[secant0give]

These things look like a lot of fun!!

Here's some videos of 250 Size FPV racing, even if your not that interested in multi rotors you can still appriciate the skill of some of these guys !!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_6_tNbF_NA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1sU7SeqwKI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTrLDew4-gw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38SSKJji6i0

http://www.drohne-quadrocopter.de/fpv-racing/

[robbo]

Now that does look fun!!
Funny you post this I was travelling last week in Asia, and last saturday went into an rc shop in singapore... They had a few this size RTF. .. and not too expensive. I almost did but instead went for a little one I can pack in the suitcase when travelling and buzz around the hotel room.!!

Still good fun but harder to fly than I thought.

[secant0give]

I put one together using this frame $21 from ebay

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/H250-ZMR250-Q...tDomain_15&hash=item2c93cf47dd

and this controller
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store...5Mhz_.html

using the afro 12A ESCs from HK and these motors, T-Motor MN2204
http://www.multirotorgear.com/t-motor-mn...0kv-motor/
or here
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/T-Motor-MN220...tDomain_15&hash=item4191610ac4

They are bit a dear for a small motor at around $32 each but they are so nicely made and super tough.

It flies brilliantly, mainly because, the controller is such high quality, it also has many features that make it easier to learn to fly FPV. Like altitude hold, so you don't have to worry about thrust management, when you first start you can concentrate on getting used to steering it. It also has loiter mode which is nice when you suddenly loose video you can just flick a switch and make it hover where it is until the picture comes back and return to home mode, so when you totally stuff up, provided it's still in the air it can fly back to you. These features make for a much longer lived flying machine I can attest to that!!

The don't however, stop you from accidently running over it with the car tho' :\
It's remarkably durable it mainly just broke the nylon screws and bent the steel ones the electronics and motors survived unscathed luckily!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPlvquD2bXg

[TopGun]

Nice job on the quad, i have the same frame and they do seem to be quite resilient as i have discovered on numerous occasions.
Unfortunately my 250 was on a budget so i went for the kk2 mini which i am now discovering as you have mentioned is not the ideal for beginner fpv.
i think i will have to save my pennies and purchase a decent board if i wish to pursue fpv further as it is quite overwhelming trying to maintain altitude whilst flying due mostly to the depth of view issue.
You work amazingly fast by the way, you would certainly give the cnc's i used to work on a run for their money.

[secant0give]

Here's the parts list again

I put one together using this frame $21 from ebay

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/H250-ZMR250-Q...2c93cf47dd

and this controller
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store...5Mhz_.html

using the afro 12A ESCs from HK and
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store...3_RU_.html

these motors, T-Motor MN2204
http://www.multirotorgear.com/t-motor-mn...0kv-motor/
or here
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/T-Motor-MN220...4191610ac4

They are bit a dear for a small motor at around $32 each but they are so nicely made and super tough.

Here's the FPV gear I've used on the bigger quads and it works great.
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store...ennas.html

Here's another good option if you use the 86deg lens option it's going to have a wider field of view which I quite like.

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store...RC832.html

With this camera it costs about $10 more than most other cheapies but it worth it for the quality and the ease of mounting as well as it's small size. It has much better dynamic range than the camera that comes with the Hobby king combo. It's the one I use on my micro quad.
http://shop.runcam.com/runcam-sky/


I like the look of this camera for on-board HD recording.
http://shop.runcam.com/runcam-hd/

These antennas are pretty good too, you don't want to use whip antennas
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store...A_RP_.html

[BOB]

Hi Jason. Wanted to ask you about Micro HKPilot Mega master set. what is the procedure to program your radio.
I noticed when you were flying the drone on Australia.Day you had a iPad is this just for find tuning at the field or do use the iPad set up your radio as well what program do use.

I noticed on your video that you put the ESC under the drone arms really good idea putting on top of the arms can lead to prop strike


Kind regards, Bob.

[secant0give]

with the master set you can do a lot of things
I use the computer to load the firmware and alter the parameters, set up the flight controller etc.
The Ipad was very handy for my spotter they could see just where it was on the map and which way it was facing at all times. The Ipad can also be used to program way points for autonomous flight and provide other info like speed over ground rate of rise and fall. The app that runs on the iphone/ipad is called Fighting Walrus and although relatively new there has been a number of up grades giving it more and more functionality, it has been getting better and better all the time.
The software I use on the computer is called mission planner and it can be used to set up a couple of different flight controllers to do different things. It can set up the HK megga 2.7 to fly a fixed wing a car a boat or quite a variety of different multi rotor configurations. It's pretty comprehensive and there is a pretty good on line manual that takes you through how to do it all step by step there are also a number of youtube tutorials that show you the set up

as far as setting up the radio goes you just use a normal model memory and fixed wing configuration set all your trims to zero and calibrate everything from the flight controller end

[secant0give]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H19z1X3V4UQ

[BOB]

HI GUYS. CAME ACROSS THIS DYS CARDON FIDRE FOLDING 250/320 SIZE QUADCOPTER ON HOBBYKING WEBSITE BELOW IS SOME YOUTUBE VIDEOS AND CATALOGUE NUMBER AS WELL, NOT SURE HOW GOOD THIS IS IT HAS CC3D CONTROL THAT USES OPEN PILOT SOFTWARE I HAVE DOWNLOADED SAID SOFTWARE AND IT LOOKS FAIRLY SIMPLE TO USE?.
NOT SURE IF THIS MACHINE WILL SUIT MY FLYING ABILITY???.

KIND REGARDS, BOB.

HTTPS://WWW.YOUTUBE.COM/WATCH?V=K5QOZRXR00C
HTTPS://WWW.YOUTUBE.COM/WATCH?V=8O-3CDI0YJC
9206000031-0

[secant0give]

It looks like a good machine bob but the controller doesn't have the Alt hold feature so it will take a bit of getting used to to fly FPV
The extra few dollars spent on a controller that can do alt hold will make all the difference if you want to fly it FPV. If you just want to fly it line of sight in the normal way it looks like it will be a great machine I'd think you'll have no trouble buzzing it around at all !!

[secant0give]

Here's a bit of a video-link/camera test I recorded using my Q250 the camera is a "runcam sky" from runcam.com and the VTX and VRX are from HK, the test is done using the usual clover leaf style antennas on both VRX and VTX. I've been doing some testing using a 7 turn helical antenna I made for the VRX and it seems to be working a fair bit better. I'll post some ground recorded video of that as soon as I have a chance to edit it

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3OCGMD1Opg

[secant0give]

Been doing some more testing
The aomway patch antenna works good

Will post some video later tonight hopefully

[secant0give]

You can see it suffers from a little bit of break up behind the trees but this is pretty good for 5.8 gHz
there's also a bit of break up on the edges of the antenna's beam, It's quite directional with a claimed gain of 14db. But straight down the line it's excellent !! You just have to remember to fly with in the beam. Some of this video was flown using the diversity box but all of it was recorded using the just a single receiver and the patch antenna. I had it sitting on the roof of the car recording for the flights when I used the diversity box to actually fly. It has better penetration through the trees than my helicals which is not that surprising as they are only around 12 db. The patch has nearly twice the power and for $18 it's a bargain !!

http://youtu.be/jiuTTJn3oHI

[riblit]

Banggood have a 250 size kit http://bit.ly/1H6mZPQ

There is a review and a couple of build videos on YouTube, this is the review http://youtu.be/oQeNV-Wr8RE you can find the build videos from there.

John

[secant0give]

Looks like a good kit for someone who has quite a bit of experience flying quads FPV
my feeling is that if the controller doesn't have alt hold mode then it's not good for a beginner flying FPV. You really want the Nace 32 full controller or the Micro APM, both of which can do Alt hold

Other than that it looks like a great kit !!

[BOB]

Hi guys. On the Quadrysteria website got a Power Distribution Lead for Quad (4 x 3.5mm to XT60?.
Looking at the photographs the lead seems to be heavy-duty
so my question is good enough to run a 2200Mhz 3s40-50c of included a link to the actual webpage, would appreciate any comments.

Update, HobbyKing have a similar cable but it includes a lead for your FPV transmitter 015000196-0 .

Kind regards, Bob.

http://www.quadrysteria.com/store/p58/Po...60%29.html

[samste]

Hi guys. On the Quadrysteria website got a Power Distribution Lead for Quad (4 x 3.5mm to XT60?.
Looking at the photographs the lead seems to be heavy-duty
so my question is good enough to run a 2200Mhz 3s40-50c of included a link to the actual webpage, would appreciate any comments.

Kind regards, Bob.

http://www.quadrysteria.com/store/p58/Po...60%29.html

Bob,
To really be sure , you need to know how much load or amps will be flowing through
The lead, how long you will be drawing high amps through the lead.
I would assume with the Lipo specs you given really only tells us that you can draw max 100 amps or there about but will the quad actually draw that much, does each motor draw max 25 amps ? On full load.
Have you done a load test on quad at max throttle?
Load test will tell us a lot and help

[BOB]

Hi, Stephen. Thanks for the post. This is a Quad that I’m thinking about buying, it has Afro ESC 20 AMP, motors sunny sky 980KV I wondering if it’s the best option percent off a couple of emails with questions that you have asked?.

Kind regards, Bob

[secant0give]

Hi Bob My SK450 runs 4 20A Afro esc's and 850 KV motors with 11X5 props I'm using a 3S 10C 5200 Lipo pack.

From memory it's only pulling about 15-18 amps in hover that's with all the motors going. If I really nail it, it goes to about 50A but you cant do that for too long cause it climbing so hard it'll end up ridiculously high in no time at all. I really doubt it gets much over 30A when it really being pushed around without gaining height. the distribution lead looks fine and should be ample for the task tho you might be able to get a cheaper one from HK for instance http://hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__6...rness.html

[secant0give]

Here's a bit more ground recorded video from the QAV-250

http://youtu.be/syDvw4gDvpw

[BOB]

Hi Jason. What size FPV transmitter are you using noticed a little break up at times, is that the course of the trees or size of the transmitter?.

I in the process of ordering my new quad the V3 black member 350, from very short time I looked at DART 450 but reading comments on the web the frame is quite weak and you put a heavy battery like a media star 4000 mah and the frame cannot take the weight.

Kind regards, Bob.

[secant0give]

Hi Bob this is the VTX I'm using it's 600mW
http://hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__4...P_SMA.html

There is break up due to signal being attenuated by the trees and also by multi path from the buildings. Actually its quite a noisy RF environment as well, there is WiFi all over the show microwave data links and who knows what else. despite this the system still works quite well

[BOB]

Hi Jason. The question about FPV. Do you use a filter to block RF?.
I think I’ll get one of those transmitters as well.

Kind regards, Bob.

[secant0give]

No not using any filters

Here's a couple of links I found with some info

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1416855

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1608374

[symowallo]

My quad is on its way, along with the 8 other orders of parts and associated bits. Can't wait to join you guys in some FPV mayhem!

[BOB]

Hi, Simon. On Sunday I was madly ordering parts from the US Hong Kong and still I have to order some more stuff yet, V3 black member kit apparently comes with a basic Naze32 not sure if I’ll replace it with a fall Naze32 all alternatively open pilot have a new system called GPS assist??, Of put several questions up on their website but no one’s reply as yet I’d like to know a lot more about it before I would purchased it. So at this stage I just have to watch out for the Australia Post parcel man, confidentially is not a very good parcel man???.

Kind regards, Bob.

[secant0give]

My quad is on its way, along with the 8 other orders of parts and associated bits. Can't wait to join you guys in some FPV mayhem!

You'll certainly enjoy it!!

What gear did you go for Simon ?

---

Your more than welcome to some of the 3Dprinted parts I've made up for the QAV-250 frame.

There's a V shaped antenna holder for the FRsky receiver's twin antenna's some LED strip holding brackets antenna covers for clover leaf antenna's and an anti vibe mount for the controller board suites the HK micro version of the APM probably also suite the nace 32 controller. I'm also doing a nice mount for the runcam HD camera itll probably fit the Mobius as well and allow for bridge with a short mast and pod for the GPS receiver and magnetic compass

[BOB]

Hi Jason. I think you might be right about the HKPilt versus Naze32, apparently the Naze32 fall version GPS hold doesn’t work very well there are problem with it operating attempting to correct the coding but at this stage having problems sorting it out.Now open pilot very annoyed have not heard from them even though I emailed and posted to different people connected with open pilot so this stage I may go with HKpilot but not sure which one they come in three versions micro/many/full size version, I’m hoping the full size will fit inside my new quad?.

Hi, Simon. I ordered my new sky zone700D monitor but a big snag?, To fit a battery inside you need an 2S with a JST plug dimensions are L140W37H16 mm there was one on eBay but they won’t ship from China, I searched through HobbyKing’s batteries with JST plugs and found several batteries but most are very small there was only one come anywhere near the size it was Turnigy 800mAh 2S 20C Size: 77 x 25 x 14mm
T800L.2S.20 the only other solution that I could find was XT60to JST adapter not sure if that really is suitable?.

Kind regards, Bob.

[symowallo]

Hi Bob, you don't need to buy a battery with a JST connector on it. I've ordered a Turnigy 2200 2S battery and I will just cut the XT60 plug off and solder a JST male pig tail on the end. I'm not a fan of adapters at all, and there's no need for an adapter in this case.

The JST pig tails are only a couple of dollars for 10 of them. If you get stuck let me know and I can solder it up for you or just give you the JST pig tail. Just bring your battery to the field.

---

You'll certainly enjoy it!!

What gear did you go for Simon ?

---

Your more than welcome to some of the 3Dprinted parts I've made up for the QAV-250 frame.

Hey thanks for your kind offer Jason. Once I get all the bits I will let you know if I can use the stuff you mentioned (not that I know yet because I'm not sure what the kit includes) Basically I, along with James and the other Simon, spent hours and hours researching vendors and combos. We all came up with different combinations but I ended up buying a kit http://www.aliexpress.com/item/QAV250-Fr...70583.html

I sourced antennas from another vendor on Ali, then realised I might need other ones with a right angle, so got those from another place on Ali. Ordered the Eachine camera from BangGood, the nylon standoffs from 2 places on Ebay, a PDB from Hobbyking, a helical antenna for signal diversity on the Skyzone from another place on Ali, a battery for the Skyzone from HK (see previous post) and countless other misc parts orders. It's so confusing!

Now the wait is on for the parts to arrive. Realistically it'll be another 2 weeks I would think.

[BOB]

Hi, Simon. Yes please if you could solder a JST plug on one of these batteries I would be appreciated and of course meet any costs my soldering skills especially with battery terminals is not real good, one question is one battery will be enough to last all day all having 2 batteries be better and save you running out of battery at a critical moment?.

Kind regards, Bob.