HobbyKing "Spec FPV250 Racing" Mini Quad

andybenton

NERD!!!! :)
Not in a super big hurry, but all this talk of "letting each other know if he comes here" has me uneasy.
In reality I'd be happy if it gets here in the next 2-4 weeks as I haven't even placed my final order for parts from hk
It worries me, if he's that bad, well then it's that bad. But the two emails I sent to him came back quickly, with reasonable answers.
 

xuzme720

Dedicated foam bender
Mentor
Not in a super big hurry, but all this talk of "letting each other know if he comes here" has me uneasy.
In reality I'd be happy if it gets here in the next 2-4 weeks as I haven't even placed my final order for parts from hk
It worries me, if he's that bad, well then it's that bad. But the two emails I sent to him came back quickly, with reasonable answers.
I think the one they were talking about was timecop from rcg, unless that is paul also...
 

andybenton

NERD!!!! :)
I may have misinterpreted. I can be a little slow sometimes.

I just feel for the guy. I forgot to order an item. Sent him an email, had a reply in less than 3 hours with a solution. Emailed him and thanked him. Also received a reply quickly.

Anyways. Enough squawking about it all. I'll report back with my experience once I receive my order
 

xuzme720

Dedicated foam bender
Mentor
No worries. I can definitely understand your concern, though. Let us know if the lead times are getting better!
 

andybenton

NERD!!!! :)
well guys, on Tuesday the 25th I placed my order with rtfquads, today at 1:00 AM the shipping label was generated.
I was worried and a little upset after reading all the complaints, but ive got to say, this poor guy is working at 1 am on a SUNDAY.

hes got my business, slow or not.
that's all I wanted to say.
sorry for thread jacking you.
 

Mustang7302

Senior Member
I initiated the Charge Back process with PayPal this morning as my order still shows processing at RTFQ. Didn't even get a reply from Paul about shipping by end of day Friday or refund my order.

Based on what I've heard I wouldn't expect it to position hold much if any better than MultiWii. Since it's based on MW and Timecop seems to have little if any interest in position hold and stability and instead is mostly interested in acro. That and his utter disdain for Naza and the way it performs - he's been pretty outspoken that if you want something that performs like Naza get a Naza but he can't imagine why anyone would want something that flys like that and position hold in MW and BaseFlight is totally different by design.

I had hoped perhaps since the Naze32 ran on better hardware than any other MW controller before it, there might have been the intention of dialing in the pilot aid features like position hold and altitude hold. I haven't looked at any posts by TimeCop, but thank you for letting me know what to expect. I do dislike how limited the Naza's are in terms of performance, but you can't deny that they're ultra smooth and locked in.

I just feel for the guy. I forgot to order an item. Sent him an email, had a reply in less than 3 hours with a solution. Emailed him and thanked him. Also received a reply quickly.

I had two emails to Paul. One to ask to change the pin selection from right angle to straight, which took 3 days to respond with. Then the second email was on day seven of waiting asking for an update, which took 2 days to respond with. The reply to the second email didn't actually say anything about how much longer it was going to take.

well guys, on Tuesday the 25th I placed my order with rtfquads, today at 1:00 AM the shipping label was generated.
I was worried and a little upset after reading all the complaints, but ive got to say, this poor guy is working at 1 am on a SUNDAY.

hes got my business, slow or not.
that's all I wanted to say.
sorry for thread jacking you.

Glad to see you have what appears to be a successful order; the real tell is when parts make it to your hands. As you've seen my experience has been vastly different and I wont be spending a penny more with Paul at ReadyToFlyQuads.
 

Cyberdactyl

Misfit Multirotor Monkey
This looks similar to other situations. It reminds me of watching the multirotor craze explode and someone offering the general public some product from something they built in their garage that flies well, then getting SO excited their design is getting so much adulation, they dive into something that gets WAY over their head quick. Simplecopter.com is a good example.

I realize RTFQ is more than one guy, but you can find several nightmare stories at rcgroups of one-man builders getting dozens of orders a day, yet they are only capable of producing a half dozen a day at most. And most have a day job to satisfy as well.
 

Mustang7302

Senior Member
The Acro Naze32 came in from MultiRotorSuperStore this afternoon. Going to be working on soldering pins to the board. Hope I don't bugger this thing up.

W9b9Mq7.jpg


MRSS does offer soldering service for $10, which is totally worth it. I just wanted to see how long it took between a soldered order versus an un-soldered order; turns out they were processed at the same time.
 

kah00na

Senior Member
Would the barometer and magnetometer that the non-acro version of the Naze32 offers be of any help in an FPV250?
 

Mustang7302

Senior Member
I got the pins soldered on to my Acro Naze32 without drama, got it connected to the PC, and got the receiver setup with its channel min and max values. Now I just need the rest of the parts in the ARF kit to get here.

CR took a picture of the Naze32 next to a KK2 and MultiWii Pro for size comparison:

wefvEi7.jpg


Would the barometer and magnetometer that the non-acro version of the Naze32 offers be of any help in an FPV250?

Its possible the barometer might be of usefulness if you were to fly it FPV, but the magnetometer wouldn't be.
 

jhitesma

Some guy in the desert
Mentor
Its possible the barometer might be of usefulness if you were to fly it FPV, but the magnetometer wouldn't be.

Well, the magnetometer would allow heading lock and heads free modes which may be nice on a small quad like that. Though personally I find heads free confusing and disorienting. Mag assisted heading lock seems pretty good on MW though - at least it did before I upgraded my ESC's (I get interference on my mag with the new ESC's and haven't re positioned the sensor to deal with it yet.)
 

Mustang7302

Senior Member
I agree that head lock mode is too disorienting for anyone with any previous flight experience what so ever.

Me being me, I couldn't wait to try the Naze32. I stuck it to my Bat Bone and was getting ready to fly it for the first time only to find that it spins like a top as soon as it gets lift. This is normally solved by reversing the servo channel in the KK2's mixer, but I can't seem to find where in the Naze32 setup to do the same. Anyone have insight?
 

Mustang7302

Senior Member
I cross posted my yaw issue on RCGroups in the Naze32 thread and got feedback on the issue over night. I followed the suggested instruction of using "set yaw_direction = -1" in the command line interface of the configuration, but it didn't solve the spinning like a top issue. Then I noticed the servo tab in the utility had options to fiddle with now, which included the option to change the yaw direction from a drop down menu. Changed it, saved it, and give it a quick hop to test and the Bat Bone went up smooth like butter.

Took it outside for a couple of minutes and it flew great. A little docile compared to the KK2's increased stick scaling, but in level mode it did allow about 90* of rotation. Just going to slowly bump up the equivalent of stick scaling and get this thing tossed around; another day however. I am still recovering from gall bladder removal surgery from this past weekend and the weather is turning mucky on me. I have plenty of time it seems until the ARF FPV250 kit comes in.
 

jhitesma

Some guy in the desert
Mentor
Took it outside for a couple of minutes and it flew great. A little docile compared to the KK2's increased stick scaling, but in level mode it did allow about 90* of rotation. Just going to slowly bump up the equivalent of stick scaling and get this thing tossed around; another day however. I am still recovering from gall bladder removal surgery from this past weekend and the weather is turning mucky on me. I have plenty of time it seems until the ARF FPV250 kit comes in.

Since it's based off MW originally I assume it's the same RC Rate and PID Rate options? If so I've really been enjoying flying with the PID rate high but keeping the RC Rate lower. That results in a multi that's smooth and non-twitchy around center stick - but still able to flip quick at full stick. Going too high on the RC Rate will make it twitchy all the time if that's what you prefer.
 

Mustang7302

Senior Member
There is all of that, it seems.

I've taken my R&P and Yaw rates from 0.00 to 0.50, RC rate from 0.85 to 1.10, and RC expo from 0.65 to 0.50. Haven't flown it yet, but I hope these will get me closer to the snappiness I had dialed into the KK2.
 

kah00na

Senior Member
Do you think the ARF with a Naze32 will fly well with a camera & VTX attached to it or would it be too sluggish. I keep changing my mind about jumping on board.
 

Mustang7302

Senior Member
Is your question if the motor and prop combination in the ARF kit will be sluggish with the bulk of FPV hardware? Or is it that the Naze32 will be sluggish with a bloated 250 size quad?

The motor and prop combination in the ARF kit will have plenty of power for lifting a FatShark setup. A small video camera and the 250mw transmitter adds less than 100 grams of bulk. If i understand correctly the ARF kit should be in the realm of 375 grams of all up weight. As long as you keep the all up under 500 grams, there will be plenty of power for zipping around while flying FPV. It wont however do well to lift a GoPro and FPV hardware, it will be sluggish and flight times will be minimal. Once you've gotten a dozen hours of flight time under your belt and want just a little more power, going to 6x3x2 props will give just enough more power to max the motors in current and give a bit more pep.

The Naze32, or any MultiWii based controller, is not for the first time builder. Once you've built a rig on a KK2 and tinkered with it enough to understand all of the settings, then going to a Naze32 or CC3D will be an easier learning curve. That learning curve includes how to configure advanced flight features (if the hardware supports it), tuning gains to run small or large span rigs smoothly, and how to dial in just how aggressive the board will allow you to fly. I found the Acro Naze32 to be aggressive enough "out of the box" for a fun FPV craft for my Bat Bone with 8.5" booms; but it was too docile to fly line of sight and swoop around like i tend to do. I've dialed up the aggressiveness so it will fling around with more authority, which would be too much to handle while flying FPV. So the Naze32 can be tuned up or down to suit your taste, you just have to have enough experience under your belt to understand how you want it to feel for how you intend to fly it.