I not too long ago obtained my arms on the BetaFPV Meteor75 Professional O4, and I’m excited to share my expertise. This assessment covers how I put in the O4, set it up, and my flight expertise.
Additional Studying:
The place to Purchase
Get the Meteor75 Professional O4 whoop from:
It is available in two variations:
- DJI O4 Model: Priced at round $199.99.
- PNP Model (With out DJI O4): Priced at $79.99, however you’ll want to purchase your individual DJI O4 Air Unit.
To be sincere, should you don’t thoughts additional work assembling the drone, it is likely to be price getting the PNP model. The DJI O4 is barely $109, which suggests it can save you $11 by constructing it your self.
Unboxing
I’m reviewing the PNP model, which doesn’t embody the O4 Air Unit. It comes with all the mandatory equipment, together with a substitute antenna and an O4-to-FC cable, so that you’re prepared to put in the O4 within the Meteor75 Professional proper out of the field—no additional components or instruments required.
The quad weighs 37.2g (together with the DJI O4) or 51.4g together with a 1S 550mAh battery.
Cover
The brand new cover options a big cutout, permitting for a large angle adjustment for the O4 digital camera.
I’m fairly impressed by the digital camera’s smooth mounting mechanism that BetaFPV has developed—it’s maybe one of many first “correct” smooth mounting options for the DJI O4 up to now, which is crucial to realize jello-free footage with the demanding O4 digital camera.
The mount incorporates a two-piece design—a again piece with two mounting screws on the edges (19mm width, micro FPV digital camera measurement) and a entrance clamp that secures the digital camera. The 2 items are related by 4 vibration-dampening “balls,” which cut back the vibrations reaching the digital camera.
Flight Controller
Other than the brand new cover and digital camera smooth mounting design, the Meteor75 Professional has additionally obtained an improve to the flight controller—the Matrix 3-in-1 FC.
It’s designed particularly for the DJI O4 Air Unit (Lite), that includes a connector that plugs instantly into the O4 Air Unit with out soldering. It’s a 1S board, and as we all know, the O4 doesn’t carry out properly with voltages beneath 3.7V. Due to this fact, BetaFPV has added a 5V BEC to this FC, offering sufficient energy for the O4 even at most RF energy.
There’s 16MB of reminiscence for the blackbox and a complete of 4 UARTs accessible, though solely 2 are used.
Similar to any BetaFPV tiny whoop, to maintain the load down, there’s no USB port on the FC; to entry Betaflight, you’ll want to make use of BetaFPV’s devoted dongle.
Motors and Propellers
The Meteor75 Professional O4 will not be strictly a 75mm whoop—the diagonal motor distance is definitely over 80mm, so it ought to actually be referred to as the Meteor80. The rise in measurement accommodates bigger propellers—these are 45mm tri-blade props, not the 40mm props utilized in typical 75mm tiny whoops. Because of the additional weight of the DJI O4, bigger propellers make sense, as they supply extra energy and effectivity. To spin these bigger props, BetaFPV makes use of bigger 1102 22000KV motors.
Sturdiness
There have been combined studies from the neighborhood concerning sturdiness, primarily because of the DJI O4 Air Unit, not the Meteor75 itself. Some customers have skilled malfunctions or harm to the board after a number of onerous crashes. Whereas I haven’t encountered any main points but—since I’ve been flying gently as a result of that is the one DJI O4 I’ve—I’d warning towards treating the O4 whoop the identical approach you’d an affordable analog whoop.
Putting in DJI O4 Air Unit
Putting in your individual O4 may sound difficult, particularly given the fiddly components concerned within the smooth mounting. Nevertheless, it turned out to be fairly easy—so long as you could have regular arms. It solely took me about half-hour to finish the construct.
Professional Tip: The O4 digital camera cable is sort of stiff because of the protecting tape used, and it may switch vibration from the body/cover to the digital camera. To resolve this, I eliminated the tape close to the digital camera connector, which exposes the versatile a part of the wires. Be extraordinarily cautious should you determine to do that, and don’t harm the wires within the course of.
Nevertheless, I do have issues concerning the threaded tubes on the body that holds the FC in place. They solely lengthen to the highest of the FC silicone grommets (aka gummies) and don’t truly present any help for the O4 Air Unit when it’s mounted on high of the FC. The O4 gummies are pressed towards the FC gummies utilizing longer screws. Whereas this methodology type of works, it has its flaws. If the screws will not be tight sufficient, the O4 might need wiggle room—particularly throughout flips and rolls. Then again, if the screws are too tight, they are going to press too onerous on the FC gummies, which isn’t excellent for smooth mounting. The body is injection-molded, and it’s costly to create a brand new mould only for a small design change, so I perceive why BetaFPV opted for this workaround.
Battery and Flight Time
BetaFPV recommends their LAVA 1S 550mAh LiHV batteries. You may also use the lighter, smaller 450mAh batteries, however flight time is significantly shorter. I get round 5 minutes of flight time when flying indoors with the 550mAh battery, and round 3.5 minutes with the 450mAh.
Get some 1S 550mah batteries right here:
Flight Efficiency
I’ve seen a number of movies of the Meteor75 Professional with O4 from when it was first launched, they usually all appear to have fairly unhealthy jello. I’m not certain if BetaFPV has made enhancements to the design as a result of I haven’t observed any jello or vibration throughout my indoor testing (I obtained mine simply final week). Additionally, the best way I put in the O4 might need contributed to the improved picture high quality.
The inventory tune labored fairly properly. I made a number of modifications to the settings to swimsuit my flying model, however general, the quad was fairly responsive and secure out of the field.
I haven’t flown this quad outside that a lot as a result of it’s been raining and appears like it can proceed for a number of extra days (and it’s near 0°C). Nevertheless, this whoop is designed primarily for indoor flying. In my expertise, a tiny whoop at this light-weight simply will get pushed round by the breeze until you could have completely windless situations. For out of doors flying, bigger and extra highly effective fashions are higher suited. If you need a whoop to fly predominantly outdoors, I feel the BetaFPV Femto is likely to be a more sensible choice, which I’m nonetheless testing and can publish a assessment within the subsequent few days evaluating it to the Meteor75 Professional.
Find out how to Setup
The FC goal is BETAFPVG473, and it got here loaded with Betaflight 4.5.1. The unique CLI diff could be discovered right here.
- Bind ELRS Receiver: For some cause, the ELRS receiver received’t go into WiFi mode after ready a few minutes, so I needed to bind the receiver utilizing one other methodology. I merely clicked the “bind receiver” possibility within the receiver tab in Betaflight. Then, on my radio, I went into the ExpressLRS Lua script and chosen the Bind possibility. And binding was carried out.
- Pair O4 to Goggles 3:
- Modes tab in Betaflight Configurator: Configure the switches for arming, angle mode, and turtle mode.
- Energy tab in Betaflight Configurator: Set the minimal cell voltage to three.2V and the warning to three.4V (land earlier than 3.2V).
- PID Tuning tab in Betaflight Configurator:
- Dynamic Idle: Set it to 75 (it was set to 30 for some cause, which is simply too low; 30 is for five″ quads).
- Charges: disable Throttle expo by setting it to 0
Listed below are my charges and the right way to arrange price choice primarily based in your flight mode.
Specs
- Wheelbase: 80.8mm
- Motors: 1102 22000KV
- Body: Meteor75 Professional
- Propellers: Gemfan 45mm 3-Blade Propellers
- Digital camera/VTX: DJI O4 Air Unit (Lite)
- Cover: Cover for O4 Air Unit
- FC: Matrix 1S 3IN1 HD FC
- Receiver: ELRS 2.4G
- Beneficial Battery: LAVA 1S 550mAh Battery
- Weight: 37.2g
Last Ideas
On the subject of flying round the home, my general impression of the BetaFPV Meteor75 Professional O4 is constructive, although it does include some quirks:
Professionals:
- Compact and progressive design—from the cover and smooth mounting to the flight controller.
- Good indoor efficiency with potential for strong out of doors flights in calm situations.
Cons:
- Blended outcomes with stabilization, particularly outside.
- DJI O4 sturdiness issues have been reported by some customers, notably with frequent crashes.
- Nice picture high quality, however flight efficiency will not be akin to lighter, analog tiny whoops.
The place to Purchase the Meteor75 Professional O4 Whoop
For fans seeking to discover the world of FPV in HD, the Meteor75 Professional O4 is an fascinating possibility with its mix of recent options and compact design. When you’re prepared to spend a little bit time fine-tuning your setup, it might change into a dependable device in your FPV arsenal.
