Lipo batteries and Multicopters, is there some that work better than others? Best?

[BumbleBeeTuna]

Yeah the DJI settings are fine if you are flying line-of-sight and you can see that flashing light but I don't want that anywhere in my view since I use an OSD regardless. IOSD is ok, I use Eagle Tree everything and they rule as far as I'm concerned.

I don't fly an F550 anymore, I've had several since then but right now I'm flying basically what you have. I have a 30" hexa with Sunnsky 700kv 28 size motors running on 5S, total weight with batteries is around 8lbs. I can squeeze about 15 minutes out of these crappy Zippy Compact packs but I should get 20 minutes. I'm only getting about 4700mah out of 7400mah advertised on the packs. I'm probably going to go for the Turnigy Nanos as they seem to have good reivews across the board. The GenAce are expensive.

I like carbon fiber blades for 2 reasons, they are stiff and they are light. You don't want any flex in your blades or you are losing efficiency. If you can't go any bigger for sure go to multiple blades. The fewer the blades the better though but there's only so much room also. The P-51 used to have 2 blades, when they got the big monster 1500hp motors they went to 4 blades because otherwise they'd need 15 foot blades for a 2 blade setup to get the same thrust ...soometimes you just run out of space.

Same here on the Nano's, heard they have been doing pretty good. I'm looking to pick up at least 2 more sets of batteries to run parallel, you got me thinking now on the nano's lol. Makes sense with the p-51 4 blade setup, im running 4014-380kv motors and i have plenty of grunt to spare. i found these http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-Set-Carbo...Control_Parts_Accessories&hash=item2c8af89ebd that iwas thinking about trying out with my triple prop setup because the dji ones are super soft! i think in some of my pics, you can see the blades actually flexing. if i go single prop, i was looking at these http://www.aliexpress.com/store/pro...-CCW-15inch-TM-15x5-CF/727137_1481341735.html but man, they're so expensive!

 

[helloman1976]

Same here on the Nano's, heard they have been doing pretty good. I'm looking to pick up at least 2 more sets of batteries to run parallel, you got me thinking now on the nano's lol. Makes sense with the p-51 4 blade setup, im running 4014-380kv motors and i have plenty of grunt to spare. i found these http://www.ebay.com/itm/1-Set-Carbo...Control_Parts_Accessories&hash=item2c8af89ebd that iwas thinking about trying out with my triple prop setup because the dji ones are super soft! i think in some of my pics, you can see the blades actually flexing. if i go single prop, i was looking at these http://www.aliexpress.com/store/pro...-CCW-15inch-TM-15x5-CF/727137_1481341735.html but man, they're so expensive!

I wouldn't go to a folding prop unless you had to for some reason, again it's about efficiency. You don't want any bend or flex in your props so you can get maximum output from them. If you can't go to a bigger 2 blade prop and you have the power then for sure 3 blades or 4 blades or whatever you can handle. You'll lose aerobatic performance but you'll gain stability and heavy lifting power, given your motors can handle the extra load of the multiple blades etc. Are we having fun yet? I love this stuff lol... Make sure you balance your props AND make sure you motors are balanced if you are looking for a vibration free shot. I like fixed cameras myself, I can't stand the gimbles because I like to fly hard and fast and that's just more weight to me.

 

[Rentakill]

if i go single prop, i was looking at these http://www.aliexpress.com/store/pro...-CCW-15inch-TM-15x5-CF/727137_1481341735.html but man, they're so expensive!

Same props I use, very strong and effective.

 

[BumbleBeeTuna]

I wouldn't go to a folding prop unless you had to for some reason, again it's about efficiency. You don't want any bend or flex in your props so you can get maximum output from them. If you can't go to a bigger 2 blade prop and you have the power then for sure 3 blades or 4 blades or whatever you can handle. You'll lose aerobatic performance but you'll gain stability and heavy lifting power, given your motors can handle the extra load of the multiple blades etc. Are we having fun yet? I love this stuff lol... Make sure you balance your props AND make sure you motors are balanced if you are looking for a vibration free shot. I like fixed cameras myself, I can't stand the gimbles because I like to fly hard and fast and that's just more weight to me.

Yeah, im looking more for stability cause i will be adding the gimbal later down the line. The motors are KDE Directs and ive stuck a micro v cam on board and so far, i got zero vibration. The motors run super smooth and come balanced from the factory, im worry free of the vibrations right now lol. I've got about 10 flights on my build so far and man, i love flying multicopters!

Here's the micro v cam ripped from a helimax 1si and stuck with some double sided tape to the gimbal plate :highly_amused:

if you look close enough on the left, i just notice, you can see a slight bend in the blades haha!

 

[helloman1976]

Same props I use, very strong and effective.

Sydney huh? I just got back from The Golden Coast, wow... We went to Brisbane and I am STILL very upset my multicopter was not able to travel with me. You guys is AUS have some of the best FPV opportunities I've ever seen in my life! Amazing there for sure and I got to surf, another plus. The FPV scenery there was pure heaven, I'm very jealous lol... Upload your videos to YouTube

 

[helloman1976]

Yeah, im looking more for stability cause i will be adding the gimbal later down the line. The motors are KDE Directs and ive stuck a micro v cam on board and so far, i got zero vibration. The motors run super smooth and come balanced from the factory, im worry free of the vibrations right now lol. I've got about 10 flights on my build so far and man, i love flying multicopters!

Here's the micro v cam ripped from a helimax 1si and stuck with some double sided tape to the gimbal plate :highly_amused:

Great idea on the camera.

I can tell you love AP so I'm only going to say this once lol, there's a LOT of extra weight on there that doesn't need to be there. Those retracts are nice but they look heavy, certainly heavier than carbon fiber tubes to land on. Do you do 3 axis AP or plan on it? That's really the only reason to have retracts. It's a super nice copter though for sure. Are these your first 10 flights ever or just on this copter?

PS - Is that a transmission or motorcycle jack your multicopter is on? lol

 

[BumbleBeeTuna]

Great idea on the camera.

I can tell you love AP so I'm only going to say this once lol, there's a LOT of extra weight on there that doesn't need to be there. Those retracts are nice but they look heavy, certainly heavier than carbon fiber tubes to land on. Do you do 3 axis AP or plan on it? That's really the only reason to have retracts. It's a super nice copter though for sure. Are these your first 10 flights ever or just on this copter?

PS - Is that a transmission or motorcycle jack your multicopter is on? lol

Haha, yeah, the stand is from Overdose Racing which was used for my RC cars. I just set in on there from time to time to test the retracts or when I leave it on display with the retracts up.

I plan on picking up this gimbal sometime next week http://www.hobby-wing.com/arris-zhaoyun-3-axis-brushless-gimbal-32bit.html

Will be using the 360 feature and would like the retracts to be out the way lol. The retracts are actually not that heavy. I lifted a pair of HJ retracts for the s800 and man, those are a heavy compared to what i got. Mine are from Aericalfreaks were meant for an F550 so the motors, carbon fiber tubes, and mounting plates are actually a bit smaller than those which are available for the s800. I actually need to pick up a set of longer carbonfiber tubes once i get the gimbal because it will for sure be touching the ground if i dont.

Its the first 10 flights on this copter as well as my first 10 flights on a hex. I have more than 10 hours of flying a phantom and a few micro quads. This hex is actually super easy to fly and i have no problem zipping around the skies with it . Can't wait to share some video's with yal