First Quadcopter Build questions

[RCIkon]

Hi All,

This is my first Quadcopter build and so far everything seems to be going good. I do have a few question for the pro's out there.

I have a Acro Naze 32 flight controller and I wanted to make sure that I am hooking up my ZTW Spider 20A OPTO ESC correctly. I have all four ESC connected to the board with the orange, red and brown wire all connected. I was watching some videos out there and noticed that a lot of people seem to cut 1 of the 3 wires from all ESC except 1. My setup, I have all 4 ESC connected with all wires intact. Is this OK to do? See Picture for visual.


Next question I have is the break out cable that came with the Naze32 board. What I did, was I took the white,red and black lead from the break out cable connected it to the Naze32 then to my FrSKY D4R-II Receiver pins 2 + -. Then I took the Telemetry cable (Green and Black cable), plugged that into the Telemetry pins on the Naze32 board. Is this correct? See picture for visual.


Last question I have is the wire harness (Power System). What I did was solder all the Positive wires from the ESC's and all the Negative wires from the ESC's to a XT60 plug which will plug into a 3300mAh 4S Lipo Battery. I also daisy chained one 5v lead wire and one JST connector from the harness. I have the 5v lead plugged into the Naze32 battery connector for voltage monitor pin. See picture for visual.


Thanks to all in advance that help me clarify my setup is correct.

Specs:
Hoverthing Flip FPV Frame
SunnySky X2212-13 KV980 II Brushless Motor
Multiroter HQ Prop – Carbon Composite 9x4.5 R
Multiroter HQ Prop – Carbon Composite 9x4.5
RMRC 3300mAh 4S 35c Lipo Pack – XT60
Acro Naze 32 Flight Controller
ZTW Spider 20A OPTO Multiroter Simonk Program ESC
FrSKY Taranis X9D Transmitter Mode 2
FrSKY D4R-II Receiver
RC Breakout Cable for Naze 32/Acro Naze

 

[Tritium]

I will address 1 point here:

True Opto ESC's have no power supply (BEC) built in so there will be no power for your Naze or your receiver unless you use an external BEC. Since they are Opto ESC's the middle wire is of NO consequence as it has no power on it.

Thurmond

 

[cranialrectosis]

"I also daisy chained one 5v lead wire and one JST connector from the harness. I have the 5v lead plugged into the Naze32 battery connector for voltage monitor pin."

Not quite.

This goes with what Tritium posted.

The Opto ESCs don't have BECs so they cannot power the Naze or Receiver. The Naze 32 voltage monitor pin should receive full power from the lipo, not 5V. Think about it. If you push 5V to the Naze how can it monitor your lipo to alert you when the lipo voltage sags below acceptable levels? Even a 3S should alert WAY before you get down to 5V.

You need to split your main power directly to the Naze voltage monitor. The Voltage monitor pins on the Naze can take it. The motor pins on the Naze need 5V.

You also need to also split your main power to a Pololu voltage regulator or a BEC and connect that to any set of power and ground motor pins to power the Naze32 and the receiver.

What I like to do is remove one set of power and ground wires from an ESC and connect then to the Pololu or BEC outputs. This allows me to use the connector from the ESC to plug into the Naze and keeps it all clean.

My Twitchity CF mini hex build shows this technique with a UBEC. I use it on all my builds today:
http://forum.flitetest.com/showthre...Hex-CF-Edition&p=131517&viewfull=1#post131517

I love my ZTW Spiders on my Twitchity Mini-Tricopter! They are small, light and quick; just like the copter.

Do you have some foam padding under the naze32 or under the little platform you have it in to mitigate vibration to the accelerometers coming from the motors/rotors?

 

[RCIkon]

Thanks for your response Tritium and Cranialrectosis. To answer your question Cranialrectosis, Yes I did put foam padding under the Naze32. Thanks for asking about that. How thick of a layer of foam should be under the Naze32 board?

So basically I will need to purchase a BEC or UBEC to complete my build? If I were going the BEC route what would you recommend? Also, if you have any good how to videos on BEC or UBEC installs please post the link.
Thanks,

 

[cranialrectosis]

I would use a Pololu step down voltage regulator. They are MUCH smaller than a BEC.
https://www.pololu.com/product/2107

For a BEC I have used the Altitude Hobbies, BEC from Suppo.
http://www.altitudehobbies.com/external-bec-ubec/suppo-3a-external-bec-ubec

The BEC passes MUCH more power (3A compared to .5A) but with a quad you don't need it. The BEC is also about 3x the size of the Pololu.

I don't have a video. The connections are pretty simple though.

Connect the positive and negative inputs on the bec or VR to positive and negative leads from your lipo. Connect the positive output and the negative output on the bec (or positive output and negative pad on the VR) to servo wires that connect to your positive and negative motor leads (any) on the Naze.

Mind your polarity. If you screw it up, the Naze is toast.

How much foam is dictated by how much vibration you have coming from the motors and rotors. Lower KV motors and longer rotors tend to need more padding.

 

[RCIkon]

Once the BEC is connected to an open motor pins on the Naze32 board. How many of the servo leads (RED WIRE) from the ESC's would i cut or disconnect?

Also, The voltage monitor pin that we spoke about. Do i need to have power going to those pins if i want telemetry to work? I am assuming the voltage monitor powers the telemetry pins. What AWG wire and type of connector should be used to for the monitor power pins?

By the way thanks for your patience...

 

[cranialrectosis]

Once the BEC is connected to an open motor pins on the Naze32 board. How many of the servo leads (RED WIRE) from the ESC's would i cut or disconnect?

Only modify one of your ESCs.

Take the 3 wire servo cable coming from any ESC (I like to use the one on motor 1 but it doesn't matter) and cut or de-solder from the ESC side the positive (red) and ground (brown) wire. This will leave the ESC signal wire going from the ESC to the three pin connector and the other two wires disconnected from the ESC but long and connected to the 3 pin connector.

Solder the ground wire to the ground output on your BEC and the power to the positive 5v output on the BEC. Connect the BEC to the PDB or wire harness that draws full power from the lipo.

http://forum.flitetest.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=30721&d=1410098530

In this photo you can see the blue wire (signal from ESC 1) going into the 3 pin and the red and black wires coming in from my external BEC. Plug the 3 pin connector into the motor lead for the proper motor and the board has 5v power.

Leave the other three ESCs alone and connect them as you have already in your photos.

Also, The voltage monitor pin that we spoke about. Do i need to have power going to those pins if i want telemetry to work? I am assuming the voltage monitor powers the telemetry pins. What AWG wire and type of connector should be used to for the monitor power pins?

By the way thanks for your patience...

In this photo you can see me building my wiring harness with a 2 pin JST connector for voltage detection. The 2 pin JST is using 20awg wire. This will connect from my lipo to the voltage monitoring pins on the Naze. I also use a piezo buzzer connected to the buzzer pins next to the voltage monitoring pins so that when my lipo gets low, the copter beeps loudly at me.
http://forum.flitetest.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=36339&d=1419031308


I don't think the voltage monitoring pins power anything but what's the point of having telemetry without voltage monitoring, right?

 

[RCIkon]

Thanks for all the help crainial. I ended up buying a SUPPO 3A EXTERNAL BEC (UBEC). It should be here next week. If i get stuck i will reply to this thread or send you a pm.

 

[cranialrectosis]

The Suppo 3A is the same one I used on the original hexes. It works great!

 

[RCIkon]

So could I disconnect the positive (+) and Negative(-) wire pins for ESC 1. Then take the positive (+) and Negative (-) wire pins from the BEC and connected it to the + and – pins holes on ESC 1? Will that concept work?

 

[cranialrectosis]

No. The ESC will need full voltage from the lipo. Your BEC outputs 5v.

Your flight controller and receiver need 5v. You power those from the BEC by connecting the BEC to the positive and negative motor pins on the flight controller.

Edit: I see the diagram in your new post. That diagram is correct.

 

[RCIkon]

So if I follow that diagram the other 3 ESC's will only have the signal wire connected right?

 

[cranialrectosis]

So if I follow that diagram the other 3 ESC's will only have the signal wire connected right?

That is correct.

 

[RCIkon]

Thanks again I appreciate all the help.