mstc 
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#1
02-May-2023, 02:41 AM
My old Crux35 sadly passed after providing hundreds of flights of pleasure and enjoyment, snapping several bottom plates and having its motors replaced. I ordered the new Crux35 v2 as areplacement and waited for it to arrive from China. Although I had my other drones to fly in the meantime, I will have to admit I longedfor the agility/float/control of the Crux35.
Well it finally arrived and flies amazing out of the box (I remember on my old Crux I had to do a lot of tuning/setup to get it flying well). Tune was great, video/rf reception was very clean too.Only thing I did was downflash the ELRS to 2.x (it comes with 3.0) and setup my modes/rates/vtx channel in BF. This is what a BNF experience is supposed to be. Maybe I was lucky, Happymodel isnot known for great QC, but maybe others also had a good experience with their v2?
$120 for a 3.5" BNF with 20A AIO, onboard serial ELRS,400mw analog VTX, and a decent Caddx Ant camera.
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drumgod
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#2
02-May-2023, 03:29 PM
My two V1s both lived very short lives... I just ordered one of the new 20a aio boards to repair my last one... Do you have a picture of your V2? I'm curious about the fc mounting. Did they just mount it sideways on the existing 25mm frame holes?
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mstc
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#3
02-May-2023, 04:45 PM (This post was last modified: 02-May-2023, 05:42 PM by mstc.)
Hi drum, you didn't mention you literally burned a hole through your Crux in a midair fireball 
The AIO is just mounted square to the frame on the outer 25x25 holes (the ones where the frame usually cracks).
I would be very careful with the soldering, this is probably the thinnest/lightest 20A board I've seen so don't apply too much heat to it, especially when soldering the power leads the spacing there is really tight.
Edit: I just noticed that 3 of the 4 motors don't have the wiring taped down to the arms. Yup HM quality control... but at least it is non-consequential, all the important stuff is fine.
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drumgod
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#4
02-May-2023, 06:36 PM (This post was last modified: 02-May-2023, 06:41 PM by drumgod.)
Yeah, my first one incinerated itself mid-air. My HM stuff that's been good has been great. The rest, not so much.
Thanks for the pic. That looks as expected. I see they also changed the vtx from a solder-only OVX303 to an OVX306 with plugs.
Some time in the next few weeks I should have both of mine flying again. I'm curious to see how heavy the first one ends up after being rebuilt with individual components I had laying around. The second V1, mostly stock with a peanut cam and 4S 850 pack, came in just a smidge over 233g all up.
Edit: I just realized I'm going to need a new VTX as well since the OVX303 in my V1 has the ears broken off for a 20x20 mount...
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mstc
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#5
02-May-2023, 07:50 PM
You can print a TPU adapter to fit the larger mount, or just mount it directly to the 20x20 holes on the top plate.
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drumgod
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#6
03-May-2023, 02:21 PM
I thought about the top plate but the front two screw holes are shared with the camera mount. The OVX303 doesn't have holes that will accept "gummies". I'd need to figure out spacers that will keep the board off the plate and allow the camera mount to be tightened down without damaging the vtx... Too fiddly. As luck would have it, I have an OVX306 in my stash. If I can get this X1 board repaired I'll use it with the original vtx in something smaller... Speaking of the X1 board: As the mechanic says, "Well there's your problem." I'm not sure if it cracked in my last crash or if it was cracked to begin with and finally gave up the ghost.
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mstc
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#7
04-May-2023, 01:57 AM (This post was last modified: 04-May-2023, 04:48 AM by mstc.)
And a reminder today that Happymodel motors are super fragile. I had a gentle brush with a tree and the quad spun wildlyto the ground. Two props were missing, so okI was lazy and did not put in the prop screws as the shafts are wider than normal and hold the props very tightly. But upon closer inspection,both motor shaftshadsnapped clean off. Never experienced this before, and I have many sets of HM motors. On the dvr you can see the propr disappear after hitting the tree before it begins the super spin, so it was not snapped upon impacting the ground.
Fortunately the quad still fliesfines without motor shafts... and seems no damage otherwise.
I knew these motors were not the most durable, but the shafts onthese newer batches seem to be worse.With prices going up on everything, but the cost of this bnf coming down... I guess they had to save a few cents somewhere...
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drumgod
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#8
04-May-2023, 02:48 PM
Ouch. I had replaced 3 of the 4 motors on my first V1. They just got crunchy/loose and I started getting vibes.
Not exactly related, but I crash a lot. lol. I've found this modified antenna mount and cable strain relief useful:
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mstc
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#9
04-May-2023, 08:10 PM
Banged up bells or crunchy bearings are easy on these motors, some even come that way out of the box, but the snap-off shafts seem to be a newly added "feature". And by the looks of it there are others with the same experience. I guess for this model motors are just a consumable like props, that's probably why HM designed it with motor plugs for quick and easy swapping.
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davejavu
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#10
07-May-2023, 06:02 PM
Am loving mine thus far. I've seen comments about potential motor problems and that the frame may not be that robust, but I'm no freestyle pilot and for me the oomph this little thing has on 4S is frankly bonkers. I added a Vista to mine so it's HD and is just awesome to fly.
I'm running 850mah 4S and getting 5-6mins carrying a GoPro Hero4.. and about 9mins without.
Pic above is atPistyll Rhaeadr waterfalls in North Wales... 240ft of yikes! (Video in another post shortly)
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mstc
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#11
07-May-2023, 07:30 PM
Nice waterfall dive, glad your Crux made it through. I would be terrified diving with a full sized gopro, if you can strip it down it will fly much nicer, but I guess it would be less water resistant. On my old Crux35, I also added a vista/polar and it carried a naked gopro quite well. For mellow cruising flights (without the gopro) it also ran well on a light 3S 550 battery and worth a try if you enjoy slower flying.
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davejavu
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#12
07-May-2023, 08:41 PM
Tbh I picked up the Hero4 for a bargain price for this trip, specifically as I couldn’t get the power board for making a naked GoPro 7 in time! You can get the board for the 8 in loads of places, but the board for the 7 is different - and takes a couple of weeks to get here. It flies remarkably well with the extra weight on board, although the 4 is considerably smaller / lighter than the newer models.
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mstc
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#13
07-May-2023, 11:14 PM
The 7 unfortunately does not do well with post stabilization if you wanted to do that, but heard it has decent in-camera stabilization. The 8 is great for post stabilization, the gyro data is synced in camera (same as your 9) and these days at least in the US, you can get used 8s for similar or less than the 6/7s.
I see you also have the Thumb Pro (even lighter and more streamlined), I fly that a lot on the Crux and post stabilization is pretty good as well, but limited to 4k30 which is fine for slower flying..
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mstc
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#14
03-Jun-2023, 02:35 AM
I had ordered a HD Crux35 v2 (with the Runcam Link/Wasp), but unfortunately the shop sent a HD Zero version by mistake. Fortunately that found a good home with another forum member, and my DJI version finally arrived today.
At $240 shipped, this seems to be the lowest priced BNF with DJI onboard. It seems a little odd though, that none of the US shops are carrying this HD version.With Runcam's summer sale going on now, the Wasp/Link is $125 and soadding that tothe $120 analog Crux is another option -you pay a little more butget an extra VTX/Ant camera to use for another build.
This will be my first experience with the Wasp camera, not sure I will like the locked 4:3 aspect ratio as I usually fly 16:9.
The Link/Vista unit is only held up with two front screws to the top plate, and the clearance is also pretty tight to the AIO. There is some flex, but probably not enough to cause trouble, and I guess there are the wires running between the board as added insulation.
After having stripped down the vista for the Scythe frame, I like the much lower profile of that option and will likely do the same here. And an added benefit of losing a few more grams, although at 105g the Crux doesn't really need a diet.
This set of motors seem to be pretty solid, but I will be sure to use prop screws as I suspect they also come with the snap-off shafts.
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Lemonyleprosy
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#15
03-Jun-2023, 02:56 AM
Only having two screws holding the vista in place, and having them both on the same side, seems kinda sketchy to me. Can you add two more screws, or do the holes not line up?
Dangerous operations.
Disclaimer: I don’t know wtf I’m talking about.
I wish I could get the smell of burnt electronics out of my nose.
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