Filipe Santos
Junior Member
I've never dealt with anything RC, except toy cars, but I always imagined doing it in my head, it's faster, nothing fails and nothing is impossible! So I might sound ridiculous with grand plans. And I don't expect to do this immediately, I need to learn and practice of course, I'm just exploring possibilities. So:
1 For someone like me, that hasn't flown anything at all, would the tricopter be a good idea for a start?
1.1 I've been looking at the price (of course) where the this would fall: tricopter (150$), fpv (58$), transmitter (54$), GoPro (200$); missing the screen for FPV and battery chargers (haven't searched that yet); summed up would be well over 460$, also forgot all the shipping to Portugal...
Am I crazy for thinking this is a good first project or is it a sort of reliable investment? Will I be able to build it, 'program' everything and fly it?
2 Would the Turnigy 9X be a good remote for a FPV Tricopter like the one David built on his video? And good for a complete beginner?
3 Flight duration/number of batteries, meaning, when I go out to fly it, how many should I have? For example, when the FT crew went with the tricopers to the old abandoned factory, did they do everything on one battery?
I get really excited about this, but then I hear that it has 10 min flight duration and feel like it would be a lot of trouble to go to a location I think would be awesome to film, and then I get 10 min… Although I don't know what a 10min flight 'feels like'...
3.1 Battery life: tricopter or airplane? to film, like, landscapes and such; because the tricopter is constantly using energy and the plane can just 'glide around', but is it good for filming? But then, the tricopter is much more versatile for taking off/landing.
I feel I have too many questions, so the following are the less pressing, or just to confirm what I think I know:
1.2 Some of the parts (the KK2 Board, DT750 motors and BMS-385DMAX servo) aren't in stock at HobbyKing, do they replenish it frequently (every week) or is it better to find alternatives?
3.2 Also, I heard that repeatedly using and charging the batteries without a break/cooldown, damages the batteries, does the same apply to the aircraft? So, if I had… 5 batteries, would it be ok to, as soon as a battery dies, change it and go back up, or should there be a cooldown?
4 Another point is that I would probably end up trying everything, like boats; so, the question is, if I bought the Turnigy 9X, would I be able to use it for a boat? The same question for the FPV system? (something about surface and air transmitters?!)
5 In the Tricopter David built, do you connect the FPV system to the 14.9V battery? In the video about Basic FPV the FT crew recommend a FPV system with 12V input; but even then, they use a 11.1V battery so, is 12 to 14.9 not a big difference?
6 Flashing the ESC?! I've searched youtube and the forum about it, and I understand it's not mandatory, but why do anything if it's not as good as possible? So, is there a tutorial or something like that on how to do it?
I'm sorry for making so many questions, I just thought I'd ask all at once... So I don't drag it out...
1 For someone like me, that hasn't flown anything at all, would the tricopter be a good idea for a start?
1.1 I've been looking at the price (of course) where the this would fall: tricopter (150$), fpv (58$), transmitter (54$), GoPro (200$); missing the screen for FPV and battery chargers (haven't searched that yet); summed up would be well over 460$, also forgot all the shipping to Portugal...
Am I crazy for thinking this is a good first project or is it a sort of reliable investment? Will I be able to build it, 'program' everything and fly it?
2 Would the Turnigy 9X be a good remote for a FPV Tricopter like the one David built on his video? And good for a complete beginner?
3 Flight duration/number of batteries, meaning, when I go out to fly it, how many should I have? For example, when the FT crew went with the tricopers to the old abandoned factory, did they do everything on one battery?
I get really excited about this, but then I hear that it has 10 min flight duration and feel like it would be a lot of trouble to go to a location I think would be awesome to film, and then I get 10 min… Although I don't know what a 10min flight 'feels like'...
3.1 Battery life: tricopter or airplane? to film, like, landscapes and such; because the tricopter is constantly using energy and the plane can just 'glide around', but is it good for filming? But then, the tricopter is much more versatile for taking off/landing.
I feel I have too many questions, so the following are the less pressing, or just to confirm what I think I know:
1.2 Some of the parts (the KK2 Board, DT750 motors and BMS-385DMAX servo) aren't in stock at HobbyKing, do they replenish it frequently (every week) or is it better to find alternatives?
3.2 Also, I heard that repeatedly using and charging the batteries without a break/cooldown, damages the batteries, does the same apply to the aircraft? So, if I had… 5 batteries, would it be ok to, as soon as a battery dies, change it and go back up, or should there be a cooldown?
4 Another point is that I would probably end up trying everything, like boats; so, the question is, if I bought the Turnigy 9X, would I be able to use it for a boat? The same question for the FPV system? (something about surface and air transmitters?!)
5 In the Tricopter David built, do you connect the FPV system to the 14.9V battery? In the video about Basic FPV the FT crew recommend a FPV system with 12V input; but even then, they use a 11.1V battery so, is 12 to 14.9 not a big difference?
6 Flashing the ESC?! I've searched youtube and the forum about it, and I understand it's not mandatory, but why do anything if it's not as good as possible? So, is there a tutorial or something like that on how to do it?
I'm sorry for making so many questions, I just thought I'd ask all at once... So I don't drag it out...