New multicopter / flight section!

[jimmy]

Hey up - I didn't realise the popularity of multicopters in particular on oople until the other day.
I've been planning on getting a good film-ready copter for about the last year.

I first ordered a Y copter (900mm) from hobbyking along with the kk board and all the rest of the stuff needed. I have a Futaba 8FG with Sbus already. I really liked the look of Y-copter footage and still might get one - but in the end I decided to go back to a large HEX. The Y-copter of course never came because one item was out of stock so it was an easy choice.

I did a lot of looking around - rctimer S800 clone, carboncore and the new Tarot T960 folding hexcopter - which is the one I've gone for. Around 1m in width plus the large blades sticking out.

I went for the wookong-M flight controller because I wanted to eventually be able to use a zenmuse if I can afford it. For now I've not got a proper gimbal for it as I'm waiting to see what happens with new alexmos boards etc.

I sourced my motors from rctimer along with the 15 inch carbonblades - this is the same setup as the DJI spreading wings S800.

I also went for some simonK 40amp esc's. Loads of little bits like wire and connectors etc. Along with landing gear and a gimbal mount / lower battery mount system.

Finally I went for twin 6S 5000mah cells - for 10,000mah.

Sadly I'm not allowed to build it until I've got a LOAD of work finished and caught up on or vicky with kick my face in. So sadly it sits in a box tempting me for now.




Ultimate plans are to get a 3axis gimbal to carry my panasonic GH3 so it can be used 1-man and 2-man operation (one camera man, one flyer)


At the moment I only have an RCtimer gimbal with martinez board - not really good imho. The Yun1 using alexmos board which James is using on his 550 is much nicer I think. But.... I got the rctimer one for end-of-a-stick type stuff rather than using it on a flight platform. I wouldn't recommend it. Took lots of counter sinking and work to put it together. And the martinez board won't flash and it over compensates for movement slightly. crap.

[neallewis]

Originally Posted by jimmy

Hey up - I didn't realise the popularity of multicopters in particular on oople until the other day.
I've been planning on getting a good film-ready copter for about the last year.

I first ordered a Y copter (900mm) from hobbyking along with the kk board and all the rest of the stuff needed. I have a Futaba 8FG with Sbus already. I really liked the look of Y-copter footage and still might get one - but in the end I decided to go back to a large HEX. The Y-copter of course never came because one item was out of stock so it was an easy choice.

I did a lot of looking around - rctimer S800 clone, carboncore and the new Tarot T960 folding hexcopter - which is the one I've gone for. Around 1m in width plus the large blades sticking out.

I went for the wookong-M flight controller because I wanted to eventually be able to use a zenmuse if I can afford it. For now I've not got a proper gimbal for it as I'm waiting to see what happens with new alexmos boards etc.

I sourced my motors from rctimer along with the 15 inch carbonblades - this is the same setup as the DJI spreading wings S800.

I also went for some simonK 40amp esc's. Loads of little bits like wire and connectors etc. Along with landing gear and a gimbal mount / lower battery mount system.

Finally I went for twin 6S 5000mah cells - for 10,000mah.

Sadly I'm not allowed to build it until I've got a LOAD of work finished and caught up on or vicky with kick my face in. So sadly it sits in a box tempting me for now.




Ultimate plans are to get a 3axis gimbal to carry my panasonic GH3 so it can be used 1-man and 2-man operation (one camera man, one flyer)


At the moment I only have an RCtimer gimbal with martinez board - not really good imho. The Yun1 using alexmos board which James is using on his 550 is much nicer I think. But.... I got the rctimer one for end-of-a-stick type stuff rather than using it on a flight platform. I wouldn't recommend it. Took lots of counter sinking and work to put it together. And the martinez board won't flash and it over compensates for movement slightly. crap.

Wow Jimmy, that's quire some setup you are building. Can't wait to see it flying!

Now get some work done so we can all see it!

[jimmy]

Wanted to start smaller but - well - ultimately I want it for filming so why not go all in right off the bat
I bought 12 blades - hopefully that'll keep me going for a while.

Have to say - WOW - the bigger you go, the costs exponentially increase.

[neallewis]

Originally Posted by jimmy

Wanted to start smaller but - well - ultimately I want it for filming so why not go all in right off the bat
I bought 12 blades - hopefully that'll keep me going for a while.

Have to say - WOW - the bigger you go, the costs exponentially increase.

Yeah I've seen some of the ticket prices on the gear you're picking... deep pockets, but as you say, no point wasting money on the way if you ultimately want it for film. Do it right first time.

Though given your performance with James', 12 props won't be enough ;-)

Shilly now has a patented orientation device, and we can now locate quads lost in corn fields. ;-)

[andys]

Nice one Jimmy

Quick question for you though - can you fly a Quad?

I'm learning loads on my little Quad - and the idea is to learn to fly before putting anything bigger or more expensive in the air!

Currently ooking at Gimbals - might even make my own - google (Super Simple Gimbal).
Very tempted by the TBS Discovery with a KK2 board though to keep costs down.

Also - the KK boards now have a lost model alarm in the new firmware - that would have been handy last weekend.

Anyhow - Jimmy - Get this bad boy built, can't wait to see it. Do you need a pilots licence to fly it?

[jimmy]

Yeah I can fly my little quad indoors - outdoors its impossible. Maybe I do need some practice - but tbh the wookong-m can fly itself so I can always press the panic -return to home - button hahaha.

I found flying james's 550 incredibly easy - it's just when I tipped it over either on landing or taking off, I don't remember which. my garden has a gentle slope which doesn't help. After that, it just didn't fly right - hence SMASHING into the tree.

Erm, pass on the licence. James reckons it's above weight - one of those batteries will weigh more than your copter by a long way I'd have thought. So with both of them on there and a big camera and gimbal I'd guess it's gonna be heavy.

[jimmy]

black sheep discovery does indeed look a beast - it's really meant for FPV though right?

[jameswilkinson7]

Might be worth joining the BMFA for insurance, maybe?...

http://www.bmfa.org/index.html

http://www.bmfa.org/ANO/index.html

[jimmy]

Thanks mate, I will do that. I definitely don't want to hurt anyone.

[ryanlownie]

Looking forward to seeing some cool stuff here, the oOple machine looks like it'll be pretty ridiculous!

I'm leaning towards something like a DJI 450 at the moment, the stuff on HobbyWing is just so so cheap! And I never thought i'd ever want to give them my money....

I'm all for the FVP stuff though, there are some pretty amazing videos of people running FVP with on screen data and telemetry e.t.c.

[James]

Regarding my 550 with the YUN1 camera rig on it I just follow the CAA guidelines, its my own private toy and not for commercial purposes, just for fun. If you're doing fpv you still need to be within line of sight to keep within the rules.


Over 7kg and some restrictions come into force, for instance you can't fly over 400ft and if you're in regulated airspace you need to seek permission.

If you're using one for commercial work you need a license - http://www.caa.co.uk/default.aspx?catid=1995 so I guess that's something that will need addressing as and when Jimmys beast is built.

[Steve Ball]

Jimmy,

The Martinez has improved a lot recently and the over compensation bug has been well and truly fixed with the latest firmware releases.



Hope this helps,
Steve