QAV500 FPV quad

R

RTRyder

Merlin of Multirotors
On Saturday I flew the first FPV flights with my QAV500. Naza flight controller with GPS, Avroto 770kv motors on 4S, Graupner 10 x 5 props, Immersion 5.8 600mw vTx, and live video from the GoPro...

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It flys very different from my F330 and F450 FPV quads, the QAV wants to GO FAST in manual mode and even in ATTI it's faster than either of the other Naza powered quads thanks to the big Avroto motors. A 4S 5000 pack gets a solid 10 minutes flight time without exceeding 80% discharge on the battery, if I hang a 4S 8000 underneath it gains 4 to 5 minutes but the extra weight makes it a bit sluggish responding to the controls.

The unique isolation mounted upper deck makes for jello free video with the front mounted GoPro and it also has the capability to hang a second GoPro facing straight down. I haven't tried the two camera setup yet as I'm still working on dialing in the gains and the final equipment setup. After the initial flights I made some changes that have pretty much eliminated the wobble/oscillations it had on the first couple flights. The biggest change was swapping over to a set of ESCs reflashed with SimonK firmware, that one change widened the range of usable gain settings so I can get it dialed in for pretty much any conditions short of a gale force wind.

Here's a collection of clips from the first couple flights, this coming weekend I'll give it another go with the new ESCs and TX adjustable gains, I expect it will be a ssignificant improvement...


The parts for my TBS Discovery build are in New York according to the tracking, once I have them in hand I'll swap over all the gear from the current F450 and do a comparison of the QAV500 and the Discovery.

Ken
 
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S

shyfx003

Member
Hi ken,I am really liking that QAV frame..I was going to use my nextlevel 525 quad for fpv..but with a 4s 4000mah lipo i'm lucky to see 5.30 mins of flying..After weighing the damn thing,it comes in at 2485g's,(inc lipo) I have been using 11.5 graupners and it still feels sluggish..I was going to go with a f550 and add the avroto's for a machine that could do all that i ask within reason..Atleast that way i don't have to import yet another machine and waste even more money!!
What auw is that QAV?

Steve..
 

R

RTRyder

Merlin of Multirotors
shyfx003 said:
Hi ken,I am really liking that QAV frame..I was going to use my nextlevel 525 quad for fpv..but with a 4s 4000mah lipo i'm lucky to see 5.30 mins of flying..After weighing the damn thing,it comes in at 2485g's,(inc lipo) I have been using 11.5 graupners and it still feels sluggish..I was going to go with a f550 and add the avroto's for a machine that could do all that i ask within reason..Atleast that way i don't have to import yet another machine and waste even more money!!
What auw is that QAV?

Steve..
Click to expand...

Don't know what the QAV weighs ready to fly, haven't put it on a scale yet. Right now everything is packed up and sitting next to the door ready for an early morning departure for a day of FPV, I'll weigh it when I get back. It feels heavier than my TBS Discovery and probably is, bigger motors, aluminum arms, and the top deck assembly all add up to a hefty package and the 4S 5000 batteries I use don't make it any lighter either!

Ken
 

kloner

kloner

Aerial DP
looks like a heli guy did the wires.... hahah looks good

That paper comes off your layer lens. it's just that stuff to protect the plastic as it's machined

is there any logs or captured osd to see how them motors eat power? them are probably my next purchase.
 


R

RTRyder

Merlin of Multirotors
kloner said:
looks like a heli guy did the wires.... hahah looks good

That paper comes off your layer lens. it's just that stuff to protect the plastic as it's machined

is there any logs or captured osd to see how them motors eat power? them are probably my next purchase.
Click to expand...

Considering I built and flew helis for a few years before getting into multis that's not surprising...;)

I have nothing that shows current draw, I recently installed a Remzibi OSD on it but no current sensor. I know Rusty did some bench tests on the Avrotos and the data is posted on RCG, there's a link to it from MontoRC website. They are very good on power useage with the right props, typically I can get a solid 10 minutes of the kind of flight shown in the video, more if I slow it down a bit.

hjls3 said:
wow, super clean. that ship really moves. quite impressive high speed shot.
Click to expand...

I was out at the field for a good part of the day, extremely windy the entire time. I flew both the TBS and the QAV, I got better video from the TBS, and better performance from the QAV. Slow on the QAV is the mid 20mph range, give it some throttle and room to fly and it easily breaks 40mph and will cruise in the low 40 range. A couple times today I saw 50mph on the OSD display with the wind behind it but even going into the wind it can easily maintain speeds in the 30 mph range. Sill have some wobble to work out of it, for some reason the Naza on this one isn't cooperating as well as the one on the TBS. I think it may be due to the fact it has too much power for the size and weight, I was running those motors on APV multis that likely weighed twice as much as the QAV and had only slightly less performance.

Ken
 


R

RTRyder

Merlin of Multirotors
JRotor said:
Very nice build! Looks awesome. What landing gear did you use?

Jason
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They're a set of carbon fiber landing gear supports for a Trex 600 that I bought some time ago and never used on a heli. They were sitting on the shelf gathering dust when I decided to try them on the QAV, they fit well and look right so it was a cheap solution to what to do for landing gear.

Ken
 

J

JRotor

Member
RTRyder said:
They're a set of carbon fiber landing gear supports for a Trex 600 that I bought some time ago and never used on a heli. They were sitting on the shelf gathering dust when I decided to try them on the QAV, they fit well and look right so it was a cheap solution to what to do for landing gear.

Ken
Click to expand...

Ken,

Do you remember where you bought them? I am getting a QAV500 and I would like to use similar gear as they look awesome.

Thanks,
Jason
 

R

RTRyder

Merlin of Multirotors
JRotor said:
Ken,

Do you remember where you bought them? I am getting a QAV500 and I would like to use similar gear as they look awesome.

Thanks,
Jason
Click to expand...

The place I bought them from doesn't list them on their website anymore. I did some digging because I wanted to buy another set for another project and as far as I can determine they were made by Carbon Core in the UK and he now does just multirotor frames, the landing gear is out of production. I've been all over the web and haven't found anything comparable yet, unfortunately.

Ken
 



S

shyfx003

Member
What size thickness did you use on the gps ken? Got my QAV coming..cant decide if i'm going to powder coat or nylon coat my arms..



Steve..
 

S

Silverwood

Member
Thanks Ken ...just ordered 200lf don't know what the h**l I'm going to do with that much but the price is right....great find
 

J

JRotor

Member
RTRyder said:
The place I bought them from doesn't list them on their website anymore. I did some digging because I wanted to buy another set for another project and as far as I can determine they were made by Carbon Core in the UK and he now does just multirotor frames, the landing gear is out of production. I've been all over the web and haven't found anything comparable yet, unfortunately.

Ken
Click to expand...

I was afraid you were going to say Carbon Core as I had found some images of them online. I sent them an email about the availability and this is the response I recevied:

"Dear Customer,
Thank You of contacting CarbonCore.

Helicopter landing gear has not been stocked for some months and requires new tooling before more can be made.
They will not be back in stock in the near future.

Very sorry.
CarbonCore"

So the search begins for something similar.

Jason
 

kloner

kloner

Aerial DP
i have a set of his 90 size gear if anybodys interested. Audacity models had some of the 600 size at one time, not sure if he still does, they were pretty popular.

I've heard you gotta be careful with that guy. He's burned some people in the heli industry. i was surprised to see them doing all the mr stuff
 

J

JRotor

Member
kloner said:
i have a set of his 90 size gear if anybodys interested. Audacity models had some of the 600 size at one time, not sure if he still does, they were pretty popular.

I've heard you gotta be careful with that guy. He's burned some people in the heli industry. i was surprised to see them doing all the mr stuff
Click to expand...

I am not familiar with the heli sizes. How does 90 size compare to 600 size?

Jason
 


kloner

kloner

Aerial DP
if i remember right, buying the cf skids was half the deal, these are the vibe 90 skid pipes in the 90/700 size cf skid. Now that i'm thinking back, these might have been called the .60 size. i forget, but i think there the biggest he made. Super low profile

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