Holybro recently released the Kakute F4 V2 FC and TekkoS 4in1 ESC Combo. This is great timing as I am planning to build an ultra light weight racing drone and this might be the perfect option.
You can get the FC and 4in1 ESC separately or as bundles:
- Kakute F4 FC- (http://bit.ly/2EuOq9C
- TekkoS 4in1 ESC – http://bit.ly/2Czb0gG
- Kakute F4 FC + TekkoS 4in1 ESC Combo – http://bit.ly/2DKXEgz
- Kakute F4 FC + TekkoS 4in1 ESC + Atlatl HV VTX – http://bit.ly/2zZImCt
4in1 ESC has advantages over individual ESC, such as more centralized mass, less wiring and soldering etc. Generally there is also weight saving with using 4in1 ESC’s. which is great news for light builds.
Modern racing quad frames have skinny arms, 4-in-1 ESC’s are better suited because mounting separate ESC’s on the narrow arms is just not ideal.
Further Reading
Package Includes
The FC and ESC combo comes assembled in a very nice plastic box.
- 1 x Kakute F4 V2 FC
- 1 x TekkoS 30A 4in1 ESC
- 2 x Spare Vibration-isolating Foam for Gyro
- 1 x Spare Gyro ribbon cable
- Some Nylon standoffs and screws
Holybro Kakute F4 V2 FC
The Kakute F4 FC doesn’t have integrated PDB like the AIO version, it doesn’t need to because the 4in1 ESC will handle the “high voltage high current” task.
The most interesting feature about this FC is the “soft mounted” gyro sensor, this means you won’t have to soft mount the FC and worry about over-tightening the FC screws. The only downside to this is that you cannot mount anything directly on top of the FC. Well you can but you have to leave enough room to prevent anything from touching the Gyro sensor, at least 8mm of clearance.
There is a lot of hate in the community towards the ICM series IMU’s because how susceptible to noise they are. But with enough vibration damping this shouldn’t be a problem. I have been using the Kakute F4 AIO V1 and haven’t had issues with it.
In the V2, Holybro has replaced all the solder pads with through holes, so you can work with the board from both sides rather than just on top.
Spec and Features
- Betaflight OSD
- ICM20689 IMU allows up to 32 kHz of Gyro sampling rate and looptime
- Barometer built-in
- ESC Telemetry
- Runcam Split Camera Control
- i2c port for additional peripherals (such as GPS)
- Input Voltage 7V-42V (2S-6S direct input)
- Filtered BEC: 3.3V, 200mA; 5V, 1.5A
- 3 hardware UARTS + VCP
- 120A maximum continuous current
- 16MB Dataflash chip for Blackbox logging
- Dimensions: 35x25x7mm (Includes USB height)
- Weight: 7g
Holybro TekkoS 4in1 ESC
There is an 8-pin JST connector on the TekkoS 4in1 ESC you can connect directly to the Kakute F4 FC, or you can solder to the ESC’s on the pads located in the centre of the board.
While it’s almost a must to add additional low ESR capacitors in our high power mini quads these days, It’s interesting to see that Holybro is confident enough to say that’s not necessary with their ESC because it already has enough noise filtering built-in. I shall find out how well it works in my testing.
Spec and Features
- Built in current sensor
- BLHeli_S Firmware, supports DShot600 & Multishot (48Mhz Runs BLHELI_S J_H_xx firmware)
- Voltage Input: 3S-6S
- Current Rating: 30A Continuous, 40A Burst (per motor)
- BEC: NO
- weight: 13g
Closer Look
The FC and ESC are connected through a 70mm cable (8pin JST 1mm pitch), there is no soldering required at all.
The 8 wires are: 4 ESC signals, FC power, GND, Current sensor.
The other sides of the boards.
A light weight, clean system, I cannot wait to try it!
Build and Testing
Coming soon.
16 comments
Hey Oscar, I really appreciate all your research, reviews & guides. As I am also about to purchase the Kakute F4 V2 + Tekko 4in1 stack for my next Armattan build, I just wanted to know whether I should add a 35V 1000uF Cap at the XT-60 terminal, just for good measure. It seems like some Pilots have been experiencing a “dirty” video feed. What are your thoughts?
Thanks.
Yes, always add it :)
Can you please tell me in what order the plug input pins are? I want to connect my Kakute to a Racestar rev 35A and it seems like I plugged the pins in a wrong order, since the camera does not get power.
Hi Oscar,
I have this setup and want to connect a Speedybee bluetooth adapter to and not have to give up my LED pad. Is there any info on if I can use the pads on the bottom of the board for single wire software serial? My rsi and Idet pads are open as well. Unfortunately there is no info out there on this yet so you might be my only hope.
Hi Oscar,
Both your article and the v2 Manual says IC2 support for GPS peripherals, but I cannot see a SDA or SCL ports on this board. How would you connect an mini MN8 to this FC?
it’s on the bottom of the board, if you look closer in this image: https://oscarliang.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/holybro-kakute-f4-v2-fc-tekkos-4in1-esc-combo-bottom.jpg
Just wanted to pop in and tell my experiences with these FCs.
I do not yet own Tekko ESCs but I will go for the tekko32 4in1 or individual ESCs for the next build.
I ordered my first Kakute F4 AIO last fall-winter. The build was tedious since I planned it well and clean with good filtering and extra softmounts :D.
First two packs were fine and I was happy with how it flew, but on third battery my quad just dropped from the sky, no video, no control. When I got home I noticed that something on the FC was burnt and I think it was a voltage multiplexer.
I emailed Holybro with a picture included asking what could have gone wrong and to my surprise they just offered to send me a new FC right away. That is A+ for customer care in my books. It is very rare that companies respond like this.
Once I received the replacement I rebuilt my quad, flew few packs and it flew nicely. This time blackbox logs are non retrievable for some reason but I can still erase them and see them fill up.
Other than the blackbox issue my quad is still flying well today and I just started to experiment with dynamic filter with notch filters disabled. Zero issues so far.
Emax Rs 2306 black edition motors
Dys Aria BLHeli_32 Escs
Martian 2 frame
TrampHV VTX
Foxeer Monster V2 Camera
Frsky XM+ Receiver
Thanks for the review Waza.
Hi Oscar,
I got this same bundle, but the kakute is freezing up. After landing or a punchout.
Any idea’s how this could happen?
what do you mean “freezing up”? does it just drop out of the sky? maybe check your gyro’s connection?
Hello Oscar,
thank you very much for the nice tutorials and reviews you are writing!
Recently i have built a quad with the full holybro stack ( i’m using the Tekko32 4 in 1 ).
After i plug in the battery everything is working fine but after 1-3 minutes the video on my fpv googles is getting instantly extremely noisy. The OSD is still there but it isn’t readable anymore. It isn’t possible to fly.
If i unplug and replug the battery after 5 – 10 minutes the video is again very clear. Unfortunately, just for 1- 2 minutes.
I suppose that it could be a heating problem of the flight controller (25mW, vtx is not hot). After blowing for 10 – 15 seconds onto the FC the video is again very clear for 20 – 30 seconds.
Maybe you have an idea what could cause this problem?
Thank You
Julian
Hi,
I got same issue, did you solve it?
Hi Oscar,
Unfortunately, I recently purchased the Kakute F2 AIO V2 FC and Racerstar’s 4in1 ESC (Anniversary Special Edition 35A) as a single item. Now I wonder how best I can supply the FC via the ESC with electricity. Can I supply the FC via the Vbat (no bec) from the ESC and which pad on the FC should I go with?
Hi if you go to the HolyBro Kakute manual it’s really clearly explained :)
Looks good, what motors are planning on using in your light weight build?
2205 motors? Not sure what brand yet.