My beautiful JasGad M6 Hexacopter went down today from over 100 feet!

[Long Range RC]

I learned a real big lesson today. When I got home yesterday at 3:00 p.m. I built a JasGad M6 Hexacopter from scratch complete with a Tarot 2 Gimbal, GoPro Hero 3, DJI Naza M-Lite with GPS, and an 8000 mHa Lipo Battery. I built the whole thing by 1:00 a.m. Fogot to use locking bolts. Here is the result.

 

[Long Range RC]

A few hours later and up she goes for a better flight. Two notes here: Always take your time during a build or it could cost you some cash. Second note: Don't use lock tight to hold your propeller bolts on or it will eat through your blades so I will always use self locking nuts from now on.

 

[Long Range RC]

Photos of my JasGad M6.

 

[John Doecliff]

Thanks for the vids. Nice hexa copter. besides a bigger payload capacity what are some advantages of a hexa over a quad? Seems like it would be more stable. Aren't there some trade offs as well? decreased flight time due to faster battery drain? can a quad do everything a hexa can? Can a hexa do something a quad can't? Is it just a personal preference? I'm under the impression that the film studios use the big octo copters because they are so powerful that they can carry a huge payload and are very stable. I see advertising that claims longer flight times with bigger quads because you can put an 6s 8000ma battery on them and run larger props which equates to lower rpms. The turbo ace matrix claims 30 minute flight times.

 

[xlaziox]

Well, the turbo ace claims a 30 minute flight time without a camera I think. You put a big Nex gimbal and camera setup on it and it eats up some serious battery, and brings your flight time under 2o minutes. The spec I saw was ~15min with the NEX. Think the Gopro gets closer to 25 minutes. The matrix can carry a 10,000 mah battery, but at some point you arrive at diminishing returns because of the additional weight from a bigger battery.

 

[Long Range RC]

I will put mine up for a test on flight time soon and post the results for you guys. I made my own and the specs are as follows. FC X580 AL+ Glass Fiber Hexacopter Airframe Glass 580mm Folding Frame, DJI Naza M-Lite with GPS, 950 KV Motors, 25 amp ESC Simmon K Style, 10X4.5 props, 8,000 mAh 14.6 Lipo for motors and a 2,200 mAh 11.1 V lipo for FPV and Gimbal, Tarot 2 Gimbal with updated firmware, GoPro Hero 3 for video and FPV, 900 mHz 500 mA FPV Transmitter, and a wholle mess of cool LED Lights. My longest flight so far has been 15 minutes with 15.8 volts left after landing. I have my failsafe set for 14.3 volts so I am sure I have some more flight time.

And remember I will get great flight time if I remember not to use those silly cone bolts they sent with the motors. LOL.

 

[John Doecliff]

My goal is something like the turbo ace matrix with fpv, gimbal and gopro. The matrix has a pretty high cool factor and I would love to get the kit. Just getting into FPV now so I have a little ways to go before I step up to a bigger quad.

 

[xlaziox]

Well, with a several hours on my Hubsan X4, I am making a big jump to the Matrix. I will let you know how it is when I get it next week. Hopefully I won't toast it right after I get it.

 

[Long Range RC]

Um, The Matrix looks great. It looks like it is a hair bigger than my H4 Hornets. The video on their page is perfect and I love the design of the frame. I am jealous of you if you are getting one. Let me know how it goes and show us some videos when your finished if you don't mind.

 

[xlaziox]

Ok, so, my Matrix was delayed because I changed my mind and decided to get the Futaba 14sg instead of the Futaba 10J, and then when the vendor installed my OSD, the chip fried, so he had to order another one. I was told the DJI OSD chips have a 1 in 30 failure rate. Geeze, you would think they would have to test them before they left the factory. Guess made in China is not the same as made in Japan. He is saying it should be here by the end of the week. I'm thinking more likely Monday or Tuesday. Getting antsy.

 

[Long Range RC]

I just spent spent hours hooking up my my Naza Iosd Mini only to find out it wont work with my Naza M-Lite... It will only work with Naza M.... Blah... More money, More Money.

 

[xlaziox]

LOL. Yeah, exactly. I'm afraid I spent WAY too much on this quad. I'm terrified to fly it anywhere. I might have to put together another cheaper one I'm less terrified to crash so I can actually enjoy flying it without soiling myself every time anything comes close to it. I was watching this last night... I might need one of those. Of course with FPV, Naza M V2 etc., this thing probably gets plenty expensive too.

 

[John Doecliff]

These mini quads seem to be all the rage lately. I would love to have one but I still need to maintain my focus. First build a mid size quad and use it as a learning platform to build on and then get/build a larger quad with a gimbal for quality video recording. Just got FPV going and OSD will probably be the next thing I put on my quad. I found a group of RC guys in my area that have a field that they have permission to use. They fly every Sunday. This will be another resource of info I can use. If it weren't for youtube and web forums I would be completely lost.

 

[Long Range RC]

The H4 Hornets I build with FPV are around $1,700.00 to purchase but they are a larger scale model. They have 12 inch blades, gopro silver, choice of video freq, 8,000 mHa Lipo for flight, 7 inch tv, futaba 7c 2.4. So I know well the cost of these flying cameras. The Hexacopter in this post is closer to $2,000.00 but not completely sure yet. When I crashed it in this video I just was like, Oh Poo, Now I got to fix it.

 

[John Doecliff]

$1700 for everything you listed? That's a bargain. I am looking for something in the 12" to 15" (prop) range. I feel that larger quads are more stable and can handle wind better.

 

[Long Range RC]

Yes they do feel better to fly. If you want to see one of my Hornets take a look at my website. www.longrangerc.com. At this time I only have one complete version test flown and set up ready to ship.