Jindalee10368
Member
Time for some fun!
(Please note: originally written for an Australian audience. Currency in AUD$)
You've probably seen 100's of them, but this is a pictorial of my Blackout Mini H Quad build.
Frame
Whilst there are many types and brands of small quadcopter frames to choose from, a genuine Blackout Mini H Quad frame was chosen. "Genuine" because this is the frame that has been cloned by many others.
Why?
Because it's a great design, and the genuine frame is reported to be virtually indestructible. You will find many stories on the various forums about the cheaper clones breaking, where the genuine "BOs" don't.
Blackout Mini H Quad frame kit with the extended arms that allow for 6" propellers:
(Standard arms only accommodate 5" props)
• top and bottom plates: 1mm carbon fibre
• version 3 Power Distribution Board (PDB)
• arms: 3mm Quasi Isotropic 3K weave carbon fibre
Soon into assembly, it became apparent that one nylon post was missing from the kit.
Time for disassembly, and a stock take - should have done that first!
Some spares are included, but on a seemingly adhoc basis.
Mini H Quad were contacted about this shortfall (picture above was sent to them), and without any fuss, a kit of spares was sent.
A few days later (gotta love local suppliers, and not wait weeks for o/s shipments to arrive!), the build continued.
Power Lead
12AWG LiPo battery leads wrap around the two rear posts and are cable tied to the PDB (Power Distribution Board) for strain relief.
Electronic Speed Controllers
ESCs are ZTW 12A pre-programmed with SimonK firmware, from BoltRC.
Heatshrink casing was cut and peeled back, so the standard ESC motor wires could be de-soldered.
Motors
Motors chosen for this build are the Cobra CM2204-32, from Buzz Hobbies in Perth. At $22 each, these are great bang for the buck, and many are running these on 4S.
These are a 1960kV motor, and have a integrated 5mm shaft, so that propellers with a 5mm hole (ie HQ Prop) can fit directly on, with no prop adapter required.
Here we see the full-length motor wires temporarily soldered to the ESC.
Once correct motor direction has been ascertained, the motor wires can be trimmed back to what's actually required, and the ESC heatshrink taped back up again.
Flight Controller & R/C Receiver
FC is the popular Naze32 Funfly from BoltRC.
The Naze32 comes in two flavours, the basic $30 Naze32 "Acro" board does not have a barometer nor magnetometer sensor, whereas the $60 "Funfly" version does. These extra sensors are used in some flight modes to help stabilise the orientation of the craft.
Whether you end up using these sensor in your style of flying, or not, it's worth spending the paltry $30 more to have them, just in case.
Also seen here is the FrSky D4R receiver from BoltRC.
This receiver is capable of 8 channels, and "PPM" output.
PPM output is similar to S-Bus, where all the channels can appear (serialised) on the one output port, minimising the messy wiring between the receiver and Flight Controller. ie; One cable required, instead of eight.
In normal orientation, the micro USB port would face rearward.
With a frame fully assembled, this is a pain to connect to, so the Naze32 was rotated 90°, so that it was on the port side of the craft.
When doing this, don't forget to configure the Naze32 with: set align_board_yaw = 90
R/C Receiver Telemetry
FrSky D4R receiver has a port that allows for sending telemetry data back to an FRSky Taranis radio system.
This can be used for reporting the LiPo battery volts, and RSSI (Relative Signal Strength Indicator) so this information can be seen on a Taranis telemetry page, right in front of the operator.
travisgrindal has a YouTube video about setting up a Naze32 and FrSky D4R receiver for telemetry
3:00 onwards is relevant.
Trim Motor Wires
With all the electronics wired up, and having spun up the motors to check/adjust direction in a motor test, motor leads can now be trimmed to suit.
Rapstrap
ESCs are held in place with Rapstrap.
Rapstrap is a soft, flexible and elastic cable tie made of rubber that won't crush or damage the item you are trying to secure like a conventional cable tie might.
It comes in green, clear and black, and a strip can be cut to the required length.
They're also re-usable.
Simply brilliant!
Some hobby stores sell straps in 2 or 3, but you can buy a packet of 12 from 4Cabling for the same price.
Motor Port Vulnerability
With the Naze32 board turned 90° so the micro USB port is more accessible, it doesn't take long to realise the motor ports become extremely vulnerable, poking out the starboard side.
These right angle headers that were supplied with the Naze 32 have to go!
The best way to remove a header like this (ie minimise potential damage to the pads and plated-through holes), without a professional powered de-soldering station, is to remove one pin at a time. Rather than trying to remove many pins at once.
Cut each pin, and remove by simply heating the pin up with the soldering iron.
With the pins removed, we can now clean up the plated-through holes with solder wick.
Conventional header strip (28-way) was purchased from Jaycar to replace the R/A header.
This is much better!
It's just plain dumb including right angle headers, when conventional headers are more practical.
Lost Model Beeper
A spare piezo buzzer and some servo leads make an ideal lost model beeper.
Trust me - just fit one from the beginning! ;-)
This will plug straight onto the Naze32 header pins, and the buzzer simply straddles one of the nylon posts.
Since these pictures were taken, I have replaced the piezo from Jaycar with a buzzer from NextFPV, which is louder.
(Please note: originally written for an Australian audience. Currency in AUD$)
You've probably seen 100's of them, but this is a pictorial of my Blackout Mini H Quad build.
Frame
Whilst there are many types and brands of small quadcopter frames to choose from, a genuine Blackout Mini H Quad frame was chosen. "Genuine" because this is the frame that has been cloned by many others.
Why?
Because it's a great design, and the genuine frame is reported to be virtually indestructible. You will find many stories on the various forums about the cheaper clones breaking, where the genuine "BOs" don't.
Blackout Mini H Quad frame kit with the extended arms that allow for 6" propellers:
(Standard arms only accommodate 5" props)
• top and bottom plates: 1mm carbon fibre
• version 3 Power Distribution Board (PDB)
• arms: 3mm Quasi Isotropic 3K weave carbon fibre
Soon into assembly, it became apparent that one nylon post was missing from the kit.
Time for disassembly, and a stock take - should have done that first!
Some spares are included, but on a seemingly adhoc basis.
Mini H Quad were contacted about this shortfall (picture above was sent to them), and without any fuss, a kit of spares was sent.
A few days later (gotta love local suppliers, and not wait weeks for o/s shipments to arrive!), the build continued.
Power Lead
12AWG LiPo battery leads wrap around the two rear posts and are cable tied to the PDB (Power Distribution Board) for strain relief.
Electronic Speed Controllers
ESCs are ZTW 12A pre-programmed with SimonK firmware, from BoltRC.
Heatshrink casing was cut and peeled back, so the standard ESC motor wires could be de-soldered.
Motors
Motors chosen for this build are the Cobra CM2204-32, from Buzz Hobbies in Perth. At $22 each, these are great bang for the buck, and many are running these on 4S.
These are a 1960kV motor, and have a integrated 5mm shaft, so that propellers with a 5mm hole (ie HQ Prop) can fit directly on, with no prop adapter required.
Here we see the full-length motor wires temporarily soldered to the ESC.
Once correct motor direction has been ascertained, the motor wires can be trimmed back to what's actually required, and the ESC heatshrink taped back up again.
Flight Controller & R/C Receiver
FC is the popular Naze32 Funfly from BoltRC.
The Naze32 comes in two flavours, the basic $30 Naze32 "Acro" board does not have a barometer nor magnetometer sensor, whereas the $60 "Funfly" version does. These extra sensors are used in some flight modes to help stabilise the orientation of the craft.
Whether you end up using these sensor in your style of flying, or not, it's worth spending the paltry $30 more to have them, just in case.
Also seen here is the FrSky D4R receiver from BoltRC.
This receiver is capable of 8 channels, and "PPM" output.
PPM output is similar to S-Bus, where all the channels can appear (serialised) on the one output port, minimising the messy wiring between the receiver and Flight Controller. ie; One cable required, instead of eight.
In normal orientation, the micro USB port would face rearward.
With a frame fully assembled, this is a pain to connect to, so the Naze32 was rotated 90°, so that it was on the port side of the craft.
When doing this, don't forget to configure the Naze32 with: set align_board_yaw = 90
R/C Receiver Telemetry
FrSky D4R receiver has a port that allows for sending telemetry data back to an FRSky Taranis radio system.
This can be used for reporting the LiPo battery volts, and RSSI (Relative Signal Strength Indicator) so this information can be seen on a Taranis telemetry page, right in front of the operator.
travisgrindal has a YouTube video about setting up a Naze32 and FrSky D4R receiver for telemetry
Trim Motor Wires
With all the electronics wired up, and having spun up the motors to check/adjust direction in a motor test, motor leads can now be trimmed to suit.
Rapstrap
ESCs are held in place with Rapstrap.
Rapstrap is a soft, flexible and elastic cable tie made of rubber that won't crush or damage the item you are trying to secure like a conventional cable tie might.
It comes in green, clear and black, and a strip can be cut to the required length.
They're also re-usable.
Simply brilliant!
Some hobby stores sell straps in 2 or 3, but you can buy a packet of 12 from 4Cabling for the same price.
Motor Port Vulnerability
With the Naze32 board turned 90° so the micro USB port is more accessible, it doesn't take long to realise the motor ports become extremely vulnerable, poking out the starboard side.
These right angle headers that were supplied with the Naze 32 have to go!
The best way to remove a header like this (ie minimise potential damage to the pads and plated-through holes), without a professional powered de-soldering station, is to remove one pin at a time. Rather than trying to remove many pins at once.
Cut each pin, and remove by simply heating the pin up with the soldering iron.
With the pins removed, we can now clean up the plated-through holes with solder wick.
Conventional header strip (28-way) was purchased from Jaycar to replace the R/A header.
This is much better!
It's just plain dumb including right angle headers, when conventional headers are more practical.
Lost Model Beeper
A spare piezo buzzer and some servo leads make an ideal lost model beeper.
Trust me - just fit one from the beginning! ;-)
This will plug straight onto the Naze32 header pins, and the buzzer simply straddles one of the nylon posts.
Since these pictures were taken, I have replaced the piezo from Jaycar with a buzzer from NextFPV, which is louder.
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