Multirotor, multicopter and quadcopter discussion - The Drone thread

d_brennen · 10 Sep 2014 at 23:12

What ESCs? You really want much lower than that LV cutoff.

Skeeter · 10 Sep 2014 at 23:17

Afro 12A. My Lipo alarm is set to 3.4v at the moment.

firstborn · 10 Sep 2014 at 23:20

Finally found the time to build this:

DJI F450, NAZA V2 + GPS and FrSKY Taranis. All appears to work and have had lift off indoors but too scared to fly outside yet

That said it is quite late!

Skeeter · 10 Sep 2014 at 23:23

At first I thought that looked too small to be a 450, and then realised its because its a bloody gert battery!

Looks good. Although most people with 450s seem to run with some sort of legs or skids?

firstborn · 10 Sep 2014 at 23:26

Skeeter said:
At first I thought that looked too small to be a 450, and then realised its because its a bloody gert battery!

Looks good. Although most people with 450s seem to run with some sort of legs or skids?

I have a smaller battery but it was on charge. I also have the landing gear to go on next, just need to sleep first

Gave up on the sleep, now with landing gear:

d_brennen · 10 Sep 2014 at 23:45

Nah, landing gear is just another thing to get snagged up

firstborn · 11 Sep 2014 at 00:07

d_brennen said:
Nah, landing gear is just another thing to get snagged up

I've got a gimble for a go-pro coming though.

Cyclone · 11 Sep 2014 at 02:03

I like them DJI 450's

Skeeter · 11 Sep 2014 at 08:00

d_brennen said:
Nah, landing gear is just another thing to get snagged up

While I'm not bothered about nerfing a £7 motor and 25p prop into the ground on a bad landing with my 250, I'd imagine the cost of the bits at the end of the arms on a 450 is considerably more.

Amp34 · 11 Sep 2014 at 08:30

doofer said:
It's your throttle control which you don't really want springing back to half-throttle...

Thanks. Presumed that was the case but just wanted to be sure as a cursory glance of the instruction manual didn't bring it up!

All my other RCs have been spring loaded on the throttle, but then again they are cars...

Genoma · 11 Sep 2014 at 08:35

spookywillow said:
I'm going to try mine without the filter till it arrives from HK, hopefully it will be fine too. I have a buzzer you can have, Pretty sure it works fine.

Thanks for the offer

I already had ordered a couple for HK, uk stock so should be here quickly.

Skeeter · 11 Sep 2014 at 08:52

Amp34 said:
Thanks. Presumed that was the case but just wanted to be sure as a cursory glance of the instruction manual didn't bring it up!

All my other RCs have been spring loaded on the throttle, but then again they are cars...

That will be because centre is 0 as the motor goes both directions. For flight motors they only spin one way so fully down is 0. Petrol cars would have a throttle stick like an aircraft as they also lack reverse.

gandhi · 11 Sep 2014 at 12:58

Ok,

Some photos

First build, Desperately untidy. Has now been stripped down.

Prop to prop clearance on 6" - Tight. There better not be any wobble!

KISS ESC's compared to a HK 12a Blue series, No BEC means a large reduction in weight & size.....

Going for a bit of frame placement....

Quad still not rebuilt yet as I got distracted by some IPA. Drinking and soldering do not mix

d_brennen · 11 Sep 2014 at 13:34

CF is very conductive so be careful with those KISS ESCs/wiring in general. It's even worth taking some wet and dry or similar to sand down the edges a bit, as the sharp edges also murders silicon wire... Oh and the dust from CF plate is quite nasty on the lungs too, so if working it, do it wet.

Genoma · 11 Sep 2014 at 14:01

Interesting never thought about cf and conductivity, obvious really but hadn't crossed my mind from a insulation POV

gandhi · 11 Sep 2014 at 14:01

Yes, the ESC's were firmly ensconced in heatshrink, and will be again once I've re-soldered everything. I've already buzzed over the sharpest edges where wire might abrade, but this time they are all going to be sleeved as well.

At least two of my crashes have resulted in severed wires from the props that have shattered in the process.

My poor Cloverleaf antenna is looking pretty mashed now too, so that will need to be replaced soon.

I quite liked your stubby one... Was it causing problems?

gandhi · 11 Sep 2014 at 14:02

I'm moving the ESC's on board, hence the re-soldering btw. I don't fancy losing a £20 ESC in one of my many prangs

gandhi · 11 Sep 2014 at 15:36

Hmmmm.

I *might* just have bought one of these £33. Bargain.

Will be interested to see if...

a) its carbon fibre all the way though
b) what the finish is like. If it's as good as the current crop of 250 sized quads, I'll be happy.
c) how much more fun it is to ~~fly~~ crash than the quad

Skeeter · 11 Sep 2014 at 15:45

Wow, those ESCs are tiny! But £20 each is steep.

I was looking at that hex frame as a photography rig. Have a quad basher, and then have a small hex with GPS and a GoPro gimble for stable airborne photography

Then I realised I'm poor and parked the idea.

Col_M · 11 Sep 2014 at 16:03

Skeeter said:
While I'm not bothered about nerfing a £7 motor and 25p prop into the ground on a bad landing with my 250, I'd imagine the cost of the bits at the end of the arms on a 450 is considerably more.

They're only good for avoiding damage to your gimbal.

With legs if you have a bouncy landing (we've all done it), then the base is narrower and the centre of gravity is higher up making it more likely it'll tip over, it's also more likely to snag on the ground and tip over.

Without legs it's much wider and flatter making it more stable on the ground.

As for crashes, quads usually tumble so your props and arms are going to strike and take them brunt of most crashes anyway. I haven't had a crash where I came down nice and flat where legs would have taken the impact.