Flight Controllers Various Control Boards

Derek

Well-Known Member
For the past several months, I've been interested in getting the parts to make a pair of quadcopters, for my wife and I. She wants a tricopter but she may end up getting a quad, lol.

Anyway...I've been looking at the control boards and I've been reading reviews, watching videos, and all that. it seems that the KK2 board is definitely a "fan favorite". It seems very easy to setup and easy to use, mostly because everything is done on the on board screen. Very nice feature. Does anyone have any experience with the i86 board or any of the MultiWii boards?

Do they work well? Difficult to program?
 

Karubah

Member
Hey, Derek. I have the KK2 board on my tri. I have just finished assembling it and have had 3flights on it, sorry no video as yet, I found the KK2 board easy to set up after flashing with V 1.6 FM. The board comes with 1.2 FM and it is a must to flash with updated firmware. As always with quads or tri,s balancing props and motors is a must as vibes can upset the sensors. I would certainly recommend this board as it's good value for money spent. I wish my other half was interested in RC, you lucky devil.
 

Stambo

Well-Known Member
I agree totally with Karubah.
I now have 3 quads running KK2 and they all fly extremely well.
Unless you want to spend a lot more money, this is the way to go.
Make sure to get the flash tool and update the firmware as the auto level on the stock firmware is a waste of time.
There are heaps of setup vids available but I found the best to be those by dhdsracer on youtube.
The KK2 with its LCD screen makes setup changes at the field a breeze.
No need to lug around a laptop.

I am happy to give you a hand with setup if you need it but I think after watching the vids you will be fine.
Big thing with a quad is don't overprop it.
I found on mine the difference in flight performance was huge when going from 9 to 8 inch props on 1100 and 1000kv motors.
 
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llommel

Member
I built 2 quads, both with KK2 boards. Very easy to set up with all the video on Youtube. Make sure you order the programing dongle & cable to upgrade the FW to 1.6.
Like stated previously, it is easy to setup with the on board display. It makes it easy to make changes in the field to the program when fine tuning. Another thing I learned was
that I replaced the low voltage buzzer with an LED light that flashes when the battery voltage goes down. It's a lot easier to see the light flashing than it is to hear the buzzer.
The lower the voltage drops, the faster the lite flashes. The buzzer output voltage is 5 volts so you have to use a 5 or 6 volt LED or a voltage regulator so you don't burn out the LED.
(speaking from experience, 3 volt LED will burn out after a couple uses)

Happy building.
 

Stambo

Well-Known Member
Another thing I learned was
that I replaced the low voltage buzzer with an LED light that flashes when the battery voltage goes down. It's a lot easier to see the light flashing than it is to hear the buzzer.Happy building.

My low voltage buzzer is LOUD!!, in fact it is VERY LOUD!!.
I can hear it as long as the quad is within visual controllable range.
It also has built in LEDs and it's warning voltage is adjustable.
When doing FPV the voltage is displayed in OSD and I have a timer running as well.
 

Derek

Well-Known Member
Thanks for the replies! It sounds like the KK2 board is the way to go, despite frequently being on backorder.
 

Lee

Well-Known Member
As a first time board, you can't beat it. Took me 10 mins to get my QAV500 flying perfectly on this board.
 

Stambo

Well-Known Member
Thanks for the replies! It sounds like the KK2 board is the way to go, despite frequently being on backorder.

Normally not on backorder for long, they sell so many. Make sure you get USB-ASP device to flash it too.
 

Derek

Well-Known Member
OK, thanks Stambo!

I just noticed that you have a few WL Toys and Banggood items in your signature. I was just looking at some of those the other day. How is the quality and where is Banggood located?
 

Stambo

Well-Known Member
Banggood is in China and they do free shipping.
The quality of the WL toys stuff that I have got so far is great.
It is not top of the line but value for money it is hard to beat.
The little helis are really stable and have been a great aid to me for orientation, and you can fly them inside when it's too windy or wet outside.
The little quads are also a lot of fun inside or out.
Both are really robust, I have lost count of the number of times I have crashed them.
Mostly you just put them up the right way and off you go again.

I was teaching a friend to fly a V911 a while back and decided he was getting a little to cocky.
I put a second one in the air and knocked it out of the sky. They both went back in the air straight away.
The ones I have bind happily to the 9x tx and makes a good little machine even better.
Apparently the newer ones may need a separate module of some sort that plugs into the trainer port.

The 450 quad frames seem to be ok and at $15 US shipped the price is hard to beat.
After the first one I ordered a few more for spares.

The big thing with any of the Chinese outfits seems to be that you need to be prepared to take the occasional hit.
The stuff is cheap and sometimes things go wrong, at the price of shipping it is not really worth sending it back.
I have been pretty lucky so far, I have only had a couple of speed controllers go bad but that may have been me, I can't rule out connection error while I was learning about this stuff.

I know that getting stuff from China may be killing the local hobby shops but when I can land an item for a third of the cost of buying it local the dollar wins.
 

Derek

Well-Known Member
Thanks for that, Stambo! Probably 95% of my rc electronics have come from China. I just can't afford the prices that my local hobby shop has their parts at.

I'm hoping to order two KK2 boards real soon. I'm also hoping to have a Y6 copter eventually.

This is what I want from Hobby King:

Hobbyking Y650 Scorpion Glass Fiber Multi-Rotor Frame 650mm

I just think that thing is too cool!!!
 

Stambo

Well-Known Member
I may be wrong but that thing looks a bit fragile.
I would suggest going with the cheap Banggood frame for a start.
It has a built in PCB to solder your ESCs to and is simple to build.
At the price I would get a spare frame or 2. It is cheaper than buying arms if you need them.

If you want, I can go through what I have tried and tested and link you to the parts I used.
Although when I build another one, and I will, I may look at the Afro ESCs rather than flash my own.
 

Derek

Well-Known Member
Well, I have a Youtube buddy that has this Y6 Scorpion and he absolutely loves it. I haven't spoke with him in a long time but his flight videos are pretty cool! I surely don't intend on the Scorpion being my first multi rotor but I plan on buying it so that I have it when I'm ready.

I'll look into the Banggood frames, as you suggested.

Now...these questions are simply because I just don't know....why are people flashing the ESC's? What does that mean and how is it done? Are the Afro ESC's better for multi rotors?
 

Karubah

Member
G,Day Derek, I am currently using the Afro ESC,s on my Tricopter. They are a bit different to normal ESC,s in that they don,t have a heat sink attached. In saying that they get slightly warm to touch but not overheating. They come already flashed with Simmon K firmware which gives a faster change rate to the motors which helps when keeping a multi rotor stable. Have you thought about building a cheap Tri as mine cost less than a $100 all up and are great fun to fly. The motors are held on with zip ties and when you crash the motor comes off and you just zip it back on and away you go in under 5 mins.
If you want a list of parts let me know, they were all from HK. When you get your USB ASP PROGRAMMER make sure you get one with a 6 pin adapter.
 

Lee

Well-Known Member
I have had the V929 and the V202 from Banggood. Both were excellent heli. The V929 is bigger than the 202 so easier to see. I have crashed the crap out of it teaching my wife and dad with no breakages. The V202 has 6 axis gyros. Super stable. You can throw it in the air with out power, give it some throttle and it will instantly put itself into a perfect hover.
 

Derek

Well-Known Member
G,Day Derek, I am currently using the Afro ESC,s on my Tricopter. They are a bit different to normal ESC,s in that they don,t have a heat sink attached. In saying that they get slightly warm to touch but not overheating. They come already flashed with Simmon K firmware which gives a faster change rate to the motors which helps when keeping a multi rotor stable. Have you thought about building a cheap Tri as mine cost less than a $100 all up and are great fun to fly. The motors are held on with zip ties and when you crash the motor comes off and you just zip it back on and away you go in under 5 mins.
If you want a list of parts let me know, they were all from HK. When you get your USB ASP PROGRAMMER make sure you get one with a 6 pin adapter.

g'day Karubah! Yes, I have considered building an inexpensive tripcopter. I've seen the guys on Flitetest build inexpensive tricopters and I've seen a guy on Youtube (hallstudio) with his easy tricopters. If you have a list of parts, I'd love to see what you suggest. Under $100 would be great!!!

I have had the V929 and the V202 from Banggood. Both were excellent heli. The V929 is bigger than the 202 so easier to see. I have crashed the crap out of it teaching my wife and dad with no breakages. The V202 has 6 axis gyros. Super stable. You can throw it in the air with out power, give it some throttle and it will instantly put itself into a perfect hover.

Thanks for your two cents, Lee! I'll consider the Banggood products, as well.
 

murankar

Staff member
I have been reading along here and want to put in my two cents in real quick, as Lee said the KK2 (not the greatest flying board out there; based on video reviews) is a great starter board for the money. If you want to get fancy then the Naza is a great choice with all its features.

Now back to the KK2 and the USA ASP board. I can not recommend th H.K. USB ASP, mine came with no firm wear on it and in order to flash it you need a working USB ASP board. I recommend buy this programer, why because I bought it and it worked on my new TH9X like a charm, 9xrprogrammer.com . This guy is out of Cleveland Ohio and can have you a board in a mater of days. There was a bunch of rouge USB ASP programmers that are being sold, most of which have been bricking radios.


I have been eyeballing the batcopter (tri and V tail). That thing looks sweet.
 
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Derek

Well-Known Member
I'd like to go back to some of my previous questions:

why are people flashing the ESC's?
What does that mean and how is it done?
Are the Afro ESC's better for multi rotors?

These questions seemed to have been skipped.
 
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