Hello everyone,
A while back I posted a Turnigy HAL Hexa build which unfortunately was a disappointment. Wrong motors, too heavy...short flight time and weak engine mount design. I took a breath jumped back in with this Tarot Ironman 650 Quad build.
Specs:
- Tarot 650 Quad with cheap plastic landing gear (notice wire holding the spread.)
- APM 2.5 FW 3.1 with old integrated compass Ublox GPS. with Moongel anti vibration mount
- Mav link radio and power module
- NTM 3536 910kv with 13 x 4 HI carbon props -
- plan to upgrade to Tiger Motor MN3510 -13 700 kv for longer flight times
- Luminier 30 amp esc with SimonK
- Turnigy 9x v2 mode 2 radio control
- RCTimer brushless gimbal with Alex Mos control board...still tweeking settings - GoPro Hero 3 Black
- Fatshark 250 millwatt FTP with CCD killer Cmos cam (cam is ok not great)
- Foxtech 32 channel diversity FPV monitor - LOVE IT!
- Flight Gross Weight 90 oz / 2550 grams
- Red LEDs on the front arms and white on back for evening flying
I could not get the AMP 2.5 CompassMot below 45 (yet!) so I set it for compass "Learn" did a series of figure eights landed and turned off the "Learn" compass setting. I was then able to get a decent loiter without the dreaded toilet bowl effect. I plan to raise the APM a few centimeters further then I think I can accomplish as low Compassmot. At the test video location we routinely get 10-12 satellites on the GPS.
A Future Motor Upgrade will be to Tiger Motor MN3510-13 700kv motors.
The orange ball is styrofoam from craft store with 1/2 inch balsa tail boom. This feature has been a HUGE success in aiding orientation! I highly recommend this on any multirotor.
I have been doing the testing with 3s 5000ma 40c batteries but recently switched over to 5800ma 4s 25c batteries and I'm sold on 4s. The quad seems so much more "locked in" and tight on the controls. It flew fine on the 3s but had a feel like a 1969 Chrysler Town and Country station Wagon...On 4s its like I just placed it in the air and it doesn't move until I tell it. I can now use the stick expos to dial it in for the style of flying such a soft and easy without having to change the PIDs.
The only change I need now is to upgrade the ESCs to the Turnigy Trust 45amp with SimonK I have left over from the Hexa.
Below is some pictures and two test videos, the second complete with the ubiquitous cheesy music. The first video you can see the gimbal not keeping up to the quads yaw rotations. In the second test series I've got it much closer but now need to do so additional tweeking and so more vibration dampening.
Quadcopter Aerial Camera Platform 1st Test Flight from A&R Video on Vimeo
2nd Test series with gimbal from A&R Video on Vimeo.
Replies
SHouldnt the red be on the back and white on the front, just like everything else, cars, trains etc :)
The LEDS have been removed and I'm going to standard aviation flight colors of Green on right, Red on Left, White at front and back.
I am running almost the exact same thing, Ironman 650 quad with RCT Gimbal. Looks good!
What kind of flight time are you getting on the 13" props? I am getting over 12 minutes on APC 12X3.8 taking out 4000 mAh per flight on my 4S setup.
Hi Jonathan, I'm getting about the same flight times as you with the new Tiger 3510-13 700 kv motors. I use 4s 5800ma that I use. I'm very conservative and end flights at 3.75 volts per cell. I will be putting it back into the air this weekend and me testing the new Tarot 2D Gimbal as the RCT gimbal is shot after bad landing. I'll post some new pictures and flight times, hopefully new video too.
The update includes switching to a FrSky TX module and RX. and a separate 3s 850mah battery for the FPV and Gimbal. So the weight is getting up there at around 100 oz.
Do you have any links to the Tarot IronMan 650 build guide? I did not receive one with my frame... Thanks :)
Sorry Oliver, I do not have any build guides to refer you to. I put it together from experience from other aircraft. Most stuff from China is very poorly documented.
Thanks Andrew. I managed to get it together but the landing gear design is pretty poor... doesn't fold completely flat but eh, it'll do! Thanks again for getting back to me.
Cheers,
Oliver
I agree the Tarot landing gear is way too flimsy. I'd accept double the weight if it were secure. Folding is never an issue with me. Folding ones multirotor is asking for failures to occur later when something comes loose and you miss it or the structure starts to get loose during flight.
I did put the Tiger 3510-13 700kv motors on WOW sooooo smooth and much better flight times. Plus I dropped down to 30 amp Luminier ESC w SimonK still using same 4s batteries and 13x4 carbon props.
I had an incident and the RCTimer Gimbal got damaged and getting the tiny parts is impossible. I have since added a Tarot 2D gimbal which is working well.
I also now fly a QAV 540G from Luminier and it is a much better frame and very compact. I put a NAZA M V2 on it and it is now my go to bird for Line of Sight aerial video acquisition.