Hoverfly First Time Y6 Questions - Props and Batteries

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mikegrundvig

Member
Hi all; just making the leap from RCGroups to here. I'm trying to build my last copter for a while. I'm ready for something to use rather than experiment - I just want to fly! So, with that said, I've been taking all the advice I can get from everyone. My goal is basic AP and lots of FPV. I'm going with a Hoverfly Pro v1 w/GPS Y6 with Rusty's frame and a Jakub gimbal w/GoPro and small FPV transmitter. The motors are Avroto 2814s running with 30amp Turnigy Plush controllers. With that said, I've been stressing the prop and battery choice a great deal. This is a heavy-ish copter but not super heavy so I'm really unsure where to go. I need to have it flying in about a week so all remaining parts have to be sourced in the US and ordered in the next day or so. The last parts I'm trying to figure out are the batteries and props.

For batteries I have:
3 x Zippy 25c 3s 5000mah
2 x Rhino 20c 3s 4900mah

The batteries are starting to get a little long in the tooth but that's OK as I've been using em for several years. Should I make the jump to 4s? Should I just get a couple more 5000mah 3s so I can pair em up and get longer flight times? This copter is likely to be my flight platform of choice for a good while so I'd like to get things to fit it.

For props I have:
oodles of 10 x 4.7 APC SF normal and pusher
oodles of 12 x 4.5 EPP normal and pusher

I've read lots of advice about using different sized props on top and bottom. Specific suggestions I've seen include all of these:
APC slow-fly 11x4.7 props on top, APC thin electric 12x6 props on bottom
12x3.8 on top and 13x4.7 on bottom
11x4.7 on top and 13x6

So, based on the battery suggestion, what would be a good prop choice? Normally I use ecalc to figure this out but it doesn't support coaxial motors or prop differences. Lots of people have talked about significant flight time differences with different props but I don't have the money to invest right now in lots of prop choices to test it out. I need to guess for something solid and go for it.

Thanks much in advance for all the help!

-Mike
 

Webheadfred

Webheadfred

Air Traffic Controller
I would go with the 12x38 top and the 13x47 on bottom. With the 3s, you're gonna need a little higher throttle to get higher average voltage to get the same rpm as the 4s. The 12x6 and 13x6 may take a little too much bite and cause a higher current draw. This is just my educated guess. I've used all the combinations you mentioned above and they're all very solid but I use 4s batteries.
 

JZSlenker

JZSlenker

Yeah, I can blow that up.
I agree with Fred. With those props and motor combinations you probably will have better results with 4S. I have 12.38 on tops and 13.47 on bottom on our X-8.
 


Av8Chuck

Av8Chuck

Member
I haven't installed the HFP on my Y6, I've been flying it with a CC controller, but other than that I have a similar setup to yours with the GoPro, Avroto's, and 12" SF Props I could hover around 25% with a 4S battery. It flies great but because the power-to-weight ratio is so high its extremely responsive, to a fault.

I went to smaller 10" Graupner props which reduced the P2W ratio requiring around 35% to hover. Still responsive but much smoother. I haven't shot any AP with this Y6 yet, I'm going to install the HFPro with a larger camera gimbal and a Sony NEX5n.

I'd recommend starting with the 10" props you already have, worse case scenario might be that it requires more than 50% throttle to hove and it flies a little sluggish.
 

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Av8Chuck

Av8Chuck

Member
With multirotors you can never have too many props. I change props a lot, once you've decided which motor's, ESC's, frame, etc., the props are the least expensive and easiest thing to change to tune your Y6 to fly the way you want.

Not sure how much experience you have with multi's so if I'm pointing out the obvious feel free to tell me to shut up. I'd still recommend starting with the 10" props, without the camera and gimbal, to get a feel for how well it fly's. If the motors and ESC's aren't too hot after your first couple of flights, and they shouldn't be, I'd mount the camera directly to the frame to see what difference the additional weight makes and check to see how well your props are balanced. If your hovering with less than 50%, add the gimbal and see how much it effects performance.

If your still at 50%, or a little under, and its stable then you can start tuning the controller and transmitter to get the sort of feel that you like. If it takes more than 50%, certainly more than 60%, or the motors and/or the ESC's are getting warm, that's when I'd move up to the next size props.
 

Earl E Adobtr

Earl E Adobtr

Paul
I'm flying the Y6 with 12x3.8 APC on the top and 12x6 APC electric on the bottom. It's the quietest craft I've ever flown (Avroto motors and Plush esc's). My guess is that the reduced profile of the electric prop lets the top prop work easier so less noise. Sounds like a small electric lawnmower instead of a swarm of bees.
 
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JZSlenker

JZSlenker

Yeah, I can blow that up.
Don't forget to balance all those expensive props. It's the most important thing you can do to reduce vibrations. We have an x8 so it takes quite awhile to do it, but it's well worth the hours of sanding when you don't have to try to get rid of vibrations in your video. So many people put tons of time into isolation and absorption of vibrations. It's much easier to not have a lot of vibrations to begin with.
 

M

mikegrundvig

Member
Av8Chuck said:
With multirotors you can never have too many props. I change props a lot, once you've decided which motor's, ESC's, frame, etc., the props are the least expensive and easiest thing to change to tune your Y6 to fly the way you want.
Click to expand...
Heh, I'm not a "tinker-er" with this type of thing. I'd like to get it working and just stick with it. I'm not super picky about flight characteristics - I can learn to fly around quirks easily enough as long as it's consistent. I just want stable and since I fly very conservatively, it's not too hard to get there.

I've actually built a good number of quad copters, but this is my first Y6 and it's a bit of a pain in the butt because I can't use the awesome ecalc tool as it's a coax motor configuration. Generally I use that tool to spec motors/props/batteries for a given copter and just go from there. It's kept me from having to really ever experiment with props so I guess I've gotten a bit lazy :)

JZSlenker said:
Don't forget to balance all those expensive props. It's the most important thing you can do to reduce vibrations. We have an x8 so it takes quite awhile to do it, but it's well worth the hours of sanding when you don't have to try to get rid of vibrations in your video. So many people put tons of time into isolation and absorption of vibrations. It's much easier to not have a lot of vibrations to begin with.
Click to expand...
Heh, always. They are actually cheap props but I bought extra cause I break em :)

Thanks!

-Mike
 

F

fr3style

Member
Earl E Adobtr said:
I'm flying the Y6 with 12x3.8 APC on the top and 12x6 APC electric on the bottom. It's the quietest craft I've ever flown (Avroto motors and Plush esc's). My guess is that the reduced profile of the electric prop lets the top prop work easier so less noise. Sounds like a small electric lawnmower instead of a swarm of bees.
Click to expand...



What batteries and how much flying time.

My Setup is
Rusty UAP2 11 inch props allround
AVROTOS
2x 4S NanoTech Turnigy 5000MAH
NAZA V2

I get 8 minutes and 30Secs woul love to get 12+ minutes
 




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