My first miniquad build

[RandomChaos]

As the title states, I just completed my first miniquad build. As with my first 450 quad I built, this one was built from cheap Ebay parts. I actually bought a $109 "kit", that seems to work well enough.

Ebay Kit: $109 http://www.ebay.com/itm/121650605455
ZMR250 Carbon Fiber Frame (Looks like it may be fiberglass laminated in carbon)
4x Readytosky S2204-16 2300KV motors (Sunnysky knockoffs)
4x 20A SimonK ESCs (Rather large in size, but they work for now)
Power Distribution board with switches for LEDs and a single extra power output
CC3D FC (using OpenPilot)
2x LED arrays (One was Blue, the other Green. Very bright for only 3 LEDs too.)
4x Green 5030 props (CW & CCW)
4x Black 5030 props (CW & CCW)
Zipties

Other things I already had due to other builds:
Flysky FS-T6 transmitter and receiver
XT60 Connectors
12AWG Silicon Wrapped Wire
Nylon Standoffs
Mesh wire wrap
Battery alarm
Velcro and Velcro straps
Heat Shrink Tubing
2200mah 3S battery (Old and too big, but works for testing)

Overall the best part about this build for me, was the low cost. Since I already have alot of stuff like battery, transmitter, battery charger, and the like, it made this miniquad a really cheap addon to my arsenal. Now onwoards with the build!

(Photos aren't the best quality. Cell phone, and not great lighting in my basement)

Even though the kit came from China, it arrived 7 days from the ship date. I have never received stuff from China THAT fast. Was pretty excited when it arrived.



Inside the box was all the goodies, individually in their own ESD bags, or small ziplock bags. I immediately got to unpackaging, and testing placement of the ESCs and motors to find the best layout. The ESCs are kinda big, and barely fit on the arms. The motors are rather short too, so the prop barely clears the ESC, which should be ok since the prop should never really flex down, except for in a crash. The prop will also contact the ziptie before it hits the ESC if it ever does.



During the testing, and setting the throttle high/low, of each ESC, one ended up being bad. After setting the throttle high/low, I throttle it up a little and was greeted with the magic smoke. Was really bummed, because now I have to wait for a replacement ESC. This cost me an extra $10 for the single ESC from the same Ebay seller. I wasn't interested in going through a return process to China, so just chalked it up to cheap parts, and bought a new one. While waiting for it to come in, I went ahead and assembled the quad as much as I could without it.

I mounted the rest of the ESCs and motors, soldered the motor leads directly to the ESC wires, and routed the power leads to the middle for the power distribution board. I also sleeved the ESC leads to make it all look nice and clean.





Next, I soldered a short battery lead onto the power distribution board. I measured it out so that the connector would be right at the back of the quad, and I could ziptie it down.



After that, I put it all off to the side, and patiently waited for the replacement ESC to arrive. While waiting for the ESC, I balanced each prop (harder to do than 10 inch props!).

Fast forward 10 days, the replacement ESC has arrived! I once again, immediately got to working on the quad. I soldered up the motor and ESC leads, tested it, then mounted it to the arm.



At this time, I also decided to shorten the ESC leads, removing half the length, and resleeved them. I am really glad I did that. The full length was deffinately not needed on this small quad. With the last ESC in place, and all the wires routed, I mounted the power distribution board, and soldered all the leads to it, including the 2 LED wires, and a JST connector for future accessories power.



Then, using liquid electric tape, I covered up the power distribution connections to avoid any shorts.



I think I need to invest in a better soldering iron, my cheap one isn't doing so well...



I then mounted the CC3D on top of the power distribution board, using the nylon standoffs. This gave it a nice, clean, compact look.



Now, it was time to place the bottom plate on, and tighten things down. I ran the LED wires out the bottom side of the plate, and soldered them up, then hot glued them to the frame. (no pictures of the LEDs yet.) The bottom plate hides the ESC power leads extremely well.



One of the last steps, I hooked up my receiver, and decided to mount it to the bottom of the top plate with velcro, placing it right above the FC, and plugged in the ESC signal wires.



All done and ready for a maiden! Without the battery, or any FPV gear, it weighs 379 grams. You might also notice the motors are layed out differently now. During the initial Open Pilot setup, I realized I had setup all the motors spinning the wrong direction! About an hour later of de-soldering, swapping around, and re-soldering, it was all good.





2 flights later, all is good! With the 2200mah battery, weighing in at 189 grams for a total weight of 568 grams, it hovers at about 55% throttle. I figure with a Jet Fuel 1400mah battery, and some FPV gear, it should weigh about that. 6 minutes of flight time put 1000mah of juice back into the battery, so not too shabby.

The quad itself handles great, very nimble. I'm used to my 1.3 kg Electrohub right now, so this little quad feels like going from a mini-van, to a Ferrari. Hopefully I can get some video up soon of it flying.

 

[RandomChaos]

Test flying, while answering the neighbor kids usual questions

 

[Darkback2]

Congratulations! it is really nice to see you up and flying! I picked up the eachine fpv camera/transmitter deal for $20 from banggood. Best of lick to you!

 

[airhawk]

nice quad looks like it handles well any fpv in the future. also what "usual questions " were you asked

 

[RandomChaos]

FPV is deffinately in the near future. Currently running it on my electrohub, so just need a transmitter, and may use my xiaomi yi for the camera to save weight.

The usual questions of...

Did you build it
How much was it
Where did you get the stuff to build it
How high can it go
Can you build me one

 

[airhawk]

nice did you look at this vtx http://www.getfpv.com/fat-shark-5-8ghz-250mw-a-v-transmitter.html
what goggles did you get if your using a pair

 

[RandomChaos]

I'm planning on getting the Tiny 5.8GHz Aomway 200mw transmitter, heard a lot of good thing about it, and maybe a diversity 32 channel receiver. Currently I'm using a cheap 8 channel setup, with the Quanum DIY Goggles (first version, not second).

 

[Snarls]

Nice build, I'm curious how well it will perform with such a low price tag. Looks like something good if my friends wanted to get into miniquads. Can those motors spin 6" props? If your looking for a cheap vTX camera combo check out the Eachine 700TVL combo on banggood. I have one on the way to replace my Skyzone plug n play camera or use separately on my AP quad.

 

[RandomChaos]

From what I have seen, the motors can handle a 6030 on 4S, a lot like the Sunnysky 2204 motors, though these ESCs are only rated to 3S. I am looking at trying some 6030 props on it. The ZMR250 barely fits them right?

Here is somebody testing the thrust and power draw on the Readytosky 2204 motors.

I currently use a SC2000 600TVL camera that has worked perfectly so far, even at night. To save weight, I'm thinking I will just use my Xiaomi Yi as the FPV camera, and recorder. Already have the breakout cable to power the camera and give the video out.

The kit looks to make a really nice entry point into miniquads. As with any build it yourself kits, it leaves room for upgrades. I think the first thing I will upgrade are some 6030 props, then the FPV gear, and finally some better/lighter ESCs. These weigh in at 20 grams each. The DYS mini 20a ESCs weight in at just under 8 grams each. That's almost 50 grams saved, and would allow for 4S. The flight controller appears to be very stable. Once I start zipping around in FPV, and ultimately breaking arms, I will probably look at the Thug arms. I might even look at some of the power distribution boards I have seen available. Some are setup so you can solder the FC directly to them, then the ESC signal wires to the PDB.

I'm pretty excited about getting into the miniquads now. Ever since I put FPV on my larger quad and started zipping it around my backyard, I have wanted to try a smaller, more nimble one, and turn my electrohub into a heavy lifter with long flight time.

 

[RandomChaos]

Got the 1400mah 3S Jetfuel battery today, as well as some Gemfan 6030 props. Hovers at just under half throttle now, with alot more punch and control. I did notice though that at full throttle, the 6030 props make an odd harmonic sound, only at full throttle. I balanced the props, so don't believe that is the issue. Anybody else experience this before? I will try to get a short video of the sound up later today.

 

[Craftydan]

That is a problem with the smaller/cheaper/lighter props on high kv motors -- the prop will flatten and flutter at high throttle. Coming up to that point the performance drops quite a bit and the flight starts feeling mushy. This is one of the ways the higher end props get their "it flies better" reputation.

If you want to run these motors up at higher speeds, moving up to a stiffer brand or better material (nylon filled or CF) is the way to go.

If you want to continue to learn at low cost, breaking cheap props instead of expensive ones, staying conservative on you throttle is what you must do.

 

[RandomChaos]

Thanks Dan! I thought that might have been what they were doing. The 6030 Gemfan props are pretty flimsy. I also noticed that once the sound started, the acceleration didn't increase anymore. Luckily its only at about 90-95% throttle that the problem begins, so I should be able to do some learning for now on these props.

On another note, I was looking into running Cleanflight on the CC3D board instead of OpenPilot. When connected, CF doesn't seem to see the board correctly giving a Serial error. I've tried forcing the CF firmware onto the board through the OpenPilot software, but then the board isn't even recognized on my computer, and I have to reflash the OpenPilot bootloader and firmware to get the board back to functioning. Anybody else experience this issue?

 

[Cyberdactyl]

I did notice though that at full throttle, the 6030 props make an odd harmonic sound, only at full throttle. I balanced the props, so don't believe that is the issue. Anybody else experience this before? I will try to get a short video of the sound up later today.

Oh yes, absolutely. As CD said, the prop tip flattens and returns fast enough to resonate and put off very loud sound. This gives the chance to link my video (and bore those who have seen it before) of my mini using cheap gemfans on 2600KV motors. The sound is much louder in person, but still pretty loud in the video. I start kicking the throttle around the 35 second mark.

 

[RandomChaos]

Yup that's the sound! I got some video of mine doing it too, editing it now. When you say its loud, you aren't joking. I'm sure it was freaking out my neighbors.

With the new battery, and the 6030 props, the quad weighs in at 491 grams without FPV gear on it, or my Xiaomi Yi. Next up, try fitting my FPV gear on it and zip around the backyard .

 

[RandomChaos]

You will probably need to turn up your sound to hear it good because had the camera in its case to cut out the wind noise. You can hear the props flatten several times as I punch it.

 

[airhawk]

If you want Emax 2204s are pretty good but even then you'll want more punch later.

 

[RandomChaos]

The 2204 motors on it now seem to be working great. No odd noises from them, and appear to be able to handle the 6030 props. They are still cool to the touch after landing, as well as the ESCs. If I do replace them, I would more than likely go with the real SunnkSky 2204 motors or the 2204 cobra motors. With the 2204 motors, I can bump it up to 4S and have an absolute rocket ship. For now though, 3S is working great, and with some better quality 6030 props after a bit of practice, I should have a really nice miniquad I can go nuts with.

 

[RandomChaos]

Transferred my big heavy FPV transmitter over to my miniquad, as well as ran the power lead for it, and the video cable for my Xiaomi Yi. I don't have a good 5V source besides the BECs in the ESCs, so will be running the camera from the battery for now. Tested out, and I have video! Usually I don't fly with such a wide angle view, so will take a little getting used to flying from the Yi. For now, this will work. Just need some good rubberbands to strap the Yi down to the front. Current Velcro strap is NOT going to be up to the task.

New weight with this FPV setup and battery, 598g.

Here is a horrible cellphone shot. Waiting patiently for the rain to push through.

 

[RandomChaos]

FPV setup works well! Ziptied the camera down. Sure is ALOT more nimble than my bigger quad while flying FPV. I need to get out into a more open area and start to learn some acrobatics. Not sure if I'm going to stick with the Yi camera as the FPV cam, or mount my 600TVL board camera and use it.

So far so good for the super cheap miniquad build!

 

[RandomChaos]

Annnnnd got the first crash out of the way . All 4 6030 props are toast. The quad itself handled the crash as I would have hoped, not a ding or scratch. I've broken flamewheel arms on a 450 quad from heights lower than this.

Looks like I will be ordering up some more props to try out, see if I can find the one that works best for me and my flying.