First Tricopter! Help!

[armageddon]

Hello everyone,

I am a newbie at multirotors and i need some assistance with a tricopter i would like to build.

I have comprised a list of all the items i am buying from HobbyKing and i was wondering if you guys could maybe improve it or help me to cut back on costs where possible. The list has to have everything in it that is required to create and fly the tricopter (excluding tools such as soldering iron, wire cutters, etc).

This is designed off of the RCExplorer Tricopter V3 video.

At the moment the list is around $260 and i dont want to go too much higher, unless it was really worth it.

Here is the list:

3 Turnigy Multistar 2209-980Kv 14Pole Multi-Rotor
3 Afro ESC 20Amp Multi-rotor Motor Speed Controller
1 Hobbyking X900 Tricopter Glass Fiber Multi-Rotor Frame
1 Hobbyking KK2.1.5 Multi-rotor LCD Flight Control Board
1 Turnigy 5X 5Ch Mini Transmitter and Receiver
1 ZIPPY Flightmax 3000mAh 3S1P 20C
1 HobbyKing HK-922MG Digital Metal Gear Servo
1 Universal Propeller Balancer
1 Turnigy 12v 2-3S Basic Balance Charger
3 Super Bright 3Watt LED Lamp
4 Turnigy Pure-Silicone Wire 18AWG (1mtr) Red
1 XT60 to 3 X 3.5mm bullet Multistar
1 60CM Servo Lead Extention (JR) with hook 26AWG
4 Turnigy Pure-Silicone Wire 18AWG (1mtr) Black
1 Cable Ties 160 x 2.5mm Black
1 10 x 5 Thin Style E-Prop Green CW
1 10 x 5 Thin Style E-Prop Green CCW
1 HobbyKing Super Glue CA
1 PolyMax 3.5mm Gold Connectors
1 Twisted 10CM Male to Male Servo Lead (JR) 22AWG
1 Servo Splitter Lead 1 Female to 5 male
1 Turnigy Heat Shrink Tube 30mm Black (1mtr)
1 Turnigy Heat Shrink Tube 25mm Transparent
1 Double Sided Tape Pack
1 Turnigy 4mm Heat Shrink Tube - BLACK
1 Turnigy 2mm Heat Shrink Tube - BLACK

 

[Craftydan]

20C is a little light on the battery, even with a 3Ah battery. I'd also recommend more than one -- I wouldn't expect much more than 10-15 minutes flight time, and followed by a 1-1.5h charge . . . you're not going to get a lot of stick time.

If you can afford to, spend more money on a better charger and radio. It's tempting to skimp on these since they can be high ticket items, but these are two items are never subject to crash damage (unless it's a really ceative crash) and if you end up replacing them in a few months, buying cheap ends up really wasting money. Regardless, I woudn't trust that charger. Look into an accucel6 + power supply, or similar. You *NEED* to be able to tell the charger how you want it to charge.

BUY MORE PROPS. It's not a bad Idea to buy them in 2:1 ratio, since you'll only need one CCW prop per set, but you will break *MANY* props learning how to fly a multirotor. For just starting out, I'd consider *at least* 3-5 complete sets -- for a tri, that's 6-10CW and 3-5CCW props -- but consider buying *even more*. You will go through these things and when you are out, you get to wait for the next order to arrive.

Not sure your plan for the LED lamps, but if you're planning on using them for orentation, you might be better off with LED strips in 2-3 colors (tail a different color or all three a different color). your call, but that generally works better.

Good luck and Welcome to the forum!

 

[cranialrectosis]

It isn't a cheap hobby.

A couple of items you want to re-consider:
IMO, your battery is too heavy and too low a C rating. This is debatable but a 3000mAh lipo is heavy and when you crash (and you will crash) the weight will translate into inertia that will pummel your copter into the ground and break it to bits. You will cause more damage to the frame the more weight you have attached to when you crash. Think 1800 or 2200 and 35C to learn on. The 20C lipo will work but may not last long particularly after you learn to fly. It will be laggy in power and pushing it for power may cause it to puff when a 35, 40 or 45-90 C lipo won't.

You are going to need more props. You want 5 or 6 sets. I broke my first set on an instaflip on the first ever maiden 10 seconds after I throttled up.

HK prop balancers are a notorious waste of money. Get the Dubro. If in the US, here is a link for when they are back in stock.

The KK2.1.5 is a fine board. You will want to update the firmware immediately as the stock firmware is horrid. Get a USBASP flash tool so you can download and install the free Stevei's firmware and save yourself the pain and breakage that is the typical result of flying with the stock code.

Consider a better charger and radio. Upgrading later costs more.

Welcome to FliteTest. Good luck on the build. Please take photos as you build and post them as you progress. It will allow us to cheer you when you succeed and help you when things get bumpy.

 

[armageddon]

20C is a little light on the battery, even with a 3Ah battery. I'd also recommend more than one -- I wouldn't expect much more than 10-15 minutes flight time, and followed by a 1-1.5h charge . . . you're not going to get a lot of stick time.

If you can afford to, spend more money on a better charger and radio. It's tempting to skimp on these since they can be high ticket items, but these are two items are never subject to crash damage (unless it's a really ceative crash) and if you end up replacing them in a few months, buying cheap ends up really wasting money. Regardless, I woudn't trust that charger. Look into an accucel6 + power supply, or similar. You *NEED* to be able to tell the charger how you want it to charge.

BUY MORE PROPS. It's not a bad Idea to buy them in 2:1 ratio, since you'll only need one CCW prop per set, but you will break *MANY* props learning how to fly a multirotor. For just starting out, I'd consider *at least* 3-5 complete sets -- for a tri, that's 6-10CW and 3-5CCW props -- but consider buying *even more*. You will go through these things and when you are out, you get to wait for the next order to arrive.

Not sure your plan for the LED lamps, but if you're planning on using them for orentation, you might be better off with LED strips in 2-3 colors (tail a different color or all three a different color). your call, but that generally works better.

Good luck and Welcome to the forum!

Thank a lot!

I wasn't sure about the charger so thanks for clearing that up

As for the LEDs i was going to use them for orientation. I will look into the strips instead.

As for wiring up the LEDs whats the best way to hook them up?


Thanks.

 

[armageddon]

It isn't a cheap hobby.

A couple of items you want to re-consider:
IMO, your battery is too heavy and too low a C rating. This is debatable but a 3000mAh lipo is heavy and when you crash (and you will crash) the weight will translate into inertia that will pummel your copter into the ground and break it to bits. You will cause more damage to the frame the more weight you have attached to when you crash. Think 1800 or 2200 and 35C to learn on. The 20C lipo will work but may not last long particularly after you learn to fly. It will be laggy in power and pushing it for power may cause it to puff when a 35, 40 or 45-90 C lipo won't.

You are going to need more props. You want 5 or 6 sets. I broke my first set on an instaflip on the first ever maiden 10 seconds after I throttled up.

HK prop balancers are a notorious waste of money. Get the Dubro. If in the US, here is a link for when they are back in stock.

The KK2.1.5 is a fine board. You will want to update the firmware immediately as the stock firmware is horrid. Get a USBASP flash tool so you can download and install the free Stevei's firmware and save yourself the pain and breakage that is the typical result of flying with the stock code.

Consider a better charger and radio. Upgrading later costs more.

Welcome to FliteTest. Good luck on the build. Please take photos as you build and post them as you progress. It will allow us to cheer you when you succeed and help you when things get bumpy.

Alright, thanks for the help.

I will definitely be taking lots of photos

 

[cranialrectosis]

Thank a lot!

I wasn't sure about the charger so thanks for clearing that up

As for the LEDs i was going to use them for orientation. I will look into the strips instead.

As for wiring up the LEDs whats the best way to hook them up?


Thanks.

Run a spare 12V power rail from the harness or PDB to the LEDs.

 

[ztoon]

It isn't a cheap hobby.

HK prop balancers are a notorious waste of money. Get the Dubro. If in the US, here is a link for when they are back in stock.

Generic balancers are useless. Very difficult to balance a blade, I never get to balance a hub with that kind of...
More than some $, I lost so much time with that balancers.
The Dubro is something else, worth every $
So +10 on that one

 

[CrashRecovery]

Save your money and buy your tape, zip ties, heat shrink and wire local. That servo splitter is useless. You need a pack of 5 male to male servo jumpers. You should also consider a power distribution board so you do not have a mess of wires. Not sure what the plan is for the xt60 to 3x3.5 is for. If you plan to use xt60 connectors buy a few packs of the connectors and solder the connectors on. Get lots of props. Valuehobby.com has multirotor prop packs. Buy like 10 of the size you want to fly.

 

[armageddon]

Save your money and buy your tape, zip ties, heat shrink and wire local. That servo splitter is useless. You need a pack of 5 male to male servo jumpers. You should also consider a power distribution board so you do not have a mess of wires. Not sure what the plan is for the xt60 to 3x3.5 is for. If you plan to use xt60 connectors buy a few packs of the connectors and solder the connectors on. Get lots of props. Valuehobby.com has multirotor prop packs. Buy like 10 of the size you want to fly.

Alright sounds good. I just gotta look around in the local hardware and hobby shops.

Im not even sure why i had that splitter in there. And i do have a pack of male to male servo jumpers.

I was thinking about a PDB. I am going to use the XT60 to 3 x 3.5 for connecting the battery to the ESCs.

Thanks!

 

[CrashRecovery]

Yea just make a harness or use a board....

 

[armageddon]

So with the motors, do you guys think they will be good for this build? Are there better or cheaper options?

Also, the ESCs, are there cheaper or better ones i can buy, is it better to get them unflashed and flash them yourself?

 

[ztoon]

Hi,
I don't know those products, so I can not tell.
Here is what I use when I started building my tricopter (I change motors since).
* Motors DT750 : you can not use them directly out of the box (look at youtube and flitetest forum), but if you're not afraid to do some (easy) modifications they're great and cheap (lot of tuto on youtube) = 13.5$
* ESC F20 hobbyking flashed with simonk firmware (they "works" out the box, but after flashing it is so much better) = 8$

 

[armageddon]

Hi,
I don't know those products, so I can not tell.
Here is what I use when I started building my tricopter (I change motors since).
* Motors DT750 : you can not use them directly out of the box (look at youtube and flitetest forum), but if you're not afraid to do some (easy) modifications they're great and cheap (lot of tuto on youtube) = 13.5$
* ESC F20 hobbyking flashed with simonk firmware (they "works" out the box, but after flashing it is so much better) = 8$

thanks ! i will look into it.

What are good props to use with the DT750?

 

[ztoon]

With motor/esc above (dt750,F20),
I tried :
3S / 10" prop
3S / 11" prop
4S / 10" prop
no pb