DIY Brushed Tiny Whoop

A DIY Brushed Tiny Whoop with performance and affordability in mind.

Updated: 12/16/18

I recently did a full build from an E010 frame -$2.99 on banggood, Crazepony 6x15 65k rpm motors-$8.99, a Makerfire Micro F3 Brushed Flight Controller FC (w/o Receiver) -$19.99, and a FlySky Micro Pro ppm rx from banggood -$6.99. I added attached an Ultra Micro AIO Camera - $15.99 with a 3D printed mount I quickly drafted and printed. I am running Betaflight, and can take full advantage of PID settings and rates. With out batteries, the DIY Whoop cost me $54.95. Check out the build parts, and side by side images of the stock eachine e010 and the a fully functional fc, with FlySky RX.

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Original Post: 12/6/18

The most affordable platform for an FPV Tiny Whoop is the Eachine E010, JJRC H36, or the Furibee F36. I personally started flying big custom drones before wanting to get mileage indoors and buying an Eachine E010 on sale for $8.99

I had a Flysky radio($39 usd), that allowed me, with the assistance of a customized nrf24 board, to use the trainer port, and bind with the Eachine E010. The module costs $5.99 from banggood, or about 15 from Amazon – affiliate link

Adding a $15.99 600 TVL Ultra Micro AIO Camera
Adding a $15.66 5.8GHz 40CH Wireless FPV Receiver
And wiring it to an old car cackup camera monitor, powering from a 2s Lipo, let me start flying fpv for

E010(8.99) + FlySky TX(39.99) + Multiprotocol-TXModule(5.99) + AIO Camera(15.99) + Wireless Receiver(15.66) + hardware hacking = $86.62

This setup is fun and affordable, better with upgraded motors and batteries, but still does not let you flash firmware or change rates in your flight control board, limiting your performance as you build skills.

So whats the alternative? Buy a better pre-built Whoop, or have as much control over performance as you want, by building from scratch.

Here’s the BOM (Bill of Materials)
Frame + Props: Black Whoop Frame and 8 Props - $9.99
Motors: Beta FPV 19500KV 3 sets - $25.99
Batteries: TATTU 5pcs 3.7V 220mAh LiPo Battery Pack 45C - $19.99
AIO Camera: Ultra Micro AIO Camera - $15.99
Flight Controller F3: BETAFPV F3 Brushed Flight Controller Flysky Receiver - $28.99
TX: FlySky Flysky FS-i6 - $54.99
FPV Goggles: Budget Friendly Mini FPV Goggles - $49.98

Option 1: Total Build Cost (Using Amazon Prices):
Frame 9.99 + Motors 25.99 + Batteries 19.99 + AIO Camera 15.99 + FC 28.99 + TX 54.99 + FPV Goggles 49.98 = $205.92

This can all be done for around 2/3 the price, if you are willing to wait on products shipped from China, or buy smaller quantities of items. Banggood or Gearbest, are slow, but cheap. For example, a FlySky i6 can be purchase without a receiver for $36.99, and almost as nice 4 pack of motors for under $10.

Option 2: Total Build Cost (Using Banggood Prices & Amazon):
Frame 9.99 + Motors 9.99 + Batteries 19.99 + AIO Camera 15.99 + FC 28.99 + TX 36.99 + FPV Goggles 34.99 = $156.93

Option 3(hardly a good option IMHO): Total Build Cost (Using an eachine e010 for frame, props, motors, and the stock battery, and buying from Banggood & Amazon) I don’t recommend this as it will a lack power from the stock motors and batteries:
Eachine e010 stock Batt 11.99 + AIO Camera 15.99 + FC 28.99 + TX 36.99 + FPV Goggles 34.99 = $128.95

You may need a charger also, however if you search Ebay for a “TP4056″ you can make your own chargers for less than 99 cents. You can buy a similar charging circuit meant for charging 18650 cells, on [asin=”B01IYFQAOM” caption=”Amazon”]. Or you can just buy a 1s charger board on amazon for less than 10 bucks, and do no work at all.

So you can have a high performance FPV Whoop, with everything you need to fly and race indoors with others, for between $128.95 and $250.92 depending on how you shop!