Well I'm happy to report that I think I figured it out. Someone suggested that I remove the foam tray. So I went ahead and utilized the 3mm holes on each corner of the board with some 3mm spacers and nuts, and some rubber washers and some hot glue.

I made sure that my table was level first. Then I leveled the Quad. It needed a couple strips of tape on the forward two arms. Then I leveled the board. The cool thing about this design is that I can take the nuts off and put a spacer on the other side to raise the board and level it accordingly if needed.

Then I recalibrated thier was a little drift but that was corrected with the auto level settings with a little pitch and roll adjustments. So it's flying much better than it was. Now I'll take it out tomorrow and fly it outside and see if I can tune it.

Thanks again for all the help!

Looking good. Last night I remounted my kk board using folded over 3m tape, its level and should have some vibration protection. Time will tell when I test it.

I'm looking at getting one of those Discovery buzzers but have a question with wiring. I would want it to be on by default and turned off by a switch on the tx.

That way it would sound for loss of radio contact as well as when the switch is flipped.

Would it be easy to setup like that, swap a wire round maybe?

Originally Posted by Fidy$Trainer

Well I'm happy to report that I think I figured it out. Someone suggested that I remove the foam tray. So I went ahead and utilized the 3mm holes on each corner of the board with some 3mm spacers and nuts, and some rubber washers and some hot glue.

I'm glad it worked!

Hi,

I'm looking at building a Tricopter and I've been struggling to find any details on how people choose the servo they use for yaw. So...

What are the factors that people take into account when choosing the servo? Prop size, copter weight, etc?

And how do those factors affect the servo stats that we would ideally be looking for? torque/speed/servo weight/...

I'm looking for more generic "rules of thumb" answers than something specific for the setup I'm planning. However in case it helps my current plan is for a ~180mm MTM Tri swinging three bladed 5 inch props (early days in planning), with servo mounted on the Tri's main body (i.e. whole rear arm turns).

I've tried running through a few searches without luck, so if anyone has any pointers I'd appreciate it.

Thanks,
Nic

hi,
my name is gal and im a senior at the TAU.
I'm trying to build a quadcopter and i would like to know, from your experience, if it will work correctly.

The design:

Processor: Arduino Uno - Rev. 3
https://www.sparkfun.com/products/11023
Communication system: Arduino Xbee kit
https://www.sparkfun.com/products/9897
Gyro: tri-axes gyro breakout L3G4200D
https://www.sparkfun.com/products/10612
Motors: 2725 brushless outrunner motor 1600kV
https://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...or_1600kv.html
Propellers: 12x4.5 props 2pc standard rotation /2 pc RH rotation
https://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...on_Black_.html
ESCs: turnigy multistar 20 Amp multirotor brushless ESC 2-4S
https://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...ESC_2_4S.html/
Adapters: propeller adapter (colet type) 3mm
https://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s..._type_3mm.html
Frame: Turnigy talon carbon fiber quadcopter frame
https://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...ter_Frame.html
Battery: turnigy 2200mAh 3S 40C lipo Pack
https://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...dproduct=10279
Charger: hobbyking 50watt 5A X-charger/balancer
https://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s..._Balancer.html

and i have a few questions.
1) will it work correctly? do i need any other components?
2) do i need another shield for my arduino to allow the arduino to communicate with the ESCs?
3) are the motors powerful enough? will they give me enough thrust?
4) are the adapter i choose correct?
5) is the charger suitable for the battery?
6) do i need another battery for the arduino? what kind of battery?

thx =]

Originally Posted by shokata

hi,
my name is gal and im a senior at the TAU.
I'm trying to build a quadcopter and i would like to know, from your experience, if it will work correctly.

The design:

Processor: Arduino Uno - Rev. 3
https://www.sparkfun.com/products/11023
Communication system: Arduino Xbee kit
https://www.sparkfun.com/products/9897
Gyro: tri-axes gyro breakout L3G4200D
https://www.sparkfun.com/products/10612
Motors: 2725 brushless outrunner motor 1600kV
https://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...or_1600kv.html
Propellers: 12x4.5 props 2pc standard rotation /2 pc RH rotation
https://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...on_Black_.html
ESCs: turnigy multistar 20 Amp multirotor brushless ESC 2-4S
https://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...ESC_2_4S.html/
Adapters: propeller adapter (colet type) 3mm
https://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s..._type_3mm.html
Frame: Turnigy talon carbon fiber quadcopter frame
https://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...ter_Frame.html
Battery: turnigy 2200mAh 3S 40C lipo Pack
https://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...dproduct=10279
Charger: hobbyking 50watt 5A X-charger/balancer
https://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s..._Balancer.html

and i have a few questions.
1) will it work correctly? do i need any other components?
2) do i need another shield for my arduino to allow the arduino to communicate with the ESCs?
3) are the motors powerful enough? will they give me enough thrust?
4) are the adapter i choose correct?
5) is the charger suitable for the battery?
6) do i need another battery for the arduino? what kind of battery?

thx =]

I could be wrong but the motors you are using are good for 7 - 8 inch props.
using a 12 inch will draw to much current and burn either the esc or motor out.
when looking at motors they will usually say the recommender prop size.

Originally Posted by ritchie_laird

very easy to fall in the trap of thinking that it is easy to fly these things with some of the videos the experienced put up.
and that is why it looks easy because they are experienced.

but don't be discouraged with that because every hour you are in the air is another hour experience you get. some flights are a little scary and some you feel like you have gone in leaps and bounds since your last flight.

and also don't stop cause someone has more experience, I have no air time with a quad as yet. except if you call an inch off the ground in the lounge room a flight (don't think so).

things I have already found out with being an inch off the ground.
1. controllers horizontal calibration done incorrectly.
this will cause the quad to drift as the controller thinks that flat is actually an
angle.
2. the left right and forward back sticks are deadly.
be very gentle with them as your TV keeps you entertain'd and the wife throws a mean plate.
3. very slowly bring the motors up to speed.
you don't want to launch your quad into outer space.
4. double check the orientation or direction of the quad.
else you may find forward is straight at your head.
5. slowly learn your switch setup.
this could have a different response that you expected.

nuff said.

Another thing that can cause drift is an unbalanced quad. Too much weigh on one side or the other or forward or back can produce slight to wicked drift, depending of course upon which FC you are using.
Also, if your FC is not level on the quad, it will always drift.

I am building my first quad. I have the HK Q450 frame on which I'm mounting a KK2 FC. The bottom of the KK2 has an arrow and 'forward' printed on it. The arrow runs parallel with the edge of the board. My question revolves around the holes in the fiberglass plates that join the arms. When the KK2 is mounted in these holes the arrow lines up with one of the arms of the quad.

My intention is to use the "X" configuration. Do I need to drill new holes so that the orientation of the arrow is between two of the arms or will the board "know" that I intend to fly forward between the arms when I select an "X" on the board?

Yes arrow needs to point forward, but from google images it appears that most people are using double sided foam or creating a shim rather than drilling new holes in the plates.

Brontide, Thanks I'll start looking at a different mounting alternatives.

Got my board reoriented to point forward and was able to set it up thanks to KK2 You Tube videos Maiden went well with just some some adjusting to do. The only question I haven't found an answer for is where the lost plane alarm that came with the KK2 plugs in Also, some very preliminary video shows I have a fair amount of vibration. I balanced the props but the video still shows considerable motion. What do I need to check next?

Some props, no matter how balanced, will still cause jello in video because of flexing.

Props, motors, straight and level.

Then you have to move on to dealing with the vibrations you have. Isolation, dampening, and active correction ( gimbal ). I had good luck mounting camera and battery on a plate the was loosely coupled with main plate. Even with horribly unbalanced and uneven props I was able to get smooth video ( well as smooth as my flying allowed )

Would velcro be "springy" enough, or do you think I will need something "spongyer"?

The proper dampening is entirely dependent on the type of vibration and the weight of the video equipment.