Building first drone and new to this

[Hoki]

I just bought a syma x12s a few weeks ago and have gotten pretty good at it. I can even make it go way high up and all over the place and back right into my hand so I ordered a x8w not long ago and it's still in the mail but then I thought I wanna build one cause I saw it on youtube so I ordered parts to make one so I'm hopping they are all the right stuff I need. Here's a list of what I got and can you tell me if it's good and all I need. I can't figure out how I'd connect the battery though..

s500 frame with pdb built in
APM2.8 APM 2.8 RC Multicopter Flight Controller Board with Case 6M GPS Compass
30A SimonK Prgramme RC Brushless ESC With BEC 3A
MARSPOWER MX2212 920KV Brushless Motor for DJI Phantom F330/450/550 Multirotor X525 Quadcopter with 9443 propeller
GPS Folding Antenna Mount Support Holder
Flight control damping plate Controller Board Anti-vibration
RC General Eletronic Part Balance Charge Cable 15cm XT60 to 4.0 Banana Plug for RC Helicopter Quadcopter XT60 Lipo Battery
FLOUREON RC Battery 3S 35C 11.1V 5500mAh (XT60 Plug)
and I got 3.5mm plugs and a battery charger and heat shrink tubes and extra wire. I already have a solder thing I can use too. So what do you think about this stuff? Can someone tell me how I'd connect the battery to my frame? Is there a spot where I'm suppose to solder like some kind of connector to it?

 

[Old Man]

I suppose someone has to go first. Your post is worded in such a way to make it appear as trolling. It's difficult for me to grasp that someone has so little experience of failed to do any level of research to ask the questions you have presented. For those reasons it's very difficult for me to take your post seriously.

The instructions that should have come with the frame should reasonably explain power connections.

 

[Hoki]

I don't have anything yet I ordered it just recently so I should get it in a few weeks I think I really don't know anything about it the only reason why I know what those things are called is because I was on hobbyking website and it tells you it tells you what things you need for and stuff so that's what I went by and the one that's on my list and I hope I picked right I'm just looking for some advice

 

[Hoki]

And anyone with half a brain can figure out the gist by googling for all while and watching YouTube videos

 

[Ti@goo]

PDB means Power distribution board.

But maybe you should google more and watch more youtube videos. Also train to solder.. It would be bad if the multirotor fell because of a bad solder.

 

[Bartman]

well, this isn't going very well just yet.

Hoki, what do you have for a soldering iron and have you ever soldered anything before?

With the name Hoki and the location in Virginia, are you at Virginia Tech?

 

[Bartman]

s500 frame with pdb built in
fine for a starter quad, can probably do other stuff as well later on once you're up and running

APM 2.8 RC Multicopter Flight Controller Board with Case 6M GPS Compass
a good flight control system but did you buy a clone from HK?

30A SimonK Prgramme RC Brushless ESC With BEC 3A
should be fine

MARSPOWER MX2212 920KV Brushless Motor for DJI Phantom F330/450/550 Multirotor X525 Quadcopter with 9443 propeller
not familiar with Marspower but should be fine with the frame you bought

GPS Folding Antenna Mount Support Holder
good

Flight control damping plate Controller Board Anti-vibration
not familiar with this specifically but should be fine

RC General Eletronic Part Balance Charge Cable 15cm XT60 to 4.0 Banana Plug for RC Helicopter Quadcopter XT60 Lipo Battery
not sure, is this just a cable for charging?

FLOUREON RC Battery 3S 35C 11.1V 5500mAh (XT60 Plug)
you might want to go 4S on the batteries but try 3S and if it's underpowered go to 4

and I got 3.5mm plugs and a battery charger and heat shrink tubes and extra wire.
what size wire did you buy? you'll probably want 12awg wire from the battery to the power attach points on the frame. for the battery attach you run two wires from the solder pads on the frame to a connector and then ust plug the battery into the connector when you're ready to power up

go to the beginners' area and check out the 2013 group build thread, it'll answer a lot of questions. we've got a few people that are very competent APM users so that won't be a problem.

 

[Hoki]

how my supposed to know if the apm is a clone it is coming from China like all my other parts. I got it on a flash sale. There were lots of reviewers for saying they got the same one and it works good and it gave it 5 stars and I got the Xt60 cable because don't I need that to solder one into my board so I can plug in my battery?

 

[Hoki]

And I go to William and Mary College

 

[Bartman]

how my supposed to know if the apm is a clone it is coming from China like all my other parts. I got it on a flash sale. There were lots of reviewers for saying they got the same one and it works good and it gave it 5 stars and I got the Xt60 cable because don't I need that to solder one into my board so I can plug in my battery?

you wouldn't necessarily know it being brand new to things. the failure rate with the clones is higher than the real ones so when you get it, connect it, and power it you'll know if it's going to work or not

you can use a pre-made cable with XT-60's or just buy wire and make your own. either way you're good. you're sure the battery you bought has an XT-60 connector on it?

 

[violetwolf]

A good place to mention that we must be VERY cautious when cutting and soldering battery leads. One touch between the two leads and it can be game over for that battery. I'm sure we all have such tales

Even though fully aware of this I accidentally cut both leads at once a few years ago. It woke me up very quickly lol!

 

[Hoki]

Yeah it said it had one on there and it showed a picture of it I was just watching a YouTube video of a guy who had a battery connector with a xt60 solder to his board but in between was like a little circuit board of a wire that went to a some box do I need to do something like that

 

[Bartman]

the power from the batteries goes to the esc's and then to the motors. somehow the power from the battery has to make its way to the flight controller, maybe to a video transmitter and camera, maybe to LED's, maybe to a camera gimbal, maybe to retractable landing gear, maybe to some sensors, etc. etc. etc.

it's not unusual for people to attach smaller wires to carry lighter electrical loads directly from the batteries. chance are your APM will get power from the ESC's via the three conductor "Servo" cable that will plug into the APM. whatever you decide to attach to your helicopter, you'll need to assess the best way to bring power into it. sometimes it's predetermined by the hardware design, sometimes it isn't.

what's the end goal for this heli you're building?

 

[Old Man]

"you're sure the battery you bought has an XT-60 connector on it?"

If not it can be changed with a little work and caution.

Sounds like Hoki is talking about an APM power module, which connects between the battery, PDB, the FC.

 

[Hoki]

I want to fly around with my little GoPro session on the bottom of it and I might want to put in FPV camera

 

[fengshuidrone]

Anyone can solder. Keep a moist sponge handy to wipe the crud off and keep the iron tip shiny. When you first warm up your iron, dip it in flux then thoroughly melt solder over the entire tip. This is called tinning the tip. Keep a little paste or gel flux at your soldering station. Use it in small quantities on untinned wire to get the solder to stick and tin the wire ends. Twist up your wire tips before tinning them with solder. When joining thin wire to a thicker part or wire, heat up the part or thicker wire and then join the thin piece to it. Tin connection points prior to joining, with flux and solder just like wire ends. Always let the solder flow to the part after the part is hot. Hold things steady while the solder cools. A nice shiny silver joint is a good one and a dull, grey finish is indicative of a "cold joint" or bad solder job. Buy yourself one of those third hand devices (they come with two alligator clips and a magnifying glass on a frame with a base.)
Always use a heatsink (a simple alligator clip) between sensitive components and soldering points if possible. After you are done go over your work and check for solder shorts to ground or between pins and connectors.
Practice these techniques on unimportant scrap and old wire until you get a feel for how it works. You can do it
I'm not sure how much "programming" is involved with APM FCs but I believe that the developers do their thing in Arduino. You might want to study how APM is set up as that might actually be one of the harder aspects of getting your build to fly. It looks like most of the stuff you bought in the FC department just plugs into the correct port on the FC and then you most likely will have to activate the things you put on it through the setup software. The platform can do really nice stuff like waypoint missions.
Those motors you're getting are going to need 9" to 11" props. For aerial photography slow fly style props work best. You will need to balance your props so that (a prop balancer) is something else you will need to buy. Get yourself a DuBro prop balancer. The cheaper balancers have parts that are unbalanced themselves. They are cheap but a waste of money. For your go pro get yourself a 2 or 3 axis gimbal.
I noticed that you don't have a transmitter or receiver listed. Another expense that you will need to get your craft actually in the air. Get the best one you can afford with the most channels you can afford. When you actually get it built, take little busha steps in learning how to fly. Don't throttle up too hard. Better yet, have someone who knows how to fly one of these to teach you the ropes. They are harder to fly than most beginners think.
You will wish you bought more than just one battery after your first flight is done and you have to leave and recharge before you can go back up.
Last, but not least by far, make sure that your battery charger has a balance charge function and learn how to use it. It could save your life.

 

[Hoki]

I LIKE THE QUANUM I8 OR THE FRSKY 9D OR WHATEVER IT'S CALLED BUT I'M LEANING TOWARD THE QUANAM I8 CAUSE I LIKE THE WHITE ONE AND I LIKE MODE 1 CAUSE THAT'S WHAT I DO ON MY TOYS AND I CAN FLY THOSE REAL GOOD. SO DO I JUST NEED TO SOLDER THE BATTER CONNECTOR TO THE BOARD AND PLUG IN THE BATTERY AND EVERYTHING WILL GET POWER FINE? HOW DO I KNOW IF I NEED A VOLTAGE REGULATER THINGY?

 

[Bartman]

ok, let's make that the last time you post in all caps unless you're really excited or really pissed off, that's just a general forums etiquette thingy.

your other quads are mode 1? if you're buying them in the US i'd guess they're mode 2. most everything you'll see in the US is mode 2. even quads i've purchased in china were mode 2

 

[Hoki]

OHHHHHH IS MODE 2! YAYYYYY OK. Ummm. I was excited.

 

[Hoki]

but can you tell me please how I know if I need a voltage regulator cause if i'll need one I wanna order one now cause I don't wanna blow anything up. I just wanna hook it all up when I get it and fly and not have any problems.