I assumed SpeedyBee had already set the bar low for FC/ESC stack costs, however these new Vortex stacks from OddityRC are half the value! Regardless of the finances value, they arrive with a shocking checklist of options: compact and light-weight, massive solder pads, USB-C, clear structure, 8 motor outputs, onboard barometer, and open-source ESC firmware. On this evaluation, I’ll stroll you thru its design and options, and share my ideas on whether or not this stack is value utilizing in your subsequent construct—and what it is best to think about earlier than pulling the set off.
In search of extra FC/ESC stack suggestions? Try my purchaser’s information: https://oscarliang.com/flight-controller/
The place to Purchase
Get the OddityRC Vortex F405 Mini stack from:
Within the field it comes with these equipment:
- 12× silicone grommets
- 8× plastic M3 nuts
- 35V 470µF capacitor
- 8-pin FC-to-ESC cable
- XT30 energy cable (10cm 18AWG wires)
- XT60 energy cable (16cm 14AWG wires)
Specs
Vortex F405 Mini Flight Controller (FC)
- MCU: STM32F405
- Gyro: ICM42688P
- OSD: AT7456E
- Barometer: SPL06
- Blackbox: 16MB onboard flash reminiscence
- UART: 5 units
- Receiver Protocols: CRSF, SBUS, IBUS, DSM
- i2c Pads (SCL, SDA): Sure
- Buzzer Pads: Sure
- Present Sensor Pad: Sure
- LED Pad: Sure
- RSSI Pad: Sure
- PWM Motor Outputs: 8
- 5V BEC: 2A
- 9V BEC: 2A
- Helps Analog and Digital FPV Methods
- DJI Air Unit Connector: No (requires direct soldering)
- WiFi/Bluetooth: No
- TVS Safety: Sure
- Enter Voltage: 3–6S LiPo
- Firmware: Betaflight (at the moment solely offline firmware BF4.4.3, iNav could be supported sooner or later)
- Mounting: 20×20mm (M3)
- Dimension: 31×30mm
- Weight: 6.5g
40A AM32 4in1 ESC
- Firmware: AM32
- 32-bit MCU
- Present Sensor: Sure
- Steady Present: 40A
- Peak Present: 50A
- Enter Voltage: 3–6S LiPo
- Protocols: PWM / Oneshot / DShot150 / DShot300 / DShot600 / MultiShot
- Mounting: 20×20mm (M2)
- Dimension: 34×42 mm
- Weight: 7.3g
FC
The Vortex F405 Mini flight controller has a clear, thoughtfully organized structure with massive, easy-to-use solder pads, which is spectacular for such a compact board.
Due to the small type issue, there’s no area for extra plug connectors—aside from the 4-in-1 ESC connection, all the things else have to be direct soldered, together with the DJI Air Unit, GPS, and receiver. I do recognize that they included a locking latch on the ESC cable, which helps stop it from coming unfastened as a consequence of vibration.
Spec-wise, I’m genuinely shocked they managed to suit this many options on such a small PCB whereas nonetheless leaving loads of room for generously sized pads.
A pleasant contact: all 5V pads will be powered by the USB port (measured 4.5V). This implies you may energy your receiver and GPS simply by plugging in USB, letting you configure and troubleshoot in Betaflight with out connecting a LiPo battery — tremendous helpful and prevents VTX from overheating on the bench.
I used to be curious in regards to the PIN1 and PIN2 pads, which I hadn’t seen earlier than. It seems they’re devoted PINIO pads, permitting you to create customized managed features by way of your radio’s switches.
One other considerate characteristic is that the USB port can be damaged out to solder pads. This implies you may wire up a USB extension board, which is extraordinarily helpful in cinewhoop builds the place the stack is buried contained in the body and the port is tough to achieve.
One factor to notice: there’s no waterproof coating on both the FC or ESC. If you wish to fly in humid or moist circumstances, you’ll want to use your personal conformal coating: https://oscarliang.com/waterproofing-drone-electronics/
The included rubber grommets completely assist M3 screws.
And there’s ample area between the FC and ESC boards.
ESC
The 40A 4in1 ESC comes loaded with AM32 firmware, an open-source different that has turn into the go-to alternative for a lot of FPV pilots since the decline of BLHeli_32. It’s nice to see OddityRC adopting AM32 as a substitute of utilizing a closed-source or proprietary answer.
Nonetheless, I did discover there aren’t many onboard filtering capacitors, and the included exterior low-ESR capacitor is kind of small. For 3-inch to 4-inch builds this can most likely be tremendous, however for cleaner gyro information and further reliability—particularly on 5-inch builds—I’d suggest upgrading to a bigger 1000uF low-ESR capacitor, or add one other 470uF cap in parallel to the present cap.
On nearer inspection, I noticed chilly solder joints on the XT60 energy cable. That is one thing value checking once you get yours. It’s a simple repair: simply add extra solder, and reflow the joint to ensure all wire strands are absolutely submerged in solder. Chilly solder joints in your XT60 not solely improve electrical resistance (which may harm efficiency), however additionally they pose a threat of breaking mid-flight, probably inflicting a crash or whole lack of your drone.
And whereas I really feel like I’ve been fairly harsh on OddityRC on this evaluation, I’ve to say yet another factor: the wiring diagram has the XT60 polarity reversed. Following it as proven would probably fry the ESC immediately. This can be a critical oversight, so double-check polarity earlier than you solder.
I mounted the error on this wiring diagram.
OddityRC F405 Mini vs. SpeedyBee F405 Mini
The closest competitor to the OddityRC F405 Mini stack is undoubtedly the SpeedyBee F405 Mini.
At $60, the SpeedyBee has lengthy been thought to be one of the vital inexpensive 20×20mm stacks available on the market — however OddityRC has managed to undercut it dramatically at simply $35. Regardless of the a lot cheaper price, the OddityRC even surpasses the SpeedyBee in a couple of areas:
- ESC: OddityRC makes use of 32-bit 40A ESCs operating AM32, whereas SpeedyBee makes use of 8-bit 35A ESCs operating BLHeli_S.
- Motor Outputs: OddityRC gives 8 motor outputs, in comparison with 4 on the SpeedyBee.
- Extra Pads: RSSI and SBUS
- Larger Reminiscence for Blackbox: 16MB vs 8MB
Nonetheless, SpeedyBee nonetheless holds some benefits:
- It has Bluetooth, permitting you to configure Betaflight wirelessly — one thing the OddityRC lacks.
- The 9V BEC is rated for 3A on the SpeedyBee versus 2A on the OddityRC, giving a bit extra headroom for power-hungry HD video transmitters on excessive energy settings.
- The bodily footprint of the 4in1 ESC is smaller, making it simpler to slot in smaller frames.
- The included equipment are extra full, reminiscent of each M2 and M3 mounting {hardware}, supporting a greater diversity of frames proper out of the field.
In brief, the SpeedyBee F405 Mini could be the higher alternative for compact 3–4″ builds the place area is restricted, M2 {hardware} is required, and the marginally decrease ESC ranking received’t matter. In the meantime, the OddityRC F405 Mini feels extra versatile, particularly for extra highly effective drones, and its considerably cheaper price makes it very engaging for budget-conscious pilots.
Betaflight and iNav Firmware Assist
Though OddityRC claims this stack helps each Betaflight and iNav, the board has not but been added to the official firmware checklist — which means you received’t discover this flight controller within the Firmware Flasher of both configurator on the time of writing.
Out of the field, the FC is pre-flashed with Betaflight 4.4.3 utilizing the ODDITYRCF405 firmware goal, and for now you can not replace it to newer variations.
OddityRC informed me they’ve contacted the Betaflight crew to get their board goal added to the firmware flasher. Nonetheless, they’ll’t present a date when it can occur. Contemplating that Betaflight 4.4.3 was launched again in December 2023, it’s shocking that they’re nonetheless delivery new {hardware} with such an previous construct. I actually want it got here with the newer Betaflight 4.5, as it contains many new options and enhancements — particularly a extra dependable Rescue Mode.
It’s the identical scenario with iNav. Once I requested when assist could be accessible, they can’t present a date. In addition they didn’t present an offline firmware file, so iNav merely isn’t an possibility with this stack for the time being.
Reliability and Sturdiness
This stack could be very new, and I’ve by no means reviewed something from OddityRC earlier than, so its reliability stays to be seen.
I’m going to put in this stack in my GEPRC Vapor 5-inch construct and plan to undergo at the least 50 packs to see the way it holds up. I’ll be pushing it laborious to see if the ESC can deal with it, and I’ll be utilizing an analog FPV setup so any noise filtering points might be instantly seen within the footage.
That stated, the climate is wanting a bit moist for the subsequent week or two, so I’ll report again as soon as I’ve an opportunity to fly.
Conclusion
The OddityRC F405 VORTEX stack is just not good, however I’m nonetheless shocked each time I see the value. For simply $35, you’ll be fortunate to get simply the FC or the 4in1 ESC, not to mention each as a whole stack. It’s inexpensive, compact, full of options, and helps a variety of FPV builds from 3-inch to 5-inch, making it extraordinarily engaging for budget-conscious pilots.
Get the OddityRC Vortex F405 Mini stack from:
Foremost downsides to pay attention to:
- No DJI Air Unit plug — you’ll want to chop the cable and direct solder it to the FC.
- ESC present ranking could be a bit low for highly effective 5-inch racing or freestyle builds, or something bigger.
- Not appropriate with M2 screws — could possibly be simply mounted in the event that they included rubber grommets with M2 holes.
- Some high quality management points: chilly solder joints on the XT60 pigtail and errors within the wiring diagram.
- Betaflight and iNav firmware targets not but accessible — at the moment caught on Betaflight 4.4.3.
Who Ought to Purchase This Stack
On paper, this stack ought to work effectively for something from 3-inch to 5-inch quads.
The characteristic set is superb for the value — it has all the trendy features you’d need in an FPV stack, works with each analog and digital FPV techniques, gives 8 motor outputs (supporting quads, hexas, and octos), and the 20x20mm mounting sample makes it appropriate for compact 3″, 3.5″, and 4″ builds as effectively. The barometer is nice for long-range builds, and the 16MB blackbox reminiscence is ideal for tuning in Betaflight.
Whereas the 40A ESC ranking may sound low for aggressive 5-inch builds (the place we usually see 55A–60A ESCs), in observe, 40A remains to be loads for many 5-inch freestyle quads — so long as you’re not pushing extraordinarily power-hungry motors. The larger concern is longevity and the way effectively it handles stress eventualities like hitting gates and tree branches, crashes, or turtle mode when a motor is jammed.
Remember that 20x20mm ESCs have much less floor space than 30x30mm ESCs, in order that they use smaller MOSFETs. Additionally much less floor space means cooling isn’t nearly as good, to not point out it doesn’t actually have a heatsink. So when you plan to run this on a 5-inch, I’d suggest utilizing it on a lighter cruiser-style construct somewhat than a hard-bashing race rig.
Additionally make sure that your body helps 20x20mm mounting with M3 {hardware} — if it solely helps M2 (smaller holes), this stack received’t match with out modification.
Lastly, if you wish to use the most recent Betaflight or iNav firmware, you may wish to wait till the official targets are added. For now, you’re locked to Betaflight 4.4.3.