Let the build begin!

[northernmonkey]

Guys,

Just in the motion of choosing and ordering all the gear for my dii f550 Hexa build!
I've flown and practiced using my little syma x1 for the last month and can handle it reasonably well (imoa)

Kit i have ordered so far (awaiting delivery on some):-

DJIf550 (art)
Naza M and gps v2
Aeroxcraft 550 landing gear
Turnigy Lipo's 3s 4000, 3300 and 4s 5000.
Turnigy 9xr with Frsky module and rx (inc tx lipo)
Gopro3 (birthday present from the Mrs!)

Just need to decide which brushless gimbal to go for, either the cm2000v3 or maybe the Gopro gimbal from Aeroxcraft?

I will eventually go FPV with it, not to sure which kit to go for with regards fpv?

Have i missed anything?:) Its an expensive start into the world of multi rotors but thought id go for decent kit for the long term effect.


Cheers
Mike

[andys]

Nice.

I reckon you could have gone for some decent gear though - looks like you have scrimped a bit :)

Keep us posted - I went for a 330 KK2 to learn to fly - now building a 450KK 2 for a camera, but I am wondering if I should go Hex instead!

Look forward to seeing your progress - quite a jump from the toy you learnt on!
Even with Naza and GPS - you can still manage to hit the earth at speed with it - ask Neal Lewis (see his post in accidents thread!)

Stuffed my 330 into a tree yesterday - it survived unscathed - can't image a big heavy quad carrying camera gear would have got away with it. Top tip - learn to fly AWAY from trees :)

[neallewis]

Props. The DJI Kit props aren't very good. They do an upgraded one the 10x3.8, which I find pretty good. The Graupner e-prop 10x5's are excellent though. You may want to go 9x5 as you are mixing 3S and 4S lipos?
I'd stick with one battery type initially though, get a couple of packs the same. You may be having to adjust gains between different pack/props combos to get the best flight control.

[northernmonkey]

All points digested!
Regards lipos, just want to find the one that suits the weight/flight time then stick with that size.

I've been locked in my garage most of the day building the hexa!
Just waiting on landing gear, should be with me tomorrow.

Having problems with setting up the naza and the 9xr! Got all the software loaded and firmware upgrade complete (3.12) on the naza. Just having problems with the three way switch settings on the 9xr for use with the three flight modes.

Any advice welcome.

Cheers
Mike

[northernmonkey]

getting there now!

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5460/9152169491_96a44d8a99.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/88980106@N03/9152169491/)
Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/88980106@N03/9152169491/) by psslocksmiths (http://www.flickr.com/people/88980106@N03/), on Flickr
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7308/9152189983_2f8df2756e.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/88980106@N03/9152189983/)
Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/88980106@N03/9152189983/) by psslocksmiths (http://www.flickr.com/people/88980106@N03/), on Flickr
http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3754/9154418252_448f327e96.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/88980106@N03/9154418252/)
Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/88980106@N03/9154418252/) by psslocksmiths (http://www.flickr.com/people/88980106@N03/), on Flickr

[neallewis]

Looks fantastic Mike!

[northernmonkey]

WOW!!!

Just done a test flight in the drizzle/dark confined garden.
i was bricking it!

It flew spot on, little bit tentitive on take off but once up above a foot it was rock solid.
Flew it on atti and gps, not got manual set up on any switches yet.

I fitted the 8 inch props and used the 3s lipo, will change settings on naza and run the 4s tomorrow.

Well immpressed with it.

cheers
Mike

[James]

Very nice! I think you'll be close to the 550's max takeoff weight by the time you add a brushless gimbal and any FPV stuff.. I am and its struggling to fly as nicely now so I've upgraded to the Aerial Media Pros 650 heavy lift conversion.

I really like 3s with 10inch graupners, a great combo I think..

Been using the YUN1 on mine but I've been hankering after the aeroxcraft brushless gimbal, its slightly inferior to the yun in terms of the martinez board arguably isnt as good as the alexmos (but you could use an alexmos if you wanted to) and the general design isnt quite as smooth, its hard to setup too, but it does sit so nicely on the xcraft frame!

[northernmonkey]

Liking the look and reviews of the cm2000v3, i wonder how that will compare to the xcraft one?
I'm an impatient bugger though, so i will probably end up ordering the xcraft gimbal:drool:

its all still a learning curve, wheres the best place to purchase the 10inch graupners?

cheers

[neallewis]

I got my 10x5's form here:http://www.gliders.uk.com/products.asp?dept=213

Had good stock the other week.
You could also try the 9x5's which should work with both 3S and 4S, I've read.

[northernmonkey]

9" props ordered. I'll see how it goes with the 8" then swap over to nines when they arrive.
Cheers.

[Danny Harrison]

I laugh at your dji frame :yawn:

http://img593.imageshack.us/img593/59/96l4.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/593/96l4.jpg/)

Uploaded with ImageShack.us (http://imageshack.us)

[northernmonkey]

Still going well, not crashed it YET!

Just ordered the Aeroxcraft gimbal.
Strapped my iphone to the landing gear to see what footage was like:-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VebqgxtgSY

[andys]

Bloody hell - brave stuff that - flying it over houses from your back door!

If a prop fails / motor fails etc it could be nasty, personally I'm sticking to flying over fields and grass.

Looks good though :)

[northernmonkey]

Flew over my house and fields just to the side of my house, tried to keep it away from other houses and cars. Did get a little daft at times, it was all new to me.
Won't be doing anymore urban flying just in case of failure! Maybe do a little low flying stuff though.

[northernmonkey]

So.... gimbal fitted.
Have a gander at this little test vid ive stuck on youtube, gimbal is top notch!
Not so sure about gopro? its a white version filmed in 720p 60fps, then reduced to 30fps using imovie.
Footage seems suspect to me. It is the same in 60fps but obviously a little faster!

http://youtu.be/ueVwnbqHYC4

[James]

Looks good! Better than I expected it to be I have to say!

Was the board easy to set up? And is the 90 degree tilt you used proportional to the dial?

[northernmonkey]

No set up required with the board or gimbal itself, all plug and play and pre built. Just had to set up transmitter for tilt, set up on two way switch.
Could not for the life of me figure out how to set up on one of the tx dials, e.g p1?

[neallewis]

That's cool Mike, looks great. Love the shot going up looking down.
Try 1080P-30. I didn't see the black lines you mention on youtube, but the raw quality is worse than I'd expect form my gopro hero 2 at 720-60 and 1080-30. I suspect its the re-process?

[James]

Excellent, did you buy direct from aeroxcraft?

[northernmonkey]

I'm hoping I have a faulty gopro, not impressed with the quality it's churning out! Took some dusk footage earlier and it's terrible!

James, yep direct from aeroxcraft. Top service.
It now comes from them ready to run off 3s lipo, originally it ran off 7.4v.

[neallewis]

I'm hoping I have a faulty gopro, not impressed with the quality it's churning out! Took some dusk footage earlier and it's terrible!


Their RMA service is ok. 1 week turnaround. Mine just got sent to Amsterdam with an audio/mic problem, and I got a new one back today.
Second time its been back, first time it got sent to usa, but i think they are setup to RMA them in the Netherlands now.

Did you just buy it? Tried a software update? They will get you to do that first.

[northernmonkey]

ok, gopro is fine. Just me being critical!
Getting some good footage from gopro in combination with hexa/gimbal.

All blinged up now with led's for a bit of dusk flying (for orientation of craft).
Just ordered the start of my FPV kit, 7' monitor, immersionrc 600mw tx and uno 5.8rx.
Dont know wether to go for the dji iosd or the ezosd, like the idea of using the naza gps rather than adding the ezosd kit, keeps it lighter and simpler.

Gone for the 7' monitor to tide me over until the new Fatshark DominatorHD goggles are released.

:thumbsup:

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3740/9311215722_ca624ca01f_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/88980106@N03/9311215722/)
Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/88980106@N03/9311215722/) by psslocksmiths (http://www.flickr.com/people/88980106@N03/), on Flickr

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7340/9311216602_2775b82ba1_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/88980106@N03/9311216602/)
Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/88980106@N03/9311216602/) by psslocksmiths (http://www.flickr.com/people/88980106@N03/), on Flickr

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3815/9311217432_ffff385834_c.jpg (http://www.flickr.com/photos/88980106@N03/9311217432/)
Untitled (http://www.flickr.com/photos/88980106@N03/9311217432/) by psslocksmiths (http://www.flickr.com/people/88980106@N03/), on Flickr

[neallewis]

Looks great Mike, can't wait to see it flying.
When are the dominatorHD's out?

[northernmonkey]

been reading the FPVlab forum and they reckon September but prob will be delayed.
Will try and get to rhr next wednesday night to the 'unofficial rhr flying club!' :thumbsup:

[andys]

Hex looks mint :)

Tempted by the Gimbal myself but i'm not sure if it would be too heavy for the 450 frame..

[northernmonkey]

cant imagine it would be. Alot of folks are sticking gimbals on phantoms!

it weighs 190g plus gopro.

[northernmonkey]

Another build will commence on Thursday!
DJI F450 this time with kk2 to start with. want to see what all the fuss is about.

Will be needing advice with the kk2 board....

[Col]

At first it seems massively daunting.
But it's actually really easy:thumbsup: