Affordable hexacopter frame?

Just finished shortly my new Flip FPV Pro build and I am already looking at the next build.
Since quads are fun to fly in calm wind, I sometimes wish for a more stable platform that can handle stronger wind , fly smoother and be able to carry a brushless gimbal underneath withouth too much fuss.

After a lot of searching I think I found just the hexacopter to fit the bill on the thanksbuyer website, the link is here

"Opened" and ready to operate hexa

Hexacopter in "folded state"

 
It costs 56.9 usd and looks nice for the price, it has folding arms, and better it comes with vibration dampening landing skid included in the kit(190mm tall).
At the beginning I didn't know much about thanksbuyer, but after exchanging some mails with them they are nice guys and they answer all my questions within 24 hours in good english, and that is a good thing for a chinese based website...
The motor to motor diameter is of 650 mm and according to their specs, you can fit propellers of  12, 13 or even 14 inches, of course using some lower KV motors from the 2212, 2216 and 2814 series.
I personally "booked" some 850 kv motors running 1045 propellers, 30 A ESC's and the multiwii 2.5 standard edition flight controller...
I already have a gimbal from my flip fpv pro gimbal version that I will fit to the hexa and the Flip I will use just for fun flying...Also I will fit on this hexa my Sony 600 TVL camera bundled with my 5.8 Ghz VTX to be able to get a bit more far away than just LOS flying.
I hope I will make a good choice and the quality of this affordable hexacopter frame will be as good as it looks :)
I will come back later with the build progress and a more detailed review of this hexacopter frame.
Take care and fly safe...
Update: 30.06.2014
After other build projects and family projects also, finally the hexa is completed...Please check my youtube movies below, and also the build log from the rcgroups forum.

Thanks



And now the pictures  :

Quite heavy. I could swap it for the lighter (~50 gr) DJI F series skid

Quite light - now it has only 4 arms fitted and no brushless gimbal.

My Flip FPV Pro on the scale :)

Original motors prop fixation system. I updated to the multirotor prop mount similar to the Sunnysky x2212 and similar

My new "old" project - the HJ Alien quadcopter

          Hello again dear friends,
Despite my initial plan to make a build breakdown for all the quad's systems, I will try to summarize it all in just this one post, since it was pretty straight forward to build and setup. Also since some subscribers from my youtube channel asked me for more pictures, I will post them also, below...
And since some of you might ask why the {new "old" project} in the title the answer is that this kit is back in the original box it came in, and all the electronics were transferred into my new Hoverthings Flip Fpv - Pro quad, which is my latest project, details to follow in a later post...

The sunnysky X2212 / 980kv motor-nice and smooth

Motor mounting using the kit's hexagonal bolts (4 for each motor)

The rear motors fitted

The 3 esc wires routed through the quad's arms

The Sunnysky motor prop adaptor(special motors for multirotor)

All 4 motors fitted on the arms

Top plate also fitted to check how it all binds together

My Crius AIOP V2 flight controller

All the parts needed for this build

Already modified/shortened the esc to motor wires

ESC fitted to the arm

The "spider web" connections :)

Rear side arm...ESC fitted with tie wrap underneath

Both rear ESC's secured...

LED's installed-highly reccomended

Red LED's in the back

Green props in the front orange in the back- not necessary

Wiring routing without distribution board

Finally all "closed up"

As conclusions, for the price of 29 usd, it's not bad at all and it can be used by any beginner...
The arms are not as bad as many people complain, but I never had original DJI arms to compare against.
Initially I used megapirate NG in my Crius Aiop V2 flight controller because it seem so cool to have waypoint navigation and the interface was nice...But I didnt like the way it flew and the countless hours I lost adjusting the PID values...Anyway, after transferring everything to my new Flip FPV I also tried Multiwii 2.3 and with stock PID's it flies better than any of my MPNG configurations, so I'm not looking back.
I suggest you guys install multiwii straight on and save lost time and frustration, not to mention the direct bluetooth connection that works from your laptop, tablet or smartphone...wicked :)
Again, please feel free to put any questions or share any ideas you had, and hopefully other newbies like I also was, will save time and find some usefull information here.
Fly safe and enjoy the below movie:

My 7 inch LCD monitor for FPV

Hello again,
I want to introduce to you a good LCD monitor suitable for FPV according to the specs, provided by Banggood.com, which you can buy from here .

The nice thing for some of you is that this LED LCD monitor has already a 5.8 Ghz FPV receiver included, so, normally you just need a FPV transmitter in order to work. Of course you can input the signal from your normal FPV receiver since the monitor has a 2 channel input selection, channel 1 for the built in receiver and channel 2 for the cable audio in video. Also it comes with a small hood, which might not be enough in strong daylight, but only suffice at lower light.The image quality was good with enough brightness even at 50%, so I think the specified 450 cd/m2 is achieved.
The specs are listed below and are according to banggood's information:
Screen size: 7 inch
Screen type: TFT LCD Screen LED backlight
Resolution: 800 x 480
Brightness: 450cd/m2
Contrast: 500:1
View Angle: 140/120degree (Horizontal/Vertical)
Working Voltage: 11.1V Li-po battery
Power Consumption: < 6w
Size: 170 x 110x 40mm
Working temperature: -10℃~+ 65 ℃

Working Frequency:
CH1: 5705MHz
CH2: 5685MHz
CH3: 5665MHz
CH4: 5645MHz
CH5: 5885MHz
CH6: 5905MHz
CH7: 5925MHz
CH8: 5945MHz

Features:
Built-in 5.8Ghz receiver
RPSMA Antenna Connections
Built-in 1CH 5.8Ghz AV output and 1CH AV input
Support 9 languages menu selection
The only let's say not great things about this LCD is that the screen is a bit reflective and that the connectors are not as in the banggood's website, but as you can see it in my below video, so please consider this when preparing your connectors ahead. 
I will do a follow up video showing it "in action" since people already asked me about the blue screen and the recovery time from that...I can tell you already it will go blue screen on heavy interference(low signal) and will recover fast...


What I liked:

• good price vs performance;
• good brightness
• good image quality
• FPV receiver included
• fast recovery after signal is lost

What I didn't liked:

• connectors not like in the product images;
• screen a bit reflexive

My new project: FPV quadcopter - the frame

THE HJ 450 frame with the top side sitting along

Following the introduction from the initial build post, let's move on to THE FRAME

Again, I choose this design over the classic one, because of the versatility of the TBS Discovery like frame… Assembling it was an easy task, but I suggest to use blue Loctite for the screws if you want to keep everything in place… You can see more in the pictures below…Anyway, I think that it would be a good idea to prepare your electronics aside the frame and plan on how to attach everything…

Also before mounting the top plate of the frame, I suggest to put in the flight controller, or at least to take a picture of all the connectors, pins and wires going to the FC for later convenience…In the below shot, I just formally installed the motors to check if the supplied screws match and everything works fine, and it did :)

 In the below picture, I just used a piece of foam pad that I had sitting around from a tarot zyx controller, and I will fit it under the Crius AIOP v2 flight controller to damped any vibrations from the motors...If you used anything better please let me know by posting your comment...
Currently my build is on hold since 3 out of 5 ESC's I ordered were dead on arrivel( 1 ordered extra just for this case)

 

 

After the ESC's will arrive, I will solder the bullet connectors, program them and resume my build...

Stay tuned for more to come...

My new project : HJ Alien FPV Quadcopter

Hello dear friends…

I don’t know if all rc heli fliers end up flying FPV multirotors or not, but it seems maybe as the next step in the hobby ?

Don’t know the answer, but I know that since I assembled my 450 heli, I tried to hang my smartphone to the landing skids and try filming the flight:)

Later on, after getting my Walkera Ladybird V.1, I was surprised on how easy an indoor hover is compared to a 6 channel genius cp, which is anyway a  very stable and smooth heli…I think that then, I had the “click” and decided on building a new quadcopter, a 450 size one, against my wife’s opposition

If you are into the quadcopters (or multirotors) already, maybe this info is not useful for you, but if you’re a newbie like me, figuring out all the pieces of this puzzle, then I hope that this info is useful to you…

So, it should all start, like any other project with your requirements: what should your new multirotor do? (quadcopter in my case?)

If you need a heavy lift platform to carry a heavy D-slr camera, then a hexa(6) or even a octo(8) platform is needed.

This is the list of parts I used in my quad project:

-frame : HJ MWC x-mode alien quadcopter 

-FC : the Crius All In One Pro V.20

-bluetooth : FC Bluetooth module

-Gps : - N-06 GPS receiver v.2.0

-UBEC : I choose to use and UBEC for powering the FC, I got this 3A one from here since the 5A version had much higher voltages then specifications;

-ESC : Hobbywing Pentium 30A ESC for quadcopter

-motors : Sunnysky x2212 KV980

-propellers:orange in the back same like my ladybird, hopefully will help my orientations;

-power : XT60- to 4 x ESC cables , instead of the power board used in standard quad designs, this is an direct spliced cable to power the ESC’s;

-various : foam sponge for FC mounting, white/red led stripes and spacers/stand-offs 

Off course, I already had 3S 2200 mAh batteries and balancing charger, a walkera RX-1002 receiver and my Devo 10 transmitter.

In my case a 4 motors(quadcopter) will fit my bill, and if needed able to carry a small camera for DVR purposes(maybe the 808 #16 V2), but also not be very expensive to repair a crash.

There are many quad frames from more or less famous brands, but I choose the HJ 450 alien or locust/flycat/alien or whatever name it might have frame. What’s special about it is that is not symmetrical like the typical 450 frame, but it’s longer and can fit a camera gimbal in the front and the battery on the back to compensate for the weight. Also the front arms are spaced, so that the front blades don’t show up in the field of the camera. I also liked that it has a lot of fixing points and gives you more options to install later add-ons.

Moving on, the main component or the “heart” of the quad is the FC or flight controller. Again, based on your target budget you can choose several types, but the most popular one’s in terms of software used would be the MultiWii and the Megapirate versions. You can search more about each one of these great open source projects in the links. Considering the price vs. features, my choise was the Crius AIOP(All In One Pro) V2.0 flight controller from the RCtimer site. It has all the nice features that more expensive FC’s have but comes to a under 60 usd price tag. Together with it I ordered the N-06 V2.0 GPS module and the FC Bluetooth module for Android.

Since the FC is quite sensitive to powering voltage, I choose to use an UBEC that provides a 5V with maximum 3A current only for the board.

I also have FPV equipment, 5.8Ghz tx/rx, and a SONY 600 VTL cam.

Anyway I will add the FPV stuff only after setting up the quad fully, and getting used to it, since now I can practice only with my Ladybird V1 micro quad…

Now, let’s get to the funny part, where actually I put the “bits and pieces” of this puzzle together to create a new flying machine J

I will structure the build in x main categories :

1.     FRAME
2.     MOTORS & ESC
3.     FC and related connections
4.     Gps and related
5.     Later add-ons
6.     CRIUS AIOP tuning, and my working setups
7.     FPV gear

Please stay tuned for the following parts and enjoy the overview of all the parts I got for this challenging build...