Hello everyone,

I am Rengarajan, friends call me Rajan. I originally joined this forum, when I received a shipment meant for someone else and posted here trying to locate the original buyer. That lead me to read several threads here and develop a fascination for flight and am now seriously taking up this hobby. I have never owned or flown any RC flying machines ever and have ordered the UDI RC U816A to get started and get a hang of flying a quad.

I am a major DIY enthusiast and have dabbled with Automobiles, electronics, plumbing, carpentry among other things. Of late, age is catching up. While the mind knows what to do, the body is refusing to cooperate. The hunt for a less taxing hobby ( at least lesser than getting under an automobile and trying to fit things together, made me wanting to take this up. Hence I plan to start building my own quad in the meanwhile, so as to have it RTF, by the time I am done crashing my UDI to the point of no recovery.

Of all the DIY articles I read, this one grabbed my attention, Easy DIY quad, probably due to the detailed write up. My plan is to take that as a baseline and build on top of that. I would eventually like to get into aerial photography and videography as well as FPV. So, my primary requirement is to start with something scaleable, which would allow me to add more functionality, as I progress with honing my skills.

While I wait for the UDI to be delivered, I have made a shopping list for my first build. Here is how far I have got:

D2830-11 1000kv Brushless Motors
Q450 V3 Glass Fiber Quadcopter Frame 450
TURNIGY Plush 30amp Speed Controller
Slow Fly Electric Props 9047R SF & 9047SF Props

I am hoping you guys will be able to guide me finalizing on a flight controller, a LiPo battery & charger and a Radio Tx unit.

Thanks in advance

Rajan

Rajan, Get the SimonK ESC's instead of TURNIGY Plush and the quad will be more stable.
About the FC, get APM 2.5 which is quite scalable. You can start with basic flying for now and add GPS compatibility later on to get Postition Hold, Return to Home, Autonomous Flight features, etc

Get 10 inch props instead of 9 inches as they will be more slightly more efficient with this motor.
You would run this on on a 3Cell LiPo Setup. Start with the most common 2200mah size which will be cost effective and will give you feasible flying time.

About the charger, if you would need something basic and cheap then get a B3AC LiPo Charger.
If you would need something advance which can charge the LiPo faster then get a B6 LiPo Charger.

About Tx/Rx, RCB7X would be a good option.
FlySky TH9X would be more scalable though.

Feel free to contact me anytime if incase you find yourself stuck with any weird question.
We would be glad to help.

If you haven't dealt with any RC electronics before or anything electronics in general, better get a KK 2.1 board. they are readily made for quads and with a on board LCD you can become less frustrated with a quad as there are lot more things to look out in a quad than working and setting up the FC.

Ditto everything else Bhavesh said. would like to stress more on Simonk ESCs. They make your quad life for next flight.
Choose a motor setup that has around 600gm to 1kg thrust per motor. going for a higher thrust with low payload will be inefficient and may become unstable. lower thrust might not lift your quad at all.
A small advice, start in small steps and move forward strong.

Ashok.P

 

And another thing , I would suggest you to buy the IMAX b6 over the b3 as it has many more options and features , which you will surely need as you will progress in this hobby .

Sooner or later you will need a programmable charger to keep your lipos in good conditions.
Quads drain faster and you might be charging for hours just for a few minutes of flight with a basic charger.
The money invested in a programmable one is a wise investment as it will cut the cost of multiple lipos and you can avoid lot of dead cell lipo conditions.

Ashok.P

Thanks for the inputs everyone. As detailed in the linked write up in my original post, I am planning on keeping the components as similar as possible to that article. So, I am thinking of going with the KK 2.1.5 board.

I find that the LiPo recommended for that build is ZIPPY Compact 4000mAh 3S 25C Lipo Pack. However, I find members here recommending 2200 mAh LiPo. Which one should I get?

A few totally newbie questions:

1. Can I use the UDI's Radio to control this build?
2. I am thinking of the UDI as entry, this build as mid-level and would like to build another advanced quad in six months time. That being the plan, what kind of LiPo should I choose? I would ideally like to be able to use the same LiPos for both builds.
3. Can the IMAX b6 charge multiple LiPos simultaneously?

I know it is hard to answer question 2 without details of the second build. Just a high level picture - that one will be capable of GPS, to get Postition Hold, Return to Home, Autonomous Flight features, etc. It will also be equipped with a gimbal for aerial videos and should be able to accommodate FPV at a later stage.

Rajan

I am not a pro in quads but instead of those motors I would anytime choose the cf2822 for quads as they are cheaper and more efficient than those.
1. No you can't use the UDI radio.
2. You will get an battery with your UDI so you wouldn't need a lipo battery. If you want spare batteries are available. You can buy a separate battery for your latter project.
3. Yes it can but you need lipo parallel charging board.

Hello Mr. Rajan! People tend to suggest the kk LCD board over the APM because on the surface it looks like the KK is easier to setup. It actually is a bit easier to set up than an APM for a first timer but at the same time much harder to debug if you come up with strange problems(one motor firing late causing the quad to flip is a common problem). If you are good at following instructions and if budget permits, go for the APM along with the 3DR radios. This being an open source controller, there is a wealth of information and detailed tutorials on this. I use an APM 2.5 personally and I learnt on it. Did not have much luck with the kk series of boards.

You might also consider a DJI controller(touted to be the best plug and play FC(Flight Controller) out there). But they are overpriced IMO. I haven't used them personally.

Now about the radio. You must get a decent radio if you are even a little bit serious about getting into this hobby. The Turnigy 9X (FlySky 9X) gives the best bang for your buck. The newer 9XR series is also good. This radio is also supported by a huge community. You might also consider other name brand radios(relatively expensive) but the 9X can't be beat on price and is quite reliable.

Some other things to invest in include a decent charger(imax b6, turnigy accucel) and power supply.

With best regards,
Trishit

Oh, and about the LiPo. There is no one size fits all approach to choosing a battery. But a probable solution is to get a couple of common size packs (say, 2200mAh/35C) for your mid size quad and use multiple of the same in parallel on the bigger quad.

Hi Rajan,

Use APM 2.6 as your flight controller as it has lot more features like auto pilot etc.
I purchased APM from sp4mm3r and you will find good deal there. Here is link
http://www.sp4mm3r.com/top-pin-apm2-6-external-compass-apm-flight-controller-w-ublox-neo-6m-gps-for-multicopter.html

Use turnigy 9channel transmitter as it has tuner. You will be more flexible in tuning your gimbal. Same I purchased from sp4mm3r. It is bit costly but it is one time investment in transmitter as transmitter will be in our hand so there is no chance of damage.

Charger you can select B4 Imax. Here is link
http://www.sp4mm3r.com/imax-b4-compact-35w-4a-automatic-balance-charger-2-4s-lipoly.html

Regards,
M.Ahmed,
Hobby lover

@Muquayyar
Gentleman
May I know how you purchase it from your own shop ?

In the following post you said rchyderbad is your shop;
http://www.rcindia.org/rc-outlets-and-resellers/mega-list-of-all-rc-outlets-in-india/msg192244/#msg192244

and in the following recent posts you are saying that you have purchased from rchyderbad
http://www.rcindia.org/multirotors/quadcopters-anyone/msg195200/#msg195200
http://www.rcindia.org/wanted/newused-apm-2-52-6-kit-3dr-or-rctimer-only/msg195202/#msg195202
http://www.rcindia.org/wanted/need-a-used-2s-lipo-below-500mah/msg195201/#msg195201

What is the connection between you and sp4mm3r?

Yes, sp4mm3r is my friend's shop.

Hello Rajan Sir, Welcome to RCI. As far as batteries are concerned, I would like to suggest you that since you are going with a 450 Quad then a 2200mah will be a better option. because this battery fits perfectly into it. As of future is concerned you can always go with a higher rating battery such as 5000mah. I ll tell you one thing, once you move ahead and build a bigger quad, you will definitely think of building a smaller one like 300mm or maybe 250mm, so in that case your 2200mah will always come handy. Also you can keep the 2200 as a spare which will give you an additional time of around 6-7 mins even on your big quad. So as a startup you can go with 2200mah. Regarding charger, I personally think it is better to go with a Turnigy Accucel Balanced Charger, it is better than Emax. I ve not tried it for charging multiple batteries at once, but it can support a variety of batteries including NiMh/NiCd and Lead Acid as well. Also 30a ESCs are a lot more for the setup your are going for, rather you can go with a 20-25a Esc, also you can try 4 in 1 Quatttro Esc. SimonK are better Escs, most of the Forum members like to go with these ones. Regarding Flight control board, there are different views from different members. its like a pain killer, you can ve an Ibuprufen or a nimesulide both does the same work, its upto you to decide. The best thing KK board gives you is the onboard LCD which will make the setting rather easier to you. And there are a lot of videos over Youtube to how to setup the thing. Rest is upto your sense of Judgement, whatever you decide. In any case you can take help from me (personally) or else the forum is always ready to help. All the Best.

Sorry about reviving a very old thread. After flying with this setup for a while, i think I am ready to step up in the game and have started building two new quads - A Disco & and a 250 for some agile flying. Sorry about not being so active in the forum, but now I guess, with a reasonable amount of flight hours under my belt, I will be able to contribute more. My wife is very upset that all this started with a wrong package being delivered to me, but I am loving it

Will soon start build threads.