Quadrocopters :)

[neallewis]

Originally Posted by andys

Cheers Col.

Appreciate the help

I am still very confused by this though.. done some more reading on prop adapters / prop savers etc and I think I should have bought motors that are kind of the other way around - with the motor shaft extending out the other side so I could use a prop saver

As it is - I have to use the included prop adapters - shown here mounted with the 3 screws.
It's effectively a nut & bolt with a washer, so my question is how is the prop held firm ? Is it just held by the pressure of the nut & bolt, I thought there would be a flatspot on the shaft or similar - like we have with buggies / pinion gears - very confused about this

The DJI motors/props have a 6mm shaft with some flat spots, however 3rd party props are just 6mm without the matching flat spots, and the nut tightening down (on the shaft and prop) holds them in place.

[andys]

Cheers Neal.

I figured it must just be held in place by force !

I brought it all the Batley - to ask you questions - but you were not there

Col - I have (I think) flashed the KK to 1.5 - super easy on the Mac, none of that silly having to install drivers - it just worked, many thanks for the loan of the cable thing.

PM Me your address and i'll get it straight back to you

Hoping my Hobby King overseas goodies will be here soon.....

[Col]

Originally Posted by andys

Col - I have (I think) flashed the KK to 1.5 - super easy on the Mac, none of that silly having to install drivers - it just worked, many thanks for the loan of the cable thing.

PM Me your address and i'll get it straight back to you

1.5acro, official 1.6 and unofficial 1.6++ all available now... I've heard good things about all of them so I think I'll go to 1.6 in a bit!

Pm sent buddy

[neallewis]

Originally Posted by andys

I brought it all the Batley - to ask you questions - but you were not there

Sorry, family day :-)

I'll be there on Sunday.

[andys]

Originally Posted by neallewis

Sorry, family day :-)

I'll be there on Sunday.

No worries - i'll bring it along this sunday to Batley.

Just had a note through the door with a £21 customs bill and a packet awaiting at the local sorting office - it should be the 'big one' with the radio and everything else.

Barring not knowing what the hell i'm doing - I should be crashing soon

[neallewis]

Originally Posted by andys

No worries - i'll bring it along this sunday to Batley.

Just had a note through the door with a £21 customs bill and a packet awaiting at the local sorting office - it should be the 'big one' with the radio and everything else.

Barring not knowing what the hell i'm doing - I should be crashing soon

Excellent news!

[jimmy]

WARNING:

Never lend anyone your copter.


I borrowed James Helliwell's DJI 550 to try and sort out the gimbal so it could be moved from the transmitter. I thought I'd give it a bit of a try in the garden - awesomely stable (naza gps) until I smashed it into my tree (it's got a tree protection order on it, so it's big!)
Smashing 3 blades and the landing gear.

I brought it inside and ordered some new blades and went back to work on the gimbal. I got it set up eventually so it would be adjusted and would still self level and work properly. Awesome. Then I moved the sticks which caused it to start up and repeatedly smack my monitor until I could shut it down.

I gave James the copter back this past weekend - with a load of blades. He took off - and immediately smashed it up because I'd accidentally swapped the channels round on the reciever. So I not only smashed it in person but also by proxy.

I AM AWESOME

I think I will get one to practice with

[James]

Originally Posted by jimmy

WARNING:

Never lend anyone your copter.


I borrowed James Helliwell's DJI 550 to try and sort out the gimbal so it could be moved from the transmitter. I thought I'd give it a bit of a try in the garden - awesomely stable (naza gps) until I smashed it into my tree (it's got a tree protection order on it, so it's big!)
Smashing 3 blades and the landing gear.

I brought it inside and ordered some new blades and went back to work on the gimbal. I got it set up eventually so it would be adjusted and would still self level and work properly. Awesome. Then I moved the sticks which caused it to start up and repeatedly smack my monitor until I could shut it down.

I gave James the copter back this past weekend - with a load of blades. He took off - and immediately smashed it up because I'd accidentally swapped the channels round on the reciever. So I not only smashed it in person but also by proxy.

I AM AWESOME

I think I will get one to practice with

You animal lol.. Yes there's been a lot to learn in the last year of quadding but I think the rig we have now is pretty awesome for filming, expect some great footage at some of the upcoming meetings!

I advise anyone to start off with the more basic machines and get to grips and learn as you go along rather than buying top gear right away!

[jimmy]

Sorry James

Iust wait until I've rigged up the 3rd axis (only for smoothing the video - not for panning) it will be awesome. I will have a look at my finances and see if I can get it ordered asap.

[andys]

Jimmy - you are a legend.

Laughed so hard it hurt

Andy

[andys]

Went to post office today to pick up my parcel....

It was not my HobbyKing parts
It was 2 shells sent from Australia for me to paint for a chap. Can't believe I had to pay £21.58 to pick them up

Not happy today..

[jimmy]

Thats crap mate - I'd ask the chap since he should have declared their true value with is somewhere around the price of an empty bottle of coke

You do not have to pay if you are re-exporting I didn't think. Call HMRC and tell them the situation.

I got screwed when Tamiya USA sent me some parts FREE. I lost count but I must have pair around £180 in vat/duty/charges for something that was sent to me. In that case I called hmrc to dispute it since they were samples for review - but because I wasn't going to re-export it I think that was the problem.

You are - so I don't think the VAT should apply. It's like you're fixing something for someone, you're improving it, and sending it back. I'm fairly sure you can talk to hmrc and get a refund give these circumstances.

My recent situation was different since I bought something and should have paid tax etc. But it was so grossly miscalculated that I refused. They wanted so much proof of the costs of shipping that I've no proof of (since it was included) so they just make up a number and multiplied by 10.

[bodgit]

Somebody has put some thought into this to give you the best of two worlds a car and quadcopter in one. Overtaking could have a whole new meaning.
http://cars.uk.msn.com/news/quadcopt...e-of-transport

[andys]

Anyone know how to track orders from HobbyKing ?

All I seem to have is my order number (in the my account section of the site)

Clicking this takes me to the Hong Kong post website - but to a no populated page asking for a 13 digit tracking / reference. Trying the order number here doesn't work.

Getting frustrated now as I ordered on the 16th May

[andys]

Tracking link works now.

Date # Location Delivery Status
24-May-2013 Hong Kong Item posted and is being processed.
24-May-2013 Hong Kong Processed for departure.
24-May-2013 Hong Kong The item left Hong Kong for its destination on 25-May-2013
28-May-2013 United Kingdom Arrived and is being processed.
28-May-2013 United Kingdom Pending customs inspection.
28-May-2013 United Kingdom Pending customs inspection.

Also - the motor the UK store sent me incorrectly still is unresolved. So they sent the wrong item and 2 weeks later - after I have returned the incorrect item i'm still waiting......

Also - what are they inspecting - how much longer do I have to wait

[andys]

'Brain' Quad 20amp speedo arrived today as well as my receiver.

Still waiting on the 'big box' with props and radio gear and last few bits like receiver wires.

But - i've mounted the speedo, wired the motors and made a mount on the side for the receiver and a custom top plate to protect the KK board. All pretty tidy considering the tight space. I wanted the Lipo inside the quad for better balance (hopefully) !

[neallewis]

Looking a really good build that Andy. Won't be long now, hopefully all here by the weekend, and we'll do some flying at RHR/oooople

[neallewis]

Have you seen the inverted quad flying?

Warthox's videos show it:

http://vimeo.com/61127136
http://vimeo.com/62015113
http://vimeo.com/63266042

Also this frame looks good: http://vimeo.com/64457356

That guy can really fly!

[Col]

Looking good, Andy.

I have no idea whether this applies to your weird fandango esc or not, but it looks like alot of my problems with motors and esc's dying was a feedback loop going through the kk2 board from the esc's. The kk2 gets its power from the bec circuit on esc no1, so this is the only one that needs to have positive and negative wires.
After changing from this:


to this:


I've had no problems. 30ish flights in so far, and it's working well. Got some more 3s cells coming very soon, as 8 mins at a time just isn't enough!

Thinking of moving the receiver under the top deck to free up some space. Not sure what I'm going to put into that space, but...

[andys]

Guys - i'm struggling

Spent all day assembling my Quad - and no matter what I try it flips on takeoff

I think i've set the KK up properly as it looks correct in the receiver test and motors are spinning as per the x layout etc - but I need help

Pretty miffed I can't resolve it.