Andys quad build.

Ok part #1 the frame.
Here the frame I just purchased,i didn`t look at any reviews for this,i just saw it on offer at 25 quid so bought it lol.

Quote :

OCDAY  3K MIni H250 Carbon Fiber Quadcopter Frame Kit Chassis  for FPV Aerial Photography, which can pass some narrow situations, such as forest, aisle.
You can use this 1.5mm 3k carbon fiber drone frame kit to assembly 250 outrunner style quadcopter for First person review aerial photography.    

Quote :

Features:
1.5mm 3K carbon fiber sheet molding process, light weight and easy to assembly
PCB wireless circuit diagram, can weild ESC, power supply cable and other cables
100g frame kit, lighter and more stable than any other 250 frame kit     

has built in power distribution board (P D B) to make easier soldering of components.

Very nice frame, hope you can get to work. Lot of updates please, so I can learn too.  

It looks pretty straight forward, but I'm sure it's not as easy as soldering those few components into place. Having looked into the process of building a quad, I figured most I can do myself or with tutorial. But because I have no electronics skills, it's not going to be easy. Most difficult is figuring out the electricity part and the formulas used to calculate for example which battery to use, or to make sure certain parts don't burn up from getting to much power.



This is one of those parts I dont understand completely. I know sort of what it does, but can't calculate which one I should use and why. Not even if they are nessessary when building my own quad, they seem important, so can't just leave them out.

(it's that little grey thing next to the yellow powerplug.)

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Originally Posted by razorseal Darn looks like I lost a capacitor too... Where can I get one of those? Gonna have to take the bottom foam out and re-glue I suppose. This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized 1280x720.

Quote:
Originally Posted by DashMo
http://www.banggood.com/20PCS-470UF-...p-1022619.html
This should work if u have a v4 or higher.

Don`t think that capacitor is needed on a basic quad build,i`ve not seen one on the tutorials I have watched so far.

I would feel more comfortable knowing why they are there then, if others don't need or use them.

Maybe they act a bit like a restrictor, like a safety measure to prevent the ESC's from overheating and to keep the quad from going too fast.

CANNER wrote:

I would feel more comfortable knowing why they are there then, if others don't need or use them.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Multicopter/comments/2uy95x/the_capacitor_attached_to_my_esc_has_broken_on/

https://www.reddit.com/r/Quadcopter/comments/43zybb/is_this_capacitor_needed_on_my_esc/

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=975333

At least I figured out why those capacitors are there. Also why they are not mentioned in tutorials.
Apparently most ESC's have the capacitor build on board, or attached directly. The Eachine250 has them installed seperately.

Ah cool.....that's that mystery sorted then thanks

Next on the list is this radio transmitter / receiver...




When it comes to possibilities the Frsky TARANIS sets a new standard. FrSky is well known for their frequency hopping ACCST technology, that takes advantage of the entire 2.4GHz band, resulting in excellent range and reliability, they now offer their first full transmitter system.

Frsky takes it one further with the Taranis Plus. How is the Plus different from the normal Taranis? The Plus retains everything the normal Taranis includes plus a higher quality, better contrast LCD display that is adjustable from blue to white, and haptic vibration feedback built in. This means you can be alerted silently or use the existing built in voice or alarm features. There is one item missing, the SWR check of the transmitter antenna is no longer available. You still get the great new sliders, the big low self discharge battery, and all of the other great things you have come to expect from FrSky

The TARANIS mixes the  power of the “OPEN TX” open-source software with an unbelievable ergonomic case with 8 programmable switches, two twist knobs and two easy to get to lateral 'slider' pots, and not to mention the ultra-smooth quad bearing gimbals.

The TARANIS utilizes Voice Alerts from an internal speaker, versus just an annoying beeper. For things like; audible Count down timers, low voltage warnings, landing gear down warnings etc., Just about anything can be programmed, you can even use your own voice. The SD card slot offers unlimited memory options and a USB port for upgrades even a headphone jack.

One of the best features of the TARANIS is its full telemetry capability, as well as RSSI signal strength feedback, there are 3 different programmable failsafe modes and receiver lock, so no more crashes due to selecting the wrong model. If you have stock in other brand receivers or B&F’s, no worries the TARANIS has a JR style RF module slot, so you have the option of other brand modules such as the Orange DSM2/DSMX or Open LRS 433mhz module, or pop in another Frsky module to expand the transmitters capabilities even more with dual RF.

When you put it all together, between FrSky ACCST technology and the power of “OPEN TX” software and community, an ergonomic case with ultra-smooth ball bearing gimbals, a large backlit LCD, New larger battery pack and X8R receiver. You have versatility and power at an unprecedented value.

Features:
• RSSI alarms (warns you of reception problems before it becomes an accident)
• 16 channels (more when combined with external module)
• 64 mixers, 9 flight modes
• 16 custom curves with 3-17 points each, 32 logic switches
• Self-test of the transmitter antenna
• 60 Model memory (expandable via a SD card)
• Audio Speech outputs
• USB and SD card slot for unlimited memory, and firmware upgrades, sound editing.
• Long range system capable of up to 3 times the range of current systems
• Quad bearing gimbals that are silky smooth
• State-of-the-art open source software (open TX)
• Super low latency for ultra-quick response (9ms)
• Large adjustable backlit blue to white LCD display
• Real-time data logging
• Receiver lock (program locked to aircraft)
• JR Style module bay for additional RF modules
• Processor: STM32 ARM Cortex M3 60MHz
• New 2000mah battery
• Included X8R receiver
• Haptic Vibration Feedback Command Feature

Specifications:
Model name: Taranis X9D
Number of Channels: up to 16
Operating Voltage Range:6-15v (2s, 3s Lipos are acceptable)
Operating Current: 260mA maximum (both RF module and backlit are on)
Operating Temperature: -10~60C
Backlit LCD Screen: 212*64 Monochrome
Model Memories: 60 (expandable by SD card)
Compatibility: FrSky X series, D series and V8-II series receivers
stick mode: Mode 2  (Left hand throttle)

16 channels may be a bit overkill but with the open source firmware makes it pretty much futureproof

and hey I may want to mount machinegun turrets on my drone in the future...who knows


Tatarnis set p vids for later on

Man I want one, those sticks must handle real smooth. Just over 200E is pricey, but not too much, only I'm a bit low on cash atm. Can afford a lipocharger and other small stuff, but then I need to start saving some money.

After much debating and watching shit I decided to get the ArduPilot,it`s midrange price at £45.00 so not that drastic cost wise if I don`t like it or it`s not right for the way my build ends up going.

It has the GPS module on this version so plenty to mess around with.

APM2.8 ArduPilot Mega External Compass Flight Controller +Ublox NEO-6M GPS..

Having done lot of research you should know better then me if it is a good choice. I'd probably go for one used in a tutorial, so I can see exactly what to do. 
GPS sure is a nice addition, if you can get it to work. Things like 'alt hold' and 'heading lock' make flying a lot easier, safer and more fun.

canner wrote:

I'd probably go for one used in a tutorial, so I can see exactly what to do. 
GPS sure is a nice addition, if you can get it to work

I went for it after watching this series of videos...

  Taranis arrived this morning...very high quality...aluminium case  (dunno why i said that,was half asleep i guess anyway it`s plastic but high quality) is sturdy but light and tons of switches

  this is the stuff,   and i like it!

muckyman wrote:

  Taranis arrived this morning...very high quality...aluminium case is sturdy but light and tons of switches

Looks awesome   I'm now saving to get one myself When I'm going to build a miniquad, I certainly don't want to fly with the remote that came with the Eachine. It flies alright, but the controlsticks are not smooth. Specially the pitch/roll stick has a bit of a deadzone in the middle, which makes it almost impossible to make smooth moves.

muckyman wrote:

canner wrote:I'd probably go for one used in a tutorial, so I can see exactly what to do. 
GPS sure is a nice addition, if you can get it to work


I went for it after watching this series of videos...

I can see why you choose to get this one. Setup is clear and fairly easy, and those pins and cables save a lot of time. With the cheaper flightcontrollers you often have to do some soldering. Must get myself a one with pins also.

If you can connect the Taranis to the pc you could try it out with a simulator. Also good for learning how to fly.
There's 'FPV Freerider' which is a small game just for practicing(free as torrent), and on Steam there is a game called 'Lift Off'.
Lift Off has lots of options, you can assemble your quad from virtual parts and fly in several enviroments, it's bigger then FPV Freerider, but still a beta-game.
Must add that the simulator is completely different from the real thing. Wind and rotorwash make flying lot more difficult then in the game.
But it's a good way to get a feel for the transmitter, and how to operate the sticks to make certain moves and tricks.



torrent: http://www.torrenthound.com/hash/4f771d333cd5edc47965152988c3e224ed930520/torrent-info/FPV-Freerider-Quadcopter-simulator

Heh ! painless has a tutorial on it how cool

Nice, the Taranis has a miniUSB port on the back.    My Eachine transmitter has an old PS2 port, but I don't have the right cable to hook it up to the pc. Hope you can get it to work, must be fun playing FPVFreerider with a real rc transmitter.

Frame arrived this morning...yay

here is the exact model on youtube.

It's a nice model, but the arms look a bit thin. How much mm?

A lot of quads have such thin arms. Maybe I'd consider glueing a strip of hard plastic across the middle of each arm to try make it a bit more crash resistent.

btw Decided to also buy a Taranis transmitter. Even my HubsanQ4 minitransmitter flies better then the one that came with the Eachine. Some quad stores here in Holland only offer the Taranis in their inventory, probably because it is the best choice. It has the most information on the internet for setting it up and other stuff. And I want to see those cool receiver antennas on my miniquad.

canner wrote:

It's a nice model, but the arms look a bit thin. How much mm?

They are 3mm.

muckyman wrote:

canner wrote:

It's a nice model, but the arms look a bit thin. How much mm?

They are 3mm.

Looks thinner in the video. Was expecting 2mm, 3 is good enough.

More shit arrived today...woohoo !!!

And this one before you ask...

Good stuff, looks like you got everything complete to start building the quad.

That screen is nice, can you also record with it? maybe with a memorycard, or link to the laptop?

Are you getting fpv goggles when the quad is ready? 

canner wrote:

That screen is nice, can you also record with it? maybe with a memorycard, or link to the laptop?

Only with a separate DVR or laptop,i kinda messed up actually...I bought it as a full kit with cam and receiver and antennae but it`s for a groundstation rather than a monitor you carry on your radio control.

So will have to buy another monitor for that