Hi again to all of our readers. Today we have something very special — brand new radio from FrSKY company — Horus X10.

This radio has been announced some time ago and several units were released prior to start of the mass production. We have one of those units on hands and want to share our first impression about this product.

Our personal opinion about the aim of releasing this radio — is to target pilots who have Taranis X9D Plus but were not willing to upgrade to Horus X12S due to more expensive cost or numerous functions. With X10 and X10S release — situation might change! If to take my example — I like Taranis QX7 very much but was using it only as a backup radio because X9D Plus had additional switches and sliders that I am constantly using on my models. X12S was to heavy and large for me… So, the best option would be to have the radio that would incorporate all X9D Plus functionality, would have modern design, bigger screen and that would introduce something new. This day has come — Horus X10|X10S fulfills all of my expectations.

Let�s start with the video:

Technical Specifications and Features:

• Full Weight: 980g
• Operating Voltage: DC 7.2V
• Operating Temperature: -10 ~ 60 ℃
• Operating Current: 350mA@7.2V
• Number of channels: 16 channels (up to 32 channels)
• Model Memories: 60 (extendable by microSD card)
• Transmitter Panel : Silver/Amber/Carbon (for X10S only)
• Built-in iXJT+ module(the enhanced RF performance and the less latency) with 3 antennas (2 are inner V-shaped and 1 external (removable))
• Wireless trainer system (bluetooth module)
• Support FrSky Free Link App for iOS (Download link: https://www.frsky-rc.com/app/), Andoid app in the development
• FrSky FrTX (Support OpenTX System)
• Antenna detection and SWR warning
• Industrial LCD: 480*272 readable outdoor color screen, TN type
• Built-in Li-ion battery, 2,600mAh, 18650 type, 2S, JST balanc plug, with protection
• M10 hall sensor gimbals and extendable stick ends (with ratchet, spring tension andjustment, easy mode change, holow shafts to add stick tips switches)
• External module JR-type compartment
• Dedicated Smart Port
• Dedicated reset button
• 3.5mm headphones jack
• 3.5mm trainer jack
• miniUSB port to connect to PC
• microSD card slot (not supplied)
• micro USB-type C port for dedicated FCX10 charger
• dedicated FCX10 LiON charger (included)
• full Smart Port telemetry
• X, LR, V8II, D receivers
• nonEU and FCC FW choice
• Haptic and voice feedback
• Speaker
• color LED under Power ON|OFF button to infrom different radio states
• 6 x 3POS switches, 1 x 2POS switch, 1 x momentary switch, 2 x side sliders with center detents, 2 x round pots (left with no center detent and right with center detent), 1 x 6POS switch, 6 x trims
• Rotary dial with ENTER at center on the right, MDL|SYS|TELE|RTN decicated button on the left with combined PgUP|PgDW button at center

Seems like every important function and control is present in X10 amd X10S radios.

The only difference between X10 and X10S would be the sticks. M10 for X10 and M12 doe X10S (10 bearing design, PWM signal (no ADC), full-aluminum construction). And color scheme — X10S would be available only in carbon-fiber scheme. In future — we would be able to upgrade X10 radio with M12 Hall sensor gimbals from X10S radio (at least FrTX OS has this option) but we have to be careful — if we would change M10 to M12 and viseversa without changing its type in FW — the main board might be damaged.  

In order to make this text more convenient to read, we would like to focus on pros and cons of X10 when compared to all other FrSKY radios available.

Let�s start with Taranis X9D Plus:

X10 Pros:

• modern design
• better materials
• feels more expensive
• big color screen
• FrTX and OpentTX FW choice
• newer iXJT+ module with 3 antennas
• detachable external antenna
• additional 6POS switch
• 2 x additional trims
• new and more convenient style of control
• dedicated Smart Port to flash receivers and to tune and flash sensors and modules
• LiON 18650 regular batteries that charge much faster
• wireless trainer and telemetry downlink app for iOS (and Android)
• M10 stock Hall sensor gimbals
• possibility to upgrade stock sticks with additional switches
• comes with stick protectors
• power button with LED indicators

Cons:

• a bit wider — you would have to get used to it
• price
• screen suffering more from direct sunlight

In comparison to QX7:

Pros:

• modern design
• better materials
• feels more expensive
• big color screen
• FrTX and OpentTX FW choice
• newer iXJT+ module with 3 antennas
• detachable external antenna
• additional 6POS switch
• 2 x additional trims
• 2 x additional 3POS switches
• new and more convenient style of control
• LiON 18650 regular batteries that charge much faster
• wireless trainer and telemetry downlink app for iOS (and Android) (available with QX7S)
• M10 stock Hall sensor gimbals (M7 sitcks available with QX7S)

Cons:

• a bit wider and heavier — you would have to get used to it
• price
• screen suffering more from direct sunlight

In comparison to Horus X12S:

Pros:

• newer iXJT+ module with 3 antennas
• new and more convenient style of control
• LiON 18650 regular batteries that charge much faster
• smaller
• less weight
• price

Cons:

• a bit less aluminum in design
• no GPS
• no accelerometers
• no analog joystick
• no additional vertical sliders
• only 1 speaker
• a bit less advanced M10 sticks (but even more advanced M12 sticks in X10S)

So, to summarize — definitely a win over X9D Plus or QX7 radios but a just a fraction behind current flagship X12S. For me — X10 is the most balanced choice that has combined the best solutions from all FrSKY radios including all necessary functionality and excluding very rare things that I am not using. Despite its cheaper price — I still like it more than X12S in terms of design, shape and feel. It just handles better (for me) and more compact.

In the box:

Horus X10 | X10S comes in very good soft case together with neck strap, wall adapter, FCX10 LiON charger and stick protectors.

Controls:

Everything is good here. All controls of X9D Plus are present + additional 6POS switch and 2 trims. Pots are tight enough to have pleasing feel. M10 Hall sensor magnetic gimbals are very smooth and have all the adjustment possibilities to tune it to your liking. Sticks have hollow shafts and there are unused connectors inside the radio to upgrade your sticks with tip switches. Stick length is adjustible and almost similar to X9D Plus M9 construction.

UI control is done with the help of right rotary encoder with ENTER at center — solution that was introduced in X12S but finally settled down in QX7 radio, and left dedicated model, system, teleemtry and return buttons with combined page up and page down button at the center of this circle. Looks like a combination of X12S with QX7 menu controls… But I like this new way of button placement. Didn�t have any problems with control logics when I was setting my first model.

Long and short button press would also bring some additional functionality to each button. But this is the matter of which FW is currently used — therefore, I would not concentrate on that.

Screen:

Seems to be the same unit that was introduced with the release of X12S. Same size, resolution and panel type. It is not touch or IPS because such panels would suffer a lot from direct sunlight. This TN panel is perfectly usable outdoors with enough maximum brightness to see the infromation. If you watched my video — you already have a clue what it looks like when exposed to sun.

Ports:

In addition to regular miniUSB, 3.5mm trainer port, 3.5mm headphones jack and microSD card slot (the card itself is not supplied with the radio), we have Smart Port that is used for RX, modules and sensors flashing and tuning + microUSB type-C port for LiON charger. MiniUSB, S.PORT and trainer port are located at the back and covered with rubber protector. So, we would still have some hard times with keeping miniUSB cable attached while placing X10 on the table. On the other hand, FCX10 charger is attached to the bottom left side and doesn�t prevent radio to stand vertically or lay on the back.

*new versions of X10 and X10S are equipped with barrel charger connector instead of USB type-C and have internal charger. 

Insides:

Evеrything is good and neat here. This radio is very easy to disassemble — only 4 screw.

Here you can see 3 antennas attached to iXJT+ module. 2 inner antennas are located in case like that:

New more flexible and thinner stick cables, bluetooth antenna with the reset button at the bottom part and LiON 18650 elements as radio batteries. Keep in mind that if you would like to substitute stock 2S 2.600mAh 18650 elements (JST 2S balance plug) — you would have to buy dumb 18650 cells and take out protection board from stock cells to use it with the new ones. The charging in X10|X10S works like this:

• 18650 in FrSKY pack are any regular dumb cells
• They have added special protection circuit under pack heat sink that have thermister on board
• Middle contact on 2S JST plug on main board supplies temperature info to FCX10 charger
• FCX10 charger measures the incoming total voltage + temperature and has cells overvoltage, overcurrent, thermal protections, safety timer, input overvoltage protection….
• In case if you want to use larger capacity cells — you would have to use the same board from stock pack

X10|X10S by itself (mainboard) doesn�t have overcharge or overdischarge protection circuits, only reverse polarity protection. Therefore, all other protection should be incorporated in cells or in FCX10. In addition — you cannot use other USB type-C charges to charge LiON batteries inside this radio. Only the dedicated FCX10 charger.

*new versions of X10 and X10S are equipped with barrel charger connector instead of USB type-C and have internal charger. 

My unit came with no batteries — I�ve installed them myself. So, not very neat….

FrSKY claims 350mAh power consumption. But I�ve measured it to be ~400mA at full brightness. It means that stock battery should last for about 7-9 hours at full brightness (in fact — it is, tested). Supplied FCX10 charger outputs 1.5A which means that it would take about 1.5 hours to recharge. As stated on RCG — despite 17V provided by the stock wall charger you can feed 12V from car charger to FCX10 and the charger works fine. So, the problem of charging in the field is solved.

*new versions of X10 and X10S are equipped with barrel charger connector instead of USB type-C and have internal charger. 

Much better and faster than NiMH batteries in all other radios. FCX10 charger has LED inficator that is constantly lit while charging and goes OFF when charge is completed.

There are many mods already performaed by different pilots that use 4×18650 elements with 6Ah total capacity instead of stock battery.

Overall feel:

In overall, this radio feels very balanced and convenient to use. I am a thumb flyer with short fingers and small hands. But I would say that it wouldn�t take much time for me to completely move to X10 from X9D Plus despite its larger size and more distance between some controls. This radio is so attracting to me that I�d happily face all difficlulties of getting used to the handling in favor of using it in future.

Rubber grips do a great job and my middle fingers are right behind upper switches. Yes, the overall feeling is new after 4 years of using X9D Plus, but I�d get over it. The only element that was always questionable — is 6POS switch in the middle that cannot be easily reached. The only option to use it is to release one of the sticks and make a move 

For TBS Crossfire users:

There is a hardware mode that enables 400k baud between the radio and TBS module. You can find HW board here: LINK   How ro perform this mode HERE And how it loks inside X10 here:

FW:

OpenTX released their nightly builds that include both X10 radios. I already installed OpenTX to X10, transferred all my models from X9DPlus using OpenTX Companion and tried to fly. Seems to be working well.

Links to OpenTX FW:

1. OpenTX Companion nightly builds http://downloads-22.open-tx.org/nightlies/companion/windows/
2. SD card contents http://downloads.open-tx.org/2.2/nightlies/sdcard/
3. How to install OpenTX to X12S (applies to X10 | X10S as well) https://www.frsky-rc.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/How%20to/How%20to-X12S/HOW%20TO-Horus%20X12S-170531.zip

Stock FrTX also works good. I could manage to set all my racing quad models with all necessary special functions, mixes and logical switches.

Overall impression:

Very good. Probably the best radio from FrSKY so far. X10 in Amber color scheme is the most beautiful unit I�ve ever seen. FrSKY definitely made a giant leap ahead in terms of design, details, crafting and making the first impression. They�ve learned a lot from the experience of releasing all previous products and tried hard to remove all possible issues — if QX7 and X12S releases were facing some minor flaws with final products — X10 radio seems to be 100% ready. This is first radio I want to use as my main unit right after I�ve taken it out from the box and switched it on. From exterior design and smallest details to declared functionality and feel — everything fulfills my expectations. And I�d definitely be moving… I can predict that this product would become one of the most selling radio on the market and a perfect upgrade for all X9D Plus owners as well as the best in class radio for all other users.

Its been a while since our last news about AKK Technology latest products. But are happy to mention that this company R|C products lineup is growing and gathering the attention of many pilots around the world. By collaborating with Aliexpress and creating their own site with a webshop AKK Tech made the purchase process much easier for Asia, Eurpore and CIS region which would also positively  affect their presence on the different markets.

Let us remind you about AKK products that we�ve already tested:

• A1 3in1 mini FPV Cam+VTX set
• CA20 FPV camera 
• X1P | X1 FPV VTX
• TS5828 FPV VTX
• LR2 5.8GHz cloverleaf antenna set
• ML2 5.8GHz cloverleaf antenna set 

Our short summary: we were impressed with A1, CA20, X1P and LR2 product perfromance. They look similar to other brands but the price to performance ratio was unbeatable in case if you�d buy it from AKK. We are still using these until now in our FPV quads, for about 3 months and have no quality issues.

Today, we have something new:

1. AKK A5 — 3-in-1 mini FPV cam+VTX (25mW, 40CH)
2. AKK K31 (K33) 5.8GHz 40CH 600mW VTX

Let�s start with AKK A5:

AKK A5 tech specs:

• Output power: 25mW
• Input power: 3.2–5V
• Current consumption: 3.2V-5V, 200mA
• Camera resolution: 600TVL
• Video system: NTSC
• Minimum illumination: 1 lux
• Field of view: 120° viewing angle
• Antenna dimensions: 22mm
• Antenna: dipole
• Frequency: 5.8GHz 5 bands 40 channels (with raceband)
• Size: 18.7*13mm(L*W)
• Weight: 4.5g

Features:

• Compatible with 5.8GHz googles and monitor.
• 40 channel with raceband
• Good quality image with zero latency
• Button control instead of switches to change channels

Package includes:

• 1x A1 AIO FPV Camera and VTX
• 1x Power Cable with 1 extra adapter
• 1x Manual

This mini FPV set looks pretty similar to AKK A1 mini FPV set from our previous reviews. The obly major difference is that A5 comes as separate FPV cam and VTX connected with wires instead of one soldered piece in case of A1.

Such module separation would have its pros and cons:

Pros:

• Easier to fit into different frames because we can move camera and VTX around
• Easier to fit into different frames regarding non-removable VTX antenna
• Easier to fix either module by replacing it (instead of replacing everything)

Cons:

• A bit more weight of two elements + wires
• A bit less neat setup because of wires
• A bit more space on frame to consume

That is how we see it… As an example — we can take our KingKong GT90 (90mm FPV brushless copter) and try to fit AKK A5 or A1 FPV sets. In case of A5 — we do not see any problems — it has the same camera size and VTX that would easily fit on top of the upper frame plate. But such setup would be a bit heavier if compared to the same setup using AKK A1. On the other hand, AKK A1 would not fit perfectly. We would have to mod KK 90GT front part of the frame to fit it inside. But we would end up with less weight, less wires and front VTX antenna placement… Both setups would work fine, just with a slightly different approaches.

Viewing angle of A5 FPV camera seems to be close to declared 120 degrees FOV. The lens is hot glued at place to secure from unexpected turns and defocus. If it would suffer a hard crash we would still be able to replace the lens. Camera board size is regular: 14x14mm.

Camera has 3 pins JST connector with Video, +5V, GND wires which connects directly to the VTX board. VTX equipped with a single multifuntional button that changes CH (short press) and BANDS (long press) and blue|red LEDs that blink to infrom us about the selected CH (blue) and BAND (red).

There is a yellow wire loop on the camera to VTX connector. If you want OSD in your setup — just cut the loop and solder inner cable to VIN and outer to VOUT pads on OSD.

Full frequency table:

VTX antenna type is dipole.

A5 performance:

I can only compare A5 to A1 and KK 90GT stock camera. All three devices have the same 5.8GHz 25mW power output and the same dipole type antennas. A1 is a combined set of camera + VTX and KK90GT stock / A5 has separate camera and VTX boards.

I had a good head-to-head comparison video of A1 V/S KK 90GT stock FPV set performance which I�ve used now and added A5 performance to compare. Unfortunately, I�ve changed the travel path and had to reverse video footage for A5 to synchronize video from all three devices. But you would get a clue anyway, especially for the worst part — when I am walking behind my house.

I would say that A1 and A5 sets perform more or less similar to each other and definitely better than KK 90GT stock camera and VTX which completely lost signal behind my house.

So, either you choose A1 or A5 micro FPV set for your next build — both would do a good job for any micro quad!

You can buy AKK A5 on AliExpress, AKK website or on Amazon

Let�s switch to AKK K31 (K33) 5.8GHz 600mW VTX:

Tech specs:

• Output Power: 26-28dBm
• Operating Voltage: 7-20 V
• Output Voltage(VOUT): 5 V
• Supply Current: 280 mA
• Operating Temperature : -10 +85 ℃
• Video Band Width: 0-8.0 MHz
• Audio carrier Frequency: 6.5 MHz
• Video Input Level: 0.8,1.0,1.2 Vp-p
• Video Input Impedance: 75 Ohm
• Audio Input Level: 0.5 ,2.0 Vp-p
• Audio Input Impedance: 10K Ohm

Package includes:

• 1X5.8G FPV transmitter
• 1X5.8G antenna
• 1XConnector and cable set
• 1X Product manual

Features:

• Super mini, lightweight and durable
• It supports full range of 40 channels including raceband
• 40 channels, cover A, b, E ,F, r bands
• Easy to use 2 buttons and 2 LED display to change channels and frequencies.

Note: K33 variant has vertically aligned antenna connector

First of all what comes in mind when you buy this product is its size: 31x25x9mm which is kind of big in comparison to what we�ve got used to for 210-class frames setup. I would assume that such VTX should be rather used with 250 and up class frames. The best VTX option for 210 and smaller frames would be AKK X1 or X1P instead of «K» lineup. But those are perfect for 250, 330, 450 and larger copters, planes and other R|C models.

AKK K31 VTX equipped with 2 LED indicators and 2 buttons which which makes it fast and easy to choose the necessary channel and band. Full frequency table:

Now, lets see how it performs against AKK X1 at 200 and 600mW and AKK TS5828:

Video shows that AKK K31 performs very similar to AKK X1 (X1P). One of the best VTX I�ve tried so far. Such testing environment is kind of tricky — the more power VTX would output — the more interference and noise we would get. AKK X1 has the ability to switch power output (25-200-600mW) which makes it perfect for racing and to compensate such strong signal back reflection of the testing location. That is why it performs better at 200mW in comparison to 600mW. Surprisingly, AKK K31 which has 600mW fixed power is almost on par… and much better than AKK TS5828 VTX that also has 600mW fixed power and suffers much from back signal interference.

So, I would say that if you want 600mW VTX for your 250 class and larger FPV copters or other models — AKK K31 (K33) is a very decent performer and very easy to operate. But if you want something good for your 210 frame — it is better to stick to AKK X1 (X1P) VTX.

You can buy AKK K31 VTX on AliExpress, AKK own shop and on Amazon

Only couple of weeks passed since we had reviewed the latest family of FrSKY flight controllers and we are ready again to impress you with the two new FrSKY receivers: R-XSR and G-RX8! Both seem to become the bestsellers in the nearest future!

Honestly, which other company in R|C field brought so much new products to the market for the last quarter? New radios and their revisions, new FCs, new receivers, new modules, new sticks…, together with the new company website…  Seems as FrSKY staff never sleeps  But we would never have enough, right?

So, two new and very interesting receivers today. Let�s start with the R-XSR:

Currently, one of the most popular FrSKY receiver on the market is XSR. It has reasonable size and weight, full telemetry, 16CH SBUS and SPORT. Many FPV racing copters and smaller class helicopter pilots would choose this receiver as their favorite because it fits perfectly in almost any setup and frame. It works flawlessly, very stable and reliable, gives very good flying range.

Some time ago, when some smaller FPV racing frame classes (like 190 and less) started to emerge, FrSKY introduced XSR-M receiver — very similar to XSR but with significantly smaller weight and dimensions of: 26×19.2 V/S 20x20mm, 4.3g V/S 1.8g.

XSR V/S XSR-M dimensions:

Additionally, it has slightly improved range and easier procedure of changing antennas which are detachable now…

And guess what!? It seems that FrSKY would always find a way for further improvements: R-XSR is the newest receiver in XSR family, packed in tiny dimensions of 16x11mm, having almost no weight (1.5g) and features highly demanded redundancy function!

XSR-M V/S R-XSR dimensions:

Technical specifications:  

• Dimension: 16*11*5.4mm (L*W*H)
• Weight: 1.5g
• Number of channels: 16CH (1-16CH from SBUS channel, 1~8CH from CPPM channel)
• Operating Voltage Range: 4~10V
• Firmware Upgradable
• Compatibility: FrSky X Series modules and radios in D16 mode

Features:

• Ultra mini size and light weight
• Support telemetry and Smart Port enabled
• Full range
• Switchable SBUS/ CPPM signal output
• Supports redundancy function
• IPEX connector, replaceable antennas

Manual can be found HERE

Get your FrSKY R-XSR HERE 

In real life it means that while having all features of XSR or XSR-M receivers, R-XSR would:

• be an appropriate choice for any model of any size and class
• would fit perfectly into something like 90mm FPV copter frames
• outperform any other tiny receivers by functions, features and range
• would bring more range and radio link stablity if used with second receiver as a slave

Quick note on redundancy feature: R-XSR (as well as other X-series FrSKY receivers that have extra «R» in the name) has the ability to accept signals from the second (slave) receiver over SBUS and to select and forward the strongest signal among them to flight controllers over SBUS (or to servos over PWM). Consequently, having two receivers — master and slave — on the same model would significantly improve signal quality and help to maintain good RSSI levels even in the most complex environmets. Any SBUS equipped receiver could act as a slave (telemetry should be turned off on slave). The best slave option would be to use XM+ or other receivers with the ability to turn on «telemetry off» mode.

As the result — if you were flying in some highly «contaminated» environments like forests, buildings or just with many other models and experiencing RSSI problems — R-XSR might help a lot to get rid of radio signal warnings and get the most reliable link with your model. Along with all other features it has and all other usage scenarios it provides concerning its tiny size and weight.

Example: KingKong GT90 (FrSKY Vantac 90GT) with AC800 receiver V/S FrSKY R-XSR:

Range test:

Tested it against XSR and XSR-M receivers. Our previous test of XSR V/S XSR-M showed a slight advantage of XSR-M due to the newer antenna design.

Newest R-XSR is slightly behind regular XSR in terms of RSSI range test figures — 1-2 RSSI points less at the same range and in the same places… As with any other full range small FrSKY receiver — you can expect ~1.5km in the open flield and some different results in highly «contaminated» enviromnemts depending of amount of obstacles or radio interference around. But it is absolutely win over FrSKY XM (not XM+) and any third-party tiny receivers that have very limited range of ~150m. But even if you feel that it is not enough for you — there is an ability to use redundancy function and a slave receiver to make radio signal almost bullet proof.

I would say that R-XSR is a must for any pilot with >80mm copter frames or other small models. There is no other so capable, so small and full range receiver on the market.

Note: keep in mind that total antenna length of R-XSR is only 9cm in comparison to 14.5cm in XSR-M. 

As always — this receiver has SPORT which means that we can unpgrade or change (EU LBT to FCC) FW version and daisy chain other SPORT telemetry sensors. 

Get your FrSKY R-XSR HERE 

Now, lets jump to G-RX8 receiver:

FrSKY claims that G-RX8 receiver is mainly addresses glider model pilots. Why? Because among all other tasty functions it has in built high precision vario sensor capable of registering flying altitude with 0.1m resolution along with the vertical speed.

In contrary to XSR-family, this receiver belongs to more universal type which is more common for planes, helis, gliders and larger copters. The absence of the hard case also tells us that it is mainly intended to be used with planes and gliders. 8 regular PWM ports togehter with 16CH over SBUS, analog telemtry input pin (A2) and SPORT create many possible usage scenarios. I would say that the closest relative in all FrSKY family would be RX8R receiver that has a hard case and more PWM output ports but the same features and no variometer inside.

Technical specifiations:

• Dimension: 55.26*17*8mm
• Weight: 5.8g
• Number of Channels: Up to 16 CH
• Operating Voltage Range: 4.0 -10V
• Operating Current: 100mA@5V
• Operating Range: Full range
• Firmware Upgradable
• Compatibility: D16 mode

Features:

• Intergrated high precision variometer sensor
• Support redundancy function
• Support telemetry data transmission
• Switchable SBUS/PWM mode (1~8CH from PWM outputs and 1~16CH from SBUS output)

Manual can be found HERE

Get your FrSKY G-RX8 HERE 

Similarly to other X-series receivers with extra «R» in the name — G-RX8 also features redundancy function which would greatly improve radio signal reception on the model.

Quick note on redundancy feature: G-RX8 (as well as other X-series FrSKY receivers that have extra «R» in the name) has the ability to accept signals from the second (slave) receiver over SBUS and to select and forward the strongest signal among them to flight controllers over SBUS (or to servos over PWM). Consequently, having two receivers — master and slave — on the same model would significantly improve signal quality and help to maintain good RSSI levels even in the most complex environmets. Any SBUS equipped receiver could act as a slave (telemetry should be turned off on slave). The best slave option would be to use XM+ or other receivers with the ability to turn on «telemetry off» mode.

Some more peculiar abilities of G-RX8:

• Can be programmed to output 1-8CH or 9-16CH range over PWM
• Can be used in pair with other X-series PWM equipped receiver to output 1-16CH over PWM
• In SBUS mode: 1-6CH PWM would output high precision PWM signal (error <0.5us), SBUS IN would be used to connect slave receiver for redundancy system and SBUS OUT would output 1-16CH.
• PWM mode: 1-4CH PWM would output high precision PWM signal (error <0.5us), 4-8CH PWM would output regular PWM signal and SBUS IN|OUT would not be used.
• In built variometer sensor can be turned On|Off

As always — this receiver has SPORT which means that we can unpgrade or change (EU LBT to FCC) FW version and daisy chain other SPORT telemetry sensors. 

Glider function:

Along with:

• RSSI — signal strength
• RxBT — receiver voltage
• A2 — analog port for main battery voltage (with voltage divider like FLV02)

G-RX8 would provide:

• Alt (m) — altitude
• Vspd (m/s) — vertical speed.

There is a dedicated Variometer setup under Telemetry tab in model settings menu in which we can choose vario source (sensor) and setup all necessary model ascend, descend and Alt hold tones. While flying the model we would be able to hear whether our model gaining or loosing altitude and understand climb and descend vertical speed. Additionally, there are some telemetry LUA scripts that would also provide visualization of this data.

Note: it might be very handy to setup and use telemetry data reset function right before the flight to bring Alt readings to zero while on the ground.

Range test:

Range was checked in comparison to RX8R and X8R receivers. No problems here. This receiver is a full range model which can deliver >1.5km flight range in open field with ease. RSSI figures are the same as on X8R and RX8R receivers at the same places and on the same distance. In best circumstances such receivers can have ~ 3km radio link. But even if it would not be enough for you — you can always use redundancy feature and a slave receiver with G-RX8 to get the best possible flight distance.

Get your FrSKY G-RX8 HERE 

Thank you for reading!

Stay tuned, more reviews to come….

FrSKY continues to develop and give out new interesting products pleasing every single R|C hobby fan. This time, it is a new family of capable flight controllers for FPV racers based on recently introduced F4 boards + one additional F3-based board. To be honest, we always preferred FrSKY FCs over any others because they all have intergated FrSKY receivers (XSR is the most common) which saves final model flight weight, reduces the amount of cables and makes assembling process much easier. But not only that…

Today we would like to present 3 very new FrSKY FCs:

1. FrSKY XSRF4O — F4-based FC with integrated FrSKY XSR, BF OSD and SDcard cslot for blackbox
2. FrSKY XSRF4PO — F4-based FC with integrated FrSKY XSR, BF OSD, SDcard cslot for blackbox and PDB (with current and voltage sensors)
3. FrSKY XSRF3PO — F3-based FC with integrated FrSKY XSR, BF OSD, SDcard cslot for blackbox and PDB (with current and voltage sensors)

First of all — as it is seen from the model names «XSR» stands for FrSKY XSR receiver (S.PORT full telemetry), «O» stands for BF OSD and «P» stands for PDB. Where else would you find so capable all-in-one boards with all those features intergrated on the factory? And having such FC as XSRF4PO or F3PO  means that you would only end up with a single board in your model which would communicate with ESCs, VTX and camera. That�s it. Isn�t it an excellent idea? Having a single board inside the frame… No more huge amount of cables, no need to spend countless hours on soldering everything together… !

Buy XSRF3PO HERE

Buy XSRF4O HERE

Buy XSRF4PO HERE

Let�s start with more conservative XSRF4O:

Specifications:

• Based on F4 STM32F405 CPU
• Built-in 6-axis sensor MPU6000 (SPI) (Accelerometer/Gyro)
• Built-in BARO BMP280
• Integrated XSR receiver (SBUS, S.PORT), Full telemetry
• 1~16 channels SBUS output
• 1~6 channels PWM outputs
• Integrated BF OSD
• VTX and camera pads
• Buzzer control pads
• LED control pads
• Integrated voltage sensor
• Current sensor pad
• Dedicated V IN|GND pads
• Boot button
• Receiver BIND button
• Aditional S.PORT pads for XSR FW update and S.PORT sensors connection
• Built-in SDcard slot for BB
• Dimension: 36x36x6mm (LxWxH), with 30.5mm mounting holes
• Weight: 7,7g
• Operating voltage: 4-10V (5V is recommended)

This board is very common in terms of its shape and cababilities + has the intergated XSR recever . Requires power distribution board with 4-10V power supply to run. The layout looks like this:

Now, let�s jump to «PO» boards which are physically not so common: XSRF4PO

Specifications:

• Based on F4 STM32F405 CPU
• Built-in 6-axis sensor MPU6000 (SPI) (Accelerometer/Gyro)
• Built-in BARO BMP280
• Integrated XSR receiver (SBUS, S.PORT), Full telemetry
• 1~16 channels SBUS output
• 1~6 channels PWM outputs
• Integrated BF OSD
• VTX and camera pads
• Buzzer control pads
• LED control pads
• Integrated PDB (up to 6S)
• Integrated voltage sensor
• Integrated current sensor
• Boot button
• Receiver BIND button
• Aditional S.PORT pads for XSR FW update and S.PORT sensors connection
• Built-in SDcard slot for BB
• Weight: 14g
• Dimension: 60x36x6mm (LxWxH), with 30.5mm mounting holes

Exactly the same board to XSRF4O in terms of all capabilities but additionally intergrates power distribution board with dedicated ESC connections (SIG, BAT PWR, GND) and current sensor. Moreover, PDB is capable of 6S LiPO max input voltage. Layout looks like this:

This layout tells us that there is no 12V output. There is 5V output for camera or other devices, but you should use the appropriate VTX that would be able to accept raw flight battery voltage depending on the battery you�d use… Or you can add step-down voltage regulator.

And the last one is XSRF3PO:

Specifications:

• STM32F303 CPU – F3 Processor
• MPU6050 Gyro with I2C BUS
• Integrated Betaflight OSD
• Intergrated FrSKY XSR receiver (S.PORT. SBUS), Full telemetry
• Built in MicroSD card slot for BlackBox
• 1-8 PWM outputs (1-4 outputs are situated in the corners of the board)
• LED strip pads
• Buzzer pads
• OSD pads (camera + VTX)
• Integrated PDB (up to 6S)
• Integrated voltage sensor
• Integrated current sensor
• FC boot button
• XSR bind button
• Aditional S.PORT pads for XSR FW update and S.PORT sensors connection
• Weight: 14g
• Dimensions: 60x36x6mm (30.5mm mounting holes)

Very similar to XSRF4PO in terms of shape and PDB integration but really is a similar product to XSRF3O which we have reviewed last week. Its layout:

This layout tells us that there is no 12V output. There is 5V output for camera or other devices, but you should use the appropriate VTX that would be able to accept raw flight battery voltage depending on the battery you�d use… Or you can add step-down voltage regulator.

So, to summarize all FrSKY current FCs available:

• XSRF3E — F3Evo-based, when you want 8/8KHz gyro and PID loop rate + XSR receiver + telemetry
• XMPF3E — F3Evo-based, when you want 8/8KHz gyro and PID loop rate + XMP receiver + SDcard for blackbox and external OSD
• XSRF3O — F3-based, when you want 4/4KHz gyro and PID loop rate + XSR receiver + telemetry + BetaFlight OSD + SDcard for blackbox
• XSRF3PO — F3-based, when you want 4/4KHz gyro and PID loop rate + XSR receiver + telemetry + BetaFlight OSD + SDcard for blackbox + PDB + current sensor
• XSRF4O — F4-based, when you want up to 32/8KHz gyro and PID loop rate + XSR receiver + telemetry + BetaFlight OSD + SDcard for blackbox
• XSRF4PO — F4-based, when you want up to 32/8KHz gyro and PID loop rate + XSR receiver + telemetry + BetaFlight OSD + SDcard for blackbox + PDB + current sensor�

Seems that we have a good product line here that can satisfy almost any pilot with FrSKY radio…

There is one more FC from FrSKY which is called XMF3E. It is almost like XMPF3E but made to fit some smaller frames with board dimensions of 29x29mm. Main difference s are also: XM receiver with limited range of 300m and 4.2V power supply. This board would not be discussed further because it is not very suitable for the most popular 180-250 FPV copter frames.  

Small note about F3 V/S F4-based flight controllers:

F4-based FCs mean that such FC would have faster processor (72 V/S 160MHz), more flash memory (256KB V/S 1MB), and sometimes more UART ports. What it means in real life is that F4 FC is capable of 32KHz looptime, while 8KHz is selected — leaves more room for processor to run all other features, capable of running recently introduced but resource-heavy «dynamic filter», can handle OSD by main processor instead of usind additional OSD unit.  The only drawback compared to F3 is that F4 doesn�t have integrated inverter and using SBUS and S.PORT features might be tricky (all FrSKY FCs based on F4 do not have this issue.)

So, F4 boards would only be required if you have ESCs that are capable of running much faster types of communication than OneShot 125 or 42. Only if you have DShot600 and more capable ECSs — it is reasonable to jump to F4 instead of F3 or F3Evo. Or, if you require more than 3 UARTs or want so many features enabled at a time that your F3Evo|F3 processor shows more than 30% load figures on a bench.

In the box:

All of the controllers come in a small boxes with English user manual and a set of soldering pins for all available pads. But in case of FCs with integrated PDB (XSRF4PO and XSRF3PO) we would also find XT60 connector and soft mounting spacers made of rubber. The package is nothing to worry about during the transportation. English user manual is ok and it really helps to understand board layouts and initial BetaFlight setup.

Formfactor: 

As we�ve already said — XSRF4O is a regular box-shaped board with 30,5×30,5mm mounting holes (36×36 board size) that would fit any kind of FPV quad racing frame but requires any PDB with 4-10V power supply. ESC PWM singnals are located at the corners of the board for easy reach. USB connection is directed to the side of the board and ESCs numbers are located so that it would correspond to BF setup in case if the board located properly without applying yaw compensation.

In contrary, XSRF4PO and F3PO are unique and despite having the same mounting hole dimensions (30,5×30,5mm) — they both have rectangular shape with 60mm in length (width is regular 36mm). LiPO battery connections are at the back and ESC connections are at corners, corresponding to BF ESC setup. USB port is on the side.

This means that NOT every frame is capable of accepting such FCs. For example, I have KDS Kylin 210 square-shaped frame which would not let FrSKY «PO» fit directly. My FPV camera mount and VTX back vertical mount stand closer to each other than 60mm needed for this FCs and frame aluminum standoffs also prevent using these. If I had some longer frame (1-2cm) I wouldn�t have an issue.

So, either to change the frame or try to fit «PO» FCs transversely. In this case, either board would protrude from both sides of a frame to about 1cm…

Not very aesthetical and safe. Moreover, turning FC around 90 degrees would mean that ESC connections at the corners of the board won�t correspond to ESCs on the arms, forcing me to remap the resources in CLI section of BetaFlight setup. Everything is possible and acceptable but the best solution would still be changing the frame to something more suitable.

On the other hand, thinking of the advantages of such all-in-one board setup — I would finally go with the new more suitable frames… I am just amazed with how easy and neat such setup should be to assemble, with much less of cable connections and soldering required. The weight should also be slightly reduced due to no wires between PDB and FC + due to PDB FC integration.

Initial Betaflight Configuration and FW:

In contrary to previous FrSKY controllers XSRF3E and XMPF3E which should be identified as SpRacing F3Evo during FW upgrade using BetaFlight GUI, all newer boards would have the following names:

• XSRF3O & XSRF3PO — FRSKY F3 in BetaFlight FW upgrade list
• XSRF4O & XSRF4PO — FRSKY F4 in BetaFlight FW upgrade list

All these boards have the current FW version 3.2.0 RC2 with all features working properly and supporting the newest BF tabs and settings. All boards feature dedicated BOOT button for easy DFU mode access when FW flash in necessary.

FrSKY boards require some defaults in order for the intergrated XSR work correctly and that are initially set on the factory, supplied in the FW files and mentioned in manuals. Those are:

XSRF3O & XSRF3PO

• UART2 should be Serial RX
• UART3 should be SmartPort
• Receiver Mode should be RX_Serial
• Serial Receiver Provider should be SBUS
• RSSI_ADC Analog RSSI input should be disabled
• RSSI CH should be CH8

XSRF4O & XSRF4PO

• UART1 should be Serial RX
• UART6 should be SmartPort
• Receiver Mode should be RX_Serial
• Serial Receiver Provider should be SBUS
• RSSI_ADC Analog RSSI input should be disabled
• RSSI CH should be CH8

All boards would incorporate BF OSD setup, Battery Voltage&Current, LED strip and BlackBox with SDcard tabs in addition to all other BetaFlight setup tabs and features. All those tabs should be setup as it is usually done on all other boards or additional boards with the same features. Nothing strange or unexpected in settings.

Note: intergrated XSR receiver in all FCs has physical S.PORT pads. Those pads can be used to flash XSR with the newest FW versions, change FW region (from FCC to EU LBT and vise-versa) and even to connect other S.PORT telemetry sensors in chain. But remember that you cannot flash integrated XSR with the FW from the stand-alone XSR receiver. You should locate dedicated FW for integrated XSR on FrSKY website.   

Tests, flights and recommendations:

We have already tested XSRF3O board some time ago (in our previous review). It flies good, easy to tune, all features work as expected. It replaced our previous SpRacing F3 board because XSRF3O intergates receiver, OSD and SDCard slot making our FPV copter easier to assemble, more advanced in terms of amount of features and less heavy (only 288g for 210-class frame). Integrated XSR seems to be working exactly the same as any other stand-alone XSR receiver. The range is the same…

Consequently, the newer XSRF3PO would act very similar if not identical… This board shares the same features and specifications… The only difference is that «PO» would also act as PDB making the whole setup even more convenient. We have checked all the features on the bench — everything working fine, but we cannot really make any flight checks now because we are in a process of making / ordering some suitable frames that would accept such rectangular design. But we have already tested the amount of noise or interference from PDB to camera + VTX on the bench with motors and ESCs running — PDB quality seems to be very good as there is no visible picture problems or interference lines. It might happen so that we wouldn�t even need the additional capacitors to filter out the noise.

Other 2 boards that are based on F4 are also yet to be tested thoroughly. I have already tuned and flown XSRF4O which was set to 8/8KHz looptime for my HobbyWing XRotor DShot600 ESCs and XRotor 2205/2300kv motors. I haven�t noticed much of a difference with XSRF3Evo board which had 8/4KHz looptime configuration on the same setup. A bit more precise and a bit more predictable. But I would continue to tune PID and other settings to polish the flight capabilities of the board trying to find the obvious advanyages of F4 boards over F3Evo.

As to XSF4PO would also wait for the newer frames to arrive. All bench tests and settings show consistent and expected behavior. All features work as described. But we would still conduct some flight tests on order to share it with our readers. As already mentioned for F3PO — PDB quality is good and picture quality from FPV camera and VTX shows no signs of distructive noise.

We would add flight test videos to this review soon.

Note: all FrSKY flight controllers with XSR receivers have detachable XSR antennas. So, antenna swap is not a problem. 

Conclusion:  

I have 4 FPV racing quads that I use regularly. All of them are based on FrSKY XSRF3E (F3Evo), XSRF3O and SpRacing F3 FCs. I would definitely get rid of SpRacing F3 boards just because they don�t have the necessary features and require additional stuff, wiring and soldering… I would definitely change it to FrSKY FCs with integrated XSR receivers and other features. Those of my quads that have ESCs capable of DShot600 (and more) are already using XSRF4O and would be using XSRF4PO in future because F4-based boards are able to handle >8KHz looptime and don�t have any stability or processor calculation power shortage issues. But those quads that have OneShot ESCs would be left on XSRF3O and XSRF3PO flight controllers because 4/4KHz is totally enough in this case.

Anyway, concerning that I have already tried what it is like to build and use a racing quad with all-in-one boars — it seems that I would never go back to all-separate solutions. All-in-one boards make the whole setup much more convenient to assemble, much easier to look after it and more neat. In addition to that, all described above boards originate from a good manufacturer — FrSKY — and incorporate one the most popular receiver in FPV racing world — XSR. This is everything that I need for all of my quads!!!

Buy XSRF3PO HERE

Buy XSRF4O HERE

Buy XSRF4PO HERE

It�s been a while since the time FrSKY has released their new and very succesfull radio — Taranis Q X7. Since that time, this radio has got one minor revision, conquered the minds of a large amount of fans and became on of the best selling radios available on the market!

We�ve reviewed Taranis Q X7 half a year ago and you can read our initial review HERE and our additional early to late revision comparison HERE.

Half of a year passed. Radio works perfectly. But there was one little thing that we�ve been waiting for all this time — magnetic Hall sensor gimbals — M7. FrSKY has promissed to release such gimbals as the most anticipated upgrade for this radio since the time they have released the same gimbals — M9 —  for Taranis X9D Plus.

Considering the fact that we have tried M9 with X9D Plus right after the release and found them to be perfectly smooth and precise which helped a lot during flight session despite of the type of a model used — we were impatiently waiting for the M7 to hit the market and make Q X7 just 100% perfect. And now, here they are — M7 magnetic Hall sensor gimbals arrived to our door and we want to share our opinion about this upgrade.

You can buy M7 gimbals HERE

You can read our M9 Hall sensor gimbals for X9D Plus review HERE

If you would like to watch instead of reading — here is our video review:

Starting with the technical specifications:

• Supply Voltage (VCC): DC 3.0 ~ ±0.5V
• Sensitivity: 2.50 mV/G
• Linear Output Voltage Range: 0.1 ~ ( VCC +0.1) V
• Output Load Resistance (output to ground) >15KQ
• Quiescent Output (TA = 25°C, B = 0 G): 0.5 × VCC
• Noise (no load): ≤40mVpp
• Quiescent Output Power Supply Rjection: -69dB

Machanical: 

• X-Axis Adjustable Angle Range: 60°±5°
• Y-Axis Adjustable Angle Range: 60°±5°
• Adjustable Height Range: 24.5mm-30.5mm
• Installation Dimension: 42.9mmx54mm

I would add some more features to this technical stuff:

• Hall sensor based gimbals (maghnetic field instead of mechanical friction in potentiometers)
• 4 bearing design
• CNC aluminum base for the overall stiffness and precision
• Aluminum crossbars for precision in centering
• All axis can be spring-loaded
• Adjustable tension and ratchet
• Stick tips with sharp edge design
• Adjustable stick length
• Aluminum crossbars are covered with rubber at the bottom part to have a soft stop effect when stick limiters touch it.
• Aluminum hollow stick shafts

If we would like to compare M7 to M9 — we would see some differences:

which means that M7 would be a direct fit for the X9D Plus radio and M9 won�t fit into Q X7 radio. I know that there were some pilots who got tired of waiting for M7 gimbals to hit the market and they�ve decided to go along with M9 in Q X7 instead. They had to do a little mod to fit M9 gimbals inside. But my point of view was always the same — I�d like to have something finished and ready to go from the factory without moding…

Knowing the stated specifications and features, I can conclude the following improvements over original Taranis Q X7 sticks:

1. M7 should be more durable — there are no friction electrical compenents that would wear over time. Hall sensors rely on magnetic field and don�t deteriorate because of the mechanical frictions.
2. M7 should be more precise — same thing here — usual potentiometers would loose their layer due to friction, moreover it is in nature of the potentiometers to show some uneven figures and erratic resistance that gets even worse if heavily used. Hall sensors have even and smooth forces that result in more stable readings. Moreover, additional precision comes from aluminum base that makes the whole sturcture to flex less and aluminum crossbars that result in excellent stick centering.
3. M7 should feel smoother — again, due to the absence of additional friction parts and stiffer machanical parts.

WARNINGS: 

Keep in mind the 2 following warnings about Hall sensors technology:

1. Do not overheat your radio. Natural magnets start to loose their magnetic characteritics when heated >70° Сentigrates. Do not expose your radio to direct summer sunlight for a long time.
2. Keep your radio away from the strong magnetic fields — if the outer magnetic field is stronger than magnets used inside the gimbal it would result in reading inclinations.

One important note here: 

Original Taranis Q X7 gimbals are not bad at all. Despite the fact that I�ve used this radio for half a year now, gimbals are perfectly stable at centers, return perfectly well to zero-values and don�t show any signs of erratic behavior or jittering around centers. The only main and apparent drawback in the direct comparison to M7 Hall sensor gimbals — is that they are not so smooth and feels a bit more flexible bacause of the all-around plastics design. Moreover, they would eventually deteriorate as the time passes. Mechanical fricting would never be so reliable as contactless sensors.

In the box:

M7 gimbal is sold as 1 separate item, packed into soft box together with the extra mounting screws. I would prefer if those gimbals were packed in some more reliable box but seems that there are no complains from other customers about that. In contrary to M9 boxes which had blue pictures, M7 gimbal boxes have orange prints.

Installation process:

• 1.5mm hex screwdriver to adjust the spring tension and remove spring tension screw from Y-xis on throttle gimbal
• Phillips screwdriver to open the case and remove (install gimbal) + adjust throttle friction bracket
• 2mm hex screwdriver to adjust the length of the stick (inner small hex screw in the stick tip)

Nothing to worry about. Taranis Q X7 radio is very user friendly when it comes to dissasembling… There are four screws at the back that hold front and back parts or the radio together. But make sure to remove battery and external module bay prior to this.

When inside, there are 4 screws holding each gimbal to the front part of the case, 2 screws that hold special plastic cable wraps and 2 gimbal connectors that have to be removed from the mainboard and replaced with the similar connectors coming from M7 gimbals.

It took me about 15 minutes to get the job done and assemble everything back again. But there were some things that should be described:

• M7 gimbal cables are not very long. Shorter than I would expect. In order for the gimbals to work silky smooth and cables not to bend too much — I�ve placed the longer gimbal cables (side, Y-axis sensors) together with all other cables under the plastic wrap and the shorter cables (X-axis) were firmly zip-tied to the longer ones near the connector.

• M7 gimbals would not go so deep inside the gimbal podiums as it was with original gimbals. M7 would look as if they are placed too far from the face plate inside the radio. But it is normal.

• Prior to throttle gimbal installation — it is better to remove spring tension and adjust throttle friction bracket. First can be done by removing throttle axis spring tension screw from the gimbal, lifting crossbar all the way up and placing this screw inside the special hole inside the throttle crossbar. This screw will hold the crossbar at the highest position and would not let it interfere into the stick movement.

That�s it.

Comparing the construction of original and M7 gimbals — we can see the following differences:

• Min and max stick lengths are the same if both gimbals are placed on the same height. But considering the fact that M7 gimbals would sit 4-5mm deeper inside the radio — sticks become consequently shorter.

• M7 stick shafts are hollow inside and have a passthrough opening. It means that we would be able to have some further upgrades with additional switches and buttons at the stick top as it was seen in Horus X12S radios.

• M7 shafts have larger diameter and stock gimbal tips won�t fit.

Overall feel:

As expected — M7 magnetic gimbals are perfectly smooth, feel much stiffer and behave rock steady when looking at the channel jitter. From our experience with M9 gimbals placed inside our X9D Plus radio about half a year ago — such gimbal upgrade would result into more precise model control. And it really doesn�t matter which type of a model to fly. I�ve noticed the improvement right away with my bunch of FPV racers, while using the radio for simulators as well as with my RC heli models. Each stick input is silky smooth and results into predictable model manuevers. Hard to explain but it stick-movements-to-model-behavior became more linear and less erratic. Such feel was unreachable with the stock gimbals…

Magnetic field test: 

I�ve taken small magnet from 2212 ruined outrunner motor and put it close to the gimbals:

• 1-2% reading inclinations on aileron and rudder axis when magnet is placed on top upper part of the aluminum gimbal base
• 2-4% readings inclinations on throttle and elevator axis when magnet is placed close to hall sensors on corresponding sides of the radio shell
• 0% inclinations when magnet is placed at the back of the radio shell (hall sensors are far away)

Conclusion:

FrSKY M7 gimbals is a must have upgrade for any Taranis Q X7 user. This upgrade helps a lot to master model control and worth every cent. And, to be honest, the price is very low — only $20,5/gimbal. Difinitely worth it. Especially if to compare with the prices for the same items of other brands. Have a set, try it out and be happy with your radio upgrade!

You can buy M7 gimbals HERE

Another very new and one of the best series of hobby product for your powerplant on the market from the leading eadge manufacturer HobbyWing — FlyFUN V5 series ESC. And again, we are not afraid of such declaration — if you need the best possible solution to drive your large scale EDF or a regular propeller plane (or even car or a boat) but at the same time a very affordable solution — think of the HobbyWing newest FlyFUN ESCs lineup!

We�ve already tested and reviewed other HobbyWing products for FPV and R|C heli applications:

• HobbyWing XRotor series motors & ESCs for FPV
• HobbyWing Platinum PRO V4 series ESCs for R|C helis

and found that those products are excellent performers in terms of power delivery and math logics inside. Additionally, latest HobbyWing products have the leading price|quality|performance ratio on the market. Best heli and fpv racing copter pilots around the world are choosing this brand nowadays for competitions as well as for general hobby use.

Today we have one of the first FlyFUN 130A HV OPTO electronic speed controllers available on the market which we would like to test and review. We would also cover HobbyWing LED program box in this review — as the most convenient and inexpensive device to program our ESC in the field.

It is worth to mention now that FlyFUN V5 series consists of the following speed controllers:

• FlyFUN V5 60A
• FLyFUN V5 80A
• FlyFUN V5 120A
• FlyFUN V5 120A OPTO (No BEC)
• FlyFUN V5 HV 130A OPTO (No BEC)
• FLyFUN V5 HV 160A OPTO (No BEC)

All these models share the same technologies, features and settings which means that all infromation that we would provide and review here would not only apply to 130A HV OPTO ESC but to all other models of the same series.

You can buy HobbyWing FlyFUN 130A HV OPTO V5 here

HobbyWing FlyFUN 130A HV OPTO technical specifications:

• Product Name: FlyFUN 130A HV OPTO V5
• Type: for Brushless, high-voltage
• Cont./Peak Current: 130A / 160A
• Input Voltage: 6 — 14S LiPo
• BEC Output: NO
• Wires & Connectors: Input Wires: Red-10AWG-150mm*1 / Black-10AWG-150mm*1 Output Wires Black-10AWG-150mm*3
• Input|Output Connecotors: NO
• ESC Programing via: LED Program Box, transmitter
• Firmware Upgrade: NO
• Size: 110.0 x 50.3 x 33.2mm
• Weight: 221.5g
• Applications: propeller aircraft, EDF (+ cars, boats)

Let�s take a look at the declared features:

LED program box manual can be found here

In the box:

First of all the box has counterfeit item protection special sticker which is very good to have nowadays when there are many fake items being sold by some popular but not very responsible shops.

ESC is neatly packed inside and there is nothing to worry about during the transporation. Speed controller and English user manual are the only contents of the box. This ESC comes with no connectors on both sides — neither to motor nor to battery. It is left for a user to decide which type of connectors would be used.

LED program box comes in a very similar package along with English user manual, 1 servo-type connection cable, 1 extra sticker for Platinum V1&V2 settings, 1 more sticker for FlyFUN V5 settings and already applied sticker with all settings for the rest of the compatible ESC types.

Materials, build and design:

Just great! 130A HV V5 ESC has the excellent build and finish quality. All wires are carefully packed into the case which is made of plastic + aluminum. Plastic is perfectly moulded, has plenty of neat labels and has special mounting holes to aid in aircraft build. Huge aluminum radiator at top would help to effectively dispose the excess of heat. 4 large capacitors are holding tight and rest on the special podium. It would not let capacitors legs to bend.

This ESC weights 221g and has a dimensions of 110×50.3×33.2 — not very small but at the same time it shares the common physical parameters with the most 130A ESCs for planes.

LED program box has full-plastic body with couple of LED windows covered with protective sticker and a button operation sticker with all parameters listed there. It makes such programming devices very intuitive and easy to use. Much easier comparing to special PC software or other PC-based devices. The build quality is more than expected for such kind of devices. Nothing to worry about here as well.

Initially, LED box has other types of ESCs sticker table attached to the front and back of the case. Table 1 goes to the front and Table 2 goes to the back. In order to use it with FlyFUN V5 — we have to remove initial blue Table 1 sticker from the front and apply provided yellow Table 1 FlyFUN V5 sticker instead. The back sticker is not applicable in case of using FlyFUN V5.

Connections:

Nothing much to explain here. 130A ESC has the following connection cables:

• Main battery leads (to 6-14S LiPO), 10AWG wires
• Main motor leads, 10AWG wires
• 1 servo-type longer cable which splits to: 3-wire (red, black, white) servo-type connection to radio receiver &  1-wire (yellow) servo-type connection of reverse brake function, goes to radio receiver extra port for reverse braking on|off function control via separate receiver channel.
• 1 servo-type short cable — this is dedicated programming line to connect to LED program box.

LED Program box has servo-type port where dedicated programming port wire from ESC should be connect to.

Two important fact to remember when using LED program box and tuning our ESC:

• LED program box should be connected PRIOR to powering ESC on
• New setting would apply ONLY after ESC powered OFF and ON again. 

So, don�t forget that whatever parameter you set in the ESC — it would only start to act as desired after the next power cycle.

FlyFUN V5 ESC parameters:

Suppose that you have connected LED box to the ESC, applied FlyFUN V5 sticker to the LED box, powered it on and ready for tuning…

On the LED box you have 4 buttons: Item (scrolls the parameter), Value (chages the parameter value), Reset (resets the value to default), Ok (saves the new value). It is very intuitive to operate.

FlyFUN V5 ESC series have the following tunable parameters:

• Brake Type:
  • Normal Brake: brake function will be activated when you move the throttle stick to the bottom position. In this mode, the brake amount equals to the brake force you�ve preset.
  • Proportional Brake: throttle range of 20% to 100% (on the transmitter) will correspond to the ESC throttle output of 0% to 100% while the throttle range of 20% to 0% (on the transmitter) will correspond to the brake force of 0 to 100%.
  • Reverse Brake: Reverse Brake signal wire (its signal range must be the same as the throttle range) must to be plugged into any vacant channel on the receiver, and you can control the motor direction via that channel. The channel range of 0-50% is the default motor direction, the channel range of 50% to 100% will cause the motor to spin counterclockwise. The channel stick should be within the channel range of 0-50% (0 would be better) when the first time you power on the ESC. After the Reverse function has been activated the motor will stop first and then spin in the reversed direction and then increase to the speed corresponding to the throttle input. Either signal loss, no matter reverse brake signal loss or throttle signal loss during the flight, can cause the throttle signal loss protection to be activated (not applicable to 130A HV OPTO ESC)
• Brake Force: This item is adjustable from level 1 to level 7. The higher the level, the stronger the braking effect. It�s only effect in the “Normal brake” mode.
• Voltage Cutoff Type:
  • Soft Cutoff: ESC will gradually reduce the output to 50% of the full power in 3 seconds after the low-voltage cutoff protection is activated.
  • Hard Cutoff: ESC will immediately cut off the output when the low-voltage cutoff protection is activated.
• LiPo Cells: The ESC will automatically calculate the number of LiPo cells you have plugged in as per the “3.7V/Cell” rule if “Auto Calc.” is selected, or you can set this item manually.
• Cutoff Voltage: This item is adjustable from 2.8V to 3.8V (they are the cutoff voltages for one cell), it�s 3.0V by default; or you can disable it if necessary.
• BEC Voltage: This item is adjustable among 5.2V, 6.0V and 7.4V (not applicable to OPTO ESCs)
• Start-up Mode:
  • Normal Start-up: motor will immediately start spinning and then quickly reach the corresponding speed when you move the throttle stick from bottom to top position.
  • Soft Start-up: motor will slowly start spinning and then quickly reach to the corresponding speed when you move the throttle stick from bottom position to top position.
  • Very Soft Start-up: motor will slowly (slower than in “Soft Start-up Mode”) start spinning and then quickly reach to the corresponding speed when you move the throttle stick from bottom position to top position.
  • We recommend selecting the “Soft Start-up” or “Very Soft Start-up” mode when you are flying an airplane with a big-sized ducted fan. Please ensure to select the “Very Soft Start-up” mode if the diameter of the ducted fan on your airplane is over 90mm.
• Timing: This item is adjustable from 0 degree to 30 degrees, and it is 15 degrees by default.
• Motor Rotation: This item allows you to change the direction of your motor rotation between CW and CCW, CW by default.
• Freewheeling: This item is adjustable between “Enabled” and “Disabled” and is enabled by default. While enabled, you can have better throttle linearity or smoother throttle response.

The default parameters are marked with «*» in the app and can be found in the ESC manual.

So, not many parameters to tune. Took me about 3 minutes to set everything as desired. One more thing that you would have to do prior to setting everything up — is to calibrate your ESC with your radio and receiver. This is done as usually — connect everything together (motor to ESC, ESC to receiver), Throttle channel all the way up on the radio, power ON receiver with ESC connected to THR channel and you should hear a series of beeps that correspond to entering programming mode. Throttle stick all the way down and you would hear the min THR and confirmation beeps. Power everything OFF and you�re done.

ESC protection technologies:

In order to make sure that everything would go butter-smooth in flight, HobbyWing have added several protection layers to FlyFUN V5 series ESCs:

• Start-up Protection: ESC will monitor the motor speed during the start-up process. When the speed stops increasing or the speed increase is not stable the ESC will take it as a start-up failure. At that time, if the throttle amount is less than 15%, the ESC will automatically try to restart up; if it is larger than 20%, you need to move the throttle stick to back the bottom position and then restart up the ESC. (Possible causes of this problem: poor connection/ disconnection between the ESC and motor wires, propellers are blocked, etc.)
• ESC Thermal Protection: motor will “stutter” when the ESC temperature goes above 110℃ to indicate that the ESC thermal protection is activated. If lower down the throttle input to below 60% at this moment the “stuttering” will disappear and the ESC will output the corresponding power. The motor will start to “stutter” again if the throttle input exceeds 60%. If this happens — disconnect the battery first and then reconnect it to the ESC after the ESC cools down (the ESC temperature cannot exceed 70℃, otherwise it cannot be started), it will resume the normal operation.
• Throttle Signal Loss Protection: when ESC detects loss of signal for over 0.25 second it will cut off the output immediately to avoid any loss which may be caused by the continuous high-speed rotation of propellers or rotor blades. The ESC will resume the corresponding output after normal signals are received.
• Overload Protection: ESC will cut off power/output or automatically restart itself when the load suddenly increases to a very high value. (Possible cause is that propellers are blocked or the motor and the ESC are out of sync.)
• Over-current Protection: ESC will cut off output power immediately when the peak current exceeds the regulated value and then would resume the output. If the current continues to go above the regulated value — the output will be completely cut off. This protection may be activated by the short-circuit in motor or something else.

Huh… Again, is with the FlyFUN V5 series — I feel myself well protected and comfortable. At least — it is a fool-proof device and I hope that it would not burn right away if I�d suddenly forget about proper safety rules 

ESC performance:

Test setup:

Enjoy FAI F3A pilotage (P and F17) large-scale propeller plane.

This model was specially designed and constantly upgraded by Belorus manufacturer Enjoy to comply with FAI rules and flight manuevers. This is sport model, not a toy!

Wing span: 1890mm, length: 1900mm, weight: 1900g (10S LiPO, 4,5Ah)

And it is equipped with the Plettenberg Advance 30-10 motor: weight: 590g, 8-10S LiPO, 20 magnets, propeller: 22 x 12″

ESC was situated inside the aircraft which took about 15 minutes. 4mm bullet connectors were used to connect motor and ESC. FlyFUN ESC took a place in the model instead of the professional Jeti Spin 90A OPTO ESC which was a fraction smaller and had a less weight. But again — Jeti is only 90A and our new FlyFUN is capable of 130A with bursts to 160A current.

This model with such motor was specially chosen for this test. F3A models are usually prepared with the best possible electonic components and should perform with 100% reliability of each element to comply with the flying manuevers. Plettenberg motor is unique — is has a outrunner features but really built as inrunner inside. Motor stator is tied to the outer casing and inner shaft that has a shape of a fat barrel rotates inside and driven by 20 powerful magnets. This motor has all the tuning parameters of outrunners and all the advantages of inrunners druing the work — very linear power output at all stick inputs which is necesssary to fly in F3A class.

Preflight checks:

Right after we have placed FlyFUN V5 into the plane — the next thing we�ve done was to check the maximum power, current and minumum battery voltage levels with watt-meter. It would be a pity if the new speed controller won�t carry out our tests and burn the motor or disappear in flames…

But the wattmeter tells us that we are far from loading this ESC to 100% and showed pretty expected figures. Our setup was eating as much as 78A continuously at max throttle input with 10S 4,5Ah 25C battery. Max current might jump to ~100A druing the flight hardest manuevers but still won�t hit the upper capability of HobbyWing 130A ESC.

Due to the fact that FlyFUN 130A V5 os OPTO-type — we used external BEC to supply voltage to the rest of onboard components.

In flight:

Excellent! During all of the test flights we haven�t expereinced any problems with the plane, motor or power delivery. Throttle response had the expected linearity as we�ve got used to during our previous flights and with our previous setup. HobbyWing FlyFUN 130A OPTO V5 ESC could withstand all of F3A manuevers with ease while delivering the reliable power output at any overloads. But in addtion to that — our FlyFUN 130A ESC was surprisingly cold each time we�ve landed after ~8-10 minutes of flight session. Despite the ambient temperature reaching +28C that day — FlyFUN stayed ~41C at most. This is absolutely suprerior to our PRO-level Jeti ESC that had lots of power disposed as heat. Think that it is due to much more continuous current cabability of FlyFUN ESC and huge cooling radiator on top of that to dispose the heat.

Therefore, our conclusion would be that HobbyWing FlyFUN V5 series of ESCs is excellent product lineup for hobby and pro-level sports use. It should comply with any size and class model, thanks to the wide series lineup in terms of max current and features. And last but not the least — its price|performance|quality ratio just pushes it right to the top among all other ESCs available on the market!

We would stick to this ESC and would be using it from now on instead of our Jeti Spin 90A due to the much higher load capability of FlyFUN 130A HV OPTO…

You can buy HobbyWing FlyFUN 130A HV OPTO V5 here

For a long time FrSKY XSR receiver that featured S.PORT telemetry, good flight range, small size and light weight was the most preferred by racing quad and rc planes pilots. But FrSKY has finally decided to revise this receiver to satisfy all market demands. And today we would like to review the new XSR-M and compare it to the older XSR receiver.

FrSKY XSR-M technical specifications:

• Dimension: 20*20*4mm (L x W x H)
• Weight: 1.8g
• Number of Channels: 16Ch (1~16ch from SBUS channel, 1~8ch from CPPM channel)
• Operating Voltage Range: 4.0~10V
• Firmware Upgrade with S.PORT
• Antenna: 15cm
• Exposed antenna: 32.8mm
• Compatibility: FrSky X-series Module & radios in D16 mode

In the box:

XSR-M comes in a soft package with 4 wires plug and instruction manual.

You can buy XSR-M here

Features:

• Smart Port
• S-BUS/CPPM output (BLUE LED indicates XSR-M in S-BUS mode, otherwise in CPPM mode)

The direct comparison to the older XSR receiver would show us the obvious differences:

• Length and width have been reduced: from 26×19.2mm to 20x20mm
• Weight has been reduced from 4.3g to 1.8g
• Antennas on XSR-M are detachable and have a connector
• Exposed part of the antennas are longer (32.8mm)
• Connection port has 4 wires on XSR-M (S.PORT, CPPM|SBUS, Vin, GND) instead of 5 on XSR (S.PORT, CPPM, SBUS, Vin, GND)

Enabling CPPM output instead of SBUS and vise-versa: long press the F/S button on the receiver for 3 seconds -> GREEN LED will flash three times indicating that the mode change is completed.

Points 3 and 4 are the most critical upgrades: first would make it much easier to change the antenna in case if it has been damaged (no soldering required) and second would aid to resolve the issue that older XSR had less flying range due to shorter exposed antenna area comparing to X4R receivers. XSR-M has the longer exposed part and might improve the range. I have tested both receivers on the ground and found that there are changes….. Both of my receivers work perfectly in terms of range at the open space… But situation changes in the surroundings with some numerous obstacles… All tests are at the end of this review. Let�s move along with the features for now.

The size of XSR-M became more convenient — this receiver would now easily fit into most of the frames and in very tiny places. Weight decrease would help those pilots who are constantly fighting for the lightest setups  This new receiver might now fit such smaller builds as 80-110mm frames!

The rest of the features are the same: XSR-M board has dedicated RSSI and CPPM pads (besides output pins), bind button and status leds. Moreover, the board now has mounting holes at the corners (21x21mm).

Testing and final word:

XSR-M definitely an upgrade for XSR receiver especially if it would be used for racing quads. Lighter, smaller, antennas are easy to swap, should have a slightly improved range, full telemetry support… all of those features make it superior to older XSR version.

I�ve tried to do ground and flight tests and compare XSR to XSR-M receivers in terms of range and I�ve found some significant difference: they both seem to work fine and deliver >1km at the open space. However, XSR-M RSSI figures were 2 — 10 RSSI points higher at all times than on XSR at the same locations and when there are a lot of obstacles are one massive obstacle. So, XSR-M is capable of delivering longer range in saturated environment.

What really stand out when using XSR-M is how easy it is to fit into the board. So, I think that I would finally end up with ordering only XSR-M for the future builds.

You can buy XSR-M here

Some time ago we have tested and reviewed some excellent HobbyWing products for FPV racing qauds — XRotor series motors and ESCs. We were impressed with how good those products performed. But today we would like to talk about R|C heli field and review the newest series of HobbyWing Platinum PRO V4 ESCs.

Many years since I�ve started flying R|C helis I was considering different brands of ESCs to match the motor and setup requirements for every certain model build. Shifting to larger class helis (550-700) significantly narrowed the available choice to only few best price-to-performance ratio power delivery systems due to the inevitable requirement to have governor function on board. Among those that had — the choice was even more squeezed to ESCs that had a reliable governor mode and would not tear the model apart in case if the initial gain settings were a way off (remember Outrage 50 cone gears problems  ?). Finally, I had to stick either to very expensive Kontronik ESCs with the best in the class gorvernor performance or/and to less expensive Castle products with much more complicated governor mode tuning when I was tight on the budget. In both cases the price bites but the result is achieved.

Someone might ask — why not using FBL governor function instead of ESC? My answer is always the same — best ESC logics would take current battery pack C rating into account while trying to hold THR output. It is not vital for those who have a constant access and funds to fly fresh battery packs but certainly a concern for those who doesn�t. My oldest packs were staying in use for 100-200 cycles and their electrical resistance was a way higher compared to the newer pack. Something in the setup should evaluate and compensate this difference. FBL would not. I would concentrate on that a bit later in text. And yes, I undertsand that FBL governor would consider such factors as pitch and cyclic angles and ratios to maintain the same RPM. But it would also impact the batteries dramatically.

My journey with HobbyWing ESC for heli has started 5 years ago when I had KDS Innova 600 model that bundled with HobbyWing 120A HV. Despite the fact that it didn�t have the governor (actually it had but the result was a way from being acceptable) it was a good product that managed more than 1000 flights and is still alive. That time I�ve used mini-V-Bar BlueLine FBL governor function with HobbyWing RPM sensor. Everything was great except the same high load on the different batteries which would result in very rare motor cutt-offs on the oldest packs. Later, I�ve switched to Kontonik Jive 80A HV ESC and enabled its excellent «Mode 4» battery-aware governor. No cut-offs, packs lived longer, no battery overheating… That was and still stays my preference. The drawback was that Kontronik products were traditionally expensive.

A couple of years later I�ve started to notice that newest HobbyWing Platinum series ESC were gaining popularity very fast. Many positive feedback on international and local forums, many good pilots using them, many videos of their performance. At the same time, the same positive and massive feedback was noticed in R|C auto field… I�ve begun to realize that there are some market shifts and a new leader on the horizon in terms of price-to-performance. And only now, when I�ve finally got back to R|C heli hobby after a long break and copter racing — I�ve decided to give it a try starting with the latest Platinum PRO V4 60A ESC + Wi-Fi Express program module for my KDS Chase 360 build.

Note: to be able to access and tune ALL the available Platinum (or other series HW ESCs) ESC settings — you would have to buy either Wi-Fi Express module or LCD programming box. 

Platinum RPO V4 series consists of the following ESCs: 60A, 80A, 120A, 130A HV, 130A HV OPTO, 160A HV, 200A HV OPTO  

So, today I would like to review HobbyWing Platinum PRO V4 60A ESC + Wi-Fi Express program module. Starting with the:

Technical specifications HobbyWing Platinum PRO V4 60A ESC:

• Product Name: Platinum 60A V4
• Type: for Brushless
• Cont./Peak Current: 60A/80A
• Input Voltage: 3-6S LiPo
• BEC Output: Switch Mode: 5-8V, 7A
• Wires & Connectors: Input Wires: Red-14AWG-100mm*1 / Black-14AWG-100mm*1 Output Wires Black-14AWG-75mm*3
• Output Connecotors: 3.5mm Gold Connectors (Female)
• ESC Programing via: LCD Program Box, WiFi Module, Program Port (Throttle Wire)
• Firmware Upgrade Supported
• Size: 48.0 x 30.0 x 15.5mm
• Weight: 49g
• Applications: 450-480 Class Heli (Main Blade: 325-380mm）
• Excellent Motor Governing Speed: High-performance 32-bit processor with a running frequency of 72MHz combined with advanced algorithm optimizes the speed governing. Together with the adjustable governor parameters guarantees every pilot a precise control experience.
• High Voltage Built-in BEC: The built-in switch mode BEC with an adjustable voltage range from 5V to 8V, a continuous current of over 7A and peak current of 18A can supply enough power for your servos to operate efficiently.
• DEO Technology: The DEO (Driving Efficiency Optimization, or so called «Active Freewheeling») technology implemented in the ESC has multiple advantages: Quicker response to the throttle change. Higher driving efficiency, longer flight time. Lower ESC temperature and a more reliable operation.
• Four Brake Modes: This Platinum 60A V4 ESC has “Brake Disabled, Normal Brake, Proportional Brake and Reverse Brake” four brake modes. The brake amount is adjustable in normal brake mode; in proportional brake mode, the brake force will be automatically allocated based on the position of the radio throttle stick; in reverse brake mode, the motor rotation can be changed via a spare transmitter channel.
• Multiple Protections: Multiple protection features include, ESC thermal, capacitor thermal (HOBBYWING-patented technology), ESC overload, throttle signal loss (or Fail Safe), and low voltage cutoff effectively prolongs the service life of the ESC.
• Other Features: A separate programming port for connecting the programmer on this ESC allows user to program ESC, check flight data include minimum voltage, maximum temperature, standardized RPM and speed curve (in Heli Governing Store mode) of the flight data recorded by the ESC, upgrade ESC firmware with a multifunction LCD program box or a Wi-Fi Module & our Apple/Android phone App

Manual: HERE

Technical specifications Wi-Fi Express program module:

• Product Name: WiFi Express
• Working Voltage: 5V-12.6V
• WiFi Protocol: IEEE802.11 b/g/n
• WiFi Signal Effective Range: 0-10m (Open Field)
• Size: 25.7 x 25.7 x 8.8mm (LxWxH)
• Weight: 11g
• Applications: XERUN series & EZRUN series of car ESCs, PLATINUM series of aircraft ESCs, SEAKING PRO series of boat ESCs.
• Wireless Connection: The ESC can now use a wireless connection via the use of the HW WiFi express module for the following operating systems ; iOS/Android phone (using the HW LINK APP) users can easily and remotely (without leaving the control stand) program the ESC parameters displayed on the smart phone to their own preference.
• Intuitive Interface: The Wifi Module is a complete different concept from the way the HOBBYWING LCD program box works, all the parameters of the wifi module are displayed all in one via the graphical and interactive interface with dropdown menu�s and scroll bars. Now users can program their ESC in a much more user friendly interface without delay.
• Firmware Update: With this WiFi module, the end users can easily and promptly update the firmware of their ESC via their smart phone (with the HW LINK APP), which eliminates the use and carriage of a laptop pc.
• Compact Design: This WiFi module is smaller, smarter, lighter and only 1/6th of HOBBYWING LCD program box in size and weight. It has a hardwired programming cable to connect to the ESC not like the lcd program box which needed an extra programming cable to connect to the ESC.
• One-touch Factory Reset: Users can promptly factory reset their WiFi module via the Reset button at the bottom of the case.
• Wide Applicability: This module is applicable to work on the XERUN series, EZRUN series of car ESCs, and the Platinum series of aircraft ESCs, and SEAKING PRO series of boat ESCs.

Manual: HERE

APP Manual: HERE 

Download apps:

Too many features and information for both of the products. But what really attracted my attention is not the plenty of features stated above but all the market feedback that I�ve encountered on the different forums about the superiority of ESC governor performace and flawless overall operation. Moreover, ESC series are built to meet the requirements of the most demanding setups. As an example, let�s consider my target Chase 360 model: motor Scorpion HK 2520 1880KV with 50A peak and 38A continuous current which is the best you can get for this model, KDS N320S and N320T HV fast digital servos with a high torque but a bit hungry for power and KDS EBAR V2 FBL. Such setup requires at least 60A ESC and HV BEC capable of 4-7A power supply. HobbyWing Platinum PRO V4 60A meets both the requirements and have significantly exceeding power possibilities: 80A peak current for motor and 7A BEC output with 18A peak current output.

In the box:

First of all the box has counterfeit item protection special sticker which is very good to have nowadays when there are many fake items being sold by some popular but not very responsible shops.

ESC is neatly packed inside and comes with a couple of plastic zip-ties, heatsink and English user manual. Motor wires have 3.5mm bullet connectors already soldered and wrapped with a heatsink. Battery wires are prepared to be soldered but have no connector — this is left for a user to decide on its type.

Wi-Fi module comes in a transparent plastic box with the same counterfeit item protection label. It is packed in a soft foam and comes with additional servo Y-cable and English user manual.

So, no worries about both items during the transporation.

Materials, build and design:

Both products look perfect in terms of design and finish.

ESC case is partly made of aluminum to ensure the stiffness and heat disposal and plastics to protect connections and capacitors and bring the weight down. Perfect crafting and molding, very neat sticker attachment and case etching. Chosen wire AWG type for power input and output are a way enough to stand the passing current — 14AWG multistrand wire in modelling application may carry as much as 68A of current. We only have 30-40A at peak times per wire, therefore, there is a plenty of room left to keep power loss and cable heat low. Even the BEC servo cable is visibly thicker than I�ve used to see on standard-sized servos.

Wi-Fi module is full-aluminum CNC block with LED status light at the top and a hole for reset button at the bottom. ESC connection cable (servo-type) and Wi-Fi antenna (which looks exactly like RX antenna) both come from the same case opening.

Connections:

ESC has the battery wires, motor wires, programming port, BEC wire and signal wire for motor reverse (needed to enable proportional brake function).

Motor wires could be connected to motor in any order because ESC can be programed to change motor rotation direction. Programing port would accept Wi-Fi module and LCD programing box.

Wi-Fi module has only one servo-type cable which in case of Platinum PRO V4 60A ESC should be connected straight to the programing port. In case of using with other ESCs you might need the provided Y-harness cable to connect to ESC properly. In is described in the manual. But the main rule: Wi-Fi module should be powered from the incoming wire and should be connected to the dedicated or other port cabable of programing.

 Locating ESC and module on the model:

KDS Chase 360 (360-380 class) is a model designed by Autsralian engineer Glen Kimpton who has done a great job especially concerning power parts location. ESC should sit at the dedicated place at front of the frame, with motor wires go up to the motor and battery wires go down under the frame where flight battery is located. Absolutely no problems here. Platinum PRO V4 fits there perfectly and the length of the wires are enough to reach all other components. Seems like as if this ESC was specially designed for Chase 360.

As you can see on the picture — Wi-Fi module is located on the right side of the frame, held by the double sided adhesive and antenna is passed forward to ensure that it is placed far enough from transmitter RX antennas that are at the back.

The longest (BEC cable) from ESC is passed on the left side of the frame all the way to EBAR V2 FBL.

Tuning ESC:

This part is the most inetersting and shows that HobbyWing company really catches up with the recent technology trends and makes outstanding products.

When ESC, motor and Wi-Fi connected we can power the ESC to start tuning it. I prefer to start with the current ESC FW version check and upgrade if necessary. In order to to that I would use Android OS phone and HWLink application from Google Play store installed.

Step 1: Install HWLink app for Android or iOS and run the program for the first time while connected to the Internet. It would check the latest database (FW upgrades) upon first run (you can force this app to check for the latest database version as described below) and would inform you if there was the new database upgrade and changelog.

Step 2: Power ESC. Wi-Fi module would show constant red LED when it is up and running.

Step 3: Go to Wi-Fi settings on your phone and discover new networks. You should find network with the name «HW-WIFILINK» and connect to it using «12345678» password. You would be able to change network name and password later in the HWLink app on your smartphone.

Step 4: When connected, you can launch HWLink app and press on the ESC icon at the upper right corner to start talking to ESC. This icon would change to ESC indicating waves — it means that it is discovered and connected. Now, you can start using the app.

you can follow the procedure of connecting Wi-Fi module to your smartphone described in the manual of Wi-Fi module.

Step 5: Check whether you have the latest FW in the ESC (go to Screen «5. FW update» beneath.)

Step 6: Calibrate your ESC: as usually, power ESC off, THR stick fully up, power ESC on and after you hear motor signal that ESC entered calibration mode and saved upper THR point — THR stick down and weit for another set of beeps. Calibration done.

Step 7: Reconnect your smartphone to Wi-Fi module.

Using HWLink application:

HWLink is very useful application that would let you do the following:

• Update app database (download latest FW for ESCs and changelogs)
• Tune ESC and import/export/reset settings
• Upgrade ESC FW
• Check some logs after flight|run
• Find, download and read ESC manuals
• Check the latest HobbyWing news
• Change Wi-Fi module network name and password

Let�s go over each screen:

1. Loading

2. Main screen where all the functions are listed.

3. Settings:

this screen would let you change:

• App language: English or Chinese
• Choose running mode: DEMO or ESC-connected
• Wi-Fi module settings: SSID name, password
• About: information about app version and database version, pressing on either info would call update function for the corresponding item (you have to be connected to Wi-Fi network with Internet access to complete this task).
• Help: read the description of this app

4. News:

just a basic inbuilt app browser that directs us to HobbyWing site.

5. Firmware Update: 

lets you check what FW version does the connected ESC have (current FW), shows the latest available FW to upload to ESC (Target Version). By pressing Update button you would start to upload the newest FW to your ESC. It takes about 3 mins to upgrade Platinum PRO V4 ESC FW and I would recommend to keep smartphone close to Wi-Fi module and keep the screen awake during the process.

6. Data Record:

the first screen here gives us a selection between cars and aircraft models and leads us to this screen:

where we can see some flight|run data for the last 20 flights|runs at most (newest would replace oldest after 20 tracks are exceeded). And there is a «CLEAR» button at top right to delete all records.

one note as it is stated in the ESC manual: this ESC would show the logged data but won�t keep it in memory. Therefore, in order to see the data a user should connect to ESC after the flight without cutting ESC power. 

Data for aircraft profiles:

• MOS Temperature — max MOSFET temperature (°C/°F)
• Cap Temperature — max capacitors temperature (°C/°F)
• Voltage — min flight|run battery voltage (V)
• RPM — governed motor RPM during flight (those revs are electronic. We have to use the following formula to calculate the real RPM = Electronic revs / number of poles / 2 / gear ratio * THR% )

Data for cars:

• Max ESC temperature
• Max Motor temperature
• Min battery voltage
• Max motor speed (electronic revs)

Update: HW just released their HW Link app update (1.2.16) that brings a new cool feature for the Platinum V4 (and HW) ESC users — now, you can monitor performance of your ESC in real-time.  In order to see this — you would have to enter Data Record secion, select Aircraft and press Real-time data at the top right corner of the screen. The app would ask you to input Gear Ratio and Motor Poles for the correct calculations and you would see such screen:

As you can see — here we have the real-time data:

• RPM
• PPM Throttle %
• Current A
• PWM Throttle %
• MOS Temp in Celsium
• Voltage V
• CAP Temp in Celsium

You can also see the graph and can select which parameters would be on the graph�s x-axis.

7. Support:

this screen has 3 choices:

Download and read user manuals: if you would donwload any manual — it would be stored locally and you would not need to redownload it every time you want to read it. Very handy feature.

Manage files: you can see, rename or delete your exported *.txt profiles and settings here

Manage photos: you can see, rename or delete your exported graphical profiles and settings here.

8. Parameters:

this screen gives us a selection of type of the ESC first and leads us to the profile selection screen:

selecting the existing or new profile would lead us to the ESC settings screen:

Parameters for Platinum V4 PRO ESC:

General:

• Flight mode: Fixed-wing, Helicopter (Linear THR)/Elf Governor/Store Governor. Last two would govern the speed but Elf mode would take the battery C rating into account by evaluating packs at the beginning, setting RPM higher or lower according to pack health. This is the most preferred type of THR governing for me.
• LiPO cells: Auto calculation (default), or set the number of cells manually. This ESC would count the number of cells with beeps upon initialization. So, we would know that it has calculated it right even if the «Auto» is chosen.
• Voltage Cutoff type: Soft or Hard. Depends of the model. Helicopters need soft cutoff.
• Cutoff voltage: 2.8 — 3.8V in steps of 0.1V
• BEC Voltage: 5 — 8V with the steps of 0.1V (depends on the electronic equipment you have on your heli model — servos, FBL, RX and other… I have everything capable of feeding 8V — so, I set 8.0V)
• Start-up time: 4 — 25s (how long would it take ESC and motor to reach the desired RPM)

Throttle control:

• Governor P: (part of governor PID setup, proportional gain, 0 — 9, how good ESC keeps the target RPM, strength). I use default
• Governor I: (part of governor PID setup, integral gain, 0 — 9, how fast ESC would get back to target RPM after slight RPM change). I use default
• Auto-restart time: 0 — 90s. Time period in which THR% brought to 25 and less would cutoff RPM and raised above 40% would result in rapid RPM gain to the desired level (rapid means time to reach target RPM set in the next parameter — Restart acceleration time). If THR% brought to 25% and less, cutoff effected and THR moved to 40% and above beyond this time period — it would result in soft start process. Only works for governor modes.
• Restart acceleration time: 1 — 3s, 0,5s steps. Time it would take to reach the target RPM after RPM cutoff.
• Break type: Disabled, Normal, Proportional, Reverse. Not needed in heli, but proportional means that THR% of 20 to 0 on radio would result in brake strength 0 — 100% in ESC. Reverse means that RPM cable from ESC can be turned to reverse signal cable. We should setup a channel on the radio so, that 0-20% means that we have normal motor rotation direction, and 20-100% means that motor would start to spin in the opposite direction.
• Break force: only for normal brake mode. 0-100, 1 intervals.
• Timing: 0-30°, 1° step.
• Motor rotation: motor rotation direction
• Active freewheel: DEO (driving efficiency optimization) HW technology to ensure quicker response to THR change, longer flight time and lower ESC temp. Should be enabled in governor modes and can be on or off for linear THR or fixed-wing modes.
• Startup power: 1-7. 1 point step.

The default parameters are marked with «*» in the app and can be found in the ESC manual.

You can rename the profile and select profile picture at the bottom of this screen.

Moreover, you have 4 additional buttons on the left:

• Connect/Disconnect to/from your ESC
• Import: import settings from the file that you�ve saved previously
• Export: export your profile and settings to *.txt editable file or photo file to share with others
• Default: reset all settings to their default values.

Just to understand how HWLink application looks and works:

ESC protection technologies:

In order to make sure that everything would go butter-smooth in flight, HobbyWing have added several protection layers to Platinum PRO V4 series ESCs:

• Start-up Protection: The ESC will monitor the motor speed during the start-up process. When the speed stops increasing or the speed increase is not stable, the ESC will take it as a start-up failure. At that time, if the throttle amount is less than 15%, the ESC will automatically try to restart up; if it is larger than 15%, you need to move the throttle stick to back the bottom position and then restart up the ESC. (Possible causes of this problem: poor connection/ disconnection between the ESC and motor wires, propellers are blocked, etc.)
• ESC Thermal Protection: The ESC will gradually reduce the output but won�t cut it off completely when the ESC temperature goes above 110°C. Maximum reduction is about 50% of the full power to ensure that the motor can still get some power and won�t cause a crash. The ESC will gradually resume its maximum power after the temperature lowers down. In addition, the ESC temperature cannot exceed 70°C when it�s powered on. Otherwise, it cannot be started up. (Here we are describing the ESC�s reaction in soft cutoff mode, while if in hard cutoff mode; it will immediately cut off the power.)
• Capacitor Thermal Protection: The ESC will activate this protection when the operating temperature of capacitors goes over 130°C. It protects capacitors in the same way as the ESC thermal protection does to the ESC.
• Throttle Signal Loss Protection: When the ESC detects loss of signal for over 0.25 second, it will cut off the output immediately to avoid an even greater loss which may be caused by the continuous high-speed rotation of propellers or rotor blades. The ESC will resume the corresponding output after normal signals are received.
• Overload Protection: The ESC will cut off the power output or automatically restart itself when the load suddenly increases to a very high value (possible cause to sudden load increase is that propellers are blocked.)

Sounds nice and makes me feel comfortable. This is important because I remember the case when one of my 600-class heli motor bruned in flight and caused Kontonik ESC to go into deep protection mode. I�ve managed to land heli on ground with no crash. I was very happy that ESC didn�t burn together with the motor that cought short-circuit in flight. But the drawback was that I had to send my Kontronik to Germany to release it from deep protection mode it stayed in. Anyway, this was quick and cheap. Much cheaper than buying a new one.

ESC performance:

Power delivery: smooth. With the current setup (Scorpion HK 2520 1880KV, 13° collective) + ESC settings and running on the Bonka LiPO 6S 1,500mAh 75C batteries my Chase feels great in the air. No power loss, no cutoffs, no visible power drops. I�ve registered as much as 45A peak current once, but it wasn�t noticed in the model behavior from the power delivery equipment.

BEC power supply: no problem here as well. My HV servos are silky smooth in flight and there wasn�t anything bad noticed in their performance. Total current draw from all onboard equipment reaches as much as 6,5A with couple of servos stall but this is an extreme situation only checked to ensure that one stall servo would not lead to BEC voltage drop or BEC reset. The BEC is capable of 7A continous amd 18A peak power which should be enoung to run powerful servos and stand the peak current they produce in a position of stall. I�ve also tried to check whether some back induction voltage that many current servos generate during quick movement cause any BEC problems (back induction voltage might cause BEC voltage increase from, for example, 7V to 14V or so which would result in BEC cutoff or else)… For this, I was moving all servos very fast for a long period of time. I haven�t spotted any misbehavior in this aspect. Some very famous names in this industry like Georges Van Gansen (Scorpion Power Systems) insist on having additional capacitors to act as a buffer… But I would give it a try with no additional capacitors.

Governor at work: very good. I am using 13° collective and checked governor performance in Elf mode during the pitch-pumps with full collective stick deflection to both sides to ensure the max load. At the same time I was measuring head speed change with FrSKY RPM sensor to check if there is any significant inclinations from the RPMs at hover after take off. I�ve found that RPMs would stay consistent throughout all input loads with very minor change in extreme points (~3.5%) but with very quick target RPM gain when released. Which is much better already than using linear throttle with 15% THR change to maintain the same RPM with the extreme pitch angles. Moreover, I think that dialing «I parameter» a little bit more would make the situation perfect. Please, note that there could be some measuring errors due to Pitch stick logging vs RPM logging intervals. But the graphs shows what I mean — RPM stay close to expected under load. At least with fresh and new 75C new battery packs. I believe that RPM inclinations from target would grow larger as battery would deteriorate and gain more per cell resistance but I cannot measure older packs now because I don�t have one. I would update this review later, after 50-70 battery charging cycles.

I  would say that HobbyWing Platinum PRO V4 governor in «Elf» mode is performing very similar to Kontronik Jive 80A HV ESC set to «Mode 4» which is really great considering the price difference. Definitely, governor logics in HobbyWing V4 ESC is excellent and can be treated as the golden standard. A huge improvement over older HW 120A HV ESC that I had long time ago. New ESC logics makes current HobbyWing products to lead the market and to satisfy most demanding pilots. As the matter of fact, it is much better than Castle 80A HV ESC governor I�ve used to fly. It either broke my cone gears with some higher PIDs or it wouldn�t hold the target RPM at loaded manuevers at lower gains… HobbyWing does a great job out of the box and despite the default gains.

Flight video would come along a bit later.

Temperature: as HobbyWing reports on their website — current V4 PRO ESC series are colder than its precessors.

I never had V3 series but I can confirm that ESC comes quite cold after each 3 minutes of flight — about 35-41°C at 22°C ambient temp which is much better than I�ve used to when was using Castle ESCs or Kontronik without a dedicated cooling radiator. But the direct comparison is not right in this case… models are different and power draw is also different. The only thing that I am certain about — Platinum V4 stays cooler than expected.

Wi-Fi module signal and RX signal interaction: no problems here. Haven�t noticed any drops in RSSI value of my RX connection to radio. Seems that Wi-Fi module would not interfere with RX radio downlink. It has very limiter range of ~10m which makes it secure to use always powered on.

Overall conclusion:

HobbyWing Platinum PRO V4 60A ESC is an excellent product that has deserved to be called a leading-class ESC. It has many modern technologies implemented, can be programed over the air, has outstanding battery aware governor math, competes perfectly with very expensive products like Kontronik and YGE but also provides more features and finally — it has the best price/quality/performance ratio. Other good brands and a way more expensive…. And some cheaper rivals like YEP and other YGE clones have no such build and electric component quality (many YEP ESCs were burned at flight in my practice) to compete with modern HobbyWing products. I would say that Platinum V4 can be objectively called «the best choice on the market» currently. And the Wi-Fi module is a great supplement to ESC in terms of ease of setup. Now, I understand why there are so many positive feedback about this series of ESCs on the market.

Well done, HobbyWing!!! Platinum PRO V4 series ESC impressed us the same way XRotor motors and ESCs for FPV racers did! Hope that the future products for helis, cars, boats, planes and copters would continue to lead the way!

We want to thank HobbyWing and Direct Distributions (HW rep. company in Ukraine) for landing us those products for test and review.

Remember our first QX7 review? The one that was talking about the very first white color radio in the world? This was Part I. And there we claimed that this radio would become a bestseller on the matket… It was our prophecy and it really worked!!! QX7 had a rocket launch and fastly spread out in among hobby addicts. There was a constant shortage at first couple of months and than sales stabilized at some high level.

While working hard to satisfy the market demand, FrSKY company gathered all initial customer feedback and introduced some changes to fulfil further auditory expectations. And today we want to point out all changes that were done to QX7 since the early releases to show how this radio has matured and its final and current look.

First, watch our video about it if you are too lazy to read 

Now, I want to insist on reading PART I of QX7 review first if you haven�t done it yet. Part I has all necessary and important information about this rafio which we would not focus on during this time.

So, let�s look closer at the new (current or late) FrSKY Taranis QX7 and compare it to early version we have here as well:

Externals:

Color modes: initially this radio was available only in black and white color. But after I have created my famous color mode many people started to ask me where have I bought such radio, some Chineese suppliers started to post my mod photos on their shops… I�ve even got some requests not to promote this mod further because it is misleading many potential customers…. :). BTW — Part I has the description how I�ve done this mod.

A bit later, Banggood shop decided that they would exclusively provide their customers with some new shell colors and the ability to choose one. They currently have green, purple, orange and blue versions. And I have green one here to compare it with my personal paint mod.

What can I say here? Banggood has won this battle in terms of paint durability. Their paint is added to plastic during the injection moulding process (there were some rumors that it looks like hydro-dipped or somethink like that, but it is not true). So, paint becomes a part of the plastic itself. It would stay here forever. No fear of sctratches, high temperature or moisture. My mode, despite being more pleasing to an eye, is afraid of physical damages. It is just several pint layers sprayed on top of the shell and some additional layers of protective lacquer…. It is like a piece of art — beautiful but not very practical.

Anyway, banggood did a right thing — they gave people a new choice…

You can purchase QX7 with a choice of different colors HERE

• Screen: another very good change that I�ve noticed is about the screen. As it is clearly seen on the pictures — early version screens were more succeptible to contrast lines (vertical dark lines on evenly lit background) when contrast is set to >16 points. I�ve dialled contrast to 20 and screen brightness to 100% on both radios to show you the difference. Current radio version has hardly visible contrast lines. It was never a problem in early QX7 or even in X9D, X9DPlus radios because it could be controlled by the amount of contrast set in system menu but still is a good step ahead.

• Pots: left upper pot (S1) is now smooth and has not center detent whilst right (S2) has it. Early versions had both pots with center detents… There were people who proposed to FrSKY to introduce one smooth moving pot in order to control something like gimbals, etc which means constant movement. FrSKY listened!

• Sticks: early radios had to be opened upon arrival to remove spring load from throttle stick. Both sticks were completely spring-loaded from the factory. But who wants that now? DJI users? It is only a small portion of people… FrSKY listened again and removed spring tension from THR to eliminate some questions and troubles people can run to while opening the case and trying to locate what needs to be srewed in to accomplish the task. But the ratchet is still there…

• Battery holder: QX7 currently comes with 6 AA battery holder… Not a big deal especially when everyone chooses 18650 or other battery options but still much better than not having this in the box as if it was with early radio release.

Internals:

• S.PORT at the bottom is finally functional. It can be used now to update or remap all S.PORT devices (RXs, sensors, modules, etc) and to work with telemetry. It is now also supported by OpenTX. It would differentiate early and current boards and show some options about bottom S.PORT functions. Early versions didn�t have S.PORT pins soldered to the mainboard and there were some obstacles to solder it yourself. Only external module pins could be used to work with S.PORT devices. Now, it is much more convenient and straight forward. Good change!

• Antenna is now soldered to RF board. Early versions of QX7 had efl antenna connector which means easy antenna mod. But this also means that radios would not comply to some regulations standards and would violate certification rules. Moreover, antenna mods might lead to unexpected RF amplifier behavior and result into burning it. So, my personal opinion — soldered antenna is not a drawback — it might eliminate some additional problems….

Here is some side-by-side mainboard, RF part and other internals comparison pictures:

One additional interesting thing that I have spotted on the back side of the shell in the external bay — shell opening for extrenal module pins is now changed so that: it became much wider to minimize the chance of pins bending when assembling the radio and got some new back supports to properly align with the pins on the internal board…. This was hard to do for FrSKY, i think. And it should have been very expensive — changing plastic mould matrix after it has been already developed and physically created…

That�s it. I couldn�t find any other visible changes between 2 radio releases — old and new one. If you happen to have early release — there is no need to sell it and run for the newer versions. Not much of a change… On the other hand — this radio has matured from the best product to a perfect one. It was the bestseller since the realease and now it became the ideal product that stays at the very low price point. The only thing left to wait to make this radio 100% masterpiece are Hall sensor gimbals «M7» that would hit the market in some nearest future. Anyway, no other radio around that can even try to come close to QX7. And what is the most important — Taranis QX7 is a good illustration to show that FrSKY company is opened to market feedback, reacts to it very fast and stays very flexible in order to meet all expectations. Such attitude deserves much of respect!!!

Read our FrSKY Taranis QX7 full (in depth) review. PART I  

Our Taranis QX7 manual and setup guide: HERE

Buy this color versions of QX7 from banggood: HERE

Today, we have another 4 FPV products from fastly emerging AKK Tech company for test and review. We have already reviewed couple of products from this brand recently (micro FPV cam + transmitter / set of FPV antennas) and found those to be very good perfromers considering price to performance ratio. Therefore, conducting further tests for some other components we have here today would prove us either right or wrong about our positive attitude towards this company. Let�s move along and jump into the action!

Good news here for international customers: AKK Tech notified us that they have launched their new online store at AliExpress (free shipping terms). HERE. Customers from USA might find it more convenient to use AKK corner at Amazon. HERE.

This would be the group review, test and comparison for the following AKK FPV components:

1. AKK CA20 FPV camera
2. AKK X1P 5.8GHz 40CH 25/200/600mW video transmitter
3. AKK TS5828 5.8GHz 32CH 600mW video transmitter
4. AKK LR2 set of cloverleaf 5.8GHz FPV antennas

Let�s start with the video. This video covers some of the review information and visualizes the conducted tests. But we would recommend to read this text review first as it has more details…

Starting with the AKK CA20 FPV camera features and specifications:

• 600TVL high picture quality
• Low Power Consumption
• 1/3″ SONY SUPER HAD II CCD, Nextchip 2040 DSP
• Special connecting cable for camera and FPV transmitter

Specifications:

• CCD: 1/3” Sony SUPER HAD II CCD
• Resolution: NTSC: 768(H)×494(V)
• TV System: NTSC
• Optical Resolution: 650TVL(b/w), 600tvl(color)
• Shutter Speed: (CCD IRIS) NTSC: 1/60~1/100000 sec
• Noise: > 60 (AGC OFF)
• Video Out: 75ohm, synchronize
• Min. Illumination: 0.01Lux
• Auto Gain: Off/Low/Mid/High
• Back Light Compensation (BLC): Off /Back light compensation/ Strong light suppression
• Private shading (PRIVACY): 1~8 private shading area
• Motion Detection (MD): On/ Off (Multi level sensitivity adjustment)
• Auto White Balance: Manual / Auto / Auto track
• Mirror: Horizontal Mirror optional
• Negative: Positive / Negative optional
• Color to B&W: Auto
• DNR: 2DNR; WDR: D-WDR
• Day / Night Shift: Auto/ Color/ B&W
• Menu (OSD): English menu
• White Dot Repair: Supports
• Image Adjustment: Supports
• Camera Title: Supports
• Power Requirement: DC5V~22V
• Working Temperature: -10 C ~ +50 C
• Working Humidity: 20~80%
• Dimensions(mm): 25X25(W*L)
• Power Consumption: 70mA

Packaging:

Camera comes in a small box with special mounting bracket, 4 screws, camera cable leads, OSD control joystic and power supply leads and English manual.

Item description:

CA20 is wery well built FPV camera that looks very familiar if you happen to use Foxeer XAT600M before. The same size, shape, weight and cable lead connector at the upper left corner on the back. As the matter of fact — all features and specification are also identical. It comes with 2.8mm M12x0.5 thread lens with ~115° FOV from the factory which I would change to 2.5mm with ~130° FOV right away because this is my most preferred angle for FPV flying.

This camera is built on very common pair: 1/3” Sony SUPER HAD II CCD sensor and Nextchip 2040 DSP that deliver perfect performance for FPV use. Camera is widely controlled through OSD settings and the resulting picture quality is perfect in terms of danymic range, auto white balance and smooth exposure compensation. Moreover, it is perfectly usable under low light conditions. Such functions like wide dynamic (WDR) or even digitally controlled wide dynamic range (DWDR) optimizers are very suitable and doing a good job on keeping the entire frame with large bright-to-dark area difference more or less evenly lit which is very good for any FPV pilot.

OSD menu and camera operation:

OSD menu walkover for this camera can be found in my review video. It looks being almost the same to Foxeer XAT600M OSD and has a plenty of control for different camera functions. The main are picture adjustments in terms of saturation, contrast, brightness and sharpness and some additional settings like DWDR, WDR. You can play with it to tune the picture quality to your liking. OSD control joystick comes in the box.

AKK CA20 VS Foxeer XAT600M:

After tuning both cameras in OSD to exactly the same settings — they both produce more or less similar results that would also depend on transmitter used. If the transmitters are also the same — we would end up with the perfect match. Unfortunately, my video would not represent this because I�ve tuned both cameras in the same way only after the test and have used different transmitters that would impact the picture quality in a different way, especially concerning picture contrast. But I would say that both cameras are perfect for FPV use and AKK that costs a bit less would have a better value for money…

NEXT: AKK X1P video transmitter features and specifications: 

•  Long transmission distance and stable performace
•  One switching button to set CH, FR and power ON/OFF
•  Antenna connector: RP-SMA female connector
•  Frequency range: 5645-5945MHz
•  40 channels: covers A,b,E,F,r bands

Specifications:

• Modulation: Wideband FM Modulation
• Video Format: NTSC/PAL
• Output Impedance: 50 Ohm
• Output Power: 25mw: 12,13,14 dBm/ 200mw: 22, 23,24 dBm/ 600mw: 26,27,28 dBm
• Operating Voltage: 7-24 V
• Supply Current: 25mw: 100 mA/ 200mw: 200 mA/ 600mw: 280 mA
• Operating Temperature : -10 +85 C
• Video Band Width: 0-18 MHz
• Audio carrier Frequency: 6.5 MHz
• Video Input Level: 0.8,1.0,1.2 Vp-p
• Video Input Impedance: 75 Ohm
• Audio Input Level: 1.0 Vp-p
• Audio Input Impedance: 10K Ohm

Packaging:

Video transmitter, set of connection cables and English user manual.

Item Description: 

One of the most interestion items in AKK products lineup. This transmitter has 2 versions: with a pigtale and with SMA connector soldered directly to the board. But both share the same features: 40CH and 25, 200, 600mW switchable + ON|OFF switch. This would allow you to judge which power output to use depending on the flight conditions and to avoid transmitter overheating or|and distructing other pilots with power OFF state while waiting for your turn to fly.

It is small and lightweight. LED indicator and single button to control all functions. Controls are easy — short button press to change channel, longer button press to change group and 15 seconds button press to change power output and to switch ON|OFF.

The build quality is also great. All soldering is neatly accoplished and covered with the heatsink.

AKK X1P 200mW VS 600mW VS KDS Kylin 600mW VS AKK TS5828 600mW: 

As seen from our testing video — X1P is the winner in this comparison. It delivers excellent picture quality, handles signal better and has almost no frame losses during my test travel. Expecially this is true for 200mW output setting. 600mW would be a bit worse in the test when I walk around the house. Why is it so? Because such conditions have many obstacles to reflect the signal and make it interfere with the signal following the direct path. Therefore, the higher the output of a transmitter -> more strong reflections -> more direct to reflected signal interference -> picture is worse. Such testing conditions would always require some less but adequately powered transmitters to produce better results. That is why in this test 200mW setting for X1P is performing better.

And viseversa for the open field (flight) test in my video. X1P still does the better job than my Kylin 600mW transmitter but only when set to 600mW. Here we do not have much of reflected signal coming in and the direct signal strength is what really matters.

So, X1P not only have some superior functionality but also outperforms all other transmitters in my test. Very good product with a good price. Excellent value for money.

NEXT: AKK TS5828 600mW transmitter features and specifications:

• 5.8G 32CH 600MW Mini AV Transmitter
• Small size and lightweight
• Easy to operate
• 32channels: Covers A, B, E, F bands.

Specification:

• Output Impedance: 50 Ohm
• Video Format: NTSC/PAL
• Antenna Connector: RP-SMA Connector
• Output Power: 27-28dBm
• Operating Voltage: 7.0-24V
• Supply Current : 280mA
• Operating Temperature: -10-+85 C
• Video Band Width: 0-8.0 MHz
• Audio Carrier Frequency: 6.5 MHz
• Video Input Level: 0.8-1.2 Vp-p
• Video Input Impedance: 75 Ohm
• Audio Input Level: 0.5-2.0 Vp-p
• Audio Input Impedance: 10K Ohm

Packaging:

Comes with a set of GoPRO connection cables with power, a set of other camera connection cable leads, omni-directional antenna and English user manual.

Item description:

This is a classic-type small and lightweight video transmaitter that is controlled with a dip-switches on the board. All channels and frequencies are stated at the back of the box and in user manual. Easy to operate but is less handy to control if it would be situated deep inside your model. Build quality is nothing to worry about — very neat.

AKK TS5828 VS AKK X1P VS Kylin 600mW: 

TS5828 show some similar results to my KDS Kylin 600mW transmitter that I am using for more than 1 year now and which has never let me down — thus, would be 100% enough to use in most conditions. But as it is clearly shown in our testing video — it falls short to X1P performance. Which means that X1P would be more versatile to use. Anyway, the price difference also matters and TS5828 is an excellent choice for the tight budget. It performs well, stays reasonably cool, costs less and can compete with many others rivals with the same or sligtly higher cost.

NEXT: AKK LR2 set of anetnnas features and specifications:

• Frequency Range: 5.8GHz
• Gain:5dBI, Impedance: 50Ω
• Connector: RP-SMA
• Four Leaf mushroom Antenna, LCPL or RCPL
• Small size and lightweight
• Stable signal transmission

Electrical Specifications:

• VSWR: <1.5:1
• Gain: 5dBI
• Polarization: Circular polarization
• Max Power:50W

Mechanical Specifications:

• Height: 88mm
• Max diameter: 4mm
• Min diameter: 1mm
• Connector:RP-SMA
• Lighting Protection: DC Grounded

Packaging:

Comes as a set of 1 RCPL/LCPL RP-SMA and 1 RCPL/LCPL SMA antenna.

Item description:

This particular design of antennas is believed to originate from Aomway. Moreover, Aomway of this type would outperform most of all other antenna designs currently availbale on the market. This has been proven by many youtube videos where Aomway antennas of this type were compared to many other types and designs and Aomway would either be a winner or at least not worse than a winner.

Considering the fact that AKK LR2 set is perfectly crafted and looks exactly the same as Aomway — seems that it should deliver the same perfect performance.

AKK LR2 (with TS5828) VS Aomway (with TS5828):

Our testing video clearly shows that…. I have tested Aomway and AKK LR2 antennas on the same AKK TS5828 600mW transmitter under the same conditions. And they perform very similar, as expected. So, considering that AKK LR2 cost less than the same antennas produced by Aomway — I would stick to AKK products to save some amount for other equipment.

Overall conclusion:

We like that fact that there is a new name on FPV equipment market — AKK Tech — that delivers very good products at lower cost. We have already tested 6 different items (4 now and 2 previously) and found that most of them outperform their rivals with the same price while the rest of the products are just equal to well known brands. This lets us think that AKK would aquire their client base very quickly and continue to expand as long as the price to performace ratio of all of their products would stay at the current excellent ot better-than-average level.

Good news here for international customers: AKK Tech notified us that they have launched their new online store at AliExpress (free shipping terms). HERE. Customers from USA might find it more convenient to use AKK corner at Amazon. HERE.

Stay tuned, more reviews to come!!!