Bat Bone V-Tail Build Log

unzapped

Member
Bat Bone V-Tail Build and Flight Log

The Build: Batbone V-Tail Quad

The Experience: None

The Build Stage: Building

The Purpose: Aerial FPV video

The Budget: To my wife... as little as possible, otherwise... Budget? Where I'm going we dont need budgets...

The AirFrame:
Bat Bone Tri 370 Kit
Straight Motor Mount
V-Tail Quad Motor Mounts
Landing Gear Conversion Kit
Original Tricopter Camera Mount Kit
Props are 9047/9047R in the front and 8045/8045R in the rear.

The Electronics:
KK2.1 Flight Control Board
NTM Prop Drive 28-26a 1200kv Motors
NTM Accessory Pack
Afro 20Amp ESC w/SimonK
Turnigy 220mAh 40C Battery
XT60 to 3.5mm X4
Turnigy 9x Radio from Ebay... Warning>>>Mine Came FROM SHANGHI

The future:
Gopro
Eagletree Vector FPV
Long Range FPV - Undecided
Long Range Trans - Undecided
Video View - Fat Shark?
Ground Station - Undecided
Gimbal - Tarot?
Bigger battery - Undecided

Other Goals: NO Soldering :)... this goal has been met with these parts all of the shelf.

Some Pics:
IMG_20140131_193809_622.jpg IMG_20140131_193853_347.jpg IMG_20140131_193900_621.jpg IMG_20140206_070434_103.jpg IMG_20140206_070449_459.jpg IMG_20140206_070454_581.jpg IMG_20140206_133235_833.jpg

I will continue to add to this log, I will post more pics and video from the 70D when I get more time...

Am I posting this in the right place?

Questions? Please ask
Suggestions? Please offer

-=unZapped=-
 
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Mustang7302

Senior Member
Good selection of parts, they'll make the Bat Bone frame fly quite well. I also like that you selected parts which required no manual soldering; which is by far the most time consuming and tedious part of a build.

Work on tucking those wires into the body of the frame a bit to clean it up. Other than that, get the receiver connected, get the KK2 configured and calibrated, and get that v-tail in the air!
 

unzapped

Member
Good selection of parts, they'll make the Bat Bone frame fly quite well. I also like that you selected parts which required no manual soldering; which is by far the most time consuming and tedious part of a build.

Work on tucking those wires into the body of the frame a bit to clean it up. Other than that, get the receiver connected, get the KK2 configured and calibrated, and get that v-tail in the air!

Thanks!... I wasn't gonna do to much cable management until I made sure it all functions well. I just secured a gymnasium and had to order MORE parts, I didn't have the male to male servo wires from the RX to the KK2.1. I am hoping for a maiden voyage on my birthday February 14th! :) I will record the whole thing uncut in HD...

Please make note the 9XR transmitter battery from HK DOES NOT fit in the 9X...

If anyone has a 9XR I have a battery, I cannot use...

-=unZapped=-
 

Mustang7302

Senior Member
If you have a local radio shack, you can get female/female jumper wires used for prototying arduino/microcontrollers that you can use to connect the receiver to the KK2. See my iQuad build thread.
 

Mustang7302

Senior Member
That's why I mentioned it. It's better than waiting for parts to come in.

You'll need 7 of the 10 in the package. Two will be to join throttle possitive and throttle ground from the receiver to the KK2's throttle channel; this will power the receiver from the KK2. The next five wires connect the signal pin for each channel from the receiver to the KK2. Use the gear channel for aux 1 on the KK2, this will be used to toggle auto level on and off. You might need to configure which channel from the 9X is going to be the gear channel so you know which aux channel to use on the receiver.
 

unzapped

Member
PARTS UPDATE GOPRO Hero 3+ Black is here!

I have had no luck finding cables at Radio Shack so I guess I am still waiting for HK order to arrive... Since the GoPro beat the receiver cables... It will likely be onboard for the maiden voyage. I can tell you that I am more than a little nervous strapping another $400+ on the quad.

A little FT parts help >>> Is it just me or is the FT landing gear a little short? I mean with the FT camera mount on, the GoPro sits less than 1/2" off the ground on some sketch mini plywood... Wouldn't a hard landing break or bend the camera mount enough to give the GP a headache?
Does anyone use the protective GP shell/baseplate or is it just too heavy?

This will not be a problem with a gimbal... I will be designing the Gimbal mount to keep the GP at the same height as the motors. This may just delay my maiden flight.

I will get some more pics up and maybe a little GP video.

-=unZapped=-
 

xuzme720

Dedicated foam bender
Mentor
Strap the Gopro to your head for the maiden! Get her tuned and flying well before adding the Gopro onboard. Plus, if it is flying badly or doing something funky, it's easier to troubleshoot from ground-based footage than the onboard video...
 

unzapped

Member
Strap the Gopro to your head for the maiden! Get her tuned and flying well before adding the Gopro onboard. Plus, if it is flying badly or doing something funky, it's easier to troubleshoot from ground-based footage than the onboard video...

I wanted get it tuned and flying well with the gopro onboard... I will get ground footage with my 70d and zx5... We will see... I am taking my time and not rushing into anything.

-=unZapped=-
 

xuzme720

Dedicated foam bender
Mentor
You can add a mockup for test flights in that case. Weigh the Gopro as you plane on flying it and add weight to match in a foam box to match to simulate the Gopro.
This will do 2 things; keep your Gopro safe while tuning and make you just a bit less nervous on the initial flights...
 

unzapped

Member
It is done all parts are in and on... I did a spool up on the table last night. Sooo smooth and quiet. Sounded awesome. It should have no problem getting airborne. We have secured a gym and are tentative for Thursday night.

Might be a silly question but would anyone be interested in watching a ustream? Could be pretty interesting, but I will not go through the trouble if no audience.

I cant help but be a bit nervous... I mean it isn't a little blade quad or a simulator... this thing "looks" intimidating.

Anyway stay tuned, I will have no less than three cameras rolling...

Thanks
-=unZapped=-
 

unzapped

Member
The first maiden flight for me and the new Batbone Vtail was not without some strife. I will post a more comprehensive assessment of my journey so far... I apologize for the video in advance... the audio SUCKED on the go pro, my zx5 AND my 70D were run by complete amateurs the ZX5 will make you motion sick, and the 70 footage is out of focus for most of the flight. The 70D footage is processing in YT now. I will add them here when they are ready or subscribe to my YT channel to follow along.


I had one of my Turnigy batteries show up DOA. Showed up as 2s on my new IMAX B6AC charger...

FLIGHT NOTE: GYM Floors are ROUGH on Delrin FT landing gear

More to follow! Actually planning a flight today... Maybe we can get some better footage today.

Thanks
-=unZapped=-
 

cranialrectosis

Faster than a speeding face plant!
Mentor
Thanks for posting the video. It is always easier to troubleshoot a maiden when you film it.

Did the Go Pro audio suck because it was set on the floor (not sure which camera I am watching with)? Go Pros have the mic on the bottom. I have accidentally covered it with my finger and got horrid sound.

It looks to me like the copter flew well, then went off camera at about 3:35 or so (crash?).

When you re-set up something flies off the copter and you spin and hit the ground and parts fly (GREAT crash, thanks for posting). Did the port side rear motor 40 degree mount get loosened up in a crash and fly off under stress? The way is spins to the ground makes me think you popped a motor or a collet and something can be seen flying off before you hit the ground.

Hope the crash doesn't keep you down long.
 

unzapped

Member
The GP audio sucked because it was in the shell.

Yes the crash... so what happened is I had quite some distance behind me so instead of recovering I let it touch down and it slid across the gym floor and "bumped" into a pool table. I thought I inspected it well but it must have jarred the top plate of the FT motor mount loose. The thin ca I used was just not good enough. So yeah the motor popped off and thrashed about the following parts explosion was prop shrapnel, it wrecked three props and took a chunk of casing off an ESC wire... I also landed a little hard once on the second flight which broke one of the rear landing gears.

The crash did not keep me down; I ziptied that mount back on replaced the props and finished the battery out. This flight can be seen in one of the next two videos... I am upgrading Time Warner TODAY!!!

I did notice a little "twitch" NOT a like an old servo radio glitch, but I think it is related to some settings in the KK2.1 I will try to get it on video as well.

G0050276sm.jpg

I am going to fly today with the GP strapped somewhere on my body and I will try to get better 70D footage as well.

Thanks for following your input is very valuable!

-=unZapped=-
 

unzapped

Member
EDIT I would skip watching these videos as they show some real growing pains in videography. The next post down is by far way less a waste of time. I will leave them here as they are true maiden footage and for the Ultra curious :)

Ok... so here are the videos from my first flight. BUT I have gotten some seriously great footage from my second flight this weekend. I really need to get a better rig (computer) to render this HD down. I am trying to get the render done and uploaded today.

That is the goal, so look for a video later today or tonight.

I put 9 inch props in the front... more lift... with 8" props it tended to drift forward. I bet when I have the balls to strap my GoPro on it will level out. My CG is also off by about 3"... I have an idea to fix that, but it is too early to talk about what that idea is yet ;)


Peace out!

-=unZapped=-
 
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unzapped

Member
What a great 2nd flight! This is by FAR the best flight and video to date.

I have got to say I am so glad I put lots of time in on the simulator! I still have a little camera work to figure out. I am learning the gopro, 70d, adobe premiere pro, on top of the quad... so bear with me.


-=unZapped=-
 
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unzapped

Member
What a great 2nd flight! This is by FAR the best flight and video to date.

I have got to say I am so glad I put lots of time in on the simulator! I still have a little camera work to figure out. I am learning the gopro, 70d, adobe premiere pro, on top of the quad... so bear with me.


-=unZapped=-

Updated video...MUCH better.

-=unZapped=-
 
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