This is one of the first FC with built-in ExpressLRS (ELRS) receiver – the BetaFPV F4 1S 5A AIO FC. It’s super light weight, perfect for brushless tiny whoops.
The new ELRS versions of the BetaFPV Meteor65 and Meteor75 are also powered by this FC. I have been flying this FC in the new Meteor75 and it’s been reliable.
Table of Contents
Where to Buy?
BetaFPV: https://oscarliang.com/product-75oa
Features and Specs
The board itself uses as little material as possible to keep the weight down.
- F4 Processor
- MPU6000 Gyro
- Built-in ExpressLRS RX
- Loaded with Betaflight 4.3, BLHeli 16.8
- Input Voltage: 1S
- 5A ESC (6A Burst)
- 1 full UART, 1 half UART for VTX control (TX pin)
- Buzzer pad for beeper
- Dimension: 29x29mm
- Weight: 3.1g
Here’s the pinout schematics.
ExpressLRS Receiver Onboard
It has the ELRS 2.4GHz receiver built-in, with a ceramic antenna which makes it super compact. You don’t have to worry about mounting the RX antenna and worry about spinning propellers damaging it anymore.
The ELRS receiver is connected via SPI (not UART), so it’s setup slightly different in Betaflight (as explained on the product page, the receiver mode is set to SPI, and receiver provider is blank). But you don’t need to worry about the configuration as it’s all done in factory.
All you need to do is binding the FC to your radio by pressing the “Bind Receiver” button in the receiver tab. More info here.
The FC also has a SBUS pad in case you want to run an external receiver.
ESC and Motor Connection
It has motor connectors as well as solder pads, so you can either plug the motors directly to the board or solder your own.
The ESC’s are rated at 5A continuous current, 6A burst. This is suitable for 65mm as well as 75mm 1S tiny whoops.
The ESC’s are preloaded with BLHeli 16.8, meaning RPM filter is enabled out of the box. RPM filter is great for whoops as it increases flight time up to 50%.
Upgrading existing whoops to this FC is pretty straight forward.
Updating ExpressLRS Firmware
The ExpressLRS SPI receiver firmware is part of the Betaflight firmware, so updating ExpressLRS can be done through updating Betaflight firmware. Configuration parameters can be set in CLI (not via the LUA script on the radio). More info here: https://github.com/betaflight/betaflight/pull/10788
10 comments
There is now a V2 version of this which is better spec’d. It can be purchased with or without motor connectors (no connectors saves about 0.8g – not insignificant in a 25g AUW craft – and has less resistance, pads are reasonable sized for soldering), but more importantly, the ELRS version is UART connected so ELRS code can be flashed independently of Betaflight. No buzzer, though. ESCs are Bluejay which works well.
But. I had two of these, and in short order (one week and two weeks) both failed in the same way, OSD disappeared, and then cannot connect via USB. One then lost all power, the other still flies if one doesn’t mind no USB or OSD. BetaFPV were helpful and replaced both. For two weeks both were fine, no OSD/USB issues, flew well. But now, suddenly the gyro (BMI270) has failed on one. Pitch and roll are very laggy, and yaw does nothing.
So, back in touch with BetaFPV support.
Do you have more info on setting up an external receiver? Do I have to use the same 5v pin as the vtx? What are the bz+/- pins? I’m basically trying to move a crossfire nano from the old no ex v2.2 f4 FC to the new one.
Just connect it to T1 and R1 pins? and 5V on this board should work just fine for Crossfire nano.
I’d assume BZ+/- are buzzer.
i purchase one of this boards assemble it on my meteor 75 frame i went in to bind my radio 2 se witch i buy the elrs board for this drone my whoop starts lights a red light and then when throttle up,it trys to go up all props spining the corect way but it shuts off any idea!i bet you do how can i fix it?
Hi!!
how do I know which version of ELRS I am running??
Try binding it to your TX module, if not binding then you need to update it to the same version as your TX module. There’s no easy way to check versions.
Oscar, Can you please explain how to define the VTX with this board on Betaflight?
I ordered this. I has nothing but trouble with the HappeModel ELRS AIO board. The VTX there died.
I think it’s better to leave the VTX as separated component. CSFR nano VTX as less than 1 gram.
I have high expectations.
Hey Oscar, I would like to ask, are you aware of what version of ELRS these boards have? I know they come preflashed with a special Betaflight 4.3.0 hex file. I’m just not sure if it will be compatible with the current ELRS 1.2.0 version I have on my TX. Thanks!