How to Solder the F3 EVO Brushed Flight Controller

Hi guys,

this is a short tutorial on how to solder the F3-EVO brushed flight controller for micro brushed quadcopter. You find this board all over the internet and in particular in Chinese online shops like Banggood or Gearbest. It's a perfect option for starting your own DIY micro quadcopter.

Step 1: Overview of the Board

The board is full with holes to connect motors, receiver and your all in one FPV camera. The pictures gives you an overview.

• USB port for connecting the board to your computer and tune Cleanflight, which is preinstalled
• Battery connection B+ and B-
• Motor connections M1-M4
• UART port 1-3 for AIO camera and receiver
• Buz port for the buzzer
• DSM for your spectrum satellite

Step 2: Connect Battery Lead

• Solder the black battery lead to B-
• Solder the red battery lead to B+

Step 3: Connect Motors

solder the brushed motors to board:

• M1: clockwise brushed motor (usually red wire to + pole, blue to - pole)
• M2: counterclockwise brushed motor (usually white wire to + pole, black to - pole)
• M3: counterclockwise brushed motor (usually white wire to + pole, black to - pole)
• M4: clockwise brushed motor (usually red wire to + pole, blue to - pole)

The standard Cleanflight Quad X layout is shown in the picture.

Step 4: Connect the AIO FPV Camera

• I used the UART 1 port to connect the AIO FPV camera. It provides 5V.
• Solder the black power lead of the AIO camera to -
• Solder the red power lead of the AIO camera to +

Step 5: Connect the Receiver

You have several options to connect a receiver. You can use PPM, SBUS or DSM.

DSM Receiver:

• Solder the DSM plus lead to 3.3V, the minus lead to GND and the signal lead to RX3,
• In Cleanflight you need to enable UART3 as Serial RX.

PPM and SBUS Receiver:

• Solder to UART2, minus lead to GND, plus lead to + 5V and the signal lead to RX2
• In Cleanflight you need to enable UART2 as Serial RX (see pic)