OK, so if you have been following my Middle Road thread, I think it has pretty much run its course. I ended up crashing the middle road quad badly enough to crack the frame in several places and tear the PDB. While it was still very flyable, I didn't want a catastrophic failure to cost me something expensive. Yesterday I swapped it out for an Alien 5 inch frame that I picked up a few weeks ago.
I am running:
Lumenier 2206 - 13 - 2000kv motors (probably should have gone with the 2300kv option)
Gemfan 5045 Bullnose Props (planning on trying 5045 tri-blades in the near future.)
DYS BL20amp ESCs
Graupner GR-18/MZ-12 combo flight controller
HS1177 FPV Camera
TS 5828 600mW FPV VTX
I swap back and forth between 3s and 4s
Initial Feelings:
I had the original Martian frame, so the body of the Alien was surprisingly small in comparison. With the exception of the camera pod the Alien frame just sort of fell together. Probably in part due to the fact that I have watched about 10 videos of people putting the Alien together. All the holes lined up perfectly and the carbon fiber seems to be of good quality.
I did run into a little bit of trouble with my camera. I have the runcam swift HS 1177 which has its connectors on the bottom. The first problem I ran into is that the connectors are on the bottom, and there are two of them side by side. The first one is for video and power, and the second one is for the remote. The carbon fiber plate you are supposed to mount on the back of the camera won't fit flush because the cutout for the plugs wasn't big enough. I solved this by using 2 2mm nuts on the 2mm screws as spacers,
Second, the 2mm holes in the back of the carbon fiber plate did not line up with the holes in the back of my camera. The holes in the camera were just a little bit farther apart. I was able to fix that with a bit of filing with the included round file.
I sort of think Impulse RC should either include the HS-1177 camera with the frame (Obviously at a higher cost), or come up with a more flexible mounting solution. I wouldn't mind paying extra and getting a camera that I know will work. I know there is also the price point they are trying to hit, Perhaps including a second optional flat carbon plate that mounts to the camera lens shaft included with the kit for people who are running either a different camera or something they think will work that is slightly off...
The third problem I ran into was that the 2mm screws that are included seem a bit big for screwing the back plate onto the camera. It was hard getting the threads started and the plastic shafts I screwed them into frosted. I can see having a problem down the road if I ever have to make any adjustments to the camera.
Finally because the carbon fiber back plate sits back about 1/2 mm the camera's side mounting holes don't fit through the carbon fiber side plates very well. I had to work the holes with a file for a bit before I could get them to fit.
In this case I am sure it was just me and my odd camera. Perhaps others won't run into the same problems.
The body is much smaller than the martian. It is thinner and shorter. The PDB doesn't include a voltage regulator and the one that I have on hand is rather bulky. I was a bit concerned about not being able to get it to fit.
Honestly though I am happy as peaches with this quad. I will try different props in the near future but given that the motors were $25 a piece I think I'll stick with the ones that I have on there for now. I figured with the heavy 360 camera I am sometimes using to record my flights having the extra torque was a must. For normal flight they are pretty good though I am not sure I am good enough to know the difference as of yet.
Man I can't stop smiling. Have fun!
DB
I am running:
Lumenier 2206 - 13 - 2000kv motors (probably should have gone with the 2300kv option)
Gemfan 5045 Bullnose Props (planning on trying 5045 tri-blades in the near future.)
DYS BL20amp ESCs
Graupner GR-18/MZ-12 combo flight controller
HS1177 FPV Camera
TS 5828 600mW FPV VTX
I swap back and forth between 3s and 4s
Initial Feelings:
I had the original Martian frame, so the body of the Alien was surprisingly small in comparison. With the exception of the camera pod the Alien frame just sort of fell together. Probably in part due to the fact that I have watched about 10 videos of people putting the Alien together. All the holes lined up perfectly and the carbon fiber seems to be of good quality.
I did run into a little bit of trouble with my camera. I have the runcam swift HS 1177 which has its connectors on the bottom. The first problem I ran into is that the connectors are on the bottom, and there are two of them side by side. The first one is for video and power, and the second one is for the remote. The carbon fiber plate you are supposed to mount on the back of the camera won't fit flush because the cutout for the plugs wasn't big enough. I solved this by using 2 2mm nuts on the 2mm screws as spacers,
Second, the 2mm holes in the back of the carbon fiber plate did not line up with the holes in the back of my camera. The holes in the camera were just a little bit farther apart. I was able to fix that with a bit of filing with the included round file.
I sort of think Impulse RC should either include the HS-1177 camera with the frame (Obviously at a higher cost), or come up with a more flexible mounting solution. I wouldn't mind paying extra and getting a camera that I know will work. I know there is also the price point they are trying to hit, Perhaps including a second optional flat carbon plate that mounts to the camera lens shaft included with the kit for people who are running either a different camera or something they think will work that is slightly off...
The third problem I ran into was that the 2mm screws that are included seem a bit big for screwing the back plate onto the camera. It was hard getting the threads started and the plastic shafts I screwed them into frosted. I can see having a problem down the road if I ever have to make any adjustments to the camera.
Finally because the carbon fiber back plate sits back about 1/2 mm the camera's side mounting holes don't fit through the carbon fiber side plates very well. I had to work the holes with a file for a bit before I could get them to fit.
In this case I am sure it was just me and my odd camera. Perhaps others won't run into the same problems.
The body is much smaller than the martian. It is thinner and shorter. The PDB doesn't include a voltage regulator and the one that I have on hand is rather bulky. I was a bit concerned about not being able to get it to fit.
Honestly though I am happy as peaches with this quad. I will try different props in the near future but given that the motors were $25 a piece I think I'll stick with the ones that I have on there for now. I figured with the heavy 360 camera I am sometimes using to record my flights having the extra torque was a must. For normal flight they are pretty good though I am not sure I am good enough to know the difference as of yet.
Man I can't stop smiling. Have fun!
DB