Last year I was given an emax 250 before they were even publicizing it as the nighthawk. Unfortunately the place that provided me with that quad is no longer doing business, but I've had a lot of fun with it. The main reason it was given to me was so I could assist people with getting GPS setup on a full Naze32 board. Well, sadly that part of the experiment didn't go so hot as while I was able to get GPS up and going rather quickly the firmware available for Naze32 boards and the F1 chip mean GPS on that setup isn't good for much more than feeding position info to an OSD (which I quite enjoy having, so it wasn't a total failure.)
I've really enjoyed the little 250, even if it actually is 280mm motor to motor and I only have the 1806 motors on it with the older "simon series" esc's (which are actually running a modified older version of blheli) that can't do damped light. It's not cutting edge performance, but it's still enough to have a lot of fun with and I have had a LOT of fun with it and it's survived with nothing more than a few scratches. It's not as cheap as a ZMR but also not as expensive as a blackout - I'd say you get a lot for your money and it's a nice reliable little flier for me.
So...a few weeks back as he was starting his build Airhawk asked me what I thought of the new "280 pro" version. My first reaction was only slightly better than "Uh, I don't know hadn't heard they had a new version" but I took a look and saw some interesting changes had been made. Namely it's now an ARF or RTF, the frame is a little different, and the biggie - they went with an AIO (All In One) board design incorporating emax's version of a Naze32 along with 4 ESC's and power distribution all built right into the base plate. I was torn. It's something I've wanted to do myself for some time. But it also concerned me - what if you burn out an ESC or want to switch to different ESC's...I had only wanted to integrate a naze32 (and maybe an rx) into a PDB similar to David's tricopter frame?
I kind of forgot about it...but then I got an e-mail from GearBest asking if I might be interested in reviewing something and sharing my thoughts on the Forums here. I replied back saying I might be, but if they send me junk I won't sugar coat it and will say it's junk - and that of course I would have to disclose that they were providing the product. They said that sounded reasonable and sent me a link to the Nighthawk 280 saying it was the item they had in mind for me to review. Well, ok then!
So thanks to Gearbest.com here it is the Nighthawk Pro 280 in all it's glory:
Let's back up just a bit though, that's not quite how it comes. GearBest was kind enough to even spring for DHL shipping so it got to me really quick. DHL did tease me a bit sending me a text message on Sunday saying to expect Delivery on Monday even though their site listed it as scheduled for Wednesday- but still beat that by delivering it Tuesday. There was no additional packaging other than the DHL bag around the emax box but it still arrived with the box just a little beat up - no damage at all to anything in it:
The box is a lot nicer than the simple bags my 250 came in. Not sure if that was because my 250 was a preview model or if they sell them all like that. But this is a big step up and is definitely aimed more at a retail market being an ARF/RTF setup that would look at home on the shelf at a hobby store. I won't bother to retype all the published specs but here's a shot of them on the back:
Inside was another nice surprise, an actual printed manual. The 250 came with a single sheet of instructions that gave little indication how it was meant to go together. The manual is a big step up and with the custom AIO board I'm glad they included it as it takes a lot of the mystery out of figuring things out even if the manual has a few issues (more on that later.)
Under the manual the quad was indeed almost ready to fly and well packaged. It's a cardboard cradle not Styrofoam so nice and recyclable and kept everything nice and safe for it's overseas journey. I'm guessing the RTF version has a different box since I don't see anywhere they could fit a TX into this package.
Pulling it out I was surprised at how much extra stuff was included for an ARF! Two bags of bags of parts were included tucked mostly into the big open space available in the middle of this quad thanks to the AIO board. I'm still not 100% sold on this tight of integration in a race quad - but have to admit it does make for a VERY clean build.
The first bag contained things needed to get it up in the air in nicely organized bags:
A: Propellers - 6045's of unknown manufacturer. I'm trying to track down what they are and where I can get more though as I quite like them, again more on that later.
B: Battery mounting strap, velcro, and a bit of expanding wire mesh to cleanup the RX wiring.
C: A number of pigtails to connect to the tiny connectors used on the AIO board.
E: A USB cable. I've got plenty but can always use another! And given how many people have problems getting Naze32 boards to talk to their computers with cables they have laying around it's probably a smart touch for them to include it. It's a rather nice USB cable too, not too long - not too short and with a nice big easy to grip end for connecting to the AIO board.
The second bag contained bags with what I'd classify as more optional parts:
D: 5.8ghz circularly polarized antenna. Not a great antenna but better than then cheap vertical most places include as stock. And I guess not that optional if you don't want to fry your VTX. Note: the antenna is regular SMA not reverse SMA.
F: RX antenna mount. Not really useful with the RX's I have on hand but looks well designed for the common FrSky RX's most people are flying right now. It's a little plastic mount and two straws that clips into a cutout in the top of the frame.
G: Mobius mount - the bobbins are a little stiffer than the ones that came with my 250 and the plate is just G10 not the hybrid G10/CF used on the rest of the frame and on the mount on my 250. Honestly on a piece like this the hybrid material is just for show and isn't even visible most of the time so I have no issues with it being "just" G10.
H: Motor tilt mounts. I though these came pre-installed on the ARF - was quite happy to see they come separate as I really want to try flying without them first.
Bags I&J are apparently only for the RTF version and are not included in the ARF kit.
K: Camera tilt bracket. Non-adjustable but looks functional. I'm more likely to try this before I try the motor tilts but will be interesting to compare both options.
L: Spare bits. Emax always seems to be good about including 1 spare of every fastener in their kits. They did so on the 250 and I'm quite happy to see they continue to do so on the 280, thumbs up emax! (Note: there was also a spare bobbin in the mobius mount bag and I believe the tilt mounts have a spare screw or two as well, I haven't taken a super close look at them just yet.)
So that's how it comes out of the box. Not a bad setup. I personal enjoy building but know a lot of people don't and am sure they'll reach a large audience with the ARF/RTF combo offering. With the ARF there's still enough "assembly" required that this isn't really a kit for someone just getting started with the hobby. But for someone with a little bit of experience or willing to dig in but not wanting to do any soldering - this seems like a very solid base to build from at a great price.
Here's my first impressions / unboxing:
Again, thank you gearbest for providing me with this quad for review: http://goo.gl/28ZA8U
This is also available as a RTF setup with transmitter included here: http://goo.gl/8NOypn I don't have the RTF version so I can't really share any details about it.
Check out Part 2 of my reivew for a closer look at the quad and some test flying!
No Comments Yet
Be the first to leave one!