Ready for my first build.

Everso

Everso

Member
Hi all,


I have a couple of RTF quads and they are fun. I now feel it’s time to step up and build something a bit more serious for aerial photography/videos. I have a SJ400 (go pro copy) that I am looking to get skyward and thought of something like an F450. With that in mind I found these kits on e-bay that seem to be available all the time


http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DIY-F450-...718292?hash=item3d06100554:g:p~gAAOSwZetXOpPG


My first real question is – how much extra will I have to buy to get this up and flying? I know it needs a battery and charger as well as a remote. One of my quads is a Walkera QR LadyBird. This came with a Devo F7 remote so I was hoping this would be suitable to pair with the kit. Someone please tell me I am right with this?
I have the following “Must haves” and “Nice to haves” so if anyone would take the time to answer as many of these as the feel like I would be grateful.

Must Have
Able to carry GoPro sized camera.
Return to home function if transmission is lost.
Stable enough to make decent videos.

Nice to have (no order)

Work with my Devo F7 remote
Program a route from a laptop and let it do it’s thing
Able to program no fly zones.
Able to program minimum altitude for certain areas or except when landing.
Able to be modified to carry extra battery/larger battery for extended flights.
Fit the FPV camera from the ladybird so I can get an idea of what is in frame for the GoPro.


I am a tinkerer by nature and an IT technician by profession so messing on with things and modding them is not only not a scary thing but I find it fun. I am also (due in a day or two) getting a 3D printer so if it comes down to “you can but need this bit” printing my own is always an option. I see plenty of upgrades available on-line and can see me doing things like extended legs, bigger battery bays etc.
I look forward to joining you guys “up there” and am hoping that what I have selected iss not missing a load of expensive parts that put it out of my price range.

Thanks for reading

Everso
 
What do you think about getting an older Phantom with GPS functionality without the gimbal/camera combo and just mounting a GoPro gumball to the bottom? I ask this because I don't know how much you can spend.

If you are looking more along the lines of a building I'd suggest the APM flight controller, some 700-980kv motors, 3-4s battery, 25-40 amp ESCs (depending on the motors), and some 10"-15" props depending on everything else, and a cheap GoPro gimbal, and a 5200 mAh to 8000 mAh battery.


Thia was all chose with a little bit of guessing so be sure to check out what you can afford and where you are wanting to spend extra and where you wish to cut back on spending.
 
Well ... as it happens I bought this on ebay yesterday

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/291838114715?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

It seemed like a lot of gear for a very good price. A 250 quad sems to be more than capable of lifting a gopro if the included mobious is not up to it. Given that the mobuious is CMOS rather then CCD it#s also quite resistant to jello effect so thats nice. I also plan to fit my Canon A570 compact camera. It's a bit lighter than a gopro and can be set to take one still every second so I should be able to gt some fantastic stills out of it as well.

I figure if worst come to worst and it's not got the lift capacity I need I can get a F450 (or even an F550) with some motors for about £50-£70 and drop all the bits onto that. Might have to fo the ESCs as well but it all seems dooable to me.

Thank you for the reply. I have no doubt I'll be back here more than a few times. I need goggles/ ground station ... all sorts of things to talk about. And that's before I try and find a FPV racing club in my area.
 
Everso said:
Well ... as it happens I bought this on ebay yesterday

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/291838114715?_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

It seemed like a lot of gear for a very good price. A 250 quad sems to be more than capable of lifting a gopro if the included mobious is not up to it. Given that the mobuious is CMOS rather then CCD it#s also quite resistant to jello effect so thats nice. I also plan to fit my Canon A570 compact camera. It's a bit lighter than a gopro and can be set to take one still every second so I should be able to gt some fantastic stills out of it as well.

I figure if worst come to worst and it's not got the lift capacity I need I can get a F450 (or even an F550) with some motors for about £50-£70 and drop all the bits onto that. Might have to fo the ESCs as well but it all seems dooable to me.

Thank you for the reply. I have no doubt I'll be back here more than a few times. I need goggles/ ground station ... all sorts of things to talk about. And that's before I try and find a FPV racing club in my area.
Click to expand...
I agree that you'll find global shutter a little more to your liking when dealing with the jello effect due rolling shutter, as a little blur is better than the wavy distortion the rolling shutter gives hahaha. I spent several hours tracking down all of the vibrations causing the jello on my quad because my camera has the rolling shutter.

That looks like a great buy, one of the few 250s I've seen with a GPS setup though hahaha, normally that is more reserved for bigger quads. Have you considered what type of aerial photography you want to do? Are you going for stills or video? If you are wanting nice smooth video I'd suggest a gimbal, if you want fast racing type video or stills you can get by without one. Also if you are looking to do some panos take a look at a software called Hugin, here are some examples I did using a Runcam and pulling stills from a video.

If you're interested in a little info and possibly even product suggestions for your FPV then be sure to take a look at .
 
Hi GJH,

I am not sure exactly what I will be doing. This one seemed like a good all rounder. For video I will be using the Mobius or maybe my SJ400 (Go-Pro Copy). For stills I have a Canon A570IS. This has been hacked and one of the functions is an intervaometer. The plan is to put in a big card and set it to take one picture per second. Anything I want a nice still off - I just hover for a few seconds and it's done. The FPV will allow me to frame well enough I hope.

Can't wait to get my hands on it. I've been reading up on the software to plug in control - along with a bit on setting up a ground station. Many hours of fiddling ahead of me I think.
 
Everso said:
Hi GJH,

I am not sure exactly what I will be doing. This one seemed like a good all rounder. For video I will be using the Mobius or maybe my SJ400 (Go-Pro Copy). For stills I have a Canon A570IS. This has been hacked and one of the functions is an intervaometer. The plan is to put in a big card and set it to take one picture per second. Anything I want a nice still off - I just hover for a few seconds and it's done. The FPV will allow me to frame well enough I hope.

Can't wait to get my hands on it. I've been reading up on the software to plug in control - along with a bit on setting up a ground station. Many hours of fiddling ahead of me I think.
Click to expand...
Hahaha a you've got that right. No matter what you build you end up having to do a LOT of tinkering. Sounds like a great plan, can't wait to see how it all goes.
 
So - the quad should arrive sometime this week. I recon get it plugged into a PC before I even attempt my first flight - check that out.

I am also trying to find a local RC club that is not 100% into "proper RC planes" and has some sort of a multi-rotor section. I think I might have found one and will hopefully have a visit there. Like everyone keeps on saying - this is not a toy - do it right.
 
Well - it arrived today. So many wires. There are also several things not connected like the telemetry ... stuff is held on with tape and so on. I am thinking of stripping it down to just the bare minimum - motors - esc - controller - RX (I think that is enough to fly) and then setting up the controller. Ge used to flying that then I can slowly add bits (or move them to a larger frame like a 450). Does this sound like a sensible way to go?
 
Yep, if it's a mess I'd strip it down and start from scratch. You don't know if all the wirin's correct and all the solder connections are done properly. Reinstall the motors & ESC's, flight controller and receiver. Get all calibrated with your radio and get it in the air get some stick time in. Then you can start adding your FPV and that's all you need. Add an OSD to give vital information and you're set.
 
I built two video platforms. One was a Parallax Elev-8 (V2) quad and the other was a Tarot FY680 Pro hexcopter. Both aircraft use a clone APM 2.6 flight controller/autopilot with external GPS, telemetry, and500 mW video transmitter. Both use a Tarot 2axis gimbal and share a GoPRo Hero4 camera.

The Elev-8 has been highly modified - replace the stock motor with Tarot 4006 620KV motors and larger props:

Clearance%20Solved_zpsuhiraldl.jpg


The Tarot uses the same motors as well:

DSCF2403_zpscxgjxa82.jpg


The choice of an APM was motivated by the following: many flight modes that make flying easy - Stabilize, Loiter, Alt Hold, etc. as well as the ability to fly autonomously. This permits me to focus on the camera while the aircraft flies the waypoint mission. I can alos monitor the aircraft using the 900 mhz telemetry transceiver - I use a laptop in the field with a matching telemetry transceiver connected via a USB port.
 
Everso said:
Hi all,


I have a couple of RTF quads and they are fun. I now feel it’s time to step up and build something a bit more serious for aerial photography/videos. I have a SJ400 (go pro copy) that I am looking to get skyward and thought of something like an F450. With that in mind I found these kits on e-bay that seem to be available all the time


http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DIY-F450-...718292?hash=item3d06100554:g:p~gAAOSwZetXOpPG


My first real question is – how much extra will I have to buy to get this up and flying? I know it needs a battery and charger as well as a remote. One of my quads is a Walkera QR LadyBird. This came with a Devo F7 remote so I was hoping this would be suitable to pair with the kit. Someone please tell me I am right with this?
I have the following “Must haves” and “Nice to haves” so if anyone would take the time to answer as many of these as the feel like I would be grateful.

Must Have
Able to carry GoPro sized camera.
Return to home function if transmission is lost.
Stable enough to make decent videos.

Nice to have (no order)

Work with my Devo F7 remote
Program a route from a laptop and let it do it’s thing
Able to program no fly zones.
Able to program minimum altitude for certain areas or except when landing.
Able to be modified to carry extra battery/larger battery for extended flights.
Fit the FPV camera from the ladybird so I can get an idea of what is in frame for the GoPro.


I am a tinkerer by nature and an IT technician by profession so messing on with things and modding them is not only not a scary thing but I find it fun. I am also (due in a day or two) getting a 3D printer so if it comes down to “you can but need this bit” printing my own is always an option. I see plenty of upgrades available on-line and can see me doing things like extended legs, bigger battery bays etc.
I look forward to joining you guys “up there” and am hoping that what I have selected iss not missing a load of expensive parts that put it out of my price range.

Thanks for reading

Everso
Click to expand...

Please help
I have built a quardcopter
With a2212/13 kv 1400 brushless motor
Specifications - Stator dia (mm) - 22 Stator length (mm) - 13 Stator arms - 12 Magnet Poles - 14 RPM (kv) - 1400 Idle Current (A) - 0.68/8 Max Current (A) - 20 Max Power (w) - 220/3 Biggest Thrust (g/s) - 1265/4 Rotor dia (mm) - 28 Shaft dia (mm) - 3.17 Motor length (mm) - 28 Overall Length (mm) - 42

Prophelers with 10* 4.5pitch

With esc •30 A

* Firmware: Simonk

* Weight (Kgs): 35g



Flight controler of arducopterv2.6
On my own custom frame of aluminium

Now the total weght of ma quard is 800 gm without any battery

Frame size is 600 mm motor to motor in + configuration


Now plz tell me which battery i sould go for for a longer flite time
and i want to know that the motors and prophelers esc i have used is it ok are not or i have to make some changes


Plz tell me
 
Props and ESCs sound fine. If you go with a Gens Ace 3s 4000 mAh lipo, your total weight would be 1128 grams (800 + 328 for the battery). You need motors that will provide a total of 2256 grams of thrust. Here is a link to a YouTube video where a guy measured thrust using the kind of motor and prop you intend to use
Given this guy's measurements and your numbers you should be okay.
 
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