How to mod a Multiplex EasyStar
I was reminded by the Pict'Earth guys last weekend that one of the best all-purpose planes for carrying cameras, GPS recorders and any other sort of equipment you want to test is the Multiplex EasyStar, a virtually unbreakable powered glider. Because it's made of elastopore foam you can carve out the equipment compartment to carry pretty much anything you want, and the same foam protects everything in case of a "hard landing".
EasyStars are available for $54 without the radio equipment. This post is just a quickie to show you what else you'll need top make them good UAV platforms.
Although the kit comes with a brushed motor, I suggest you upgrade to a brushless so you can carry heavier loads with ease. This motor is a perfect fit and has power to spare. I matched it with this ESC. As always, you'll want Li-Ion batteries if you can afford them. An 11.1v, 2200 mAh pack will allow you to fly for more than half an hour under power. A 6x4 prop fits perfectly
For a radio, almost anything with six channels or more will do. The EasyStar has compartments pre-cut for servos; the HITec HS81s fit them best.
Finally, here's an important point. With the more powerful brushless motor, you'll find that rudder is really too small to be effective. You need to make it bigger to increase its "authority", which both helps in more extreme moves and at slow speed. The easiest way is to glue or double-sided-tape two business cards to the rudder. Here's a picture of one such mod (I didn't bother to trim mine as neatly as this guy did):
Once you've done all that you can shove all manners of cameras and such in the equipment area. If you don't want to carve holes in the bottom, you can always just bolt a camera to a bit of wood and strap it to the top, like this.
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Comment by John_NY on January 11, 2011 at 10:20am -
@AndreB -- I used a 3 blade prop on the advice of Jason Short, because of the sound ("bzzzzzzz" vs "wopwopwop")
http://diydrones.com/profiles/blogs/multiplex-easy-star-uas
http://www.diydrones.com/profiles/blogs/my-ardupilot-projects-status
It's the biggest prop you can stick on the EasyStar without cutting the tail off or moving the motor mount. I think the prop size is maximized for extra lift with a large payload. The throttle doesn't have to be on "full power", and the motor power is also a factor.
Basically, I copied some recommendations and took some advice.
-J
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Moderator Comment by Sgt Ric on January 11, 2011 at 10:29am -
@Andre B.
Some prop manufacturers suggest moving down 2 sizes when going to 3 blade, others do not.
It only stands to reason that you are able to move more air with the 3 blade vs. 2 blade.
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Distributor Comment by Martint BuildYourOwnDrone.co.uk on January 11, 2011 at 10:41am
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Comment by Andre B. on January 12, 2011 at 11:28am -
Thank you so much for your answers. I got my parts together and made my first order. On my way to my first drone ;-). I have one more question regarding the prop. I only got a regular 2 blade prop (not designed for pushers). What do i have to do? Do i mount the prop from the other side or do i have to change the direction of the motor and mount the prop the regular way?
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Comment by DaveyWaveyBunsenBurner on January 12, 2011 at 11:38am -
Turning the prop about face will not work, you could reverse the motor but it would probably be very very inefficient aerodynamically. For the relatively small cost, just buy a suitable pusher prop!
Regards
D
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Comment by Andre B. on February 10, 2011 at 12:17am
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Hello again,
i am still waiting for my parts to be shipped. I totally stayed with the recommendations of chris but there is one thing i would like to ask. I want to gather everything together when the parts arrive but there is no information on hk regarding the length of the cables. Did you have to extend the cables between the engine and the esc? Or between the esc and the batteries? (According to the easystar manual the cables seem to be pretty long) And if you did so: Which diameter did you use? And what is the size of the bullet connectors which seem to be already soldered to the motor?
thank you so much,
andre
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Distributor Comment by Martint BuildYourOwnDrone.co.uk on February 10, 2011 at 1:06am -
Hello Andre,
There are two distinct crowds when this chat comes about, I fall into the battery leads stay untouched group. If you do a Google search on this topic, it rolls on for many, many pages!
So to save on some reading, I would recommend the esc to motor wires are extended. This is how I do it and to date I have encountered no issues, however I expect there will be others here who extend the battery wires and will post to say that their way is the best option and they have also not had any issues!
Regards
Martin
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Comment by Andre B. on February 10, 2011 at 1:15am
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Hallo Martin,
thank you very much for your time! I understand that –like always- there are different ideas for this. I think i will try your method and extend the motor wires. Which cable diameter did you use? I would go for 4mm and 4mm bullet connectors ...thanks again
andre
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Distributor Comment by Martint BuildYourOwnDrone.co.uk on February 10, 2011 at 2:01am -
I used this cable for my EZ*, it was a tight fit in the bullet connectors (4mm) but I knew that there would be no way I could pull more that 25A form my ESC, if you have a more powerful ESC you may need to look into another wire.
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Comment by John_NY on February 10, 2011 at 10:39am
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I extended my ESC-to-Motor wires to make a cable extension for each of the 3 wires. To make each of these 3 extensions, I twisted together 2 pair of 18 AWG wire (harvested from a computer PSU during a conversion to a laboratory power supply) and soldered them to 3 extra pairs of Hobby King bullet connectors. I have 6x 18-gauge wires running through the EZ* body, for which I needed to cut some wider channels through the fuselage.
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