F450 with NAZA vs F550

hjls3

hjls3

Member
New to this forum. Some great advice here. I am new to the hobby. Have lots of RC plane experience and some experience with heli's, mostly Blade 400. I am about to pull the trigger on multi rotor. Torn between, dx8 with F450 or F550 both with NAZA. I know some of you might not like this, but I am going to have Addictive RC build it for me and dial it in. I get the whole build it and learn about it idea, I am just really excited to get flying and want my first experience to be about flying, not about worrying about my tuning and dialing in skills.

Anyways, eventually if things go as planned and I really enjoy flying multi rotors, I would like to get hexacopter that could carry DSLR. For beginners sake, I wont be starting off with that. Should I go with F450 or F550.

THanks - happy flying - John
 

milehighbarnett

milehighbarnett

Member
I also have been flying heli's (Trex600, 700...). Speaking as a rookie to multi rotors myself, I just purchased the F550 from John @ Addictive RC last week. My first multi rotor...ordered it last Tuesday and it arrived Saturday evening. I had it together by Sunday morning (took a couple hours to build). Took me a bit of reading and research to get the programming down and then had to wait for the weather to cooperate...finally, yesterday I got it off the ground! I only had time for a couple flights before the sun went down but I am very happy with how well it flew...very stable.
 

W

WillM

Member
Everything else being equal, I would think the quad would be a better first rig. 2 less motors, props, escs, arms, etc., to break in the event of a crash!

Whatever you get, buy a few sets of extra props. Stick with the DJI's to start, as they are cheap compared to Graupners, etc. A set of DJI props is less than $10. Set of Graupners: $60.
 

hjls3

hjls3

Member
Thanks to both of you. Mile High - I am in Denver all the time for soccer stuff. Perhaps we can get together and fly some time? I have flown many heli flights around Denver soccer fields. Am I a wus for not building myself? I have myself somewhat convinced that I should just pay to have John @ addictive build for me to ensure the product I first fly is tuned and programmed correct. Sort of looked at the situation like RTF Trainer plane, they are good way to start flying and get jacked up about the hobby. After you get bit by the flying bug, then you start building.

Will M - I am going to go with the quad. If not for any reason than to save money for repairs and eventually another kopter that can carry dslr. assuming of course, I can and enjoy flying these multi-rotors. I bet I love it from what I have read and seen here on this forum...waiting for John @ addictive to get back to me with total price, then - game on.
 

T

tstrike

pendejo grande
My 2 cents fwiw, go with the quad, build it yourself, use money saved to buy a couple of sets of props, maybe an extra arm or two, and a spare motor.
I had no prior experience with RC and I was able to build and program the f450, it's that bloody easy! You will need to have a computer running windows with an interwebz connection, a 2mm allen key and a 2.5mm allen key, some soldering skillz, and your choice of battery connector.
 

C

Copters3d

Member
I am in the same boat and will likely be going with the F550 (more real estate for AP/AV). Also now looking at the MultiwiiCopter Scarab Stealth, looks great and videos look smooth. Not sure how a PARIS board flies compared to NAZA. Can anyone comment?
 

T

Tahoe Ed

Active Member
The Paris board is MultiWii. Unless you want to spend your time programming and adjusting PID's, I wouldn't waste your time. I have played with Arduino MultiWii and the Mega version. I still have a mega board with a 9DOF sensor. I may go back and play with it some time but I would rather be flying. It is fine for a second FC but if you want to fly get the Naza. Just an FYI. I have a F450 and F550. On my F450 I have a WKM, Data Link and GoPro. I utilize both the top and bottom of the two plates and I do not have any interference from the various controllers. I am flying my F550 with the Naza using 4S 4000mAh lipo and 8" props. My F450 is using 3S 2650mAh lipos and Graupner 10x5 props. I hope this helps you. I hate to see others waste money on things that have limited success. Been there done that.
 

T

tstrike

pendejo grande
I can't comment on the difference in boards but the Scarab is small, extremely sexy, but small.
 

S

sj257

Member
Just a little more food for thought.

I just bought and put together a 450 with NAZA. Took somewhere between 3 and 3.5 hours to go from box to ready to fly and that's with no multi experience, but Heli and plane experience. So building yourself isn't tricky or particularly time consuming.

I wish the 550 had been available in the uk when I ordered my 450. More capacity to lift etc is great, but the real key is redundancy. I have had some problems with a speed controller which I'm currently testing. A ESC glitch on a quad leads to a drop on a corner, and if sustained your whole rig is going down. I believe a hex can cope with loosing a motor and remain flyable, someone correct me if I'm wrong.

I hope to get a 550 in the next month or so assuming they appear in the uk.

sj
 

C

Copters3d

Member
Tahoe Ed said:
The Paris board is MultiWii. Unless you want to spend your time programming and adjusting PID's, I wouldn't waste your time. I have played with Arduino MultiWii and the Mega version. I still have a mega board with a 9DOF sensor. I may go back and play with it some time but I would rather be flying. It is fine for a second FC but if you want to fly get the Naza. Just an FYI. I have a F450 and F550. On my F450 I have a WKM, Data Link and GoPro. I utilize both the top and bottom of the two plates and I do not have any interference from the various controllers. I am flying my F550 with the Naza using 4S 4000mAh lipo and 8" props. My F450 is using 3S 2650mAh lipos and Graupner 10x5 props. I hope this helps you. I hate to see others waste money on things that have limited success. Been there done that.
Click to expand...

Thanks Ed. Appreciate the feedback. I am think I am going to go with an F450 or F550 (still on the fence - trying to figure out if it is worth the extra $150 for the F550).
 

F

fvg007

Member
I just got the F550 with Naza controller with GPS and it won't able to hold height - but pitch , roll and yaw works really well. I have try different vertical gain value from 100 to 250% with not much help. Sometime, even at 50% throttle, it can still climb and I lower the throttle, it still climb more...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btRTuj_7l4Q

I just cannot hold it at close to ground... ( video is mainly done in GPS mode )

BTW..I do have RC helicopter experience and I been searching around all about this controller and try both ATTI and GPS mode which both behave same.

Anyone can help?
 


R

remyd

Member
If you just want to try a multicopter just go with the 450 - less parts if you crash, less cost if you don't like it, less building etc and you can set it up with a gopro or small cameras for FPV if that is your thing. I would suggest also getting some extra props. APC 10x4.7's are working well on mine as well as the Graupner's. As for building the quad all you have to do is screw the frame together, mount the motors and solder the 4 ESC's to the power board - did mine in about an hour. Very simple. The radio is a little trickier but no doubt someone has written that up for your radio. Once you are happy you can then look at a better platform for camera or video work.
 


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