Very New, About to build my 1st

Gareth

Member
Hi,

I'm a South African who wants to build my 1st Quad.

I have the aluminum tubing for the frame. The copter will be about 840mm - 1050mm between motors
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I have received my ArduCopter with GPS which I ordered online.

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Waiting for my LiPo (11.1V S3 5000mAh 30C) <- Hope this is OK

I need to know what my options are for the motors and speed controllers... oh and propellers?
What would suite my frame size better?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated...

Thanks,
Regards,
Gareth
 

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If you are new to this, starting with an 840 is ambitious, but with what you have now, you want to target props of 13 to 15 inches, and get pretty low kv motors to drive them. The first complication I can see is you may need a battery with a higher current rating than 30 to drive four motors which may max out at more than 50amps. And many of the motors you look at will call for 4 to 7S batteries!
Here's one to look at: (I chose because it includes S, current and thrust data) http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/...Outrunner_550kv_46_Glow_.html?strSearch=550kv
With a frame that size, you may also wish to consider an OctoCopter, mounting four motors half way back on each arm. In any event, you want the ESCs to be rated around 10% or more above the max current of the motors connected to them.
If your 3S lipo doesn't work in the flight mix, don't worry -- you'll be able to use it to power your FPV gear on the ground. Don't make the 3S you have a criteria for choosing anything (that may not work in the end).

I assume you're building large to get payload, flight time, range or all three. If you want long range, don't forget to consider LRS options before buying anything that smacks of a radio. Not all flight radios adapt to all modules or frequencies (or telemetry) Lower frequencies typically carry farther, so don't get sucked into a 2.4GHz radio with 5.8 FPV if that's not going to do what you want. And if long range is in the picture, you'll want the center deck (at least one of them) to be pretty large, so you can get some separation between your various transmitting and receiving antennas (FPV, telemetry, GPS, and flight receiver). The closer they are, the more they tend to stomp on each other.

Did you fabricate that 'X' frame? If so, you should be able to fabricate motor mount plates, and if you have heliarc gear, you might as well attach them that way. The center "deck" can be fiberglass or carbon fiber, probably two or more plates, spaced to hold your controller, receiver, ESCs, battery, sling a camera, and mount your GPS in a dome on top, so the GPS is above everything else (looking horizontally across the craft), especially the carbon fiber props.

Maybe it would be good for you to tell us what you intend for this (quad?) to DO. You had to have something in mind to make it this large, and apparently not collapsible! At least I see no hinges or pivots anywhere. And by the way, how do you intend to transport this beast? If you built that frame, I'd think about engineering some pivots! Otherwise, you'll need a cattle truck to haul it.
 
Hi,
Thanks for the reply.
What do i intend it to do you ask?
Well my Mom lives literally 20 houses up the road from me an I was thinking a payload of water balloons would be a good idea... LOL just kidding... sort of... lol

Seriously, I never thought about allowing the frame to fold up, ill work on that for sure. I will probably use fiberglass for the plates. and what ever is 3D printable will be.
I'm not going for the FPV just yet.
Just want something that I can have some fun flying (No experience flying anything) Ill take it slow... got a few rc fields around that i can get some flight instruction...

What should I reduce the length from 840mm down to if i use props of max 12inch? if that is done what motors would be better and what battery?

15inch is way bigger than I thought...

would 600mm allow for 12 inch props?

realize we are talking two different languages here lol inches and millimeters

Thanks,
Regards,
Gareth
 
Quick eval on the info you gave...

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B is the distance between props using the sizes i initially stated and you advised on.
A is the new distance between blades if I were to make the frame 600mm wide using 12 inch props

Props are quite a bit closer with that little adjustment, does it look ok?
 

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Looking at your design, you can go either way. Smaller props give you more room for a larger center deck. Later on, you'll probably sling a camera underneath, so trying to video between props isn't a factor.
600mm is easier to transport than 840, and 11 inches is a good common prop for that size. When you shop, you'll find plenty of motors between 800 and 950kv that are rated for 3s and 11 inch props. They'll require ESCs between 20 and 40 amps. A lot of the info is for 7.4v & 14.8v. A 3s is 11.1v, so you have to split the difference in recommended prop length.
You may also want to consider buying a cheap RTF quad to play with and learn on, especially "head in" flying where the controls are reversed, and learning banked rudder turns. It's safer to learn with a small quad. Having 11 or 12 inch props spinning when you may fly the thing into yourself or someone else is a bad formula! The general consensus is that you're going to crash while learning and crashing does less damage to a quad that weighs next to nothing. You also get the opportunity to practice flying indoors, which a 600 isn't going to be good for. If you do decide to solo on your DIY quad, for God's sake, buy soft plastic props! Especially if you aren't doing video or FPV anyway. (carbon fiber is generally thought to reduce vibration as they are stiffer)
As you build your frame, note that the general rule is the frame should weigh no more in grams than the outer dimension, so your whole frame (without components) should not exceed 600 grams by much if anything.
Find your motors & props. Your 3S might work, or it might need higher current rate. Then size the ESCs to 10% or more above the max current on the motor. If you're lucky and careful you can get the motors terminated with the same plugs as the ESCs, and those to have the same plugs as the power distribution board -- probably 3.5mm. Don't forget to order servo leads -- they don't come with ANYTHING. And the Quanum GPS/mag is a ublox LEA-6H with a nice dome -- really improves loiter.

Go shopping and let's see what you come up with.
 
Thanks for the advice,

Gona get on with it so long...

This is the section of the frame i have so far... busy printing the connectors and center plate. will mount a fiberglass plate on top.

will only design and print the motor mounts when i get the motors

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more questions to come...
 

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If you buy the "Donkey motor", it has a 44mm mounting! So good idea not printing before you get them. Try to integrate the mount plate into the aluminum arm so that at least one bolt goes through the arm itself. That will stabilize things and take the strain off the 3d printed part.
 
Those motors look fine from a spec point of view, but the shafts are a bit odd (custom). Are you planning to use matching "keyed" props? I'm not familiar with that "flat, slot" configuration. I know if you hit something, it's better to have the prop spin a little on the shaft, than have the shaft rip out of the motor (you will lose the prop either way), so I'm not that interested in locking the prop onto the shaft that tightly.

Best thing to do is put your numbers into eCalc. You can estimate your AUW (all-up weight). Just put in a value for the ESCs, but focus on the battery cells, motors and props. What you're looking for when you recalculate is the power in watts (do not exceed motor rating), and the temperature numbers and curves. If anything comes up red, choose different parts or values.
Here's the best link I can post to it: http://www.ecalc.ch/xcoptercalc.php?ecalc&lang=en

The most important thing, if you are going to PRINT the motor mounts, is stiffness. You especially do not want the mounts to flex up and down with motor/prop vibration, so plan the mounts with a raised wall from the arm tube down to the pan at an angle if you can, and if you wait until you have the motors, you can print a raised (or lowered) lip around the pan, adding strength and reducing flex.
 
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