May 6, 2019
Shortly after GEPRC releasing their 12A, F4 all in one flight controller, BetaFPV is now releasing theirs.
The specifications seem to be pretty similar too: 2-4S, 12A, plugs for easy connections of the motors, through hole pads for the power connection. It only seems to have one UART broken out though, this could definitely be a deal-breaker for some people.
With a price of $39.99 it is slightly cheaper that its GEPRC competitor.
The board also comes with Betaflight OSD and LED out but you have to provide your own receiver. It also does not have pads for buzzers.
it weighs in at 5.6g. This could be the board all the Beta85x owners have been waiting for, that actually want to fly their model with 4S without burning out the ESC’s.
According to Beta FPV’s website, shipping starts immediately.
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Apr 29, 2019
GEPRC just started pre-sale of their new fight controller. This could be the one a lot of us have been waiting for - it comes with 12A ESC’s, and is supposed to run 4S batteries. Pre-orders start now and will be shipped starting may the 7th.
With a price of $42.99 it is very similar priced as the Crazybee F4 Pro V2 board, but chances are that GEPRC got the BEC right (although it is only specced with 1A) and it will not blow as it is very common with the Crazybee boards.
The board also comes with a current sensor, LED out, buzzer pads and 2 UARTS broken out.
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Apr 11, 2019
This release cycle took a bit longer than usual, but now it is here, the newest release of Betaflight - Betaflight 4.0. A lot of brushless whoops that came out in the past couple of months already come with Betaflight 4.0 flashed. But why did it take so long and what exactly did change?
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Mar 30, 2019
A lot of people (me included) have been waiting for it - an ND filter for the Caddx Turtle - wait no more, the ND filter is here.
Caddx offers an ND 8 and an ND 16 filter for the Caddx Turtle V2, Caddx Ratel and basically every other Caddx camera that comes with the turbo eye lens. You can either get them separately or in a kit, one of each strength. But there is also a different version of the ND filters for the Caddx Turtle with the special glass lens.
Caddx also released an ND filter for their 4K FPV cam, the Tarsir. It is not clear yet which strength it is, and only one version is available, but I am sure this will soon change.
An ND filter helps to prevent Jello, which especially the small HD FPV cams like the Caddx Turtle V2 or the Runcam Split Mini have real problems with.
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Mar 19, 2019
Happymodel just released the V2 of their popular CrazyBee F4 Pro flight controller.
The mein differences to the V1 are, that the new version is 1-3S capable and the battery connections are through hole instead of the small pads. Other than that everything seems to be the same: The flight controller comes with integrated FrSky, FlySky or DMX receiver. There is also a version without integrated receiver if you want to run your own.
The Boot and Bind button are now real buttons, instead of flimsy foil ones. The BEC seems to still be the same, on the V1 board a lot of users reported that the BEC spontaneously died - I am not entirely sure if this issue has been addressed.
This is basically the spare FC for the Mobula7 HD but I am sure this FC will be used in a lot of different builds, especially toothpick sized builds.
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Mar 4, 2019
iFlight is bringing a new HD Whoop to the market - the CineBee 75HD. This one also promises 2-4S capability - let’s hope they can live up to their promises in comparison to the BetaFPV Beta85x.
The 2-4S compatibility is solved by having different versions, according to the vendors page the 2S version is ready now, the 3S and 4S versions can be pre-ordered.
This model is designed for HD and there will not be a non HD version. The camera used will be the Caddx Turtle V2. There is also a 4K version planned, but there are not details for that yet.
You will be able to get the model with different receivers: DSMX, Flysky and two different FrSky receivers, the R-XSR (which I would prefer) or the XM+.
As the name suggests this whoop will have a wheelbase of 75mm.
The top and bottom plate are made from carbon fiber, the hoops are made out of plastic. The motors mount directly to the plastic hoops, those are then screwed to the carbon frame.
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Feb 22, 2019
Today BetaFPV released a statement about the failure rate of the Beta85x. They have identified the ESC as the source of the problem, more specifically a component that was not soldered properly.
From 2000 models from the first batch at least 100 seem to be affected, the number could be much higher since some of them might still sit on a retailers shelf and just wait to burst in flames.
The problem seems to mostly show on 4S with a more aggressive flying style (going fast, lots of dives). In their tests BetaFPV found that there is a 50% failure rate on 4S. The errors could not be reproduced in their test when using 3S, although on Facebook some people report that their quadcopter did go up in flames while using 3S, BetaFPV states that this could only occur due to prior damage.
Betas recommendation is to not run the Beta85x with 4S.
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Feb 19, 2019
BetaFPV seems to have pulled the Beta85x from their webstore (currently has the state of sold out).
Countless customers had problems from the start: They plugged in the battery and the Beta85x went up in flames.
Many think that the release was rushed and that BetaFPV wanted to get it out before the Chinese new year. A lot of customers got it during the festivities and encountered problems. It did not help that there was no reaction from BetaFPV for almost a whole month.
BetaFPV is trying to find out via Facebook how the Beta85x was failing. It seems that a lot of the porblems could have been caught in QC - if there was any. Had they just taken the time to plug the quadcopter in a single time, they would have caught 90% of the copters that went up in flames.
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Feb 10, 2019
This article is about something, that I am very excited about - the EMAX tinyhawk ready to fly kit - it comes with everything you need to start flying FPV. The entry into the FPV hobby has never been easier and cheaper!
The kit comes in a sturdy carrying case, it was shipped to me in the black plastic bag with the carrying case inside - if it survived the shipping from China, it should survive any abuse you put it through.
Let’s first get a quick overview of what is in the case. The kit contains FPV goggles, a battery case for the googles with 18650 battery and a USB cable for charging. Further it contains a gamepad styled transmitter, again with 18650 battery and another USB cable for charging. Of course it also contains the star of the show, the tinyhawk itself with one battery and a USB battery charger from which you can charge six 1S high voltage batteries. The kit also contains a set of spare props, some stickers, a small screw driver, some spare screws and a quick-start manual.
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Feb 1, 2019
After the great success of the he URUAV UR65 and the general craze regarding HD whoops, URUAV are the next ones in line to release an 85mm HD brushless whoop.
It will be available in two different versions, the HD and non HD version. The HD version will be quipped with a Caddx Turtle V2 and the non HD version with an Caddx EOS2 - this is very similar to BetaFPV’s Beta85 setup. But this time the two versions will also have different motors. Which is good, since the HD version is almost 10g heavier, weighting in at 52g without battery, than the non HD version, weighting in at 43g without batter.
It can be powered from a 2S or 3S battery, comes with a switchable VTX, up to 200mW.
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