Multirotor, multicopter and quadcopter discussion - The Drone thread

spookywillow · 24 Sep 2016 at 23:30

Yes, the P3P is the Phantom 3 Professional.

Delvis · 25 Sep 2016 at 10:27

So, over the last week I've managed to:

-Flash my esc's to blheli from the custom firmware ewchine put on their esc's.
-Flash beta flight onto my flight controller (that was easy)

Amongst all this it took forever to get the esc tool to work correctly. During attempting to solder my.camera power to the main xt60 point o managed to burn the xt60 connector so had to replace that.....however that wasn't easy as the soldering iron I had it terrible so me and the in-law ended up using two soldering irons in tandem

After all that, I couldn't get the FC to talk to.my transmitter, turns out the guide I was following was out dated or something so I ended up finding another random guide to rejig all the FC cables to the receiver...

That's it yea? Nope. One of my.motors wasn't spinning correctly, no odea why bit removing it from the as and relocating it seemed to work. Then it tool forever to.male.my mode switch Worl because (again) the original guide said nothing about changing a separate setting to make my transmitter work properly!

So after lots of swearing, blood, burns, tears and everything else, I have a working quad hopefully. Cant test it though as it's naturally wet today

spookywillow · 25 Sep 2016 at 23:44

Went out again today after refocusing the gopro just to have a crash and break an arm, First frame damage I have had with the ZMR250 and it's had some crashes I can tell you

A Rain cloud passing through on a sunny day today.

Delvis · 26 Sep 2016 at 06:50

You're getting those on a 250? Good work.

spookywillow · 26 Sep 2016 at 17:11

No haha all my photo's are with the phantom pro.

Delvis · 26 Sep 2016 at 17:13

Hah ok. You was talking about a 250 then show a pic

spookywillow · 26 Sep 2016 at 17:55

I was in a rush and forgot to say lol

Magic_x_uk · 26 Sep 2016 at 18:39

can someone advise me on something.

been flying rc planes for 20 odd years now, electric and IC.

I have just won on eBay a ESC's that is a Turnigy Plush 40a BUT Flashed to BLHeli firmware.

I never noticed it at the time. anyhow I have paid etc, was only cheap for a small little model I am playing around with building.

What the hell is this firmware, will it work on a RC Plane ok, I obviously know quite a lot about rc planes, motors, esc's and lipo's. But diddly squat about this BLHeli Firmware mod.

What does it do, can i reverse it, will it work as normal on a brushless motor?

Thanks guys.

spookywillow · 26 Sep 2016 at 19:05

Magic_x_uk said:
can someone advise me on something.

been flying rc planes for 20 odd years now, electric and IC.

I have just won on eBay a ESC's that is a Turnigy Plush 40a BUT Flashed to BLHeli firmware.

I never noticed it at the time. anyhow I have paid etc, was only cheap for a small little model I am playing around with building.

What the hell is this firmware, will it work on a RC Plane ok, I obviously know quite a lot about rc planes, motors, esc's and lipo's. But diddly squat about this BLHeli Firmware mod.

What does it do, can i reverse it, will it work as normal on a brushless motor?

Thanks guys.

It's a better firmware for the ESC and will be fine on a plane, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Am1jr67C6HQ

https://blhelisuite.wordpress.com/

Delvis · 26 Sep 2016 at 19:35

Yeah blheli is the GOTO firmware for quads atm so assume it will be fine for you.

Magic_x_uk · 26 Sep 2016 at 19:40

Well if that's the case then excellent

Delvis · 26 Sep 2016 at 21:21

Magic_x_uk said:
Well if that's the case then excellent

I just flashed it onto the esc's on my 250 and the difference in the way it flies from just doing that to them is amazing.

savagesam117 · 26 Sep 2016 at 23:30

Evening guys,

I'm doing my final year project this year and I need a quadcopter to complete it it'll need a camera attached but that's a different thing. I'll be designing and making a the frame but I need the bits and bobs.

I've got heli stuff, a DX6i, battery charger, and a working heli that i'm happy to take apart if I can use anything? All my Lipo's have gone puffy so they went into the bin.

What do I need? I'm yet to research properly but if anyone can recommend something and save me some time, that would be great!

Thanks guys

Edit: Be able to hold a GoPro would be great! Also, as cheap as possible for this. This is just for me to mess around with and won't be used in the final project, so just a test base.

Edit 2: YOU NEED 4 SPEED CONTROLLERS!? Damn! I know why but still.. More poor little heli only has one! I'm not sure on the best size to go for. 250? 500? GoPro isn't too big so 250? I want to add a gimball type thing to the bottom so would there be enough space and would the motors be powerful enough on a 250? Obviously i pick them but you are limited on size right?

Delvis · 27 Sep 2016 at 09:33

I wouldn't use a 250 if you want a gopro and the gimbal (i.e. one like on a phantom) at least not a 250 in the sense of a racing quad...

This is a quick google for a 250 racer with a gimbal:

It's just daft.

You want something more like a phantom really, some people have purchased Syma X8C's and done similar:

But again they aren't the best thing in terms of power and ease of flying to get proper shots.

When you say speed controllers do you mean ESCs? Yes, because there are four motors, all of which can spin at different speeds and directions effectively.

Perhaps take a look on RC Groups, I'm sure there are some build logs for similar: http://www.rcgroups.com/scratchbuilt-multirotors-791/

savagesam117 · 27 Sep 2016 at 09:56

Okay, that does look stupid. So something 500 size, them phantoms are stupid money!!

Ease of flight for pictures doesn't matter, it's not going to be used in a proper sense it just has to fly, I'm pretty good at helicopters so I'm guessing these must be a piece of cake

ESC - electronic speed controller - speed controller. Same thing

There's loads of options, I forgot how complex RC stuff was

I'll take a look. Thanks

gandhi · 27 Sep 2016 at 09:59

savagesam117 said:
Evening guys,

I'm doing my final year project this year and I need a quadcopter to complete it it'll need a camera attached but that's a different thing. I'll be designing and making a the frame but I need the bits and bobs.

I've got heli stuff, a DX6i, battery charger, and a working heli that i'm happy to take apart if I can use anything? All my Lipo's have gone puffy so they went into the bin.

What do I need? I'm yet to research properly but if anyone can recommend something and save me some time, that would be great!

Thanks guys

Edit: Be able to hold a GoPro would be great! Also, as cheap as possible for this. This is just for me to mess around with and won't be used in the final project, so just a test base.

Edit 2: YOU NEED 4 SPEED CONTROLLERS!? Damn! I know why but still.. More poor little heli only has one! I'm not sure on the best size to go for. 250? 500? GoPro isn't too big so 250? I want to add a gimball type thing to the bottom so would there be enough space and would the motors be powerful enough on a 250? Obviously i pick them but you are limited on size right?

The new generation of motors for 250 sized quads are capable of putting out over 1.3kg of thrust each, so plenty of grunt. A 250 isn't the most stable of platforms for aerial imaging work though, gimbal or not. You'd be better off with something in 450-550 range really.

agnes · 27 Sep 2016 at 10:14

spookywillow said:
There are so many options as they list for each warehouse and some come with the X8R reciever as well. Doesn't appear to be any in the europe or UK warehouses so I would look elsewhere.

I would consider changing your ESC's too, 10A is a little low tbh.

What ESC's should I go for then? About to put in the order.

Delvis · 27 Sep 2016 at 10:55

agnes said:
What ESC's should I go for then? About to put in the order.

What was it you was building again?

I'd say 20A minimum tbh, then depending if you need more headroom 30A. Probably look for some with BlHeli-S on them as well to save faffing down the line

agnes · 27 Sep 2016 at 11:04

Delvis said:
What was it you was building again?

I'd say 20A minimum tbh, then depending if you need more headroom 30A. Probably look for some with BlHeli-S on them as well to save faffing down the line

It's my first quad, it's only a 250 frame, small racing quad which will be running 5x3's (triple blade). The motors them selfs are 8A... So I thought a 10A ESC should be fine?

Here are the items so far:

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__86537__A250_Carbon_Fibre_Racing_Drone_Frame.html

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/..._2300kv_Brushless_Multirotor_Motor_3S_4S.html

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/...3_blade_Propeller_5x3_Black_CW_CCW_2pcs_.html

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/...ight_Naze32_Rev6_Flight_Controller_Acro_.html

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__18207__Turnigy_nano_tech_1300mAh_3S_45_90C_Lipo_Pack.html

Also, any other bits and bobs you guys couldn't live without? I've got a soldering iron and fairly handy with it. I might buy a hot glue gun.

What about 3M double sided foam tape? Electrical tape? Tweasers etc. Any bits you can think of would be awesome

Due to budget, I'm buying all the bits in stages, this month is what I need to build said quad, next month is a Taranis X9D Plus, then the final month is the FPV goggles and camera stuff.

Meanwhile, I've got my trusty Hubsan X4 to keep practicing on, and next month I'll get a sim to use the Taranis with to get one final month in before taking to the real thing. Hopefully I won't destroy it in 5 minutes.

Glaucus · 27 Sep 2016 at 11:25

is there any good guides to flight controllers, especially ones with full gps control and altitude hold.

also is there any magazines, didn't see any in the shop today.