FC boards I have bought and tested, some require repair.
« on: March 11, 2017, 05:46:59 pm »
If you want small, but no telemetry, it appears the official Nanos are being sold off here for $25 (+$5 shipping).  Don't add anything else to the order or the shipping jumps to unreasonable cost.  I bought one and have tested it but not flown it.
https://sasquatchlabs.org/product/genuine-nano-flight-controller-w-case/ (sasquatchlabs.org web store has closed)

Now days, Revo and Sparky2 are fairly equivalent.  I don't have experience buying Revos.  I can tell you that you will get "bad baro syndrome (very easy to fix if you can unsolder / remove one tiny component) with some Revos and Sparky2s.

I have bought (and currently fly) two Sparky2's at different times from xt-xinte.com for about $38 shipped each.  After soldering to make a jumper for RC receiver power and removing excess solder from the telemetry RF connector with a knife and jewellers loupe they both work perfectly, including baro.  Read my review on that page.
http://www.xt-xinte.com/F16821.html

Xt-xinte is just like all the other Chinese internet vendors in that their reviews are dishonest in some way.  I have watched this Sparky2 item and they have a 1star+5star+2star (in that order) review and average them out to a 4.5 star average.  They have not posted one of my reviews that showed how to fix one type of OpLink that requires repair (http://www.xt-xinte.com/F17008.html), but did post another review of a different OpLink (http://www.xt-xinte.com/F16086.html) that did not need repair to work so I gave it 5 stars.

Authentic Sparky2's (http://www.hobbiesfly.com/taulabs-sparky2-0.html) are no longer officially sold.  This eBay seller appears to be selling the remaining authentic manufacturing run.  I have bought two Sparky2's from him ($50 shipped each with a small shipping discount if you buy more than one) and they are as perfect as the authentic one I bought.  Authentic Sparky2's are black.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/172353561802

There are other options that I will report on for completeness.  Here is a Mini Revo that I have not bought and really is not much better than a Nano feature wise.  Probably about $34 shipped.
http://www.xt-xinte.com/F17008.html

I think you have to buy the telemetry addon (http://www.xt-xinte.com/F17009.html) separately, and that addon is the one that I reviewed that required repair to the ground unit (USB connector).

There is a seller that makes Nanos on oversized (Revo sized) boards.  Perhaps someone else will post about those, including cost.
« Last Edit: July 20, 2018, 06:05:52 pm by TheOtherCliff »

mr_w

  • *
  • 207
    • LibrePilot
Re: FC boards I have bought and tested, some require repair.
« Reply #1 on: March 15, 2017, 11:25:23 pm »
Revo "Mini" - I have bought plenty of these and used on mostly on smaller quads because of the size and price. These are feature-wise same as full size revo, minus the telemetry and two rarely used pins on FLEXI-IO port (! these are first two pins that have no special usable function on full revo, and are simply omitted from Mini).

Those "Minis" are really much better than original Nano, as they use F405 processor instead of F411 on Nano, and more importantly, their FlexiIO (Mini) has additional serial port available, so Mini has 3 serial ports, same thing as full sized revo. On the other hand, Nano has only 2 (Main and Flexi), but their "Flexi-IO" is not really flexible, as it supports PWM/PPM only. Not sure if worth mentioning, Revo (full size and mini) run at 168Mhz, and Nano does 100Mhz "only". Revo has external flash chip for configuration and flight logging, but Nano has only tiny Eeprom chip instead that is good for configuration only.

I think the only problem with Minis is lack of mounting options - they come in plastic cases that have no mounting holes at all. You can use double sided 3M tape to fix it to the frame, but securing it further with zip tie is little bit complicated as it has all sides filled with ports, so something will get blocked.

Re: FC boards I have bought and tested, some require repair.
« Reply #2 on: March 16, 2017, 04:10:45 am »
Good info guys, thank you! I have been trying to wade through this sea of so many similar, knock-off FCs. This Revo Mini might be just the ticket...

zukenj

  • ***
  • 202
Re: FC boards I have bought and tested, some require repair.
« Reply #3 on: March 16, 2017, 03:05:27 pm »
TheOtherClift,

All the links give 404 or product not found.  The only one working is the ebay for $45.90

  :'(
FS-TH9X RC
F450 Clone
Revolution FC
EMAX 2213 935 KV
HK 30A ESC UBEC running BLHeli 14.4
10x4.5 Propellers
DJI Naza clone Ublox M8N GPS

Re: FC boards I have bought and tested, some require repair.
« Reply #4 on: March 16, 2017, 07:07:45 pm »
I just retested the links and they work for me.   ???

zukenj

  • ***
  • 202
Re: FC boards I have bought and tested, some require repair.
« Reply #5 on: March 16, 2017, 08:14:57 pm »
Yes,

they are all working now.....

 :o
FS-TH9X RC
F450 Clone
Revolution FC
EMAX 2213 935 KV
HK 30A ESC UBEC running BLHeli 14.4
10x4.5 Propellers
DJI Naza clone Ublox M8N GPS

Re: FC boards I have bought and tested, some require repair.
« Reply #6 on: July 29, 2017, 04:26:44 pm »
Hey other cliff, when did you  make your purchase from Sasquatch labs? The reason  i ask is because i was going to buy  some items from them. When i make purchases from vendors that i have never had any contact with, i email them questions to see how long it takes to get a response from them. I use  it as a gauge to see what kind of company they are. Well from the looks of things they are either out of business or  the message got lost in cyberspace or whatever.  i haven't got a responses in a month. I usually wouldn't waste my time with a company like this but saposidly they have genuine parts. So if anyone has any experience with this company it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for your time. Happy trails
« Last Edit: July 29, 2017, 04:30:52 pm by Wayne'sWorld »

Re: FC boards I have bought and tested, some require repair.
« Reply #7 on: July 30, 2017, 12:00:45 am »
Last time I bought one was April 29 of this year.

It works fine.

I would guess it would be shipped in less than a week.