Complete 250mm FPV Quad

By tastelessbagel on Aug 10, 2015

4  1,407  28

$260 250mm FPV quad, with everything you need to fly. Get into the hobby with a very low investment.

UPDATE:
I have fpv working fine, but im having issues with the motors/escs. One turns very slowly and wont change speed, one only sometimes acts like that, and heats up a ton, and one changes sound and speed distinctly at random times.
My hope is that its just my soldering joints (which are pretty bad). I would take apart the motors, but they all sound and feel identical when I spin them with my fingers, and un mounting them from the frame will be identical. If its not soldering, i will move around the escs and see if the problems move aswell. If none of that works, I try for a refund :/
Everything else is working great though! My cheap charger was lost in transit, and after a ton of negative feedback on that decision from people, I sprung for a $50 venom charger. It can charge 4s aswell, so I can upgrade when I like.

UPDATE:
Well shit. It looks like I have to get new ESCs as well. My new motors arrived yesterday, I wired them up, and low and behold, I had 3 working perfectly! Better than two at least. The overheating issue I had with one of my motors from the last set is gone, as well as the slow turning problem. However, following one ESC, is a strange grinding sound and an annoying stutter effect at high speeds. I checked all my solder joints, and used the bad ESC with two motors, and I get the effect on all of them. Also, the motors all work fine, just not with that ESC. A real bummer that I need more parts, I'm ready to fly! At least I got a refund on the old motors. The new ESCs should be here tomorrow, I bough a set of four from Amazon, as only one wasn't eligible for prim shipping, plus it costs nearly half as much as a set of four. Anyways I figure its good to have replacement. I'm now about $70 deeper than I had planned... Maybe this whole ONLY $260 thing is more theoretical.

UPDATE:
Man this is way harder than it looks. Just when everything was going so well, I powered up for maiden flight, and discovered something: my quad flips on takeoff. Of course it does. Anyways, here's some stuff I've tried:
-Calibrating ESCs
-Double triple quadruple checking the motor and prop directions
-ACC Calibration to +-1
-Changing kk2.1.5 settings according to this video
-Messing with TX subtrims

Possible problems I see:
-Just now I realized that the video I got my settings from conflicted with other ones I'm watching now, could that be the issue? Also, the like/dislike ratio is not great...

-Another possibility that has been revealed to me by various rcgroups threads, is that the default firmware on this board has serious issues. However, it would appear that those issues are due to HK trying to write their own firmware to avoid paying royalties. The only reason I havent ordered a programming cable yet, is that I'm slightly confused about the firmware pre-installed on my board, as I bought it from AliExpress, not HK. Any insight on my current firmware would be greatly appreciated.

-Another thing I just now remembered, is that one of my ESCs is not the same as the other three, for reasons explained above. The odd one is from here: http://goo.gl/T6JCh0, and the other three are as listed above.

-My motors do not spin up at the exact same time. The one linked to the odd ESC is normally a split second behind the rest, which are all just barely out of sync.

EDIT: Were done! For now...

This was way harder than expected. Problems at every turn. Still having some issues with trimming and PID settings, but I had my first FPV flight today, and it worked fairly well. No LEDs for now, tried a setup, and they didn't work very well. I might try and install them another time.

Photos

Discussion

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SFPV   Oct 09, 2015  
1

A couple of tips -

  1. Get M5 nylon lock nuts for the props (lighter and more secure)
  2. Tuck all wires and components inside the frame
  3. Don't leave your VTX hanging out the back. Get a pigtail and route the antenna through the top plate
  4. Cover all solder points in heat shrink!!
  5. Shorten those motor wires so you don't chop them up in a crash

:)

tastelessbagel   Oct 10, 2015 

Thanks for the tips! I'm currently in the process of moving everything onto a full carbon h250 frame, so I cant actually do a lot of this right now! I always wondered how people routed the antenna on to the top of the quad... could you link me a good pigtail? preferably on amazon prime.

Whiffles   Sep 04, 2015  

Is that grass tangled in your wires =D Looks like your wires could use a little tidying. Don't be shy with the zip ties, but don't make them so tight you might accidentally cut the wires when you remove them later.

tastelessbagel   Sep 04, 2015 

Freshly cut :D And yeah, the cable management definitely needs some work.

tastelessbagel   Aug 30, 2015  

Update! Anybody have some advice or input for me?

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Whiffles   Aug 31, 2015 

Woohoo! Glad to hear you got it sorted out. Do you plan to start a youtube channel with some FPV footage?

Whiffles   Aug 31, 2015 

BTW, did you see the new pageview chart? I just added it today.

tastelessbagel   Sep 01, 2015 
1

Yikes. Just when all was going so well. It randomly started flipping today. BUT this time I went slower and realized that all that was happening was the motor with the mismatched ESC was spinning faster, causing it to flip backwards, as that is how the weight is distributed. I'm going to try to get away with only replacing the ESC opposite it, and then compensating for the spin created with trim. Either way, it was incredibly fulfilling to see it fly the other day.

Once I learn to fly a little better, I'll probably buy a mobius or somethin and make some videos for youtube, for sure! Page view chart is slick, btw :)

Whiffles   Aug 27, 2015  

Sorry to hear about your part woes! That's certainly something to expect with these uber-cheap parts. I've been pretty lucky so far, but I have noticed some quirks here and there. BTW, if you want your updates to get noticed on the activity feed post them down here in the comments. Anybody following you will see them.

Whiffles   Aug 19, 2015  

I would have used some shrink tubing on those ESC to motor joints. This is very inexpensive and extremely handy, 150pcs Assortment Polyolefin 2:1 Heat Shrink Tubing Sleeving Wrap Kit 8Size

Show 1 more comment
Whiffles   Aug 19, 2015 

It's really nice to have a variety of sizes. I like to pick a size that's fairly snug on the wire as it'll shrink up nice and tight. The real trick is to get a nice straight solder between the wires without any bulges or angles. Watch this video at around the 12m mark to see how to make nice solder joints:

tastelessbagel   Aug 19, 2015 

Oh cool, I hadn't seen that video. Thanks again Whifflex!

Whiffles   Aug 19, 2015 

Sure! Just keep practicing! After about 30-40 solder joints you'll be a pro.

Whiffles   Aug 19, 2015  

How's your rig coming together?

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tastelessbagel   Aug 19, 2015 

Added some photos. Any way to change the main one on top without deleting and re-uploading everything?

Whiffles   Aug 19, 2015 

Awesome! Just delete the one you want on top and upload it last. I plan to change it so you can actually select which you want to use as your cover image.

tastelessbagel   Aug 19, 2015 

OK thanks.

Whiffles   Aug 11, 2015  
1

Have you seen this? It looks very similar to your build.

tastelessbagel   Aug 12, 2015 
1

Oh, very cool. I like that frame a lot. And that case! This could be well worth it, if you have the extra $40. With my FPV setup, it comes to about $300. Still a great price!

Whiffles   Aug 11, 2015  

Wow, that's an amazing price for a complete FPV rig. One thing I'd consider changing is the frame. I'd probably go for the Banggood fiberglass ZMR250 frame. Also, that charger might do more harm than good in the long run. I'd probably opt for a decent charger. Great job pricing it all out though!

Have you ordered all the parts yet? I'd love to see the finished product.

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