Sparrow 2 v2 (or sparrow 3) Flight controller review
Jul 14, 2022 3:36:48 GMT
droneflyer200 likes this
Post by Burkeomatic on Jul 14, 2022 3:36:48 GMT
Alright, I have been flying with this thing since I got the airloader going. It is the first plane i got it going on, and I have to say I really have come to like it.
If you aren't familiar with the lefei sparrow flight controllers, the whole idea behind the, is that they are dirt simple to set up, effective, and inexpensive. They all provide RTH functionality, and work pretty well the way they say they are going to work.
The original sparrow is pretty much a direct copy of the zohd kopilot. It has little pots you twist to adjust the aileron and elevator gains, 3 modes; stabilized, rth/fence, and manual. You can have fence mode, and with the gps module included it costs 25 bucks. It works well on any plane, and I like the little boogers, I ran one on the night fury for the longest time, and once you know about them, they worked great.
Then there is the sparrow 2, which is allegedly an evolution of the original, but I think it is a downgrade. The ailerons and elevators aren't independently adjustable on the gains, and there is an option of an OSD but it is only for DJI. It works and is a little more simple, but I say get the original.
Finally, confusingly enough there is the sparrow 2 v2, or the sparrow 3. It is purple, and you have to do some soldering, but this thing is set up pretty close to a full functioned flight controller, with most of the options, at the low price of 30-35 bucks. You need to buy a GPS unit separately, but you get a fully functioning osd, more modes, and better stabilization. So for around 40-50 bucks all in, you can have a pretty nice set up. I believe it is a rip off of one of the matek controllers with a different firmware.
Alright, if you can get over having to solder all of those little pins in which isn't that hard anyways, you get a nice, robust flight controller, and the directions are pretty damn good to. I never ended up having to reference anything else when I was putting this little guy together and setting it up. You can run this with any rx that you want, and the set up is as simple as going in and playing with the settings in the osd. You just flip the mode button up and down a couple of times, and it sticks you into the menu, and you just control it with the sticks on your tx.
2022-07-13_10-18-31 by Burkeomatic, on Flickr
Here is an example of the layout in the screen, you can see some of the things adjustable on there, unfortunately the default language is chinese, so you have to scroll down to the last option and switch it to english before you can read anything.
Flight with it is pretty uneventful, it does a decent job keeping the plane going where you are going unless there is a strong cross wind. I have the gains higher than average, and it doesn't gyrate or anything like that. It also has more flight modes than your standard sparrow too.
I currently run RTH, ACRO, and STAB. It is worth noting none of those modes will let you fly without a GPS lock, the only one that will is manual.
Which brings me to my only gripe with this thing, when you hit RTH or you failsafe which i did about 3 miles out down a hill behind rows of trees and houses, it makes you come all the way back home before giving you control back. So if for instance you are 3 miles out, and you accidentally hit the failsafe, it brings the plane all the way back at your specified speed.
I found out the hard way as I had done the quick math, and at about 3 miles out, I had double the power i needed to get back. I would have been flying into the wind, but I would have eventually made it back. I hit failsafe, and I could not regain control of the plane until it made it back, and since it was trying to maintain 80kmh ground speed into the wind, I was pulling 25 amps instead of 10. Needless to say, I landed with about 25 percent battery left, which is lower than I like, but my charger said 3.7 per cell when I got back, so no harm no foul, just keep that in mind.
Basically, make damn sure you want to RTH when you click the button, because it is coming straight home from wherever it is at no matter what you want.
Other than that, I suggest this if you don't want all of the complexity of inav or betaflight, and still want most of the abilities of a full functioning flight controller. I absolutely recommend this, and I think if you want OSD, this is a win. I kind of wish I had just started with these, because they really do everything you could possibly want for under 50 bucks.
www.banggood.com/Lefei-Sparrow-2-OSD-Flight-Controller-Gyro-Stabilization-Return-Home-Support-SBUS-PPM-PWM-IBUS-CRSF-For-RC-Airplane-p-1924052.html?gmcCountry=US¤cy=USD&cur_warehouse=USA&createTmp=1&utm_source=googleshopping&utm_medium=cpc_us&utm_content=massa&utm_campaign=aceng-pla-us-all-brand-0513-massa&ad_id=435264204190&gclid=CjwKCAjw2rmWBhB4EiwAiJ0mtci7S0JghKAF2OFuan43rWqwMQJtQoISkeFXXrawO_27ob3N2o8RRRoCiXoQAvD_BwE
If you aren't familiar with the lefei sparrow flight controllers, the whole idea behind the, is that they are dirt simple to set up, effective, and inexpensive. They all provide RTH functionality, and work pretty well the way they say they are going to work.
The original sparrow is pretty much a direct copy of the zohd kopilot. It has little pots you twist to adjust the aileron and elevator gains, 3 modes; stabilized, rth/fence, and manual. You can have fence mode, and with the gps module included it costs 25 bucks. It works well on any plane, and I like the little boogers, I ran one on the night fury for the longest time, and once you know about them, they worked great.
Then there is the sparrow 2, which is allegedly an evolution of the original, but I think it is a downgrade. The ailerons and elevators aren't independently adjustable on the gains, and there is an option of an OSD but it is only for DJI. It works and is a little more simple, but I say get the original.
Finally, confusingly enough there is the sparrow 2 v2, or the sparrow 3. It is purple, and you have to do some soldering, but this thing is set up pretty close to a full functioned flight controller, with most of the options, at the low price of 30-35 bucks. You need to buy a GPS unit separately, but you get a fully functioning osd, more modes, and better stabilization. So for around 40-50 bucks all in, you can have a pretty nice set up. I believe it is a rip off of one of the matek controllers with a different firmware.
Alright, if you can get over having to solder all of those little pins in which isn't that hard anyways, you get a nice, robust flight controller, and the directions are pretty damn good to. I never ended up having to reference anything else when I was putting this little guy together and setting it up. You can run this with any rx that you want, and the set up is as simple as going in and playing with the settings in the osd. You just flip the mode button up and down a couple of times, and it sticks you into the menu, and you just control it with the sticks on your tx.
2022-07-13_10-18-31 by Burkeomatic, on FlickrHere is an example of the layout in the screen, you can see some of the things adjustable on there, unfortunately the default language is chinese, so you have to scroll down to the last option and switch it to english before you can read anything.
Flight with it is pretty uneventful, it does a decent job keeping the plane going where you are going unless there is a strong cross wind. I have the gains higher than average, and it doesn't gyrate or anything like that. It also has more flight modes than your standard sparrow too.
MAN - The airplane is direct controled by RC.
STAB - Control the angle of airplane,and auto level when no RC input.
ACRO - Gyro mode,lock the current angle when no RC input.
ALT Hold - current height when no ele input.
FENCE - Auto Retun Home when out of fence rage.
RTH - Auto Retun Home.
STAB - Control the angle of airplane,and auto level when no RC input.
ACRO - Gyro mode,lock the current angle when no RC input.
ALT Hold - current height when no ele input.
FENCE - Auto Retun Home when out of fence rage.
RTH - Auto Retun Home.
Which brings me to my only gripe with this thing, when you hit RTH or you failsafe which i did about 3 miles out down a hill behind rows of trees and houses, it makes you come all the way back home before giving you control back. So if for instance you are 3 miles out, and you accidentally hit the failsafe, it brings the plane all the way back at your specified speed.
I found out the hard way as I had done the quick math, and at about 3 miles out, I had double the power i needed to get back. I would have been flying into the wind, but I would have eventually made it back. I hit failsafe, and I could not regain control of the plane until it made it back, and since it was trying to maintain 80kmh ground speed into the wind, I was pulling 25 amps instead of 10. Needless to say, I landed with about 25 percent battery left, which is lower than I like, but my charger said 3.7 per cell when I got back, so no harm no foul, just keep that in mind.
Basically, make damn sure you want to RTH when you click the button, because it is coming straight home from wherever it is at no matter what you want.
Other than that, I suggest this if you don't want all of the complexity of inav or betaflight, and still want most of the abilities of a full functioning flight controller. I absolutely recommend this, and I think if you want OSD, this is a win. I kind of wish I had just started with these, because they really do everything you could possibly want for under 50 bucks.
www.banggood.com/Lefei-Sparrow-2-OSD-Flight-Controller-Gyro-Stabilization-Return-Home-Support-SBUS-PPM-PWM-IBUS-CRSF-For-RC-Airplane-p-1924052.html?gmcCountry=US¤cy=USD&cur_warehouse=USA&createTmp=1&utm_source=googleshopping&utm_medium=cpc_us&utm_content=massa&utm_campaign=aceng-pla-us-all-brand-0513-massa&ad_id=435264204190&gclid=CjwKCAjw2rmWBhB4EiwAiJ0mtci7S0JghKAF2OFuan43rWqwMQJtQoISkeFXXrawO_27ob3N2o8RRRoCiXoQAvD_BwE
