HobbyKing "Spec FPV250 Racing" Mini Quad

[kah00na]

I was more worried about the Multistar motors and ESCs. I have a Sony board camera, 250mw FatShark TX, goggles, etc. I've crashed/destroyed 3 tricopters and currently on my forth and just recently built my first 450 quadcopter (3 broken arms so far). I've only used the KK2.0. I'm descent at FPV but the fear of crashing and breaking arms keeps me from pushing my skills too much further. I want to get one the 250 size and do FPV but I haven't seen a video of a "stock" FPV250s being flown yet. At the moment, I'm holding out for some SunnySky X2204 2300kv motors, I may end up changing my mind. That's why I'm looking forward to seeing yours fly.

 

[Mustang7302]

Order placed March 18th for the Spec FPV250 ARF kit was finally delivered on April 28th. I have -never- had an order take this long to arrive and I refuse to support such terrible service going forward. While waiting I had more than enough time to let boredom get the best of me and ended up ordering parts from US suppliers to build a different mini quad; see my Polakium Quad Build Log for details.

Since I have the parts in hand, I figure I would at least build the thing and fly it a little while I figure what I am going to do with a second mini quad. I ordered a Acro Naze32 from Multirotor Super Store late Monday night and expect delivery of it tomorrow. I also had to make an order to Altitude Hobbies for some three blade 5030 props because the kit not only doesn't come with spares, but they sent me three CCW props (two green and one black) and one CW prop (black). So this thing wasn't even going to be able to fly out of the box even if I had a spare flight controller laying around.

While I was inspired by the power manifold design for power distribution, this frame doesn't seem to make managing wires an easy task. Basically the best way I've found so far is to just run all the power wires under the frame and let the battery be strapped up against it. Perhaps I will find a better idea that doesn't involve drilling or other wise hacking up the frame.

Then there is the question about the 10A Multistar ESCs. I hooked one up to my FrSky X6R receiver to bind it and played with the throttle a little. It is very apparent that these Multistar ESCs are not very quick to respond with output to input. I am afraid to see how much they will reduce the performance of a very solid board like the Naze32.
I hesitate to even spend another $32 on ESCs from RTFQ for this kit because I have been just so fed up over this whole experience.

Will report back when it is flying.

 

[cranialrectosis]

I think this cautionary tale exempliflies the old statement "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.".

HK is truly the sow's ear of customer service.

kah00na, the Sunnysky motors are superior and worthy of holding out for. If/when you get them, this frame is not worthy. Check out Mustang's Polakium quad or the Blackout quad or WarpQuad String Theory build threads.

I think you will be MUCH happier with the superior performance you can achieve with the better hardware and far more satisfied by the superior customer service offered by these vendors.

 

[kah00na]

kah00na, the Sunnysky motors are superior and worthy of holding out for. If/when you get them, this frame is not worthy. Check out Mustang's Polakium quad or the Blackout quad or WarpQuad String Theory build threads.

I think you will be MUCH happier with the superior performance you can achieve with the better hardware and far more satisfied by the superior customer service offered by these vendors.

I ended up buying a used FPV250 that was already flyable - just had to add a receiver. It came with the the small RCX motors. They work pretty well. I ended up putting the Diatone QAV250 frame on it along with my FPV gear and I can definitely feel the extra weight but it is plenty maneuverable. I'll tell you, when I was able to open the box, add a receiver and take it out and zip it around the yard... that was nice. No hours long build session before I could fly. I may buy more used instead of new.

 

[Mustang7302]

How much did you pay for the used ARF, if you don't mind me asking?

 

[Kogashuko]

I have one of these frames sitting on my desk that I have been meaning to stick my RCX motors on. I originally tried a 3d printed frame and could not get the balance right at all. I then lost my beater quad in an incident in March so I had to use the Crius 2 that was on it on another beater build. I picked this frame up since it is more refined and cheaper than the 3d printed one. Should allow for better placement of items and almost perfect placement of a mobius.

As for the person in one of the earlier posts who recommended one of the small NTM motors... dont. For that price you can get the sunnysky motors. I had just put NTM 800 motors on my beater quad before I had a fly off. The bearings were horrible. I never knew what people ment about bearings but it was clear as soon as I got them. A couple of the motors were hard to turn and one of them would not spin up until throttle was raised a bit higher than the others. They used a lot of power and were not smooth at all. I am almost glad I lost them. I had Dt700s and Turnigy XPs on my beater prior to the NTMs. The resurected beater that I built has the DT700s on it and quite honestly is smoother than the NTMs. Since buying them and then purchasing the prop adapters put them in the range of the sunnysky price, it simply makes no sense not to buy sunnyskys. If you cant afford them then stick with the Turnigy XPs and find some way to affix the props other than the stupid cullet mount. I plan on taking all 4 of mine and thread them and then slap them on a 350 build. In short, friends dont let friends use NTMs.

 

[FinalGlideAus]

I have one of these frames sitting on my desk that I have been meaning to stick my RCX motors on. I originally tried a 3d printed frame and could not get the balance right at all. I then lost my beater quad in an incident in March so I had to use the Crius 2 that was on it on another beater build. I picked this frame up since it is more refined and cheaper than the 3d printed one. Should allow for better placement of items and almost perfect placement of a mobius.

As for the person in one of the earlier posts who recommended one of the small NTM motors... dont. For that price you can get the sunnysky motors. I had just put NTM 800 motors on my beater quad before I had a fly off. The bearings were horrible. I never knew what people ment about bearings but it was clear as soon as I got them. A couple of the motors were hard to turn and one of them would not spin up until throttle was raised a bit higher than the others. They used a lot of power and were not smooth at all. I am almost glad I lost them. I had Dt700s and Turnigy XPs on my beater prior to the NTMs. The resurected beater that I built has the DT700s on it and quite honestly is smoother than the NTMs. Since buying them and then purchasing the prop adapters put them in the range of the sunnysky price, it simply makes no sense not to buy sunnyskys. If you cant afford them then stick with the Turnigy XPs and find some way to affix the props other than the stupid cullet mount. I plan on taking all 4 of mine and thread them and then slap them on a 350 build. In short, friends dont let friends use NTMs.

I think I'm going to like you In fact thanks for helping me write my new signature.
My thoughts exactly on your motor opinions.

 

[kah00na]

How much did you pay for the used ARF, if you don't mind me asking?

$110 shipped. It was in real good shape when I got it. I've put it through a few crashes.

 

[Mustang7302]

Thanks, kah00na.

The flight controller should be coming in today and the extra props will be coming in tomorrow. I will see about getting this kit flying this evening with a moderate tune on the 5030 two blades I use on my Polakium quad. I will probably end up selling this kit on here or RCGroups for anyone interested in a ARF quad; just add your own receiver.

 

[kah00na]

Thanks, kah00na.

The flight controller should be coming in today and the extra props will be coming in tomorrow. I will see about getting this kit flying this evening with a moderate tune on the 5030 two blades I use on my Polakium quad. I will probably end up selling this kit on here or RCGroups for anyone interested in a ARF quad; just add your own receiver.

If you would, after it is ready to fly, weigh it and let us know what your total weight comes to. I'm waiting on a camera to arrive for mine so I can do FPV with it. I'll post some pictures and its weight when it is ready.

Just curious, but what would make you want to sell it?

 

[Mustang7302]

I want to sell this kit to get my money back from it. I had written off the order that it would never come in and was waiting for PayPal to refund my money. In the mean time I went out and built another mini quad which I just got in the air last week. I don't see having two mini acro quads in my fleet.

 

[cranialrectosis]

I want to sell this kit to get my money back from it. I had written off the order that it would never come in and was waiting for PayPal to refund my money. In the mean time I went out and built another mini quad which I just got in the air last week. I don't see having two mini acro quads in my fleet.

And the Polakium is a better copter...

 

[kah00na]

The only advantage to having two would be that if you plan on going to the flying field for a long time and you crash and burn your quad in the first flight, you'll have a second one to keep flying. I have a F450 quadcopter, and SimpleCopter Tricopter (home built), one flyable mini quad waiting on a camera for FPV, and a second mini quad I'll use for LOS but it is waiting on a KK2 flight board. I'm sure my wife thinks I have too many.

That mini quad kit you have is only going to be more desirable as time goes on. People are willing to pay a little more for a BNF quad - not a lot more, but a little. I'd suggest getting it put together and flying it around a little and see what you really think of it. Try real hard not to crash it... like be way overly cautious. Also, get some good recordings of it flying. Then if you do decide to sell it, you can say it flies great and has never been crashed. I'm sure you'll get all your money back.

 

[Kogashuko]

And the Polakium is a better copter...

I have some issues with the one I was building. There is simply no easy way to mount the board, gps, rx, video tx, and other assorted items unless you use exactly the parts he did. There is also no landing gear with the frame. I also had major balance issues.

 

[cranialrectosis]

I have some issues with the one I was building. There is simply no easy way to mount the board, gps, rx, video tx, and other assorted items unless you use exactly the parts he did. There is also no landing gear with the frame. I also had major balance issues.

You have trouble with your own FPV250 or your own Polakium?

 

[FinalGlideAus]

If you're talking about the Polakium mini quad, there are many reasons for his decisions. Mini quads require special attention to weight as it effects them much more than a bigger quad. You can't expect to use a massive reciever, 20 amp esc's, 2200 battery and a KK2 and get it all to work right. Plus the KK2 just doesn't have the ability to fly a mini quad well anyway. Unfortunately HobbyKing can't see this and probably never will since all of their designs are just copies and bad one's at that. If you build your mini quad with the right components and tune it properly you don't need landing gear. Just catch it. Landing gear just adds weight, drag and something to catch things on. Mini quads are vastly different in design to F450's or BatBone's.

 

[Mustang7302]

Got around to messing with this kit, kinda. The Acro Naze32 I ordered for the ARF HK kit acted a bit weird on me and didn't trust trying to fly it; the board would stop sending data over USB after a minute or two but would still appear to work, could never get it to stay connected long enough to finish setup in Baseflight. So having a BNF kit to sell was out the window. I did however take the motors, ESCs, and props from the kit and sell them to recover some cost. That left me with just the frame laying around...

I found some new motors and ESCs from EMAX which caught my attention and thought I might give them a whirl. They're 18mm motors with similar KV and current rating as the famous SunnySky X2204S 2300KV motors (unlike the RCX 2804 2400KV motors), should make for a hotrod on 6045 props . So I ordered the hardware from MultiRotorMinis and another (fourth total?) Acro Naze32 from MultiRotorSuperStore. Between fighting fatigue with gallbladder removal complications, I haven't done much more than get the FPV250 together and a brief maiden.

Specs:
EMAX MT-1806 2280KV Motors
EMAX Simon Series 12A ESCs
6045 HQ Props
Acro Naze32
1300mAh 3S 35C Battery
FrSKY X6R RX with Current Sensor

The MT-1806 motors were easy to bolt on to the wide bolt pattern frame with such a small motor because it has two different mounting spacing. The ESCs were interesting as they're longer than they are wide, basically all the hardware turned 90* and the motor pads in the middle; they fit -perfectly- under the arms of this Diatone frame with no overhang. The maiden went smooth with no drama on the default settings. Didn't get a chance to look at or log current telemetry on the maiden; but let's just say a quick throttle jab to see vertical acceleration was way more enthusiastic than I imagined, it quickly had a meeting with the ceiling fan.

In the next day or two I will see about getting it outside, as my health permits, to test flight times and current data logging with 6045, 6030, and 5030 props.

 

[Cyberdactyl]

Those props look very interesting and only $15, I'm curious how they perform.

 

[Mustang7302]

Those props look very interesting and only $15, I'm curious how they perform.

I assume you're referring to the motors. And yes, they are very interesting. They're nice and smooth with no bearing play (the RCX motors have a tiny amount), have an integrated prop mount, and beg for 6" props. Look forward to data logging with them.

 

[FinalGlideAus]

The thrust tests are woefully low on the motor specs so I'd expect your own thrust tests to exceed those figures quite noticeably if using HQ props. Just keep an eye on temps when using the 6x4.5's as the motor will be working hard at WOT only being an 18mm dia motor.