n this tutorial I will show you how to build a racing drone (aka FPV mini quad) from scratch step by step. It walks you through what components you need, how to assemble the quadcopter, and configure the software for your first flight.
Can Beginners Build an FPV Mini Quad?
Absolutely YES!
There are pre-built drones you can buy off the shelf, but you are not going to learn anything. By building a quadcopter, you know exactly how everything fits together and how to repair it later on.
It’s going to be hard building your first drone, it could take hours, or even days to finish. When you encounter a problem, you might take advice from experienced pilots, or ultimately end up finding your way by trial and error. Either way, the journey is going to be extremely rewarding.
I wrote this tutorial back in 2017, and I have been constantly updating it to cover as much detail as possible, while trying to keep it simple so any beginners can easily follow. My goal is to teach you the steps and basic knowledge of building and setting up a mini quad.
There are a million ways to build a mini quad, different builders might use different steps, tools and techniques. But the goal is the same – building a racing drone that is reliable! And don’t be afraid to do things differently, as long as it works for you.
Learning the Basics
Before we begin, please make sure you’ve read this tutorial to get a basic understanding of mini quad and FPV in general: How to get started with Drone Racing and Mini Quad
if you see an abbreviation and have no idea what it means, you can try looking it up here: Acronyms and technical terms in FPV.
Table of Contents
- Racing Drone Parts List
- Tools and Accessories fpr Building
- Steps to build this Quadcopter
- Videos
- More DIY Builds
- Pre-built Drone Recommendation
Mini Quad Parts List
For this tutorial, I will be using the following parts in “Primary Options” column. I also listed alternatives.
| Parts | Primary Options | Alternatives |
| Frame | Martian II Speical Edition ($20) | Martian II |
| FC | Kakute F7 AIO | |
| ESC | Holybro Tekko32 35A ($64) | RacerStar RS30A V2 ($52) |
| Motor | DYS Sunfun 2207 2400KV ($12) | |
| Propeller | HQ 5.1×4.1×3 ($) | DAL Cyclone T5045C ($3) |
| RX | Frsky XSR ($17) | Frsky R-XSR ($25) |
| FPV Camera | Runcam Micro Eagle | Runcam Eagle 2 ($45) |
| VTX | Eachine VTX03 ($10) | Holybro Atlatl V2 ($30) |
| FPV Antenna | Foxeer Lollipop V2 | Aomway Cloverleaf |
| Misc Parts | XT60 Pigtail ($1.5) | – |
| Buzzer ($0.4) | – | |
| IntoFPV Battery Strap | BG Battery Strap | |
| Optional | Low ESC Capacitor ($1.5) | – |
| Spare Nylon Standoffs |
If you want to see other mini quad parts that I have tested and recommend, check here: https://oscarliang.com/tag/recommend/
Frame
The Martian II frame is a great value frame. I am still flying the one I bought back in 2016, the oldest frame in my fleet. It’s very roomy and easy to build, you can’t go wrong with the Martian II as your first mini quad frame.
By the way, I have a coupon here, FiberRC, you can get the Martian on this page for only $16.8. Expires in June 2019.
FC – Flight Controller
I like the simplicity of “AIO” (All in one) flight controllers, it combines the FC and PDB into one single board, which minimizes the amount of wiring and soldering.
The Kakute F7 AIO FC has been one of the most reliable flight controllers for me. You don’t need to worry about soft mounting because the Gyro is separated from the board by vibration damping foam. It features a powerful F7 processor that allows you to run all the latest features in Betaflight and still has enough processing power to run fast looptime.
Motors
The DYS Sunfun 2207 2400KV motor is one of the best value motors I’ve tested. FPV Beginners are going to crash a lot, and motors take the most impact so if you break them it won’t hurt as much.
ESC – Speed Controller
As your first build, I would steer away from 4-in-1 ESC’s. They might be easier to work with, but if you burn out one ESC then you are screwed. It stinks that you have to replace the whole board.
That’s why it’s better to use standalone ESC’s, price difference is minimal anyway. My go-to standalone single ESC’s right now are the Tekko32 35A. They are BLHeli_32 ESC’s, capable of running 48KHz PWM frequency and DShot1200, making them more superior than the older BLHeli_S ESC in terms of performance.
Receiver
Your choice of radio transmitter determines what receiver (RX) you are going to use. For Frsky Taranis users, both the XSR and R-XSR are excellent choices.
XSR and R-XSR have the same features and range, but the R-XSR is smaller and lighter. Size is really not an issue for the roomy Martian frame, so you might want to consider the XSR because it’s slightly cheaper than the R-XSR. Anyway, it really doesn’t matter.
VTX
I am using the Eachine TX805 VTX in this build, simply because it’s cheap and has got all the features I ever need in a VTX! It has SmartAudio, selectable power levels range from 25mW to 800mW, MMCX connector, and a built-in Mic.
FPV Camera
The Runcam Eagle 2 is simply the best “All-Around” FPV ever made, excellent performance in both day and low light. They also make a smaller version, the Micro Eagle. But yes, the Martian only takes full size cameras, but you can get this adapter so you can mount a micro camera just like a full size camera.
There are cheaper FPV cameras, but being able to see well in your FPV goggles makes a huge difference in your confidence and how well you can fly.
Propellers
Most racing drone propellers these days are made of Polycarbonate plastic, which means they last much longer! My personal favourite props for this build are the DAL Cyclone 5045×3, and HQ 5.1×4.1×3. Get whichever prop you can find.
Other Equipment for Flying
You will also need to have the following accessories in order to fly a quadcopter. If you don’t already have these, take a look at my shopping guides to get some ideas what to buy.
A Radio Transmitter for controlling the drone, here is my Buyer’s Guide. My recommendations right now (2019) are the Jumper T16, Taranis QX7 and Taranis X9D.
A pair of FPV Goggles for watching real-time video from the drone, here is my Buyer’s Guide. My recommendations (2019) are the Skyzone Sky03, or the Fatshark HDO with Pro58 Module.
Some 4S 1300mAh or 1500mAh LiPo Batteries. There are quite a lot to learn about LiPo in this Buyer’s Guide, because if you don’t handle them carefully they can be dangerous. See this post for our FPV LiPo Battery Recommendations.
Finally, you need a battery charger, you can learn about the specs in our Buyer’s Guide. And here is our LiPo charger recommendations.
If the wrong channels are responding, try a different channel map, it’s normally either “default (AETR)”, or TAER.
You will need to setup at least two switches on the Taranis (instruction) for arming and enabling “lost model beeper”. Again, confirm it’s working in the receiver tab, these should show up as channels AUX1 and AUX2.
Next you want to test if SmartPort is working. You can do this by simplying go to the telemetry page on the Taranis. plug in the LiPo, and the LiPo voltage should be displayed under “VFAS”. If you don’t see “VFAS”, then scroll down and select “Discover new sensors…”.
And finally setup and test failsafe (instruction) on the receiver.
If you have any questions or issues, post in our forum: intoFPV.com
8. Connect FPV Camera and VTX
Let’s move on to our FPV system.
Solder both cables from the VTX and FPV Camera to the flight controller. I am powering the VTX directly from LiPo voltage (BAT), and the camera from 5V. SmartAudio from VTX is connected to TX1.
Pro tip – twisting cables this is a great way to help reduce unwanted RF noise.
Power on the quad with Smoke Stopper, to test make sure you are getting a clear picture on your goggles. Since the VTX is brand new, it could be on any channel. Use the “search feature” on your FPV goggles to find it, or simply scroll through all channels.
Here are instructions on how to setup SmartAudio so you can change VTX settings in Betaflight OSD.
9. Installing Buzzer
Solder the buzzer to the FC: Buzzer positive goes to 5V, Buzzer negative goes to Z-.
To mount the buzzer in the frame, you can use the same trick we used on the capacitor earlier – double-sided foam tape :) Don’t block the hole though!
Stick it to the frame, then wrap around it to a standoff with electrical tape .
10. Using 3D Printed Parts
Most things are open source in the FPV hobby, including 3D printed parts for our quads! You can find lots of useful 3D printed part designs online.
While 3D printed parts are not necessary, they can be very useful.
I designed these 3D printed parts specifically for the Martian II frame, they make the build so much cleaner! If you don’t have a 3D printer, I can print and send them to you, get them here.
11. Mounting Receiver Antennas
The XSR and R-XSR receiver have two antennas for diversity. For the best result, keep the two antennas at roughly 90 degree.
Here is a trick for mounting your RX antennas: you can wrap a zip-tie around the arms, then use heatshrink tube to affix the antenna to the zip-ties to keep it away from spinning propellers.
12. ESC Protectors
Another useful trick is adding some covers to your ESC’s using plastic sheets. This will prevent “prop strike”, where spinning propellers get bent and hit the ESC in crashes.
I normally just recycle old props, cut them into rectangular shapes and put them on top of the ESC, wrap the plastic cover, ESC and arm with electrical tape, or zip-tie. You can also get the plastic covers from water bottles, or any plastic sheet you can find :)
Here is how the quad looks like so far.
13. Top Plate and Battery Mounting
We can now put the top plate on. I am installing an HD camera mount on top of the frame for my GoPro Session. The camera mount is 3D printed in TPU. If you don’t have one you can ignore it.
For mounting the battery, I am using a IntoFPV battery strap, and Ummagrip battery pad. I really like the Ummagrip, it keeps your battery safely away from the bolts, and it sticks to the battery really well. Alternatively you can just use the good old velcro.
When mounting battery, make sure the centre of gravity is as close to the centre of the drone as possible. To check if you have placed the battery at the right spot, simply grab the middle of the top plate with 2 fingers as shown in the following photo, and the quad should stay level.
It’s important to make sure the COG (centre of gravity) right at the centre of four motors. If the quad is back heavy for example, the rear motors will have to work harder than the front motors in order to maintain balance, and this will impact flight performance.
The XT60 pigtail is held in place by a 3D printed mount I personally designed. A very neat and practical solution.
If you don’t have 3D printed part, you can simply strap it to the top plate like so with a heavy duty zip tie. (make sure you’ve chamfered the edge of the top plate). It’s not very pretty, the goal is to keep your battery lead away from spinning propellers.
Pro Tip: Don’t leave the battery balance lead hanging around, it can get chopped up by propellers. I usually put a rubber band on the battery to hold the balance lead in place.
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