Tarot 680 Pro Build Thread (mine anyways...)

[Stradawhovious]

Tarot 680 Pro Hexcopter Build Thread (mine anyways...)

Well, with my involvement with the Air Bears Search and Rescue (www.airbears.org), I've decided it's time for a dedicate AP/search and rescue platform. Honestly I'm certain it will be used almost exclusively for AP, but if I have the opportunity to help aid in a search, I will be glad I have the equipment to do so.

That said, I've decided on the Tarot 680 Pro frame and NAZA Lite FC. Here is the build so far.

It's larger than I expected. (Which is fine) Props are 13", and the diameter is 32". I'm running Tarot 680kv motors and HobbyWing 30amp ESCs. I know, I know... I could have gotten better EVERYTHING, but the goal was to keep the build and all associated costs (other than the TX) under a thousand dollars, all inclusive. So far I've beat that mark by a landslide.

For an RX I'm using a LemonRX 8ch full range with satellite and telemetry and for batteries I will be running a 10,000mah 4s for the power plant, and a 1300mah 3s for the RX, FC and gimbal. On the Gimbal I'm hoping to mount 3 cameras on a relatively permanent basis... A small NTSC for FPV that I can switch to a FLIR Lepton for Thermal imaging, and for recording only a Mobius. Not sure the inexpensive Gimbal I purchased can handle it, but I'm going to try. If not, I will bite the bullet and grab a better Gimbal.

The FC batteries and Gimbal should be here early next week so I can fire up the soldering iron and go to town then. I will update as things progress.

Any input or heckling is greatly appreciated.

 

[Stradawhovious]

Today I did some soldering. The some more soldering, and more... and more ... and more... several worth of soldering.

The ESC wires were all too short, so I fixed that. 20 wires in total for a grand total of 26 splices and solder joints. Then I needed to build the power terminal, feed the ESCs througb the booms and tomorrow I solder everything to the PCB.

It's a surprising amount of work.

Fun though!

 

[Darkback2]

I love building these things almost as much as flying them!

 

[Stradawhovious]

I love building these things almost as much as flying them!

As do I. I'll tell you one thing... my soldering skills certainly jumped to the next level with this one! There are many places where there is very little room for error if you want to have a clean build!




Now everything is soldered up, and it looks awesome. Well, it looks the same as it did with no wiring at all, which is awesome. When I get home on Tuesday, the FC and Gimbal should be waiting for me so I can hopefully get this thing in the air by the weekend!

 

[Stradawhovious]

I came home from Scout Camp yesterday to find two packages waiting for me. The first, my NAZA lite. Can't wait to get that rolling! The second, was the box pictured below.

Do you think that the USPS would have still played kickball with it if they knew it contained two 4s 10,000mah lipos?

Either way, now I just need to scavange the rest of the odds and ends parts I need (bullet connectors and the like) and hopefully I will have some completed pics to show soon. Sorry for the lack of pics on this one. The majority of the build was done quite literally in the middle of nowhere with no access to interwebz, and I didn't take many pictures. Too excited building.

I will say that the TAROT 680 pro was a VERY straight forward, intuitive build and if I can build it, a half dead raccoon probably can too. That said, the proof of the pudding is in the eating, so we will see how happy I am when I throttle up "for serious" for the first time.

 

[Stradawhovious]

Here are a couple more images I think might be pertinent to this thread.

In installing the ESCs, the wires were too short. All of them. I've read and been part of a heated debate as to whether or not to solder extensions or use connectors, and I've come to the conclusion that if done right, soldering extensions would create far less risk of a failure point. So what did I do? that's right. I soldered the extensions on.

Soldering wire ends can be tricky, and I'm no expert, but here's how I did it. I stripped about 3/8" on each wire, but DID NOT tin the wire ends. I set up each wire in my helping hands and slowly worked the strands into one another so the wire ends were all tangled together, and the two wires formed a straight line. Once the stripped ends were sufficiently buried into one another, I put a bit of flux into the bare wire, and fed solder into it untill the stripped ends looked like a nice shiny ball of solder. It's amazing how much solder these wired will absorb. Sufficed to say, if that wire breaks, it will not be at my solder joint. The 20ga signal wires were a bit trickier, but the method was the same. if the ends are tangled together, and you feed solder into them until it's completely flooded, there is little chance of the splice failing. 6 slipces per ESC, with a total of 36 solder joints altogether. I sure hope I'm competent. We will find out in the next 48 hours.


Below is a pic of the final product.

Also, I noticed that this kit comes with decals. Not stickers... honest to God water transfer decals. I'm liking this product more and more every minute.

 

[Stradawhovious]

Ok.. another update. THe motor wiring needs to be redone in an effort to mount the NAZA FC to the bottom plate at the COG. Rigt now it will fit, but only i fhte GPS and LED are not plugged in. Kind of defeats the purpose.

Other than that, the motors are all turning the correct direction, the ESCs are all calibrated and the RX and FC are hooked up. It shouldn't take long at all to get the motor wire situation under control, so I'm thinking that by the endo of the day I should have my first flight up.

Maybe.

 

[Stradawhovious]

Based on the overwhelming response to this thread, I know you hae all been waiting for this moment!! :lol:

It's built! I don't say "It's done" because I'm still waiting on the gimbal.

I got it in the air last night, and it's steady as a rock. I'm a little disappointed in the GPS hold (which I attribute much to the number of trees and power lines where I was flying) and I'm very disappointed in the flight time. People running the same frame and the same battery have touted 20 minute hover times. I might have gotten 10. Now this was only with one battery, the same battery I used to set up the craft, so it may have been partially drained, the CG may be a little off, I haven't balanced the props yet... all of these things and more might contribute to low flight times. I willhave to spend some time diagnosing and tweaking, but hey... That's what this hobby is all about, right?

 

[RAM]

Nice build. It's summer. People will eventually see this thread.

 

[Stradawhovious]

Nice build. It's summer. People will eventually see this thread.

Oh, I don't REALLY care that there aren't any posts, I'm just being a smartass. This thread is a result of waiting for batteries to charg and glue to dry more than anything else.

 

[RandomChaos]

How much does it weigh with the battery?

 

[Stradawhovious]

How much does it weigh with the battery?

5.8lbs. Probably close to 7lbs once I get the gimbal, camera and FPV gear on it.

 

[Stradawhovious]

Just got the gimbal in today! Seems to work fine... after a shaky start. That will be a seperate thread.

 

[jhitesma]

I may not be commenting on it...but I'm enjoying your build Out of my price range and even if it wasn't I don't have the room to build something that big. But I still love seeing others do it!

You may have got it flying just in time too:

 

[Stradawhovious]

You may have got it flying just in time too:

HA! A buddy of mine just senf me a text about this. Since I'm just barely over the 500mm class, there is no way I could complete in Unlimited.

Probably won't stop me from trying though!

As far as cost... this really wasn't that much in the big scheme of things. The frame is just over $100... you could start there and every couple weeks just grab another piece of it.

I will say that this was a challenging build. Not putting the parts and pieces together, but the logistics of how to put everything on, in the place it belongs, and keep it easy to fly.

 

[Stradawhovious]

Well, here is the final product.

Tarot 680 pro frame, Tarot 620kv motors, Hobbywing 30amp ESC, NAZA LITE (V2 "upgrade") w/GPS Lemonrx 8ch full range RX w/ telemetry unit and satellite, Banggood cheapass gimbal, Mobius Action Cam, CCTV generic flight cam, and a Boscam 600mw FPV tx and rx.

There are two seperate power systems... a 15v system for the power plant and FC, and a 12v system for the gimbal, cameras and FPV system. Telemetry is set up to give me feedback on signal strength, battery temp and the voltage in the 12v system. The flight time is about 20 minutes on a 10,000mah 4s lipo.

Flight is really locked in. It wasn't at first with the inherent issues present in the NAZA LITE firmware, but I "fixed" that issue, and now it is really a pleasure to fly. AUW is around 8lbs, which forces me to be really conscious of how I'm flying it... (it's basically a HEAVY flying cuisinart) but it almost flys itself in GPS and Atti mode, but for what it's designed I haven't bothered to put it into manual.

All in all I haven't really had a chance to stretch its legs due to weather and time constraints, but I'm hoping to get a couple good flights in this weekend. I'm quite thrilled with how this turned out!

 

[PHugger]

Very Nice build Strad.
I am still waiting for a few parts for my Hex to arrive.
You are inspiring me to install the FPV gear on my Tri.
I've been flying it LOS and Not crashing for a while now. It's getting a bit boring.
I have a 2 axis Feiyu Tech for it that I'm not going to install for a bit.....
The thought of my skill level and all that expensive gear in the air scares me.



Best regards,
PCH

 

[Stradawhovious]

Very Nice build Strad.

Thanks!

You are inspiring me to install the FPV gear on my Tri.

Just as long as you don't hold me resonsible if something gets broken!! Mine wil be pretty much a AP platform, so I figure the ability to see what the camera is seeing would be pretty important.

 

[Stradawhovious]

UPDATE TIME!!

Jello is back in the gimbal... mainly because I was putzing with it. I did buy a new mounting plate and have a couple ideas on how to take care of it though... so hopefully I have a positive progress report on that soon.

Here is a short, crappy, cellphone vid of a hover with the Naza LITE firware. It's far more solid now.

I've had it in the air for 20 minutes at a time, and on return the motors and ESCs are cool, and the battery is barely breaking a sweat. Return to home works flawlessy as do all the other functions. I honestly never thought I would use all the bells and whistles of my DX8 but I tell you now I'm glad I got it. Nearly every switch knob and doohickey on that box is in use now.

FPV is installed and working great, but I think I need to reposition the TX antenna. I get a little interference, but I think it's as a result of it's proximity to that cinderblock of a battery I'm using. I hope to be called in with the DNR in the near future to get some footage of controlled burns in our area (assuming they let me keep the footage). We ( AirBears.org ) have been in communication with them for a few months, and it sounds like they are as excited as we are to see this and the other craft we have in action. If this happens I will certainly post the footage, assuming I have permission.

 

[jipp]

congrats, very stable indeed. nice build.. how much do you think it cost? 600.00 ?
yeah, once you go above a 250 size.. i think a 8 channel would be the minum.. heck i already wish i had a another channel on my 6dx. i do plan getting a new radio for christmas. but i do like the idiot proof of the dx6i.
chris.