Having had my curiosity peaked by a recent DIY Drones post, I decided I would go ahead and purchase the Turnigy Integrated PCB Micro-Quad from HobbyKing, along with all the accessories necessary to complete the unit. As seems to be quite often the case with HK, when I finally put in the order, the Turnigy motors were backordered, as were the motor mounting bolts and nuts. I decided to order what parts were available, and seek to source the deficiencies elsewhere. Shipping for two kits (my nephew and I are each going to build one) was $29 CAD, which seems a little steep, in my opinion.
I found a supplier for what appears to be a compatible motor (Suppo A1504) and I exchanged emails with Garret at Altitude Hobbies. I have put my name on the four he had in stock, and asked him to hold another four when it gets them in. If others are considering building the Micro-Quad, you might consider getting in touch with Garret regarding the Suppos if you don't want to wait for HK to get their Turnigy units in.
The objective of this build is to get a little practical experience with a multi-rotor with a modest investment. Undoubtedly, the initial payload will include the HK HD Wing Camera, which is the same one used in the Yachats video posted a while back. For the price and weight, you just can't beat the quality of video it produces.
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Still waiting for my parts. Last entry on the Swiss Post was JFK on 21 March. Hoping to see the order sometime this week. Keeping my fingers crossed. al...
In response to Chris Reinhardt's question above, I received the kit parts this past Friday, and the distance between motor mounts is 156 mm on centre. The props supplied are 125 mm, so if I have done my arithmetic right, you have 31 mm to play with between prop tips. Please let the group know what you're thinking with regard to prop size and motor.
I will write another blog post with pictures and descriptions of the parts received, but the short version of that is that they look great. Beautifully made, well packaged, carefully shipped and a great price.
Following this thread.
I also bought the kit after seeing the post on DIY Drones and was able to get the recommended HK parts with it. I just built a Bixler drone with APM and Im planning to move to quad/hexa copters next so it might be a while until I can built this kit. Im looking forward to learning from your experiences.
Chris, Alfonso -- yes my plan to provide regular updates as the project comes together, and share what I learn about the kit and the multi-rotor platform in general. I will be happy to do the measurements re. the 6" props for which you've asked as soon as the kit shows up. I'm undertaking this build with my adult nephew (we've each got a kit) so I can relate to having a partner to work with on the project. Thanks and best regards...TCG
Hi Terence & Chris: I ordered the same kit from HK and got confirmation on shipping this morning. I was lucky the night I ordered since I was able to get all the parts from HK. This will be my first quad and looking forward to flying it with my 12 son. He was pretty geeked when I told him I ordered it. The overall concept of the quad looks simple to build. For me it is better to get a kit to learn from then build something different. I see a lot of really cool stuff on diydrones. I also recently go a ARM2 that I will integrate once I get the hang of it. Well, good luck and have fun. Al...
Hi Terence, nice to see someone building this. I hope you will update with more pictures as you progress.
I want to order one too, but I'm considering getting slower motors with larger props. I'm wondering if it would be possible to fit 6 inch props instead of the suggested 5 inch ones. If my limited knowledge about quadrotors is correct, it will be less aerobatic but run a bit longer. The drive calculator I'm using agrees with me :) Plus, slower motors will be more useful to me for further projects...
Could you maybe take a measurement of the distance between the motors? Thanks :)