Trying to put together a quad and need some help on part choice.

[jerrytheberry126]

I am trying to put together my first drone and have put together some parts on Amazon. If there is anyone out there that can help me figure out what parts to buy for this drone that would be AWESOME! 

 

What I am Trying to build: I am trying to build a DIY drone that is multipurpose. I am planning to dip my fingers into fpv but at the same time want it to be very customizable. 

I have a frame picked out that I am going to 3d print. I think this frame is best because of its portability and I can probably figure out a way to put in a camera so it is a win-win in my book.

But here are the parts that I picked out:

Motors 

 

Power Distribution board & flight controller

Speed Controller

Radio

 Fpv goggles

 

Battery

 charger 

frame

props

Fpv camera

Vtx

 

receiver

 (I have a Tevo taranchula that I am going to print it out on in PETG) 

Any Feedback on my part selection would be AWESOME because I am not an expert at this just yet.... or even Amateur. 

 

Ps: I thought that the Mavic form factor might be a fun thing to do but the frame does not have nearly enough room to fit everything so I am going for a 5-inch frame. I have also updated a lot of components in the list (seems like most everything.)

 

[Enderman]

3d printing something that will repeatedly crash is a bad idea.

Get a carbon fibre frame or cut one out using a waterjet from a plain sheet.

[jerrytheberry126]

Well, that's good to know and all... But What do you think of the parts selection? I geared this post more to Making sure all of my electronics work together

 

[Pixel5]

a few comments on the selected parts.

 

Speed controllers seem very old, opto ESC´s with BLHeli were used like 5 years ago, i dont know if there is something newer at the moment but this stands out to me.

the props are WAY too big for this frame and for the motors you selected, for this kind of motors you want small props because it runs on high RPM´s.

 

beside this it seems fine but is missing a camera and transmitter for FPV.

[Daysy]

Spoiler

12 hours ago, jerrytheberry126 said:

I am trying to put together my first drone and have put together some parts on Amazon. If there is anyone out there that can help me figure out what parts to buy for this drone that would be AWESOME! 

 

What I am Trying to build: I am trying to build a DIY drone that is multipurpose. I am planning to dip my fingers into fpv but at the same time want it to be very customizable. 

I have a frame picked out that I am going to 3d print. I think this frame is best because of its portability and I can probably figure out a way to put in a camera so it is a win-win in my book.

But here are the parts that I picked out:

Motors  Flight Controller Speed Controllers Radio   Fpv goggles Battery Battery charger  frame props (I have a Tevo taranchula that I am going to print it out on in PETG) 

Any Feedback on my part selection would be AWESOME because I am not an expert at this just yet.... or even Amateur. 

Firstly welcome to the hobby! 

So I'll do my best to give you some help on each part you have chosen.

 

Frame - as others have said 3D printed frames will break easily but I say if you want to do it then go for it.

I do think though that the mavic clone style might make your build a lot more complicated than it needs to be, something more of This Style will be much easier to build out and get in the air.

If portability is really of a big concern for you then perhaps look into the 3" class of quads

 

Motors - The ones you have chosen have a standard size and KV for a 5" drone,  but without a way to load up the STL I don't know if they will fit on that Mavic frame (they will definitely fit a 5" frame though).

Also that brand isn't one I have heard of so I get the feeling the quality might not be the best.

 

Flight Controller - Don't buy that one! it's designed to run brushed motors on a drone that would fit in the palm of your hand. 

This FC is in a similar price range and I use one myself, but with this you will also need a Power Distribution Board Like this.

For a few dollars more you can get One of these that has a PDB built in and gives extra features like being able to overlay battery information onto the video feed, which would be my recommendation

 

ESC'S - I don't see a problem with those, they are definitely not on the cutting edge but they will get you in the air.

One thing to watch out for though is that, in my experience at least, when they fail they are likely to bust into flames which could be a problem in a 3D printed frame

 

Radio - I have a QX7 myself and love it! They are fast becoming the new standard in the FPV community.

One thing you haven't listed is a Radio receiver.

 

Goggles - no problems there I have heard good things about those

 

Battery - that thing is HUGE, most people will fly 1300 or 1500mah on a 5" set up, I would also recommend going straight for 4S rather than 3.

The other number you want to look out for is the C rating, in short that is a measure of how hard you can work the battery and for a quadcopter you want to be looking about 70C+

These would be a popular choice

 

Battery Charger - That one should be fine although you will out grow it quickly if you get deeper into the hobby

 

Props - those are far too large. I have no idea what size props the mavic frame takes but as I have said I few times 5" is the most common size for FPV drones.

These are my favourite, you will see they are listed as 5046 for the size, the 50 = 5" and the 46 refers to the pitch, the higher this second number the harder the props will work your motors.

Prop motor esc balance is a topic you can talk on for hours but with the motors and esc's you are using I wouldnt recommend going over 5046 and a 5030 or 5040 might be better for your setup 

 

I hope that this is of some help, if I can help you any more just ask

[jerrytheberry126]

@Daysy Thank you for being such a help on this adventure!

 

It seems as if when I was putting these parts together I was having a bit of an identity crisis with this drone... So I have changed A TON of my parts.

I have a new flight controller (wondering if that is a decent choice as far as features are concerned) 

I have a fpv camera transmitter combo, I am not sure if I should buy a better receiver separately and just buy the camera for 5 bucks cheaper or not. I am also wondering what the power situation is there. 

I have decided to go with your batteries because... Those a huge and expensive anyways and would probably ground my drone...  

I am also wondering what your input is on the new 4 in 1 speed controller I have found. It seems to be highly reviewed. 

Does the PDB board look like a good choice? 

Also, there is a bunch of random stuff that You should probably look over again. 

 

thanks for the help! 

[Hackentosher]

I don't know if the hobbywing FC works with non hobbywing 4in1 ESCs. The whole point of that ecosystem is you just plop the FC on top of the 4in1, bolt it down, and it's all connected. I suggest changing your flight controller to some other F4 board, perhaps the Piroflip f4 osd. Also you don't need a pdb if you're using a 4in1 esc. A pdb is used if you have individual ESCs on each arm. I like to do it this way because if one esc burns up, you can replace just one instead of four. I recommend the Spedix 20a if you're using a 2205 2300kv motor. 

 

For a frame, absolutely get something carbon fiber. Even experienced pilots crash all the time, and what makes fpv fun is you can get right back up and keep going (on lighter crashes). Maybe get a Space one frame as they are pretty affordable, or a QAV-X is a common first frame. If you're willing to spend more, I highly recommend something with a warranty like the Armattan Chameleon, or Rooster, but those are both $100 frames. 

 

You don't need a VTX and a VTX combo unit. I would get a foxeer arrow micro, (the $20 micro cam from foxeer) and print an adapter if needed for your frame. Then for the vtx, get either an RDQ Mach 2, or this one. They're basically the same thing, just a different form factor. 

 

Don't forget batteries, and don't get just one or two. Get four if you can, and I suggest the CHNL 1300mah 4s packs in 70 or 100c. Good luck, welcome to fpv. 

 

Also there's a multirotor thread in this subforum with a few active members with a lot of experience. Feel free to ask questions there as well. 

[jerrytheberry126]

Now that my parts are mostly finalized, any thoughts on the flight controller board + the pdb and escs? That I am not so sure on 

[jerrytheberry126]

Welp..... there goes my bank account.... I will see you on the other side