Need help finding build plans and electronics for Knuckle H-Quad 370

nguoiquaduong

Junior Member
Hello everyone,

First off, I am new the R/C flying world. I have always been an enthusiast of planes in general, just now got a chance to start. I have watched many videos on this site - FliteTest - by the way, it is awesome, kudos to both Josh'es, you guys are the reason more and more people who have the common interests can make it a reality! Keep up the good work guys!

To start off, I have bought the FT Duster SpeedBuild Kit and the "Beef" electronic package from LazerToyz as recommended by Josh B. The electronic package is labeled for the FT Storch, since I couldn't find one that is for the Duster. I have done researches to make sure it will be okay. Most specs seem very similar so I went ahead and bought it. The one obvious thing that is different is the props. The FT Duster as shown in Josh's build video has 3 blades (3 branches, not sure if there is a term for this), the package I bought only came with a straight prop. I am wondering is it okay?

Second, I also like multi-rotor copters. I have watched the Knuckle H-Quad 370 video and really like the design. I have access to the laser cutter at my work and I want to build it on my own. However, I can't seem to find the build plan for it like any other models. Also I know that the store page has some recommendations for the electronics, but I would like to find out if there is any others that you guys would recommend. What and where is best to get them? Any help would be really appreciated!

I am excited to get starting in R/C Plane. I will be building my first plane soon!
Thanks!
 

jhitesma

Some guy in the desert
Mentor
The "plans" for the plates and knuckles are here:
http://www.stonekap.net/ftplans/Knuckles_freeplans.pdf

They're linked in the article about the knuckle:
http://flitetest.com/articles/knuckle-h-quad

The knuckle will fly with a lot of different motors. I'd suggest something like a 2212 around 1400kv spinning 8" props on the stock size build. I built my initial one with blue wonder motors and they worked...but they didn't last very long and really aren't good motors for a quad. I upgraded to SunnySky angel motors and have been much happier...but would still like to upgrade to some SunnySky X series motors since they're a bit better for multis than the angels since they're shaftless (and twice I've had the same prop collet come off and cause a crash with my Angels, though thankfully both times just a few feet off the ground.)

I'd strongly suggest staying away from the multistar ESC's, the new v2 versions may be better but the originals are a joke so I'm not in any hurry to try the new ones. Getting ESC's with simonk or blheli will give you MUCH better performance and is STRONGLY STRONGLY recommended. Or you can get something like the F20's or Blue Series 20's from HK and flash them yourself which really isn't all that hard and can save a few bucks. The usbasp needed to flash is a tool you'll probably find yourself using a lot if you stick with the hobby and only costs a couple of bucks - it can be used to reflash all kinds of things from ESC's and flight controllers to OSD's and TX's.
 

nguoiquaduong

Junior Member
Hi jhitesma,

Awesome, thanks for the plan man, I appreciate it!

Obviously, I don't know much about the different type of motors, ESCs, flashing, etc. So I am going to do more research about the usbasp tool and find out how to do it. I do work with computer a lot, so hopefully it won't be too bad. I will come back and post more as I go along and if I run into any trouble.

Thanks again!
 

jhitesma

Some guy in the desert
Mentor
F20As already flashed with simonK for $8. If they are from the same source that supplies HobbyKing, you can't go wrong.

http://witespyquad.gostorego.com/f-20a-fire-red-normal-esc-with-rapidesc-fw-for-multirotor.html

I'm just not a huge fan of the F20's.

They're HEAVY - 4 F20's weigh more than 5 Blue Series 20's!

And I've had issues with their BEC's - I thought they may have switching BEC's on them because they come with ferrites on the servo connector and because I had problems when I used multiple BEC's to power different things - which worked fine with the Blue Series but didn't work at all with the F20s'. (I'm not talking about connecting BEC's in parallel which is a bad idea. I was using one BEC to power my flight controller, another to power my RX, another to power my GPS and the fourth to power my bluetooth module. Worked fine with the blue's. But with the F20's I had to switch to using a single BEC or nothing would talk to each other.)

That said they are cheap and they work so they've got that going for them. But I'm cheap and I'd still rather spend a few bucks more for blue's ;)


And even if you buy pre-flashed ESC's it's really handy to have the usbasp so you can reflash them if you ever want to use a newer version of simonk or try blheli instead. Plus it's handy to have for flashing so many other things like flight controllers and 9x TX's it's just a great tool to have.