First... The Basic Quadcopter

My inspiration for a DIY FPV Setup was this Boing Boing post.  I thought it was great that you could have such a blast with a small investment in time and money.

For my first build, I wanted to use something I was familiar with, so I decided I would transplant a Hubsan flight controller into a new frame.  Along with 4 replacement motors (2 Clockwise and 2 Counter-Clockwise), that would be all that I needed to put together my own light, but powerful quadcopter.  Here are some pictures of the result...

The most difficult part of this task was making sure the board was level and aligned correctly.  The better job I did with this... the less trimming I would need to do to fly it.

I guess I should talk about the frame.  A Picnic Quads - Tiny Hawk.

This tiny frame has a motor span of 120mm and has 4 foldable arms that tuck in towards the body.  It uses nylon screws, which I have dyed here a cool neon green color.  The booms are polycarbonate and have been pre-sized for the 8.5mm diameter of the motors.

All told, the 120mm motor span has a negative effect on the quadcopter's maneuverability.  It flies stable and can keep a hover fairly well.  Where it has trouble is with banking and turning.  The flight controller is tuned for more like 80mm distance between motors as on the original Hubsan X4.

Since I have an extra Hubsan flight controller and four motors, I may order a smaller frame and try that.