This is the 4th installment to my popular "Wizard Killer" series, and is based on the popular Wizard X220HV 6S. As usual, the goal was to build a substantially better quad, yet come in below the retail price of the BNF kit. Here are some of the improvements:

Higher quality EMAX ECO 2306 1700kv motors

Foxeer's top-of-the-line Falkor mini camera

Eachine 25mw-1000mw Leaf VTX with microphone

Tools

This isn't the most challenging build, but it does require soldering a number of wires. I counted at least 28 wires to various pads. I highly recommend a quality iron like the Hakko 888D and Kester 63/37 solder. Otherwise here is a comprehensive list of tools require to put this together.

Soldering iron

2.0mm hex driver

Industrial Tweezers

Wire cutter/stripper

Scissors

Heat gun or lighter

Ruler and cutting mat

Multimeter

Additional Supplies

A variety of heat shrink tube sizes

Blue Loctite

Zip ties (small)

63/37 leaded solder

Liquid soldering flux pen

Hardware

I used countersunk washers and flat top screws to attach the top plate, but these aren't necessary. I just used them to add a little color. The frame and motors include all the necessary screws and hardware.

Frame Assembly

The X220HV frame is a nice upgrade to the more traditional Martian II used on all my previous builds. The stack space has been reduced from 35mm to 20mm, and we now have mounts for two stacks. This does limit what stack you can use, but the Diatone Mamba just squeaks by at 19mm tall. It also features a "chin" which allows for mini cameras as well as micro cams.

Assembling the frame is very straightforward. The arms mount under the bottom plate with the screws pointed downward into the silver lock nuts. Don't tighten everything down until you've got all the arms in place because you may need to wiggle them a bit.

Motors

While it's optional I like to sleeve my motor wires with 1/4" Para-Max. It's also a great way to add a little color to your build. Keep in mind that the traditional 550 Paracord is too narrow for all 3 motor wires.

Cut 4 pieces of cord to 7 cm lengths, remove the inner core and, with a lighter, melt the ends to prevent frays. Sleeve the motor wires and add a couple pieces of 12mm shrink tube to cover the ends. Screw the motors onto the arms using the included "For 4mm thick arms" screws and blue Loctite. Use the long screws included in the frame kit to mount the 4-in-1 ESC. Disassemble the Mamba stack and secure the bottom set of standoffs to the frame. Mount the 4-in-1 ESC and secure it with the next set of standoffs. Flux and tin each motor pad ensuring each is completely coated with a bubble of solder. Solder with the middle standoffs in place because the solder will prevent you from screwing them on later. If you're right-handed start from the rightmost motor pad and solder all 6 wires from right to left. If you're left handed start from the left.

Cut each wire to length as you go, not all at once.

Keep a flux pen handy because the middle pads are extremely close together and tend to bridge if you aren't careful. Position the shrink tube over the ends of the cord and melt it. You can use a heat gun to make quick work of this.

Power Connector

The flight controller comes with everything you need. Just look under the instructions at the bottom of the container.

Fill the XT60 wire wells with a bit of solder. Solder the red and black wires ensuring red is on the + side of the battery connector. Add shrink tube to cover the wire around the XT60 connector. Flux and add solder to the battery pads on the 4-in-1 ESC. Solder the battery leads at an angle toward the side so it's accessible from the top of the quad. You'll need to cut one wire slightly shorter than the other to make this work.

There is a known issue with the X220HV BNF kit where the battery lead creates video noise being in such close proximity to VTX. It's much better to send the battery lead out the side.

Binding the Receiver

Now that you've got power you can add the receiver and bind it. I used the FrSky XM+, but you'll need to choose a receiver that matches your radio. It's best to slide it under the rear of your 4-in-1 ESC. Just leave the bind button exposed to make it accessible for the future.

Solder 3 wires to the 5v, GND and SBUS pads on the receiver. The camera comes with lots of spare wire, so borrow some red, black and green from there. Add your flight controller to the stack and re-connect it to the 4-in-1 ESC with the included wire harness. With the receiver in position feed the wires under the 4-in-1 ESC and solder them into place on the flight controller. Bind your receiver Be sure to double check that you don't have continuity between your main battery leads.

Add enough shrink tube to the receiver to protect it from shorts against the frame or 4-in-1 ESC.

Hold your receiver bind button and plug your main battery in. (It's helpful to clamp this button down with tweezers to free your hand)

Put your radio into bind mode and ensure you're bound. Now that you're bound you can tuck your receiver away under the stack. Attach small zip-ties to your rear arms and shrink tube the antennas to the zip ties. Secure your flight controller with the included nylon nuts.

Beeper

This is entirely optional, but I decided to include it to match the stock X220HV. This particular beeper has an integrated lipo battery, so even if you eject your primary battery it'll still beep. Since the BAT- pad is on the far end of the flight controller you'll need to extend the wire to reach it. Again you can borrow some wire from the camera, and don't forget to cover the joint with shrink tube. After that you just need to solder the 5v and GND wires to a couple nearby pads.

Video Transmitter

Once the beeper is mounted you can add two more standoffs to mount the VTX. You won't need the 5v output from the VTX so be sure to remove the purple wire. I decided to power the VTX straight from the battery. It's rated for up to 25v, so it can handle a 6S battery. The VCC and GND pads are conveniently located directly beside the VTX and the TX3 and VID pads are beside the USB. Just solder those four wires and the VTX is installed.

Unfortunately the VTX I used for this guide is no longer available. I've listed an alternative below in the part list.

Camera

Before you add the camera make sure the carbon fiber side-plates fit into their slots. I had to file the little tabs down a bit to get a good fit. Once you've ensured they fit you can screw them onto the camera using the included camera bracket to get the correct width. Make sure you've got the camera and the bracket right side up! Mount the camera onto the frame by sliding the tabs into the slots.

You don't need the purple wire, so remove it from the wire harness before plugging it in. Cut the red, black and yellow wires to length offering enough slack for a range of camera angles. Solder them to the nearby CAM, 5v, and GND pads on the flight controller.

At this point you can test your FPV feed and disable the camera OSD. It's redundant and the Betaflight OSD has a lot more features.

Make sure the antenna is connected to your VTX. Plug the camera joystick into the camera. Plug a lipo battery into your rig and tune in to your FPV feed with your headset. Center press the camera joystick to bring up the menu. Select "Special Setting" and "Close" Name, Voltage and Timer. Return and Save.

Capacitor

This is a really tight build so I originally left the capacitor out, but considering it's such a high voltage rig I came back and added it. Unfortunately there isn't space between the stacks, so you'll need to solder wires to the capacitor and place it in front of the flight controller. Just make sure the striped side of the capacitor is soldered to the negative power lead.

Finishing Up

Now all you need to do is mount the top plate and add the finishing touches. Here are a few tips to help prevent damage during flight:

Zip-tie the main battery lead to the nearest standoff. That'll help prevent damage to your stack in the event of a battery ejection.

Zip-tie the motor wires to the arms so they don't get snagged by a tree branch.

Make sure the battery straps go under and over the top plate to prevent damage to the electronics. I suggest 16x230mm battery straps for 6S batteries.

Add a sticky battery pad between the battery straps to prevent the battery from ejecting.

Add a sticky pad under the HD camera mount so it doesn't slide around.

The stock antenna might be hard to secure considering it's stiffness and placement, but if you use a different antenna be sure to secure it with zip-ties so it can't get into prop-strike range.

Betaflight Configuration

If you don't already have them, you'll need to download Betaflight Configurator [Download] and the BLHeli Configurator [Download].

First go to the Firmware Flasher and choose "FURYF4OSD" as well as the latest stable release of Betaflight. Click "Load Firmware [Online]" and then "Flash Firmware" to update your flight controller. Once complete, click "Connect" On the Ports tab On UART1 click Serial RX for your receiver.

Set the UART3 Peripherals to "VTX (TBS Smart Audio)".

Click Save and Reboot On the Configuration tab Under ESC/Motor Features select DSHOT600

If want to fly "props out" with reversed motors, select "Motor direction is reversed" below the illustration. (This is optional)

Under System configuration set PID loop frequency to 8 kHz.

Under Receiver choose your receiver mode. For the XM+ choose "Serial-based receiver" and "SBUS"

Under Arming set the Max arm angle to 180 (Only if you keep the accelerometer turned on)

Under Other Features enable: Airmode, OSD, Anti Gravity and Dynamic Filter

Under DSHOT Beacon Configuration enable the beacon

Click Save and Reboot

To complete the remaining steps you'll need to apply lipo power to your build:

On the Receiver tab ensure your pitch, roll, throttle and yaw are being applied correctly. Adjust your transmitter and Channel Map as needed. On the Modes tab Assign an Aux switch to arm and disarm your quad.

Assign another Aux switch to enable Horizon or Angle mode if you need them.

Assign the Beeper and "Flip over after crash" to a 3rd and/or 4th switch. I like to assign them both to a single 3 point toggle switch. On the Motors tab enable the motor test and apply a small amount power to check the rotation of each motor. Take note of any that need to be reversed. Disconnect from the Betaflight Configurator and open BLHeli Configurator Connect and Read Settings

Flash all ESCs to the latest firmware available.

Reverse the motor direction of any motors that need it. (The numbers correspond to the same numbers in Betaflight)

Save and reconnect to Betaflight Configurator to test the motor direction. On the OSD tab Check all of the features you want and arrange your OSD as desired.

And that's it! The default Failsafe settings are generally fine, but make sure they work by arming your quad, applying a small amount of throttle and turning off your transmitter. It should shut down after a short moment.

Challenges

I had an issue with my OSD not showing up. It turns out the Foxeer Falkor was set to PAL by default and I have all NTSC electronics. I had to switch it using the camera controller.

Maiden Flight

When installing your props make sure to pay attention to the rotation direction illustrated on the Configuration tab in Betaflight. If you are flying "props in" then the leading edges of each prop needs to rotate toward the front and rear of the quad. If you are flying "props out" then the leading edges need to rotate toward the sides of the quad. Make sure the lock nuts are tight, but they don't need to be extremely tight. Conduct your first hover test in a safe place where you won't damage anything or hurt yourself.