I have just finished building my first quadcopter.
My specs are,
Frame: Turnigy HAL Quadcopter
Motors: NTM Propdrive 35-30 1400kv
ESC's: Turnigy Plush 60A ESC
UBEC: Turnigy 5A Max UBEC
RX: Spektrum AR6255 6Ch. RX
TX: Spektrum DX6i
Flight Controller: HK Mega Pilot 2.5 with Arducopter 3.0.1 firmware installed.
Battery: Zippy 4s 5000mah 40c Lipo
I know that this flight controller may not be the best for a newbie but its what I wanted to use and I thought I could handle it. So far this build has been a sucess. I have sucessfully flown this quadcopter. The first flight was with no PID tuning. So I started working at getting the PID dialed in. I ran into a problem when I wanted to control the Rate Roll/Pitch values with my radio. The DX6i does not have a pot on the fifth or sixth channel but I figured out a roundabout way to still use it. But when I flip my channel 6 switch none of the values seem to change all the time. The FC seems to have a mind of it own as far as what the values should be. For example say the minimum number is .1 and the maximum number is 2.1 when the switch is in the maximum position the rate should say 2.1 and when the switch is in the minimum position the rate should be .1. However the rate is almost always wrong rate roll may say 2.1 while rate pitch may say .1. I have never gotten any numbers inbetween the max and min values when I vary the endpoints yet my green bar in the radio calibration menu is moving. I know that my fight controller is a clone of the original 3DR board but it was all I could really afford. If anyone could help me out I would really appriciate it. Its soooo close to flying yet there is this one little bug. Is it the flight controller, is it missionplanner, or is it my radio system? My radio has been calibrated and the green bar for channel 6 is moving properly.
Thanks
Jonathan
Replies
Hi Jonathan, I probably can't help with the radio issue but I am using the Turnigy H.A.L. frame with some old stuff I got off Flea Bay. I am running 2212 1000kV motors with 20A SimonK flashed RCTimer ESC's. Two parallel 3300 3s packs and the props are 10X4.5 slow flyers. I am not sure you are going to be able to tune that setup with 4S packs and maybe not even with 3S packs unless you go to some really small props (1400kV is way up there). My setup is WAY WAY TOO MUCH power even with my GoPro Hero 3 hanging on the bottom in it's protective case. My throttle mid position (THR_MID) is as low as it can go (300) and I would like to lower it just a tad more. Again, way too much power and I have only 1000kV motors running on 3S. My only option is slightly smaller props. I have just been living with it because it is amazing in loiter and RTL, it loiters as good as and lands better than any NAZA machine at our field and I hate messing with something that is flying.
I am not nearly as good as some of these guys and maybe they can tell you of a way to tame all that rpm. I will be following to see how it turns out. The H.A.L frame is a tad heavy but real tough and solid. Good luck!