I believed SpeedyBee had already set the bar low for FC/ESC stack costs, however these new Vortex stacks from OddityRC are half the worth! Regardless of the finances value, they arrive with a shocking checklist of options: compact and light-weight, massive solder pads, USB-C, clear format, 8 motor outputs, onboard barometer, and open-source ESC firmware. On this evaluate, I’ll stroll you thru its design and options, and share my ideas on whether or not this stack is price utilizing in your subsequent construct—and what you must contemplate earlier than pulling the set off.
On the lookout for extra FC/ESC stack suggestions? Take a look at 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 Techniques
- DJI Air Unit Connector: No (requires direct soldering)
- WiFi/Bluetooth: No
- TVS Safety: Sure
- Enter Voltage: 3–6S LiPo
- Firmware: Betaflight, iNAV (goal presently offline)
- 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 format with massive, easy-to-use solder pads, which is spectacular for such a compact board.
Due to the small kind issue, there’s no house for extra plug connectors—aside from the 4-in-1 ESC connection, every little thing else should 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 attributable to vibration.
Spec-wise, I’m genuinely stunned 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 may be powered by the USB port (measured 4.5V). This implies you’ll be able to 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 also be damaged out to solder pads. This implies you’ll be able to 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 difficult to achieve.
One factor to notice: there’s no water resistant coating on both the FC or ESC. If you wish to fly in humid or moist situations, you’ll want to use your individual conformal coating: https://oscarliang.com/waterproofing-drone-electronics/
The included rubber grommets completely help M3 screws.
And there’s ample house between the FC and ESC boards.
ESC
The 40A 4in1 ESC comes loaded with AM32 firmware, an open-source various that has turn out to be the go-to selection for a lot of FPV pilots since the decline of BLHeli_32. It’s nice to see OddityRC adopting AM32 as an alternative 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 it will most likely be effective, however for cleaner gyro knowledge and further reliability—particularly on 5-inch builds—I’d advocate upgrading to a bigger 1000uF low-ESR capacitor, or add one other 470uF cap in parallel to the prevailing cap.
On nearer inspection, I noticed chilly solder joints on the XT60 energy cable. That is one thing price checking if 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 damage efficiency), however additionally they pose a threat of breaking mid-flight, doubtlessly inflicting a crash or complete lack of your drone.
And whereas I really feel like I’ve been fairly robust on OddityRC on this evaluate, 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. It is a severe oversight, so double-check polarity earlier than you solder.
I fastened 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 probably the most 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 working AM32, whereas SpeedyBee makes use of 8-bit 35A ESCs working BLHeli_S.
- Motor Outputs: OddityRC affords 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, similar to each M2 and M3 mounting {hardware}, supporting a greater variety of frames proper out of the field.
Briefly, the SpeedyBee F405 Mini could be the higher selection for compact 3–4″ builds the place house is proscribed, 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 Help
Though OddityRC claims this stack helps each Betaflight and iNav, the board has not but been added to the official firmware checklist — that 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’t replace it to newer variations.
OddityRC advised me they’ve contacted the Betaflight staff to get their board goal added to the firmware flasher. Nonetheless, once I requested for an estimated timeline, I didn’t get a reply. 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 outdated construct. I actually want it got here with the newer Betaflight 4.5, as it consists of many new options and enhancements — particularly a extra dependable Rescue Mode.
It’s the identical scenario with iNav. Once I requested when help could be out there, I didn’t get a transparent reply both. Additionally they didn’t present an offline firmware file, so so far as I do know, iNav merely isn’t an choice with this stack in the intervening time.
Reliability and Sturdiness
This stack may 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 not less than 50 packs to see the way it holds up. I’ll be pushing it arduous to see if the ESC can deal with it, and I’ll be utilizing an analog FPV setup so any noise filtering points can be instantly seen within the footage.
That mentioned, 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 will not be excellent, however I’m nonetheless shocked each time I see the worth. For simply $35, you’ll be fortunate to get simply the FC or the 4in1 ESC, not to mention each as an entire stack. It’s inexpensive, compact, filled with 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:
Important downsides to concentrate on:
- 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 suitable with M2 screws — could possibly be simply fastened 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 out there — presently caught on Betaflight 4.4.3.
Who Ought to Purchase This Stack
On paper, this stack ought to work properly for something from 3-inch to 5-inch quads.
The characteristic set is superb for the worth — it has all the fashionable features you’d need in an FPV stack, works with each analog and digital FPV programs, affords 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 properly. The barometer is nice for long-range builds, and the 16MB blackbox reminiscence is ideal for tuning in Betaflight.
Whereas the 40A ESC ranking would possibly sound low for aggressive 5-inch builds (the place we sometimes 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 properly it handles stress eventualities like hitting gates and tree branches, crashes, or turtle mode when a motor is jammed.
Take into account 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 pretty much as good, to not point out it doesn’t actually have a heatsink. So if you happen to plan to run this on a 5-inch, I’d advocate utilizing it on a lighter cruiser-style construct fairly than a hard-bashing race rig.
Additionally be 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 newest Betaflight or iNav firmware, you would possibly need to wait till the official targets are added. For now, you’re locked to Betaflight 4.4.3.
