Wanted to break up the quad monotony here, so I figured I would build a hexacopter. I wanted to do it on the cheap, and when I saw how inexpensive the Hobby King Thorax frame was..it was game on! ;) My bro gave me an old CC3D EVO (F1) laying around, which fit the ticket, but I will warn you the CC3D setup as a HEX on Betaflight was a firmware nightmare (ex. one esc input would always be dead)...Cleanflight latest rev however worked great! Props go out to Jeff Goss for making me the prototype skin for this build - real craftsman over there - you will not be disappointed! :) https://www.stikitskins.com
I was able to at least use OneShot 125 on the ESCs, Multishot would not work because the CC3D is to old. It flies absolutely fantastic on the stock pids and fast as @#$%! I added lighting so I can fly it LOS at dusk. Whole deal was under $200... ;)
HD Maiden using the Firefly Q6:
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Cool build! Any chance you can update this post with some pics of how you wired everything up? I'd be interested to see the innards of this hexacopter!
Sure - I'll try to get some pics with the top off. Because the CC3D does not have an OSD, I'm using the Caddx Cam OSD. Wired the CAM & VTX to the VCC terminals on the PDB so I can monitor battery voltage while doing FPV. Since I did that, I was not using the +5V output on the VTX, so I wired the headlamps to that. The +5V supply on the PDB is used for powering the CC3D (You use all 3 wires on one of the ESC connectors going to the CC3D to do that). The taillight uses +12V, and that was wired to the +12V output on the PDB. The ESCs power terminals all go to the PDB.
Since there is no place for a buzzer on the CC3D in HEX configuration, I changed the ESC beacon time to 2 minute delay and cranked up the volume in case the HEX goes down I can find it. I also bought a battery voltage detector (plugs into the balance plug on the battery) that will buzz as well if I'm flying LOS so I know when I'm low. This thing DRINKS, so got a 2200ma 80C 4S and a 2700ma 65c 4S. OMG...this thing HAULS ASS bud....must be close to 70-80MPH at least... :p I will get some FPV footage uploaded when the weather gets better here.
Ooh thanks for the info! Cant wait to see the fpv footage! You said it "drinks" lol, so what kind of flight time are you getting out of the 2200/2700 batteries?
I'm currently buried under a foot of snow, so i feel ya man! Spring needs to hurry!
If I'm not beating on it, I can get like 8-10 min. Haven't tried hammering it on the new batteries, but I literally killed my Venom 1800ma 75C 4S battery because of hammering, and it was like 4-5 min ride without the FPV gear on it yet...LOL