I decided to tear into my 5” rig and see what was what.. the build consisted of a Source One frame. 30a esc(Racestar I think ). Mamba F405 fc, Panda RC VTX, CadxxRatel camera, rxsr, mismatched 5” motors (eachine and Garett I think).
This rig also got the jesc licenses so I could run bi-directional dshot.(I TOTALLY forgot I did this). This was my “progression” rig. So to say it has been through hell and back is putting it lightly!!
Since it was not performing as it once did, I decided to look it over and see if I lost the esc or motor.
Last flight One motor was very HOT!
What I discovered,
Frame-solid other than arm/motor ends chipped.
Esc-toast,(not dead), but installed new motors, all HOT! With d-shot on or off.
FC- still good, no issues
Vtx- range wasn’t what it once was, it got ripped apart once in a crash and the antenna wire looks worn.
Camera-still LOVE this, no issues.
Motors-not real sure if they survived.
RX-Rxsr , had a antenna ripped off the board, but surprisingly no issues.
Odd stuff-me of the rubber esc mounts was torn, the XT-60 had pieces of pins missing.
This rig also got the 4s motors on 6s lipo mod. So I installed 6s motors to troubleshoot. All 4 got REAL HOT, fast. With d shot on or off, and no errors in BF motors tab. (Same magnet count).
What I’m gonna do…install a new xt-60, larger capacitor, reflash/ update the fc (remove the 4s-6s setup), install a new antenna on the rx, new PandaRC VTX and antenna, reinstall the Ratel… and see what I have..
If it deems “airworthy”.. I’ll install the HDzero 500mw vtx I’ve got “working”….

Oh.. the only “tuning” this rig got was the betaflight “cinematic” preset (bf 4.3 I think) and the jesc license to run bi-directional dshot.. not PID changes or anything like that..

It’s ready for a maiden.. replaced the esc and motors.. 1900kv so it will be strictly 6s… I’ve gotta say it was a (self induced) struggle.. kinda.
It started with noticing the CPU usage I thought was a bit high (47%)..dove into “cloud build”.. this fc wouldn’t cooperate.. swapped it for one in a older build.(it was on 4.0.0 so the “bad” fc would work. That was until I realized that fc was in that build because it lost the OSD.
I decided to bite the bullet, use a F7 I had (HGLRC f722 foward) and call it a day.. had no issues until I remapped the motors in the cli.. and something went bad.. the fc bricked.. no LEDs, no connect to BF.. nothing.. tried several different cables, computers, Boot loader.. nothing . Replaced it with the original “bad” fc, got it to update using (what was left) of the bootloader button..
I gotta say, now I remember why I usually DONT update my quads if they fly fine.. it’s configuring it, and yes doing a cli dump helps with stuff.. still aPITA..
Here it is.. ready for a fresh meal of asphalt and concrete..I considered taking it digital, but I had a brand new PandaRC vtx, and that Cadxx Ratel is a awesome camera.. I will fly this “harder” than if it had digital..

Maiden went fine, couple hard punchouts, and such.. motors no even warm… can’t wait to rip this on the 6s motors ..