Clean Quad Build

[ikem]

Titan Tri build.

Moved to a Fortis TITAN TRI build. I will still be sleeving it!.

Parts list:

Fortis TITAN TRI kit (16 inch Carbon Hybrid, black delrin top)
Video vTX Mast
Hitech HS-82MG
Turnigy SK3 2826 920KV (if anyone can find me a spinner nut for these, that would be great... i have already messed up the threads on 2)
Turnigy Multistar 20A ESC
Multiwii Pro with GPS
10x4.5 Props
Specktrum 6200
Turnigy 3s 2200mah (want to go 4s when I find a good price on a 3000mah+)

Fat Shark Predator V2
Fat Shark 250mw vTX
Fat Shark 600TVL

Spektrum DX6i


Zach from Fortis is sending me a prototype board camera housing. Might have to modify it a bit to get everything to fit, but I will eventually get the camera tray when I get a GoPro.

Thanks for looking! Frame will be here tomorrow.

Revamping a quad I started this last year.

Got a Multiwii Pro and GPS for it, and upgraded to a DX6i. I am currently redoing the cabling and waiting for the Multiwii case, and carbon blades to get in.

Also looking at putting a gimbal on the front of it. So I am trying to find a nice servo gimbal out there.. If anyone here has one for sale let me know

Sleeved with some of the sleeving that I used on my last computer build.

Thanks for looking, Mike

 

[xuzme720]

Looks very clean! Nice build!

 

[cranialrectosis]

Beautiful copter. Very clean build. Thanks for posting.

 

[ikem]

So i got an FPV kit off ReadymadeRC. Thanks for the reference FT, but I got a goggles kit and was wondering how a CP antenna would improve quality of my vTX and vRX. I wont be flying that far away, (200 yd max) but would that help the radio transmission.

 

[Mustang7302]

CP antenna reduce ghosting in the video image by eliminating reflected signal cross talking with direct first pass signals.

 

[ikem]

ordered a pair of Fatshark Spironets, and got a used pair of Blue Beams. Kinda want to do a comparison.

anyway. here is how it looks so far. Still waiting on hobbyking's shipment to get here. It has 4 carbon mixed props. 10x3.8 and my Multiwii Pro case with GPS mount.

 

[jhitesma]

Looking good. Have you considered switching to a PPM sum capable RX to clean up the wiring between the RX and MW since everything else is so clean? One wire is so much cleaner than 18! Or if you have a spektrum sat rx you could just use that directly to the MW board which is only 3 wires.

I love how much cleaner mine is since I switched to using PPM sum. Though now that I have a serial link with openLRS I'm looking to eliminate the PPM wire as well and just go to a UART radio solution running my control entirely over serial. Just not sure I have enough bandwidth on my serial link to do telemetry and control at this point....

 

[Craftydan]

When you get to the "wireless" copter jhitesma, color me impressed

 

[jhitesma]

Patience Maybe late summer. There will still be wires to the ESC's but I'm working on a PCB layout combining an openLRS module with the guts of a MW. I had toyed with just combining the functionality into one processor but have decided I'd rather stick with stock MW and openLRSng software builds and just focus on cleaning up the hardware instead. I'll still keep the sensors on a separate board because I really like only having to worry about vibration mounting on the sensors and being able to hard mount the other board.

Of course I could get really crazy and try to incorporate some ESC hardware in there as well and could even get really crazy and do one of those deals where it's all on one board that doubles as a frame...but I'm not a fan of having the frame double as a board.

But that's on hold until summer when I hide in the AC and deal with indoor projects. Next on my list is either a bigger copter (keep going back and forth between a larger quad or a tri) and finally getting some FPV gear. I'm leaning towards 5.8g and building my own TX/RX based on the setup Bruce from RCModelReviews came up with. My Christmas money that was going to get me a set of fatsharks ended up being sucked up by unexpected medical expenses when some nasty bugs swept through our home earlier this month

Back on topic though - I was hesitant to switch over to PPM sum at first...but now that I've tried it I really like it. So much cleaner and simpler on the wiring and less to go wrong since there's no risk of accidentally swapping two channels or something. Lemon RX has a spektrum compatible RX with PPM sum for <$20 if I wasn't having so much fun with openLRS right now I'd pick one up to try...but the two way link openLRS gives is just too sweet to give up

 

[Craftydan]

jhitesma,

Vtail.

Compleatly the best of both, and not as inefficent as some complain -- with a 20 degree tilt you loose 6% thrust on the rear, but gain gobs of yaw. Makes for an agile, swooshy, stable platform with the lift and stability of a quad, near the agility of a tri, and no servos to break.

Try it. You'll love it


I'd gotten a pretty clean build on my V-tail, using a Q-brain and kk2 -- tried to get a spektrum sat working but the new Orange DSMX SAT keeps confusing the kk2/2.1 firmware -- need to pick up a Lemon SAT. All hid between the deck plates and if you ignored the motor leads, all you'd see is the battery plug sticking out the front (haven't figured a better way to route it out). even wired lights along the plate edges with the power lead sneaking out the battery strap slots. ugly as homade sin inside, but pretty from the outside . . .

. . . up until a few weeks ago when she decided the weather was too pretty to come home and she flew away. I miss her

Need to build another, but this time need something with good acro and RTL. Right now, Multiwii is high on the list.

 

[ikem]

Having some problems with a custom build.

very twitchy, and hard to control in flight.

HJ450 frame
SK3 920kv
10x4.5 prop
3s 2200
Multiwii Pro with GPS.
Multistar 20A ESC

When I fly, auto level is very twitchy and it seems very over powered. I have a tricopter that uses a aluminum frame and it way heavier, but flies smoother. That is just running a multiwii board with only a 6050, but it is under powered and needs 3/4 trottle to hover. The quad only needs like 1/4 throttle to hover, but it cannot keep it there.

I have been thinking of ditching the quad and migrating everything over to a tri, but I want to know if i did something wrong first.

1. Do i need to make it heavier?
2. PID settings? I have tried a lot of combinations already.
3. Smaller prop?
4. Get a bigger frame.
5. Ditch the quad and go tri!

 

[Mustang7302]

What is the weight, in grams, with battery?

If you dont have enough throw in throttle stick to control with hover so low, step down prop size. Go down to 8x4.5 or 9x4.7.

 

[jhitesma]

I assume you've tried dropping the rates on the MW board?

 

[ikem]

I don't have a scale yet (one is ordered) so I do not know the total weight.

Yea i have been playing around with PIDs for a month now, and rates on my DX6i

 

[jhitesma]

But have you tried the rate setting on the MW itself not on the controller? You get better resolution adjusting the rate on the MW compared to adjusting on your controller. I know one mine I notice a much bigger difference with small changes to the rates on the MW board than I do from big changes on my controller.

 

[cranialrectosis]

By 'twitchy' do you mean it wobbles in flight?

How does it fly in acro mode?

 

[ikem]

K, I will look over the gains again. So this motor/prop setup should be fine for this?

 

[ikem]

I have scrapped this build, and taken the components and put them towards a Fortis Titan. I will be changing the thread title... but I hope it turns out a little better. I have a 24 inch Tri with 12 inch props (heavy frame) and that flies WAY smooth, even with a el cheapo MWC board.

 

[ikem]

Moved to a Fortis TITAN TRI build. I will still be sleeving it!.

Parts list:

Fortis TITAN TRI kit (16 inch Carbon Hybrid, black delrin top)
Video vTX Mast
Hitech HS-82MG
Turnigy SK3 2826 920KV (if anyone can find me a spinner nut for these, that would be great... i have already messed up the threads on 2)
Turnigy Multistar 20A ESC
Multiwii Pro with GPS
10x4.5 Props
Specktrum 6200
Turnigy 3s 2200mah (want to go 4s when I find a good price on a 3000mah+)

Fat Shark Predator V2
Fat Shark 250mw vTX
Fat Shark 600TVL

Spektrum DX6i


Zach from Fortis is sending me a prototype board camera housing. Might have to modify it a bit to get everything to fit, but I will eventually get the camera tray when I get a GoPro.

Thanks for looking! Frame will be here tomorrow.

 

[ikem]

here it is so far. still waiting on some stuff. should be here tomorrow or monday.