Group Build 2015, FPV Racing Quad

Bartman

Welcome to MultiRotorForums.com!!
Hi guys, I've been working hard, clearing log-jams in the river of life, and looking forward to something fun that will be a little different from what I've been doing the last few years. With that in mind, and knowing how helpful our F450/NAZA group build has been.........it's time to kick off our group build for 2015.....an FPV Racing Quad!

There are a few decisions to be made and there will be a lot more flexibility in what you can do vs,. what I do but we'll have the discussions, look at the components that we can choose from and then get to work building.

There are a variety of classes and a variety of leagues/groups promoting FPV Quad Racing so I think we would be smart to look at what would have the most utility when it comes to racing. Is there one league that has the most races? Is any one league international? Alternately, we can design our own course and then use that design of our own site-wide racing activities. We had actually discussed this a year or two ago when @matwelli; posted his informal Cricket pitch racing challenge. Our discussion centered on a standard soccer/football field as they are everywhere!! Some simple obstacles and a set course around the field would make for a very worthy challenge.

So the first few questions ought to be
Do we stick to a set class of racer or hash out our own specifications?
If we do our own thing do we standardize on a specific frame or a class of frames?
Flight controller? NAZE? OpenPilot? KK?
Motors? Props? Battery power? Standard or unlimited?
What else will we need to consider? 5.8 ghz video systems are small and light but they wouldn't work well outdoors in and around substantial obstacles. Can a small FPV racing quad carry a 1.3 system?
I've got an idea for a simple camera mount that I'll share when we get closer but we can also discuss camera requirements.

Who's in???

Gentlemen, start your engines!!
 

Carapau

Tek care, lambs ont road, MRF Moderator
I vote for sticking to a 250 class. V popular in FPV racing circles, performance seems to be best at this size but probably most importantly, cheap so that virtually anyone can get going.
 

sk8brd

Member
i would stick with naze 32. its cheap and has good software assistant and people generally really like them..i don't own one yet though. been thinking about getting a 250 a bunch lately. 3s or 4s would be good. the flight times are going to be short only seeing 5 minutes-ish on most guys builds and most guys are doing fine with 5.8. the blackout flyers seem to have the best video results, super fast minimal jello..even though its not really about video quality with these racer quads its still nice to see a good image with a mobious or go pro.. they look fun though!
 

matwelli

Member
the 250 size is popular, we did a "spec" class race on Jan 3rd (actually did 10 races, made a day of it :) )

Spec class is 250 sized, 2300 kv motors max, 5" prop , 4 motors max (you can run 3 as a tricopter) and 3S lipo

very even playing field , in the final around a 400 meter track for 5 laps, the top three stayed with each other.

100 meter long straights seem to be the most enjoyable (tried 50 and 65, but people like a bigger, more "flowing" course)

we are still sorting thru the videos etc, but here is one done by one of the racers


would not limit the flight controller, nase32 , CC3d are similar price (around $35) and heck, if someone has an old apm in a cupboard, they should be able to use it :)

5.8 worked fine, we had a total of 6 in the air at once, just make sure you have around 40mhz of channel seperation
and limit power on the transmitters to 600mw
we had an large AP ship turn up with a 1.5 watt transmitter, and it killed 3-4 channels on each side.

the other thing is make sure the quads are at least 8 meters away from the pilots at all times, any closer and you get video interferance
 

Bartman

Welcome to MultiRotorForums.com!!
the 250 size is popular

just curious as I may field a frame of my own as I also build a store-bought frame for the group-build project...where is the 250mm measurement taken? Diagonally? front/back? side to side?
 

matwelli

Member
diagonally , the frames seem to range from 220 to 260 mm, its whatever fits all your gear and 5" props :)

I reckon a new frame design would be the go, all the ones out there (apart from a couple of nice carbon boom ones) look like they came from the same cookie cutter.

I reckon a body shell is a must, get some aerodynamics going, and easier to identify between each machine
at our meeting on the third, three quads were black frame, green props, and spironet antenna, all looked identical ! as they went thru the start/finish gate

heres a great set of rules if you scroll down the page http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=htt...-League-Chicago/events/216177462/&h=NAQEiokrt

would be good to do some sort of comp with these that covers everyone . Maybe a standard a course you could lay out at your local school with tent poles/pool noodles, and post up a video of your fastest lap
 

Bartman

Welcome to MultiRotorForums.com!!
Listing 250 sized frames I've been looking at while focusing on 5" props and 3S battery packs to get a newb racer ready for his first time at the starting line (is there a starting line? or is it more like a bunch of guys in lawn chairs??)

Blackout Mini-H
iFlight XBIRD
Hovership MHQ2
Drone Frames DRQ250 "Mini-D"
HobbyKing FPV250L
Lumenier QAV250
2dogrc.com Juan Diego 250
RedRotorRC Strider 250
Dronekraft Mach300GT

@GotHeliRC has been generous to multirotorforums.com by participating as an advertiser and they sponsored the DJI H3-3D review that is in progress so I'm just going to go ahead and order the iFlight XBIRD frame as a first FPV racer build. After looking at the other frames there are similarities and differences that I hope will be discussed here as we continue but to keep this going I'll be ordering a frame this evening.

I'll also have to pick out motors, props, and speed controllers.....suggestions? opinions? anyone else making choices they'd like to share? I can see it making sense to build two or three of these at a time if the plan is to go racing for a day or two on the weekend.
 
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Bartman

Welcome to MultiRotorForums.com!!
would be good to do some sort of comp with these that covers everyone . Maybe a standard a course you could lay out at your local school with tent poles/pool noodles, and post up a video of your fastest lap

we're slowly gathering racers for a New Jersey/Philadelphia/NYC racing event and I've floated the idea of a standard race course designed around a soccer field so it can be shared and used elsewhere. freestyle events using local courses could then also be added to the standard race sequences.
 

Bartman

Welcome to MultiRotorForums.com!!
diagonally , the frames seem to range from 220 to 260 mm, its whatever fits all your gear and 5" props :)

I reckon a new frame design would be the go, all the ones out there (apart from a couple of nice carbon boom ones) look like they came from the same cookie cutter.

i've got an idea in my head for a much simpler approach to a frame so i may give it a try. i thought that maybe the 250mm was a set dimension between prop shafts or something like that but standardizing on the props/motors does seem like a more reasonable specification to set.
 

GotHeliRC

http://gothelirc.com
Hey All,

Glad to see this is kicking off. Will try our best to help everyone start. So if you order any 250mm frame and motors on our site.... we will give you 2 set of HQPROP of your choice (examples, 2x 5030 normal, 2x 5030 reverse, 2x 6045 normal, 2x 6045 reverse). How to get this? reference this thread name in the comments box upon checking out along with what prop size you want.

Currently we have a few frames in stock and Iflight MT1806, however we have more motors size coming, MT2204 and MT2206

https://www.gothelirc.com/shopdisplayproducts.asp?id=157&cat=Mini+Quad+Frame
 

Bartman

Welcome to MultiRotorForums.com!!
I've spent some time trying to find rules for the 250 class of FPV quad racers and it's pretty straightforward (as @matwelli suggested above)

This is the "Spec" class, an entry level class of racing where the heli's are meant to be pretty similar so that the racers can relax, enjoy themselves, and not have to worry about their hangovers from the night before.

250mm max distance between motors (shaft to shaft)
3S Lipos (1300 to 2200, no set spec other than cell count)
5" Props

Motors can be 1804, 1806, 0r 2204 with KV ratings in the neighborhood of 2300 but different leagues limit this differently. To make this simple I'm going to buy the ARF kit from GotHeliRC.com so I can get going with the build but I'm also going to work on my frame design and will probably use the KDE 1806-2350 on that build. The problem is that the KDE's 2350 KV rating will make the motor illegal in some race leagues so if you have a league or local group that you'll be flying with, check with them to see if there are any strict limits that you need to stay within.

Even the props can be a problem in the spec class with some leagues defining which props can be used by diameter/pitch/brand but I'll just run what comes with the kit and worry about specifics if/when I have to.

Other details to work out will include power distribution (wiring one battery to four ESC's plus the flight control plus the wireless video transmitter plus a few LED's for kicks), mounting of the flight control board (CC3D for this build, Hoverfly Pro for my custom racer), and whether I'll run my GoPro 1 (yes, that's a 1) for a camera or use a spare FPV cam for the FPV cam.

Don't blink or you'll miss the build part of this! I'd guess if you've built the Group Build F450 or something else from parts then you'll breeze through this build.

The goal is to get a racer built that will fit into a common class that is found all over the world. It isn't nearly as expensive as a lot of other multi-rotor stuff and can be a huge amount of fun so get started, start networking for racing partners, and set a date.
 


tstrike

pendejo grande
JoeBob, that's a very fancy frame for fpv racing, for fpv'ing it's probably pretty cool but it looks like a kite. The extra money you spend on that frame would buy like a million 5" props or at least enough to give you an idea wether you like 250 size frames or not.

Bart, you should just go for the ARF kit Gotheli offers, 170.00 and all you need is a receiver and battery, bamm, start sky bombing pool noodles or lawn chairs or old boat motors, what have you!
One more thing, save yourself the headache and ditch the gp1 idea, that thing'll be like a boat anchor. If you've got to record your flight, it's the mobius or one of the other thousand keychain type cams. The I flight frame looks like it's got a clean plate for the record camera.
These little motors get maxxed out fast when you start adding accesories, keep it light and keep it simple.

Here's my future offering to the gods of crash-
It's the DRQ250 with sunnys, was thinking about one of those 4 in 1 escs, but can't justify the 40 bucks when I have a perfectly fine set of 12 amps on the bench.

I will finally commit myself to dialing in a kk board in this year of our lord 2015. The naze boards are harder than all the cool kids on the innerwebz make them look. I'm sure it's just me and my dji pre programmed mind but I burned through 3 of them and never really had any luck. It's like the creator of that board knew I owned dji gear...
 

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Bartman

Welcome to MultiRotorForums.com!!
@tstrike the ARF kit is already on its way! i'll be flying by lunchtime (just don't know which day yet!)

one of the problems I see with this stuff is that the fixed cameras cause the course to disappear into the top of the screen when you're screaming forward so I figured the wide open view of the GP1 would help that. I'm also going to make a little tilt only mount using gravity to let the camera swing a bit so the course doesn't disappear and leave me looking straight down.
 


tstrike

pendejo grande
"when you're screaming forward" at least your confidence is high…
The drq is already on the list. I'm going to use the fatshark 600 camera and the 250w 5.8 set up only and not worry about filming, but then I'm not planning on pod racing this quad. The 250's are just a nice size quad for parking lot flying, I know there's a group of guys here in town that race since they're always listing used parts from their rigs in an endless upgrading quest while looking for that edge.
 



Federico Ferreri

FPV racer outside of Philly
Hey guys!

I'm super new to the hobby and looking for people to fly with and learn from in the bucks county area just outside of Philadelphia. I know you guys have mentioned organizing an even of some sort and would love to know any follow information on that.
 

Bartman

Welcome to MultiRotorForums.com!!
frederico, i'm just across the river in NJ, there's a bunch of us trying to get something going this spring, look at the groups section and join the North Jersey group. it's just a name, we're trying to get people in from all over.
Bart
 

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