I burnt out my VTX03 during a crash so I got and installed a VTX01 on my Tiny Whoop. But this afternoon, I was inspecting it when I noticed a burnt component. At first, I thought it was a capacitor. First step is to find out the part number. But the component was burnt beyond recognition. So I searched for photos that show the part and found this:
After some more digging, I found out that the burnt component is actually a resistor, a zero-ohm link. Link, that’s like connect, bridge. So I just simply bridged the terminals of the burnt resistor with a bit of solder.
And just like that the VTX03 lit up back to life!
Skylanders Portal USB Power Mod
Jeanne has Skylanders Trap Team for the iPad. It’s a fun game. Precisely why it is always running out of batteries. Even Eneloops don’t last long enough. Fresh AA batteries have a voltage of about 1.7V. Three in series gives about 5.1V. That’s almost about what a USB port is giving. So I figured, why not mod the portal to get its power from a USB port?
Low-Profile Tiny Whoop Build
I wanted to keep the canopy for my first Tiny Whoop build but the VTX03 was a bit too big so I had to settle for a more technical look. And then I burnt the VTX out in a crash. So I got a VTX01 and did a rebuild.
CX-10 Microsoldering Job
I crashed my “racing” CX-10 and when I picked it up, it was dead. No spinning props, no lights, nothing. I checked the power from the battery to the board with a multitester and it’s fine. With a heavy heart, I decided to disassemble it for parts. I removed the props and was about to unsolder the motors and the battery when I noticed that the board seems to be missing a small part (see pic, not mine). I went back to the crash site (aka kitchen floor) and sure enough there was a tiny component lying there. It’s surface-mounted but since I didn’t have a heat gun or soldering paste or even flux, I had to make do with my soldering iron and soldering wire. I put tiny amounts of solder onto the tip and gradually pre-tinned the pads and the feet. Then I positioned the component using tweezers and pressed the tip in to melt the solder. It was the tiniest soldering I’ve ever tried and it wasn’t pretty. But once I was finally done, my CX-10 was alive once more!
UPDATE 4/4/2017: And it broke again. This time pulling a pad off. It’s the end for this board :(
Tiny Whoop Build
The Tiny Whoop is essentially a Blade Inductrix with the canopy removed and a tiny camera mounted on top. Thus, it’s a natural evolution for the Furibee F36 and other Blade Inductrix clones. But I don’t like the top-mounted camera, so I decided on a low-profile underslung camera build.