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The Drone/Quadcopter Thread


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Any interest in quadcopters here?

 

 

I was sucked into this hobby about an year ago and find it to be really amazing. It is very easy to get into, especially with a background in gaming. I have built three quadcopters from scratch and bought two ready-to-fly. Here is a picture of my custom built ones.

 

Here is a sample video I shot from one of my quadcopters a while ago.

 

Would love to answer questions if any one is interested.

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Intriguing. Mind sharing some more details?

 

Sure! After whetting my appetite with a Cheerson CX10 and a Syma X5C, I wanted to move to a hobby level drone. DJI Phantom were just way too costly, mostly in terms of spares and maintenance. Browsed sub-reddits related to quadcopters and realized that it is actually not that hard to make one.

 

Here is what you would need to get in:

 

1. A Transmitter (Tx) and Reciever (Rx) system - This will control the quadcopter. Can be had from $35-$2000 plus. My first one was a $45 affair, a Turnigy 9X. Since then, I have upgraded to a Taranis 9XD Plus.

 

2. Quadcopter frame - This will be the base on which all the electronics will be mounted. Market is overrun with cheap Chinese clones like ZMR250. The 250 here stands for frame size. In the picture I posted in the first post, from left to right, it is a 450 frame, 330 frame and a 250 frame. 450 frames are used for aerial photography, using GoPro. 250 frames are used for racing and acrobatics. Here is a video of the master of acrobatics, Charpu.

 

3. Flight Controller - Smaller frames use simpler FC like Naze32 (approx $16). Larger frames can have APM or DJI Naza FC's which feature GPS, Return-To-Home, Hold Altitude etc.

 

4. Electronic Speed Controllers (ESC) - These are the ones that convey the instructions from FC to the motors. You need one for each motor, so a quadcopter will need 4.

 

5. Motors - Pretty simple really. Depending upon the frame and payload, you can get the best rated motors.

 

6. Eventually you will want to add cameras (GoPro, Xiaomi Yi) and FPV cam, so that you can fly from the cockpit view. Here is a pic of my groundstation setup that I use to fly while using cockpit camera: http://imgur.com/a/jdxLz

 

All of these can then be assembled together with basic soldering skills. When I started, I had never held a soldering iron before. First assembly tool 3 nights. Second quad took only 4 hrs. Building these is even more fun than flying them.

 

Here is an easy breakdown of one of my builds: 450 Aerial Photography Build

 

 

 

@Satish: My very first Crawler is waiting to be delivered tomorrow. Working from home tomorrow so that I can get playing with it as soon as it arrives. A racing buggy will be next!

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the buggies are too good to drive especially if you have a local club and track.

the amount of wrenching for buggies can get to you sometimes,there is a national level event in hyderabad on 19 and 20 th of this month anyone is welcome to join.

that is some crazy pilot skills you got man

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Looks like he built a Naza or APM based quadcopter with GPS hold, Return to Home etc.

 

Yes, end of day, $140 is still high but you can bring the cost further down by picking up second hand components. I have saved quite a lot of money buying pre-owned stuff from RC Groups classifieds.

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Building these is even more fun than flying them.

 

 

Indeed that's so. But freakin' awesome dude. You should have a build log for things like this. Snapshot are various points of time, post them all. Good stuff

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Indeed that's so. But freakin' awesome dude. You should have a build log for things like this. Snapshot are various points of time, post them all. Good stuff

 

Thank you! I get so caught up building these things that I completely forget to take pictures of the build process. I think I only took pictures of my first ever build and posted them on Facebook. Uploaded them on Imgur if anyone is interested. Full album here: Imgur album

 

Some choice pics from the album:

 

All the parts neatly laid out

 

http://imgur.com/qIH30yX

 

ESC soldered on to the PDB

 

http://imgur.com/S6F9zvd

 

Took it for a spin in the middle of the night and promptly crashed

 

http://imgur.com/dbNfdlM

 

This is my second build on a 250 frame

 

http://imgur.com/YV320Aw

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how are those gensace??

 

Sorry I don't follow. What are you referring to?

 

 

Pretty cool stuff bro!

Will keep you in mind if sometime this fascination gets converted to hobby for me.

 

Btw.. Which is that place in the video. Seems awesome with woods and benches and all.

 

We would love to have more people get into this hobby. Here is a cool video to show off what kind of moves are possible: https://youtu.be/UvhLrgvfy0w?t=29s

 

The place is a secluded little part in New Jersey. It was a beautiful place to fly. Lot of obstacles to fly through and around and no crowds at all.

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the battery which you are using thats gensace right?

 

I am not sure, I didn't check. Will check tonight. Cursory glance told me it is a Ni-Cd battery. I plan to replace it with a LiPo. Have many LiPo's lying around but all of them have XT60 connectors and this uses a different connector (EC3).

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  • 3 months later...

M looking to buy one.. Like an entry model kinda thing just to see if i would be hooked on to it as much as i think i would.

The flyer's bay on flipkart seems good.

 

Budget around 1.5k.

If anyone comes across anything good, let me know.

 

Sent from my Le X507 using Tapatalk

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