Papa's Quad Build(s).

Added some nice calming music to the last video, experimenting in Youtube, so can you can now watch it all over again, yippee!!!!
Don't get too bored, the music is nice though from Chris Zabriskie, and timed to the take off


Also, it begins...


...the birth of a beautiful, yellow, brick shit house...


If I had the dollars, I'd buy all new parts, aint gonna happen, not yet anyway...

Brings a tear to my eye #sniff# it's a beauty!

Just motors in at the mo + props for photo, channels take the wire very nicely...

...The fact those wires aren't straight in those channels, tweaks my OCD nipples just a touch, but I shall try to resist, for now.

Needs a yellow/black sting at back, so it was written, so it shall be done.

Sure looks really nice!   Hope you can fit all the parts inside, seems like there's very little space. Or is the frame not as thin as it looks on the photos?

Do they sell seperate fpvcamera holders, or do you need to make something yourself?

There is indeed very little space mate, and yes it's very thin, you fit PDB at back, FC in middle, all ESC at front... Pretty tight...
I like a challenge, possible, very much so... The tops of the blades are level with the topmost part of the top board.

I'll make it work, not sure, but easilly doable...

You want thin...


Aye, thin, that it be all rightee...

She is a sexy beast,you could go full-on crazy modding
and swap all the wire`s that aint black to yellow one`s...

muckyman wrote:

and swap all the wire`s that aint black to yellow one`s...

or use yellow heatshrink

The frame is bit thinner then expected actually, but I'm sure all the parts will fit somehow, at Fossil's workshop they can do it.

muckyman wrote:

She is a sexy beast,you could go full-on crazy modding
and swap all the wire`s that aint black to yellow one`s...

Indeed, sexy it is hehehe.
I might go yellow yeh, or use that wire sheathing stuff, yellow of course.

CANNER wrote:

muckyman wrote:

and swap all the wire`s that aint black to yellow one`s...

or use yellow heatshrink

The frame is bit thinner then expected actually, but I'm sure all the parts will fit somehow, at Fossil's workshop they can do it.

Heatshrink, possibly, I like that mesh sheathing stuff though, but yeh, yellow is the colour.

I'll make them fit trust me, there's enough room for a Naze32 sized FC which I have, and a standard 30.5mm holes ditance PDB which I have, but FC in middle, PDB at back and ESCs at front, stacked edge on, or overlapped slightly and laid flat.

I may leave my old PDB connected to XT60 in my Carbon frame, as they're cheap to buy, and I'm after this one:QuadCopters.co.uk, only £6.40, The Bard recommended this one too, it has high current handling, 5v/10v outputs, and current monitoring too. Getting this will make the transfer much easier so I'll either order it today or pop up to Chorley, not too far from me.

Also the ESCs will be a tight squeeze, but I'll either stack them on the long edge next to each other, so they are stack on top of each other then the stack is laid sideways, or arrange them flat slightly overlapping, will find out best solution later.

All part of the fun...

OK, Gravity build, stalled...
For a day or two...
So I bought a new PDB should be here tomorrow with any luck, damn slackers...
But... The Naze32 won't fit, well it does, but I'd have to mod the bottom part of the frame a little and I don't now want to invalidate the warranty at this early stage, you can mod the top part without voiding, but not the bottom...
So, bugger, I've just bought a SPF3 acro, it doesn't have Baro or Mag but after some rushed research this should be perfect, and it only cost me £16. Although some guesswork also regarding the correct fitment of the USB. One criticism of this frame is, it will take standard sized FCs but the USB port is aligned in such a way that only certain ones will fit without mods as well as the direction the plugs go onto it, but soldering direct would fix this. To be expected though with a completely enclosed frame, and 12 months down the line I'd have no problem getting my drill out.
Also got some 5040 tri-blades coming too, so I can compared and contrast between those and the 2-bladers.
Patiently awaiting postman again and nursing bank accout...

Quote :

I've just bought a SPF3 acro, it doesn't have Baro or Mag but after some rushed research this should be perfect, and it only cost me £16.

Cheap for a SeriouslyPro F3, and better quality then the Naze32. I'm sure it will fly better.

Also I like direct soldering, though it's a bit more difficult sometimes, the result is much cleaner and lighter.
For my last quad I soldered all connections myself, except the plug going into the fpv camera.

CANNER wrote:

Cheap for a SeriouslyPro F3, and better quality then the Naze32. I'm sure it will fly better.

It is yeh, most likely a clone, but we'll see what gives when I try it, and y indeed better than Naze32...
I have the v6 Naze 10dof, it would have done fine I'm sure, but yep a step up at a bargain price, SPF3 has more memory for Cleanflight updates etc.
I believe the likes of the Naze will soon be phased out, simply not capable of holding code, or advanced/fast enough for new upcoming features, old CF will still work fine on it though, don't intend never to use it, it'll be for the Nighthawk.

Quote :

Also I like direct soldering, though it's a bit more difficult sometimes, the result is much cleaner and lighter.
For my last quad I soldered all connections myself, except the plug going into the fpv camera.

I think I might do that this time TBH, I want a light, solid, neat, all in one trainer quad, should be perfect candidate for solder without pins.[/quote]

I was going to reply yesterday and say why not bin that old naze
and get an SPF3,as they are so much better and really cheap now
the F$ boards are coming out.

I have 2 for my older builds which I still haven`t finished,although
the replacement ESC has arrived,They connect to cleanflight/betaflight
easy and also flash easy with no problems.
The pin headers look like a bastard to solder but are surprisingly easy
once you get the hang of it.
Also suggest soldering pins to the Vbat and buzzer for easy disconnection.

muckyman wrote:

I was going to reply yesterday and say why not bin that old naze
and get an SPF3,as they are so much better and really cheap now
the F$ boards are coming out.

I have 2 for my older builds which I still haven`t finished, although
the replacement ESC has arrived,They connect to cleanflight/betaflight
easy and also flash easy with no problems.
The pin headers look like a bastard to solder but are surprisingly easy
once you get the hang of it.
Also suggest soldering pins to the Vbat and buzzer for easy disconnection.

Thank you my good man, SPF3, great minds n all that....
Yeh the SPF3 and SP stuff are designed by Mr Cleanflight himself, Dominic Clifton, since I'm sticking with CF for the larger build for now, I think it's the perfect choice..

Thanks for the tips... I'm gonna solder everything apart from the camera I think TBH, but can easily be changed if I realise a need to, I've done lots of super fine soldering, I should be ok, I used to chip PS1s, PS2s, Xboxes etc, they are some tiny bastardo connections, with super fine wire.
edit: I've just realised I need too make some pin connections, I think perhaps anything that is wired to the top plate will need them, so I'll have some sort of plug perhaps, or just pins for them all. A single connector would be great, see what I have lying around.

PDB came today from TheDroneWorx/MakeItBuildIt (MIBI re-opened with support from DroneWorx, they are now back up and running after closing about a month ago)
I also order 2 sets of props 5040-3s, black and yellow, chap emailed me as they had no black, so they sent me an extra yellow set as an apology, top fellas.
Although I hate it when things are in stock, you order, then they're not, grrrr, pet hate, but he dealt with it within 24hrs, and I got the package within 2 days, result!

I think this new Matek FCHUB-6s is pretty much perfect too...

1. I like the fact it has 5v and 10v, as the Bard says, most cameras that can take 12v inputs from PDBs only need 10v as they step down internally anyway to most probably 5v. This means less heat waste, and the PDB doesn't have to waste energy pumping it up in the first place to 12v which is unnecessary for most things.
2. Plus I also like the spacing for the through holes, on my other Matek the nuts come so close to the solder pads that I had to modify the nut to make it fit and I was fairly tidy with my solder joints.
3. The pass-through for the ESC signals can be useful too, as you have in most cases 3 wires coming out of the ESC, you usually solder + and - pads, then the third wire is lead elsewhere to find its way to the FC. This way you solder all three to the same place, then s1, s2, s3 and s4 are all grouped together with GND 5v for transferring up to FC, nice n neat n tidy, like it.
4. ...and the up to 184Amp Current sensor, 10v and 5v at 2a capability which is way and above enough, and it can take 3s-6s, plus all the other extra pads for extra connections to LEDs, FPV boards GPS boards, kettles, you name it.

One downside which they surely have missed a trick on it though, if they made those connections for the batt power in at the top slightly bigger it could have taken an XT60, as it stands the gap in the middle is too wide to fit between the pins of the plug. If this were possible you could also mount your XT60 horizontally or vertically. I don't need to do this but had to find one fault, even so it's a minor one. With some careful needle file sanding though it would fit perfectly, you'd need to make those gaps around 1mm large to make it work.

The white connector on the board is for direct ribbon cable connection the Matek FC board, which is a nice handy way to do it.

Great bit of kit, now, does it blend, I mean fit....

OK, here goes Fossils Stuffs Gravity build...

Stage1 - The Power to control Gravity....


The PDB is slightly raised above the base by some M3 O-Rings, just allows heat dissipation underneath more than anything else.
I may Epoxy the XT60 in place, for now it's loose and the lid slips on perfectly, 2 grub screws then hold it in place.
But taking it off will pull up the XT60 slightly, I don't want this probably so Epoxy later me thinks.

This took me ages, just planning where things should go, orientation, routing etc, hopefully won't miss anything on first build run.
It's a start!

That is a supertight fit. Hope you can get it done.

Have you thought about where to put the beeper yet?

Quote :

This took me ages, just planning where things should go, orientation, routing etc, hopefully won't miss anything on first build run.
It's a start!

I have had these moments that I thought 'I'm going to do this..., but how...hmmmmm', then after 2 hours of staring at the frame I finally know it, but no more time to actually do it that day. But that is part of the fun, and it always feels good to find a solution and then fix it.

Hehe, I will get it done one way or another.
Yeh, beeper, front left, see pic higher up is first place I spotted, where there are two slots. Everything else has to go in first though, so it depends on placements of other bits first, it's got to be inside though, even if I have to maul the buzzer to make it fit, rather than having it outside.

Yep lol, staring at it for ages, working it all out, then finding a satisfying solution is very rewarding....

Other bits came today, FC, wire sheathing (Although I wanted yellow/black, but can't find any in UK), LED bar to add to my other to have a controllable strip along back and complimentary toffees.
HobbyRC sent me that circle LED thing, advertised as 8 LEDs, I got 6LED version, told them, they refunded me, apologised, changed the website and didn't ask for the 6LED one back, all within 10mins from first Email. I like these chaps, plus I ordered at 4pm yesterday and it came today, standard first class post, result...
HobbyRC I can highly recommend...

The FC fits fine now, with USB in right place, I can't use the outer connectors either side of the USB though there are 4 in totoal, 2 top, 2 bottom. There are I hope enough solder pads and UARTs, if not I'll de-solder those connectors and either mount them vertically, or wire direct.
The ones I can't access are UART1, UART2, SWdbug and I2C. UART1 is replicated on solder pads and theres a UART3 too elsewhere. There are always combinations of possible uses for each port, hopefully I won't have to use the plugged ones, but modding them is possible with a steady hand.

Onwards to Stage 2...

I use IO 1 for power out and SBUS to receiver,you could solder straight to the rear
if you can`t fit the plug on.
First 4 pins for ESC signal and any of middle holes for 5v in.

Quote :

Yeh, beeper, front left, see pic higher up is first place I spotted, where there are two slots. Everything else has to go in first though, so it depends on placements of other bits first, it's got to be inside though, even if I have to maul the buzzer to make it fit, rather than having it outside.

I soldered one of these directly on the FC, works perfect for voltage monitoring. It beeps when the battery gets low, or when you turn off the radio it automatically functions as a 'lost model beeper'. No need to set it up, the default settings in Betaflight are good, unless you want it on a switch, but I have not done that. (LINK to beeper)

muckyman wrote:

I use IO 1 for power out and SBUS to receiver,you could solder straight to the rear
if you can`t fit the plug on.
First 4 pins for ESC signal and any of middle holes for 5v in.

Great minds my friend, I did this last night, soldered 5v power + GND in for FC to ESC No.8 from the underneath, shortest, easiest route to PDB.
I used 20AWG too, I don't trust the super super thin stuff you get with the board, although it's most like enough for the FC, but just in case.
FC is also mounted on tiny O-Rings, slightly larger then the PDB for anti-vibration, this may not be enough, see how it goes in flight first.
And I was indeed going to use first 3 pins of IO1 for power, GND + SBUS to receiver, I'll use the plug for this, pins are tiny, may remove plug but I'll sus it out once I take a look.
Stage 2...

CANNER wrote:

Quote :

I soldered one of these directly on the FC, works perfect for voltage monitoring. It beeps when the battery gets low, or when you turn off the radio it automatically functions as a 'lost model beeper'. No need to set it up, the default settings in Betaflight are good, unless you want it on a switch, but I have not done that. (LINK to beeper)

Aye, cheers Canner, I have one of those very ones, but I'll lead a wire to the top plate, so it's hole is aligned with one on top, I have it on a switch for my Firer110 for model finding, this is very useful as you can hold it on to get your orientation when looking for it.
I may use it also for voltage monitoring, but I have found a place on my Firer110 to feedback the voltage via telemetry, an unsoldered pad that does actually work! Also will do this for the Gravity too, and have alarms on Taranis I recon, I'll have a play see which suits best.

Added the power for the ESCs, not quite finished with this yet, might braid them if I can find some that fits nicely, braid from an old PC PSU seems perfect, then they'll head under the FC to the front for the ESCs.
Although it might not be worth it, was going to lead them all along the centre of the PDB and split outwards to each solder pad, braid would have suited better, then decided it would be neater and leave more space taking them down the sides.

Stage 3...

Tidier, flatter wiring, makes me happier.

I haven't got OCD, I haven't got OCD.
Feck, one more time, I haven't got OCD.  

Stage 3.5...

Good job making the wireextensions, clearly put some thought into that, it is almost a piece of art.

Quote :

I haven't got OCD, I haven't got OCD.
Feck, one more time, I haven't got OCD.  

Are you sure?




Could make a new topic, but it's only 1 picture. I also have a SPRacingF3, but had problems with it. Everything is fine, until I try to take off. For some reason the quad flips in a rather creepy way, where one of the motors goes full power. I had this happen inside the house, twice. Now reflashed it with latest Betaflight and giving it a last chance in a new build. Third attempt in a total rebuild, only this time different parts then before. So I build this today, only need to add a receiver and it can fly, hopefully it works otherwise I will buy another flightcontroller and ditch this one.

sexy