Category: Asteroid

HOBBYMATE ASTEROID 3 INCH QUADCOPTER: Review

9/5/2019

The Hobbymate Asteroid is a new 3 inch quadcopter that is available in kit, BNF or PNF formats that is available with motors and electronics suitable for 4s or 6s (!) operation. Following on from the awesome Hobbymate Comet (built here and reviewed here) this is another premium set of components at a spectacular price. It is available exclusively from HobbyCool.com here:

http://hobbycool.com/asteroid-3-mini-fpv-racing-drone-kit/

In part 1 of this blog here I looked at the build and betaflight setup process in full. In this part 2 I'm taking a closer look at the components and review in general.

On the bench
From a specs standpoint this is a pretty special kit but that only tells half the story. I'll walk through the components and talk about their strong and or weak points

Hobbymate 1505 motors made by RCInpower. These are the stars for me. Like other modern RCInpower motors they are beautifully made: the single piece machined bell, the strong magnets with retention ring with an impossibly small air gap and the multistranded windings. Just as interesting is the size choice. 1505 is a wider stator but much shorter than usual. As a result it should have more turning force (torque) but potentially less top end and better efficiency as a result. Although it sounds like a large number the stator volume is not actually that big - see my comparison table below for some suprising comparisons.

1108	1306	1407	1408	1505	1506	1606
760	796	1077	1231	883	1060	1206

Comparison of common 3" motor stator volumes in cm^3

Motors are available in 4300kV for 4s and 2700kV for 6s. Mine are 4300kV which I feel are a little high for 4s but more on that later.

iFlight SucceX F4. This is a pretty special unit from a specification standpoint, the most compact powerful flight stack to date:

35A BLHeli_32 ESC
F4 flight control with 3 UARTS
25/100/200mW VTX

Like most modern iflight products it is nicely made and presented.

2 Comments

Hobbymate Asteroid 3 inch quadcopter: Build Tutorial and betaflight pids etc.

29/4/2019

0 Comments

The purpose of this blog is to show how I have built in close detail and how I have set up betaflight software for optimal performance. Note you can spend an extra $30 to have this build with a FRSKY receiver but I always like to tinker and optimise my build which is why I have chosen this path. Update: review now completed here

I like to take my time on a build and ensure I have a clean well lit area. Makes things easier when I inevitably drop screws or small parts on the floor. My recommended list of budget tools is here.