YAY, First Multirotor Build!!!

[pootman]

Hello All,

I've been flying rc for quite a long time now and I've always had one eye on FPV but never took the leap. *Then I found some terrific videos made with multirotors and I knew this would be an awesome platform for my FPV/AP endeavors. *I also love tinkering and learning new technologies. In fact, I enjoy building my helis more than I do flying them (also, because they're so freakin hard to fly)!

Another reason I'm building a multirotor is for my daughter's school. *Her school does alot of video production with the children and have made some nice videos. In watching some of these videos, I've noticed some high and wide angle shots that were taken from a rooftop on top of a ladder. *This seemed risky and I thought an aerial video platform would be the perfect solution. *I brought up the idea with the head of my daughter's school and he was very excited about the possibilities. This also helped justify the investment with my wife!

So this is what I've done so far.... READ READ READ. Man, there's a ton of info on the forums and I'm still trying to sort out all the info I've come across. *I've also bought a HK frame and their control board as a "first try" quad. *Here's the motors and ESCs I'm gonna try. Just took a guess at the weight and doubled it for required thrust. Hope it flies!!!

Motor
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=8621

Prop 9x5
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=11332

ESC Plush 25amp
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=2163

As for my FPV/AP bird, I'm planning on an octocopter with a HoverflyPro and a Photoshipone's mkTR camera mount. I've bought the frame (Rusty's Rev-8 frame w/ 5/8 round aluminum tube arms) and the mkTR camera mount. I haven't bought the control board, but the HoverflyPro seems like a really nice board. I've also looked at the mk board and it also seemed nice but much more complicated than the HFP. Being so new to the game, I'm leaning toward the HFP for it's simplicity.*

Here's where everything gets fuzzy for me. Sensor add-ons for the control board (ex. GPS, Power Distribution, OSD, etc). The other item I'm not grasping is FPV setups, mainly TX/RX selection. Best types of antennas and freq bands? *How to setup a good ground station and how to power everything? *These are just some of the questions swirling around in my head. So I apologize for some of my basic/dumb/obvious questions that will surely follow my building progression. *Also, I really welcome advise and pointers during my build.

I'm currently out on the road and should be home by the 7th. *Hopefully I'll have my motors and ESCs for the HK quad when I get home. *I should also have the camera mount and Rusty's frame to work on. Can't wait to get started!!!

pootman

 

[Droider]

Being so new to the game, I'm leaning toward the HFP for it's simplicity.

Read some more on this.. I was going down that route for the exact same reasons, seemed simpler and there was an instruction book I could read!.. Went for MK in end and am very happy with it.. It looks really complicated but its aint that bad once you commit to it and slowly find your way around it.

Dave

 

[pootman]

Weird, not sure why there's an asterisk in front of my sentences.

Droider,

Yeah, my control board is definitely up in the air (no pun intended). On the one hand, the HFP looks really easy to set up. But, if the gps add-on costs as much as the price that's been thrown around the forums (price not officially announced) then that brings the price of a HF setup close to MK setup. However, I'm a little leery about some of the reports of MK's customer service issues. Is there a large difference in stability between the MK and HFP boards? How about reliability between the two? One of my concerns is that if I use this octco for my daughter's school then I want a very reliable machine since it'll be near children (obviously I won't fly right over anyone's head).

pootman

 

[pootman]

I finially got home from work yesterday and spent the afternoon putting together rusty's frame and mkTR camera mount.

As a side note, my mkTR camera mount was missing three spacers (bummer) and I emailed Photoshipone around 4pm PST about it. To my amazement, they responded within the hour and shipped my parts out this morning!!! That's great customer service.

I still need to cut down the aluminum arms, but here's some pics of the build so far. If anything looks wrong, please point it out!

Also, I'm still on the fence on which FC to use. Either the Hoverfly Pro or MK's control board. The MK seems overpriced for the entire setup (especially the power distribution board and BL-controllers).

As for the motor, I'm thinking about using the Avroto 2814-11s with Plush 40Amp ESCs.
http://montorc.com/M2814Shaft.aspx

 

[Droider]

Now thats what I call a hanger... both the workshop and the Octo! what length are those arms...?

As for motors I like the AXI stuff but its expensive. The Avroto seems to be growing in popularity..

Seems you have a few projects on the go at once, guess its best to be busy!

DAve

 

[pootman]

Thanks Droider,

Yeah, my wife thinks I'm crazy and in need of therapy. As for the arms, I still have to cut them down. I was gonna wait till I get the motors and props (I ordered the Avroto motors) to cut. My plan is to simply slide the motor mounts inward, with motors and props attached, until I had about 1/2" clearance between prop tips.

I'm reading a lot more on MK controllers, but find myself still on the fence on which controller to get. If I go with a MK controller, I would really like to use their power distribution board with their BL-Controllers. But the price is hard to get over. I'm giving it time to soak in, I guess. I may go with one of those converters, can't think of the exact name at the moment, that allow me to use regular ESCs. But from what I've read, if I go that route the motor reaction time slows a bit. I guess my main question would be: What are the main advantages of MK over HFP? If I got with regular ESCs, and slower reaction times, on the MK setup then would I be defeating the advantages of going with MK over HFP?

pootman

 

[Droider]

Pootman where on the globe are you?

 

[pootman]

I live in Goleta, CA just west of Santa Barbara.

 

[Bartman]

pootman,
i'm in the process of building an eight rotor with an MK stack and std ESC's. i should have it flying in a couple of weeks or sooner so i'll let you know how it works out.
the benefit of MK is the GPS/Navi option that is actually available and works great. with the GPS/Navi there are a number of functions you can take advantage of depending on what you're trying to do.
i've never tried the HoverFly stuff so I can't vouch for how it flies but my MK Okto 2 has been flying for seven or eight months and I've still never touched the flight settings.
Bart

 

[pootman]

Thanks Bartman. I'm looking forward to your report. It'll be interesting to hear whether the MK BL-Controllers are worth the money or to just stick with standard ESCs.

 

[Droider]

I live in Goleta, CA just west of Santa Barbara.

Ahhh HY1, Monteray and the Hoggs Breath!.. Surfing at Pismo and sleeping on the beach.. Glory Days

Sat hi to the big P for me its along time since she wetted my toes!

Glad Bartman stepped in with his thoughts.. thought I was the only one trying to push you down the MK route..

Dave

 

[pootman]

MK Shopping List

Well, I've been swayed toward a MK FC. I started compiling a shopping list and would like to know if I'm ordering something I don't need or, more importantly, if I'm missing something I do. So here's the list so far...

1 x Flight-Ctrl V2.1 ME (SMD preassembled)
1 x Navi-Ctrl V2.0 (SMD preassembled)
1 x MK GPS V2.1 (SMD preassembled)
1 x GPS_SHIELD_11
1 x MK USB

***Not sure if I'm going with MK's BL-Controllers since it adds so much to the total cost. Although, I've been approved (wifey) to do so if needed!! ***
1 x Okto XL power distribution board V8
8 x BL-Ctrl V2.0 (SMD preassembled)
2 x Aluminum ESC Cooler for MK (4 per package)
1 x Arctic Silver Premium Silver Thermal Adhesive

I've been reading a lot on how to build MK's setup and the more I read the more complicated it seems. I do love challenges though. I will just have to take a deep breath and proceed cautiously. With the amount of money MK stuff cost, I feel as though I'm buying a nice laptop, opening it up, and taking a soldering iron to it!!!

pootman

 

[Droider]

Not sure if you have seen this but its a good to read how a newbie did it. Reece2 is a member on here and a blood good photographer. He wrote his blog which has helped many take the step

Dave

https://sites.google.com/site/mkokto2/home

 

[Droider]

I have the GPS shield.. Not sure I would use it on my new build as it makes getting at the sd card slot a pain. If you have room under your dome you could extend the mounting posts to lift the GSP higher, but I dont. I think in the northern hemisphere there are plenty of uncle Sams sats not to warrant it..

Dave

 

[pootman]

Thanks for the blog link. I came across it earlier going through another thread. I read the entire electronics section and most of the other sections too. I also went to the MK's wiki site and read as much as I could. Might just be me, but their site's explanations on the build seemed to assume that the user already has a good basic knowledge base (i.e., not me).

Rubber standoffs: Should I get the shorter 8mm ones or the longer 15mm ones? 15mm is around 6in and that seemed a little long for standoffs. I noticed that all the MK electronics stacks are built right one top of each other. My Rusty's frame has several levels and I was wondering if it would be OK to separate the components to the different levels. No biggie if that's a bad idea, I'll just reduce the frame levels to what's required for the MK build.

BTW, I'm following your troubleshooting thread on your Y6 and the yawing problem. Hope you get it resolved.

 

[Droider]

150mm is 6" 15mm is about 3/4"

I use the 15mm rubber standoffs on top of 15mm nylons to get my FC up0 above the BL distribution board.

I can post up some pics if you like

Dave

 

[pootman]

Doh, typed in the measurement into my converter wrong. That's what I get from trying to think late at night while typing on my iPhone with my hotdog fingers.

 

[ovdt]

pootman,

we're on the same ship; just one month ago I was a century far from RC world. I wanted to enter to the multirotor world, and here I am. I was asking exactly the same questions. When you get the electronics, you'll figure out most of the thing by yourself if you've read enough.

The most hard and important part for me was not building the mikrokopter but the calibration and software adjustment part. Again, I've never flown a RC thing. Learning how to fly this things, and making it stable was very challenging for me also.

I've built:
a QuadroXL kit from mikrokopter
Droidworx AD6-HL with MK electronics
CC board with my custom (and also very sluggish) frame

You'll have great time while building your kopter.

The most important lesson I learnt: Use a hard doom protector, always always always.

I liked the frame and the arms you used.

 

[pootman]

HK Quad's Flying

ovdt,

Holly molly! 3 birds in one month! That's a lot of building and head scratching. I can't wait to get started on the octo, just have to wait a week or so before I can buy my parts. However, I did manage to get the HK quad flying today. It seemed really straight forward except for arming the FC board. Couldn't find the info in the instructions so I played around till I stumbled across the answer. Full left rudder. Anyhow, here's a few pics and a short video of the HK quad. I don't know how to embed youtube vids, but here's the link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NoxI9ITvcKE

pootman

 

[pootman]

Getting ready to cut the arms.

36" motor to motor 3" prop clearance

I'm getting ready to cut the arms to length. Is there a suggested length for MK boards? I just eyeballed it and it's 36" motor to motor with 3" prop clearance. Would that be OK?

pootman