tomlogan1
Elite member
My soldering skills are equivalent to the Bay of Pigs invasion. Look it up if you are too young to recognize the reference.
FT Bronco VTOL
- Thread starter jpot1
- Start date
L Edge
Legendary member
You need to get to talk to Nick Rehm. Will fill you in on what you need. If you have grey hair, you will be bald when it flies.
I did a bi-copter with a KK2 board and in the end I got it to hover, make the transition to forward flight and back, but lacked the ability to slow descent. Mine lacked that axis due to coupling issues. Picked the wrong FC system and could not combine it with anything else 10 years ago.
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tomlogan1
Elite member
Ominous! I'm already bald
. Should be an interesting exercise in how many vulgar words I can express. I will contact Nick, I presume his is somewhere on the forum. Thanks for the lead.
L Edge
Legendary member
Hey, it will keep the grey cells functioning!!!!Ominous! I'm already bald
tomlogan1
Elite member
Got his contact info via Drehmflight. Let's see if he can help.
L Edge
Legendary member
Sounds good.
jpot1
Elite member
@tomlogan1, I’m in a similar boat as you. This was all new to me. I had done minimal soldering and never used a FC before. I had no issues with the Speedybee and if you go that route will be happy to send you screenshots of my settings. Invest in a good soldering iron and flux for the best results. That FC has pads for two power leads but since this has 3 motors I used a y harness to get the third motor hooked in for power.
Watch this video before you start as it was very helpful for me.
Watch this video before you start as it was very helpful for me.
This is one of those things I should have done a L-O-N-G time ago. Totally my wheelhouse. Done all sorts of tricopters, FCs on wings and such, but for some reason have never attempted it. Need to finish my FT bronco and give it a whack.....
I would probably modify one of the tail tilt setups that were on the tricopters.
I would probably modify one of the tail tilt setups that were on the tricopters.
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FlyerInStyle
Master member
those werent wires, they were the presoldered jst connectors falling off on the micoair. I thinkit may be my luck, most of my electronics have a tendency of breaking for no apparent reason. I have used without compass/gps and it worked decently well, but yes, a gps helps a lot
tomlogan1
Elite member
Thanks for all the assistance. I am so grateful for all the information provided by YouTube. I've looked at the SpeedyBee but it is not currently available due to the tariff drama. I'm going to see if I can circumvent that but if I have to wait for the FC there are lots of other projects I have in mind. I've also reached out to Nick Rehm to see what knowledge I can glom from him. I'll just keep moving this project forward as time and resources allow.
tomlogan1
Elite member
Please send screenshots. I am trying to keep moving forward. Does your FC have a 3 board assembly? Some I've seen are 2 boards but claim to be the SB 405. From the manufacturer site it looks like 3 boards for $39 US but there is no way to order, only a wish list. Very confused 😕
tomlogan1
Elite member
Couple of MORE questions... The 17 gram servos required me to do quite a bit of sanding to incorporate them into the mounts.. Maybe too much infill (50%)? Also the lead seems awfully close to where the motor mount would be attached? Still searching for the Flight controller but I believe I may have one shortly. 🤞
tomlogan1
Elite member
On the odd chance I cannot obtain a Flight Controller is it feasible to utilize a device like the Hobby Eagle gyro? Perhaps a less elegant substitute but might enable flight with VTOL ? I have a test receiver servos and the gyro setup and one of the settings (Angle Mode) provides full time stabilization.
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FlyerInStyle
Master member
The issue with one of those is you cannot program it to transition properly, so remap the controls. If you can't get a flight controller, get an esp and a mpi6500, and use madflight, or a teensy and an mpu6500 and use drehmflight
tomlogan1
Elite member
Major Score !!!
A buddy of mine had this never used and wanted $20 US for it. Please send me your settings. This is a winter project but anything I can get now will reduce the brain cell migration.
tomlogan1
Elite member
If you are still willing to share screenshots, I would be most gtateful. Finishing up a home brew soldering workshop so I won't ruin the flight controller when I solder and assemble it. Thanks in advance.
jpot1
Elite member
Will do tomorrow. I’m rebuilding now, ordered new drone motors on a sale today to make things lighter.
tomlogan1
Elite member
Thank you. Just ordered a gps/compass to see if return to home will work. Still have not done any assembly. Ordered a bunch of soldering supplies (circuit boards, solder, flux, etc) to practice before I start on the flight controller iteslf.
