Is what I'm planning to build good or can I do better?

[Sirs2k]

Hey guys,

After much research I'm beginning to finalize my list of items I'm getting for my build.

First of all here is what I'm planning to use the rig for;
Aerial Photography and Video for commercial purposes.
No need to get higher than 200m or so and no further than 500m I would say
More for weddings, real estate shots, maybe a little bit of surveying.
For now I think I'll be running a GoPro3 and maybe in the future have something along the lines of NEX or Black Magic cameras (So it's obviously a bonus if I build the rig to handle heavier lift for the future)

Please feel free to correct me on anything as I'm just getting into this and still don't know all the info.

My build will be:
DJI Flamewheel F550 (Stock motors, props and ESC's) $260
Flight controller: 3DR PixHawk $200
GPS & Compass: 3DR uBlox GPS with Compass kit $100
Camera: GoPro Hero3 (Black) $370
Gimbal (undecided yet, but it will be a 3Axis) $400
FPV System: Boscam 5.8Ghz 200Mw $60 (ground station will be a an LCD monitor)
Tx: FrSky Taranis $180
Rx: FrSky X8R 8/16CH with Telemetry $40

Total $1600AUD ROUGHLY


Something I've been asking myself is, should I get the kit with stock motors, props and ESC's for around $260 or should I get the frame and get better motors, ESC's and props separately?
OR should I just think of getting a different (lighter/stronger or maybe bigger) body all together? I don't know how much benefit bigger carbon fibre props will do, and could I use them with stock motors?

As a bonus, I want to be able to set the copter at certain altitudes and compass direction to be facing before or during flight, do I need Telemetry for that? Bear in mind that I'm getting the X8R Receiver with Telemetry included. Though would that work with my flight controller or do I have to get something like this? Or do I have absolutely no idea and Telemetry has nothing to do with being able to set altitudes/Compass direction?

I would like to stay within the same budget if that's possible

Before you start advising me that this is dangerous stuff and that I should learn how to fly first, let me tell you that my WL 939 is on its way and I'll definitely put in many flying hours before attempting to fly my (for me) expensive build

I hope you can help with any advice you may have as this research is starting to burn me out! Really appreciate all your help guys

 

[tombrown1]

Hey guys,

After much research I'm beginning to finalize my list of items I'm getting for my build.

First of all here is what I'm planning to use the rig for;
Aerial Photography and Video for commercial purposes.
No need to get higher than 200m or so and no further than 500m I would say
More for weddings, real estate shots, maybe a little bit of surveying.
For now I think I'll be running a GoPro3 and maybe in the future have something along the lines of NEX or Black Magic cameras (So it's obviously a bonus if I build the rig to handle heavier lift for the future)

Please feel free to correct me on anything as I'm just getting into this and still don't know all the info.

My build will be:
DJI Flamewheel F550 (Stock motors, props and ESC's) $260
Flight controller: 3DR PixHawk $200
GPS & Compass: 3DR uBlox GPS with Compass kit $100
Camera: GoPro Hero3 (Black) $370
Gimbal (undecided yet, but it will be a 3Axis) $400
FPV System: Boscam 5.8Ghz 200Mw $60 (ground station will be a an LCD monitor)
Tx: FrSky Taranis $180
Rx: FrSky X8R 8/16CH with Telemetry $40

Total $1600AUD ROUGHLY


Something I've been asking myself is, should I get the kit with stock motors, props and ESC's for around $260 or should I get the frame and get better motors, ESC's and props separately?
OR should I just think of getting a different (lighter/stronger or maybe bigger) body all together? I don't know how much benefit bigger carbon fibre props will do, and could I use them with stock motors?

As a bonus, I want to be able to set the copter at certain altitudes and compass direction to be facing before or during flight, do I need Telemetry for that? Bear in mind that I'm getting the X8R Receiver with Telemetry included. Though would that work with my flight controller or do I have to get something like this? Or do I have absolutely no idea and Telemetry has nothing to do with being able to set altitudes/Compass direction?

I would like to stay within the same budget if that's possible

Before you start advising me that this is dangerous stuff and that I should learn how to fly first, let me tell you that my WL 939 is on its way and I'll definitely put in many flying hours before attempting to fly my (for me) expensive build

I hope you can help with any advice you may have as this research is starting to burn me out! Really appreciate all your help guys

What do you mean that you want to set certain altitudes and compass direction during flight? Telemetry can tell you many things - the most useful by far is the voltage of your lipo(s). It can also give you altitude, distance from home, direction to home, airspeed, among other things. Once you are able to fly your WL939 nose-in in your sleep it won't matter which way your rig is facing. And you don't really need to know orientation to be able to fly. You can deduce which way is which by flying it.

 

[Sirs2k]

Hey Tom,

Sorry, maybe I should given an example. Say I'm doing a commercial job where the client wants a photo to be taken at a certain altitude at a certain direction. I want to able to program the rig for those settings before or mid flight (if there's such a thing that will allow me to do so).
You've already clarified that it can report altitude which is great. I can set the altitude on the fly of course, however is there a way to see which direction the nose of the hexa (camera) is facing?

Thanks mate

 

[SleepyC]

Commercial and DJI 550 = FAIL.
That is not the rig you want.
Learn more. Research more.
DJI 550 = Hobbiest.

 

[cbpagent72]

Commercial and DJI 550 = FAIL.
That is not the rig you want.
Learn more. Research more.
DJI 550 = Hobbiest.

+1

You should look at the Droidworx Bot. It will carry both of the cameras that you mentioned and is much higher quality.

Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Jareth_Atian]

The stock ARF kit's motors, props and ESC's will work great to fly the hex by itself and maybe carry a GoPro HERO3 with a small 2-axis gimbal and landing gear. I'm not sure if it would be able to carry a 3-axis gimbal...what is the weight difference? Would you also be carrying retractable landing gear (more weight)? Personally, I upgraded my F550's props to carbon-fiber and the motors to Sunnysky V2216-12's when I started carrying a GoPro and 2-axis gimbal and I feel that the difference was very pronounced.

If you want to carry a NEX or BlackMagic...well...you're probably going to need more propeller/lift than the stock DJI arms can handle. You can get extensions for the DJI arms to lengthen them or replace them with longer, stiffer arms (I'm seriously considering moving to the AIMDROIX aluminum arms sold at ReadyMadeRC.com), a more powerful motor and larger props. A hex running T-Motor 2814-10's with 11" props should be able to generate over 4kg of lift at 50% throttle.

To give you a sense of scale...my current F550 with a HERO3, gimbal, FPVstuff, lights, landing gear and batteries weighs around 2.9Kg. Swapping out the arms/motors/gimbal/camera to that would add ~1Kg to that (+84g for AIMDROIX arms + 270g for the larger motors + ~200g for the larger gimbal + 390g for the heavier camera + a bit of guesswork for the weight of larger props...) so that particular arm/motor/prop combination would probably work fine.

Aaanyway, the point is this: The ARF kit might be OK for a HERO3 setup, but I'm not convinced that it would work for a larger camera/gimbal. Your mileage may vary.

As far as telemetry goes...it is my understanding that the FRSky telemetry is completely separate from the ardupilot telemetry kit. I've never used a Pixhawk/ardupilot flight controller, but my understanding is that you need the telemetry kit to change the programming/automated flight path while the 'copter is in the air. If you program everything before launch...you may not need it. You certainly don't need it to choose a height or orientation...The ArduPilot's 'Simple' and 'SuperSimple' flight modes should be able to manage that pretty darned well. As I mentioned, however...I've never used an ardupilot-based flight controller. Get a second opinion before you accept mine as gospel.

 

[tombrown1]

Hey Tom,

Sorry, maybe I should given an example. Say I'm doing a commercial job where the client wants a photo to be taken at a certain altitude at a certain direction. I want to able to program the rig for those settings before or mid flight (if there's such a thing that will allow me to do so).
You've already clarified that it can report altitude which is great. I can set the altitude on the fly of course, however is there a way to see which direction the nose of the hexa (camera) is facing?

Thanks mate

You've mentioned that you have an fpv setup. The usual way to do this is to fly it, look at your fpv screen to frame it, then shoot away. I've never seen the need to have a compass on telemetry.

Hope this answers your question.