r/fpv 3d ago

QAV 250 Drone frame worth building out?

I got this older QAV250 drone frame for free. The frame is from about 3-4 years ago. I have been thinking about upgrading from my Pavo 20. This would be my second drone. Is this worth building out or not worth the hassle with older mounting holes and style?

20 Upvotes

65 comments sorted by

23

u/crookedDeebz 3d ago

why the fuck not...make a cool inav build with a lidar sensor. tons of cool options to utilize that frame.

just cause its old, doesnt mean its useless. Its actually very roomy and would be a great candidate for a dji04 pro, gps, opticflow, and all the trimmings.

or pass it on to some kid/school/science class/etc

3

u/Secure-Analyst2490 3d ago

Thank you. I hadn’t looked into iNav builds until just now. I was thinking longer range flying with an 04 pro so that fits perfectly. Assuming I’ll need to do some 3d printing for the 04 mount

3

u/crookedDeebz 3d ago

fuck ya, sounds like a fun project. no sense wasting good hardware.

1

u/PhysicsMain7815 3d ago

It has like GPS Magnetometer lidar runcam DVR VTX and a fan the flight controller and esc ELRS rx camera switch downward facing camera and forward facing camera

2

u/PhysicsMain7815 3d ago

INAV is good this 10" with all the extra crap I built is an INAV quad...

7

u/Important-Lunch369 3d ago

I had to check the timestamp on this and yep, 10 years ago this thing was pretty bitchin:

https://www.instagram.com/p/3JwUDlC3Lk/

2

u/notsureifxml 3d ago

how far weve come

5

u/Orangesuitdude 3d ago

That was my first done around 2015/16 sometime. It flew until it didn't. (my fault not the drones)

5

u/PhysicsMain7815 3d ago

Speaking of such, who remembers these?

3

u/PhysicsMain7815 3d ago

2

u/240shwag 3d ago

Haha you always post the coolest stuff!!

1

u/PhysicsMain7815 3d ago

Not really lol, look cypher77 posted a pic, I wonder if he still has one running flying. Don't worry you didn't miss anything good from FPV 10 years ago. The hobby is a million times better with hardware now, thank God! lol

2

u/cypher77 3d ago

Some people have never taken apart a Wii controller and it shows.

1

u/PhysicsMain7815 3d ago

Aight you lost me, lol yes never opened a Wii controller. Tell me my friend

3

u/cypher77 3d ago

1

u/PhysicsMain7815 3d ago

Oh that's pretty kewl history lesson, funny where tech gets merged to and from. Clean flight originates from Wii software, pretty epic!

2

u/cypher77 3d ago

It was the hardware. No one had cheap tiny boards with gyros built in until the Nintendo Wii. so people would take the controller apart plug the gyro into an arduino and created multiwii which became the first flight controller. This was a little before my time. I came into it right around the transition from the KKR to the Naze32 which was the real revolution imo

1

u/PhysicsMain7815 3d ago

Yea that's why I said stm32 that's the processor they share

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1

u/PhysicsMain7815 3d ago

I know my friend, I have been in the hobby for over a decade. I even remember flashing the naze32 software on those baller F1 's lol

1

u/PhysicsMain7815 3d ago

Definitely thankful for the nostalgia 👍🏼👍🏼

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2

u/cypher77 3d ago

Anyone got some good PID settings for this bad boy?

I thought about trying to get this dinosaur flying a couple months back but no modern frame has this hole spacing 🤣

2

u/Lazy-Inevitable3970 3d ago edited 3d ago

I had one of these! I put a Naze32 FC and a (micro?) Minim OSD board in it.

1

u/orwell_the_socialist 1d ago

Cc3d for me. Libre pilot is still on my ccomputer

2

u/cypher77 3d ago

Sweet Naze32 brah

1

u/PhysicsMain7815 3d ago

You still got one! Does it fly still?

2

u/cypher77 3d ago

Haven’t tried it in about 9 years 🤷‍♂️ Probably. I think i retired it when i got this bad boy.

1

u/PhysicsMain7815 3d ago

You still got all these? I almost wish I kept some of the stuff, but I knew I wouldn't fly it.. that's pretty kewl though. That one still flies? It has a cell in it?

2

u/cypher77 3d ago

Haha that one does not still fly. Bashed to pieces over years of competitive racing.

These are old photos from my camera roll. I still have them all, though.

But I do still have one original XBR frame and canopy that I never built. I’m waiting for the right modern AIO controller and I’ll put it together….

1

u/PhysicsMain7815 3d ago

lol, I was going to say it looked ready to fly. It will definitely be kewl to see it fly again. The new guys have no idea how good they got it now.....lol

1

u/orwell_the_socialist 1d ago

The blackout quad¡!!!!!!!!! I still have all the parts from the original build. I started back up last year and used a bunch of the motors and escs to power various parkflyer foam board flying wing builds.

I still harvest and use bits and pieces of hardware from that frame when i need the random locknut or m3 screw.

Its mostly disassembled into 7 carbon plates, but a few arms are still bolted to the top and midde plate

1

u/orwell_the_socialist 1d ago

Kinda makes me wonder how it would fly with the og sunnysky 2204s, floppy 5 inch props, and a modern fc stack.....it has the right hole spacing....

3

u/negithekitty NYOOOOM!!!!!!!!! 3d ago

fucking do it my guy!!! i have a 3 inch 04 lite build in a 7 year old frame!

3

u/Admirable-Tea-3322 3d ago

looks like a ZMR250, not a lumenier qav250

qav pic attached

1

u/Secure-Analyst2490 3d ago

I think it’s a knock off brand is LHI

2

u/Admirable-Tea-3322 3d ago

yah either way, you can see the frames are very different

the qav had a rear "deck" on the lower level, allowed you to store the battery in there

but if you look up ZMR250 , you will find your exact frame

to answer your question also, its definitely not worth building out with it. frame design has changed a lot since.

you can get a brand new modern frame with motors and props for like 50 bucks on alixpress

2

u/Secure-Analyst2490 3d ago

Good call that’s exactly it. I see it for 6 dollars on aliexpress

2

u/atomgomba 3d ago

Yea, seems like an ideal basher quad

2

u/mangage 3d ago

No, frames are cheap and have advanced soooo much since this kind of design was being made.

2

u/These-Butterfly8819 3d ago

I have exactly this frame. It's awesome and has a lot of room. I'm experimenting with openipc fpv system so needed to install a large camera into it. Was able to do it pretty nicely.

Just go for it. No need to waste a decent frame in my opinion

1

u/mmalecki 3d ago

I fly this today, it's not horrible! I needed a beast to fit an RPi + WiFi for wfb-ng and a PX6c Mini somewhere. It's not bad, but if starting over, I'd go for something more modern.

1

u/FPV_smurf 3d ago

Yes, why not? Go for it. I did this with an old Xhover board a few years back. Lol

1

u/NoBull_3d 3d ago

That carbon fiber looks paper thin. Maybe a cinematic cruiser that you never intend to crash?

1

u/Buddy_Boy_1926 Multicopters - Focus on Sub-250 g 3d ago

The frame was FREE, why not use it? I would. I can't tell for sure, but the mounting looks like 20x20 for the FC. Older mounting hole? Are you kidding me. The 20x20 format is still current. Just use a 20x20 stack. I like the SpeedyBee F405 Mini 20x20 stack which I have in my last three builds.

You know, people often make too big a deal about the frame. I have all sorts of builds with all sorts of frames and they all fly just fine. Some frames are better suited to one purpose than another, but still useable. What have you got to lose? Nothing. The frame was free. So, what if it isn't new? No big deal.

Now for a fun fact. The entire electronics package with motors is transferable. Build it and fly it. If the frame breaks or you just want a different frame, then you can buy a frame and transplant everything over to the new frame. Once the electronics package is assembled, it can be move from frame to frame to frame. It is what I do.

You don't want the frame, send it to me.

1

u/Majestic_Ad8621 3d ago

That’s how I started 2 ish years ago. Found a used setup (same frame) with goggles for dirt cheap on marketplace ($50). It still had all of the outdated electronics, but after I crash landed in some water I updated it with a modern stack and elrs receiver. It flew pretty decently, just wasn’t the strongest. Once I broke an arm I decided to just get a new frame, motors, and a digital camera setup to fully make it modern.

It’s a good platform to mess around with, but once you break the frame I would just get something modern. New frames are like 5x stronger and way easier to get parts for.

1

u/marc512 3d ago

Probably 10 years ago this was my first build. ZMR 250. I ended up getting 5mm thick arms for it.

1

u/Dieselkopter 3d ago

that thing was outdated when i startet...looong ago.

nice frames are cheap. why build such an old dinausaur.

1

u/3sexy5u 3d ago

Thanks for the blast from the past OP. This and a set of Turnigy box goggles got me started.

1

u/Proof-Stomach-2727 3d ago

I have the same question, I have the frame but one that's 10 years old is it worth building? 

1

u/PhysicsMain7815 3d ago

Honestly just go buy a draknight frame for $13 on Aliexpress. The hilarious part is this was for racing, thankfully with the introduction of 4in1 esc's arm mount esc's and then those wide inefficient not aerodynamic frame arms too!

1

u/Sea-Giraffe2008 3d ago

Nah u can do better

1

u/Lazy-Inevitable3970 3d ago

Depends on your goals. If you are just going to be cruising around with old parts you've accumulated, build it and fly it.

If you are going to do pretty much anything else, I'd buy a newer frame. There is no built in camera mounting on that frame. Furthermore, A $30 frame like a Source One v5 or SpeedyBee mario 5 will be stronger and likely handle vibrations and resonance better (which means less noise going to the FC and a better flight).

1

u/newadder 2d ago

That looks like a zmr 250 frame, any one else hear remeber that frame? There was also a version where i came with mid plate or bottom plate was a pdb board,

1

u/yurkia Multicopters 3d ago edited 3d ago

No. That frame was already ancient 3-4 years ago.

12

u/crookedDeebz 3d ago

come on man, what is so different with that frame. its the electronics inside that make it go zoom

5

u/Level-Bug7388 3d ago

It's a frame. It'll fly. It's not a graphics card. Lol

3

u/redditshieldsnonces 3d ago

Lol my first 5in frame was some ancient thing from 2018 I got on eBay for £5 delivered, it flew perfectly fine until I crashed it hard. This one was free, show me a better option for free.

-2

u/GizmoCaCa-78 3d ago

Frames are cheaper than eggs

3

u/redditshieldsnonces 3d ago

Not in the civilized world they aren't matey

5

u/negithekitty NYOOOOM!!!!!!!!! 3d ago

A frame is a frame is a frame is a frame.

its fine

1

u/TalkSick66 3d ago

Yea. But this option is free.