Experienced Builders - Verification please -

[Ben Kenobi]

OK I have an x650 that has the blood pressure up to spending levels ...

Anyone care to comment on the following build plan, it's based on many many hours of Googling and trawling through forums, should have done it before rushing into the x650 but I didn't ..

However I want to build a copter for doing 'hobby' type aerial photography / video, small HD cam such as a go pro most likely and FPV. I'm NOT going to spend mega bucks on this until I know whether it will just end up in the corner gathering dust.

This is the hardware I've selected ...

4 x Turnigy Multistar 4822-690kv 22 pole motors - Selected for low vibration and hi torque
4 x Afro ESC 30A - Sized to allow 12" props
1 x Hobbyking Predator 650 - selected for size, layout and vibration reduction.
1 x Quanum LEA-6H GPS & Compass
1 x HKPilot Mega 2.7 Flight Controller
4 x 12 by 4.5 SF props - 4.6A at 'hover'

Motors will be powered by 4S LiPo 4500mah or larger but I'm struggling to find a combination that will give a decent amount of air time. Don't know how good eCalc is but it reckons 5 minutes on a 6000mah - but I want at least double that, maybe a pair of 5000mah one for front pair and one for rear pair ??

May feed the electronics with separate battery - may not - so I haven't listed the HKPilot power source. I need to work out where centre of gravity will be with various 'layouts' before committing.

I'm also keen to get some sort of remote telemetry going at some point although most of what I've found isn't legal in the UK.

I have a Futaba6ES currently, I do have plans to upgrade to get more channels but not for a while.

 

[Risen91]

Hey, I'm new too so I cant really help with the other stuff, but 433mHz is legal in the UK for your telemetry

 

[Ben Kenobi]

433mHz is legal in the UK

Not at 100mW it isn't unless I read the rules wrongly - limit is 1mW

 

[Risen91]

Pretty sure the limit is 100mW

 

[Ben Kenobi]

I've read conflicting information on the subject but most of the official places i.e. Ofcom aren't very clear on it although they do discuss 1mW continuous with 10mW 'occasional' - I've seen nothing that says 100mW - although how they apply different rules to airborn versus ground based equipment doesn't aid clarity.

This is just one topic to clear up - for now I have to get a copter built that can

a) Stay in the air
b) Stay in the air for more than 10 minutes ...

 

[Risen91]

Is the 5 minutes flight or hover time?

 

[Ben Kenobi]

if it will only hover 5 minutes that's no good, I'm aiming for a flight time of between 10 and 15 minutes, struggling to find a battery combination that will work.

Trying to find a motor / battery combo is the biggest challenge, the longer the flight time the better, doing everything I can to keep down weight and vibration sources whilst staying at sensible money - I don't regard £1k as sensible. Don't really want to go to hexa or octo copter since it pushes the build costs ever higher if you want decent motors etc.