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QUADIFYRC Quadcopter reviews

FUS SPARTAN V3 Review: Everything you need to know about this budget toothpick micro

28/8/2020

2 Comments

 
The FUS Spartan V3 is the first fully assembled quadcopter from FUS. It is a toothpick style micro with AIO FC/ESC and larger than normal 1104 5400kV motors. Most noticeably it has a VERY low price - just $85 before any discounts are applied (read on for those). In this review we will take a close look at components and the build quality. I'll share my recommended ESC and betaflight tune including VTX tables and of course review flight performance on 2s and 3s batteries including DVR. I'll also recommend a better set of propellers than the stock ones they are delivered with plus other cheap or free improvements.
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Breaking down the specifications piece by piece
All of the components used are off the shelf parts meaning replacing or upgrading is a very straightforward affair. Below are all the parts that make up this assembled quad:
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JHEMCU 20A AIO FC/ESC. Whether by good luck or by good planning, FUS have ended up with one of the most reliable AIO boards on the market the will easily power this quad on 2-4s. Can't have asked for a better unit here.
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DYS BE1104 motors. These have been around a long time, in fact they were the very first motors I ever reviewed on this site. The key weakness of these motors were the awful wires but since this is pre-soldered, not so much an issue.
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Runcam Nano 2 Camera. Best budget cam around. There is no available menu but this keeps it simple and keeps the cost down. Really nice image as you can see in my DVR below.
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FE200T 25/100/200MW VTX. This little VTX is better that I though now that I have the right VTX table. Check out the DVR below running on just 25mW
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FUS Spartan V3 Frame. I'm a little worried about the long term durability but the thin arm design allows for excellent airflow off the props. 3d print designs are very well thought out and nicely printed. Not available separately at time of writing, I'll link when it is.
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Gemfan 65mm biblade props. Nice props but no good for the weight of this quad. I recommend the Gemfan flash 2540 but more on that below.
As you can imagine at this price there are NO extras - just a budget battery strap, the one set of props and the instructions. Good, I''ll be replacing the strap and props anyway so glad resource wasn't wasted there. Now I come to think of it, "spartan" is an great description when it comes to describing the contents of the package. Sorry, dad joke (not really sorry).
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2 Comments

Rush Tiny Tank review - best nano VTX available?

12/5/2020

0 Comments

 
Introduction
The Rush Tiny Tank is a nano class VTX that has power output options of 0, 25, 100, 200 and 350mW output. It uses smart audio for parameter adjustment via betaflight OSD and has lock on technology that supposedly helps the signal. Perhaps more importantly it is very, very small and very light (1.6g). I used this VTX for my recent ultralight 3" TP3 build which I documented here.
Quick update: at time of writing there is a coupon code to get this VTX for  $17 with code BGRush12 The code expires 31 May 2020 or when they run out of stock
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Background
Rush FPV as a brand is relatively new but made a huge splash with their premium full-sized tank VTX. Many found these vtxs as good if not better than the best-in-market TBS unify VTXs but as the name suggests, more robust. They followed the initial Rush Tank with the Rush race (similar but no mounting points and recently the rush mini 20mm mount. Their latest version is tiny tank reviewed here and at 1.6g is designed for micro builds or even racers (where 350mw is much more than you are allowed to run anyway). For me it is a perfect size for a toothpick build where keeping it light is the build. Due to it's small size install was simple and I was glad to see it offers multiple wiring options as below - mounted in line with camera or separately to the flight controller.
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GepRC GR1204 1204 5000kv brushless motor quick review

7/5/2020

2 Comments

 
The GepRC GR1204 is a 1204 sized motor (12mm wide, 04mm high stator) suitable for micro quadcopters that is available in 5000kv. Specifically this stator size and kV has been identified as an ideal size to build an ultralight 3 inch build like a TP3. I bought mine from Banggood here to use for a ultralight 3" TP3 build that I've reviewed and discussed here.
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The GR1204 uses modern design and manufacturing so that weight is just 3.8g per motor (no wire). The stator is 1mm wider than early 11 series motors which offers slightly better torque and efficiency which is needed to better control a light 3 inch propeller. They are in a gold colour that looks better than the stock image suggest - they are beautiful in real life. Mounting for propeller is a standard 1.5mm shaft with 2 x m2 screws for a t-mount.

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2 Comments

TP3 ultralight 3" micro quad build and review: Lockdown edition

3/5/2020

4 Comments

 
The "toothpick" series of ultra lightweight quad was made popular by Bob Roogi (Kabab FPV). all original parts can be found on his site here: https://fpvcycle.com/ After enjoying the original 65mm toothpick builds I was very excited to build a  larger, more powerful 3 inch "TP3" version but I've never been able to buy all the parts owing to the popularity.

So I've decided to spec my own TP3 build inspired by his specifications. Since this quad is essenially a sum of components I will do breakout reviews linked in this master review which ties it all together,
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Here are the parts I've chosen
Frame - ZJWRC 115X
This frame has a truly unforgettable name and a waste of time canopy but the baseplate is TOUGH and the hardware is actually useful. At $14 the price is ok and it is always in stock. See more details in my frame review here. Premium alternatives include the original TP3, racer-x twig, and more but for me if a frame does the basics well I don't bother with something expensive. I'm pleased to say this frame does do the basics well. If you are looking for something cheaper and lighter consider the Eachine Twig frame at $8 but personally I prefer the stiffness of the ZJWRC 115x frame I used here.
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ZJWRC 115x frame at Banggood
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Racer-x twig
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TP3

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4 Comments

ZJWRC 115x 3 inch tootpick frame review

17/10/2019

2 Comments

 
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Ever since the HQ3x2 t-mount prop and the more powerful nameless RC 412T FC/ESC board was released I've wanted to build a 3 inch ultra-light 'toothpick' style quad. Since then Speed Racer released the 3" Twig and Kabab has released the TP3. International shipping on these can be a killer though so when there was a frame released on Banggood I opted to give it a try.
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The frame I'm reviewing today is the ZJWRC 115x which is available here from Banggood. I haven't heard of the brand before either! The kit I reveived included:
  • 3" wheelbase 3mm thick carbon fibre base plate
  • TPU canopy
  • 4 x m2x20mm steel scres with thread standoffs for mounting board and nuts for fixing canopy.
  • Carppy yellow battery strap
Let's take a closer look at the components:

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2 Comments

HappyModel Larva-X: Review, SETUP, PIDS

9/9/2019

9 Comments

 
The Larva-X is a new lightweight micro FPV quadcopter made by Happymodel, a company who are very well known now to innovate new trends and hype in micro quadcopters. The Larva-x looks to be a more robust and refined evolution of the "toothpick" class of ultra light weight quads, this time with a more robust frame, better receiver options and a better FPV system, which addresses complaints on some of their earlier models.
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The Larva-X is available now from many retailers. Below is the link from Banggood who ship internationally from $0 and up. At time of writing (9 September 2019) they have their big anniversary sale on and have the Larva-X on Special for $83 using the code "BGANLX" and this link: Happymodel Larva X 100mm 2-3S 2.5 Inch FPV Racing Drone
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Specifcations
100mm carbon fibre frame - Although a spindly design, this is 3mm thick carbon. It feels rigid and very robust, a big improvement on previous frames which were light but prone to breaking.
Happymodel EX1103 7000KV Motor - An extra 1mm stator height gives 50% volume over the 1102 motors found on the sailfly-x. 7000kV is a good rating for 3s primarily or 2s for smaller areas.
Crazybee F4 Pro V3  Flight Controller - V3 of this flight controller no longer requires the additional capacitor as seen on the sailfly-x and eachine red devil
Onboard 10A 4in1 ESC - The extra current overhead (10a vs 6a) and voltage overhead (up to 4s) means that this should be MUCH more reliable on 3s... it is well away from current and voltage limits with 1103 7000kV motors
Multiple receiver options - Have options to choose onboard frsky/flysky/dsmx which have typically poor range but for the first time they are offering discrete receiver options including XM+, R-XSR and even TBS crossfire!
Happymodel Diamond VTX - Not only does this offer 25mw-200mW OSD selectable transmit power but it also includes an onboard DVR for static-free recording.
Runcam NANO2 FPV Camera - Hooray! A better camera. The rancam nano 2 is currentl recognised as the best price per performance nano size cam at present.

What is included in the kit (other than the quad as specced above)?

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9 Comments

Eachine RedDevil Review

29/7/2019

0 Comments

 
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The Eachine Red Devil is available exclusively from Banggood
Introduction
​The Eachine Red Devil is a 120mm "toothpick"class quad: an ultralight micro that is capable of swinging 65mm bi-blade propellers. This quad is very similar to the Happymodel Sailfly-X (which I reviewed here) but with a bump in specifications, particularly around the FPV camera and VTX. You can actually think of this as an updated Sailfly-x much like the Eachine trashcan (reviewed here) is actually an upgraded Mobula7 (reviewed here). Is it better than the sailfly-x though? Mostly less but it does feel like it needs a little extra to take advantage of this. Read on to find more.
What's in the pack?
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Like the Eachine Trashcan (and unlike the Sailfly-x) the Red Devil ships with a nice protective zipper case that you can store the quad, some simple spares and batteries in. It also ships with a simple but useful selection of spares as listed below:
The quad itself
  • 3 full sets of propellers (12 props) (spares here)
  • 3S 11.4v 300mah 30C/60C battery (spares here)
  • Propeller disassemble tool
  • Screwdriver
  • Eachine Handbag
A closer look at the specs:
  • Crazybee F4 v2.1 board - The quad is build around this very familiar all in one board. It has a F411 processor that is capable of 8k/8k Gyro/PID loop with all dynamic filters and features. It also includes a 4 x 5A esc that is capable of 2-3s including a very useful current sensor. Lastly it has a built in recevier (Flysky, FRsky or DSM) which makes it compact and light.
  • EX1102 8700kV motors - Nice light motors with 2 bearings, identical to the Sailfly-x's motors but supposedly a slightly higher kv.
  • Caddx EOS2 FPV cam - A polarising camera this one... I've had good and bad experiences with this cam. Superior to an AIO cam at day but surprisingly doesn't handle the low light as well
  • 25-200mW vtx - This is a welcome addition that means I can run more that the 25mW I'm limited to on AIO cams like those on the sailfly x. 
  • 2s 300mah 30/60c battery - Nice lightweight battery that suits the Red devil well. Same as the one included with the Sailfly-X
A closer look at the quad itself
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Same light but flimsy canopy as the Trashcan
There are a few surprising element to this quad that you wouldn't pick up on from specs alone. Firstly you'd expect that with heavier cam and vtx the quad would weight more than the Sailfly but surprisingly it doesn't - this is because the canopy is much lighter than the hefty 3d printed unit on the sailfly meaning that it comes in at a very familiar dry weight of 38g. This does come at a cost though as noted later in the flight review (jello).

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IFLight Turbobee 120rs review

4/7/2019

5 Comments

 
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The Turbobee 120RS is an ultra-lightweight micro quadcopted that loosely fits into the new 'toothpick' class. It is available in 2 variants below (2-3s and 4s), each offered with multiple receiver options (frsky, flysky, dsmx, futaba ad even TBS crossfire:
  • 2-3S iFlight TurboBee 120RS SucceX Micro 
  • 4s iFlight TurboBee 120RS Suc ceX Micro ​
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My review is based on the 2-3s version with 1103 10,000kV motors as above
Introduction
iFlight is a brand that is rapidly growing and is going some impressive things in the FPV space - everything from micro quads to the Giant X-Class rigs. They have always been middle range for value but now they are bringing polish to their products. Here I've reviewed the Turbobee 120RS 2-3s micro. It does fall into the toothpick class and yes, although it comes with Gemfan 2540 props it does fit the 65mm bi-blades.

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5 Comments

Fullspeed Toothpick Pro Review

1/7/2019

0 Comments

 
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This review is for the Fullspeed Toothpick Pro, the more robust 4s-capable micro quadcopter made by Full Speed RC. It is available from the following retailers that will ship internationally with options for FRSKY, Flysky, Spectrum and now TBS Crossfire as well:
  • Fullspeed Toothpick Pro direct from FullspeedRC.com Update 4 July: Use code FSD12 to get 12% off everything on the FullspeedRC.com site - brings the price to $111. 
  • Fullspeed Toothpick Pro from Banggood.com Update 3 July: Use code BGToothpick to get 12% off here - brings the price to $111. Code can only be used 20 times (5 already gone)

If you are looking for the the standard 2-3s Fullspeed toothpick, the full review of that can be found here and is available below:
  • Fullspeed Toothpick direct from FullspeedRC.com
  • Fullspeed Toothpick from Banggood.com
Fullspeed RC were the first to market with a bind and fly quad inspired by Bob Roogi's "toothpick"design - an ultralightweight quad based on small motors and 65mm props suitable for park flying. This was a very good park flyer - quiet and well built with good performance on 2s or 3s. It does have a full micro camera and VTX meaning it has a very nice FPV feed but is slightly on the heavy side. This model has obvioulsly been successful for them so they have quickly followed up with the Fullspeed Toothpick PRO. Specs compared with the standard toothpick below which I will discuss further:

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HappyModel Sailfly-x review; best value quad I've reviewed in 2019 so far

31/5/2019

3 Comments

 
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The Happymodel Sailfly-X is available with free shipping internationally for around $88
Introduction
​I'm a scientist by training so not usually one to use hyperbole (especially where it feels click-baity in titles) but I really do mean it here: This is the best value quad I've reviewed so far this year. It is not the best long range, it is not the best free-style and it is not the best racer. But for those occasions where you are looking to fly in a small to medium park, empty office or commercial area out from your back yard which is 90% of my fling, this is the ideal tool for the job.
The HappyModel Sailfly-x is a "toothpick class" ultralight micro quadcopter. It has an all up weight of 38g without battery and can take 1s, 2s or 3s batteries. It is available with onboard FRSKY, FlySky or DSM reveivers or without a receiver where you can add crossfire or anything else. It is a fairly complete kit (see below) and is available for just $88 at full retail. Availability seems to be somewhat limited to Banggood at time of writing but my guess is that many retailers will pick this one up.

For this review I'll break down what is included, the specs, document differences from the stock betaflight and then cover off in the actual review performance on 2s, 3s, FPV performance and close with a summary and my recommendations. I'll also list spares and upgrade parts as the become available.
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Pretty good list of parts for $88
What is included?
  • 1x Sailfly-X FPV Racing Drone (see specs below)
  • 1x 3D Printed 30 Degree Angle Canopy ( Red) (BG listing is wrong - red is 40°)
  • 1x 3D Printed 40 Degree Angle Canopy ( Purple) (BG listing is wrong - purple is 30°)
  • 1x 3S 11.4v 300mah 30C/60C battery (nice to have this included on such a low cost model)
  • 8 x propellers (this is missing from BG listing)
  • 1x Propeller disassemble tool (meh)
  • 1x Screwdriver (useful but if you are like me you probably have a dozen of these by now!)
Specs and what this means
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Crazybee F4 V2.1 2-3s Mainboard: This is the single-board brains behind this quad and features an f4 flight controller, BLHeli_S DSHOT600 capable 4 x 5a ESC and onboard reciever (flysky, frsky, dsm). It has 2 full UARTs: one for smart audio VTX control and 1 spare you can use for an external reveiver. V2.1 offer the minor improvements over V2.0: plug for AIO camera attachment, stronger solder pads and better through-holes.
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EX1102 8500KV Motor: These are super-light motors at 2.7g each and nicely built. Best news is that compared to the prototypes and those found on the Mobula7HD they have 1.5mm shafts (instead of 1.0mm) and a much more suitable kV of 8500. I'm impressed by these little motors

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3 Comments

FullSpeed Toothpick Review: The perfect Park flyer

2/5/2019

8 Comments

 
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This is a review for the Fullspeed Toothpick, an ultralight fully featured micro quadcopter that is 2s and 3s capable. It is available from the following retailers:
  • FullSpeed direct
  • Banggood​
Introduction
The toothpick is the latest release from Fullspeed, the company that bought you the Leader 120, the Leader 2.5 and 3.0 as well as the Tiny Leader. In a departure from the naming system their newest micro qudcopter is called the FullSpeed toothpick as a nod to the motor/prop combination that has been extensively test by Bob @ kababfpv.com (with his blessing). The outcome of using this mix of components is meant to be efficiency, control, surprisingly good power and safety. More on this in the review that follows.
Adressing the TinyLeader ESC issues
To immediately address the elephant in the room Fullspeed have moved on from the issues they faced with the tinyleader  ESC which had a relatively high failure rate. The toothpick here uses the same 16/20mm stack but with v2.1 of the ESC which as you can see in this video appears to be much more robust.
Component overview
I'll give my quick thoughts on the components below and will point something unique out with this build compared to others in the class - it has indivual components rather that a range of all in one gear we've become so familiar with on the Mobula7, Tinyhawk, Trashcan and even the new Sailfly-X. This means you can replace or upgrade component by component as required.
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The FullSpeed F412 fight controller is a discrete 16mm unit that attaches to the ESC by a conventional cable. It uses a 411 chip so is well supported and can run 8k/8k. Target in betaflight 4.0 (release) onwards is Matek F411 and if you upgrade you will need to allow for board rotation of 270degrees. This is the same unit found in the Tinyleader

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8 Comments

HappyModel Sailfly-x: Component Review and Discussion

16/4/2019

8 Comments

 
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The Sailfly-X is a new quadcopter made by Happymodel that is due for imminent release. The objective of this preview is to run through the specifications published and comment on their suitability for this build and expected performance. A review will follow as soon as the first round of reviewer samples are available.
Full, comprehensive review of the HappyModel Sailfly-X has been completed here: https://www.quadifyrc.com/reviews/happymodel-sailfly-x-review-best-value-quad-ive-reviewed-in-2019-so-far
I can't start this component overview without noting that this specific combination of parts (the Toothpick) was heavily researched by Bob Roogi at kababfpv.com
As you probably know, Happymodel's most successful launches have been based around the all in one crazybee board: the snapper7 (reviewed here), mobula7 (reviewed here), eachine trashcan (reviewed here) and the mobula7HD. The Sailfly-X is a departure from the ducted design in response to the massive performance gains shown by Kabab as above. Lets have a look at the specs below and I'll give you my thoughts and a conclusion based on the entire package.
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Crazybee F4 Pro V2.1 Flight controller/ESC. This is the same unit used in the Mobula 7HD and key feature is it supports up to 3s. In addition it also has a more powerful 5V 1A BEC circuit, much better solder pads and has support for frsky, flysky, DSM or no receiver. This is the best integrated flight controller ESC currently available and is a great choice here.

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