Well, here goes. In at the Deep End !

[MalcB]

Hi Guys

After simply weeks of trawling the net, with brain getting absolutely full to bursting, with more acronyms than you see on Douglas Prom at T.T. week, I decided to have a go at building my own Quadcopter, with absolutely NO experience whatsoever.
Or if you prefer a more accurate description, I'm going to try and get this 'ere Plank and aluminum
sawn in half clothes rail, to FLY, with the help of some hopefully suitable motors.
What I really need is you Guy's thumbs up on my mathematics and conclusions.

The build I am trying initially has a plywood base of about 480mm (19") x 125mm (5").
Not unlike this:

(This is what I am going to do all my hacking and gluing on, hopefully to end up with a template
for something lighter).
Current weight of bare frame, arms and motor mounts 560g
A little heavy I know, but without any other components yet, not sure where to carve out !
As far as I can calculate, with FPV, Xaomi Yi and Gimbal final AUW should be probably 1465g.

Applying the 'Double the Weight, and add 20% for luck Rule', I've seen, brings us to 3516g
Divide by 4 and each motor has to give 879g of thrust.
I've seen RCXBE2217-9 930Kv which have quite taken my fancy, and are claimed to give 1000g of thrust (each) with a 10 x 4 prop @ 6926 RPM.
My limited knowledge suggests these would easily allow my build to hover @ 50% throttle.

My question is:
If I can manage to reduce my AUW by at least 260g (ie the weight of a 3000mAh Lipo) which I believe, giving a weight of 1.2Kg these motors aren't going to be TOO powerful are they ?

Cheers
MalcB

 

[ringolong]

Looks interesting. Good luck and keep us posted!

 

[MalcB]

Answer please anyone ?
Dying to order Motors and get started, but don't want to order the wrong ones !!!

P.S. Thinking I'm going to need at least 10" props to shift the beast, although the frame may take up to 14" but at the very limit !

 

[ringolong]

2217 - 930kv should be plenty of power for a 450mm. I would go lower kv if you do plan on spinning 14 inch props though.

Check ecalc for a ball park estimate.

 

[andy bards]

I run 3508 sunnysky 700kv motors on my quad with 12" props on a 470mm frame... 5200mah battery gives me 16 mins flying slow (filming),,, 8 mins flight time (v fast sport flying)

 

[RGJameson]

has a plywood base of about 480mm (19") x 125mm (5").

Huh? You going to be delivering pizzas with it?

 

[MalcB]

'Huh? You going to be delivering pizzas with it?'

Lol

Y'know , looking at it with only one arm on; it would rather do for taking them out of the oven !

Think we may have met in another 'incarnation' ?(Quads for Quads). I'm 'Mancastrian'.

Not knowing anything, I thought I'd better err on the side of ' Agricultural ', something along the lines of a T34,
as my first few flights are going to be Strimming (Forward and Sideways Flips), Rotivating (Cartwheels) or Manx Cat Conversions (successful uncontrolled Normal Flight).

'I run 3508 sunnysky 700kv motors on my quad with 12" props on a 470mm frame... 5200mah battery gives me 16 mins flying slow (filming),,, 8 mins flight time (v fast sport flying)'

That's exactly what I had in mind !
Initially a ply platform which I could bolt or Velcro everything to and get the C of G right and everything.
Learn to fly the thing, then lighten it by substituting plastic building Fascia Board, (with strategic cutouts to boot) instead of the heavier ply.

I was eventually hoping to increase the ' footprint', for aerial photography stability, adding an extra two aluminium arms (I have cut) and rearranging the Frame
to Dead Cat (TBS Discovery) kind of configuration, using the same motors, but changing the 12" props to 15. Maybe buying something like the Eachine 250 Racer or the Midge 180
( for the fast and furious stuff !).

'2217 - 930kv should be plenty of power for a 450mm. I would go lower kv if you do plan on spinning 14 inch props though.'

Many thanks. Since originally posting I've seen some gorgeous looking RCX BE3608-11 630Kv which will take 10-15" props !

I love the look and handling of the TBS Discovery on Steroids (If you can find it on Youtube) but can't afford about 3 Grand !

Cheers
MalcB

 

[andy bards]

where you from Malcb.

Mancastrian means local to me..

check out drinkwater racetrack, Prestwich = 250 quads fly there on sundays..

there is a few vids on utube as well..

 

[MalcB]

Thanks for the info.
Levenshulme originally then Stockport.
At the moment the Land of Song, where men are Men, and sheep are afraid. Isn't it ?
I'll look it up, in case I get the chance.

I had toyed with the idea of a 3S 3000.
5200mAh.
Is that 3S or 4 and what is your All Up Weight ? (just to give me some reference point).

Cheers
MalcB

 

[andy bards]

http://www.himodel.com/electric/SUN...Brushless_Motor_for_Multi-rotor_Aircraft.html - ime running 4s batts..

ive not weighed my quad yet, but will do soon, I have pics of my quad on my first post to get some idea tho..

as a test I picked up an accrington brick (no probs) .. it probably hovers at 30% throttle without the brick..

I have set my taranis to 80% throttle max, so might even lift two bricks at 100%,, 23 amps x 4 tho,, batts would probably start melting..

If you haven't bought any fpv gear yet- don't rush buy,, there are frequencies on transmitters that are not totally compatible with recievers with same numbers (channels).. stick with same brands to be safe..

I had the help of peter king from droneshop.biz to set up few things, and the help of technician from quadcopters uk (the hpi man).. I visited both shops and found them to be really helpfull.. Peter has all files and settings on his website to configure transmitters and flight controllers, with videos as well... (just watch a few and you will deffo pick up some helpful info).

just gotta dig out my fox scales now so can weigh the quad,, ill let u know soon as..

andy from Heywood ,, mufc

 

[MalcB]

The only gear I've bought to date:

Turnigy 9x Tx & Rx (intending to do the FrSky XJT Module Mod for 'failsafe' and choice of antennas, with X4R-SB Receiver (for SBUS).

Xaomi Yi Action HD Cam
Foxeer H1177 FPV Cam (plastic case)
and a few odds and sods of connectors (XT60 etc.)
Have modified an old pc ATX PSU as power supply for battery charger (awaiting Binding Posts).

Intended buys apart from Motors and SimonK ESC's (to be determined) were:

Imax B6 LiPo Charger
LiPo Batteries for Quad, Turnigy 9x and Monitor (to be determined)
Openpilot CC3D Revolution F/C and Power Distribution Board (eventually maybe APM 2.6 with GPS etc.)
Boscam RC805 5.8GHz Rx
Boscam TS351 5.8GHz 200mW Tx
Cloverleaf 5.8GHz antennas
RCX RX LCD 5802 Diversity Monitor
Cloverleaf 2.4GHz Tx and Mushroom Rx antennas
LiPo Voltage Checker
APC 1238 Props (maybe to start)

Will definitely try to view the videos

Glad I,m not the only masochist. lol

Cheers
MalcB

 

[andy bards]

i recommend this open source flight controller,,, same as the pixhawk but with the useless ports removed and internal damping, so don't need to mount on antivibes,, good double sided tape will do.

http://www.banggood.com/PX4LITE-Pix...-Controller-for-RC-Multicopter-p-1009876.html

quadcopter weight without battery = 1440 grams

8000mah battery = 860 g

5200 mah 10c rating (slow flying battery) = 435g

5000mah 45- 90 c rating battery = 680g

i will be testing flying times and speeds with two 5000mah batterys and also my 8000mah batts soon,,, just need a clear day,,

andy

 

[MalcB]

Been very lucky up to now, (entirely by fluke) and bought at least gear which turns out to have decent reviews.
Modified DiY ATX PC PSU 12v output seems too low, though. (about 9 volts ) .
Unless I have a duff Budget Rolson Analogue Multimeter, of course, (which is quite possible).
Not sure what to do about this. Bin it, (the PSU) and salvage the Binding Posts etc. or just use an ex Laptop Transformer to power an iMax B6 Charger. (?)
Ordered Aomway 5.8Ghz micro Tx, and matched cloverleaf Aomway Tx and Rx antennas. (Good reviews).
Need to decide yet whether better to go for the 'cheap and cheerful' Turnigy 9x DHT (DiY) soldered conversion, or the dearer XJT module ? (suggestions anyone ? )
(I'll be wanting to practice using FPV Freerider)

Thanks very much for the advice on the F/C (and link), andy.
Going to 'up' my Battery Capacity estimate now !

Trying at the moment to get together all the necessary misc. 'accoutrements' deemed vital before you start a self build, (ie Soldering Iron, Solder, Helping Hands, Terminated Wires (connectors various), before I scream in absolute frustration, waiting for International Shipping, and the Postman, and go for a RTF !
(But I'll still need a decent Battery Charger ! ).
As soon as I get anything worth photographing, other than a set of eBay Ziplock bags, I'll download the Nailing Together.

Cheers
MalcB

 

[andy bards]

I have the imax b6ac charger,,, 240ac and 12v dc voltages,, I have never had a problem with it..

fpv freerider is great for practicing... painless 360 has a utube vid showing how to set up taranis controller to fly..

I found this video on making custom quad... check it out... this giving me ideas on my next frame,,

just wrap your frame when finished designing..

good luck with your build and keep us informed,, ill post my new frame build soon.. andy

I posted couple of videos on here of my first n second flights,, nowt special,,, but I was FLYING...