Operational: November 2025 –
A 5” 6 cell quad build, featuring a frame that enables smooth footage flying over a longer distance than my previous drones, couple with high speed, and named for the fish that gazes up at the sky.
Posts
Posts related to Stargazer.
Components
Below are the components I have on this quad.
| Part | Manufacturer |
|---|---|
| Frame | GEPRC Vapor-D O4 Pro Frame (Deadcat DJI O4 Pro model) |
| Flight Controller | GEPRC TAKER GEP-F722-HD v2 |
| ESC | GEPRC TAKER GEP-BLS60A-4IN1 ESC |
| Motors | Axisflying-Blackbird 2307 1960kv Mind Reader motors |
| VTX | DJI O4 Pro 2 x Foxeer Lollipop 4 Plus LHCP SMA 60mm antennas (5.8Ghz) |
| RX | TBS Crossfire Nano RX |
| GPS | Axisflying M10 GPS Module VIFLY GPS Mate (with buzzer) |
| Buzzer | Included in VIFLY GPS Mate |
| Props | Gemfan 51433 5″ 3 blade |
| Batteries | LiPo Tattu R-Line V3.0 1550 mAh / 34.41 WH LiPo DOGCOM 6S 2400 mAh 120C-240C / 53.28 WH |
| Camera | DJI O4 Pro |
Metrics
Various metrics for the drone.
| Metric | Details |
|---|---|
| Weight (quad & props only) | 470 g |
| Weight (quad + 1550 mAh LIPO battery ) | 723 g (+253 g) |
| Weight (quad + 2400 mAh LIPO battery) | 823 g (+353 g) |
| Weight (quad + 2800 mAh LIPO battery) | TBD g (+XXX g) |
| Weight (quad + 4000 mAh LI-ION battery) | 946 g (+476 g) |
Wiring Reference
Here’s my wiring diagram, with DJI O4 Pro VTX, TBS Crossfire RX and combined buzzer/GPS wiring using a VIFLY GPS Mate and M10 GPS.
Construction
Let’s get to it! The Vapor frame comes with a pretty clear instruction booklet and a multitude of different nuts and bolts in little plastic bags. Most are M2 or M3, which reduces the juggling of tools, yet many are of different heights. This will probably be a pain when it comes to taking it apart for services.
The first step of the assembly is constructing the base frame.
From there it’s a step-by-step set of instructions, fitting the 3D-printed parts as one needs. The capacitor mount is a nice touch. I dry-mounted the ESC, FC, RX, capacitor and GPS to see how they’d play.
As a side note, I started with the stock rear mounts, but switched to using these totally awesome rear VTX + tail sections:
If one wants to have the side walls, one needs to trim the clips off the bottom-rear side walls. Time will tell if I keep the side walls – weight and ventilation may be a concern.
I prefer a socket-based XT60 power connector on the drone rather than a dangling cable. To that end, I created a 3D model that supports an XT60 connector at the front of the drone, allowing a battery to be plugged in on top of the drone in front of the battery strap.
Here’s the test print with the XT60 raised above the drone base, with enough space for the power cables to be routed into the ESC. It cuts down a bit of cable weight:
The effect from outside looks pretty nice, with the plate preventing the XT60 from moving:
It’s now time to solder everything together …
With the final result of :
And finally it’s ready for Betaflight configuration.
Post-build Thoughts
Each drone frame has pros and cons. The GEPRC Vapor drone frame has things I like, and things I don’t.
Pros:
- The final build looks solid, professional and the camera is reasonably well protected.
- All the carbon-fibre parts are well made, fit well together and should hopefully prevent any major vibration or resonance leading to jello footage.
- Instructions are clear for assembly, and all the nuts & bolts are in clearly-labelled bags.
- There is a fair amount of space in the frame for components, and one can choose to add/remove the sides of the drone. It remains to be seen if the sides cause overheating in flight!
- The default STL parts that come in the kit do an OK job, but there are community prints out there that make the rear cage for the DJI O4 VTX way better.
Cons:
- The bumpers for the motors are welcome, but they prevent the default motor bolts from being used on two of the four motor mounts. It would be nice if the frame kit came with eight extra M3 bolts that take into account the extra 2mm on the bumpers.
- GEPRC don’t provide a download of their STLs – the community thus have to rebuild each of these. An example – if you damage a part, you either have to buy it from GEPRC or make/hunt down a community part. Just seems a waste of time and GEPRC are not orientated to a hobby where 3D printing is common.
- The GEP-Vapor-D5 O4 Pro Frame is not the lightest, at 221g without motors, etc. In comparison, the Axisflying Manta 5pro 5inch DC Frame is 217g, and has the excessive LED kit. Once the motors, VTX, GPS etc are added, one is looking at a drone of around 450g.
- The side plates – if one wants to use them – assume that one is using a GEPRC ESC + FC, otherwise the holes in the frame will likely not line up with the FC. The FC USB-C hole is also very narrow – you’ll need a very thin USB cable for it to fit into the hole.
Flight
Pictures as the quad swings into action.
