Multirotor, multicopter and quadcopter discussion - The Drone thread

rhysduck said:
90cm? Mine were about 2metres from B&Q :D Couldn't find anything shorter!
I will be making another smaller Tri I think after I master this one.

And yes, CR props at the front. It's what the KK board showed in the motor layout so I went with that. Test hovered it yesterday and it worked a dream. Twitchy though, need to find a tuning how-to vid somewhere.
I think if you look at the Tri from the back, the left prop and tail prop spin anti-clockwise and the right motor spins clockwise. :)

What are you going to use for the body? G10?
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My body (a 1 to 1 copy from RCExplorer) is still in one piece, if a little scuffed. Made it out of unclad PCB, really strong and light. Temped to buy a professionally cut frame though
 
I had to order a new arm for my S800 today. I was removing all the screws and threadlocking them but one of the motor-mounting screws must have been cross threaded in the factory because it just sheared off.
Oh well, only £20 and a soldering job so not too bad.

The build is coming along nicely. Everything is up and running and the gimbal, vTx, iOSD, remote shutter etc are all working. Once I've got the new arm on there I should be in a position to do a tethered test flight.
I'll clamp the legs to the ground in the garage and go through the full throttle range to make sure everything is as it should be. I just hope it doesn't rip the flight section from the legs.
 
Cyclone said:
Phantom and camera firmware updated, the transmitter didnt need one. I changed the signal to FCC with the app so I didnt bother with the screw. Just charging all the batteries now for first flight which might be tomorrow now.

Slightly paranoid with the props as they've gone on loosely (as per the manual), but cant believe they tighten in flight :eek:
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Looks great... Make sure to share a video of its maiden voyage :-)
 
I took it out and didnt have the best start. I thought it was best to take her up slowly but the phantom toppled over into the grass & mud.

2nd attempt was better but because of my dodgy flying with my helicopters I didnt go too high or too far, it just basically hovered in front. I must admit though the Phantom is easier to fly than helis.

I will charge her up, change some camera settings and give it another go tomorrow.
 
Hurrah, 3rd outing with FPV and it's all clicked now. Got all my stuff working properly after firmware updates (iOSD wasn't showing any data and the picture had some odd issues).

Advice from rcgroups sorted me out... know where the sun is, where the road is and get your bearings from obvious landmarks. :D
 
I was on YouTube earlier and saw a video for the DJI wookong flight controller. Thought it was a very cool bit of kit until I saw the price! Are there any cheaper options that offer the same functionality?
 
panthro said:
I was on YouTube earlier and saw a video for the DJI wookong flight controller. Thought it was a very cool bit of kit until I saw the price! Are there any cheaper options that offer the same functionality?
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Yeah get an APM 2.6 or Pixhawk (the Pixhawk is the newer version). The firmware is incredibly mature now and Aruducopter 3.1 introduced self tune so you don't even need to play with PIDs. It also has the most locked in loiter and GPS mode I've seen.
 
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BTW, one odd thing today... has anyone else found that insects are attracted to your multirotor? I nearly killed what seemed like an amorous bumblebee today - had to give it some throttle to get the props away from it, which had the effect of blowing the poor thing down to the floor!

He was OK, though! :)
 
Does anyone have an Ares QX 130? They look quite good for a cheap (£53) quad for messing about with. People seem to have them carrying the Keychain Cameras without issues. Thinking of getting one of those to start with and building my own later on.
 
First major crash today, but got my first few aerial shots in before hand.

North.JPG

West.JPG

The crash...

it was a biggie, almost lost it.

I fly in a big grass field next to the block of flats where I live, it's about 200m wide by 300m long at a guess and rarely used. I took the quad as high as I dared and I think I lost GPS lock as it started to move off away from me but I still had control... I was trying to get it back and down but as I was in Stability mode to get the height I got my left/right and forwards/backwards confused, didn't think to switch it to Safe/Smart mode and use stick relativity to get it back to me... I then lost signal and it started to go down over some houses in the distance... cue me knocking on doors disturbing young cute girls wearing next to nothing, topless men in pj bottoms, lil old ladies, etc apologizing for disturbing them and asking if they could look in their back garden for my quad... eventually got it and amazingly in one piece!!!

One more impact like this and it'll need a new body.


Stress mark on arm, and stress mark near a slot on the edge that seems to have bent the plastic slightly so it is open, hoping the internals are ok.

RearLeftArm.jpg


Battery Compartment area, seems to have a split now, must be a weak spot.

BatteryCompartment.jpg
 
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FunkyCowie said:
First major crash today, but got my first few aerial shots in before hand.

file.php

file.php

The crash...

it was a biggie, almost lost it.

I fly in a big grass field next to the block of flats where I live, it's about 200m wide by 300m long at a guess and rarely used. I took the quad as high as I dared and I think I lost GPS lock as it started to move off away from me but I still had control... I was trying to get it back and down but as I was in Stability mode to get the height I got my left/right and forwards/backwards confused, didn't think to switch it to Safe/Smart mode and use stick relativity to get it back to me... I then lost signal and it started to go down over some houses in the distance... cue me knocking on doors disturbing young cute girls wearing next to nothing, topless men in pj bottoms, lil old ladies, etc apologizing for disturbing them and asking if they could look in their back garden for my quad... eventually got it and amazingly in one piece!!!

One more impact like this and it'll need a new body.


Stress mark on arm, and stress mark near a slot on the edge that seems to have bent the plastic slightly so it is open, hoping the internals are ok.

file.php


Battery Compartment area, seems to have a split now, must be a weak spot.

file.php
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Cant see any of the pics
 
They are linked from another site that you have access to and we dont thats why you can see them and we dont
 
I can see them now

Your so lucky you got it back with only a few cracks you have got off lightly

Are you using the supplied transmitter ?
 
They are only stress marks where the plastic would have folded slightly on impact, its not cracked, a new body with screws is only £20ish so I may just get a spare in case :D

Yeah... it is the supplied TX but there is a way you can increase the range, a bit fiddly but possible.

In the second picture the block of flats is 150 foot tall for reference to the height I achieved.
 
After having around 60 flights with my Hubsan mini quad copter it died earlier last year. I had such a great time with it that I'd like to get another cheapish quadcopter.

(Edit: Failed to see Capt Doufos also mentioning about this quad)

I've been looking at the RTF Ares Ethos QX 130, seems to be quite decent for £52 or so. Any thoughts or recommendations?

I do have a Spectrum DX6i that i could use in a kit at a later stage. I think for now I'd rather get something that just flies out of the box.
 
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I am looking into the QX130, it seems it's the same as the V222 Bang Good have at £42 although the TX controller looks better on the Ares. On the plus side it means you cam pick up more batteries cheap. (5 for £13 + Postage to the UK).

All the reviews are good, I think I am going to give one a go. It's just a shame it doesn't have any blade protectors.
 
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