Subject: Flame quad build Sun Jul 02, 2017 12:32 pm
First wanted to build a small 3" quad, but after I found the highquality 1806 Cobra motors with 50% discount I decided to make a superlight 5".
Combined 2 old quad frames to make this flat and tight quad frame. Only had to saw the topplate to size and drill a few holes. I'm using 2 cm high standoffs for the frame, and rubber anti-vibration standoffs for the FC. Also updated the FC's firmware with the latest version of Betaflight.
Close up of the 1806/2450kv Cobra motor I bought at Multirotorparts.
Prop and baterry size compared to frame.
Found on youtube that the Flame flightcontroller produces quite some noise in the FPV feed, so I soldered a 470uf 25v capacitor on each ESC output. Also soldered a beeper to the FC.
Attached XT60 and powered the board first time, board seems fine and the beeper works.
Should be nice,are you putting a capacitor on the main battery pads also ? that seems to be popular at the moment.
Also what make are the ESC`s ?
The ESC's are: Racerstar Labs 28A 28amp 2-5S Dshot600 Ready ESC BLHeli_S. They are like the highend ESC from Racerstar.
Not sure yet about putting an extra capacitor at the batterypads also, probably not necessary. Can always do that later. I am thinking about adding a LC-filter to the camera, but going to try without first, maybe the capacitors on the ESCs is enough.
muckyman Admin
Posts : 6470 Join date : 2009-11-14 Age : 58 Location : Hull UK
Are you planning on using a Runcam Split for this build m8 ? It should fit very nicely and keep it small.
I am waiting till they start selling spareparts, so I can only buy the board with recorder and use my own camera. Or till other brands steal the idea and come up with their versions, maybe cheaper even.
The quad is now finished to the point I could go out and fly it LOS, but going to put VTX and camera on it first.
One of the arms, with plenty of heatshrink for protection and to keep the capacitors in place so they cant vibrate during the flight. When the build is completed I will tape all the arms with black electrical tape to fix the ESCs and antennawires.
Build a cameramount for the Runcam mini. The mount that came with it was too high for my build, so had to make up my own.
Had the receiver below the FC first but this caused some problems with the receivers range, which was only a few meters. Not sure if one of the pins on the receiver maybe punched a little hole in the plastic causing a short, or if it is EMF from the FC screwing the receivers signals. On top it seems fine, no signal loss at all.
Replaced the original plug on the vtx with one that came with the Runcam, the original was too small to fit the Runcam. Also made a diagram showing how I plan to solder it to the F4 Flame flightcontroller.
muckyman Admin
Posts : 6470 Join date : 2009-11-14 Age : 58 Location : Hull UK
Nice fabrication of the cam mount,it looks like machined product that you purchased.
It also fits like a glove, no glue, tape or tiewrap needed. It's clamped between the top and bottomplate, completely fixed.
PapaLazarou wrote:
Looks nice and light too....
It's very light compared to my other quad, I don't think it can get much lighter for this size propellor. Don't have a scale unfortunately, would like to know how much grams it really is.
Latest pics of the finished build, only need to tape up the arms. Other than that it is ready for a testflight.
Last few pics showing the taped arms and fresh props mounted. The motors are superquiet, very nice, can hardly hear them spinning.
Quote :
Had the receiver below the FC first but this caused some problems with the receivers range, which was only a few meters. Not sure if one of the pins on the receiver maybe punched a little hole in the plastic causing a short, or if it is EMF from the FC screwing the receivers signals. On top it seems fine, no signal loss at all.
Before mounting the topplate, I tested this by replacing the plastic wrap with a fresh one, and placed the receiver below the FC again. But again within a few meters I lost signal. When then receiver is placed back on top of the FC, I have no signal loss, and all seems fine.
Cobra Motors, I'm not very up to speed with which are good motors, well not much, I like Emax, they seem to be good, how do Cobra rate? Must do some research, for when I definitely crash my 250 hehe, I have no spare motors at all, mine are Emax ripoffs, although supposed to be made at same factory, just not labelled, bought from RadioC, good prices though about £7 each....
Good luck with flight...
Also ,could the receiver thing be the fact it's been shortened as you mentioned on other thread, or is that the tiny build? Use extension maybe, but I'm sure you know this...
Did the first testflights today, and it flies amazing.
Will post video later.
Quote :
Cobra Motors, I'm not very up to speed with which are good motors, well not much, I like Emax, they seem to be good, how do Cobra rate?
Cobra is good stuff. The motors are smooth and silent, but still very powerful and don't get hot quickly. They are normally quite pricey, but I got them cheap. The old version is now on sale 50% off at Multirotorparts.
Also ,could the receiver thing be the fact it's been shortened as you mentioned on other thread, or is that the tiny build? Use extension maybe, but I'm sure you know this...
No I don't think the extremely short range(3meter) was cause by the shortened antennas. Almost sure it was caused by EMF interference from the flightcontroller. Had no trouble at all with range during the first flights today, no signal loss or dropouts.
Did the first testflights today, and it flies amazing.
Will post video later.
Excellent!
Quote :
Cobra is good stuff. The motors are smooth and silent, but still very powerful and don't get hot quickly. They are normally quite pricey, but I got them cheap. The old version is now on sale 50% off at Multirotorparts.
Cool, cheers matey, I spotted the ones you have, I may pick up 4 spares for my 250 just in case. They have Euro prices, they do deliver to the UK I see, do you know where they are located mate?
I've only ordered stuff from the UK or China and have a largish list of UK shops, never occurred to me I could find somewhere else in Europe for parts, opens up a while new world, any links of good vendors would be appreciated...
I'm after 4 Turnigy Bolt 500mah 2s 65C, looks like the only place for those is HobbyKing, China, but I could check out some others makers from Europe now too... Those Bolts are perfect though, 500mah and 33g, perfect for the Aurora, but keep hovering over the buy button as they'll possibly as I have read take even longer than BangGood to arrive. https://hobbyking.com/en_us/turnigy-bolt-500mah-2s-7-6v-65-130c-high-voltage-lipoly-pack-lihv.html?wrh_pdp=3
Quote :
No I don't think the extremely short range(3meter) was cause by the shortened antennas. Almost sure it was caused by EMF interference from the flightcontroller. Had no trouble at all with range during the first flights today, no signal loss or dropouts.
I've only ordered stuff from the UK or China and have a largish list of UK shops, never occurred to me I could find somewhere else in Europe for parts, opens up a while new world, any links of good vendors would be appreciated...
Must be careful with importtax and customfees when buying outside the UK.
Here's a couple of vids from my testflights today.
muckyman Admin
Posts : 6470 Join date : 2009-11-14 Age : 58 Location : Hull UK
Nice to see you built another excellent flyer. Is it faster than previous ? it`s hard to tell from the video`s.
Don't know about topspeed, I think with enough space the previous one is faster, this because of the bigger stronger motors, but I'm not sure.
The difference is the new quad has much more acceleration/torque. This means it is quicker at reaching high speed, so on the short distance overall the quad is faster then the previous.
PapaLazarou wrote:
Thanks Canner,
That looks a sweet flyer, how does it feel as it looks from my amateur eye to fly great?
Shame no audio, I like listening to motor spin sound, good for diagnosis n stuff too.
Well, it feels as great as it looks, though I do consider myself to be quite an average pilot, still lots of tricks to learn and mistakes to make.
No audio is a pity indeed, I also prefer sound of the motors with my video. It's possible to have audio with fpv, but this quad has no mic onboard.
CANNER Moderator
Posts : 7012 Join date : 2013-04-30
Subject: Re: Flame quad build Sat Jul 15, 2017 11:34 am
Though the quad itself flies super, I do need to replace the antenna of the VTX. I thought the range would be alright, but it's actually quite short, maybe 50 meters then the signal starts getting noticeably less. Was hoping that using a different antenna on my goggles would help, but it doesn't, both linear and clover give poor results. Think I'm going to replace the original whip antenna with this one. (link) Or otherwise maybe a small extension cable with coaxial adapter, so I can screw on any antenna, like this. (link)
Yeh, I agree from what I've read and seen but yet experienced. I'd go for a Clover for the video TX, most of the larger sized quads I've seen have those bigger clovers to pump out a more powerful signal, defo way to go. Nothing to loose, good test...
Wed Apr 17, 2024 1:37 pm by 
Subject: Flame quad build 
