I got the ardupilot + oilpan w/ gps, stuck it on my own frame with 750KV motors, along with hobbyking's 18-20A ESCs. I got everything running, but the flight was a disaster.
I was thinking in getting a frame I know has been flown before, the question is what to get?
Should I go with a quad or hexa?
Outside of the carrying capacity being higher on a hex (and the flight time probably lessened), what are your thoughts?
Also, is a 4 ch tx/rx sufficient? Or do I need to go for something more?
I figured I'd get something running, then work on debugging my current frame, and eventually have more than 1 device flying.
Thanks for your input!
Replies
Hey Daniel! The flight time on a hex will not necessarily be shortened. As long as the frame is kept as light as possible the only extra load will be the weight of the added motors and ESCs', which is insignificant in relation to the gain in overall thrust. In fact, most Y6 frames use less parts than quad frames. Also consider the fact that because you are not significantly increasing the weight with a Y6, over a quad, the motors will not draw as much current as they would with a quad setup. The motors simply are not having to work as hard to provide static thrust for a hexa as they would for a quad.
For example, I recently used an 11.1V 8000mah battery pack my quad that only gave me about a 15min flight time. The same battery pack on my hexa yielded a 20min flight time. Both the hexa and the quad use the same motors and ESCs'. Just my opinion
They sell the quad frame only (sounds like what you want) for about $170 at store.diydrones.com, they are out of stock (surprise) but jdrones probably has it (takes about a month to get the order from jdrones).
I also like Jakubs frames at at http://quadframe.com/, i have his tri frame and really like the quality. He ships from Polland so it takes one to two weeks for shipment but worth the wait.
A 4 channel radio will fly the copter fine but only in one mode, stabilize being the default mode. To enjoy other modes (auto, loiter, alt-hold, etc.. you will need more channels.
Hex/Octo vs Quad... As you said, besides higher carrying capacity i think the main thing is you can lose one motor and still land. A quad or tri if you lose a motor you pretty much flip and crash. Oh yeah, they are a bit more expensive as well but they are so cool, i almost want one for that reason :)
What was wrong in the flight? I had similar problem at the very start, and many problems happened because the props were mounted in the wrong way.