Pavo Pico 100g AUW - DJI O3

Initially I wanted to wait until a few more manufacturers to jump on the bandwagon with these 100g cinewhoops, so I get the best one. But after talking about it with my flying buddies, the idea of these quads has intrigued me. In the past, quads like these were plagued with jello and vibration. Plus adding a DJI O3 is just asking for trouble. After doing some research the BetaFPV Pavo Pico looked promising. Ideally, I would have rather purchased the kit where you plug in the DJI O3 system and you are done, but it was sold out everywhere. The only option I had was to buy everything separately from Pyrodrone. Because I bought everything separately, I saved some money because I did not have to buy the 450mah 2s lipo that came with the kit. If those lipos are anything like the 1s versions, they are not very good when compared to the RDQ batteries.

My first dilemma during this build was the motor plugs. Should I save some weight and not solder it on? Or use them so it is more convenient to switch out the motors? This is why you see this picture on the right, to get an idea of the extra weight I will add. As you can see, it is not by much and that is why I was okay with using the plug.

I should also factor in the extra wires and plug on the motor end too, but in the end, it was an acceptable weight gain.

The price Betafpv charges for the Pavo Pico frame is unbelievable because you get so much for only $8.99. They even include a set of dipole antennas and that alone is wroth $6. This kit has all the hardware needed to complete this build, screws, vibration dampeners and etc.

Here is a picture comparing the Hurricane 2†cinewhoop next to the Pavo Pico. There is NOT a significant difference when looking from the top because the footprint is similar.

When you look at its profile view the Pavo Pico is slimmer and shorter, especially if you add a naked GoPro on the Hurricane frame. But the weight difference is only 29 grams. If you take a look at the build details about the Hurrican 2" you can see it is a great setup for lifting a naked Gopro. What I found interesting is that the DJI O3 systems only weighs 2 grams more than a Caddx Vista. But for my Hurricane build I de-cased the caddx vista to save about 10g in weight. Even though these 2 quads are similar in size, I think they are 2 very different quads because one is built to be flown as is (Pavo Pico) and the other is meant to carry an HD camera.

The AUW (All Up Weight) for the Pavo Pico is 100g and the Hurrican 2†is 200g. As for the flight performance, both quads fly very similar but the 2 huge notable differences are the flight times and sound level. The Pavo Pico gets a solid 3 minute flight time and is not very loud. On the other hand, the Hurricane 2†is loud, but gets about 6 minutes of flight time.

Flight Performance

I plan to use the quad to record cinematic video in close proximity to soft targets and flying through small gaps. May goal for this quad is to have little to no vibration when flying slow. In this picture you see here, it could be a cause for unwanted vibration.

The first thing I did was move the cable from the back of the camera to somewhere else. In my case, I moved the excess wiring to the bottom of the O3 air unit. Then I removed the filter from the camera and hope the lower weight in the front of the camera would further reduce any possible vibration. But I will revisit this idea because I will need to use ND filters in the future, so this might not be a good solution.

After watching Albert Kim's video about solving the vibration/jello issues, he inspired me to use the same vibration dampeners that I put on all my AOS builds. All I had to do was drill out the hole so I can fit the silicone vibration dampeners in it.

Here you can see how it fits after you feed the dampeners inside the larger hole.

As you can see in the picture, the camera will be completely isolated from the cage.

Now the camera is free floating and is NOT touch any part of the cage, even the screw is completed isolated too.

More Updates to come!!!!

I just ordered a Flywoo Naked O3 Air Unit Conversion Kit, so I will see how this weight reduction will affect its performance.

With GyroFlow

DJI HD video with EIS On

Same video as above but recored with the Goggle's DVR

First SLOW indoor flight with Gyroflow

First FAST indoor flight with Gyroflow