My proposed F550 Build. Any comments or suggestions are appreciated.

[Toxifera]

Hello out there, I will be building a new F550 as soon as my tax refund comes in and I thought I would run it by you guys to see what you think. Here is the list of parts:

DJI Flame Wheel F550 Central 2 Piece Platform
Six Extended Aluminum Arms From ReadyMadeRC
Six Tiger Motors U3 700kv
Six Castle Creations Multirotor 35 ESC's
Three Graupner eProps 12x6 CW
Three Graupner eProps 12x6 CCW

DJI Naza-M V2
DJI iOSD Mk 2
Boscam TS832 5.8Ghz Tx
Futaba R6208SB Rx
DJI Zenmuse H3-3D Gimbal
GoPro Black Edition HERO 3+
Airy Mini Camera (Rear View)
Two MaxAmps LiPo 12000XL 4-cell 14.8v Battery Packs

Futaba 8FG Super Tx
Boscam RX-LCD5802 5.8Ghz HD

Here is the results from eCALC Multirotor:

 

[Toxifera]

I changed the LiPo size for more flight time.

In the above thumbnails the first one is with two 5450mah LiPos, and the second is with two 10000mah LiPos. I will go with the latter.

 

[LeeT]

I have a very similar set up to what your proposing, except motors. I need to replace my motors as I have added quite a bit of weight with the aluminum arms, FPV equipment and gimbal. I plan to move to something bigger, and go to 4S. I'll probably move up to Sunnysky V3508-20.
I am assuming you plan on flying one 12000 mah battery at a time. Comments -

I think you are underestimating your weight. My AUW is 3kg, and you will have more equipment, heavier batteries and motors than I do.

I think your motors are overkill. Run the specs on T-motor 3520, 3110 series in ecalc, noting flight time and cost per motor difference. Also note the difference in flight time between 12 amp, 10 amp and 8 amp batteries. MaxAmps are good, but expensive batteries, and for the additional money, you might not be getting that much more flight time.

You need 3.7 or 7.4 volts for your receiver, so you will need a BEC.

Consider getting a RX with more channels. I have 9 channels used on mine.

Since your using DJI for you FC you might want to think about using their TX and ground station equipment. Beware though if something goes wrong with your equipment their customer service is abhorrent. (I sent my gimbal in for repairs in early December, and still haven't got it back, and no idea if I ever will.)

I did not see goggles or a monitor for your ground station.

What is the purpose of this multi rotor? These things are purpose built. Think of it as a boat - you wouldn't want to water ski behind a 50 foot cruiser or fish off a ski boat. I can be done, but typically not the best use of the boat.

Is this your first multi rotor? If so you should consider getting one of the mini quads to learn on. You really don't want to start out on a $2000 machine. Everyone crashes. It is better to do it on a small inexpensive quad.

 

[Toxifera]

I have a very similar set up to what your proposing, except motors. I need to replace my motors as I have added quite a bit of weight with the aluminum arms, FPV equipment and gimbal. I plan to move to something bigger, and go to 4S. I'll probably move up to Sunnysky V3508-20.
I am assuming you plan on flying one 12000 mah battery at a time. Comments -

I think you are underestimating your weight. My AUW is 3kg, and you will have more equipment, heavier batteries and motors than I do.

I think your motors are overkill. Run the specs on T-motor 3520, 3110 series in ecalc, noting flight time and cost per motor difference. Also note the difference in flight time between 12 amp, 10 amp and 8 amp batteries. MaxAmps are good, but expensive batteries, and for the additional money, you might not be getting that much more flight time.

You need 3.7 or 7.4 volts for your receiver, so you will need a BEC.

Consider getting a RX with more channels. I have 9 channels used on mine.

Since your using DJI for you FC you might want to think about using their TX and ground station equipment. Beware though if something goes wrong with your equipment their customer service is abhorrent. (I sent my gimbal in for repairs in early December, and still haven't got it back, and no idea if I ever will.)

I did not see goggles or a monitor for your ground station.

What is the purpose of this multi rotor? These things are purpose built. Think of it as a boat - you wouldn't want to water ski behind a 50 foot cruiser or fish off a ski boat. I can be done, but typically not the best use of the boat.

Is this your first multi rotor? If so you should consider getting one of the mini quads to learn on. You really don't want to start out on a $2000 machine. Everyone crashes. It is better to do it on a small inexpensive quad.

Hey Lee,
Wow, thank you for your input and all the info. I have done quite a bit of lurking around the forum and have tried to learn as much as possible. I was going to run the two 12K packs at one time for the extra flight time, is this a mistake? I know I am underestimating my weight, I need to add everything up again. I will go over it and redo it.

I realize the U3's are pricey, but they have really good features and seem to be more industrial, but I will go and evaluate your suggestions.

One of the ESC's has a BEC, I can use it for the receiver.

I was thinking of getting a Futaba 14SGH and a R6014HS receiver, would it be a better choice?

I have heard tha Boscam is a good brand and that it does not interfere with electronics. The RX LCD5802 is a 7 inch monitor/two antenna receiver for the FPV transmitter on the Hex. The monitor attaches to my transmitter.

I am opening up a small aerial photography/cinamatography business in my local town and will be doing it for real-estate offices and any one else who has an interest in a different perspective.

This is my second multirotor, I had a small quad that I became quit proficient and board with.

Thanks again Lee, I appreciate your advice. Feel free to give me some more :nevreness:, Have a good one.

Eric

 

[Toxifera]

Hey Lee,
I added up the weight of all the components again and ran the figures on eCALC Multirotor with the U3 setup, here is the result:

View attachment 17654

I took a look at the specs for the 3520 series and unless I am mistaken the largest is a 400kv and the smallest prop recommended is a 15 inch. That would be too large for the extended arm setup, wouldn't it?

I also looked at the specs for the 3110 series, they seem well built with the over-sized bearings, but once I ran the numbers in eCALC it didn't provide as much additional payload as the U3 does, the flight time was comparable though. I also realize that I would save about $50 per motor, but I'd rather have the extra payload ability. I also looked at the 10 amp ad 8 amp batteries(I couldn't find a 12 amp), and the flight times were not that different. I might consider getting the 8's. I was also going to mention that the U3's are dust & waterproof, this is an issue for me because of where I live(at least the dust is). I live in the high desert.

I was curious, between flight time, mixed flight time, and hover flight time, what is the actual flight time a guy can expect from a setup such as mine with say the 12 amp LiPo's? What do you usually get?

Is it hard to balance a multirotor? I did take some classes a few years back in aviation maintenance and remember a little about how to distribute weight properly on an aircraft and a heli, but we didn't work with anything like a Multirotor.

I also had another question, you never said that you had a business, but if you do what do you do about insurance?

Thanks again for your input,

Eric

 

[LeeT]

I am an amateur AP enthusiast. Looking at your equipment, your clearly going top of the line with everything. I would suggest you do a cost benefit analysis to determine if you really need to spend the extra $, especially since you are starting up a business. I ran ecalc on my hex, changing over to T-motor 3509-20, 4S 10,000 mah batteries. My hover and mixed flight time is 19 minutes. You'd reduce your motor cost and battery cost by going that route for the same or better flight time.

Also you want more than one battery pack. I carry three around which currently gives me close to 25 minutes total flight time (hence the need to repower). Of the 25 minutes I end up with a video 3 - 4 minutes in length.

As nice as the U-3s are you will still need to periodically oil the bearings, and replace them at some point, although you will probably go longer than the MT series.

The H3-3D is not yet in stores, so you may need to wait till they are released. The H3-2D are not a direct bolt on to the F550, so I would assume the H3-3D is not as well. You might want to consider checking out the Aeroxcraft landing gear and camera mount. They run about $150 US. They have a very good following, and I plan to put them on mine as I keep breaking the DJI landing gear.

The number of channels you use is up to you, I use the following:
Cyclics - 4
Flight mode - 1
IOC - 1
Throttle hold 1.
Fail safe 1.
Aux - 1 (turn on LEDs)

As you can see 8 channels gets used up in a hurry.

If your VTX is more than 25 milliwatts, to be legal, you will need a Ham radio technician's license. (Although some folks don't bother, and it doesn't seem to be an issue for them). It took me a couple of weeks of studying and then I took the test.