Electrohub Quad with Naza-M Lite?

[hotbrass2005]

I'm thinking about building a new multirotor this winter. I have a 3d printed 250 class tricopter I've been flying around for about a year, but I'd like to build something to get nice, gimbal stabilized video. I like the cost and flexibility of the electrohub, but I'm curious about flight times with the Power pack D from the FT store (Emax 2213-935kv motors swinging 10x4.5" props).

I'd like to eventually run a Naza-M Lite to give me some options like, loiter, return-to-home, etc. but I'd probably just start with a Naze 32 and my mobius camera strapped underneath.

Assuming I use one of the 2200mah 3s batteries I already have, what kind of flight times should I expect while doing gentle flying? I could always run a couple in parallel or get new batteries, but I'd love to have flight times in the 15 - 20 minute range. Thanks for any advice. The more I learn about multirotors, the more I realize have much more there is to know!

 

[liamstrain]

From my experience with a few different rigs, to get 15 minute flights carrying GoPro+gimbal size loads, I'd expect you would need battery capacity in the 5000-6000 mAh range. But I admit, I don't have the math to back that up.

 

[hotbrass2005]

Thanks for the reply! I can certainly order a couple of batteries or wire three 2200 mah batteries in parallel. If the flight times are good enough, I would like to get involved with Air Bears too. 15-20 minutes would really let me cover some ground and be effective. I'm going to have to do some more research on how to get the best battery life out of a rig. I think the electrohub is promising. Done right I think I could probably achieve 15-20 minutes of flight. Perhaps I'll do a build article on putting together an electrohub based AP platform with long battery life based on some tested variables and actual flight data. Any other advise on extending flight times would be very much appreciated!

 

[Snarls]

Check out ecalc if you want to do some calculations and test certain setups. It's not 100% accurate, but you can get an idea of what is better than what. Going with a 5000mAh ish battery is a good choice. You can also try going 4s and down propping for more efficiency.

 

[trevoof]

I think 5-10 mins on a 2200mAh is more realistic. Since you will be adding a gimbal, your copter will probably end up with AUW at least 1.5kg, you will need 2 parallel 2200mAh to get more than 10 mins of flying. Ecalc seems to think it will fly, perhaps a tad underpowered.

Have you tried ecalc? They don't seem to have EMAX2213, but I guess the 2213 is close enough.

http://www.ecalc.ch/xcoptercalc.php?ecalc

 

[hotbrass2005]

I think 5-10 mins on a 2200mAh is more realistic. Since you will be adding a gimbal, your copter will probably end up with AUW at least 1.5kg, you will need 2 parallel 2200mAh to get more than 10 mins of flying. Ecalc seems to think it will fly, perhaps a tad underpowered.

Have you tried ecalc? They don't seem to have EMAX2213, but I guess the 2213 is close enough.

http://www.ecalc.ch/xcoptercalc.php?ecalc

I have never used eCalc. That is a fantastic tool. I'll definitely be using that for reference. I'll look into the option of using a 4s battery too. I'm sure I'll be doing some experimenting with different batteries and props to get the best flight times. I think I'll just save my 3s 2200s for my tri and get batteries specifically for the AP platform. Thanks again for the advice guys! I really appreciate the help this community offers!