GlassKnees
Well-Known Member
So, while waiting for a replacement ESC that I burned up in my Tarot 650 Iron Man, I was going through my box-o-parts - stuff I had ordered some time ago as spares for my Elev-8's ( I had two), such as motors mounts, and parts I salvaged from a crash - three booms, chassis plates, misc. hardware:
And I thought, gee, I almost have enough to resurrect a new Elev-8 quad! On impulse, I ordered from Parallax another boom, ESCs, f.c. mount plate and Elev-8 cover plate.
In addition, I have a lot of hardware - saddle washers, screws, standoffs, etc:
So then, I sat down with the online assembly manual and inventoried what I would need to complete a build: Flight controller, propellers, 6 ch receiver.
Then I started researching flight controllers. There are a number of them at various price points and most seem to use firmware from Betaflight, Raceflight, Cleanflight, Ronin, Inav and a couple others. Looking into them, I am kinda turned off.... The software needed to load the firmware and make adjustments all seem rather crude compared to Mission Planner (yes, I'm an Ardupilot bigot). I don't want to have to make guesses about pid values before I even take off for the first time. And I do like having different flight modes, such as RTL in case I get into trouble....
So, I am considering using an APM. I have a spare GPS/compass as well as telemetry modem. If I go with an APM, then in addition to the above, I will also need a power module and shock absorbing mount - total coost for the APM solution is $82 - everything purchased from Amazon.
Seems compelling to have another quad for $82...
And I thought, gee, I almost have enough to resurrect a new Elev-8 quad! On impulse, I ordered from Parallax another boom, ESCs, f.c. mount plate and Elev-8 cover plate.
In addition, I have a lot of hardware - saddle washers, screws, standoffs, etc:
So then, I sat down with the online assembly manual and inventoried what I would need to complete a build: Flight controller, propellers, 6 ch receiver.
Then I started researching flight controllers. There are a number of them at various price points and most seem to use firmware from Betaflight, Raceflight, Cleanflight, Ronin, Inav and a couple others. Looking into them, I am kinda turned off.... The software needed to load the firmware and make adjustments all seem rather crude compared to Mission Planner (yes, I'm an Ardupilot bigot). I don't want to have to make guesses about pid values before I even take off for the first time. And I do like having different flight modes, such as RTL in case I get into trouble....
So, I am considering using an APM. I have a spare GPS/compass as well as telemetry modem. If I go with an APM, then in addition to the above, I will also need a power module and shock absorbing mount - total coost for the APM solution is $82 - everything purchased from Amazon.
Seems compelling to have another quad for $82...
