abused the QX105 and crashed it against trees, on concrete and “landed” it in snow many times but it still flies very well.
Configuration/PIDs
My Betaflight 3.1.1 settings can be downloaded from here.
PIDs
Battery
The Eachine batteries are really annoying when it comes to holding the voltage. It sags constantly and makes the beeper go crazy all the time so I suggest to deactivate the beeper for voltage alarms. This can be done in Betaflight with the following commands.
beeper BAT_CRIT_LOW
beeper BAT_LOW
I did not react to the voltage warning and just landed the quad after 5 minutes of hard flying with the 600mAh Eachine LiPos.
Summary
It’s a great, durable and extremely fast outdoor quad for beginners and advanced pilots. The fun starts when you push the throttle really hard. Definitely buy this kwad!
The Good
Things that are fantastic about the kwad.
Very well designed and cleanly build quad. Great for playing outside.
Good FPV AIO module.
Receiver already inside the flight controller.
Powerful motors
F3 MCU
Betaflight OSD
MPU6000 GYRO connected via SPI
The Ugly
Things that could get better.
It’s not a deal breaker but only RSSI is sent via telemetry to your Taranis. I’d love to at least have voltage so Taranis tells me when to land.
ESC connectors pop out when landing or crashing sometimes so you have to use some silicone (or better some super glue) to fix them.
The Bad
Things that absolutely need to be fixed.
The batteries are not great. The voltage drops almost instantly to values around 3.5V and below and Betaflight beeps the hell out of the FC. Please Eachine give your customers much better batteries.
Well… airbot did it again. They released this really cool AIO board (including PDB and OSD) for micro quads which are really nice for flying at home in the winter. I finally found time to take a first look at it and I think I’ll design a 3D printed frame around this cool flight controller because I currently have no idea which frame would fit the 25mmx25mm (mounting holes) board.
Omnibus F3 Mini I
Omnibus F3 Mini II
Omnibus F3 Mini III
Omnibus F3 Mini IV
Omnibus F3 Mini V
It’s insane if you look at the features of this little but powerful guy.
STM32 F303 MCU which runs Betaflight (there is a F4 version around as well)
SBUS/PPM input + DSMX port
4x motor output pins
SPI sensor MPU6000
SD card slot
current sensor
barometer BMP280
So let me state this clearly. You get this small AIO board which includes the FC + Betaflight OSD + PDB (up to 2S direct battery input) + SD card slot for black box recording for just about fifty bucks.
Pretty amazing little quad that I received from Banggood. It behaves really well in the air. It has a camera but you can’t really fly FPV with it because of the delay you are getting on your phone attached to the remote control. Eachine even created a mobile app for recording video and taking photos. You get about 2 minutes of fast flying with lots of flips.
https://youtu.be/Nq6WUfGJFL0
PROs
– handles very well in the air and can help learning flying line of sight
– small and absolutely flyable at home
– prop guards so you can’t hurt people
– very fast
– spare props inside the package
– no additional transmitter needed
– can flip on button push
– nice leds look really awesome
CONs
– not for FPV because of the delay
– only 1 battery included but it’s so much fun that you need more
It has arrived in the stores and I wanted to take a look at it because it’s flat and includes so many components (check out the manual). At first sight it makes your builds very easy but there are of course downsides.
TBS Elite Bundle
Elite Bundle Parts
ESC Extension Board
TBS Colibri FC Top
TBS Colibri FC Bottom
TBS PDB Top
TBS PDB Bottom
Isolation Board
1.45cm
4.9cm
6cm
TBS Elite Bundle
What’s great about the bundle (first sight)?
It includes pretty much everything you’ll need. PDB with current sensor + VTX with OSD and of course the FC Colibri Race 2.0.
It is very nicely designed with a very flat form factor of 1.45cm height (the top of the white connectors). It nicely fits into the ImpulseRC Alien 5″ frame.
You can integrate Crossfire easily and get a very compact long range system which can be configured over OSD (PIDs, VTX, camera).
What’s NOT great (first sight)?
The ESC extension board is placed pretty high in the tower so the ESC wires have to be placed high in the air which will cause trouble while flying. The chance of hanging on trees with wires soldered that high are pretty damn high. You can’t decide to move components up and down. So you can’t move the ESC board to the bottom. The ESC board has to be soldered to the FC.
TBS used MPU6500 gyro, which is known to be rather noisy when compared to MPU6000. This may cause trouble when tuning the kwad.
The price seems very high. USD130 is too much for FC (normally ~USD30), OSD (normally ~CHF5), PDB (normally ~CHF10) and VTX (normally ~USD35) and the components normally cost about USD80 all together. I think USD100 would be a great deal for the bundle.
I don’t get why TBS is including that strange/uncommon SMA connector. For my ImpulseRC Alien build (and pretty much every other build) I will need standard right angled SMA or RP-SMA connector.
I have no idea whether the UFL connector on the VTX will hold. It popped out in my hands and I did not even pull on it. I suggest to use a bit of hot glue to secure it.
Now it’s about to wait for the other kwad components to arrive.
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