Building my first Multirotor-Hobbyking Super-H 600.

[CRPerryJr]

Sometimes I think I bit off more than I can chew, but it's coming together nicely. I have about 10 hours into the build so far. Everything tests great! But I can't get it in the air until my order comes in for props. (Hobbyking is correcting some issues with my order that were either wrong or missing.) So far it's been very fun putting this together. I hope I can fly soon!

Specifications:

Frame:
HobbyKing Super-H 600 QuadCopter (KIT)

Landing Legs:
Extended Landing Skid Set for SK450 Quadcopter Frame

Motors:
4x Quanum MT Series 3510 630KV

Flight Controller:
HKPilot Mega 2.7 Master Set

Batteries:
2x Turnigy 5000mAh 4S 25C Lipo Pack

Power Distribution:
Quanum Power Distribution Board and Dual UBEC In One

Speed Controllers:
4x Afro ESC 30Amp Multi-rotor Motor Speed Controller

Camera Gimbal:
Quanum Q-2D Brushless GoPro 3 Gimbal

FPV Camera/Video Recorder:
Turnigy HD ActionCam 1080P Full HD Video Camera w/Waterproof Case

FPV Transmitter:
SkyZone TS5823 5.8GHz 32CH A/V 200mW Mini FPV Transmitter

FPV Receiver:
Fieldview 777RX32 5.8GHz FPV Monitor

All up weight is running about 2600g. According to eCalc, I should have about 15 minutes of flight time. She's heavy, but solid.

Still waiting for:
Props which are yet to be determined, but going with either: 12x4.5 -or- 12x3.8. eCalc says it's basically a wash. 12" props DO fit nicely!
Turnigy HD ActionCam FPV Live Video Out A/V Cable
Kingduino APM External LED Module

 

[cranialrectosis]

That thing is going to sound AWESOME in the air.

Please film the maiden.

 

[jipp]

wow, that is sweet. that is what im thinking i want for a aerial photography machine. i really like your extended legs.. i need such as living in the desert. i fear being a inch or whatever most of the frames use are just not tall enough.
be sure to let us know how the gimbal handles. you built a great quad. it looks like it will be durable too being pretty compact.

its also good to hear hobbyking is making things right. i cant tell you how many negative things iv read about there service. all i could think how can it be so bad and they are still in business. i still have read enough negative reviews about them im sorta cautious to buy from them. anyhow, look forward to hearing more as you start to learn the quad. i plan on building a 550-650 quad with a gimbal, fpv. and hopefully a control board that will offer features beneficial to aerial photography ( which im very interested learning more about and starting to film my own vids. i have a youtube account i have never had a reason to upload a vid.. now maybe i will with some video of the desert ). do you plan on making aerial video, or mostly FPV? anyhow, good luck on your maiden. rock on.
chris,

 

[ExperimentalRC]

This is very impressive. I can't wait to see the footage from the camera.

 

[HawkMan]

nice frame. I'm not sure the step up to 12 inch props from the smaller reptile is worth the weight increase though. However, slap on the TBS extended carbon tube arms instead of the DJI copy arms and you can probably get some really nice big props on that and get very good flight time as well as an extremely good camera position.

But those are upgrades for later

 

[CRPerryJr]

Thanks HawkMan, ExperimentalRC, jipp & cranialrectosis! Your comments are greatly appreciated.

Here are some pics of me checking the CG, and test fitting the 12" props that Hobbyking sent me. (The wrong ones.)



I will film the maiden flight...I'm hopeful its the most boring video I make! I don't want anything too exciting straight off!

I decided on the extended legs primarily to keep it off the ground. Something I have found though, is that you have to be careful plugging power into the quad. While standing on it's four tall legs, the quad will move and shake a bit if bumped while the control board is trying to initialize the gyros. This leads to an error in APM that there is a problem with the gyros or accels. I've learned to try not to bump the aircraft while plugging it in.

I have to say that Hobbyking is doing the right thing. When an issue is noted, I have not had any problem with their customer service correcting the issue. It remains to be seen how long it actually takes to get the replacement parts, but at least so far, I am pleased.

When I designed this build, I really didn't know what I wanted to do. So I thought I'd try to build something that can do everything. FPV, Aerial Photography, deliver a beer to the neighbors...whatever! But the more I watch videos, the more I am liking the FPV, and the feeling of flight. I really enjoy the actual building of the aircraft and the technology of the hobby. I love how all these little computer boards and wires and motors come together to create something that can flight on it's own. It's exciting to see everything come together and actually work. (or not...)

I have actually thought about getting extended arms, even while I was planning the build. I looked at the arms from RCTimer and thought I'd wait a bit and see if I really needed them. The 12" props do work and fit well on this aircraft, as is, but it's certainly worth looking into at a later date and see if the greater area would give me better stability or longer flight times. I'll have to punch larger props into eCalc and see what the numbers say.

Thanks again! And please keep your comments and suggestions coming!

 

[jipp]

thanks for the tip on having longer legs. which i will have on a future build. i plan on just building a 250 you can get a carbon fiber frame and all the parts for 149.00 that will work.. i will worrie about cherry picking pacific parts after my first build so i have a better understanding how the parts go together and flying experience. i have a mechanical mind so i will also enjoy the build too. the flying is fun just from my little nano blade and flight sim.. i have played around with FPS in the flight sim and i can say that will be fun too.. so i guess its safe to say whatever i build to fly i will end up getting maximum fun.. and i like you is fascinated by the technology that makes these flys.. i guess it helps im sorta a tech geek. i also think the quad just fits where i will be able to fly the best too. so lots of reason a quad just make sense to be honest. i am really interested in photography as a artistic outlet.. i noodle around on the guitar a bit. so i think it would fun to try and add some music to desert footage i plan on taking.. the reason i was asking about the gimbal.. 99.00 is not bad if it will give smooth footage on a action cam. which it should. but i have to go a little slower as my budget is only about 200.00 a month to play with on any one of my hobbies. sucks being a crippled worse part is you cant play like you use too. life changes.. but thats ok. i could complain but who is gonna listen. lol. thats what my grandma use to say so whenever i feel down i just remember it could be worse.. like i could be dead.. and no flying anything RC related.. laughs. i would think larger props would add for a smoother flight. just make it slower right? im not really into speed aspect of it yet.. but like any hobbie that rabbit hole is big.. we just have to start some where and see where our interest take us.. what i think i want today will be different next year. lol.

i am thinking you will get some killer footage. and lets hope for the most boring maiden possible. just be sure to double check everything. i can not tell you how many times iv had a problem because i got side tracked and forgot to check a screw or whatever because i said ill do it after i do X and then you forget.. and by that time its to late.

chris.

 

[CRPerryJr]

It Flies! Videos soon!

 

[Mustang7302]

Congrats on the build. If you are learning how to fly with this craft, I would strongly encourage you to take off the gimbal, gopro, and extended legs. Crashes happen, a lot, and taking these parts off will make repairs cheaper and faster as they're needed. I would recommend at least a dozen hours of air time with a simple setup to learn muscle memory, orientation, and the features/tuning the flight controller before moving on to capturing video.

 

[CRPerryJr]

OK, Here's some videos of the first attempt.

And here's the video of the maiden flight! (Stabilize mode, 5-15 mph wind, 10 degrees Fahrenheit.)

After my wife shot this, I realized I had 2 different pitched props on (12x3.7 (Black) & 12x4.5 (Orange)) I realized my mistake at the end of the second video...luck the aircraft was forgiving enough to fly!

I've changed the props to all 12X4.5 and it's steady as a rock in loiter mode, even in this wind! I'll post more videos tomorrow after I recharge the batteries.

 

[jipp]

woohoo. congrats. glad she is stable and you realize your mix up and no harm was done. am excited for ya.
it sure does look good. also its cool your wife was just as excited as you were. rock on.

chris.

 

[cranialrectosis]

Beautiful dog. Love to see Old Glory in the background.

Congratulations! That copter sounds awesome. It looks like you live in rural snowy country. I can't wait to see video shot from the copter.

 

[CRPerryJr]

Thanks jipp and cranialrectosis! I love my St. Bernards! and my flags! and my wife!

I'm still working out some bugs on my inflight video. I get lots of jello right now, and have been working through that. The issue is primarily coming from the Q-2D Gimbal. It had this high pitched hum and very slight and fast vibration that was so bad I could feel it throughout the "Clean side" of the aircraft. I've recalibrated and rebalanced it, and its quiet as a church mouse now. So we'll take it up tomorrow and see if that helped.

Yesterday was the aircraft's first official flight above a few feet. Once I flipped it to loiter, it was steady as a rock. Stabilize mode is a little hairy, as I hadn't tuned the PIDs yet. It was cut short by the UPS man bringing me more quadcopter parts! (SWEET!) Here are the logs from the flight:
Perrydice Quadcopter-First Flight

Today I focused on tuning the aircraft using autotune and testing out the "Circle Mode". It was a little scary sometimes watching my pride and joy jumping around during the autotune! But I let it finish and it's much better in stabilize mode now. Here's the logs from that flight:
Perrydice Quadcopter-2nd Flight-Autotune and Circle

 

[jipp]

.exmaps.com pretty cool. what data does the webpage use to work? does it come from your GPS unit.. iv not looked into gps, or fpv stuff yet. first time seeing this webpage, i think its a cool idea.

chris.

 

[CRPerryJr]

Hey jipp, Thanks!
EXMAPS.COM takes your telemetry or APM log files and puts them in a format that's easily understood by newbs like me! I think it's awesome! To quote the website:

What is EXmaps?

EXmaps cater to the APM/Pixhawk users. In short, the current version serves as a digital drone logbook.

You get to create account, and upload logs tagged to specific UAV so that cumulative data such as flight time and flight distance can be tabulated according to UAV.

Here are some features that we build:

1) Calculation of actual flight time and distance

2) Presenting log data in interactive graphs, maps and sliders

3) Automated historical weather data base on time of flight

4) Ability to make individual logs public with comments function

 

[CRPerryJr]

Here's my first video from the aircraft. Still have some jello issues to work out with the gimbal.

Here's the Telemetry logs from the flight.
Exmap Log, 3rd Flight.

 

[jipp]

very cool. i like the snow,not felt it in over 15 years since i moved to the desert. could the jelly be from the camera and not the gimbal? air frame seems real stable thats for sure. were you flying LOS or fpv?
chris.

 

[CRPerryJr]

Hey jipp,
Its definitely coming from the Gimbal. You can actually hear it at the beginning and the end of the video...it's the high pitch whining noise. All flights so far are LOS because I'm still needing one more part to connect the camera to video transmitter. Its coming from China, so who knows when it will arrive.

The aircraft itself has been perfect. I couldn't have asked for a better machine. But I may be upgrading the gimbal soon...It's ok, it does it's job and I've added a little padding between the gimbal and the camera, which eliminated even more jello today. But I was hoping for better. I'm also looking to add a different camera that is made more for video like the Sony AS200v. But perhaps that'll be for another project.

Here's today's flight... I went to a local park primarily to test it's failsafes, which were very successful. Flew great! My wife even got some nice video of it flying around.

Exmap Log-Fourth Flight.

 

[ExperimentalRC]

Is there any usb port on the gimbal? maybe you could lower the P and get some really good footage out of it.

 

[CRPerryJr]

Playing with the auto mode and recording my wife.