Developer Comment by Mark Colwell on May 22, 2011 at 9:04pm

Can you review your HK frame, I want to get one, but I am a bit worried about wood frame. Was your frame factory assembled?

Comment by Naji Karim on May 22, 2011 at 10:40pm

Hi Mark,

The frame come half assembled. The four arms were assembled but I highly recommend that you put CA on all the points. Every thing else (landing gear, dome) need to be CA'd by you. It is not hard, and on the HK website, a user had posted some visual instructions that make thing easy. None of the mounting holes for the electronics match the AMP or Power distribution board, so I had to drill the mounting holes; I also had purchaed some plastic offsets to mount the APM and PDB . When I order mine I purhased two sets (I figured since I am just starting with quads, I would need spares). I have nothing to compare to, so I can not judge against other frames. So far, all looks good, but the quad has not been airborne; I just finished setting the electronics per the instructions.

This is not related to the frame, but I have used the auto ESC setup, but in my pre-flight test trying to hover  the quad is starting to rotate, so I am going to try the manual ESC setup.

 

If you decide to go with the same approach and need help, just drop me an email. I will eventually upgrade to a better frame, there are a lot of options out there...

Developer Comment by Mark Colwell on May 23, 2011 at 9:35am

Thanks Naji,

That's just what I needed to know. I will order 2 as well, at $15 per frame I can't go wrong. Is there any twist at motor mounts, due to al the parts? These need to be stiff and not twist. Did you CA whole arm?

Developer Comment by Mark Colwell on May 23, 2011 at 9:38am

Follow wiki for manual ESC setup, I think it is critical for best performance.

Comment by Naji Karim on May 23, 2011 at 6:30pm

The Arms do come CA'd but I went over them again since some parts were loose. With the regards to twist, I will try to take a short video of the quad with the motors running so you can judge the extent of the vibration. I did not balance the props so this might also contribute to the vibration.

Another minor note, you need to plan the location of the electronics before drilling the mounting holes. I probably would have placed things a little better (ease of access to the Deans connectors- and ESC plugs); but I can do that on the second frame. 

Comment by Brandon on May 23, 2011 at 7:41pm

I have the same frame from HK. I had a small crash in tall grass from about 3 feet (it didn't even hit the ground) and it broke the motor mount. I wouldn't recommend this frame at all. It breaks easy.

Comment by Naji Karim on May 23, 2011 at 8:45pm

Good to know Brandon. What did you end up getting for a frame?

Comment by Brandon on May 24, 2011 at 6:32am

I got a carbon fiber version of the frame from here. http://www.foxtechfpv.com/full-carbon-fiber-quadcopter-frame-p-197....

Comment by Naji Karim on May 24, 2011 at 8:27pm

Brandon,

I just finished watching you two videos- it looks good for first flight. You mentioned in your comments that you think leveling the frame might have help solve you initial problem. Can you share how you did that. I believe I might similar issues.

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