Official thread of Satisfied builds or great RTFs to praise?

[TooManyHobbies]

Any Satisfied builds or great RTFs?
_________

Hi guy's.
We recently stumbled upon a great forum and love it (here)!
I just came back into flying multi-rotors and helis this year (2012).
I had a few days of experience in 2005 and also sat looking at a downed .60 size gas Kyosho heli for years.
Life is short, so we would like to start a thread on the stuff that works.

At times, I read the forums until I fall asleep, or watch Youtube videos of Multi-rotors.
Some Youtube users are not on this forum and just use Youtube to record a flight or build.

Ok...
So, after reading in the different manufacturer sections, I noticed that not a whole lot of users are totally satisfied or they are confused with what they have been sold.
By this, I mean that I seem to see that everyone wants more!

Are there any users out here that can testify that a product they bought or kit actually a good build for the average flyer?
I can see spending a good $750-$1500 on the machine and another $500-800 on transmitter, FPV, OSD etc.
My first week I almost bought a GAUI 500x RTF, found this forum, and stopped in my tracks.
The main point I am trying to make is that we want to fly a lot!

My nephew looks at me, saying is there anything that works the way they thought it would?
Why do they need so many aftermarket things?
Now the parts won't sync well with that controller.
He just lost his flight times to under 10 minutes.
His FPV camera weight just sucked the capabilities out of that nice build.
Look at that video jello!
OMG, he paid $$$, and his FPV (first person camera view) goes out of range!
Awe no, his new motors just are overpowering his factory frame!

These are the comments/questions I hear, and it's depressing.
I hope I don't sound like a jerk, but we are new to this again and it is overwhelming.

Is it time for a custom RTF build, just to get to a better flying machine without all the headaches?
Can you super duper nice people persons show us your satisfied build?
-Name the whole build or show it off in a video.
-We'd love to get a feel for what is working for people "in numbers".

 

[RTRyder]

For a good complete setup that works any of the DJI kits with Naza controller are a good start. They're simple to build and come complete except for battery and radio gear and it would be hard to piece together an equal multi from off the shelf parts for less cash.

Here's a little video from a GoPro stuck on the front of my DJI F450 Flamewheel kit the first day I had it in the air...

Here's something a little more advanced, a DJI Naza controller on a Droidworx AD6 frame with a 2 axis camera mount for a GoPro underneath...

Of course if you have the budget for it, the Mikrokopter kits are good flying machines but can be an intimidating build if you're not familiar with using soldering irons and assembling electronics. Here's an example of what you can do with one...

So it really depends on what you want to do with it, a multirotor can have quite a few uses from simple bashing around the backyard, to sport flying in a big field, FPV with googles, aerial video and photography, aerobatics, etc. What I would buy and build is based on how I'm going to use it, the DJI F450 is great for beginners and for FPV use. My Droidworx AD6 has had a number of different flight controller setups on it and has been used mainly for aerial video work. Many of the "RTF" kits from China and Taiwan I wouldn't waste my $ on as few have actually come close to living up to the hype that preceeded them, DJI seems to be an exception.

For serious APV work there really aren't any kits that come with everything, it's more up to the pilot to buy the frame and outfit it with their electronics of choice which has traditionally been Mikrokopter and recently the DJI Wookong-m has become a viable option as well, the other option is to spend big $ and have it delivered as a turnkey ready to fly setup. The APV setups tend to run into some serious amounts of $ but can produce some really nice results like this done with my Cinestar 6...

If you stick with it long enough eventually you'll find that you have a few different multirotors each for a specific purpose and usually by the time you get to that point you know what works and what doesn't. Following various sections of the forums helps a lot as well.

Ken

 

[Tomstoy2]

Good idea.

There is a lot of good stuff out there and a lot more garbage. You really have to keep in mind that all of this is new and in it's infancy still.
The main idea behind this forum is to sort thru all this stuff, find what works and warn what doesn't and to help others when they hit a brick wall.

I'm new to this stuff, too. I do have 3 builds under my belt now, so I'm moderately versed in what a pain it can be to sort thru all this mess.

My first build was a Gaui 330xs. As an airframe, it was ok, but I found the gu344 controller severely lacking. Revolutionary in it's day. That day was long ago in a fast growing field.

After that, I discovered this forum and did a lot of homework.
The first thing I learned was to decide right off what I wanted my next build to do.
It's easy to throw money at a project, but you need to have a goal, and do your homework.
For me, the second build was pretty much what I wanted the first build to be, but now armed with a little experience I was able to achieve what I believe was what I expected to be.

For me, sport flying is out. I'm a heli pilot, so I have a fleet to fill that need.
What I wanted was something that I could take some video with, stability and trust into the system.

It's so very true that most arf builds really don't go very well. This is due to that the guy who makes the frame doesn't make the rest. Maybe he wants to do the right thing, but doing it right also includes a high price tag so the business plan gets revised.
More often, the guy is just out for your cash with minimal investment into robbing you.

In my short time here I've seen the later happen here a few times, but the moderators are quick to catch them and rule them out. Got to love that.

So, thru homework we soon come to realize what works with what and can gauge what to expect.

For my second build I did this.
http://www.multirotorforums.com/showthread.php?1907-My-Hexa-WKM-FPV-build
The results of which I have been very happy with!

The 3rd build is still in progress. It was from the free FW450 kit I got with the WKM.
Currently I'm trying out my fy91q system on it, this is one I would never recommend. So, in the future a Naza is in it's future.

To try to recommend to someone what to spend there money on, all I can recommend is to;
decide what you want to accomplish,
research your components,
decide on a budget.

 

[TooManyHobbies]

Ken,

Yes.
Multiple multi-rotors...
I second that!

As for different jobs with different machines, we know what you mean.
ATVs, supermotos, dirtbikes and crotchrockets, we've owned quite a few at the same time and used them for their unique qualities.
The same goes for the whole firearms world and the various manufacturers.

The nephew is starting out with the DJI 450 kit I guess.
They just bought him a Gopro hero 2 for the school trip to Colorado skiing.
You know where that camera is going next!

He has my Blade MQX for bashing, and will be off to the DJI f450 (I think) expecting real long FPV times and distace.
Me,...
I'm lost between a DJI f550 hex, X/A 550 hex, X/A possible v8, a rustys build that I can buy off a RTF builder or other.
I'd like to go with the FPV neighborhood cruise and goggles.

The future Aerial cam build will be of my own fingertips.

 

[Kilby]

If you are looking for something that just works without much fuss, you really can't do much better than the F450 DJI. The XAircraft stuff has a pretty bad history of not working as advertised. If you go to their main thread over at RCGroups, you will find about 1200 pages of dissatisfied customers bitching up a storm. I bought an X650 v8 myself and ended up having to gut everything but the frame. Huge waste of money, but a great learning experience.

 

[kloner]

I'm extremely happy with my first go at it. started off with a bone stock dji 450 arf on 4s with a gopro/immersion 5.8 600, cloverleaf along with a set of graupner props and a kick *** magnetic blade balancer. Most important part of the jello, props. most important part of fpv, the antennas. most important part of having power to carry it all, 4s.

And that could keep a guy busy for a while, but i'm already diving in to get more range. using better rx antennas, 433mhz tx, etc. it's hard once you get a taste to not want to go further than a couple thousand feet this one was doing in the vid