New 550 Builds

[kilby]

At times of stress it';s often better to have sight of the rear LEDs

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

[apollo7]

I have tried an LED strip on 4s and seems fine, did a bit of googling and it appears these lights are happy to run at this higher voltage so i think at some stage i will swap over to these, i have them already as i was going to fit these originally

[LuMan]

At times of stress it';s often better to have sight of the rear LEDs

That is a good point, but I suppose it also comes down to what you';re used to. My HJ816 has got white LEDs on the front arms, green on the rear (none on the left or right) and two green LEDs facing forwards. I';m sort of used to that set up and have no problems with orientation. Of course, it times of major panic, I';ll use the return to home feature!! 

[LuMan]

A bit more of an update...

I finally got around to soldering the ESCs in place tonight. The FC has turned up, along with the batteries, but I need a new Rx to replace the one I put in the STOL, which has the wings attached in a sort of permanent way...

First up the hex, ready to be done:
[attach=1]

Then the finished bit:
[attach=2]

I';ve left the cable ties in an un-trimmed mode for the time being, as I left my snips in the shed!

I double-checked the instructions for the FC to make sure that my motors where in the right place - luckily they were, so no need to fart about swapping them over 

The ESCs are mounted ';upside-down'; to make them fit more snugly under the arms. It may be that I';ll need to remove the cable ties at the motor ends and swap the outside cables around to make them spin right, but I';ll find out when the Rx arrives..

Oh, sod it... I';m going to whip the Rx out of the STOL!!  ::)

[apollo7]

Your making progress, not long till the maiden flight, still loving mine, had a good few flights now and its spot on

[LuMan]

OK, so the FC is fitted, along with the Rx and battery. I dug out my wife';s old Windows laptop and cranked up Flight Assistant.

after a bit of firstling, I managed to get the motors running in the right direction, and also the Mode switch for Attitude operation. I';ll experiment with GPS and other modes when I';m happy with how she flies.

Tried to arm the motors (props off, of course), but can';t get the thing out of Fail Safe mode. Might be due to the batteries being a bit low, so I';ve got them on charge now.

One odd thing I noticed is that the ZYX-M doesn';t want to play at all if you';ve not got the GPS/Compass module connected. I deflected every GPS function in Flight Assistant, but the LED just kept blinking red all the time.

Anyhoo - I threw the GPS pod into the mix and all I get now is Fail Safe. I';ll see how she fares with a fully-juiced pack.

Obligatory pics.. 

Almost done. The cable ties need trimming, and I need to better secure the hardware.
[attach=1]

Bit of a close-up.
[attach=2]

Hopefully I';ll be able to get her off the floor this weekend, so I';ll post a vid when I do.

[hoverfly]

Nice job ,but it looks far too neat.

[nate80]

Very nice work LuMan.  She does look tidy.   

[apollo7]

Lovely and tidy, makes mine look scruffy, good luck with getting of the ground, we will want pictures

[LuMan]

Thanks for the comments about how tidy she looks, fellas. I';m probably being a bit over-cautious, as it';s my first build. I';m sure I';ll revert back to scruffy mode for future builds.. 

It seems that my version of firmware for the FC won';t arm without the gps pod, despite being in Attitude mode. I stuck it near the window and it picked up a couple of sats and armed perfectly. A quick bit of testing and wiggling seemed to show the motors behaving, but I did get a battery connection failure when testing. Looks like a bit of bad soldering. Good job it was on the bench and not in the air!

So, next step is to re-solder the battery connector and get the props on... Then off for the maiden 

I';ll be sure to get pics and vid!!!

[apollo7]

best of luck, bring on the video`s

[LuMan]

Well, aren';t I just the total noob!!?

After re-soldering the battery connector, along with a couple of loose ESC connections, I put the props on and realised that I';d put the CCW-threaded motors in the places for the CCW-spinning props. So, this means that my props would run the risk of unscrewing themselves in flight.

Took me over 40 minutes to swap the damn things about, and then test them in Flight Assistant!

So, I am all ready for the maiden. The props and motors are correct (finally), the battery is charged, and the camera is also ready to film the event.

....and it';s chucking it down here... 

If it brightens up later, then I';ll see if I can get her off the ground.

[LuMan]

Oh, now I am REALLY chuffed!!  ::)

http://youtu.be/_QSmVEqHFUQ

Verbose Link: https://youtu.be/_QSmVEqHFUQ

It took a couple of goes to get the confidence, as I didn';t know how quick it would go skywards. But it went and it worked! Oh, happy me! 

[guest325]

Looking really good, seems like you are on to a winner there!!
ps. like the jimjam bottoms ::)

[apollo7]

Really pleased you have got it to take to the sky, well done that man, they are great flyers

[nate80]

Finally ready to add my build into the mix too.  It';s been hard to find the time to get going on my kit.

I started the build on Saturday and have tried to do a couple of hours each day since, so I';m 6 hours in so far.  Time spent includes searching for the odd build answer on the web and figuring out the way I want to mount things.  The DJI website instructions are poor and even a bit wrong in places.     I';m happy with progress so far though.


Stage 1, make a battery connecter with 12 AWG cable, XT60 terminal and heat shrink tubing.

Stage 2, prepare board for tinning and solder the power cable in place (yeah, I know - I';ve got mild OCD!).

[attach=1]

Stage 3, shorten the length of cable on the 20A ESC';s (saved 54g weight doing this) and prepare the ends with heat shrink and liquid electrical tape.

[attach=2]

Stage 4, solder ESC';s to PCB

[attach=3]

Stage 5, Solder DJI PMU to PCB

[attach=4]

Stage 6, Attach arms and motors

[attach=5]

Stage 7, install main flight controller and diagnostics LED

[attach=6]

That';s where I';m at so far.  I';m not permanently tidying the wiring or painting solder points with liquid electrical tape until the build is complete and tested.

Next job to do is figure out where I';m going to place the VTX, miniOSD and RX.  Look into orientation LED kits and also work out how I';m going to connect the legs, rails, gimbal and camera.

[LuMan]

Looking excellent, nate. Folk said my cabling was tidy, but you';re in a whole new class!! neatest build I';ve seen, I reckon.

Looking forward to the rest of the build.

[nate80]

Thanks luman      I';m already getting impatient and really looking forward to getting her in the air!      But I';ve got quite a way to go yet.   ;D   This is my first build so most of it is new to me, but it';s so satisfying.

I think I';m going to install a FrSky X8R Receiver (which came with a Taranis 9XD Plus TX).  I think I';ll use SBus to connect the RX to the Naza M V2 Flight Controller.  Does that sound sensible?

[axelz]

Frsky x8R and sbus is good, have just changed my setup from original crappy dji transmitter to taranis, with Lipo voltage sensor to properly monitor cell voltages.

[nate80]

Frsky x8R and sbus is good, have just changed my setup from original crappy dji transmitter to taranis, with Lipo voltage sensor to properly monitor cell voltages.

Cool.  I was slightly tempted to go DJI TX when I first thought about getting an F550, but when I saw how cool the taranis was I thought better of it.      Where d';you get the Lipo voltage sensor from please axelz?

[LuMan]

As this is your fist build, nate, I think you';re doing the right thing by taking it step-by-step and getting it right first time. My hex was my first build and I leaned so much by taking it easy and looking at what I was doing.

As for Rx, I agree with axelz. Use SBus. It';s much tidier, and there are less wires to mess about with. I actually used a Radio Link AT9 with R9D receiver. It';s a good little unit and well-priced, although I can';t find any other compatible receivers, so I';m ordering a few R9Ds from China!! But, I definitely champion SBus.

Hint: When I got my AT9 I also got the OSD module for about 8 quid. I';ve not used it yet, but it may well come in useful for when I add FPV capability to one of my craft. Might be worth seeing if you can get a similar thing as well-priced for the Taranis.

[axelz]

Got the voltage sensor off a seller on eBay

[nate80]

As this is your fist build, nate, I think you';re doing the right thing by taking it step-by-step and getting it right first time. My hex was my first build and I leaned so much by taking it easy and looking at what I was doing.

As for Rx, I agree with axelz. Use SBus. It';s much tidier, and there are less wires to mess about with. I actually used a Radio Link AT9 with R9D receiver. It';s a good little unit and well-priced, although I can';t find any other compatible receivers, so I';m ordering a few R9Ds from China!! But, I definitely champion SBus.

Hint: When I got my AT9 I also got the OSD module for about 8 quid. I';ve not used it yet, but it may well come in useful for when I add FPV capability to one of my craft. Might be worth seeing if you can get a similar thing as well-priced for the Taranis.

Thanks LuMan.  I';ve already bought everything that I';m going to need to complete my build, so that';s one less job (and expense!), so I now just have to figure out how to piece it all together - hardware and software wise.  I just bought a Taranis X9D Plus and an FrSky X8R receiver.  I plan to replace all of my other TX';s with the Taranis over the next few months.

Apparently you can set up 16 channels using SBus on the X8R!  SBus it is then!   ::) 

I bought a DJI OSD a few weeks back.  My plan is to have a single action cam (Xiaomi Yi or similar) act as a recording device and an FPV camera which I';ll run through the DJI OSD for visual telemetry feedback.   

This is a fairly complicated first build I think, but I like a challenge!   ;D

[apollo7]

I had temptation come calling, i know some one selling a Quanum spider 700 with Naza, sooo temted but it would mean selling the S550 hex, and i think i would regret it so going to keep the hex for time being, i flew her other evening took her out to near on 450 meters and all was good

[LuMan]

Good choice 

I';ll be dragging mine off to the field at the weekend for some longer-range flying. I';ve just been tootling around the back garden of late, so it';ll be good to her stretching her legs a bit.

My new GPS/Compass mast turned up today, so I';ll be looking at some of the other modes that the ZYX-M has to offer.

[apollo7]

I plan on setting mine in a hover about 18 inches of the ground and turning of the TX, to check if it flicks to RTH, if it does i will open up geo fence to 650 meters

[guest325]

I plan on setting mine in a hover about 18 inches of the ground and turning of the TX, to check if it flicks to RTH, if it does i will open up geo fence to 650 meters

It will probably climb like a sky rocket unless you';ve got your RTL height at that height - which wouldn';t be clever!!!

[apollo7]

Geo fence is set to 120 meters and RTL is set to 20 meters

[axelz]

Best off setting geofence to 500m distance and 120m height (maximums) re  CAA regs.. or less (if starting off and depending on your surroundings) if in U.K.

[guest325]

Right so if your RTL height is 20 metres and you turn the tx off it will immediately climb to 20 metres.