Sorry,huge n00b here, here are my dumb questions:

1- It is always the same routine when building a quad?

2- Is building a quad usually a lot cheaper than buying one?

3- Is it very hard and you need to be pretty skilled to build a quad?

4- Whats the difference between a quad with 6 rotors and a quad with 4 rotors?

5-Are built quads harder to break and do they last longer?

Thanks and sorry for stupid questions.

1 No it can vary greatly depending on what your intended outcome is do you want to learn to fly a quad race one carry a camera or just float around.
2 It can be but again this depends on what your building and what you already own like battery's charger and controllers.
3 No not in my opinion they are one of the simplest aircraft you can build and can be constructed from just about anything thanks to today's FC's that can make a rubbish can lid fly well some FC's can tolerate a wildly of CG.

Naze32 / gyro only / battery off arm test (1 min 0 sec)

Flite Test - Box-O-Copter (toolbox quadcopter) (7 min 10 sec)

4 Stability then number of ESC's and motors+ props to fix when you crash quads with Eight props have the ability to fly with one motor or prop failure if the FC supports it .

DJI Naza Hexacopter Motor Fail Test (2 min 24 sec)

5 Built quad well they are all built some where some how but I by built you mean custom .... there are racing quads that primarily have a carbon fiber frame and at around 250mm across they are small and light so you only tend to break the props though some people still manage to snap the quad in two the video below shows a pretend bought quad doing just this were a home built quad from a kit would not.

Walkera Runner 250 Quadcopter crash (Snaps in Two) (2 min 29 sec)

Originally Posted by DeezDrones

Sorry,huge n00b here, here are my dumb questions:

1- It is always the same routine when building a quad?

Yes. I started with helicopters and multirotors are a lot easier, in the time i do a maintenance check on a 450 TREX, i would have built a quad from scratch.

Here's a Spider-Quad being transplanted onto an H-Quad, and the early part of a tricopter build. It's all the same components and procedure.

RC Timer Spider & Talon Tricopter Builds Compressed in 1.5min (1 min 35 sec)

It's mostly just cutting and splicing. Once you get the routine down, you can build a second one no problem.

Oh, and i'd recommend starting with a 450mm quad. It's a lot more forgiving build wise.

2- Is building a quad usually a lot cheaper than buying one?

Yes. You also have the option of not buying any of the advanced features like GPS. You won't need them if you fly manual and just adds complexity if you're flying proximity.

3- Is it very hard and you need to be pretty skilled to build a quad?

When i started, i needed four hands to solder, by the time i was done with my first quad, it's just tap-tap-tap done. It's not much of a skill, but more of a routine. The steps are already laid out and there are very few variations, and those variations are not subtle (Tricopter, octocopter, v-tail, etc.). Subtleties are handled by the software automatically so they all handle pretty much the same.

4- Whats the difference between a quad with 6 rotors and a quad with 4 rotors?

More lifting capacity. A 6 rotor multirotor does supposedly give a bit of redundancy but that's not a sure thing. If you build a hexacopter, you're doing it because you need to lift something heavier, like a 3axis gimbal and gopro. Of course, this means a bigger frame (more expensive), a bigger battery (much more expansive). Flight controller, radio, motors stay the same.

Just go with quads, they're simpler.

5-Are built quads harder to break and do they last longer?

That depends on the RTF you're comparing it to. But yeah, they usually have rather strong plastic arms or carbon fiber that can take an impact and flexes rather than break. However, even if it does break, it's pretty much always just an arm, and since you built it, you'll know that it's just a matter of unscrewing the broken one, putting in a new one, and screwing the motors back on.

I have side cutters, wrench, hex screwdriver, zipties, extra arm and a pringles can (for holding extra props) in my bag for field repairs. I can fly as hard as i want, if it breaks, i built it, i know exactly how to repair it.





And just to add to your vocabulary:

DIY = Do It Yourself. You get the components separately and assemble them yourself.

RTF = Ready To Fly. Comes with everything, just add battery.

BNF = Bind aNd Fly. Like the RTF but does not come with radio, you must already have your own.



Last thing. Buy a cheap $20-$50 palm sized micro quad. They're not as cool as the big ones, but they hurt a lot less when you crash into yourself or your furniture. Practice and do all your crashing on that before moving on to the big ones that can slice through you.