progress of my build so far, kinda stuck, could use some suggestions.

[octodreamerFNG]

so here's what i've got so far...

Frame: Flitetest “Knuckles” H-Quad

(then i picked up a combo pack from lazer toyz)
Motors: Emax grand turbo 2213/935kv
ESC’s: Emax Simon series 20 amp
Props: 8x4.5 Emax
Battery: 3300mah 11.1v 35c

(then i went a bit overboard but the goal was to buy big to upgrade later into a hex or octo... so i wanted the good stuff)
FC: Pixhawk +GPS
Radio: Taranis X9D Plus + X8R-PCB 8/16 telemetry receiver

progress so far has been spotty, we laid out the knuckles, drilled it with a smaller bit than we should have and had to screw each bolt into place... this caused a few of the bolt heads to strip and they are now stuck so i haven't finished the frame yet and need to buy some new ones. probably going to break it all back down and re-drill all the holes with a bigger bit.

i managed to solder the bullet connectors for the ESC's with spotty sucess, had a lot of solder coming out the holes in the isdes and it made for an interesting (frustrating) job to heat shrink them... but i powered through it.

i completely botched the solder job on the power distribution board, luckily i started with soldering the wires onto the dean connector, i was right in the middle of soldering the second wire when it dawned on me that i was soldering the wrong side . it wasn't fixable, it's now in the trash and i've still got the unmolested board.

this turned out to be a good mistake though, because the more i look into the build the more i want to switch to xt60 connectors. not only because it's what the pixhawk power supply cable has, but because it seems like a much better solution.

so here's what i think i need:

XT60 male to deans female (to use that deans connector battery i got from the lazer toys combo)
XT60 male to 4x pigtail (so i can omit the distribution board and not subject it to my atrocious soldering "skills")
more batteries with XT60 connectors
a battery charger
lipo bag(s)

aside from that i'm not sure what else i need. i still have reservations on the mockup of the pixhawk, some of the connections don't seem to make a lot of sense but i guess i just need to do more research. it's also been recommended to me that i pickup some more blades, not only replacement blades of the same kind, but different types of blades to test it with different setups. i'm lost there, because all of this is new to me and frankly there are some ultra noob questions that i'm almost affraid to ask.

what the hell here goes...

what gives with the extra rings that came with the blades? it seems as if the blades mount up perfectly without any adapters or spacers, so i'm not sure what i'm messing up there.

also, is there any easy solutions for mounting the FT camera tray to the knuckles... has anyone done this? i purchased the knuckles and the camera tray thinking they would be designed to work in unison with each other... but they do not. anyone got vid or pics of installing the FT camera mount (the one with the metal hoops) onto a knuckles build?

anything else i should be aware of?

how am i doing so far?

any input will be very helpful so thank you in advance for any replies.

 

[FlyingMonkey]

Once upon a time the motor shaft sizes were more varied. The rings are a hold over from those days.

 

[x0054]

i completely botched the solder job on the power distribution board, luckily i started with soldering the wires onto the dean connector, i was right in the middle of soldering the second wire when it dawned on me that i was soldering the wrong side . it wasn't fixable, it's now in the trash and i've still got the unmolested board.

I would suggest, practice soldering. It really isn't all that hard. Just get a good soldering iron. The temperature controlled soldering irons have really come down in price. Get some good solder and flux, and practice for an hour or 2. You'll be much better off, because there is a ton of soldering involved when you are building things from scratch like this. There are plenty of youtube videos on how to do it right.

what gives with the extra rings that came with the blades? it seems as if the blades mount up perfectly without any adapters or spacers, so i'm not sure what i'm messing up there.

If your props fit on the motors without spacers, don't use spacers. Some props have a rather large cutout for the spacer. If you have a spacer which also fits on the motor shaft, use it, it can't hurt. The props are supposed to sit on the motor shaft without any lateral play.

also, is there any easy solutions for mounting the FT camera tray to the knuckles... has anyone done this? i purchased the knuckles and the camera tray thinking they would be designed to work in unison with each other... but they do not. anyone got vid or pics of installing the FT camera mount (the one with the metal hoops) onto a knuckles build?

http://flitetest.com/articles/knuckle-h-quad

Just bolt it to the bottom plate, like they did in the second picture from the top.

- Bogdan

 

[octodreamerFNG]

Once upon a time the motor shaft sizes were more varied. The rings are a hold over from those days.

thank you for that, i was confused with all those choices and not needing any of them... seemed like a waste to send me all that stuff i didn't need. thanks for the clarification.

I would suggest, practice soldering. It really isn't all that hard. Just get a good soldering iron. The temperature controlled soldering irons have really come down in price. Get some good solder and flux, and practice for an hour or 2. You'll be much better off, because there is a ton of soldering involved when you are building things from scratch like this. There are plenty of youtube videos on how to do it right.

the problem i have here is the soldering iron i'm using, i know this, and i plan to invest in something better. all i have now is a 60w plug in that just keeps getting hotter the longer you leave it plugged in. the tip on it is also a complete disaster, very hard to get solder to melt until you push it into the tip very hard and when the iron is very hot. it tends to melt plastic components (which was the fate of my deans connector as i tried to de-solder the spring sided terminals i accidentally soldered).

i've got the general idea, i just have crap equipment. then again if hobbyking or someone else sells a pre-soldered connector for the battery then i'm a step ahead straight out of the box. one less thing i will worry about (i trust hobby king's soldering more than mine at the moment).

If your props fit on the motors without spacers, don't use spacers. Some props have a rather large cutout for the spacer. If you have a spacer which also fits on the motor shaft, use it, it can't hurt. The props are supposed to sit on the motor shaft without any lateral play.

perfect, thanks for the clarification.

http://flitetest.com/articles/knuckle-h-quad

Just bolt it to the bottom plate, like they did in the second picture from the top.

- Bogdan

sadly no, it does not work that way. i built the camera tray exactly like the video says, the bolt pads are simply to far apart to mount both of them to the center without bending the ever loving hell out of the metal hoops.

the only possible solutions i've come up with are:

* mounting the rear of the camera tray to the front of the center plate and the front of the camera mount to the front middle bar.

or

* mounting the rear of the camera tray to the rear of the center plate, then adding a new beam between the two central beams to catch the camera trays forward mounting pad.

the second option, which requires more work, seems to be the most logical in terms of being able to balance the rig by moving the battery around. the first option seems easier but puts all the weight in the center and the front making it nose heavy. without knowing how much the FPV gear will weigh, i'm not all that sure if i'll be able to offset the weight of the hero3 with the FPV transmitter. doesn't seem like that would work out so good but i won't know for sure until i get there.

 

[x0054]

Save the money you would spend at HK on connectors ad get one of these instead:

http://www.amazon.com/Weller-WP35-35-Watt-Professional-Soldering/dp/B000B5YIYS/
or
http://www.amazon.com/Weller-WLC100-40-Watt-Soldering-Station/dp/B000AS28UC/
or
http://www.amazon.com/Weller-WESD51-Digital-Soldering-Station/dp/B000ARU9PO/

I have the 35W one and it works perfect. But honestly, any soldering iron with clean tip should work just fine to solder wires. You probably have a dirty tip, which just means you need to get some flax, and a wet sponge. Honestly, soldering is very easy if you do it right, and very hard if you do it wrong. And it takes just a few minutes of watching youtube to figure out how to do it right.

 

[makattack]

Just my humble opinion... but it really sounds like you're trying to do a ton all at the same time. You're probably better at this than I would be, but I have to take a very methodical approach when I approach something new -- which, forgive me if I'm wrong, but it sounds like you're building your first multirotor/quad?

If my assumption is correct, I'm trying to do something similar, but am taking this approach:

1) Build a tri-copter using the electrohub frame and flight electronics from RTFQuad
2) Learn to fly / get used to the Flip 1.5/Multiwii controller, particularly with tuning it.
3) Consider replacing the Flip/Multiwii with a Pixhawk (RTFHawk) maybe after a few months of flying with the Flip1.5 FC for GPS RTL capabilities.
4) Mount FPV gear/camera

I've got the parts now, but have been too busy with flying and will be saving the build for when the weather starts getting to the point where flying is too painful on the fingers (cold) in Massachusetts.

I'd also consider the advice everyone has of updating the soldering iron you use and getting a bit more practice. I imagine with the vibrations in a multirotor, there's nothing more important than good solder joints and minimizing connectors that might vibrate loose. In fact, those XT60 to Deans adapters sounds like an iffy idea for that same reason. I would just get a XT60 connected battery, and use that Deans connected battery with your deans connected ESC's on other platforms...

At any rate, that's just what I would personally do... but I haven't even started my build yet. I hope for your success and look forward to seeing you make progress!

 

[Cyberdactyl]

Save the money you would spend at HK on connectors ad get one of these instead:

http://www.amazon.com/Weller-WP35-35-Watt-Professional-Soldering/dp/B000B5YIYS/

I have the 35W one and it works perfect. But honestly, any soldering iron with clean tip should work just fine to solder wires. You probably have a dirty tip, which just means you need to get some flax, and a wet sponge. Honestly, soldering is very easy if you do it right, and very hard if you do it wrong. And it takes just a few minutes of watching youtube to figure out how to do it right.

I too have that exact 35W sky-blue one. And it does a great job on 90% of the stuff involving a multirotor. Where I found it lacking was on soldering things like large 16g harness connections. Something like four 16g wired bound to a 16g main lead to the battery, where a LOT of heat is required. Or where you want a lot of heat dumped fast as in an ESC pad.

I also have a old Weller 20W that I used as a "boost" unit by touching both to the big harness connections for a few seconds. Got tired of doing that and finally went with this 60W inexpensive variable heat unit and am pretty happy.

Variable heat units are oh so much nicer compared to wide-open all the time units, that requires you to estimate how hot it is if you want something less than full heat.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KS8XA2Y/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[C0d3M0nk3y]

I use this soldering station and I like it a lot.

 

[Cyberdactyl]

I use this soldering station and I like it a lot.

I really like that one has an electrical socket on the side.

 

[octodreamerFNG]

Save the money you would spend at HK on connectors ad get one of these instead:

http://www.amazon.com/Weller-WP35-35-Watt-Professional-Soldering/dp/B000B5YIYS/
or
http://www.amazon.com/Weller-WLC100-40-Watt-Soldering-Station/dp/B000AS28UC/
or
http://www.amazon.com/Weller-WESD51-Digital-Soldering-Station/dp/B000ARU9PO/

I have the 35W one and it works perfect. But honestly, any soldering iron with clean tip should work just fine to solder wires. You probably have a dirty tip, which just means you need to get some flax, and a wet sponge. Honestly, soldering is very easy if you do it right, and very hard if you do it wrong. And it takes just a few minutes of watching youtube to figure out how to do it right.

i think i "know" how to solder, but the iron is junk. the tip on it is destroyed and all corroded. just sent my friend up to lowes to snag a weller 25w (the one with the 3 led's). so we'll see how it goes in about 30 minutes...

i'll take better care of this one now that i know how unusable a dirty one is.

Just my humble opinion... but it really sounds like you're trying to do a ton all at the same time. You're probably better at this than I would be, but I have to take a very methodical approach when I approach something new -- which, forgive me if I'm wrong, but it sounds like you're building your first multirotor/quad?

If my assumption is correct, I'm trying to do something similar, but am taking this approach:

1) Build a tri-copter using the electrohub frame and flight electronics from RTFQuad
2) Learn to fly / get used to the Flip 1.5/Multiwii controller, particularly with tuning it.
3) Consider replacing the Flip/Multiwii with a Pixhawk (RTFHawk) maybe after a few months of flying with the Flip1.5 FC for GPS RTL capabilities.
4) Mount FPV gear/camera

I've got the parts now, but have been too busy with flying and will be saving the build for when the weather starts getting to the point where flying is too painful on the fingers (cold) in Massachusetts.

I'd also consider the advice everyone has of updating the soldering iron you use and getting a bit more practice. I imagine with the vibrations in a multirotor, there's nothing more important than good solder joints and minimizing connectors that might vibrate loose. In fact, those XT60 to Deans adapters sounds like an iffy idea for that same reason. I would just get a XT60 connected battery, and use that Deans connected battery with your deans connected ESC's on other platforms...

At any rate, that's just what I would personally do... but I haven't even started my build yet. I hope for your success and look forward to seeing you make progress!

at this point i have everything i need to put this together so there's no reason to stop now... all in as they say.

was playing around with the pixhawk last night and loving it already, going to start playing around with the taranis tonight once i get the multi put together and calibrated.

anyway i already have a battery with a deans connector, a simple converter so i can still use this battery after i switch everything over to XT60 would cost me around a dollar or two and allow me to use this battery in all future applications. i can't imagine it being a bad idea... even if i just use it for bench testing... it's a battery, might as well use it.

 

[x0054]

For large connectors or large gauge wires I also really like Weller PSI100K. I got it when I was doing a lot of automotive wiring. It's butane, and it puts out a ton of heat. The best part, it's ready to solder in 45 seconds or so! It's only really good for wire soldering, I would not try soldering anything to a PCB with it.

But that any good soldering iron will do the trick. Don't forget to also buy a sponge for cleaning the iron and some distilled water to tip the sponge into. Distill water is not a must, but will help keep your new iron clean. Also, don't forget to pic up a little jar of flux. They usually sell them in the plumbing department of the HW store. It's useful for burning off the gunk on your soldering tip. For instance, dip that tip of that 65W iron you have into some flux, let it sizzle for a few seconds, and then wipe it off on a wet sponge. You will see that it's going to become nice a shiny again.

As for your battery, it's a good battery from the stats. If you are going to switch to XT60, just pick up a XT60 connector, cut off the Deans and solder on the XT60. All my stuff is running Deans, just because that's what I had on my first quad, and so I just stuck with it. So any time I get a new battery, I just cut the tail off and solder on a Deans. XT60 is a good standard to go with, as many batteries are now shipping with XT60. At the end of the day, it's just a connector.

And get a good battery charger. I had good luck with iMax B6AC. But make sure it's the real one. The real one will have a anti counterfeit sticker on the back with a registration number. Run the number to make sure it's the real deal. Originally I purchased a fake one, and it exploded the battery, almost burning my desk down. I also lost my RPi robot in that fire During subsequent autopsy of the charger it turned out that there were several shorted resistors on the balance port. I compared the internals of the real iMax to the fake one. The components are all the same, for the most part, but the quality of soldering and construction is night and day.

Any way, good luck, and post some pictures and vids once you are done.

- Bogdan

 

[Balu]

And with "cut off the Deans" he means: one wire at a time - unless you want to shorten your battery life instantly.

 

[FlyingMonkey]

I really like that one has an electrical socket on the side.

That's where the soldering iron plugs in. Nice design, if the iron goes bad you can replace it easily.

 

[Jnr Kuzi]

Tips by a proffesion NOOB

Dear OctodreamerFNG

congratulations on your build, im happy to see more people do there own stuff.
I would like to pass some brotherly advice to you.

After reading your post, i have assumed that you are new to the rc hobby, if not the hobby then your new at building.
I have realised and gotten a sense feeling from your enthusiasm that tells me you are really excited about the build "which is good for you" though it is wrong in the RC hobby (my personal opinion).

What you have made is a large investment, so last thing we the community would love to see is you throw it down the drain and hate/get out of the hobby.

My advice is take your time and relax "How?" you may ask.
Here are some tips for you.
01 - Sit down and plan your build, write down everything you hope to achieve from the aircraft (be it speed, manuvarbilty or just good ol fpv)
this way you will know what you aiming for and it will prevent you from wasting time on things that dont concern/interest you.

02 - make a build time table (this will give you the ability to map your progress and also help you identify your weaknesses)
lets say you have 3 free hours everyday from 4pm-7pm.
You make a timetable saying :
*04:00 - 04:30 : assemble tools,build materials and beverages + snacks.
*04:35 - 05:30 : clean,connect and solder all electronics and then put them aside.
*05:40 - 06:10 : Build,Paint and decorate the aircraft frame.
*06:15 - 06:45 : connect all electronics to aircraft and assemble fully.
*06:50 - 07:00 : test for errors and configure aircraft for flight.

This is what is going to help you make nice builds.
Another thing about the rc hobby is that, if you rush to build something, it takes away the thrill of using it.
If you take your time, the interest will grow and your first successful flight and crash will be magical.

All and all, all im saying is focus on one thing at a time. Rush and you'll crash.
Note: Bad electrical communication systems are the number cause of vehicle accidents. So i Insist you start practicing how to solder neatly, otherwise you'll understand the term a little goes along way when the aircraft crashes because a small solder joint broke..

Hope you consider getting this knowledge, good luck with your build.
Have a Great day.