DJI F450 First EVER Build

Charlie.

Member
Hi there guys.

I just got a GoPro Hero 3 Black for Christmas and have seen some aerial footage taken using multirotors which looks amazing! I am now convinced that I need one of my own! I have been looking around a bit and originally looked at the DJI Phantom, but I was advised that it is too "limited" as it can only carry a 2200 mAh battery and the receiver is too basic to use effectively.

I was told that the best kit for a beginner is one of the DJI F450 kits and it seems to be very popular on these forums! I have been looking around and found that a F450 with Naza FC costs £300 here in the UK and then I would need a transmitter and receiver which would cost about £115 (DX6i with AR6210). Then I would need a battery and charger which would probably cost about £40 for a 5000mAh 3s lipo with charger. Oh and I would need to mount my GoPro onto it somehow :/

Is there anything I am missing?

Also does anyone know where I can get these parts at the best prices in the UK, or does anyone have a F450 kit for sale?

Any help or advice for this first time buyer would be hugely appreciated! :)
Charlie.
 

OneStopRC

Dirty Little Hucker
Welcome to the forums Charlie. I as many others started out with a 450, I am learning to fly mine and it is fun. I will tell you what I bought and I am sure others will chime in and share experience with you also.

I got the following items from different places.

(1) DJI 450 Flamewheel (Kit).
(2) DJI Naza Controller.
(3) Futaba T8J TX with compatible S-Bus RX, Don't skimp on channels, you can use a 6 channel but you will wish later you paid a little extra for more.
(4) 2 Nano-Tech 2650mAh 3S Lipo's.
(5) 1 Nano-Tech 2200mAh 3s Lipo.
(6) Battery connectors, I bought some XT60 Connections, I like them.
(7) Decent charger and balancer. Don't cheap on the charger, Read about LiPo batteries and there dangers. a $12 charger on eBay will probably kill your batteries. Get something good, preferably with a digital display to show Cell Voltages.

Take your time with the build, pay close attention to motor and prop rotations, some will tell you to drop the DJI props and go with something better. I have not done that as of yet but will be shortly. You will need a good soldering iron, some 65Watt should be good enough. Some decent solder with flux, do not use an acid base flux.

I turned my bottom plate, the reason I did this is so I can mount my GoPro on the nose of it, several or most people rotate the plate, the directions show otherwise but each to their own. It is a basic, cheap way to mount your camera until your ready to go with a Gimbal and landing skids.

Don't rush into mounting a GoPro, get used to flying it first, it does take time to get used to. I can't advise on where to buy your gear from, shop around and get the best prices.

I hope you enjoy the MAN toy as much as some of us do... It is a nice starter unit, that is where I am at right now..... :)
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Charlie.

Member
Thanks a lot for your reply deanot! :)

Is it true that you need an 8 Channel receiver to use a NAZA GPS failsafe function properly? I might upgrade to GPS later if I get good! That is something that attracted me to the DJI phantom, the fact that if it went out of range it would come back!

I will shop around and if anyone else has any advice please feel free to share it!

Thanks,
Charlie
 

OneStopRC

Dirty Little Hucker
Well, your going to really need 2, 3 position switches on your radio, if moving to a GPS unit later. One of the switches uses 1 channel, it is used for GPS | Atti | Manual Modes. The other switch people use for things like, Failsafe | Return to home | and Intelligent orientation.

A 6 channel will operate your 450, but you may require more channels later. Gimbal controls, gain controls and so forth. I am not sure what radios come with what switches, but having at least 2, 3 position switches is extremely useful.

I got my radio for a good price, I got it for around $300. £192 or so... There are a lot better radios, but I kind of like this one, does everything and more than I need.... lol
 



Droider

Drone Enthusiast
Also does anyone know where I can get these parts at the best prices in the UK, or does anyone have a F450 kit for sale?

Geoff at Quadcopters.co.uk has just posted some advice.

I would get in touch with him as he has the knowlege and the stock in the UK but also great back service.

Where are you in the country?

Dave

OBTW

Welcome to MRF, enjoy your stay, as youcan see from responses to your original post peeps all over the world are on line too help out
 

Charlie.

Member
Thanks again for a your replies!

The only problem I have is costs, I am trying to keep around the £500 mark if not less which is why I was first attracted to the Phantom. Most 8CH transmitters all seem to be about £200 and 6CH are about £100 (unless I buy something like the turnigy 9X). Has anyone used this transmitter before or have any ideas as to why it wouldn't suit my needs?

I would just like to make a F450 with Naza controller which might be upgraded to a GPS module after a while.

Thanks again for your advice!
 

pellen

Member
Hi guys, first post!

I bought a DJI F450 with the Naza MC about ~2 months ago. Imported the f450 + naza kit at quadcopters.co.uk and bought the Turnigy 9x for ~$50 from hobbyking. I really like it and have been modding it quite a lot (first I changed it from Mode 1 -> 2, then added a smartieparts board and flashed it with er9x firmware, and then added backlight to the lcd, adding a LiFe battery, etc :)) So if you're handy and like modding this is a good way to save a few bucks.

I think I'm still below the £500 mark even though I have replaced some props :p
 

Charlie.

Member
Ah not sure what to do now!

I could either buy a F450 kit from quadcopters.co.uk and buy a cheap transmitter or I could just by the phantom which to be honest I am sure would do all I want it to and having the return to home GPS fail safe is a nice feature for a first time flyer.

Anyone want to persuade me either way?

Thanks for your reply pellen, would you say the 9X is a good transmitter even when it is stock? What receiver do you have on your quad and what range do you get?

Thanks again guys
 


pellen

Member
Ah not sure what to do now!

I could either buy a F450 kit from quadcopters.co.uk and buy a cheap transmitter or I could just by the phantom which to be honest I am sure would do all I want it to and having the return to home GPS fail safe is a nice feature for a first time flyer.

Anyone want to persuade me either way?

Thanks for your reply pellen, would you say the 9X is a good transmitter even when it is stock? What receiver do you have on your quad and what range do you get?

Thanks again guys

I actually don't know how good the original FW in the 9X is...I flashed the er9x FW before I got the quad built :)
To this I'm using "FrSky DJT 2.4Ghz Combo Pack for JR w/ Telemetry Module & V8FR-II RX" from hobbyking. I haven't checked how long range I get, but it's specced to "1,5-2,5km" :)
 

Charlie.

Member
Sounds like a transmitter with the FrSky might be a good bet if I were to go with the F450, and I could always upgrade it later. What is the difference between the 9X and the 9XR by the way?

Does anyone else have an idea about another cheapish tx rx combo I could use with a F450?
 

pellen

Member
Sounds like a transmitter with the FrSky might be a good bet if I were to go with the F450, and I could always upgrade it later. What is the difference between the 9X and the 9XR by the way?

Does anyone else have an idea about another cheapish tx rx combo I could use with a F450?

Wow, I hadn't noticed that the 9XR was for sale on hobbyking now :) So it's the successor of the 9X, but what the differences is I don't know. Just by looking at the product image it looks like it's running the ER9X firmware, but I guess that's no guarantee that it comes with ER9X by default...
 

Charlie.

Member
I don't really understand all this transmitter, receiver, module business.

From what I think I understand, the module is inside the transmitter (remote control) and then the receiver is on the quadcopter. Is this correct? Also I have no clue about how you "bind" each channel on the transmitter to the quad. Does anyone mind explaining it to me? :)

Thanks for your replies by the way. Might look into the 9XR as it has a backlit screen and supposedly better firmware.
 

OneStopRC

Dirty Little Hucker
You don't bind channels as such, most TX and RX need to be binded due to them not having crystals anymore. These radios are known as channel or frequency hopping. So the binding of the Rx to the TX is required, basically called pairing in laymen's terms. The process is pretty simple, on Futaba radios you just hit a button on the RX, some require a plug to be put into the receiver.

The receiver is on the aircraft and gets plugged into the flight controller, Naza or something other, basically brings the signal from the radio inputs and does the conversion from your fingers to the copter movements. In the same time the Naza will help keep your copter stable. The Naza is a pretty cool piece of equipment, inside it has Gyros and a Barometer, it also feeds the signals to the ESC's to speed up or slow down the RPM's on the 4 motors, for altitude, pitch, roll and yaw.

Hope this clears it up some, I am still a novice myself, but I will try to help you out where I can. I know your going to have great fun operating a 450, it is hated by my wife, but loved by me... lol

Ohh, Transmitter = TX
Receiver = RX
Module I think is a frequency Module that plugs into the TX? ? ? ? ?
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Charlie.

Member
Thanks for your continued replies guys,

I think so far what I need is:

DJI F450 ARTF NAZA Kit (or RTF for £40 more) -> http://quadcopters.co.uk/dji-naza-f450-kit-inc-fc-161-p.asp
Turnigy 9XR and Frsky Module/Receiver -> http://hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__31544__Turnigy_9XR_Transmitter_Mode_2_No_Module_.html and http://hobbyking.com/hobbyking/stor...ack_for_JR_w_Telemetry_Module_V8FR_II_RX.html
Turnigy 3S 4000mAh LiPo -> http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Turnigy-l...sGames_RadioControlled_JN&hash=item27cb31bf51
Turnigy Accucel-6 -> http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Turnigy-R...sGames_RadioControlled_JN&hash=item416e85c9cd
Camera Gimbal/mount -> Not sure about this one, would obviously need to mount to the F450 though, and would prefer one with 2 axis control if not just the tilt control. What do you guys recommend? Needs to be CHEAP!

All in all the above minus the Gimbal comes to £435 which doesn't sound too bad I suppose considering the Phantom is £460 (then again the phantom has NAZA GPS).

What do you guys think about the above? Any changes to be made? Is the Frsky module I linked compatible with the NAZA and 9XR?

Thanks again guys
 

pellen

Member
Thanks for your continued replies guys,

I think so far what I need is:

DJI F450 ARTF NAZA Kit (or RTF for £40 more) -> http://quadcopters.co.uk/dji-naza-f450-kit-inc-fc-161-p.asp
Turnigy 9XR and Frsky Module/Receiver -> http://hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__31544__Turnigy_9XR_Transmitter_Mode_2_No_Module_.html and http://hobbyking.com/hobbyking/stor...ack_for_JR_w_Telemetry_Module_V8FR_II_RX.html
Turnigy 3S 4000mAh LiPo -> http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Turnigy-l...sGames_RadioControlled_JN&hash=item27cb31bf51
Turnigy Accucel-6 -> http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Turnigy-R...sGames_RadioControlled_JN&hash=item416e85c9cd
Camera Gimbal/mount -> Not sure about this one, would obviously need to mount to the F450 though, and would prefer one with 2 axis control if not just the tilt control. What do you guys recommend? Needs to be CHEAP!

All in all the above minus the Gimbal comes to £435 which doesn't sound too bad I suppose considering the Phantom is £460 (then again the phantom has NAZA GPS).

What do you guys think about the above? Any changes to be made? Is the Frsky module I linked compatible with the NAZA and 9XR?

Thanks again guys

I think it looks good. Can't say anything about the gimbal though because I don't have anyone either :p
Just don't forget the trivial but needed stuff like:
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/...AWG_silicon_wire_10cm_ESC_side_5pcs_Bag_.html
etc...

I'm using exactly that FrSky TX module and RX, and it works like a charm with my Naza and 9X. According to an uploaded pic on the 9XR product page this Module+RX should work on the 9XR :)
 

Charlie.

Member
Lol I have no idea what those things you just linked me are! Would they not be included in the kit, as the kits say "almost ready to fly, just add Tx, Rx and battery"?

Is there any other stuff like that which I forgot to put on my above parts list?
 

pellen

Member
Lol I have no idea what those things you just linked me are! Would they not be included in the kit, as the kits say "almost ready to fly, just add Tx, Rx and battery"?

Is there any other stuff like that which I forgot to put on my above parts list?

That is the cable that you solder on the F450 bottom plate, aka "power distribution board". Then you plug the battery to that connector :)
Other "good to have" stuff is zip ties, a soldering iron with solder and flux etc.
Oh yeah, you need a 3S LiPo to the 9XR too...but there seem to be some confusion in which LiPo is good to use with it by reading the discussion on the product page...
Loctite for all screws when building the kit is also a good thing, so that the screws doesn't get loose by vibrations and such.

I think that should be enough to get it fully assembled and functioning :)
 

Top