Originally Posted by major.monogram

I would recommend looking at the specs on your motor and esc to see what they require first. I've always thought the standard was 2-Cell/2S 7.4V, 3-Cell/3S 11.1V, and 4-Cell/4S 14.8V and so on.

I'm not an expert by any means but i would try to see what motors and ESCs you will be using and then base your battery and prop choice off of their requirements.

In the end I think both voltage and cell count are muy importante and I would pay close attention to both. That way if you see a header for a product that looks like this you will know something isn't right: http://www.google.com/products/catal...ed=0CEsQ8wIwAw

My point was (and still is) that it is pointless to specify a SINGLE (nominal) voltage on a lithium battery pack (or any other chemistry, for that matter). Tell me the number of cells and I am all set.... I know what the voltage RANGE will be. Calling a three cell LiPo pack an "11.4V" pack (3.8V/cell) is misleading, and is only correct at one state of charge. Its ACTUAL voltage is between 9V and 12.6V. If you are truly concerned about voltage and its impact on whatever you are connecting the pack to (like series connected LEDs, for example), you need to know that and the nominal voltage doesn't really help you much.

Paul

Originally Posted by pgoelz

My point was (and still is) that it is pointless to specify a SINGLE (nominal) voltage on a lithium battery pack (or any other chemistry, for that matter). Tell me the number of cells and I am all set.... I know what the voltage RANGE will be. Calling a three cell LiPo pack an "11.4V" pack (3.8V/cell) is misleading, and is only correct at one state of charge. Its ACTUAL voltage is between 9V and 12.6V. If you are truly concerned about voltage and its impact on whatever you are connecting the pack to (like series connected LEDs, for example), you need to know that.

Paul

I agree but it does help to have a standard associated with the number of cells. Most manufacturers at this point agree 3s is 11.1v just as in networking fast ethernet is 100mbit even though its not really running @ 100mbit. It just helps to know that among other things if you see an ad for 14.8v lipos they are probably 4s.

Returning to the subject of the mQX for a moment (ahem) I just went out back to practice flips. I had the keychain cam on the quad and suffice to say the additional weight really makes them interesting!

There would have been a few nice scenes on chip I think but of course the stupid thing turned itself off right after takeoff so I have to do it again tomorrow. Whoever thought up the "user interface" of the 808 deserves a good quartering...

Oh. Is this the mQX thread? lol Sorry.

I have an 808 cam as well.. I think I am going to sell it though. the one I have seems to be pretty low quality and i don't love the extra weight on the mQX. I look forward to seeing your vid tomorrow though. Winds are supposed to be 8mph for about 2 minutes today so i am headed to the flying field with my pt-19 and mQX after work. No cams on me though. I can't wait.

My wife just suggested I stop borrowing my friend's #11 all the time and get my own. How could I not obey?

Not sure yet whether to get a #16 and strip it bare to lose the weight of the keyfob. Or go ahead and get this FPV setup http://fpvhobby.com/96-8ghz-micro-combo-set.html which is actually far lighter. Hmmm...

Originally Posted by 4x4rc

My wife just suggested I stop borrowing my friend's #11 all the time and get my own. How could I not obey?

Not sure yet whether to get a #16 and strip it bare to lose the weight of the keyfob. Or go ahead and get this FPV setup http://fpvhobby.com/96-8ghz-micro-combo-set.html which is actually far lighter. Hmmm...

Go for the FPV Setup. (Only so I can watch and learn how it works out for you. )
I've been meaning to research FPV options with the mQX...

Man, my wife never recommends I get my own.

I think we have a winner and it's the 5.8GHZ MICRO COMBO SET.

To be fair, I know nothing about that FPV setup or any others really. The 808 cam will be much easier to use but what fun is that really?

Originally Posted by joemi

Go for the FPV Setup. (Only so I can watch and learn how it works out for you. )

Yeah.

I've been meaning to research FPV options with the mQX...

Check out joogsiethequaker's channel on Youtube (I believe he's also active in here). He's an Aussie doing some seriously wicked micro FPV stuff.

- Mark

Blade mQX FPV - Silver Machine (4 min 3 sec)

Nice. Thanks Mark. I'll be watching that right now even though i really should be working!

Regarding LiPo voltage - it is not terribly complicated. Detailed information on pretty much any battery chemistry is readily-available online from many reliable sources.

Open-circuit voltage on a fully-charged LiPo is 4.2V/cell, while nominal voltage under load is 3.7V/cell. Discharging below 3V will cause immediate cell damage. Terminating the discharge at the 80% point (as measured on a charger that displays the mAh required to recharge) will maximize performance & cycle life. For those who are powering gear that specifies an operating voltage range rather than cell-count, just do the math. If you're running unregulated 3s LiPo power, your gear needs to operate safely on 12.6V, as that's what it will see on a fresh pack before throttle is applied. Make sure that it can also operate reliably below 9V so that peak loads don't cause brown-outs. If it's a 1s app, make sure that your gear can operate safely & reliably from 4.2V down to about 2.8V.

If you're using LiFePO4cells (A123) rather than LiPo, Open-circuit voltage is 3.6V/cell, while nominal voltage under load is 3.3V/cell. Max discharge is 2.8V/cell, so 1s gear needs to operate down to about 2.5V.

Joel

Originally Posted by 4x4rc

My wife just suggested I stop borrowing my friend's #11 all the time and get my own. How could I not obey?

Not sure yet whether to get a #16 and strip it bare to lose the weight of the keyfob. Or go ahead and get this FPV setup http://fpvhobby.com/96-8ghz-micro-combo-set.html which is actually far lighter. Hmmm...

Hmmm... by the time you pay $125 for this camera, maybe the new AR Drone II with built in 720p camera and brushless motors might be a viable alternative?

+1 turbo

Also I don't care what the specs say a motor is not limited by voltage (unless over 100V depending on the wire) its based off the amps/watts (I.E. Prop size). So as long as you don't exceed the wattage rating of the motor then the number of cells don't matter. The board will run off of the 5V to 6V BEC of the ESC. So if the ESC can take it or you use a separate BEC your fine.

Originally Posted by MiddleMarc

Hmmm... by the time you pay $125 for this camera, maybe the new AR Drone II with built in 720p camera and brushless motors might be a viable alternative?

A friend has the 1.0 version. It would be if only it could be controlled via a regular Tx. There's just no way I can fly one of those with an iPad or iPhone.

Mate it to the DX6i and get only the video on the iPad, that would be awesome.

Not to mention those ar drone II's are $299. At least they added Android support. But I'm like you. I don't want to control anything RC with my phone. I think the mQX is an interesting micro FPV platform. I flew mine outdoors at the flying field again yesterday and it was awesome. It really steals some thunder from my beloved pt-19.

I have the mostly 5.8ghz micro combo set from fpvhobby, at 17g, it has very minimal affect on flight, I had to geta dpcav.com cam as fpvhobby's was dead vid, mic worked, cam is on a spare canopy in front, Vtx in rear, battery velcroed in center, it's two trim clicks to hover. I should be getting the DVr in a couple of weeks.
I found spending time flying the mQX with fpv canopy and batt, gave me more understanding on weight changes. I'm going to get aio or fatsharks, the myvu's are ok, but not being able to change pupil to pupil distance is giving me headaches....