How to Build an FPV Drone Tutorial (DJI & Analog)

by Oscar
How To Build Fpv Drone 2023 Analog 3d Printed Parts

I will show you step by step how to build an FPV drone with both analog and DJI FPV systems (also applies to other HD digital systems such as HDZero and Avatar). I will list all the components, explain the wiring and assembly, and tips and tricks that make a reliable FPV drone build.

banggood

Can Beginner Build FPV Drones?

Absolutely!

Yes, you can just buy a pre-built drone off the shelf, but you won’t learn anything. By building it from scratch, you will learn how everything fits together and it enables you to repair it when something goes wrong.

Building your first FPV drone is not going to be easy, it might take hours, or even days to finish. When you encounter a problem, you might take advice from experienced pilots online, or ultimately end up finding your way by trial and error. Either way, the journey is going to be extremely rewarding.

Learning the Basics

The goal of this article is to teach you the steps and basic knowledge of building a quadcopter. But before we begin, make sure to get a basic understanding what an FPV drone is: How to get started with FPV Drone.

If you ever see an unfamiliar acronym, you can try looking it up here: Acronyms and technical terms in FPV.


Parts List

I will be using these parts in this tutorial. These are affiliate links, when you make a purchase using these links, it doesn’t cost you anything extra, and I will receive a small commission which will help keep this blog going.

How To Build Fpv Drone 2023 Parts List Analog.jpg

Analog Build

Frame TBS Source One V5 GetFPV | Amazon | AliExpress
FC / ESC Speedybee F405 V3 + BLS 50A 4in1 ESC GetFPV | RDQ | Amazon | AliEx
Motors 4x iFlight Xing2 2207 1855KV Banggood | GetFPV | Amazon
Propellers 4x HQ 5×4.3×3 V2S RDQ | GetFPV | AliExpress
Receiver Radiomaster RP1 ExpressLRS GetFPV | Banggood | RM
FPV Camera Caddx Ratel 2 Banggood | GetFPV | RDQ
VTX Speedybee TX800 RDQ | GetFPV | AliExpress
Misc. Part Battery Strap (20x220mm) Banggood | GetFPV | RDQ
Optional Upgrade VTX Antenna NewBeeDrone | RDQ

I have a list of the cheapest 5″ drone parts in 2022 if your priority is low cost.

How To Build Fpv Drone 2023 Parts List Dji Digital

DJI Build

Frame TBS Source One (V5) GetFPV | Amazon | AliExpress
FC / ESC Speedybee F405 V3 + 50A 4in1 ESC GetFPV | RDQ | Amazon | AliEx
Motors 4x iFlight Xing2 2207 1855KV Banggood | GetFPV | Amazon
Propellers 4x HQ 5×4.3×3 V2S RDQ | GetFPV | AliExpress
Receiver Radiomaster RP1 ExpressLRS GetFPV | Banggood | RM
FPV Setup Runcam Link + Runcam Wasp (DJI System) AliExpress | GetFPV | RDQ
Misc Part Battery Strap (20x220mm) Banggood | GetFPV | RDQ

Tools and Supplies

You will also need the following tools and supplies when building an FPV drone:

If you are serious about the hobby, here’s a complete list of tools that you might find useful.

Frame

I have chosen the latest Source One V5 frame for this build because it’s one of the cheapest frames available. Also, because it’s open source, the design has been constantly updated over the years by the community to keep up with the latest hardware requirements, improving performance and usability. Here’s my review of the TBS Source One V5 frame.

The other cool thing about the Source One is the large number of free 3D printing designs available on Thingiverse for enhancement.

Tbs Source One V5 Fpv Drone Frame Front

FC and ESC

I like getting an “FC stack” that consists of a flight controller board and a 4in1 ESC board, because there is minimal amount of soldering, it’s usually plug-and-play and it just works.

Speedybee F405 V3 Fc Esc Stack

I’ve chosen the Speedybee F405 V3 stack because it’s one of the best value stacks out there at the moment (Nov 2022). It’s packed with features and has built-in Bluetooth for Betaflight configuration from your phone, and much more!

You can see my review of the Speedybee F405 V3 here.

If you can’t get the Speedybee F405 V3 for some reason, here are my other FC recommendations.

Motors

Popular motors with similar size these days perform quite similarly, the main difference is usually the build quality. For a 5″ FPV drone, motor sizes such as 2306, 2207, 2208 are all good options here, here’s my reason why I’ve gone with 2207.

The other consideration is motor KV, we are using 1855KV in this build because I am planning to use 6S LiPo battery. For 6S, KV range between 1600-1900 are pretty common, the higher KV is more aggressive and power-hungry. 4S is also a popular option, but here are my reasons why I prefer 6S over 4S.

Here are other motors I recommend and they all perform great.

Iflight Xing2 2207 2306 Motors Fpv Drone

FPV Setup

The two most popular FPV systems right now are analog and DJI, I will be covering the installation and setup for both systems in this tutorial.

There are other HD digital FPV systems out there, such as HDZero and Walksnail Avatar. The wiring and setup are more or less the same as DJI, so this tutorial still applies.

For the Analog build, I will be using the Speedybee TX800. It’s an affordable yet high performance VTX that is easy to mount in the Source One frame. If it’s not available to you, here are other VTX I recommend.

Speedybee Tx800 Vtx Video Transmitter

For the DJI build, I will be using the Runcam Link VTX and Wasp Camera combo.

There are quite a few DJI compatible cameras, each has pros and cons. In a nutshell, for the best image quality during the day, I’d recommend the Nebula Pro (almost identical IQ as the DJI OG camera), but it’s rarely in stock nowadays and performs poorly at night. For low light, the Caddx Polar is probably the best, but it doesn’t have low latency mode (120FPS). The Runcam Wasp offers the best of both worlds, decent image quality and low light performance and yet it’s great in low light while still capable of 120FPS low latency mode. However it’s not the perfect camera and still has some downsides, not deal breakers IMO, but you should check out in my review to make an informed decision.

Runcam Link Wasp Fpv Camera Dji Digital

Radio Receiver

Your choice of radio transmitter will determine what receiver (RX) you can use. If you follow my radio recommendation, then your radio should support ExpressLRS, which is my recommended choice of radio link at the moment (Nov 2022). It’s affordable, high performance and just works! I have a whole article explaining why I love ExpressLRS.

There are many manufacturers making receivers and transmitter modules for ExpressLRS, you can get any of them, as long as they are ExpressLRS they will work together. I have chosen the Radiomaster RP1 receiver because I have used them for a few months now and they perform great, and they seem to be always in stock so far.

Here’s my tutorial on how to setup ExpressLRS.

Radiomaster Rp1 Expresslrs Elrs Receiver External T Antenna

Other Equipment

You will need the following accessories to fly a quadcopter in FPV. Take a look at what gear I use everyday for some ideas. Here is a summary.

A Radio Transmitter (Buyer’s Guide) is used for controlling the drone, right now (Nov 2022) I recommend getting the Radiomaster TX16S MKII (see my review), as it’s probably one of the best value radios out there.

A pair of FPV Goggles is for watching real-time video from the drone, here is my FPV Goggles Buyer’s Guide. The best in class analog FPV Goggles right now would be the Skyzone SKY04X (Nov 2022). If those are beyond your budget, you can check out the Skyzone Cobra X (review) which I think is the best budget “box goggles” at the moment (Nov 2022).

To use the DJI FPV System, you will need a pair of DJI FPV Goggles (see review), doesn’t  matter if you are getting the V1 or V2, they have identical performance and will work equally well for custom built FPV drones.

As for LiPo batteries, some 6S 1000mAh-1300mAh would be perfect for this build, see this post for my LiPo Recommendations. Make sure to spend time learning about LiPo in this Battery Buyer’s Guide, they can be dangerous when mishandled.

Finally, you will also need a battery charger, here is my LiPo charger recommendations. Again, take your time reading about how to choose LiPo chargers and power supply.

If you want to see other mini quad parts that I have tested and recommend, check here: https://oscarliang.com/tag/recommend/


Steps of Building FPV Drone

Click the link will take you to the section in this article:

  1. Frame Assembly
  2. Installing Motors
  3. Wiring Diagram
  4. Installing ESC
  5. Testing ESC and Motors
  6. Setup Receiver
  7. Installing Analog FPV Setup
  8. Installing DJI FPV Setup
  9. Finishing off
  10. Using 3D Printed Parts
  11. Setting up Betaflight
  12. Tuning FPV Drone
  13. Learning How to Fly

1. Frame Assembly

It’s optional but a good practice to “prepare” the frame before building:

  • Sand down the sharp edges on carbon fibre pieces, especially the outer side of the arms and plates. Sharp edges could cut your wires and battery strap in a crash. The chamferred edges can also make carbon fibre sheet less likely to delaminate in crashes
  • Wash all carbon fibre parts in soap water to remove any carbon dust that remains after cutting, drilling and sanding (note that carbon fibre is conductive), then dry with towel

Assemble the frame by first sitting the arms and arm lock on top of the front bottom plate.

Tbs Source One V5 Fpv Drone Frame Assemble Arm Wedge Bottom Plate

Then put the rear bottom plate (which has push nuts) on top of the arms, and fasten with screws from the bottom. Finally install the 8 aluminium standoffs, but watch out for the different heights, the four front standoffs are longer.

Tbs Source One V5 Fpv Drone Frame Assemble Bottom Plate Split Deck Standoffs

2. Installing Motors

You can now mount the four motors to the arms. It’s recommended to use threadlock on the motor screws. That’s because motors make vibrations and those screws can wiggle free over time. The good news is that the screws that come with the Xing2 motors already have threadlock applied, so we don’t need to worry about it.

How To Build Fpv Drone 2023 Install Motors Screws ThreadlockThe arms are 6mm thick, so those 8mm screws are just the perfect length. There is no need to use washers.

How To Build Fpv Drone 2023 Install Motors Screws

If you use ordinary screws, you should get some loctite (thread locker). Make sure to get the blue liquid type, the red liquid type is intended for permanent use and you will have a very hard time undoing those screws later on.

Finally, make sure the motor screws are not too long and touching the motor winding. Here is how to check if your motor screws are too long if you can’t tell from looking at it.

How To Build Fpv Drone 2023 Install Motors Screws Not Touching Winding

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3. Wiring Diagrams

You should draw a wiring diagram on a piece of paper about how to connect all the components. If you are using the same components that I recommended, here is a connection diagram you can follow.

For the Analog build:

How To Build Fpv Drone 2023 Wiring Diagram AnalogFor the DJI build:

How To Build Fpv Drone 2023 Wiring Diagram Dji Digital

You can “dry fit” all the components in the frame without actually connecting and soldering any of the wires. This allows you to see how long the wires need to be, where to place the components, and spot any potential issues with spacing.

Analog build:

How To Build Fpv Drone 2023 Dry Fit AnalogDJI build:

How To Build Fpv Drone 2023 Dry Fit Dji Digital

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4. Installing ESC

The Speedybee F405 V3 stack comes with long M3 30mm bolts, which I will be replacing the four shorter screws in the frame with.

How To Build Fpv Drone 2023 Stack Screws

Just slide the 4in1 ESC and FC boards into the four long screws. Watch out for the orientation of the ESC board – the power pads should be facing backward, with the motor solder pads facing up. To identify which side of the frame is the front, just look for the cut-outs for the camera mounting plates.

How To Build Fpv Drone 2023 Install Esc Fc

Check the bottom of the ESC to make sure it’s not touching the frame, and also between the ESC and FC, there should be nothing touching either.

How To Build Fpv Drone 2023 Install Esc Fc Rubber Grommet Space

You are about to do some soldering next. If you are new to soldering, please check out my tutorial “How to Solder for Beginners“.

Check how long the motor wires should be, and cut to length (it’s a good idea to leave a little slack, better be too long than too short).

Also secure the motor wires on the arms with some cloth tape (or electrical tape).

How To Build Fpv Drone 2023 Motor Wire Length

Then strip the tip of the wires (about 2mm) and tin the ends.

You should now have a bunch of spare wires from the motors you just cut. Take two of the longer ones and solder them to the input power of the ESC (preferably on the bottom side). Mark the positive wires with a piece of tape. We will solder the capacitor to these wires later on.

How To Build Fpv Drone 2023 Solder Wires Capacitor

Now tin all the solder pads on the 4in1 ESC. It’s good practice to cover area of the board where you are not soldering with tape. You can use electrical tape, kapton tape or masking tape, as long as it doesn’t get burned through easily by molten solder. This will prevent solder accidentally dropping from your soldering iron onto the components and causing electrical shorts when you plug in the battery.

How To Build Fpv Drone 2023 Tin Esc Solder Pads

Solder the motor wires onto the ESC. Don’t worry about wire order and motor direction for now, we can change it later in the software.

Solder the XT60 power lead to the power pads on the ESC. Watch out for polarity (positive and negative). This is possibly the hardest soldering you will do in this build, because it takes a lot of heat to melt the solder on those large copper pads. Use higher temperature on your iron and be patient. It’s going to be downhill from here.

Soldering Tips:

  • Use a good amount of solder and solder flux (solder paste) for the large pads, and make sure the solder joints are shiny and full; if you can see the wire strands, it’s a sign that you haven’t applied enough solder
  • If the solder “sticks” to the tip when you remove it from the joint, then you should apply more flux
  • It’s okay to use high temperature when soldering large solder pads like these, the important thing is to make it quick and avoid heating the pads for too long. I personally use 450°C (840°F) for motor wires and XT60, and 380°C for signal wires.

How To Build Fpv Drone 2023 Solder Motors To Esc Xt60

Now solder the 1500uF capacitor that comes with the Speedybee stack. Firstly, bend the legs with a pair of pliers and cut shorter, then tin them with solder.

How To Build Fpv Drone 2023 Solder Capacitor Cut LegsOn the bottom of the capacitor, stick a little piece of double sided tape.

How To Build Fpv Drone 2023 Solder Capacitor Double Sided Tape

Solder the capacitor to the wires that we soldered to the ESC power pads earlier. Watch out for the polarity, the side with yellow marking is the negative side of the cap.

How To Build Fpv Drone 2023 Solder Capacitor Install

You may wonder, “why solder a capacitor to the ESC power?” Well, it’s for reducing voltage spikes and electrical noise generated from the ESC and motors. Even if your mini quad is “super clean”, when you have a bent prop, you will begin to get more noise from the motors, and a capacitor can have you covered in those situations too. See this post to learn more about why adding extra capacitor to FPV drones.

Now connect the FC to the ESC with the 8-pin ribbon cable provided. When installing the flight controller on top of the 4in1 ESC, make sure the arrow on the FC is pointing forward.

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5. Testing ESC and Motors

Time to test the ESC and motors, which means we will be plugging in a LiPo battery for the first time!

For safety, you should always check continuity first to ensure there is no electrical short. This means using a multimeter in continuity mode, and use the probes to test the positive and negative terminals of the XT60 (or directly on the solder pads).

Here is a tutorial explaining what multimeter you should get and how to test your drone with it.

If there is a short circuit, the multimeter will be beeping continuously. If this happens, you need to find out what is causing the short and fix it, and DO NOT plug in the battery or it will fry your components. One common cause is excessive amount of solder used on one solder pad and it might have spilled over to the neighbouring pads.

Pro-Tip: sometimes the meter might beep for a split second then stop. That can happen when there are capacitors. When you touch the positive and negative pads with your probes, it charges the caps so there will be a flow of current, and the meter thinks there is a short. But when the caps are charged, the current flow stops and the beep will also stop. If you get a short beep for a second or two, that’s completely normal, it shouldn’t be a problem if the meter doesn’t continue to beep.

For the first time plugging in a battery, always use a smoke stopper (review). This is a great and simple device to avoid “magic smoke”! A smoke stopper is not mandatory, but it’s a worthy investment that I strongly recommend.

How To Build Fpv Drone 2023 Smoke Stopper Power Lipo Battery

Now it’s time to test the motors, but DO NOT install propellers yet!

Plug in the battery, and connect the USB cable to the flight controller, then go to the Motors tab in Betaflight Configurator, and spin up the motors one by one (just move the slider to around 10%), and verify if the motors are spinning in the correct direction (instructions).

If a motor is spinning the wrong direction, then you should reverse it. You can change motor order as well as motor directions inside Betaflight Configurator (Motors tab), you no longer need to do that in BLHeliSuite, and do resource remapping in CLI.

Troubleshooting tips:

Motors are not spinning at all? Did you connect the battery? If so, did you hear the ESC beeps when you plug in the battery? Did you connect the ESC to the FC?

If all motors are spinning except one, it’s possible that the ESC or that motor is faulty, or the ESC isn’t getting signal from the FC. You can try swapping that motor with a working one on the same quad, this will help rule out whether it’s the faulty ESC or motor.

If you need further assistance, just ask in our forum: https://intofpv.com

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6. Receiver Setup

Solder the RX to the FC. Unfortunately the RP1 does not come with wires, so you need to get your own, 26AWG-28AWG are great: https://oscarliang.com/product-fpfc

How To Build Fpv Drone 2023 Radiomaster Rp1 Expresslrs Receiver WiresI will be mounting the RX in front of the FC with some double sided foam tape (you can zip tie it too). You can mount it anywhere you see fit, there’s plenty of free space in this frame.

How To Build Fpv Drone 2023 Radiomaster Rp1 Expresslrs Receiver Solder To Fc

Mount the RX antenna under the closest arm using a couple of zip ties. Wrap around the antenna wire with some tape so it doesn’t dangle around and get caught.

How To Build Fpv Drone 2023 Radiomaster Rp1 Expresslrs Receiver Antenna Mount

You need to bind the receiver to the radio (TX module), I have a detailed guide explaining how to setup ExpressLRS, so I won’t repeat it here. Then in Betaflight configurator, you need to apply the following configurations:

  • Go to Ports tab, for the UART we have connected the receiver to, enable “Serial RX“. In our example, it would be UART2
  • In the Receiver tab, select “Serial (via UART)” in Receiver Mode, and choose “CRSF” in Serial Receiver Provider

Once that’s done, you want to confirm the receiver is fully working in the Receiver tab. When you move the sticks on the radio, the bars (channels) should move as well.

Betaflight Configurator Receiver 10.8

If the wrong channels are responding, try a different Channel Map, it’s normally either “default (AETR)”, or TAER.

You will need to setup at least two switches on the radio (instructions), one for arming and the other for buzzer. You might also want a 3rd switch for flight mode (such as angle mode). Again, confirm it’s working in the receiver tab, when you flip the switches, AUX1 and AUX2 should respond.

If you have any questions, post in our forum: intoFPV.com

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7. Installing Analog FPV Setup

This is for the analog build, skip to the next section if you are using the DJI FPV system.

Install the camera between the side plates.

How To Build Fpv Drone 2023 Analog Fpv Camera Frame PlatesInstall the camera inside the frame, and cut the camera wires to length. You can twist the wires to make it tighter.

How To Build Fpv Drone 2023 Analog Fpv Camera Wires CutSolder the camera wires to the FC. Red goes to 5V, black goes to GND, yellow goes to CAM.

How To Build Fpv Drone 2023 Analog Fpv Camera Wires Soldered

Put double sided foam tape on the bottom of the VTX, cover any copper so it doesn’t come in contact with the frame when mounted.

How To Build Fpv Drone 2023 Vtx TapePut 2mm zip ties through the mounting holes and tighten. Also tighten down the battery leads at the same time, it kills two birds with one stone.

How To Build Fpv Drone 2023 Install VtxThis is how it looks from the bottom of the frame.

How To Build Fpv Drone 2023 Install Vtx Zip TiesFinally solder the VTX cable to the FC, and make sure it doesn’t dangle around.

How To Build Fpv Drone 2023 Install Vtx WiresAnd strap the VTX antenna to the standoff.

How To Build Fpv Drone 2023 Install Vtx Mount AntennaTo setup the VTX in Betaflight, go to the Ports tab, for the UART that you have connected the IRC pad to, select IRC Tramp under Peripherals.

Then copy this snippet in the CLI (this is the VTX Table for the Speedybee TX800 that will enable you to change VTX settings in the OSD menu).

# vtxtable
vtxtable bands 5
vtxtable channels 8
vtxtable band 1 BOSCAM_A A CUSTOM 5865 5845 5825 5805 5785 5765 5745 5725
vtxtable band 2 BOSCAM_B B CUSTOM 5733 5752 5771 5790 5809 5828 5847 5866
vtxtable band 3 BOSCAM_E E CUSTOM 5705 5685 5665 0 5885 5905 0 0
vtxtable band 4 FATSHARK F CUSTOM 5740 5760 5780 5800 5820 5840 5860 5880
vtxtable band 5 RACEBAND R CUSTOM 5658 5695 5732 5769 5806 5843 5880 5917
vtxtable powerlevels 5
vtxtable powervalues 25 200 400 600 600
vtxtable powerlabels 25 200 400 800 800
save

8. Installing DJI FPV Setup

Here’s how to install the Runcam Link and Wasp camera in the DJI build.

Mount the Wasp camera between the side plates and install it inside the frame just like how we did it in the analog build.

Take the DJI Air Unit cable that comes with the FC, and cut the ends and solder it to the Vista. Here’s the pinout of the Vista:

We won’t connect the SBUS and GND pads in the Vista, so we can cut those two wires off in the cable.

Put double sided foam tape on the bottom of the Runcam Link (Vista).

I prefer to run the camera cable beneath the 4in1 ESC board, this makes a cleaner build. You could leave it on top of the FC if you want, but I don’t like having a cable constantly hitting the FC (or the gyro) during flight. If you need to disconnect the camera cable from the video transmitter, here is how.

How To Build Fpv Drone 2023 Dji Runcam Link Vista Tape

To install the Vista in the frame, I simply use some 2mm zip ties (ideally 15mm or longer). And strap the VTX antenna to the standoff like so.

How To Build Fpv Drone 2023 Install Dji Runcam Link Vista

In order to have OSD for displaying battery level and other flight information on screen, you need to configure Betaflight. This page explains how to do it in detail.

To sum it up, in Betaflight configurator, you need to:

  • In Ports tab, UART1 enable “Configuration/MSP
  • In Configuration tab, under Other Features, enable OSD
  • Inside your DJI Goggles, go to Settings, Display and turn on Custom OSD

That’s it!

As a final check, you might want to power the drone from a LiPo battery again using a smoke stopper, to make sure it works properly before moving on to the next step.

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9. Finishing Off

Put nylon nuts on the FC. Don’t over-tighten it, just touching the rubber grommet is fine. Compressed grommets reduce vibration damping and defeats the purpose of soft mounting.

How To Build Fpv Drone 2023 Fc Stack Nuts

How To Build Fpv Drone 2023 Fc Stack Nuts 2

For the capacitor, use a zip tie to strap it to the camera plates.

How To Build Fpv Drone 2023 Capacitor Install

Install the top plate and put a battery strap under and through. The Source One V5 comes with rubbery battery pad, it does work quite well, but if you want something of top notch quality, check out Ummagrip battery pad. It’s very sticky, washable, and the thickness keeps your battery safely away from the bolts.

How To Build Fpv Drone 2023 Top Plate Battery Strap

The weights of the finished drone are:

  • Drone = 360g
  • Drone + 6S 1100mAh LiPo = 560g
  • Drone + 6S 1100mAh LiPo + GoPro 7 = 680g

How To Build Fpv Drone 2023 Plug In Lipo Battery

When installing the propellers, be aware of the different rotations – CW (clockwise) and CCW (counter clockwise). Make sure to install them on the correct motors, otherwise your quad is not going to take off, or simply flip over when trying to.

How To Build Fpv Drone 2023 Finish Propellers Mount

M5 nylon lock nuts are used to hold the propeller securely on the motor, so it’s not likely to come loose even when the motors are spinning at very high speed. It can take some effort to tighten down when they are new, over time it will get easily. You don’t want it too tight or the prop hub can shutter. Just tight enough that the prop can’t move when you try to rotate it with your hand while the other hand is holding the motor bell.

Using a dedicated prop nut tool like this can speed things up when changing props.

 

When mounting the battery (and GoPro), make sure the COG (centre of gravity) is as close to the centre of the drone as possible. To check if you have placed the battery at the right spot, simply grab the middle of the top plate with 2 fingers, and see if the quad stays level.

It’s important to make sure the COG is right at the centre of the four motors. For example, if the quad is front heavy, the front motors will have to work harder than the rear motors in order to maintain level, and this will impact flight performance.

How To Build Fpv Drone 2023 Check Cg

And we are ready for a test flight!

How To Build Fpv Drone 2023 Finish SideHow To Build Fpv Drone 2023 Finish Back BatteryHere’s the DJI build:

How To Build Fpv Drone 2023 Finish Dji No 3d Printed Parts

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10. Using 3D Printed Parts

If you want a cleaner, slicker and more durable build, you should use 3D printed parts.

How To Build Fpv Drone 2023 Analog 3d Printed Parts

You can find many different designs online, just search for the frame “Source One V5” on Thingiverse.com. Parts for other frames might also work on the Source One. I got my 3D printed parts from https://3dprintsfpv.co.uk/, excellent service, highly recommended. If you can’t find the parts you want in the shop, just shoot them a message with the thingiverse link and the filament color you want. I am sure they will be happy to help you out.

Here are some good ones I found:

How To Build Fpv Drone 2023 3d Printed Parts

The front bumper and arm protectors are great additions that will protect your frame in crashes. You will need some longer motor screws for those arm protectors, M3 10mm is what I use.

How To Build Fpv Drone 2023 Front Bumper Arm ProtectorsOn the analog build, with the 3D printed antenna mount, I am able to use the MMCX to SMA extension cable that comes with the TX800, and upgrade the VTX antenna to a circular polarized one for better signal quality.

How To Build Fpv Drone 2023 Analog 3d Printed Parts Vtx Antenna MountYou could use 3D printed parts to mount the camera, and even the capacitor.

How To Build Fpv Drone 2023 Dji 3d Printed Parts Camera Capacitor MountHere’s how the DJI build look with 3D printed parts:

How To Build Fpv Drone 2023 Finish Dji

Using a 3D printed mount holds the Vista antenna in a more optimal angle when flying.

How To Build Fpv Drone 2023 Dji 3d Printed Parts Antenna

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11. Setting Up Betaflight

To setup Betaflight for your first flight, follow the instructions in this guide “how to setup Betaflight for the first time“.

 

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12. Tuning

Tuning your quad is basically making it to fly and behave the way you want. Betaflight has come a long way, you don’t have to tune your quad and it will probably fly just fine with stock settings. But if you are serious about performance, then you have a few more things to learn! :D

For me, tuning a mini quad is basically going through these settings and get them dialled in:

If you don’t know how to use Blackbox, this is how to tune your FPV drone in 10 simple steps. If you know how to use Blackbox, here’s an in-depth guide on how to tune filters and PID.

This is my PID and Filter tune for this build, but it might not work well for you if you are using different components. It’s quite an aggressive tune, make sure to do a short test flight and check your motor temperature before using it. I highly recommend tuning your build from scratch following this guide.

Sourceone V5 Fpv Drone Build Bf4.3 Pid Tuning Sourceone V5 Fpv Drone Build Bf4.3 Filter Tuning

My rates for freestyle are (Actual Rate):

  • Center Sensitivity 180
  • Max Rate 750
  • Expo 0.56

13. Learning How to Fly

If you have little to no experience in flying a mini quad, you should definitely check out these tutorials to get started:

Any questions? Let me know in the comment.

You can check my past build guides from 2020 and 2018:

Improvements and Upgrades

There are things we can do better to improve performance of the FPV drone we just built. I didn’t include these as I wanted to keep the guide simple and easy to follow. But once you mastered the basics, you can start taking a look at how to make your drone better. Here is a list of upgrades and improvements you can do:

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10 comments

Alex 27th January 2023 - 4:54 pm

Oscar, thanks for the great tutorial! I have started the project following your tutorial but i want to use 4S batteries since I already have them from another hobby – could you please suggest what should be changed in the project? Which motors and propellers should be used according to your experience? Thanks in advance.

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Oscar 28th January 2023 - 1:53 am

Simply get the 2755 KV version of the motor I suggested (you can pick on the product page I linked to), or any other 2207 motors with around 2400KV-2700KV should also work fine for 4S.

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ben 22nd January 2023 - 3:22 pm

What is the range of this drone with the circular polarised antenna and the speedy bee vtx and something like the machine ev800d???

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Getulio Alves 11th January 2023 - 11:03 am

Very, very Good.

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Jack 7th January 2023 - 4:44 pm

I am looking at building the DJI build what controller and fpv headset is needed thanks for the step by step and all the links

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Jeff A 29th December 2022 - 6:46 am

Thank you so much for creating this wonderful resource. I’m helping my son work through this to build his first FPV drone. Your instructions have been invaluable.

I would be grateful if you could explain this note from section 8:

We won’t connect the SBUS and GND pads in the Vista, so we can cut those two wires off in the cable.

How do you know not to connect these two wires? What would happen if we went ahead and connected them?

Thanks so much!

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Oscar 29th December 2022 - 2:51 pm

So the Vista has built-in receiver capability if you have a DJI FPV Remote to use with it, it outputs SBUS signal you can connect that to the flight controller.
But because we are using an external radio receiver, in this case an ExpressLRS receiver, we won’t need to connect the SBUS pad. You can connect them but they won’t do anything.
I recommend using an external radio receiver, the receiver in the Vista normally loses signal (giving you failsafe) before you lose video so it’s not really ideal.

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dadhang 20th December 2022 - 8:47 am

Hi Oscar your information is very good, and very informative, we already modified from analog to Digital, we used Runcam Link, but we ran into some problems after that, the battery dropped to 10 volts (Lipo 4s) after flying for less than 1 minute, can you advise for this trouble ?

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CubeOne 8th November 2022 - 3:59 pm

I am new to the whole scene and looking into building my first fpv drone and have a question regarding the battery used and the total weight. How much would using a 4S battery impact the total weight of the drone? Would you be able to build a similar 4S quad which is less than 500g, considering sub 500g quads can be flown basically everywhere where as there are some restrictions on drones heavier than 500g where I live. Or could this also be achieved by using a smaller capacity 6S battery than used in the guide?

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Oscar 8th November 2022 - 4:50 pm

It’s totally possible to build a 5″ drone that weighs below 500g (including battery), for example the Emax Hawk Apex. Ultimately it just depends on the components you want to use and what kind of performance you want to get out of it.
The weight of a battery does not depend on cell count, but the total watt hour (energy stored in the battery). For example, a 4S 1500mAh battery would weigh similar to a 6S 1000mAh, because they have the same watt hour (= voltage * capacity).
You can totally use a smaller 6S battery with the drone we build in this tutorial, the only downside is shorter flight time. By reducing the weight of the drone, you can get some of the lost flight time back, for example, by using lighter components.

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