Running before walking. How to build this copter?

did you bind the rx to the tx?the leds have a code so many beeps means X.look on you tube there is a few posts about setting up the tx rx and the board for a quad.
 
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Heeeyyy, I'm back! Some things came up after that last post, finals, vacation, replacement ESCs... Guh. A bit ago I went down to the local hobby store to pick up a USB-tx cable to try the reprogramming and ended up walking out $100 more broke with a Spektrum Dx5e. In hindsight I should have just waited to check Amazon or pick up the Dx6i for like $30 more. Hopefully this doesn't gimp me too much in the future if I ever make another quad or hex. Thankfully, the Dx5e worked with my quad! I didn't have to do any programming or anything and it was basically just plug and play. So happy! But when I was testing the motors after hooking it all up, one of the crackling ESCs from a few posts ago made a horrendous sound and started spewing smoke. Soo... I ordered replacement parts from Hobbyking, which of course took 40 days from China. :cold:

Fast forward to getting everything working. I took the quad out to the nearest open field park and gave it a shot. Most of the first 100 attempts ended up with the quad getting just enough lift to tip over on itself. I realized that the ESCs weren't wired the right way and that fixed a bit of things but it still does it. A lot. Finally took off officially and gravity got the best of us and I trashed the landing gear and the 3d printed GoPro mount (thankfully it wasn't a gymbal). Made it about 20 feet off the ground! See instalink for instafail.

So I bought some cheap landing gear from the hobby shop that don't quite fit the quad and gave it another shot. Didn't make any progress and chewed up a couple of props. The replacement props I had bought from the hobby shop don't fit the motor shafts!! :dejection: I'll have to dremmel them some other time I guess. Spent every somersault by the quad tweaking the yaw, pitch, and roll on the control board to get it to not flip out. I almost had it but even with the pitch trim on the tx all the way at max it still did the same thing. So I've concluded that it is likely my flying skills at this point. I suspect that because I didn't give it quite enough thrust to get off the ground it... failed, or something. So I did some reddit research and picked up a Hubsan x4.


My flying skills have greatly improved when the front is facing away from me. I struggle with the micro facing at a 90° from me but when it's facing right at me I'm not too bad. I'll be testing some of these methods in the next week or so with the micro. I probably won't be testing the normal quad for a few months since the semester starts next Monday. I may be back here with an update. ;)

TL;DR: I really don't know what this post was about, I just felt like being wordy tonight. Was finally able to get my quad off the ground thanks to you guys, especially Motopreserve, so thank you very much! I'm excited to get the main quad up in the air and be comfortable enough to throw a gymballed GoPro on it. Thanks a bunch, guys! I may or may not be back with updates and/or more problems. :black_eyed:
 
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Motopreserve

Drone Enthusiast
Well, at least you're flying. :)

the flipping thing is likely motors or props spinning the wrong direction. Even the best get that mixed up sometimes - so when the semester mellows, you'll have some checking to do (with props off!).

Good luck and fly that Hubsan safe!
 

Markeaye

Markeaye
Well, for a first entry, your pants are certainly on fire.
I got the same bird from Hobbyking when I got my first copter. Dumb move. Bit off more than I could chew right out of the gate. As expected, it was a disaster. After spending, and spending, and spending, in every direction I thought I should, I was then as you are now. Struggling through all the strange acronyms, and trying desperately not to sound like an idiot, I am an Electronics Technician, after all. How hard could it be? I soon discovered just how easily carbon fibre splinters when subjected to a power dive into the desert floor from about 200 feet. All in all I basically flushed about $500 to $600 down the toilet. However, I haven't learned my lesson, as I have been bitten by a 800mm bug that looks, surprisingly like the pile of parts you can't imagine where to start on first. If, and when you decide to throw in the towel, before you fly, and crash the Bumblebee, and opt for a simpler, and smaller project, like a flamewheel, I would be interested in getting another Bumblebee. I just like the damn thing. Send me an email at Markeaye@Yahoo.com if your interested.

Thanks, Markeaye






Hey guys!

I had been toying with the idea of building myself a multicopter, but I was pretty hesitant about it because I had little knowledge of what I was doing and I'm broke. But as a thanks from my sister for some wedding junk, she bought me a GoPro and a Bumblebee quadcopter! I have no idea of what I'm doing with it, and I posted to r/multicopter and the guys there gave me some solid info, but I'm much more comfortable with the forum setting than I am with Reddit. They pointed me in a direction of what kind of things to buy, as the set wasn't quite complete (my sis didn't know what she was doing either, she had to ask friends for help) so I'll post some pictures, as they speak more than my little knowledge.

Stuff in the box:
photo2.jpg

photo3-1.jpg

photo4.jpg


Since I was down at uni, I didn't know of the best place to get the missing connectors and such, so I sat on this guy for a month until I was able to get home and hit the hobby store yesterday. I brought the instruction manual I found online and the box and just asked "what do I do? They said I need bullet connectors and a four way wire harness?" The guy was able to hook me up with 3 bullet connectors, but they were out of stock for the rest. He also provided me with a battery charger and some other bits like Ultra Plugs...which I have no idea of what they do...

Here's a pic!
photo5.jpg


I am so terribly lost. Here's the instruction manual, if it'll help you help me... I'm a broke uni student getting ready for the holiday expenses, so hopefully there aren't many more things I need to buy. I know for certain that I need another few sets of bullet connectors and that power harness, but is there anything else? And my soldering skills are quite poor; I soldered some board for my underwater ROV and...it failed. (might have gotten wet, which wasn't my fault. ;) ) I've watched this video quite a few times, but I can't really figure out whats what. Not sure why, the video is so straight forward... Any help you'd be able to provide would be greatly appreciated! :livid: I'll be in town until Friday, so if I need to buy more stuff that I can't find online, I have a bit of time.

Tldr: I'm an idiot with a built it yourself quadcopter. Where to I start and what else do I need to buy?

Thanks a bunch!!
Hey guys!

I had been toying with the idea of building myself a multicopter, but I was pretty hesitant about it because I had little knowledge of what I was doing and I'm broke. But as a thanks from my sister for some wedding junk, she bought me a GoPro and a Bumblebee quadcopter! I have no idea of what I'm doing with it, and I posted to r/multicopter and the guys there gave me some solid info, but I'm much more comfortable with the forum setting than I am with Reddit. They pointed me in a direction of what kind of things to buy, as the set wasn't quite complete (my sis didn't know what she was doing either, she had to ask friends for help) so I'll post some pictures, as they speak more than my little knowledge.

Stuff in the box:
photo2.jpg

photo3-1.jpg

photo4.jpg


Since I was down at uni, I didn't know of the best place to get the missing connectors and such, so I sat on this guy for a month until I was able to get home and hit the hobby store yesterday. I brought the instruction manual I found online and the box and just asked "what do I do? They said I need bullet connectors and a four way wire harness?" The guy was able to hook me up with 3 bullet connectors, but they were out of stock for the rest. He also provided me with a battery charger and some other bits like Ultra Plugs...which I have no idea of what they do...

Here's a pic!
photo5.jpg


I am so terribly lost. Here's the instruction manual, if it'll help you help me... I'm a broke uni student getting ready for the holiday expenses, so hopefully there aren't many more things I need to buy. I know for certain that I need another few sets of bullet connectors and that power harness, but is there anything else? And my soldering skills are quite poor; I soldered some board for my underwater ROV and...it failed. (might have gotten wet, which wasn't my fault. ;) ) I've watched this video quite a few times, but I can't really figure out whats what. Not sure why, the video is so straight forward... Any help you'd be able to provide would be greatly appreciated! :livid: I'll be in town until Friday, so if I need to buy more stuff that I can't find online, I have a bit of time.

Tldr: I'm an idiot with a built it yourself quadcopter. Where to I start and what else do I need to buy?

Thanks a bunch!!
 

Well, for a first entry, your pants are certainly on fire.
I got the same bird from Hobbyking when I got my first copter. Dumb move. Bit off more than I could chew right out of the gate. As expected, it was a disaster. After spending, and spending, and spending, in every direction I thought I should, I was then as you are now. Struggling through all the strange acronyms, and trying desperately not to sound like an idiot, I am an Electronics Technician, after all. How hard could it be? I soon discovered just how easily carbon fibre splinters when subjected to a power dive into the desert floor from about 200 feet. All in all I basically flushed about $500 to $600 down the toilet. However, I haven't learned my lesson, as I have been bitten by a 800mm bug that looks, surprisingly like the pile of parts you can't imagine where to start on first. If, and when you decide to throw in the towel, before you fly, and crash the Bumblebee, and opt for a simpler, and smaller project, like a flamewheel, I would be interested in getting another Bumblebee. I just like the damn thing. Send me an email at Markeaye@Yahoo.com if your interested.

Thanks, Markeaye

Hey mate, thanks for the consideration. I totally feel the same way; spent too much money on a bird that I crashed twice... from no more than a couple of stories up. After the second time, I just gave up on the damn thing. The cost to rebuild it would have been enough for me to build a different rig...so I did. Again, I bit off more than I should have at first, but I finally got my bird flying.

I ended up building myself a Tarot 680Pro that I stretched to 833mm so I could fit some nice 1555 props on it. It carries a three axis gimbal and a battery that gives me over 30 minutes of flight time. http://imgur.com/xlV2JpQ

My bumblebee has been trashed, to say the least. Several carbon parts were broken and it pretty much isn't worth salvaging, and to be frank, I think you could do better with a different setup and build something basic like a 250.

xlV2JpQ


-Shorts
 

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