Hello everyone, i am new to the forums and relatively new to the quadcopter world itself. I recently got a Parrot AR Drone 2.0 as a gift and as cool as it is...its just isn't enough. With it not being able to hold a gopro and not handling well on windy days I want to upgrade to something more stable and powerful. I really would like to build my own quad. So my question is where should i get started for parts? What parts am I going to need? Any recommendations you guys have will be a huge help as I have no clue where to start at this moment. Thanks everyone! ~Spydie
How to build a quadcopter
- Thread starter Spydie
- Start date
HI mate , you say you want to carry a go pro, so really 450 min on size , octicopter or hecticopter are the most stable , but a good well built quad can be very stable too try and keep it light as weight eats battery , if it weights 1000g your need about 2500g of lift so you dived by motors ,so if its a quad then each motor needs to give 625g thrust each , this can be done by low kv motor and large props , so if it has 6 or 8 motors each motor has to lift less , also if a motor fails on a quad it will crash but 6 or 8 motor can still fly with a motor fail
list to look at for a quad will read
1 x frame
4 x motors
4 x esc ( simonk flashed as they make the quad smooth to fly )
FCB ( flight control board) kk, naza,nase32,wii etc
GPS ( if your flying FPV) if you want gps this will govern what fcb to have
Fpv system
4/6 channel transmitter and receiver
wire and heat shrink
props 2x cw 2x ccw carbon fibre are better then plastic give a smooth flight
camera mount with servo gimbal
Now where you live will govern where you can buy from, Hk do clone frames and some nice one of there own ,if you need to keep props out of the camera view then H frame or dead cat frame , but once you go 550 or over you should be ok and not have props in the shot
list to look at for a quad will read
1 x frame
4 x motors
4 x esc ( simonk flashed as they make the quad smooth to fly )
FCB ( flight control board) kk, naza,nase32,wii etc
GPS ( if your flying FPV) if you want gps this will govern what fcb to have
Fpv system
4/6 channel transmitter and receiver
wire and heat shrink
props 2x cw 2x ccw carbon fibre are better then plastic give a smooth flight
camera mount with servo gimbal
Now where you live will govern where you can buy from, Hk do clone frames and some nice one of there own ,if you need to keep props out of the camera view then H frame or dead cat frame , but once you go 550 or over you should be ok and not have props in the shot
Thanks for the help! I started looking at parts last night and I found a cheap, cool looking frame i like, what do you think about it in terms of how stable it would be in light to moderate wind?
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/...Copter_A_Mini_Sized_FPV_Multi_Rotor_kit_.html
The motors i was looking at also are
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/..._2213_980Kv_14Pole_Multi_Rotor_Outrunner.html
Sorry for my lack of knowledge in this subject but hey, everyone needs to start somewhere. Can anyone tell me what wire sets i would need to hook up the motors and everything?
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/...Copter_A_Mini_Sized_FPV_Multi_Rotor_kit_.html
The motors i was looking at also are
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/..._2213_980Kv_14Pole_Multi_Rotor_Outrunner.html
Sorry for my lack of knowledge in this subject but hey, everyone needs to start somewhere. Can anyone tell me what wire sets i would need to hook up the motors and everything?
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Hi mate the motors are good i looked at them my self , but will they fit the frame there is no info so i would ask hk first 250 is small why dont you go 450 gives you more room to fit parts and it will be a bit more stable small frames are more like acro quads made for speed and 3d , blackout do a 250 frame but its made for FPV so has room to fit all the parts needed, this is what hk said about frame
The FPV250 is a mini sized FPV quad copter measuring in at a mere 250mm. This durable, inexpensive FPV multi-rotor platform is perfect for FPV racing or obstacle course flying at your local field. like i said fast and a handful its more racing fpv then fpv flying if you understand what i mean watch these videos first is fpv the second is fpv racing
take a look at these they will be better for fpv , a real fpv frame is the best but they are not cheap
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/...SK450_Glass_Fiber_Quadcopter_Frame_450mm.html
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/...opter_Frame_450mm_Integrated_PCB_Version.html
these will carry a go pro but your need to balance it well ,if it was me then i would go for this
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/...hite_Red_With_Crab_Landing_Gear_700mm_V2.html
its a bit more money but the motors will fit and if you go a 5000/8000mah 3 cell and big props the flight time should be good use ecalc to give you an idea just put in weight of frame then next box put to without drive it will work out weight of motors, battery, fcb.esc if you add weight to frame to cover gimbal and camera , it will let you play with prop sizes to get the flight time you need , dont take the results as 100% but it will be close ,kind regards neil
http://www.ecalc.ch/xcoptercalc.php?ecalc&lang=en
The FPV250 is a mini sized FPV quad copter measuring in at a mere 250mm. This durable, inexpensive FPV multi-rotor platform is perfect for FPV racing or obstacle course flying at your local field. like i said fast and a handful its more racing fpv then fpv flying if you understand what i mean watch these videos first is fpv the second is fpv racing
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/...SK450_Glass_Fiber_Quadcopter_Frame_450mm.html
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/...opter_Frame_450mm_Integrated_PCB_Version.html
these will carry a go pro but your need to balance it well ,if it was me then i would go for this
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/...hite_Red_With_Crab_Landing_Gear_700mm_V2.html
its a bit more money but the motors will fit and if you go a 5000/8000mah 3 cell and big props the flight time should be good use ecalc to give you an idea just put in weight of frame then next box put to without drive it will work out weight of motors, battery, fcb.esc if you add weight to frame to cover gimbal and camera , it will let you play with prop sizes to get the flight time you need , dont take the results as 100% but it will be close ,kind regards neil
http://www.ecalc.ch/xcoptercalc.php?ecalc&lang=en
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Cool, i just picked up a Hero 2 for $100 so im probably going to get the second one or third frame you linked me to. I've been watching a bunch of FPV videos lately. My favorite one is
Is there a certain setup i would need to use with the gopro to do FPV flying? At first i thought you would just use the wifi to link it to a screen or phone but after watching a bunch of reviews on the wifi hook up the video has a delayed time from the camera to the phone which would not work well while flying.
Is there a certain setup i would need to use with the gopro to do FPV flying? At first i thought you would just use the wifi to link it to a screen or phone but after watching a bunch of reviews on the wifi hook up the video has a delayed time from the camera to the phone which would not work well while flying.
HI mate transmitter is really what you fancy ,but it need to be a good one with range , spektrum dx6i is what i used and will be going up to a dx9 later this year as i fly scale helis as well as quads , take a look at rcmodelreviews.com Bruce is doing a big FPV set up over the next month or so but he also has videos on his u tube page about FPV like googles ,5.8g trans/receiver , cameras etc
As to FCB well that depends on how much you want to spend , i would say get GPS return home fail safe as FPV quads are not cheap and if you run out of range it will come back one of the best is naza but thats a £250 there are other out there but if you go to DJI site and watch what the FCB can do you save up for it , really is a great board , as i said above Bruce has lots of info on his you tube page and this will help , i will put the videos on here so you can link off them
As to FCB well that depends on how much you want to spend , i would say get GPS return home fail safe as FPV quads are not cheap and if you run out of range it will come back one of the best is naza but thats a £250 there are other out there but if you go to DJI site and watch what the FCB can do you save up for it , really is a great board , as i said above Bruce has lots of info on his you tube page and this will help , i will put the videos on here so you can link off them
Ahh! Okay, im still not familiar with all of the terms yet and controller was the best i could come up with. I checked out the transmitter you have and i think that will be the one i start off with. I have been looking at the gps return home capabilities to save up for but at this moment i don't fly to far out of sight (once i get a complete fpv set up i will) so i wont need it at the moment.