Once I was window purchasing for a brand new 3-inch freestyle drone, I got here throughout the RATE S30 Professional and instantly puzzled how this drone might be so low-cost when the specs look nice on paper. So I made a decision to select one up for a evaluation. I’ll even be evaluating it to my present favorite, the Deepspace Seeker3, to see which one is the higher 3-inch FPV drone when paired with the DJI O4 Professional Air Unit.
Take a look at my 3-inch FPV drone comparability with the O4 Air Unit right here: https://oscarliang.com/best-3inch-micro-fpv-drone/
The place to Purchase
Get the RATE S30 Professional FPV drone from Banggood: https://oscarliang.com/product-nomu
Comes with
- 2 battery straps (15cm and 20cm lengthy)
- Mounting {hardware} for numerous FPV setups (Analog, DJI O3, Vista, DJI O4 Professional)
- Zip ties
- 1 set of propellers (4 complete)
- 2 screwdriver bits
Specs
- Body: S30 Professional Freestyle FPV Racing Body
- Wheelbase: 139mm
- Flight Controller: RATE F405 Mini
- ESC: RATE 30A Mini
- Motors: RT 1505 4300KV
- Propellers: HQ T3x3x3 / Gemfan (1 pack)
- Dimensions: 128 × 38 × 42mm (L × W × H)
- Receiver Choices: None / RATE ELRS 2.4G / TBS Nano RX (non-obligatory)
- Enter Voltage: 4S
- Digital camera Mounting: Helps 14mm, 19mm, and 20mm huge cameras
- VTX Mounting: Appropriate with 20×20mm and 25×25mm mounting patterns
- Weight (My Measurements)
- With out FPV setup or battery: 135g
- With DJI O4 Professional, no battery: 172g
- With DJI O4 Professional + Sub250 4S 720mAh LiHV: 239g
- With DJI O4 Professional + BetaFPV LAVA 4S 850mAh LiPo: 266g
Putting in the DJI O4 Professional Air Unit
The RATE S30 Professional is offered with out an FPV system put in, so that you’ll want so as to add your individual. The set up course of was barely extra concerned than I anticipated. There’s no printed guide included—there may be a web based guide, nevertheless it’s solely two pages, completely in Chinese language, and solely 2 photos, so it’s not very useful.
For knowledgeable builders, this shouldn’t be a serious problem, nevertheless it’s not essentially the most beginner-friendly.
All of the screws are neatly organized in labeled luggage, however once more, the labels are in Chinese language solely.
Right here’s a fast overview of how I put in the DJI O4 Professional Air Unit:
Route the digicam cable beneath the ESC first.
To mount the digicam, use the included screwdriver bit (a standard screwdriver received’t work as a result of the motor is in the way in which).
Mount the antenna and join the digicam to the air unit.
To attach the air unit to the flight controller, you’ll must take away the FC first, because the connector is situated beneath the board.
You possibly can depart the SBUS wire related. It’s wired to UART3 (R3) on the FC, which isn’t utilized by default, so it received’t trigger any points. Nevertheless, if you happen to plan to make use of UART3 for one more peripheral, make sure that to take away the SBUS wire from the harness to keep away from conflicts.
The O4 Professional Air Unit connects to UART4, and it’s already configured in Betaflight. You shouldn’t want to alter any settings — it ought to work straight away after set up.
Lastly, zip-tie all of the wires securely to stop them from getting chopped by the propellers.
Stick the receiver on prime of the air unit—the receiver comes with pre-applied double-sided tape, which is a pleasant contact.
The beeper is designed to be sandwiched between the highest plate and one of many rear standoffs, as proven.
Design
That is my private favorite kind of conventional freestyle drone design—nothing flashy or over-engineered, simply sensible and easy. It’s simple to work with, simple to restore, and simple to keep up.
One of many issues that caught my eye was its low weight. And not using a battery, it weighs solely 172g together with the DJI O4 Professional, which is over 6g lighter than the Seeker3. It might be even lighter with out these plastic aspect panels – which I’m not a fan of.
They’re designed to be openable like a door, however in follow they’re extraordinarily troublesome to launch. As a result of they clip onto the FC stack’s nylon nuts, pulling too arduous can rip the nylon nut off together with the panel, which is irritating.
You possibly can take away the panels completely, and doing so would save a couple of grams. Nevertheless, they certainly do an excellent job of preserving grime and particles out of the electronics—as you possibly can see on my quad after a couple of flights.
Soldering high quality appears good general.
The 3D-printed antenna mounts are effectively designed for each the DJI O4 Professional and the ELRS receiver.
The digicam is sort of uncovered, so I’d suggest utilizing an ND filter or UV filter to guard the O4 digicam lens.
Flight Efficiency
There’s no GPS onboard, so I can’t say precisely what the highest velocity is. Though the S30 Professional is light-weight and runs 1505 motors, when flying it back-to-back with the Seeker3, the Seeker3 does really feel barely sooner and extra punchy.
That doesn’t imply the S30 Professional is sluggish—it’s nonetheless a robust and agile freestyle beast. In reality, it’s extra environment friendly than the Seeker3, delivering over 30 seconds of additional flight time on common. It additionally feels extra forgiving and simpler to deal with, and it’s barely quieter as effectively.
One widespread criticism on-line in regards to the S30 is that the inventory PID and filter tuning is poor, however I didn’t discover that to be true in any respect. The manufacturing unit tune feels clean and locked-in, with little or no propwash. I don’t assume it actually wants any tuning modifications—it’s ok as-is for what this drone is designed to do.
I believe lighter batteries swimsuit the S30 Professional greatest. The Sub250 4S 750mAh LiHV (get it right here: https://oscarliang.com/product-fmf7) is a superb match—it retains the quad below the 250g weight restrict and makes it really feel far more nimble. A 4S 850mAh battery can also be a strong alternative if you happen to favor longer flight time of as much as 7–8 minutes (if solely cruising). You possibly can nonetheless freestyle with it, however lighter batteries are far more enjoyable and nonetheless offer you nearly 5 minutes of aggressive freestyle flying.
The present sensor seems to be pretty correct, and I didn’t must make any changes.
Methods to Setup
FC / ESC / RX Firmware:
- Flight Controller Board Goal: RATEF405_V3 (preloaded with Betaflight 4.5.2). Unique CLI Diff accessible right here.
- ESC Firmware: AM32 (RATE_V203_01 Model 2.18)
- Receiver: Fee 2.4GHz RX working ExpressLRS v3.5
Setup Directions:
Conclusion: S30 Professional or Seeker3?
For $120, I can confidently suggest the RATE S30 Professional. It’s resembling nice deal.
It’s not essentially the most beginner-friendly as a result of lack of an English guide, however for knowledgeable pilots, that shouldn’t be a dealbreaker. Different drawbacks embrace the shortage of GPS and barely decrease energy in comparison with the Seeker3. Nevertheless, it’s considerably cheaper whereas nonetheless delivering very respectable freestyle efficiency with a superb manufacturing unit tune. The included equipment are beneficiant and help a variety of FPV setups.
RATE has hinted at long-range potential by recommending a 4S 3000mAh Li-ion pack for this drone. With its environment friendly motors, I’m positive it may obtain very lengthy flight occasions—however I wouldn’t try that with out including a GPS module first.
The Seeker3 stays the premium possibility, providing higher efficiency and a extra full set of options out of the field. The RATE S30 Professional, nevertheless, is a superb funds different for pilots who desire a succesful, fun-to-fly freestyle drone with out spending loads.