Comments

• 

  Alexandre Heitor Schmidt March 13, 2013 at 6:36pm

  This Arming/Disarming of the trad heli can be tricky. I finally found the answer I was looking for! Channel 8 is the key in order to arm/disarm the heli! As I'm not using ch8, I lowered all the values (RC8_MAX = 800, RC8_MIN = 800, RC8_TRIM = 800). Now it works like a charm! See this thread: http://diydrones.com/forum/topics/arducopter-2-9-for-tradheli-discu...
• 

  emre ayvaz March 10, 2013 at 8:35am

  Hi Randy,

  In fact I decided to buy the APM2.5+. So I have a few questions written below;

  * there are two kind of frequencies 915mhz and 433 mhz. Which one should I buy and why? I am living in Turkey.

  * They have an option for telemetry. Is it just ensure me to see my helis info dring flight? I also have telemetry with my Spektrum DX8. May I use it and twin the telemetry data to my PC somehow?

  * Lastly, What may I need than this product, such as lipo battery any other sensor and etc?

  Thanks, looking forward to see your advise ASAP.
• Developer

  Randy March 10, 2013 at 5:29am

  @emre,

       A 700 is a big copter.   If you're not an experienced helictoper pilot you might want to start with a 450.  Simpler, safer and cheaper.

       One of the biggest problems people trying the trad heli face is brown-outs.  You need to keep the power to the servos separate from the power to the APM's main cpu.  So disconnect jumper JP1 and use a separate BEC to power the APM or use a BEC which has two outputs like the Castle Creations Pro CC.
• 

  emre ayvaz March 9, 2013 at 9:37am

  Hi there,

  I am in the era to buy an APM 2.5+. I have t-rex700 and 1.2ghz transmitter on it and my plan is to modify arduino's code according to my needs if I can. I just have the equipment that I can fly my heli and get the video recording to my PC.

  So my question; is it just enough to buy the products on the link;

  http://store.diydrones.com/APM_2_5_Not_Assembled_p/br-apmpwrkt2-tel...

  I also have some questions about that product:

  * there are two kind of frequencies 915mhz and 433 mhz. Which one should I buy and why? I am living in Turkey.

  * They have an option for telemetry. Is it just ensure me to see my helis info dring flight? I also have telemetry with my Spektrum DX8. May I use it and twin the telemetry data to my PC somehow?

  * Lastly, What may I need than this product, such as lipo battery any other sensor and etc?

  Thanks, looking forward to see your advise ASAP. Help this dummy :)
• Developer

  Randy February 20, 2013 at 7:05pm

  @emre,

      Personally, yes, i think the APM is the best for price/performance but I'm completely biased.  You'd be better off asking someone who's more objective and hopefully they'll agree.

       I've heard that the souce code is the most complex arduino program ever written.  Some people learn it within a few months and start making contributions so it's certainly possible but really it's up to how much time and effort you can put into it.

      Sorry for the vague answers.
• 

  emre ayvaz February 20, 2013 at 12:03pm

  @Randy,

  Thanks for your help. So Do you agree that APM2.5 is one of the best controller card about price/performance. Or should I search for cheaper solution for the same performance and availablities?

  Secondly, I know C and C++ but know a little about pic programming. If I buy this product, would it be possible to modify or add autopilot's source code in short time such as 4-5 months? Because it is also my master thesis subject. Thanks in advance.
• Developer

  Randy February 19, 2013 at 6:08pm

  @emre re trad heli autopilot,

       arducopter can turn a Trex700 into a uav including flying missions that you input through the mission planner.  You should be prepared for it to take a signficant amount of your time and effort to get it all set-up and flying well though.

       Once you've accomplished that if you want to extend it further you can either modify the arducopter software that is loaded onto the APM or you could possibly write software on your PC that sends mavlink commands to the APM to tell it what to do.
• 

  emre ayvaz February 19, 2013 at 3:18pm

  Hi there,

  I new joined here. I could only read few thing on the site. But I need to learn something fast. So I need some advise about a controller card for my Trex-700. my aim is to develop some software that manage my heli automatically, a kind of autopilot. So the problem is how can I product necessary command to direct heli according to my software analysis's result?

  Firstly I should buy I controller card and some additional equipments such s gps module, camera etc. But I need an advise about controller card that I can run my software on it and integrate gps module and other stuff with this card.

  Any advise? Thanks in advance.
• 

  Carl Campbell July 13, 2012 at 12:45pm

  R, Lefebvre,   I went and bought both and started building a quad to test also.  Thanks again for the suggestions.  I am really digging the Smoked Cases that are coming with the APM now.  They look "finished"
• 

  Rob_Lefebvre June 19, 2012 at 9:23am

  Carl, my statement about not being firefighter proof is 100% based on the mechanics. Helicopter mechanics is incredibly complicated.  The pilot is required to work with them almost full time to understand what's going on. It can't be reasonably expected to pull one out of a box once per month and have it "just work".  It won't.  No way.