Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Louis on December 11, 2012 at 1:12am

I do not see any replies here, did you get some ?

How did you mount the apm in the end ?

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Shane Hopcroft on January 3, 2013 at 4:40am

I am also interested in this. I was using the diydrones 'Bixler/SkySurfer Electronics Chassis' with my APM 1.4, but after a catastrophic 'landing' which destroyed the APM I need to upgrade to the APM 2.5+.

Unfortunately, I don't see how the APM 2.5 (top-entry or side-entry) will fit in the space provided in the diydrones chassis. Have I missed something here?

It would be great to see how other people are mounting their APM 2.x boards in their Bixlers. In particular, has anyone mounted it in the diydrones chassis? Any suggestions/photos would be appreciated.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by James on January 3, 2013 at 5:59am

take a look my mounting here, it doesnt need any chassis.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Shane Hopcroft on January 4, 2013 at 3:00am

Thanks

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by ronbow on January 14, 2013 at 4:25am

I bought the chassis for my Bixler2 and I am pretty happy with it.

The chassis was not made for the Bixler2, as evidenced by the curved gap underneath and the fact that the backplate sticks up too high, but it is a solid fit. The chassis slips into the nose and could not possibly come out in flight. the backplate lays flat against the foam. In theory this is where you would put the small but strong magnets that come with the chassis. I have read reports of the magnets interfering with navigation, so I just use a couple rubberbands (not pictured) around the fuselage to hold the back down.

 

 

- all components are held in place with velcro and/or rubber bands

- the APM is on the bottom tray, inside the fuselage. I have side entry pins. Top entry would probably work, but might be tight

- the uBlox GPS is too big for the shelf provided, but I don't think it will be a problem to have it hang over the front (have not flown it yet)

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Shane Hopcroft on January 18, 2013 at 5:39am

Thanks for the detailed reply, ronbow - that helps a lot. The pictures are especially helpful. I will use the DIYDrones chassis as it seems to be a neat solution after all.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Christiaan van Vollenstee on January 18, 2013 at 5:48am

I cut out the one side wall of the mounting where the usb is and drilled new holes.

 

And with your probs you get these round plastic fittings, I use these as spacers otherwise the apm 2.5 bends.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by AlanGP on January 18, 2013 at 6:20am

Hi,

I am very interested in this thread, since my APM2.5 will go into a Bixler 2.

Having seen ronbows reply, I might use my existing bixler APM 1 chassis as a template and make a bespoke Bixler 2/APM2.5 chassis. In Germany we can get sheets of 3mm "craft" plastic, not ABS and not polypropylene but some polymer in between. The advantage is that it can be cut out easily easily with a craft knife and the edges sanded down. It is easy to make interlocking parts, which produce a rigid frame. If it works I will post details.

Alan

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Jerry Hatrick on January 18, 2013 at 3:12pm

I mounted my apm2,5 onto the floor of my bixler 2. I simply cut a piece of foam to cover the hump on the floor and give me a flat bottom, then velcroed the Apm on the flat bottom. I places the receiver above the battery at the front, the GPS on the outside on top of that, and the esc on the side wall next to the apm. In order to fit my fpv gear/have better access, I cut a hole in the side under the wings and have my fpv battery, osd and wiring to my tail mounted video tx. Fits really nicely and perfect weight distribution. I did cut an extra air hole in the top of the chassis though because I found my battery was blocking the bottom air hole, and I don't want my esc to overheat.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by ronbow on January 20, 2013 at 2:39am

That reminds me... using the chassis that I showed above moved the CG forward significantly. I compensated by moving the battery (2200mAH 3S) back and I had to cut down the hump in the floor to get it where I wanted it. I just chopped at it with and exacto knife until there was a section even with the floor wide enough to put the batt. I placed a long strip of velcro on the floor and now I can move the batt from the nose back to the plastic screw pole, as the CG requires.

 

We maidened the setup last Friday and the Stabalize function was awesome! It really helped level the plane in a stiff breeze. Truth is, we had trouble flying without it. We crashed twice (because of the wind) and the chassis seemed to hold the electroncs well and not subject them to undue impact. The last crash was because we got a bad angle to the wind and it folded the wings, breaking the carbon support spar. Guess we should have reinforced it like we've read in the groups.

 

Bottom line, we gained experience and confidence flying in a breeze. Now that I know we have the APM2.5 setup right and zeroed in, I will let it handle the gusts and turbulence. Landing in Stabalize mode is a breeze (pun intended).

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Manuel on January 31, 2013 at 4:02pm

Today I started my Bixler2/APM. It looks like that everything will fit inside the Bixler.... I have made a woodern box with the Jeti R6 Receiver inside and the APM2.5 on top. The GPS Module is in the "cockpit". Tomorrow I will finish all the stuff and then we will see if I can connect everything... ;-)

I will add some pictures as soon as I'm finished.

• ▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Manuel on February 1, 2013 at 12:40pm

And here are some pictures:

http://www.hangkantenpolitur.de/2013/01/neues-bastelprojekt-ardupil...

• ▶ Reply