Flight Controller Suggestions?

K

Kris Clark

New Member
Hi all! I'm a total newbie to the hobby and just started my own build. I've started getting some parts in. E.g. body, motors, ESC.

At this point I'm trying to figure out which flight controller to purchase and want to do my due diligence before dropping any cash. So far my front runner looks to be EagleTree's Vector Flight Controller w/ OSD, GPS and PSU Sensor.

I landed on this one because at first I was going to write all the software myself (I'm a software engineer) but decided I'd rather just spend the money and fly. This fight controller seems to implement most of the features I want.

That said, in the realm of on screen display, gps, auto pilot, etc, at the $200 price point this seems to be the best from what I've found.

Would anyone out there recommend another flight controller? Why? Anyone on this forum built out a multi-roter with this controller and care to share real world thoughts?

tyia!
 




W

Windy

Member
The Pixhawk from banggood is not a 3DR but a copy. At least HobbyKing called theirs by another name.
 

K

Kris Clark

New Member
Windy said:
You need to decide what type of flying you will be doing. Racing, photography or just fun. Do you want mission planning, Safgety features and so on.
Look at these
Click to expand...

Thanks for the links. I really don't have a specific use case in mind. Just general flying with good flight time. The craziest I'll get is plotting the flight plan for auto-pilot and a 360 degree camera.

Any additional features I'll be adding on myself via raspberry pi. I'll be adding environmental sensors and collecting generic flight data for analysis post flight.
 

C

cootertwo

Member
"Just general flying with good flight time. The craziest I'll get is plotting the flight plan for auto-pilot and a 360 degree camera."

PIXHAWK
 

violetwolf

violetwolf

Member
As a dev you will LOVE Pixhawk. I always recommend the version from RcTimer: the Fixhawk... Cheaper and very high quality... Software 100% open source on all the hawks... Hardware too but 3DR would like you to believe otherwise.
 

W

Windy

Member
How do you know what 3DR believes??? They are moving out of the DIY support and into the ready to fly market. They are the reason there is open source.
 

K

Kris Clark

New Member
violetwolf said:
As a dev you will LOVE Pixhawk. I always recommend the version from RcTimer: the Fixhawk... Cheaper and very high quality... Software 100% open source on all the hawks... Hardware too but 3DR would like you to believe otherwise.
Click to expand...

Thanks man! I looked at all of the suggestions and landed on the fixhawk and can upgrade later as needed. If nothing else I figure the fixhawk can be a good cheap flight controller to make sure my spinning flying metal flys safely then swap out with a pixhawk.

Here's what I'm thinking for the total build. I already have the frame, I'll end up swapping that out later I think to fit a 360 camera
https://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__89097__M250_C30_Quad_Frame_Kit.html
M250-C30 Frame -- I've seen lots of back and forth on this frame but the outward facing mounts seem like this would be a good choice for stability
Turnigy Multistar 2312-460Kv HV 12 Pole Multi-Rotor Outrunner Set CW/CCW (2)
Quanum Carbon Fiber Propeller 6x4.5 (CW/CCW) (2pcs)
Afro ESC 30Amp Multi-rotor Motor Speed Controller (SimonK Firmware)
Hobby King Quadcopter Power Distribution Board
Afro ESC USB Programming Tool
Rctimer u-blox LEA-6H GPS & MAG V21(2)
[URL='http://www.rctimer.com/member-20160131138980-orderdetail.html']Rctimer Fixhawk/Pixhawk 32bit Flight Controller1(1)[/URL]

ESC's are rated at 30 Amp while the power distribution board is rated at 20 Amp. I'll need to do some more research on PDB's.

I haven't even begun looking into TX/RX or Cameras and gimbals at this point.

I mean, at this point I'm already going to be $500 into this project so I might as well go big or go home (within proportion to my first build) so what would everyone say on TX/RX in the $150 range?

I'd like reasonable range but really my main concern is interference as I live in a pretty populated area. As to why interference is the most important is less safety of my quad and more of the safty of others. Understanding that the fixhawk has failsafe, RTH, etc, I don't want to be the one guy who get's the hobby jacked up because my quad fell on sombody so I'm operating under the assumption that all failsafe's fail which means the best failsafe is a reliable RX/TX.

I'm sure this could be an entirely new thread but I'm gonna let it ride and see what the mods say.
 

violetwolf

violetwolf

Member
I can highly recommend the Taranis Tx its $50 above your budget but its hands down awesome radio with a ton of flexibility. Good range check system, and RSSI telemetry to let you know how well your RX is reading the signal in real time.

Again open source firmware basically gives you a $1400 radio for $200 bucks. I dumped my Futaba's for them and have never looked back.

Some will say there's a learning curve but to me it's very intuitive. And there's a ton of community support, youtoob etc.
 

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