Hi everyone I'm tinstructor!

[tinstructor]

Hi everyone I'm kind of a digital electronics nerd, I study EE and I felt like it was time to build my first race quad! I'm currently writing a bachelors thesis on a way to measure the efficiency of RC propulsion systems while spending the least amount of money possible (engineering trade-offs ya know). This got me pretty hooked I must say. I've been sourcing parts and I would like some feedback since this is my first ever build. This parts list doesn't include any FPV gear yet because I've got to learn how to fly in the first place anyway. This is the parts list:



Did I mis anything and is this a well balanced setup?

 

[cranialrectosis]

Does the Turnigy radio remote control system include a receiver? If not, you need one.

Buy more props. I know they say indestructible. They aren't. :black_eyed:

The Naze32 is dated. Look at an F3 if you want your board supported by BetaFlight for very long.

4" zip ties.

Another lipo.

Probably wanna add a few more props.

Should be a fun build. I hope you post pictures as you progress.

Welcome to the FliteTest forums!

 

[PsyBorg]

I agree with Cranial also I would add several battery straps as they do wear and break over time. I would also change up the screws to metal as well as the standoffs. The minor weight add verses strength gain is well worth it as well as matching nyloc nuts. I would also since most motors do not come with them get nyloc nuts for the motors to keep your props on.

 

[tinstructor]

The radio remote comes with a 6CH receiver!
I have a metric ton of zipties lying around in my workshop.
Damn i thought 2 sets of props was enough guess it wasn't, will be buying more!
Is the naze32 rev6 already outdated?!? It came out like a year ago

 

[PsyBorg]

hehe When learning you can easily go thru 5 sets of props in a session depending how hard you are pushing your limits. When I go out daily to fly I keep 4 sets with me. Even though I only lose one or two a week. They seem to go in phases. Ton of good flights then a bad streak.. best to stock up. They don't go bad and you will burn thru your stock pile in time no matter how big it starts.

yeah the F1 boards are way slow compared to whats in the F3 and F4 controllers. You will want the extra features like reliable pass thru and all that as well as the added uarts for different things and set ups. The prices are near the same so why not go with the better gear now.

 

[ElectriSean]

The F1 processor on the Naze board is nearing the end of it's usefulness, as the firmware becomes better and better it requires more processing power. And it's older than a year, it was kind of old when I put one in my versa last spring

Props are the new fuel I can't remember who first said that but it's true. The modern indestructible ones are definitely durable, but you will break a ton of them, especially if you're new.

I'd recommend against that Tx/Rx combo in favor of the Evolution. Not only is it a nicer radio, but the Rx it comes with supports ibus which gives a lot nicer wiring, and a lot less latency. https://hobbyking.com/en_us/fpv-racer-radio-mode-2-white.html

The ESC's you have picked out are pretty dated as well, you want to look for BLHeli_S. The racerstar series that banggood sells are about the best bang for your buck out there. They are a touch more expensive, but worth it. https://www.banggood.com/4X-Racerst...hot-for-FPV-Racer-p-1074733.html?rmmds=search

 

[tinstructor]

It's a good thing that I checked the forums before opening everything up then. Now I can still send stuff back for a refund. I know about the evolution problem is it costs 30€ to ship it from HK! I'd swear I did enough research but it just goes to show, experience is a force to be reckoned with! Thanks for the feedback dudes.

 

[French]

Personally, I'd opt for 1300 mah batteries. Sure you'll get more flight time from an 1800, but that can be a lot of extra weight.

 

[jtrops]

The i6s comes with the ia6b Rx which supports Pwm, ppm, and sbus (serial just like ibus). I've never used the i6s, but I have plenty of experience with the ia6b, and you should have no problem with it.

 

[tinstructor]

Does anyone know a good online store other than HobbyKing for buying a Turnigy Evo in mode 2 that has a EU warehouse (if I was to switch the current radio out)? Otherwise I have to pay 30€ to ship it since it has a built-in LiPo and because of that it is classified as "dangerous goods".

Also I'm switching out the ESC's for these https://hobbyking.com/en_us/raptor-30a-bls-2-4s-hlheli-s-mcu-efm8bb21f16.html since they're only 1€ more per ESC.

I'm getting an extra battery pack but of a lower capacity and therefore lower weight so that I can have more fun but also different fun! It's a 1400mAh 4S 65C pack: https://hobbyking.com/en_us/multistar-racer-series-1400mah-4s-65c-multi-rotor-lipo-pack-gold-spec.html

And for the flight controller I'm having a hard time choosing between these two:
https://hobbyking.com/en_us/race-32-racing-flight-controller-f303-deluxe.html
or
https://hobbyking.com/en_us/seriously-pro-racing-f3-fc-board-deluxe-with-internal-osd.html

And last but not least I'm getting four more complete sets of props.

EDIT: I bought the Race 32 F303 because it was cheaper and supports oneshot out of the box (ESC's are oneshot capable). It doesn't have an OSD like the SP F3 but I can always get that later.

 

[cranialrectosis]

I think you will be happier with those ESCs, FC and lipo.

You have reduced weight and increased functionality, and performance.


You might want a few more props though.

RotorGeeks has a sticker that says: "Props are the new fuel.".

It's obscene how many props you break when learning to fly. I have broken 3 sets of props on a single lipo learning to flip or playing with the tune.

I recommend you learn in acro mode without an autoleveller. You will break more parts early on but you will learn faster and you will need the skill to tune the quad. If you fly daily, expect to take 2-3 weeks to learn how to fly.

The DAL props you are getting are good props for learning because they flex and can take more of a hit. However, to race you will want higher performance props like HQs which are more rigid and provide much more thrust. The HQs also break a WHOLE lot easier and cost more so learn on the DALs.

Please post photos of your build and film the maiden voyage. It will help us help you and we all like good photos of copters!

 

[tinstructor]

I also read something about flight simulators? Is it a good idea to train using these sims or will they just teach me some bad habits? Also, I will most certainly include pictures off the build process in future posts !

 

[cranialrectosis]

Sims are great and can save you some props particularly on rainy or snowy days!

Nothing beats stick time though... Nothing

 

[tinstructor]

How do I get a USB receiver for a radio and which sim do you recommend?

EDIT: Bought another EIGHT!!! full sets of props

 

[tinstructor]

So I started building about an hour ago and I'm having loads of fun already. I don't know what took me so long getting into building my own drones. I could do this everyday. Did the motors and ESC's up nicely and pretinned the PDB. I'm loving the black and gold color theme already!

 

[cranialrectosis]

Hey that is pretty nice. Love the colors.

Keep it up!

 

[tinstructor]

So I continued the build today by prepping the ESC's. I heard that when Dallprops break they tend to slash into your ESC's because they're so flexible. Therefore I cut off some hard pieces of plastic from an old binder I had laying around and attached them to the ESC's with double sided sticky tape. Then I put some heatshrink over them and attached them to the frame with velcro tape and zip ties. The velcro tape is basically just there to keep the ESC's from sliding around during heavy crashes or when the props cut into the ziptie in case of a rather harsh landing . I'm pretty stoked on how it turned out! Also, I read somewhere that you need to charge your LiPo's when they arrive because they're shipped at 30%. What's up with that?

 

[PsyBorg]

Good call on the extra shielding on the esc's. I use DAL props and they tend to fold over rather then break so yes they have the potential to damage esc's

Lipos in general are intense fire bombs when mishandled. The more the charge the more volatile they can be. They are shipped on what is called a "Storage charge" which is 3.8v per cell in most cases. they have a range of 3.0 v per cell to 4.2 v per cell. If you take a lipo below 3 v per cell the cell is destroyed and will not take a charge or if you do manage to get it back up the battery can not be trusted as "safe". In general try not to drop them below 3.5 v per cell rested. This will extend the life of your batteries. I suggest you do some further reading and become more familiar about the lipos. They are great batteries but require more care and handling then other types of batteries.

 

[tinstructor]

Wow as an EE student I'm astonished how little documentation there is on these, supposedly, widely used components. I think I got it right though. If I'm correct I connected 5V DC in and GND of the PWR connector tot the 5V out and GND of the BEC on the PDB (first image) and the RXd of UART3 to the SBUS out of the receiver along with 5v and GND (second image). Can someone confirm that this is correct?

 

[ElectriSean]

Should be good to go