How can I choose the correct parts and where should I look?

Iacob Sorin

Iacob Sorin

Member
Hi guys! My names is Sorin and I am looking forward to building my first quadcopter! So a couple of days ago I stumbled upon a video on youtube from Tested in which some guys were FPV quadcopter racing and I was blown away by every element in that video! The fact that they could see live and in first person view blew me away. Sooo I started to dig around in this hobby and came to the realisation that I simply can't find how-to guide that's idiot proofed(I'm stupidly stupid when it comes to things like this).

Ok so let's get started, I want to build something on a frame like the QAV250, because from what I understand it's better for agile and quick flight...(Please do correct me)? My problems are a) I live in Romania and shipping stuff here is stupid expensive, and b)I don't know what goes well with what :|. I don't know how to choose the right battery, motors, props, ESCs, FC(I want a fc that requires the least amount of tinkering and calibration). Beside all this problems...I have a really tight budget. I am only 16 and unable to obtain my own money :(.

Most people would normally go with learning to fly a cheap quad like a husban or a nano q or something like that but I can't afford that kind of luxury, so I'll do my best not to f up my quad in the first 10 minutes XD.

Please do keep in mind that I only found out about multirotors a couple days ago so anything you guys say is pure gold for me. If you guys know any video tutorials that could help me out...well, that could really help me out XD, oh and also, this is my first time ever on a forum aswell so feel free to tell me the "unwritten rules" of posting in a forum.


Video I saw about FPV quadracing:

P.S. I have no soldering tools nor knowledge so if you guys could help me with parts that require none of that would be awesome(that's the main reason i don't want a naza board but I think that a KK won't fit on this kind of frame:mad:)
 
Hi mate wow lots of questions , where to start a 250 racing quad is fun but a good one will cost , Hobby king has a warehouse in Europe so shipping will be less they do 250 racing frame but is a question on how good it is , there is a guy called Bruce and he has a you tube channel called RCMODELREVIEWS i will put on of his videos on here for you to link on , he is doing a lot of reviews on mini quads dig through his site watch the videos ,this will help you work out what you want
Most FCB are the same size you can get mini boards even kk do one but the nase32 is one of the best will fly from the box on default setting , i think Bruce also tells you what is used on the mini quad so this will tell you what works , do your home work ,i am always on hand to help
He also does basic RC so this covers what an ESC does how a brushless motor works etc
 
Hi guys:)! I have finally found a store that ships to Romania at a nice price(FREEEE!!!!:D), and I found some parts(most of them were in the recommended part of the frame kit). So without further ado, here it is:cool:!


Frame: http://www.banggood.com/QAV250-250mm-Mini-FPV-Quadcopter-Carbon-Fiber-Frame-Kit-QAV250-p-941819.html

Power Distribution Board: http://www.banggood.com/Distribution-Board-ESC-Hub-For-QAV250-KIM250-250Pro-Frame-p-948634.html

Flight Control Board: http://www.banggood.com/OpenPilot-CC3D-Flight-Controller-STM32-32-bit-Flexiport-p-937044.html BUT I still really want that KK board with it's awesome display :p!

Electric Speed Controler: http://www.banggood.com/Emax-Simonk...-40A-ESC-For-Quadcopter-QAV-250-p-918126.html

Motors: http://www.banggood.com/EMAX-MT1806-KV2280-Brushless-Motor-For-Multirotor-p-933931.html

Nowww, some things are still unclear for me:confused:. 1.Why do these things go well together? 2.Are there any better choiches on that site?(Keep in mind that my budget is VERY limited:(.) 3.How do I pick the correct receiver-transmitter combo? 4.Do digital chargers really make that big of a difference or is it just a myth(and if they do, are they worth it?:rolleyes:)? 5. Does lowering the center of mass below the motors by placing the battery below the quad help that stability that much:rolleyes:?

I will go and buy soldering tools because I want to cut as much weight and keep it as clean and nice looking as possible:cool:!
 
Hi mate check out the links i sent, some china frames are junk and not worth touching ,on rc model reviews he look at the china frames and they are not good
 
holtneil said:
Hi mate check out the links i sent, some china frames are junk and not worth touching ,on rc model reviews he look at the china frames and they are not good
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I haven't watched the videos yet but the reason I'm going with a china cheap knock-off is because I simply can't afford the real deal yet, so as long as I can screw everything in it and keep it like that it's good enough for now!
 
holtneil said:
Hi mate i do under stand look at Hobby king they are in Europe and do a 250 racing quad and the FPV in a box is £62 , you wont find it cheaper
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/..._Sized_FPV_Multi_Rotor_kit_EU_Warehouse_.html
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The problem with hobbyking and Romania is that the shipping is somewhere at 100 EUR, which is ridiculous(And it's not hobbykings fault, our stupid laws and taxes and all of that make it so high:mad:)..soo yeahhh, the only place I can afford to buy stuff from is amazon(which doesn't even freaking ship to romania :mad:) and this online store I just found. My plan is to buy the things I listed above+the ones I don't know how to choose from this place and in the long run to upgrade them with stuff from hobbyking ;).
 
holtneil said:
Hi mate i do understand my friend , get the parts you want then we can help you get it flying :cool:
Click to expand...
holtneil said:
Hi mate i do understand my friend , get the parts you want then we can help you get it flying :cool:
Click to expand...
About that, are the ones I thought about fairly ok? And my biggest problem right now is that I don't know what I should look for when buying a receiver-transmitter, all are the transmitters the same and their performance is established by the antenna or...?
 
Hi mate no not all transmitter are the same , you can get a basic 4 channel as the fcb does the work , but its never as good as a programmable one if you want more advanced models later on
Some times the easiest way is find a mini quad that works off the net write down the spec and try and match it with cheaper parts
use ecalc.com or http://flitetest.com/articles/choosing-multicopter-motors
This will help you work out what works and does not
 
I got a question about FCBs. Which should I pick? In the future I want to be able to do some highspeed, tight cornering type of FPV racing but for now...I've never even touched a god damn 20$ helicopter more so a freaking mini quadcopter. So with that said, Is there any FCB that is starter friendly but also capable of doing more advanced stuff?
 
Hi Iacob , well all FCB can do what you want you just need to turn down stick scaling , this will tame the beast as you have less stick throw ( in the transmitter is called duel rates ) but with a quad the transmitter is set up as a plane just 4 basic channels ,and the FCB will do all the settings , if you watch the videos on rcmodelreviews he takes a nase32 out of its box mounts it and flys it , it flys on the default setting
I am a bit worried about what your going to do , you will have loads of crashes which will cost you to fix , most start with toy mini quads till they can fly then more on to bigger faster , but your young and will pick it up fast i hope ,
If and when your all built dont got and fly to fast , what you need to do is hover and get a feel for the quad fly forward stop backwards etc till you can fly a course ,then start to build up speed and height
I was flying CP helis for 8 months before i got into big quads ( i had a hubsanx4 micro for 6 months) i then went 450 ,550,666,700mm quads
a 250 size racing quad it built for speed so are hard to fly you need to be 2 seconds ahead of the quad this is why i say take it slow to start with , As a quad flys like a CP heli you can do the same training as for the CP heli , the hover is going to be easy
I will help you as much as i can but its not going to be a fast road to success
 
holtneil said:
Hi Iacob , well all FCB can do what you want you just need to turn down stick scaling , this will tame the beast as you have less stick throw ( in the transmitter is called duel rates ) but with a quad the transmitter is set up as a plane just 4 basic channels ,and the FCB will do all the settings , if you watch the videos on rcmodelreviews he takes a nase32 out of its box mounts it and flys it , it flys on the default setting
I am a bit worried about what your going to do , you will have loads of crashes which will cost you to fix , most start with toy mini quads till they can fly then more on to bigger faster , but your young and will pick it up fast i hope ,
If and when your all built dont got and fly to fast , what you need to do is hover and get a feel for the quad fly forward stop backwards etc till you can fly a course ,then start to build up speed and height
I was flying CP helis for 8 months before i got into big quads ( i had a hubsanx4 micro for 6 months) i then went 450 ,550,666,700mm quads
a 250 size racing quad it built for speed so are hard to fly you need to be 2 seconds ahead of the quad this is why i say take it slow to start with , As a quad flys like a CP heli you can do the same training as for the CP heli , the hover is going to be easy
I will help you as much as i can but its not going to be a fast road to success
Click to expand...
Hi again holtneil! Thank you for you kind advices! So after experimenting with the hobbyking shipping I discovered that if i split my order into multiple separate ones i can half the shipping costs and after that I looked for some other parts. Basically bow I want the 250 sized frame you first sent me with a cleand and dirty, low hung style which is about 20 eur or so, a cheap 20-30 eur Tranmitter/Receiver Combo, and all the money went into the muscle and brain of this quad with 4 monster baby v2 engines and some 12A afro ESCs and a turningy nano tech 1400 3s battery and of course a naze32 acro. Because i want this too look as neat as possible and to be also a good build I went ahead and added some wire mesh, better scews and gimbal balls(for the clean and dirty), heat shrinks and all the rest. At the end of the day the build is somewhere at 200-230 EUR which is above my budget FOR NOW. I will do as you recommend me and buy a cheap nano quad and learn to fly it and in the meanwhile i will order the parts one by one. Could you recommend me a budget nano quad(preferably one for which I can find replacements like motors and blades) that is under a 100$?
 
holtneil said:
Hi mate well the hubsan x4 with out camera is cheap here are some to look at hubsan is easy to get parts for as in last link http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HUBSAN-X4...sGames_RadioControlled_JN&hash=item58accdd909
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ares-Etho...sGames_RadioControlled_JN&hash=item2c90169f3e
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/4pcs-Moto...sGames_RadioControlled_JN&hash=item54135082c0
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Thank you so much for your guideance holtneil! Sorry for the late response but school just started and it's crazy xD.
 
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