Multirotor, multicopter and quadcopter discussion - The Drone thread

Clum · 27 Dec 2015 at 12:02

Managed to snap the camera securing bracket when taking my gopro off the H4-3D today. Does anyone know if the brackets for the H3-3D and H4 are cross compatible? Can't find UK stock of the H4 one anywhere.

Rilot · 27 Dec 2015 at 12:24

An elastic band works to hold it in place. That's what I used when mine broke.

Clum · 27 Dec 2015 at 13:01

Rilot said:
An elastic band works to hold it in place. That's what I used when mine broke.

That's actually a better solution than faffing about with two little screws. Good man, thanks.

justintime2001 · 30 Dec 2015 at 17:21

I fancy having a dabble in this but don’t want to spend too much until I know I am able to fly one properly.
Can anyone recommend a decent (Complete as in includes all I would need) kit which would be a good starting point?
Something suitable for a beginner to learn how to fly before spending big bucks with a budget of £100-£300? (Don't mind self build)

Cyclone · 30 Dec 2015 at 17:42

How about the Hubsan X4? Its cheap (£25ish) and a lot of people start off on this.

dhill · 30 Dec 2015 at 17:53

I got my first ever quadcopter for Xmas from the wife, a Hubsan X4 H107C which is a lovely little quadcopter to fly indoors and doesn't take too long to get the hang of either. You defiantly need to buy additional batteries for it though, as they run out way to fast...oh and make sure you have plenty of spare props as well!

Already looking at the Hurricane Mk2 as a possible upgrade for outdoor flight, with a view to going down the FPV route etc

justintime2001 · 30 Dec 2015 at 21:11

Thanks, I will take a look at those

almoststew1990 · 31 Dec 2015 at 14:01

I've had a couple of Syma x5s and I love flying them but I'm not sure where to go from here. Ideally I'd like to build a 250 quad with FPV but the price of admission jumps from £35 for the syma to £600+(?) for all the gear for a FPV 250. Is there a middle ground?

d_brennen · 31 Dec 2015 at 14:25

For anyone fancying a micro brushless platform, it's viable now. Probably more expensive than a budget 250 but also way less risky in the hands of a noobie

Frame: RotorX Atom 130 or Diatone ET150
Motors/ESCs: XM 10A + Eachine 1104
Props: Eachine/RotorX 3020
FC/PDB/OSD: RCTimer OZE32 (Naze clone with added features)
Batteries: Rhino 610mah 3S
Camera: "$9.80" Banggood micro cam
RX: Matter of choice, D4RII is quite nice for FrSky

Only a small matter of tiny soldering, but it's manageable especially with the OZE32 taking care of so much. I haven't touched any of my 250 sized stuff in months!

Rilot · 31 Dec 2015 at 19:19

That is pretty much what I built above (http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showpost.php?p=28978250&postcount=7808), apart from the OZE32. I have one but the MinimOSD is dead on it (much like many other people's).

d_brennen · 31 Dec 2015 at 20:23

Aw man you need some XM 10As on there! Move the BL/SN 20As on to a nice little 160/180... Perfect excuse :cool:

Edit: The OZE32 is one nice piece of kit, but if you don't want an integrated OSD then Diatone have come out with a clone of a Naze32 clone (perhaps an EMAX Skyline clone?) for 12 USD delivered. Phenomenal value considering acro Naze32 boards were like £35 a little while ago. Say what you like about clones, it makes the hobby affordable for me

Rilot · 31 Dec 2015 at 21:28

I've already got a 180

Also got a Diatone 150 in the process of being built.

Brutal biff · 2 Jan 2016 at 13:28

Any recommendations for a charger for a 4s 16000mah battery I've only got a 50w at the moment

Hesky82 · 3 Jan 2016 at 17:04

Brutal biff said:
Any recommendations for a charger for a 4s 16000mah battery I've only got a 50w at the moment

I've been really happy with my Cellpro Powerlab 6 that I've been using for the last couple of years.
Connected to a 24v bench power station its good for 800watts continues.
I use an MPA adapter that charges 6 of my 5000mah 6s race packs at the same time, which is a great time saver.

On the other end of the scale its also happy charging a little 1300mha pack for my race quad.
Its a great piece of kit!

Lakeland · 3 Jan 2016 at 19:52

d_brennen said:
For anyone fancying a micro brushless platform, it's viable now. Probably more expensive than a budget 250 but also way less risky in the hands of a noobie

Frame: RotorX Atom 130 or Diatone ET150
Motors/ESCs: XM 10A + Eachine 1104
Props: Eachine/RotorX 3020
FC/PDB/OSD: RCTimer OZE32 (Naze clone with added features)
Batteries: Rhino 610mah 3S
Camera: "$9.80" Banggood micro cam
RX: Matter of choice, D4RII is quite nice for FrSky

Only a small matter of tiny soldering, but it's manageable especially with the OZE32 taking care of so much. I haven't touched any of my 250 sized stuff in months!

Where do you get the parts from? Is there anywhere that stocks most of it in one place?

Got one of the hubsans on order but would be good to know where to get parts from to do a diy build.

Nodiggidy123 · 3 Jan 2016 at 20:01

I've been talking to a pal of mine and he uses hobbyking.co.uk. I've recently got a hubsan and would like to make my own now

justintime2001 · 4 Jan 2016 at 15:06

Just ordered myself a Emax Nighthawk Pro 280 FPV Racing Drone (RTF)

d_brennen · 4 Jan 2016 at 19:47

Lakeland said:
Where do you get the parts from? Is there anywhere that stocks most of it in one place?

Got one of the hubsans on order but would be good to know where to get parts from to do a diy build.

Mostly Bangood.com

I'll post up a build list later

Lakeland · 4 Jan 2016 at 21:02

d_brennen said:
Mostly Bangood.com I'll post up a build list later

That'd be awesome if you wouldn't mind!

d_brennen · 5 Jan 2016 at 00:26

Lakeland said:
That'd be awesome if you wouldn't mind!

Bear in mind that a micro brushless build will be quite tough if you don't have much electronics/soldering experience, a 250 is slightly easier just as the tolerances of everything are that much looser. These are the bits I've come to use after MANY iterations and failures... I am really fond of the ET 150 even though it's a larger rip of the RotorX Atom. I actually own an Atom frame and do plan on doing something with it by summer, there are some exciting micro motors coming out. Recently the Spadger has grown on me for ease of build and is what I am working on at the moment. These bits are all from Banggood, so free shipping. Sadly HobbyKing are untouchable on batteries, but that's all I order from them.

Frame: Diatone ET 150 £13.38 / Diatone Spadger 150 £12.07

Motors/ESCs: Eachine 1104 motors + XM 10A ESCs + 2 sets of props £55.13

Flight Control: Naze32 Acro £16.55

Battery
LiPo: Rhino 610 3S £3.40 (HobbyKing)

FPV gear really is dependent on that you have already and your budget. I'm using the Quanum V2 goggles and a beat up RC305 receiver, the cheapest of the cheap but love them

Camera: 600TV Micro Cam £6.76

Camera Mount: Diatone micro cam mount £1.58

VTX: Eachine 200mw 32 channel VTX RP-SMA £8.07

RX: FrSky D4R-II £18.23 but depends upon your TX of choice...

Some other useful bits to have...

Props: 4 pairs 3020 props £1.37

Better PDB: Diatone V7 switching PDB 5v (Naze/RX) 12V (VTX) £3.44

TX Module: FrSky DJT for 9x/TH9X/JR £20.69

TX Case (I use these for my TH9X and also for carrying 2 quads and lipos) £18.62

About all I can think of at the moment