Hello All,
This is going to be my first experience building a quadcopter (for that matter an R/C flyer). I have so far ordered the following items:
- 3DR quadcopter frame.
- 850Kv motor + 20A ESC + props from jDrones (3DR did not have any of these in stock for almost a month)
- Aurora 9 transmitter + Optima 9 rcvr
- I am waiting for the APM2 board to be back in stock.
I have been through this forum for a long time now (2+ mo) reading every single post, read the Wiki on the arducopter, looked at a lot of forums, videos, instructions etc. There are some questions that I still have and would appreciate if one of you can enlighten me on them.
1. There has been some mention about the Aurora 9 having detention point on it's sticks and this could pose a problem for the quad control. Other than this, is there anything that I need to watch out for/ modify to make this work with quadcopter.
2. I have read in numerous places that a 3000mAh Lithium-polymer should be a good starting choice. Is there a specific brand that is recommended. Any specific reason between choosing Turnigy nano-tech vs regular or Zippy vs zippy compact (all these are at HobbyKing). What would be a better charger to select?
These are my boundaries when it comes to making a decision on purchasing the batteries / chargers.
Yes price is a factor but it is also true that if you pay peanuts, you get monkeys. So I don't want something that will last me only a few charge cylces, perform only under a small windows of temperature conditions. But I don't want something that is the latest and greatest out there. Somewhere in the middle for someone who is going to stay in the field of R/C for a while (couple of years as I see it today)
I want a good, reliable charger. I read in one of the forum posts that iMax B6 is not so good and iCharger 106B is a better one. Is there any reason not to consider HobbyKing's ECO4-S?
Forgot to ask the most annoying question of all. Given all this and a suggested LiPo, how much of a flight time can I expect out of this quad?
Appreciate if one of you could help me clear my questions and I really do hope APM2 comes back in stock soooooon.
Replies
Thanks Arashi, I finally got my components except for the "Great APM2.0". The only deviation was that I got a Turnigy A-6-10 200W as opposed to the HK model since it was out of stock.
Here is a comparison of prices that I did as I bought my stuff (Assuming it will help other newbies).
1) You probably won't even notice the Aurora9 issue if it does exist on your radio. If you do, send it back under warranty or apply a fix http://www.rcmodelreviews.com/aurora9issues.shtml
2) I like the Zippy 5000mah 3s 20c batteries for $27. I've abused the heck out of them and they still fully charge. The nano-tech are just heavier for your purpose. Higher c rating comes with a weight penalty. The 20c doesn't even get warm. I regularly fly with the same motors you are using and (2) 5000mah batteries. It is a little sluggish, but stays in the air for 25mins. I looked at all of the battery options yesterday and ended up ordering some more of the same Zippys.
3) Charger. The eco4-s is designed to slow charge 4 batteries at the same time. It will only charge a 3s at 4.5 amps max. You don't need that. You want to charge one or two batteries fast. I have the HobbyKing EC06 and it will charge one 3s at 10amps. That will fill a 5000mah battery in 30mins.
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__12105__HobbyKing_ECO6_10...
I usually use a parallel charging board so I can charge (2) 5000 mah batteries at the same time for convenience. They sell them with most types of connectors.
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__15237__Parallel_charging...