Quadcopter DIY - parts

[Hans]

I have no experience yet with lifting heavy stuff, but let's do some theoretical math:

4x motors of 100gr each = 400gr
Frame + ESC's + FC + Rx + small parts = 500gr
Big fat 4S lipo = 500gr
subTotal = 1400gr
Camera as you proposed = 1400gr
End total weight ~2800gr and this is without a cameragimbal!

Now, if a motor can produce 1000gr of trust @ full power, you won't have that much left for a decent flyingtime, as you don't want to fly almost full power constantly draining your lipo like a madman. I think you should look at a hexacopter or even better, an octocopter
There are however, huge quads flying with Fullframe DLSR's. Everything is possible with an unlimited budget
For example:

[blackley12]

Well if I can just get 3 or 4 minutes with the DSLR I'd be happy...

Say 20a per motor 80aH or 1.33a per minute so full open 1333ma per minute a 3300 for 2-3 or 5000 for 4-5?


Numbers could be off though...

[Hans]

3 or 4 minutes won't be enough i think. You want to hoover a bit, adjusting a few things... But then again, i have no experience yet with lifting heavy stuff

Today i got my FPV gear in (still saving up for goggles). One weird thing is, that when going over the electronics as a precaution, i noticed that the + and - and Vout markings OF THE CAMERA weren't matching the colors of the cable it came with. I followed a few traces and came to the conclusion that the + and Vout where reversed. No biggie, a couple of minutes with a soldering-iron and all is well now. When you read the discussion on the HK-page, more people encountered this problem, so buyers beware!

[kloner]

That looks like Kirsten from vario in that pic, are they into the multi rotor market now? looks like xlv's skids too, met them this year at helicopter scale masters

Cool little MR

[Dallibab]

Hey Hans good thread!

you mentioned that you used Square aluminium tube to hold the cf tubes, did you cut it in half then clamp or does it fit tight enough for a bolt to go through both?

Thanks

John.

[Hans]

Hey John,

Sorry for the late reply. The aluminium square tubing i use is a perfect fit for 12mm carbon tube. I just drill a hole thrue both the aluminium and CF-tube, bolt it, and smurf some 2-component epoxy in there. I have flown before without the epoxy, so it is just for that comfortable feeling of knowing the quad doesn't transform into something else while flying

[Hans]

I went flying my quadcopter with a buddy of mine today. I gave him a little green toy paratrooper as a joke some time ago (he's a skydiver) and we decided it needed to be airborn. It is now stuck in a tree.
The shops where still open, so we decided to buy 2 more paratroopers, one pink, one blue. And cookies. And beer.
A Pink paratrooper is now stuck in another tree.
The next bright idea we had, was to replace the remaining paratrooper with a GoPro. We should gain some altitude for, you know, make sure the parachute would deploy properly. It should be awesome.
The gopro is dead now. The parachute refused to work with us and decided enough is enough. The gopro refuses to work as well. The light comes on when you plug it into USB but nothing else. Of course the waterproof casing still looks brand new, not even a scratch after hmmm about a 100ft drop

All videofootage is OK though. I'll upload some green- and pink paratroopers shortly.

A bit long, but you can skip if you want.

View this video on YouTube

I was amazed by the stability of the lightweight home-made carbon quad in such strong winds Als, we discovered later that all that time i was flighing with one blade broken (of a 3-bladed prop), and didn't notice a thing.

[Hans]

Well, this is a little bit weird. Yesterday i crashed my quad pretty hard. All is repaired now, but the strange reason was that i had the feeling i had to learn how to fly all over again. I just started my Sim (Phoenix), and i crash constantly on my computer too

I really think i need a holliday. Or a new brain

[BacklashRC]

Very interesting that you could fly with two of three blades. I just ordered 3 blade Master Airscrews for my hex and was wondering if they would fly missing a blade.

[Hans]

...Yesterday i crashed my quad pretty hard. All is repaired now,... (

I just flew a arround a bit after that crash, and i noticed that the quad is pulled to the right by some tractorbeam. I think one of the motors is doing a bad job. It can happen after a crash and completely understandable. I don't crash that often and even then never a totall loss, but i noticed that i feel repairing and rebuilding something is becomming less and less fun

Damn you, stupid gravity! *shakes fist*