June 2018
I have zero RC experience, but a background in electronics and software development, so I felt confident attempting this build. What I discovered is that building the quad is only the first step; there's quite a bit of configuration that needs to be done before it's flyable. As far as I can tell, there's not yet a single source for build info, but if you know of a source for complete build instructions that cover quad, FC, transmitter, receiver, VTX configuration, heasdet, battery maintenance, etc., please comment below so I can add it. Mr. Steele's video does have some good tips, but it assumes you've built and flown a quad or other RC aircraft before.
Updates
- DutchWalnut FPV has a nice build log that I wish I'd found before I started. It's full of tips and tricks and covers the Kiss FC V2 as well.
- JC250 recommends Project Blue Falcon as a great place to get general build instructions and commentary.
- livyu never ceases to impress and his soldering skills are on point.
I've tried to capture most of the up-front costs associated with building this quad as a complete beginner who has no local resources. I'm not going to lie and say this page has everything you need to get flying, but it will give you a good idea of how much you'll be spending on parts and ancilliary gear. You'll need to supply tools lke soldering iron, heat gun, glue gun, wire cutters, pliers, heat shrink, solder, desoldering braid, etc.
- Total build time: 7 hours, most of which was spent scrutinizing underproduced build videos and failing at finding better info elsewhere. I have electronics experience, so the actual build wasn't that hard.
- Total flight time before smoking the FC and VTX while trying to implement smart audio: About 10 minutes. Cost: $110. Yeah. Be ready for unexpected cost.
I've had better luck since ;-)
If you are practicing in Velocidrone, you'll want to configure idle up before trying to fly this quad; I had a few terrifying moments before I understood what was wrong. Aside from that, the muscle memory from the simulator really did translate!
6 Months later, it still flies great, except when I break it ;-)
Photos
Part List
Show stores (5)
Check out project blue falcon, albert kim, and andy rc for thorough, well produced instructional quad build/setup/config/troubleshooting videos on youtube.
Joshua Bardwell has some super in depth stuff. Complete build videos (check earlier videos for even more complete huild videos), conplete software setup guides for betaflight, complete aetup of flight controllers and dshot setups. He has everything. RotorRiot has some more surface level how to videos for tgose who dont care to know all the things u can do to configure your quad
Indeed! I got a lot of my info from JB and the rest. There just doesn't seem to be a single place to get all of the info you need in order to build a "Mr. Steele Alien" as a complete newb. As this is a popular and dare-I-say iconic build, I was surprised, that's all. Clearly Steele has spent a lot of time thinking about beginners and I hope this might be part of the "cool new things" the Ethix team are working on. It's too late for me, but it would have been nice to have a "From Zero to Power Loop!" series that focuses on every aspect of building this particular quad.
8th battery?! wow you learn really fast! Faster than me for sure :)
Hahaha! You didn't see the 8 weeks of crashing in the simulator. It helps to have settings for the simulator that match the quad I built. I still suck, though. For now... ;-)
https://forum.flitetest.com/index.php?threads/mr-steele-simulators-vs-real-fpv.38292/
Guides & Reviews
AirbladeUAV has done it again and this time they've brought long range to the 5" class! Based on the popular Transformer Mini, the new Transformer 5" Ultralight adopts a lot of the same design philosophies with larger props and more payload capacity. It can fly upwards of 20 minutes on a 4 cell Li-Ion battery pack and in ideal conditions it's got a range of over 4 to 5 miles. In this guide I'll walk..
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With the release of the DJI FPV Drone cinematic FPV has become a lot more accessible, but you certainly don't want to crash a $750 drone! The QAV-CINE Freybott is a compact, lightweight cinematic FPV drone that can take a hit and keep going. It's a lot safer to fly indoors and around people. With a naked GoPro or the SMO 4k you can capture some great stabilized footage. In this guide I'll show you..
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I've never seen a misc list that long! Agreed there's no one-stop shopping for info in this hobby. I feel like you've done a nice job documenting your start. The build looks great, man. Have fun with it!
Thanks! I reckon I'm trying to leave things better than i found them.