After my 250 mini Quad, I wanted to make something a little bigger. Trying to cram all the electronics on such a small frame was like Mission Impossible, so my next quad would have to have decent real-estate. First choice was the TBS Discovery, a well thought out frame, and not to pricey, but shipping just pushes the price up. Then I started looking at the Q/F450 frames. I just couldn't make my mind up. Then came the Tarot 650 frame. A bigger frame than I had planned so I did a little research.
I decided that since a Gimbal was on my future agenda the Tarot frame was the one to build.
I had already ordered Sunnysky 980kv motors(for the TBS disco) from Chintal (RcMumbai) and after a lengthy conversation, he convinced me to go for a 650 frame similar to the tarot but in his words "much better". I have previously purchased from Chntal and frankly I trust the guy's advice.
So I made my Purchases, let the build begin.
1x 650 CF quad frame. RcMumbai make.
4x Sunnysky 980kv motors. will upgrade to 600-700kv later.
4x 40 amp ESCs. 4 cell capable.
4x 10/4.5 props.
All required hardware.
Naza lite I already have.
subbed for sure :D
was waiting for it sir...
looking forward to a in depth review+build :)
Regards
yash :hatsoff:
I hope your satisfied with the quality of the frame sir
On first inspection the frame looks pretty good. Finishing of plastic molds are nice and the CF plates and booms are well finished. The fasteners supplied with the frame could have been better, but I'm just nitpicking. Instructions are pretty much non existent so you will have to use a little common sense. There are a couple of diagrams on the instructions which are enough to assemble the frame.
Motor mounts supplied, are good. They are designed so that after fitting the motors are level. There is also provision to mount the esc's under the mount, which will aid cooling.
Ashim, the esc's are overkill, but it doesnt hurt if your copter can carry them.
Whats the weight of the frame? The think motors are small for the purpose but you already plan to upgrade them. Also its suggested to use 4s lipo with 9" or probably 8" props(if AUW is low). 10" wont be efficient and will warm up the motors a lot. Those motors on 4s with 9" prop can take on 1.7/8kg perfectly, Anything above that would affect flight characteristics.
Thank you SideWinder for pointing out my mistakes. After your pm, I did a little reading and found that I have mounted my Esc's in the wrong location. Extending esc to battery wires will eventually kill my Esc's. I should have extended the esc to motor wires.
Since I have nearly finished my build, I will keep this configuration and hope the overkill esc's survive.
Many large quad frames have provision for mounting esc's on the boom near the motor. Just because you can doesn't mean you should. Since this knowledge came after the act, I will rectify it if and when needed.
How was your flight??
@ashimda sir but mainly nowadays all of cf multirotors come with under the motor mounting system how will they not think about the overkilling of esc's???
Like I said they provide but you should not fit them there. See if you can find an image of the Tarot or similar quad with the ESC's mounted near the motors. I couldn't find one, reason being close to the motors means far from the battery.
@roshan I haven't maiden-ed it yet, maybe this evening.
I found out (the hard way) that you should attach the CNC landing gear mounts on the underside of the bottom plate, before attaching the arms and top plate. Easy mistake for a beginner like me.
The naza along with power module and the Frsky RX have enough room on the bottom plate. In fact there is room left for Fpv equipment as well.
Nearly finished. After all the electronics are fitted, then the top plate can be fitted and secured. With just the power distribution board on top, covered by the battery plate, The quad looks clean and tidy. Pretty pleased.
I haven't purchased a gimbal yet, so the Mobius will have to do for now. Made a little mount out of small tripod I had lying around.
All that's left now is to maiden this machine. I hope the weather clears tomorrow, will post video then.
the hell i missed it :'(
bought a tarot 650 week back, this looks 1000 times better, and much cheaper..
kudos chintal
which flight controller are you using???
@rohan123 ashim sir is using dji naza lite with gps...
is there a specific kit for all this stuff??
@rohan123
1.the frame is bought from chintal(RcMumbai) you can check his sale thread
http://www.rcindia.org/for-sale/list-of-product-for-sale-on-rcmumbai-com/ (http://www.rcindia.org/for-sale/list-of-product-for-sale-on-rcmumbai-com/)
2.dji naza lite is also available on RcMumbai just contact him through pm
3.and all the other items(motors,esc,wire,battery....) are also available on RcMumbai
so all in all everything you need to get your quad up in the air is available with him :D
just contact him :)
Regards
yash :hatsoff:
thanx
Thanks for the information yash
And Ashimda thanks for this review it is a perfect one
"Perfect".... We will see after maiden.
Sirji perfect for the review of frame
i already know your builds are quiet good
Terrible weather today with rain and wind gusts up to 30km/hr. There was a break in the weather and some sunshine so braved the winds and went for a maiden.
The second video has some jello which I fixed this evening.
http://youtu.be/HZfmKLFn2_M (http://youtu.be/HZfmKLFn2_M)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-linKoRmX4&list=UUbhq3-nRdOwPO6whyfeyAGA (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-linKoRmX4&list=UUbhq3-nRdOwPO6whyfeyAGA)
Really appreciate your build and flying. Congo for the first flight.
Thanks ved.
An update. As I had feared, the 980kv motors are not suited for this frame. On a 3S 2200Mah with 10" props I get around 6mins of hover time. Pitch, yaw and roll are ok but the quads response to throttle is sluggish, and arresting a decent raises my blood pressure. Weight without battery is 1300g AUW is just under 1500g.
After the hover test motors and escs are cool but the battery is HOT.
I tried 2 batteries in parallel which reduced the battery temps but the quad just could not gain altitude. AUW with 2 x 2200mah was around 1700g. So with 10" props on 3S, these motors are limited to around 1300-1400g AUW.( I could be totally wrong).
Next I will try 11" props, then go to 4S setup, but eventually will upgrade motors.
Battery getting hot is due to over draw of current, probably low discharge rate; or you flew it till the very end. And adding another battery must have solved the current issue but it increased weight considerably so sluggish flight.
And dont think 11" with 3s will make a difference if flight was too sluggish earlier.The only combination that I think will work is 4S,10" with 'ifs and buts'.
A guy with his 1.5kg,4s,10" quad with peppy flight.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMN5EyWQADE (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMN5EyWQADE)
I have one stupid question here.....will sunnysky 980 kv handle 4S battery.???
If yes....what props should be used for 4 cell setup?
Yes, it will work alright on 4s with a 8"prop, but most of the people use higher voltage to increase thrust ultimately, so many use 9" props and have reported no issues as such . 10" are not suggested but you can use it, just be gentle with throttle!
From experience, these motors were hot when I was using them on a 3s,10" in summer(45DegC). While you wont even feel the little warmness in winter(22DegC), so surrounding temperature also matters.
@madaquif considering the spec sheet on SS-980 says 2-3cell your question is justified. As SideWinder rightly pointed out many people are using 4cell with 9" props with great success.
@SideWinder I measured the volts after landing and it read 11.3V. Its a 20c battery, so maybe 30c would be cooler. Any how I have ordered some 4cells and while I wait for them, I will be rebuilding the Quad with reducing weight as priority.
Rebuilt the quad today, and my target was to reduce some weight. This I time I mounted the Esc's on the bottom plate, so the wire runs to the battery were nice and short. The motor mounts had a bottom plate for Esc mounting, which I cut away to shed some weight. For the wire runs to the motor I chose to use UTP cat5 cable. I took 3 pairs, twisted the pairs together to form one and then twisted the 3 pairs together. These wires are very light weight and I reckon they can take the motor loads easily. (Again I could be wrong so someone point it out please).
AuW with a 2200 3s is 1395g. ;D
Did a flight with 10'' props and the Quad flew much better. Throttle response is better marginally but the pitch and roll response is snappy. Cant wait to try 4s on this setup.
On googling found that those wires are of 24 awg with maximum current per conductor for power transmission @0.577 Amp from wikipedia. While at a couple of forums, its stated that maximum amps for chassis wiring as 3.5amps. These are for copper core/strands. Even so pairing looks insufficient.Just check the wires, with the motor running for a minute on ground, if its getting hot, you need to add more wires into the pair, or better use electrical wiring cable. Its hard to bend and twist them but gets the job done. Best option, silicon wires 16/18awg.
I did the ground test after wiring and they were not even warm. Even after flying for 10mins, I didn't notice any heat from the wires.
Considering I will be using 4S, I suppose its better to be safe than to be sorry so will order some 16awg wire.
I have used these wires to carry 140V AC for distances of over 1km to power routers on a LAN network. There are about 10 routers on the network.
I just thought they would be sufficient.
Another Update:
I ordered 2 4S batteries from RC Mumbai, a 2200 & 5500mAh. I also ordered a 3S 1500 for my mini quad. The batteries arrived, and like a child, I couldn't wait to change the motor wiring. The batteries are Wild Scorpion nano techs, which I have never used, nor is there much info from users on the net. Having only used Turnigy and zippy I was a little apprehensive, so ordered a few to test. The 2200 weighs in at 228g, which is lighter than the same Turnigy and turnigy nanotech batteries. The 5500 weighs 527g and I was surprised at the weight of the 1500 3S which is lighter than my Turnigy 1300 3S at 107g.
First I tried the 2200 4S 30c 9" props, AUW was 1445g. I got 7mins of mainly hovering and a little flying around. I set my volt alarm at 3.6V.
Then I tested the 5500. With an AUW of 1780g, I got 15mins of smooth flying around in ATTI mode with occasional hovering with GPS.
From what I have read my motors are not optimum for this Frame weight, but on 4S my quad is a different beast. After a 15min flight the motors are a little hot but nothing to really worry about. My cat5 motor wiring doesn't even get warm, but I will still replace them when my 16-18awg wire arrives.
Overall I'm quite happy with these flight times considering my not so perfect setup. Will have to see long term performance of the Wild Scorpions. I'm thinking about testing 10" props on this setup, will report back.
I dont have words to express gratitude for the reviews
thanks a lot sir
Regards
Chintal
Rcmumbai.com
4S 2200 mAh, 10" CF props update.
Today I tested the quad with 10"CF props on 4S, I haven't changed my cat5 motor wiring yet, so was a little cautious. I let the quad hover in Atti mode. Landed after 7 mins. No voltage alarm went off so checked the voltage and found 3.8V/ cell. Motor temps were not that high at all. Esc's were cool and so were my cat5 wires. I did not test the 5500 battery and will probably wait until I change my motor wiring. Its really windy here in Kolkata, and both test I have done were in very windy conditions. I expect flight times to improve further in ideal conditions.