Buying a flight controler for an electro hub!

[wx9dx]

I have to say I put a lot of stock into what I hear on Flite Test videos. But, in the future I will add a bit of salt before I buy something and think it's going to be just like how they got it.

I bought a flight controller for an electro hub I'm building a flip 1.5 "for the first time ever"! The controller I thought would come with the pins so I could put it into the flip 1.5 housing. Oh no I was so wrong. I had to buy two of them before I did figure out what I needed and where on the site to acquire it. I really needed to know what to order and where on his web site before I did order the first time... Now that was like over a 3 week period or so this problem went on . Just learning a new web site for the first time involves some effort, and with this particular company in Florida not having a phone number I could call, I was so stuck with something I could not use.

Actually to be honest I could not do anything with this new Flip 1.5 board without the correct pins. I made two orders that morning on the web thinking I had everything, and sent the fella an e-mail asking him to make sure it was plug and play. When I ordered it I was in trouble, because I did not know anything about the controller or that company! Things like what the controller needed to go into the housing etc. Also on the video of the electro hub I'm sure the Flite Test guys talked to the guy in Florida via phone, and I'm guessing, he must have thought he might have an in with these guys in the future. So "again I'm guessing" he made sure everything was on the mark when they got it.

Being a new person in the quad copter hobby I was so new that I was lost to the winds on this. With no help and no answers from many e-mails direct to the company and to others on RC groups that maybe they could have the Guy contact me. Nope never a peep from him after the initial e-mail... I guess I'm small potato's to some! But after my second order I finally had the correct pins and installed them myself. I now had a second flip 1.5 board for a spare and some extra pins " neither did I need". And I might say being on Social Security I watch my money close, but it would have been a total waste without making that second order to Florida for the rest of the flight controller parts. In particular the right angle 3 row pins and some single row pins to make it ready to go into the plastic case.

So now as this new day starts and it's 1am here in Illinois I have the electro hub about half way done. I have the flip 1.5 controller ready to mount and hookup. This will be another learning lesson if this controller does not function or is junk. I will have to pin up the second board and see if it works then. But Oh well that is how it goes working with no mentors in the corn belt of Illinois. And it's not my first time trying a new thing and falling on my face. I'm 64 and this is not the first time I have went through this with a company over the web. You just have to know ahead of time who your buying from.
And I hope you read this if your buying a flip 1.5 board. Because sometimes as some say " You'll have that"! Speaking of Internet companies with poor support.

I will have to say the electro hub was very easy to put together, just takes time and patience. The ESC's for this project from Lazer Toyz I will tell you the wires just reach, and I mean it! There is no extra wire if you mess up. But I did fine and Dan from Lazer Toyz has been patient with me on the phone, so I have bought most everything from him. That is what I mean about customer relations, you have to have a phone and answer it! So I will buy from him first before I call anyone else even if it is a couple dollars more.

Flite test I will have to say has been right on the money with my orders. ​

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On the Tricopter rear servo mount they e-mailed me when it became available, so I ordered enough stuff to build the Tri Copter that day from them. I did ask that they make sure the control board be programed for a Tricopter ahead of shipping it to me. And knowing them, it most likely will be. I have been looking forward to flying the Quad Copter but my real interest is in learning to fly the Tri Copter ever since I did see David flying it on Flite Test.

So to finish up here, if your new to the videos don't order anything till you check it out lots! I had no chance of any help and over about a month on the web there still wasn't anything else to do but figure it out myself. And as many know that sometimes costs $. Thanks for the read & the best to you all!

From an old old 101st Airborne guy in Illinois
73
Jimmy, ARRL TS, WX9DX

 

[Balu]

Hey Jimmy,

I'm pretty sure we all know the company you are talking about and for a while I defended him, because he simply got overwhelmed with orders from the FT community, but for a few months now - especially after receiving two defective flight controllers myself and NO reaction on his side whatsoever - I'm actively warning people to not order from there.

Besides his non-existant support, he is also producing and selling copies of flight controllers against the licensing terms of the original manufacturer. :-/

I'm glad you figured it out yourself. You can always come here and ask your questions too.

 

[Piperpilot3tk]

Jimmy, sorry to hear about the trouble you had with the flight control boards. Patience and preserverance are definitely the keys to success with multi rotors. I just built my first multi rotor after flying fixed wing on and off for over twenty years. The biggest issues by far have been the flight controllers. I started out with a CC3D and even though the computer program used to configure and tune the board is excellent and easy to use, I still had issues with my old XP computer corrupting the boards. I finally got tired of trying to resolve the issues with the software getting corrupted and bought a couple of KK minis. After reading how easy a KK board is to set up I thought it was going to be a breeze. Well it probably is easy if there was a good set of instructions available, I had to do hours of research and use the very generic KK 2.1 manual as well as additional information from the internet to get set up and flying, and even this was after borrowing an adaptor and flashing entirely new firmware (Stevie's) to the board. So hang in there, and remember that this is a hobby to take up all of you're free time and teach you new things.

If you have never flown a multi rotor before I recommend purchasing a Blade Nano QX bind and fly or similar nano quad to fly and crash a few hundred times prior to putting the tricopter in the air. I know that means you will need to spend more money, but the skills needed to fly a nano quad are exactly the same as flying a full size quad. The money you spend on the nano and flight training will pay for itself When you don't ball up the tricopter on the maiden flight.

 

[makattack]

Sorry to hear about your problems Jimmy. I must have missed your posts on these, because I've had success with the Flip1.5, and I'd like to help you as much as possible. Feel free to PM me if you want someone to talk you through this stuff. It can be overwhelming -- even for us Airborne all the way types!

Heck, I'll just PM you my number... Feel free to call me anytime. I'm afraid I can't go over UHF because I only have a handheld transceiver and even with a good dipole, I can just reach the nearest repeater to reliably receive. When I hit the transmit, people on the net can barely receive me even at the highest power setting... which is only 3W

Dave