Quadrocopters :)

[Danny Harrison]

Originally Posted by 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.

This may be a dumb suggestion, but could the kk board be upside down and trying to right itself?

[neallewis]

Andy are your props set to the correct rotation for the motors rotations?

[andys]

Sorted it

Had a Eureka moment - its the QBrain 4 in one ESC - needed re wiring as out of the box it's not correctly wired for the KK - swooped some cables around and - it flies

Scary though - slipped on the throttle stick in my tiny garden and it nearly shot over the house

[Danny Harrison]

I thought it might be a fast little thing that. Would like to see it go at RHR this weekend. Guessing you'll be taking it?

[andys]

Originally Posted by Danny Harrison

I thought it might be a fast little thing that. Would like to see it go at RHR this weekend. Guessing you'll be taking it?

Indeed mate ill havevit this weekend at RHR. hopefully heading to the park to give it a proper go this evening - but from 'blipping' it in the garden - I think it should be quick. Seems super responsive too - could do with taming down I think.

At least now it flies I can 'tune' it - more Kk YouTube videos need watching.

[Col]

My tuning is exactly the opposite of all the "guides" out there!
KK says to start tuning with a P gain of 30, I gain at 0 and go up in increments of 5. Mines oscillated massively at 30 and spend ages trying to get a setting that worked - and failed. In the end I went down from 30 (to 17) and left I at 0, and that works perfectly for me!
All current advise is to tune PI with self level off. Increasing gain in the self level settings does not make any difference to "acro" PI, it just controls how sharply the self level "self levels", and how quickly you can control it. Mine was left stock, but have since increased it by 10 to improve response.

[andys]

Flew it in the park

Almost 20 mins on pack 1 - 18mins on pack 2

It's awesome

Feels very, very nimble - decreased stick scaling to tame it a bit.

Left everything else stock setting - don't really understand the auto level - what / how does it work Col ?

All in all, very happy - ideal 1st Quad I reckon.
Hovers at 50% throttle and has enough punch to get a real shift on if needed.

I think the small motors / small frame combo have finally paid off !

[Col]

Originally Posted by andys

Flew it in the park

Almost 20 mins on pack 1 - 18mins on pack 2

Blolody hell! What cells are they? I'm lucky to get 10min hovering or 6 mins aggressive flying out of my 2450 3cell

I'll get into self level when I've more time, but if you can fly without it don't worry too much

[andys]

Col.

Cells are 2650 Turnigy Nano Tech's.

I was taking it very steady though / gentle flying to get a feel for it.

Quad weighs around 800g.

I need to fettle it as currently the slightest movement on the sticks and it reacts. If I give it full beans / stick in one direction it leans far too much for my liking!

Really pleased with myself that I've got it flying
It seems super stable, only time it oscillates a bit is when I let it drop from high and then nail it before it hits the ground, apart from that it seems rock steady.

[neallewis]

Brilliant Andy, glad you got it sorted and flying! Can't wait to see it fly Sunday. Sounds like its going to be quicker than mine. I'll have to upgrade my props and go 4S ;-)

[andys]

Originally Posted by neallewis

Brilliant Andy, glad you got it sorted and flying! Can't wait to see it fly Sunday. Sounds like its going to be quicker than mine. I'll have to upgrade my props and go 4S ;-)

LOL - Don't think it will be quicker than yours Neal as you have a similar spec but bigger motors. It's quick enough for me though to learn and so much better than the V949 !!

I need to suss this self levelling and PI Gain stuff - self level looks like it could stop me hitting the ground. Going to set it up on an Aux switch today.

Also height dampening on the board to stop it flying at the ground when I yaw it.
Need more lipos now !!

[Col]

This vid explains self leveling very well, but basically without self level you move the ail stick forward and the quad moves forward, you move the stick back to neutral and the quad continues forward at exactly the same pace and will only stop with the exact amount of correction on read ail

[andys]

Cheers Col

Set it all up today on a switch.
Self level is ace - so much easier to fly. As you say you are not constantly correcting it

Flying it with it off is a handful in comparison.

[andys]

Piccy of my little Quad.

HobbyKing UK have the F450 frames back in stock. Ordered a couple to ultimately build something a bit bigger to carry a camera once I master this little fella.

[andys]

Col / Neal.

Trying to decide on motor for the 450 frame - any recommendations ?

I want something lowish (1000KV) I believe as they have more torque, I think !
Also what power should they have? The little ones on my 330 are only 1225 KV and 95W, some motors are 200W and 300W !

Also - I want something that runs smooth (balanced) as i'll be putting a camera on this one so didn't want to go with the cheap HobbyKing ones - unless they are good !

[neallewis]

Originally Posted by andys

Piccy of my little Quad.

HobbyKing UK have the F450 frames back in stock. Ordered a couple to ultimately build something a bit bigger to carry a camera once I master this little fella.

Looks great! can't wait to see it fly this weekend.

My new Graupner 10x5 props have arrived. Should get a bit more speed out of it now.

[neallewis]

Originally Posted by andys

Col / Neal.

Trying to decide on motor for the 450 frame - any recommendations ?

I want something lowish (1000KV) I believe as they have more torque, I think !
Also what power should they have? The little ones on my 330 are only 1225 KV and 95W, some motors are 200W and 300W !

Also - I want something that runs smooth (balanced) as i'll be putting a camera on this one so didn't want to go with the cheap HobbyKing ones - unless they are good !

The NTM motors are meant to be good.

These:

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s..._version_.html

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s..._version_.html

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s..._version_.html

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s..._version_.html

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s..._version_.html

plus you need these:
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...sory_Pack.html

The 1200's seem to be in stock in Uk warehouse.

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/s...arehouse_.html

[andys]

Flown my Quad a few more time and loving it

Starting to be able to fly figure of 8's and such like - still not crashed it or broke anything yet...

Anyone reading this that's thinking of getting one - i'm happy to send over / post any info re what I bought. All things considered I think I found a great balance between power / performance and flight time. I'm getting around 15mins now i'm flying it better. No way I can fly it at full chat - i'd need a HUGE space as it really can cover ground. Ordered some more lipos - 2 isn't enough

I'm slowly dialling in more responsiveness as I get to grips with it - the KK2 is a great bit of kit for the money and is really 'tuneable'.

All things considered - it's ace.

[thorny97]

Go on then andy put your list of parts up, being following this post for some time, really interested as had no luck with helicopters

[neallewis]

Video of Shilly's quad flying at the RHR Pea field:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wk7gskGqeTw