Hello from the Left Coast

[RobertsUp]

Yes I want to barge in and introduce myself. LOL

My name is Rob.

I discovered videos of a quad flying in the Tuolumne Meadows area of Yosemite in January. I flipped. I have backpacked in that area for two weeks at a time. The videos created by SKYCAM5000 got me started.

At the beginning of February I received my mQX. Even before it arrived I learned that I needed a computerized radio to tame it so I bought a Spektrum DX8. Good thing I did.

The next weekend I had the Aerosim flight simulator. The little GAUI quad is most similar to the mQX. So I've been busy improving my free flight skills and learning more about how to build and maintain a beginners camera platform. My policy is to always search for an answer rather than post a question. Thanks to all of you on this forum as well as everybody at rcforums. I've never found a question of mine unanswered. Many thanks to all of you who help newbies like me.

My major purchase today prompted me to introduce myself. I've jumped in with both feet. I bought the Naza M GPS. That purchase has committed me and now both my feet have landed on the ground. I'm in! Previously I began creating foundations by buying a nice soldering station, multimeter, and other tools. The separate parts for the Dji F450 are on order. My plan is to customize the basic F450 with the heavy lifting kit from APM.

I find it all very intriguing. Even today I feel like I know twice as much as I did a week ago. Today I learned to secure Graupner props with nylocks even though that step is weeks or months in the future. There's no hurry. Thanks to those of you who advised people not to buy RTF's and instead learn by building. Building is the path I've chosen.

Best to All,

Rob

 

[helloman1976]

Welcome from the East coast, which I will NEVER call the "right" coast...bunch of Budweiser specialist and trailer park heroes out here. I grew up in Long Beach and I've see SKYCAM5000's page quite a bit, he also was one of the people, like NASTYCOP420, that got me started also. I'm addicted to this hobby, more so than cars and I have a 750hp Mustang in my garage so... Let us know what you need brotha and we'll hook you right up. Give and get and we become a community of knowledge.

 

[kloner]

welcome,, where are you at?

 

[RobertsUp]

welcome,, where are you at?

Hi Kloner. Thanks for your welcome.

I live in sunny and foggy Morgan Hill. The gateway to Gilroy. I believe skycam5000 lives in Mountain View about 35 miles north from me.

skycam5000 has already fpv'd several areas close near here. The Anderson dam for instance. There are many interesting things near where I live. The coast from Point Lobos and up around the Santa Cruz Bay to Santa Cruz. There's the Diablo mountains to the east. There's the observatory on Mt Hamilton. Other things.

Kloner I thank you for all your posts helping newcomers like me. I've read a hundred of your posts here and at rcforum. I'm grateful for your easy ways. Thanks for sharing your experiences to help newbies. BTW I hugely enjoyed your Superman thread.

Best, Rob

 

[RobertsUp]

Welcome from the East coast, which I will NEVER call the "right" coast...bunch of Budweiser specialist and trailer park heroes out here. I grew up in Long Beach and I've see SKYCAM5000's page quite a bit, he also was one of the people, like NASTYCOP420, that got me started also. I'm addicted to this hobby, more so than cars and I have a 750hp Mustang in my garage so... Let us know what you need brotha and we'll hook you right up. Give and get and we become a community of knowledge.

Thanks, helloman1976.

I won't hesitate to ask a question when I get stuck. Thanks for telling me my questions will be okay and welcome. I know I'll need help.

Best, Rob

 

[RobertsUp]

Today I received my M Naza flight controller system from Century Helicopters.

The things I received from Century Helicopter don't match what I expected to receive.

I ordered the complete Naza M GPS system for a lot of bucks and UPS delivered it okay. I thought that much money would have ensured I got the flight controller, the cables, the compass with it's masts, the BEC, and the LED controller all in one box. Didn't happen. The BEC and the LED modules are not there.They should have been in the same box. I think someone at their shop shipped a cannibalized box and expected that the buyer wouldn't notice. All speculation at this point.

I've emailed Century Helicopter to help me with the problem. All the same observations.

But the alternative is stilll there: I might be stupid. No. Century must have a 3 year old unit they want to unload to a new unknowing new customer. Dunno.

LoL

Rob

 

[helloman1976]

Today I received my M Naza flight controller system from Century Helicopters.

The things I received from Century Helicopter don't match what I expected to receive.

I ordered the complete Naza M GPS system for a lot of bucks and UPS delivered it okay. I thought that much money would have ensured I got the flight controller, the cables, the compass with it's masts, the BEC, and the LED controller all in one box. Didn't happen. The BEC and the LED modules are not there.They should have been in the same box. I think someone at their shop shipped a cannibalized box and expected that the buyer wouldn't notice. All speculation at this point.

I've emailed Century Helicopter to help me with the problem. All the same observations.

But the alternative is stilll there: I might be stupid. No. Century must have a 3 year old unit they want to unload to a new unknowing new customer. Dunno.

LoL

Rob

Do you have a link to what you ordered exactly? When I bought my Naza I got the LED module, the flight controller, some bags of servo cables and some hardware like double-sided tape and so on. I didn't order the one with GPS so I had to order that separately and I just bought one a couple days ago for about $169 shipped. Hope that helps...

 

[RobertsUp]

Thanks Helloman,

I didn't even need to post my problem. I've been in touch with Century Helicopter and they confirmed that they pulled components out of a few NazaM boxes and that my box got mixed up.

I'm missing the LED/BEC and the USB adaptor. Century says they will make it right. Everything's okay now.

Best, Rob

 

[helloman1976]

Thanks Helloman,

I didn't even need to post my problem. I've been in touch with Century Helicopter and they confirmed that they pulled components out of a few NazaM boxes and that my box got mixed up.

I'm missing the LED/BEC and the USB adaptor. Century says they will make it right. Everything's okay now.

Best, Rob

Glad to hear it bro, let me know if you need anything else. I just went flying today, got 4 flights in and in the SUN with no WIND for once...woo hoo... I hit a altitude record of mine, 1000ft. Yea me!

 

[RobertsUp]

Glad to hear it bro, let me know if you need anything else. I just went flying today, got 4 flights in and in the SUN with no WIND for once...woo hoo... I hit a altitude record of mine, 1000ft. Yea me!

Thanks,

I'm envious. I can't fly as yet.

Parts are trickling in. I think I'm about 3 - 4 weeks away from using the Dji assistant calibrating program. Meanwhiles, I'm enjoying improving my piloting skills with the simulator and the mQX.

My ultimate interest is photography. The MR will be a tool for photography. Nevertheless flying is fun and I flew 2 channel sailplanes years ago. My 450 build is meant to teach me and once it's programmed and flying correctly then I'll order the 550 frame. While I was flying rc sailplanes one member of the club told me: "Always have an ongoing build project for the future".

Rob

 

[helloman1976]

Thanks,

I'm envious. I can't fly as yet.

Parts are trickling in. I think I'm about 3 - 4 weeks away from using the Dji assistant calibrating program. Meanwhiles, I'm enjoying improving my piloting skills with the simulator and the mQX.

My ultimate interest is photography. The MR will be a tool for photography. Nevertheless flying is fun and I flew 2 channel sailplanes years ago. My 450 build is meant to teach me and once it's programmed and flying correctly then I'll order the 550 frame. While I was flying rc sailplanes one member of the club told me: "Always have an ongoing build project for the future".

Rob

Personally, I started with the F500...these things are too expensive for practice You'll love it, I fly as often as I possibly can and that's about once or twice a week. I don't fly any other way now, only through goggles and only FPV and honestly I don't think I could go back to LOS flying. I've never flown a quad before but they appear to fly much differently than the more lumberous, if you will, 550 which doesn't handle as well but is still pretty nimble. What I like about the Hexa over the Quad is the increase in area to mount things as well as the massive lifting capacity. Kloner as an Octo, never flew one of those either, that flys like an airplane so it may be in the way you build them too. Anyway, can't wait for you to get in the air. I remember the first flight I did, I came back home with "runners high" and I was hooked ever since.

 

[RobertsUp]

Helloman, thanks for your reply expressing your enthusiasm. It lifted my spirits. Saturday some parts trickled in. My multimeter for instance.

I spent an hour today trying to find good quality wire just for connecting the battery to the bottom plate. I ordered it from Headsup rc because they had it. Other dealers didn't have it or it was on backorder. I think the parts dealers buy large spools and then cut them to length. Century said I might wait a week before somebody cut the lengths I wanted. Forget that. Hobbyking had the red but not the black. Their site shows a dozen people waiting for the backordered black.

The 12 gauge battery wire from HeadsUp was really cheap so I continued shopping around there and bought a few other little things I probably don't even need. To justify the mailing cost. A soldering jig and a prop balancer. Even a little switch that will turn something on from the 7th or 8th tx channel. Maybe an LED.

I also bought two LiPo batteries today. A milestone. And battery connectors. Those will be here soon since AMP is located in my state.

You see I'm having fun even though I haven't set up my workplace as yet. Every time a new package arrives I become more enthused. Things are coming together. Vacation in 3 weeks. Hoping to attain a maiden flight during that week. It will be tethered to the ground with bungee cushionings. People have had flyaways for various reasons. Today I tried to download the NAZA M Assistant program just to have it installed and see what it looks like. I couldn't find the download link. I looked and looked. No matter. Programming and calibrations are still weeks in the future.

Best, Rob

 

[helloman1976]

Helloman, thanks for your reply expressing your enthusiam. It lifted my spirits. Saturday some parts trickled in. My multimeter for instance.

I spent an hour today trying to find good quality wire just for connecting the battery to the bottom plate. I ordered it from Headsup rc because they had it. Other dealers didn't have it or it was on backorder. I think the parts dealers buy large spools and then cut them to length. Century said I might wait a week before somebody cut the lengths I wanted. Forget that.

The 12 gauge battery wire from HeadsUp was really cheap so I continued shopping around there and bought a few other little things I probably don't even need. To justify the mailing cost.

I also bought two LiPo batteries today. A milestone. And battery connectors. Those will be here soon since AMP is located in my state.

You see I'm having fun even though I haven't set up my workplace as yet. Every time a new package arrives I become more enthused. Things are coming together. Vacation in 3 weeks. Trying to attain a maiden flight during that week. I still need more parts though.

Best, Rob

Hey Rob, don't get too caught up in "ordering parts from the right store". I used 6 gauge left over wire from a ROMEX roll that is used for wiring up houses. It's still stranded wire and it's copper, I'm not sure I'd use 12 gauge wire to flow big amperage through my main PCB connector. I used small wire on my main PCB connector and my 550 fell out of the sky when I hit full throttle with a nice flash of smoke and the wires shot off towards me all red hot. I have pulled 2,400 watts through this PCB board and my 6 gauge wire and my temp sensor only went up to 88.1F, it was only for a few seconds of course. If you have wire laying around that'll work use that. Which batteries did you order? I use 2 4S x 4,000mah 25C Zippy compacts in parallel and they work great, I get about 10 minutes of aerobatic flying and about 12-15 minutes of AP flying. Which battery connectors did you get? I used XT60 and I wish I had used XT90's now as the Lipo batteries have 6 to 8 gauge wire and it's hard to solder that to an XT60. If you bought DEANS then good luck as those are super tiny and barely work for 3S batteries. My F550 was attacked today by Buzzards and I was dog fighting with them for about 5 minutes. The only problem was I caught the beginning of it on my Go Pro but half way through, the best parts of course, the camera shut off. I have figured out what it is, don't use ProTune and that won't happen anymore. Oh well...lesson learned and that's the name of this game. I think I'm as excited for you to get in the air as you are lol, I love this stuff so much it's pretty much an obsession at this point. It helped me to marry computers to building something plus electricity and those 3 things have always been my most favorite things to do and this hobby embodies all that as well as video and audio transmission and receiving which to a nerd like me is bliss. I've learned more in this hobby than I have with any other hobby ever. Wait until you get up and flying and then add an OSD or something like that, the on screen display makes you feel like you're in a fighter jet...it's amazing. Hope your parts come in soon, there are lots of good people on this site who can help you through all of it. I work on computers all day so I'm able to respond, and type, quickly if you need anything.

 

[RobertsUp]

Wow, you typed your reply fast and without any paragraph breaks so on the first read I couldn't mentally collect all the points you made. I'll try reading it again tomorrow. Thx nevertheless. ps drink less coffee. :tennis:

Best, -Rob

 

[stauntonflyer]

Roberts,

Get to know your local radio shack and local hobby stores. Alot of the connectors and wires you need will be there. Good luck with the build!

 

[RobertsUp]

Hi stauntonflyer. I'm glad to make your online acquaintance.

It's lucky for me that one of the largest online retailers of helicopters and components is located only two miles from where I work. I stopped by there after work on Friday and obtained all the correct size screws I need to assemble the 450 frame. They've jumped into the multirotor popularity with both their feet. They're building their own line of multirotors. Their showroom is small but to the right through an open window is one of their workstations and two people were calibrating their variant of the 450. What a coincidence. For the first time I heard the real connecting beeps coming from the BEC. The sound of it was surprising as it was real and not recorded like hearing it on a video. Lol. I had a brief chat with them about my build. They have the silicon 12 gauge wire in stock but there was no one available to go cut it to saleable lengths. It was 30 minutes before they closed. So I've ordered the wire from someone who has the lengths in stock.

Everything is so interesting. Today I received the X468 2-axis Gimbel. I wasn't expecting it. It's a heavy vinyl bag of maybe sixty or a hundred parts and there are no instructions for assembling it. It's heavy. No matter. I'm months away from mounting any kind of camera. My first bird needs to fly properly and reliably. So there will be lots of careful testing first. I'll have it tethered to the ground before its first test liftoff.

Happy Monday nite! Oops. Sorry.

Best, Rob :tennis:

 

[stauntonflyer]

That's pretty cool! I live in a small town and the local hobby store is pretty limited so I order a lot of my components. Luckily I travel a good bit for work and get to wander around larger hobby stores occupationally.

I just Built a DJI F450 and went through all the head scratching, Googling, kicking myself, and crashing into trees that you are about to enjoy. Feel free to bother me with any questions as I won't be annoyed in the slightest.

 

[RobertsUp]

Helloman, that was a really nice and interesting reply. Thx.

So a 12 gauge battery wire can allow too much power going to the BEC? Because of its lower resistance?
The Bec is supposed to eliminate too much power going to the FC and the ESC's. You see I'm scratching my head already.

Oh Hi, Stauntonflyer. I didn't see you there. LOL !

Nevertheless,

Your 550 electrical blowup in the air must have been spectacular.

I ordered two 4s LiPo's from AMP. They should be in the ballpark. Still learning to more closely match power supplies to power consumptions. I learned how to wire them in parallel if I want. AMP's Hyperion charger was ordered too. Still nervous about having LiPos stored in the apartment while I'm away at work. I'll need to be very careful about how I manage my LiPo's.

Would like to see the short video of your craft battling the turkey vultures. LOL

I ordered a few Deans connectors and they're the ones with a big added surface to make them easy to pull apart with your fingers. Only for the battery of course.

I appreciate your encouragements. I really do. Thanks.

Best, Rob

Hey Rob, don't get too caught up in "ordering parts from the right store". I used 6 gauge left over wire from a ROMEX roll that is used for wiring up houses. It's still stranded wire and it's copper, I'm not sure I'd use 12 gauge wire to flow big amperage through my main PCB connector. I used small wire on my main PCB connector and my 550 fell out of the sky when I hit full throttle with a nice flash of smoke and the wires shot off towards me all red hot. I have pulled 2,400 watts through this PCB board and my 6 gauge wire and my temp sensor only went up to 88.1F, it was only for a few seconds of course. If you have wire laying around that'll work use that. Which batteries did you order? I use 2 4S x 4,000mah 25C Zippy compacts in parallel and they work great, I get about 10 minutes of aerobatic flying and about 12-15 minutes of AP flying. Which battery connectors did you get? I used XT60 and I wish I had used XT90's now as the Lipo batteries have 6 to 8 gauge wire and it's hard to solder that to an XT60. If you bought DEANS then good luck as those are super tiny and barely work for 3S batteries. My F550 was attacked today by Buzzards and I was dog fighting with them for about 5 minutes. The only problem was I caught the beginning of it on my Go Pro but half way through, the best parts of course, the camera shut off. I have figured out what it is, don't use ProTune and that won't happen anymore. Oh well...lesson learned and that's the name of this game. I think I'm as excited for you to get in the air as you are lol, I love this stuff so much it's pretty much an obsession at this point. It helped me to marry computers to building something plus electricity and those 3 things have always been my most favorite things to do and this hobby embodies all that as well as video and audio transmission and receiving which to a nerd like me is bliss. I've learned more in this hobby than I have with any other hobby ever. Wait until you get up and flying and then add an OSD or something like that, the on screen display makes you feel like you're in a fighter jet...it's amazing. Hope your parts come in soon, there are lots of good people on this site who can help you through all of it. I work on computers all day so I'm able to respond, and type, quickly if you need anything.

 

[helloman1976]

Helloman, that was a really nice and interesting reply. Thx.

So a 12 gauge battery wire can allow too much power going to the BEC? Because of its lower resistance?
The Bec is supposed to eliminate too much power going to the FC and the ESC's. You see I'm scratching my head already.

Oh Hi, Stauntonflyer. I didn't see you there. LOL !

Nevertheless,

Your 550 electrical blowup in the air must have been spectacular.

I ordered two 4s LiPo's from AMP. They should be in the ballpark. Still learning to more closely match power supplies to power consumptions. I learned how to wire them in parallel if I want. AMP's Hyperion charger was ordered too. Still nervous about having LiPos stored in the apartment while I'm away at work. I'll need to be very careful about how I manage my LiPo's.

Would like to see the short video of your craft battling the turkey vultures. LOL

I ordered a few Deans connectors and they're the ones with a big added surface to make them easy to pull apart with your fingers. Only for the battery of course.

I appreciate your encouragements. I really do. Thanks.

Best, Rob

"So a 12 gauge battery wire can allow too much power going to the BEC?"

No, 12 gauge wire to the BEC is fine and plenty big enough but 12 gauge wire to your main PCB connector that you'd connect your batteries to that would drive all your motors would be too small in my opinion. When my wire melted it was shocking and seeing molten hot pieces of wire fly at me was insane. The craft fell to the ground and bounced, luckily it was on grass and it came straight down from maybe 10 feet so no damage other than a busted prop when it hit a big branch.

Deans connectors on 4S batteries are like putting a head phone jack on your ccar battery. They are way too small, way too hard to work with especially with 4S battery packs that come with 8 gauge wire. You're going to want to use XT90 in my personal opinion. I used XT60 and I had to do magic to get them onto the 4S battery leads. Lipo batteries only get dangerous when they are overcharged or overheated or too much power is drawn through them. Lipo packs when overcharged or overheated become molten metal flame throwers that will throw molten lithium about 3 feet in a solid beam of fire. They also produce noxious gases that will do major damage to your body in that case. Go on YouTube and watch what happens when they get too hot, people have demonstrated this by putting a Lipo on an oven and heating it up and filming it. Simply storing them in your apartment should be just fine but I'd still put them in a "Lipo safe bag".

The charger you ordered is WAY too expensive and is over the top in my opinion. I use a 400W Turnigy MEGA V2 charger and charge at 20A with 4 x 4S 4,000mah batteries which takes about 56 minutes to charge in balance mode. I ordered the following power supply and charger below and saved TONS of money and they work great not to mention I'll be ordering another set of these as well.

Power Supply
http://hobbyking.com/hobbyking/stor...w_100_120v_Power_Supply_13_8v_18v_30amp_.html

Charger
http://hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idproduct=17422


Let me know before you buy anything else my friend, hoping I can save you hundreds if not thousands of dollars.

 

[RobertsUp]

Thx, Helloman,

I'm a little confused here. I intended soldering the battery wires to the correct spots on the power distribution plate. And then I thought that the BEC ought to be soldered to those same spots.

So do the ESC's get their power from the BEC or from the power distribution board. The ESC's power the motors don't they. Hmm. The motors don't connect to the power distribution plate.

So 8 gauge wires soldered to the power distribution plate and meant to be the direct battery cables is best? You've got me scratching my head again.

As for the charger, $110 doesn't seem excessive for something with good safety features and which can accommodate future growth of needs. And it doesn't need a separate power supply. It's not the Hyperion top of the line expensive one.

helloman your help is invaluable and now I wonder if our talks ought to be carried on in a different thread on a different board. I think this thread might be distracting from the intent of the newcomer's introduction board. Even though I bet many newcomers introducing themselves have learned a tidbit from it.

There are lots of newcomers introducing themselves. The hello from the left coast thread has become too big for it imo.

Best, Rob

"So a 12 gauge battery wire can allow too much power going to the BEC?"

No, 12 gauge wire to the BEC is fine and plenty big enough but 12 gauge wire to your main PCB connector that you'd connect your batteries to that would drive all your motors would be too small in my opinion. When my wire melted it was shocking and seeing molten hot pieces of wire fly at me was insane. The craft fell to the ground and bounced, luckily it was on grass and it came straight down from maybe 10 feet so no damage other than a busted prop when it hit a big branch.

Deans connectors on 4S batteries are like putting a head phone jack on your ccar battery. They are way too small, way too hard to work with especially with 4S battery packs that come with 8 gauge wire. You're going to want to use XT90 in my personal opinion. I used XT60 and I had to do magic to get them onto the 4S battery leads. Lipo batteries only get dangerous when they are overcharged or overheated or too much power is drawn through them. Lipo packs when overcharged or overheated become molten metal flame throwers that will throw molten lithium about 3 feet in a solid beam of fire. They also produce noxious gases that will do major damage to your body in that case. Go on YouTube and watch what happens when they get too hot, people have demonstrated this by putting a Lipo on an oven and heating it up and filming it. Simply storing them in your apartment should be just fine but I'd still put them in a "Lipo safe bag".

The charger you ordered is WAY too expensive and is over the top in my opinion. I use a 400W Turnigy MEGA V2 charger and charge at 20A with 4 x 4S 4,000mah batteries which takes about 56 minutes to charge in balance mode. I ordered the following power supply and charger below and saved TONS of money and they work great not to mention I'll be ordering another set of these as well.

Power Supply
http://hobbyking.com/hobbyking/stor...w_100_120v_Power_Supply_13_8v_18v_30amp_.html

Charger
http://hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idproduct=17422


Let me know before you buy anything else my friend, hoping I can save you hundreds if not thousands of dollars.