Quad Finally Built a Quad

[Admiral]

Well it finally happened, all the parts from Ebay turned up and I had a chance to assemble them, the built was easy after doing so many Helicopters, then I had some issues with the setup which I didn't help by going with a 4 in 1 ESC but a couple of hours and I had it and the control unit sorted out. To be quite honest all it really took was closing the door to to my room and taking the time to read the instructions properly and logically work my way through the set-up process.

I failed to reach my original goal which was to build a Quad for under A$100, the final cost was A$116, well the low Australian exchange rate at the moment caused most of the over run, well as you can work out it is an El Cheapo, no bells & whistles. It does fly and is reasonably stable, I've only flow in the back yard so far, it will get into the open spaces tomorrow. After that I'll decide if I'm going to invest more or stay with Helicopters & Fixed wing, who knows.

Anyway if there is no video it didn't happen right, well it did happen this afternoon and here is the video.

 

[Tony]

Is that a 450 size quad, if so, that is amazingly cheap and it flew fantastically. Great job!

 

[Admiral]

Hi Tony, yeah it's a 450 CF frame with plastic arms, no name 1000 Kv motors, Emax 4 in 1 ESC and a Thunder QQ Super controller, I understand that when I get used to it I'll probably change the controller as you can't turn the self-leveling off and that gets a bit restrictive. But it will do for a start, we will see what happens from here.

 

[Admiral]

Well the first Quad has come and gone sold to a friend at cost, he struggles a bit with CP Helicopters although he is improving and just loved that he could fly the quad easily.

Version two is on the way, I was very happy with V1 so V2 will be the same except for the control board, I'm tossing up between KK2 and NAZA at the moment.

Video of final flight, sorry about being so brief but the on-board camera's battery went flat in flight.

 

[Stambo]

KK2 was a good FC in it's day but when you can buy a Naze 32 for about the same price, I know where I would head.
For a start KK2 is 8bit, Naze32 is 32 bit, much faster and much more configurable.
Naze32 can run Cleanflight firmware which is being very actively supported and updated by a large community.
To me there is no question, Naze32 is far superior, I have both and the KK2s are no longer used.

 

[Tony]

Agreed, go with the naze.

 

[Admiral]

Sorry Guys, but impatience got the better of me should have gone the NAZE32, but it wasn't available locally and the KK2 was, then I read your replies after placing the order.

Looks like version three will have to have a NAZE32

 

[Tony]

It will still work just fine. Just not as many parameters as the naza. We still need video once you get it going though! lol.

 

[Admiral]

Quad version two is now up and running, not as stable as version one with the QQ board up waiting for the gear to give it a firmware upgrade.

 

[Admiral]

Hi Guys, Well Quad #3 is under construction, I ordered the NAZE32 from Ebay and what I received was a FLIP32 not real happy about that, but going to run with it anyway, or should I dump it and go for NAZE32 ??
Next question is the firmware should I stick with Baseflight or go to Cleanflight or is there something else ??

The new quad will be a 250, have all the Electrics at the moment just waiting on the frame.

This time I'll wait for replies before proceeding.

 

[Stambo]

Flip32 is a clone of the Naze32 as far as I know and should perform the same.
As far as firmware is concerned, I would go for cleanflight.
It is better supported and has a huge user base among the top FPV pilots.
Are your ESCs oneshot capable as that makes quite a difference.
You can now flash many ESCs to BLHeli firmware which also seems to be a preference at the moment.
Do you have FPV in mind for this quad?

 

[Admiral]

Thanks Stambo, I was leaning towards Cleanflight, I am using the SKY III Quattro which is BLHeli compatible.

FPV, hopefully after I get it flying, I have no budget for it so there might have to be some Ebay sales of other gear first.

 

[Admiral]

Cleanflight loaded OK but would not connect on my Desktop which is upgraded to Windows 10, after a bit of searching found that it is not compatible yet.

Ran fine on my Laptop after I identified a crappy USB cable.

What a program, I am impressed, I don't care if it never flies I having so much fun setting it up, that's the Geek coming out in me I suppose.
So picture this, I have a fully operational Quad sitting on my desk minus two things a Quad frame and propellers, I'm waiting on the Postie for the frame and I though the propellers would be an un-wise addition at this stage.
Can't wait to play with FPV.