Building Hybrids for fun.

Mike H.

Toy Quad Builder
Man, ill tell you...todays toy quads are getting better and better with technology and i dont see a better time than now to dive into this hybrid building fun.

So what exactly is a hybrid quad copter?
My definition is, A quad copter consisting of parts put together from different models to build one custom quad copter for overall performance or make one more suitable to ones needs/wants.

The goal here is to find the better parts from different quads that may be compatible with each other..Not all motors are created equal...Not all flight boards are created equal..Not all radios are created equal and this can go on and on for almost every part of a toy quad copter.

The concept is quite simple really and, its not actually new unless you consider around 5 years to be so.

Sometimes a hybrid can consist of not very many changes at all..One example where minor change is needed is with some of the SYMA X5 style clones...Some cloners would add larger more powerful motors or better programmed flight control boards to improve its performance which can work in the syma x5 series.

One such example of a great combination is the FY326 Q7 ,which has the same exact style of body as the x5c which is of a miniature DJI phantom body clone in a 200mm size..This fy326 quad uses much larger and more powerful 8.5mm brushed motors as opposed to the smaller 7mm brushed motors on the X5C..The flight board on the FY326 is acceptable but can be improved upon...A simple change of the flight board and a compatible radio can yield you the benefits of those powerful 8.5mm motors and provide much more aggressive programming to yaw rates and roll rates as well as much steeper pitch angles to take advantage of all this power...The result is a very very fun quad copter with performance you cant purchase on the market as a single model...Every model has it drawbacks and problems..Eliminate those problems and you have a big winner on your hands.

You may choose to do a hybrid build based on the looks of a quadcopter..Maybe one finds (such as i do) the DM007 body to be a very aggressive and sinister looking body...The only problem is the flight board and controller used with them suck and are not very good at all...So why not just fix it with something better, is my way of thinking.


The DM007 is one of a few models that use a higher voltage power system consisting of 7.4 volts...So our choices to improve it will have to come from other 7.4v models which are considered much better than the DM007..So all that is left is to research those better models and see how the flight boards and transmitters perform andn chose the best of the bunch to install into the DM007.
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For me, i like to take a very budget minded route...I search the prices of flight boards to these model and the transmitters to determine the least costly route to improve my quad...In this particular case, the Tarantula X6 flight board and transmitter would be my choice to build one nice looking DM007 toy quad with much improved performance.

Building hybrids can give you the best of any toy model out there flying on the field, leaving the others to wonder how yours flies much more stable and has much more speed and handles so much better than theirs.

The possibilities are almost endless with hybrids..if you find a good flight board it can work in almost any quad you choose but there are limitations..These limitations consist of the boards programmed capabilities..Some boards will still work just fine using a larger size model quad and some not so much...So trial and error is your best friend to see what each board is capable of providing.

You will see one particular board mentioned often by myself, as it has been proven by others to work in numerous applications and, even in quads much larger than the board was intended to be used for..THE JJRC 1000 flight control board...The best way to obtain this board is to purchase just the bind and fly model which is $12.49 to $16.00 price range depending on where purchased...If you dont have a jjrc 1000 model you can use spare parts for then just purchasing the board for less than $10.00 may be the better route to take.

Here is a list of my future hybrid builds in which i plan to build at some point or another..Im happy to share them and if you wish to build ahead of me then please do so and just let me know how it worked out for you.

FY326 quad with JJRC 1000A FCB.
NIHUI U807 quad with JJRC 1000A FCB.
DM007 quad with Tarantula X6 FCB.
JJRC H12C quad with a JJRC 1000A FCB

One thing to note is every build shown will all operate on the same transmitter i have which is the replacement transmitter for the Tarantual X6 quad copter of which i paid a whole $12.49 for.

I do plan to try other flight boards using different protocols and, different radios but, my main fleet will all be JJRC 1000 FCB's which are compatible with WL Toys V2x2 protocol using the NRF24L01 module such as the x6 transmitter and a few other transmitter use.

If anyone has any questions or suggestions or even ideas for a build then share them here if you wish and, if you need any suggestions or advice ill do the best i can to help you build your dream hybrid quad copter.

Thanks for reading.
 
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I suppose im more of the toy quad builder as opposed to hobby grade...If that is the direction you want to get started with i can help lead you in that direction.

Nothing like a great flying inexpensive start...Mixing and matching the right parts can make for a very solid first quad.

Hit me up if you want something along those lines for pretty cheap...It will be much easier than you might think.
 
Ok...... I have been looking on Hobby King at the 200 class size quad frame kits. I will need some guidance for motor size and battery sizes to consider, along with everything else.
 
Can you program a flight board and calibrate an ESC..whats your budget for a radio as well?..were not talking about low cost here at all...expect to pay $200 or more easily and this isnt including a good radio which will be around $100 as well if not more.

The frames are fairly cheap but you may want to check shipping costs from hobby king..Great prices but, alot of things they stick it to you with shipping.

Building a hobby grade is out of my league somewhat as i havent jumped into that realm of things as of yet so, maybe one of the others can help you choose motors and esc's and a flight board and a radio as well as setting it up properly and what size props and where to go to download the software for the flight control board and, how to calibrate the esc's and the other 500 steps (it seems like) to get it going. Hahaha.

I'll stick to my low cost toy quads.:rolleyes:
 
If youre starting out with just a frame you have no choice but to build hobby grade unless using a frame designed for brushed motors.
 
I use PicnicQuads frames for "custom" toy quad builds...they arent 200 size however and are much smaller.

If you just want something that flies well i recommend a cheap bind and fly model and using one of the better flight boards and a cheap controller to fly it with...Or just a popular model that flies well from the start.
 
I see a 140, that is a little smaller than I wanted to build. I would like to build something around the 6" to 8" size.
 
Yeah, I didn't mean to highjack the 250 build thread.
Hahaha..no biggie...mods will fix it...they need something to do..hahaha.

Im not sure how to get you a custom 200mm sized body or frame without it needing to be hobby grade to assemble.

The SYMA X5C-1 and JJRC H5C and actually quite a few more models are 200mm sized....this is probably your best bet at building low cost in that size.
 
Youre not going to be able to build "toy cheap" using frames designed for brushless motors.

Youre only choices really are picnicquads designed frames or buy something like a bind and fly model and use the best motors and flight board as well as props to build a well performing hybrid.
 
Figure in these costs to build something brushless aside from frame cost

Electronic speed controllers...You need 4 of them at about $12 to $15.00 each.

Motors you need 4 as well at around the same cost or even higher...add in for 4 props and a few spares as well.

Programmable flight controller around $20 to $25.00 for a basic model like a naze 32 or a cc3d.

The transmitter you need to fly it properly figure about $100.00 or more for a decent one.

Now you have to know how to program the esc,s as well as the flight control board itself and set up the radio.

Dont forget about $40.00 for a decent charger and another $40 or so for at least 2 batteries.

Add it up and see what you come up with.

Or spend $60 $65.00 for something you only need to solder a few wires and remove a few screws on to build.
 
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