TEST: DM002 DIY 5.8G FPV, the cheapest RTF 5.8G microFPV quadcopter

[Drone News]

INTRODUCTION

The DM002 5.8G FPV is probably the cheapest 5.8G FPV microquadcopter in RTF version. In practice it’s a mini DIY bundle where you will have to assemble few elements on the frame: flight controller, 0720 motors, and the 600TVL 1/4″ CMOS AIO FPV camera, that’s all. For around 40 USD, the DM002 can be your first FPV machine adapted for both indoors and outdoors applications. Let’s discover this product.

BOX CONTENT

+ 1 x Plastic frame
+ 1 x 1S 300mAh LiPo with microLOSI connector
+ 1 x Flight controller board
+ 4 x 7mmx20mm motors
+ 1 x Transmitter (using 4xAA batteries not included)
+ 1 x 5.8G 25mW 1/4″ CMOS AIO FPV camera (0mW, 25mW, 80mW, 200mW)
+ 1 x USB charging cable
+ 4 x Spare props (2 CW, 2 CCW)
+ 1 x Wrench prop remover
+ 1 x Instruction manual (English)

OVERVIEW

Motors & Props

Basic 7mmx20mm coreless motors with no RPM mention. At least and it’s a good point for maintenance, 1.25mm connectors are installed. Actually the blue & red is CW motors and the blac & white a CCW.

57mm props with 1mm of shaft section

Around 0.35g each.

LiPo

A 300mAh LiPo with microLOSI connector…. No discharge mentioned.

In practice, the performances are disapointing especially for first charges. Flight time increases a bit after 4-5 charges. Probably one of the first mod to do.. Replace this battery for a stronger model.

Alternative battery must be maximum 20mmx8mm for width and height. Sligtly longer model can be installed.

Camera module

The 600 TVL 1/4″ CMOS AIO camera with DFOV of 150degrees. IMHO, this is a judicious choice for both indoors and outdoors applications: not too narrow or too wide. The video signal is send in NTSC format only. A three leaves RHCP antenna is installed on top… be aware with multiple crashes, versus time, the antenna will be damaged.

A tiny 7-segment display. By default, when you power the first time the module, a “0” is displayed, i.e. no power is emitted so no FPV signal is send.

Don’t panic, thanks to unique button on the top left, you will be able to cycle between the 8 vfreq in the current band. If you long press more than 3s, you wull enter into band selection. The current band letter will blink then short press to cycle between the five bands (race band supported). Finally, if you long press more than 5s, you will enter into power settings. Short press to cycle between 0mW (“0”), 25mW (“-“), 80mW (“- -“) and 200mW (“- – -“).

A M7 lens thread

A raw video sample

As you can see, colors are vivid and light sensitivity not so bad…. Really a relatively good camera for a price budget machine. I am positively surprized to see the switchable power option.

Flight controller

A proprietary flight controller “OZ-DM003ZR-DG” with a 2-in-1 PANchip (ARM core + 2.4G RFchip) and unnamed 6-axis stabilization chip. Good news for maintenance, motors connectors are here with different colors to differenciate CW motors (red) with CCW motor (white).

The back side shows the AIO FPV camera connexion.

16mm between holes

Frame

A basic plastic frame with a motor pod/landing gear integrated system.

A 95mm model

With the battery inserted

Transmitter

A very basic radio without LCD screen. The left shoulder button selects one of three speed modes (one, two or three beep emitted). The right shoulder button allows 360 degrees automatic flips as soon as you indicate the direction of the flip with the right stick. Stick unfortunatly offer a lot of dead band, especially for yaw command…. it’s hard to fly super precize with this radio … so for tiny spaces indoors application, it’s clearly less fun than a real tinywhoop.

4xAA batteries are required to feed the radio. Ni-Mh rechargeable models are working with.

For the TX side, we have a XN297L for the RF chip…. so there are hopes to see the radio protocol in deviationTX one day but actually none existing implemented protocols bind the DM002.

UNBOXING, ASSEMBLING, ANALYSIS AND DEMO FLIGHTS

The general assembling stage is straightforward … it takes a couple of minutes maximum and no extra tools are required. That’s a good point.

The FPV signal is really nice and strong. No problem to cross several walls and you can reach easily 100m even in 25mW mode. For sure longer distances with stronger settings. The radio control link is also good. I advice to install the antenna more vertically to increase the range. If one day the protocol will be deviated, we can even expect better ranges. My main concerns are about: i) flight times, relatively poor especially for first charge of the battery we you will maximum 2min … It will increases to 3min after few charge… It’s far from the 7min advertised (probably without the camera) and ii) the yaw response with a lot of dead band where it’s hard to really yaw slow and precize from intermediate speed mode. Except that, the machine is pleasant to fly even if I regret the absence of an acro mode. No free lunch with such cheap model. Maybe, especially with the provided battery, vertical punchouts are not impressive but I found the machine quiet stable after fast U-turns. Even in sport mode, the machine could be a little bit faster but results are already not so bad.

Assembled machine

-FRONT VIEW

-SIDE VIEW
As you can see, I installed the 2.4.G antenna vertically through the camera support hole.

-REAR VIEW

-UPPER VIEW

-BOTTOM VIEW

-WEIGHT

CONCLUSIONS

For the price, the DM002 is a very interesting bundle with a pretty good AIO FPV camera and represents a good first FPV training plateform. Both the radio & FPV range are strong enough for most FPV applications, that’s great. The radio included in the RTF model, don’t let you to flight super precize in tiny spaces. We all hope the radio protocol be deviated one day. I strongly advise to upgrade the LiPo for a model with better discharge rate (350-400mah represents a good choice).

PROS

+ Good control and FPV range (>100m)
+ Good AIO FPV camera with switchable output power
+ Super easy to assemble
+ Cheap RTF solution

CONS

– Poor flight time (~2min30 in average)
– Severe dead bands for radio sticks (especially for ruddler command)
– Not compatible with existing DM protocols
– No prop guards

This quadcopter have been courtesy provided by Banggood in order to make a fair and not biased review. I would like to thank them for this attitude.
You can find it actually for 40USD at http://www.banggood.com/DM002-5_8G-FPV-With-600TVL-Camera-2_4G-4CH-6Axis-RC-Quadcopter-RTF-p-1114854.html

Cet article TEST: DM002 DIY 5.8G FPV, the cheapest RTF 5.8G microFPV quadcopter est apparu en premier sur Drone-Maniac !!!!!!!.

View the full article