Introducing the Xilo Stax combo, a full feature flight controller and 4-in1 ESC that both looks good and pack in the power. It brings recent innovations such as VTX power on / off from your transmitter, camera control capability, and surface mounting of TBS Crossfire Nano / FrSky XM+ in a affordable, durable, plug and play package.[vc_single_image image=”4208″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center” onclick=”link_image”][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
Xilo Stax Features and Specs
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XILO Stax F4 Flight Controller
Features
- 2-6S Direct Lipo input support (5-26v)
- On-board Betaflight OSD
- VTX Remote Power switch
- On-board 5v/2A and 3.3v/0.2A regulators
- SBUS and PPM support
- RGB LED dedicated pad
- VBAT Monitoring support
- 6x UART Ports
- Betaflight support (Supports DSHOT protocol)
- BLHeli pass-through flashing supported by hardware
Specifications
- STM32F405 (2MB flash) 32-bit processor
- ICM20602 Gyro/Accelerometer (Up to 32KHz)
- High quality 1.6mm PCB
- Micro USB connector for programming
- Dimensions: 36x36x6mm (includes USB in height)
- Mounting Holes: 30.5mm square to center of holes
- Weight: 7g
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Xilo Stax 45A 6S 4-IN-1 ESC
Features
- 4x F3 processers
- Latest Gen. firmware using BLHeli_32
- 3-6s LiPo battery compatible
- 45A per channel, 55A burst
- Supports DSHOT 1200, Proshot, Oneshot125 (125-250us), Oneshot42(41.7-83.3us) and Multishot (5-25us). Auto-detection.
- Lightweight, and compact size
- Adaptive timing, compatible with a wide range of motors and Kv
- Synchronous rectification technology adds efficiency, damped light
- Powerful regenerative braking / active braking.
Specifications
- Input: 3-6s LiPoly
- Constant: 45 Amps (per channel)
- Burst: 55 Amps (per channel)
- BEC: No
- Dimensions: 36x43mm(including the power pads)
- Mounting Holes: 30.5mm square to center of holes
- Weight: 12g (without motor wires)
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First Thoughts
When the Xilo Stax combo first arrived, I was quite impressed with the package as a whole. The boards are stout, the lay out of components is excellent, and the soldering is clean. The blue on black color scheme gives them an air of high end components, but you don’t have to break the bank to enjoy them in your builds! The Xilo line from GetFPV brings the high end components you want, at a price that won’t make you pass out when you hit the “Add to Cart” button.
Significantly, both boards come with accessories, providing everything you need for them, with extras to spare. The flight controller comes with a connector to connect with a 4-in-1 ESC, and two extra sets of silicone grommets in order to keep your soft mount system in top shape at all times. The Xilo 4-in-1 ESC also comes with a connector cable (nice to have a backup), two 35v 470µF capacitors, and extra set of silicone grommets and an XT60 plug and leads. Beyond the wiring needed to add on components such as your receiver, VTX, and camera, you need nothing else!
The Xilo Stax combo, when used together make for a very efficient way to save both space and time with your build. As many who use these types of stacks know, wiring is inherently simplified and your build is especially clean. However, it is not mandatory to use them together. Both function just fine on their own; the flight controller can pair with either a different 4-in-1 ESC, or single ESC’s if you prefer. The 4-in-1 is the same, able to pair with any flight controller with the 8 pin harness. Just make sure to check the connections on both to ensure the harness is wired for your specific component.
Xilo Stax Design
F4 Flight Controller
The Xilo Stax F4 FC provides a lot of options for a budget minding pilot. It has many of the features we see on a lot of other FC’s, such as Betaflight OSD, on-board regulators (both 5v and 3.3v), built in inverted SBUS and S.Port, LED control, Smart Audio / Tramp Control, and more (6 UART’s more). However, it’s what is different that sets it apart.
Overall, the biggest among its features is the ability to turn off your VTX from a switch on your transmitter. This gives you 100% control on when you are transmitting your video signal. This comes in handy if you need to power up to check a repair out in the field, and not blast anyone out of the sky. Also in the same field as this is the ability to control your camera settings via the transmitter. This particular feature is present on more and more on flight controllers, but it’s still nice to have to quickly shift your settings.
Additionally, the ability to directly mount a TBS Crossfire Nano or FrSky XM/XM+ to the board gives makes wiring even easier. On the underside of the board is a large blue rectangle specifically for this, with through holes to use a straight pin header. This helps keep the build tight and clean, with no extra wires floating about.
My one complaint here is the markings on all the pads are blurry and hard to read. Having the manual pulled up for the appropriate pin out was very necessary for me.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”4206″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center” onclick=”link_image”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”4205″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center” onclick=”link_image”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
4-in-1 ESC
The Xilo 4-in-1 ESC doesn’t leave much to desire. It’s a 45 Amp (55 Amp Burst), BL-Heli_32 board capable of 3s – 6s voltage. This makes it viable to a very wide range of motors, and would be able to keep up with the demands of both elite racers and freestyle pilots. It has recessed motor pads with enough separation to ensure your motor wires aren’t crowded in and keeps soldering easy. I especially like this, as I always feel that having them stick out the side of the board as they do on many models opens them up to damage.
The 4-in-1 also has a telemetry wire, taking advantage of BL-Heli_32 status monitoring to feed the pilot information on how the ESC is performing. The power pads are large, with plenty of room to solder on the lead however works best. Personally, I like to have through hole power pads, as they seem to be a bit stronger, but with the plug on the other side of the board, that just won’t work without adding unnecessary weight and size.
There is one thing missing here through, and that is markings showing the specified motor order on the ESC. While Betaflight allows the pilot to remap motors, for a plug and play solution, this can cause some confusion.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”4204″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center” onclick=”link_image”][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”4203″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center” onclick=”link_image”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]
Experience with the Xilo Stax
Mounting and wiring both the Xilo Stax FC and 4-in-1 ESC was a fairly simple experience. The pads are well laid out, took solder well, and there’s plenty of room in the way of UART’s for any components you may wish to add to your aircraft. The boards are thick and durable, including the pads, and include through holes for extra security. I love the recessed motor pads on the 4-in-1, one of the first I have seen in this configuration.
The VTX power on/off setup in Betaflight is easy, and works flawlessly. Keep in mind the power pad that is part of the switch uses full VBAT voltage. If you use a 5v VTX, you will need to pull power from one of the 5v/2a pads, but this will circumvent the ability to use the VTX power switch.
The Issues
Overall, working and flying with the Xilo Stax is a good experience, however there are some issues that I had that are worth mentioning.
- The flight controller does not have an orientation marking. After patching it with the firmware from GetFPV’s website (the firmware on the first release of the board had some orientation issues), I had to double check the proper orientation in Betaflight.
- Note: Proper orientation is when the connector plug between the FC and ESC is in the back of the quad.
- Similarly, the 4-in-1 ESC similarly does not have the banks of motor pads labeled. Based on the length of the connector cable, the ESC needs to be mounted with the connector port in the rear, same as the FC.
- Once powered up, I found the motors were mapped incorrectly. They were rotated by 180° off the necessary Betaflight orientation. I used the CLI command console in Betaflight to remap them. With the motor pads facing down and the connector in the rear of the craft, motors one and four needed to be swapped, as did motors two and three.
- Note: According to GetFPV, the firmware now available fixes this issue.
- The direct to board mount of the TBS Crossfire Nano was not possible, as the spacing for the pads on the FC were not correct. (See Picture Below). Instead, I used short wires to mount the board similarly, and used double stick tape to mount the Crossfire Nano to space provided on the FC.
- Note: According to GetFPV this issue will be corrected on the second batch.
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Pros:
- VTX Power on / off available from a switch on your transmitter.
- Dedicated space for mounting TBS Crossfire Nano / FrSky XM+.
- Camera Control for changing settings on your FPV camera.
- Six UART’s for extra components.
- Onboard Betaflight OSD
- Xilo 4-in-1 is versatile, able to drive a wide range of motors.
- Plug and play capabilities between FC and ESC.
- Able to use together or standalone.
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Cons:
- No orientation markings on FC.
- No motor pad markings on ESC.
- Pads for TBS Crossfire / FrSky XM+ are not do not allow direct mount (update on new batch).
- Motor order is incorrect in Betaflight (New firmware fixes this as does CLI remap).
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Final Thoughts
Are these issues deal breakers? Absolutely not. Especially with the quick reaction from GetFPV on addressing these issues. As it stands right now, it’s not exactly a plug and play solution, but with some fore-knowledge, these are opportunities are avoidable. Just keep them in mind until the updates come out.
In fact, once mounted, and all troubleshooting was done, everything performed excellent! There’s always bound to be some growing pains with new components, especially when packing in as many features as these two boards have. The Xilo Stax is an affordable, powerful, and versatile set that can easily be at home in any multirotor.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][ultimate_spacer height=”40″][vc_separator][ultimate_spacer height=”40″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/3″][vc_single_image image=”4253″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”]
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