New Hexacopter.... Which one??

Cyberdactyl

Misfit Multirotor Monkey
The couple of times I lost a motor was from the ties working loose and the motor ripping free. It appears my every input is wildly over-corrected. Maybe some other hex configurations do better, but it's all I can do to get it to the ground without crashing. It has plenty of lift, it is just super hard to control.
 

jhitesma

Some guy in the desert
Mentor
One tip that should be added to the 'multirotor tips' thread if not there, is the long term use of zip ties. Meaning, they should be replaced around every 25 hours of flying or so, or around 150 flights, especially if you use the smaller 3mm wide ones intended to tear free in a crash. Ties will very slowly stretch and become loose. A couple of my crashes have been from ignoring that little issue.

I don't think I've had any zip ties last that long :) The AZ sun may have something to do with that....they only last about a week in outdoor use due to UV degradation ;) Though on my quads it's crashes rather than exposure that tends to do them in :D

I also agree - hex's can stay in the air with a motor out...but you definitely don't have full control.

I also may have come across a bit harsher than I meant to on my hex yesterday. I really do enjoy it, and it can do acrobatics. But it's a different kind of acrobatics, a little bigger, a little slower - more graceful less aggressive.

The quads are great for ripping it up and letting out some frustrations. If we were talking dance here quads would be a mosh pit while hexes are a waltz or maybe a tango.

Lately I've been more in the mood to burn off some frustration than relax up in the sky ;)
 

pezzer

New member
Board cam trouble

haha, nice going... 78kph is pretty good!!:D

But I am stuck in a new problem.

I am going for the blackout mini spider hex and I am choosing the super mini spider hex power train. the 4s set up.

However sorting out all the bits and pieces, I have no idea what baord cam to get. maybe you have one in your hex?? I have seen the sony 600tvl super had but i cant find the super had ii. either way, they have weird plugs coming out of the board. If this is the camera to go for, do you know of a way to rewire them, If so some steps may be usefull.

would the fat shark stock camera's work? I saw the fitting for the camera on the hex and automatically assumed board cam which the 600 tvl cmos fat shark camera is not.

Just some guidance on what everyone is using and how they are doing it would be useful..

Many thanks
Pezzer
 

pezzer

New member
My mistake guys,
I meant that reply for someone on the end of the first page. I failed to see the full 3 pages of replies I got!!!!
Guys I like the hex vs quad debate here And it is exactly what I needed for my decision. I think that because of my ability I will choose hex. My board cam trouble still stands however, If anyone could help me with that it would be greatly appreciated.

I used cable ties on all of my copters but never to secure motors on. I think they should be secured on with a nylon bolt or something like that which means they break off in the event of a crash and do little damage to the copter or motor. but offer the rigidity and reliability as though they were bolted on. Just a thought for the future guys.


Many thanks
Pezzer
 

PHugger

Church Meal Expert
haha, nice going... 78kph is pretty good!!:D
78kph isn't bad, but that was 125kph or 78 Miles Per Hour.
I remember the FT Boys speed testing their rigs with a radar gun.
I know they had a Tri and a Quad - close to 50 mph if I remember correctly.


Best regards,
PCH
 

Cyberdactyl

Misfit Multirotor Monkey
I used cable ties on all of my copters but never to secure motors on. I think they should be secured on with a nylon bolt or something like that which means they break off in the event of a crash and do little damage to the copter or motor. but offer the rigidity and reliability as though they were bolted on. Just a thought for the future guys.

Many thanks
Pezzer

Nylon ties work great for me to mount motors until I get forgetful and don't replace them like I should. :eek:
 

jhitesma

Some guy in the desert
Mentor
As long as you replace them frequently zip ties work quite well for motors. At least with wood booms. I zip them tight enough that the motor mounts leave in impression in the wood and have never had a crash I'd say was the result of a zip tie failure. I've had plenty of them fail in crashes but can't think of very many instances where I've suspected one of failing - and those are usually trying to take off after a crash without walking up to it so I never really know if it was a zip failure just after take-off or one that was damaged in the original crash :)

I wouldn't mount 250 sized motors with zip ties. But on my knuckle quad I wouldn't use anything but.
 

pezzer

New member
Oh wow 78 mph is even better!

yes cable ties (zip ties) can work very well when done correctly. If however you are forgetful a nylon bolt may be the way to go. However me personally, I fly a tricopter. I used to have the old batbone with the old servo mounting. I enjoyed the flights i got from it once i had changed to a nazeFC !! But my motors were bolted to that and now my tri is made from CF so I use the direct motor mount tapped hole on the underside to bolt the motor to the underside.

Guys I think that from the response I got that this debate about the hex or quad is one debate not done properly on the internet yet so I think flite test should do a new section caled something like "challenge test" or something much better than that where they take two items which people are likely to discuss which item is the best and challenge them both from an objective point of view.
Of course if they do a hex vs quad no one will accept the outcome if you are on the losing side. Because it will always be up to your own opinion.
However, I do think it may be a worth while section of flite test.



Anyway, what board cams is everyone using on their quads, tri's, pent's or hex's. As I have chosen a hex but Have no Idea what board cam to use!


Many Thanks guys
Pezzer
 

Cyberdactyl

Misfit Multirotor Monkey
I zip them tight enough that the motor mounts leave in impression in the wood and have never had a crash I'd say was the result of a zip tie failure. I've had plenty of them fail in crashes but can't think of very many instances where I've suspected one of failing - and those are usually trying to take off after a crash without walking up to it so I never really know if it was a zip failure just after take-off or one that was damaged in the original crash :)

One thing I started doing about a year ago is buttering a thin coat of epoxy on the bottom surface of my 10mm pultruded CF sticks where there zip tie will be. I use the 15 minute Bob Smith epoxy and let it sit for about 15-20 minutes before putting on the ties. The epoxy is still plenty tacky and the tie embeds a bit and locks it to the underside. It can be removed later since it's flexible nylon, but it helps allot opposed to the naked slick CF surface.
 

PHugger

Church Meal Expert
My Fortis Titan is mostly held together with 18lb cable ties. Being able to replace a few of these after a hard landing is a feature. You break less frame parts. I could never keep the landing gear on (poor piloting} so I substituted some colored Waffle Balls. They are still held on with cable ties, but they can take more abuse.

Cameras -
CCD for moving images
Look for features like High Dynamic Range processing

Do you have any friends who can let you take a look at theirs? I tend to like more accurate color rendering.
Search for threads with CCD or CMOS in them.



Best regards,
PCH
 

Ocean

Member
By far the most common sensor used in FPV is CCD, I have a Sony Mini 600tvl SuperHAD and I like it, its nice and small and most of the mini quad guys use.
 

Cyberdactyl

Misfit Multirotor Monkey
I have three card cams. A somewhat pricy Effio 960 and two PZ0420s. The 960H-V is nice, but overall, for the price, excellent WDR, extremely low latency, it's hard to beat the good ol' Sony PZ0420, especially when you can find them on sale in the upper teens and low 20's.
 

Ocean

Member
I would agree with cyber, if you are looking for the best image quality the Effio-V is the way to go. However for price AND lowest latency go for the PZ0420.
 

Robbie

Senior Member
bruce sure hates cc3d. hhe. iv not had a issue with my cc3d board.. :p

chris.

I think bruces point is that the Naze and the CC3D are almost the same prcie but the naze flies better (according to him) and it also has proper pins instead of loads of TCCs. Therefore I think if your building a qaud from scratch the Naze is no brainer. I just hope time cop brings out a bored with F3 soon.