Originally Posted by brontide

Links to good training "stick videos".

If by stick video, you mean some sort of narrated flight video, ideally with a split screen showing what the sticks are doing while flying, I'd really like that as well.

I saw something on the Multikopter.co.uk "New to Multicopter" post that you're probably making 3-16 stick moves per second while hovering with a KK board. I found that very enlightening, as I was expecting the number to be about 1/10th of that. I'm sure once you're more experienced you make these corrections without thinking, but I'm certainly not there yet!

Thanks for the explanation lovegroove & isaacintheclouds
that helps a lot.
I am new to the multirotor area (plane guy) and could not find a clear explanation on the different platforms. Didn't know if it was a style/marketing thing or if there was a reason behind the different platforms.
Looking for something simple to build and learn on that I can fix and not have to wait on the slow boat from china to deliver parts.
Is a bigger or smaller Quad easier to learn on with more stability? Is there a recommended size to start out on?
Just looking at the flying abilities at the moment. Perhaps FPV down the road but that can be another build.

Mike

Something about the size of the 450 frame that I recommend in my beginner multicopter article is a great size for a first copter. It will be easy to add FPV equipment later on. The good thing with this frame is that you can buy spares from all over the place and they're really cheap. In fact, it's so cheap that you could just buy 3 of them from China and have loads of spares.

http://drone-pilot.blogspot.fr/2012/...at-to-buy.html

Mic603, I started with a Gaui 330x. It was good and cheap, but after a few months I was maxing it out with fpv gear and gopro. If I could do it all over I would go with a DJI 450 flamewheel. The NAZA flight controller is pretty solid and has 3 modes- manual(tilt it one way and you have to recenter it, also aerobatics capable in this mode), Atti. mode(recenters itself and holds altitude around mid throttle), and if you get a GPS compass with it, in GPS/Atti. mode, it can hold its altitude and position(GPS hold) and if you lose radio contact you can set it up to failsafe itself and have it fly back and land itself where you powered it up at. I would recommend better motors than stock ones. I use Avroto 2814s. which have been pretty good so far. They lend themselves nicely to a range of different props. I like the APC slow flyers best so far.
I dont know what your budget is, but the DJI f450 with NAZA, stock motors(2212s) DJI 30A escs, props and no GPS=450$ Thats not including controller/receiver. If you are planning on doing FPV down the road you can always get more powerful motors if you need. I would also consider looking at the Dragonlink uhf control system or something like it. It gives you long range(10+miles) and it uses 433mhz uhf, so you can use 2.4ghz video transmitters without interfering with model control or vice versa.
Here is a link to a place I have used which has some of these 450s. Look under DJI.
http://www.uavrotorking.com/
There are many other control systems out there, I know many people have had much success using other systems, but the DJI stuff has been good to me (except the Wookong-M. I like the NAZA much more.)

Originally Posted by lovegroove

Why not extend the landing legs on your F450 frame and mount your camera underneath?

It already has Trex 600 landing gear on it. I can try mounting it centered underneath.

Can I get some feedback on my latest article about FPV? There's so much info I want to put in, but I've tried to condense it as much as possible but still feel that it's a bit text heavy and probably needs more photos to break it up. Or maybe I should break it up into lots of separate articles (Transmitter, Receiver, Antenna, Camera) and include more detail in each one?

http://drone-pilot.blogspot.fr/2012/10/fpv-basics.html

Nice work Lovegroove
I like the format so far.
As a relative newbie to the whole RC Quad thing (less than 2 years), and a senior, most of the knowledge required for this hobby is new and quite daunting to me, consequently this info you have presented so far, is a valuable resource, and re-enforces the stuff that I 'think' that I remember from reading the forums.
I will be referring to this Blog over the coming winter months as I hope to try FPV, next year.
Thanks...Matt
PS: Tried to post in the comments section and couldn't get past the stupid "prove you're not a robot" thing.

I guess that must be the default spam filter that google use. Sorry about that, but it stops getting loads of spam getting posted in the comments section with links to dodgy websites.

Regulations: There are no laws that require buddy box use, that is an AMA regulation required for AMA fields or if you are AMA and want to be covered under AMA insurance. I would also add that while FPV for hobby is generally considered unregulated, use of FPV for commercial gain is probably illegal in the US even though it is never enforced. Overall, it falls under the "know your airspace" clause of flying in general.

I spent far too long last night rebuilding my quad again after a prop failure ( HINT: if your model fails to respond to turns bring it down and ground it until you have found the source, those clockwise props are a bear if not secured 100% ). Got in some new parts on and then took off "prop savers" since I just didn't feel they were secure. Ended up just attaching the props directly to the bells. I think this will be simpler and more secure in the long run.

Before I lost the prop yesterday I completed at least 2 complete flips. They were crude, but they were 360 flips. Need to get better with downing the throttle.

I didn't say that there were laws on the use of a buddy box, but in some countries, if you want to fly at a club and be covered by the national model flying association then you have to use one. I was just pointing out that it might be the case, to avoid the shock of finding out later.


http://drone-pilot.blogspot.fr

I would love to see a tutorial on how to wire LEDs. I would like to add 2 blue LEDs on the front arms of my quad and 2 red LEDs on the back arms, with maybe a white LED underneath.

What I want to know is if it is better to get the power for the LEDs from the battery directly, or from somewhere else. I have a Ladybird and I found a video with somebody getting the power for their LEDs from the receiver. I would guess it could also come from a BESC or FC board.

I think it all comes down to resistors and the LED voltage range, but it has been so long since I learned all this in school. A simple tutorial explaining what to do with different battery and LED types would be great, along with some examples.

As a result of this thread I now have most of the pieces for a 450 quad build on order from HK. I also ordered 30a esc's from RC Timer. What I haven't yet ordered are the motors. I want to use my existing 2200mah 3s batteries on this quad. They all come in very close to 200 grams. I would also like to lift a HK 5.8hz vtx which uses a 450mah 3s battery at under 50 grams, and a HK board camera which is very light. My question is which motors? I have used the HK 750kv pancake motors on other models and they seem ok. I have three HK 35/36 1200kv's and one G-Force 35/30 1200kv along with two 28/16 1200kv's. But I have no clue as which would be best for what I'm trying to do. I'm sure the 35mm motors will lift more, but will certainly suck the power from a 2200mah battery in no time at all. Which ones will give the best compromise between lifting power and flight time?

7AC, the other variable is prop size, the lower kV like larger props, but what kind of clearance do you want/need.

Originally Posted by Porthos23

I would love to see a tutorial on how to wire LEDs. I would like to add 2 blue LEDs on the front arms of my quad and 2 red LEDs on the back arms, with maybe a white LED underneath.

What I want to know is if it is better to get the power for the LEDs from the battery directly, or from somewhere else. I have a Ladybird and I found a video with somebody getting the power for their LEDs from the receiver. I would guess it could also come from a BESC or FC board.

I think it all comes down to resistors and the LED voltage range, but it has been so long since I learned all this in school. A simple tutorial explaining what to do with different battery and LED types would be great, along with some examples.

If you want to add LEDs then you need to check the LED specifications and then do a bit of mathematics. An LED has almost no internal resistance, so if you just hook it direct to a battery then the current will flow almost unimpeded and not only will you drain your battery quickly, but you will burn the LED.

This is why you have to look at the LED specifications for 2 key figures. You need to know the diode forward voltage (this is the voltage required to provide the forward bias to overcome the p-n junction) and the second is the diode forward current.

Once you have these 2 figures, you need to do some maths. A typical forward voltage would be 3.4v and typical forward current would be about 30mA. If you have a supply voltage of 4.2v (1s lipo) we subtract the forward voltage from the supply voltage (4.2-3.4) and then using ohm's law we divide that voltage by the forward current to work out what size resistor is required (0.8v/30mA 0r 0.8/0.030) which gives us the resistance that we need to put in series with the LED. In this case, the resistance = 26.666666, so we round up to a 27ohm resistor.

The power dissapated by the the resistor = I^2*R =24mW and in this case we would choose a 1/8W 27ohm resistor in series with the LED. The colour code for the LED is Red,Purple,Black.

Hope that helps.

LG

Originally Posted by 7AC

As a result of this thread I now have most of the pieces for a 450 quad build on order from HK. I also ordered 30a esc's from RC Timer. What I haven't yet ordered are the motors. I want to use my existing 2200mah 3s batteries on this quad. They all come in very close to 200 grams. I would also like to lift a HK 5.8hz vtx which uses a 450mah 3s battery at under 50 grams, and a HK board camera which is very light. My question is which motors? I have used the HK 750kv pancake motors on other models and they seem ok. I have three HK 35/36 1200kv's and one G-Force 35/30 1200kv along with two 28/16 1200kv's. But I have no clue as which would be best for what I'm trying to do. I'm sure the 35mm motors will lift more, but will certainly suck the power from a 2200mah battery in no time at all. Which ones will give the best compromise between lifting power and flight time?

Can you provide links to the motors that you have so that I can read up on the specifications, then I'll get back to you with my recommendation.