Quad Building My First Quad

[bigone5500]

Thanks Tony. The stack-x will fit with room to spare.

I just worked on my XT-60 pigtail. I got the wires soldered on and heat shrink installed. I thought I'd also share how I dispense my solder. It's a small medicine bottle with a small hole in the lid. I took the solder and wound it around a pencil and pulled the end from the center. Works great.

 

[bigone5500]

Also to note. When I install the heat shrink, I like to get the diameter that will fit into the recess and push it into it a little. Maybe it's being a little obsessive but at least I know it will not short out.

 

[bigone5500]

Something to note on the Eachine Stack-X F4. If you want the current meter to work, you have to download the custom firmware from the banggood website. OR you can just get it below.

 

[Tony]

Yea I read that. Interesting that it doesn't ship with it...

 

[bigone5500]

Got some of the stuff today.

 

[Tony]

You are going to love that charger!

 

[bigone5500]

Got my motors today. They look good but I hope they work well.

 

[Tony]

Are we replacing our G's with H's now? hahahahaha

 

[FlyByKnight22]

I would like any and all input on building a quad from the ground up. I want to know everything. The quad I want will be a 250 size. I would like it to be able to fly easy for a beginner and tunable to make it more agile as my skills advance. I have not really thought about a budget for the quad but I figure about $350 or so should get it. I would also like it to fly on up to a 4S battery, I'm really not sure about that one but I am guessing it would be more powerful with that # of cells, I don't know. I have not made a concrete decision on a frame but I want it to have 4 to 5mm thick arms. I want it to be very strong. I want the motors to be reliable, not some el-cheapo crap that will fail after a couple months. The same goes for the ESCs. I want a Rx that is compatible with Spektrum DSMX. I want this quad to have parts that will be available for a while and not hard to find. As for props, I don't know if the two or three bladed ones are better but I do like the three bladed ones as they look better.

That being said, there are companies that have quads already built. I have not looked around at the different ones so if that would be my best bet, then so be it. But I do want the experience of building it myself. I really enjoy that aspect of RC.

So, what do you guys think? Is it a pretty hefty endeavor? Am I going about it wrong? Don't hold back!

Thanks.

a man after my own heart,..

A man that wants to know everything!

Wishing you great success on your new build.

In the middle of mine and struggling.

Best Regards,
FlyByKnight22

 

[Tony]

He has gotten along quite well with this build. In fact, I'm about to start a build using the same stack that he has, except I'm going to have to modify mine to get it in a much tighter frame. That is the plan anyway lol.

 

[bigone5500]

a man after my own heart,..

A man that wants to know everything!

Wishing you great success on your new build.

In the middle of mine and struggling.

Best Regards,
FlyByKnight22

It's a wild ride for sure. I made some progress tonight. I'm test fitting everything to see what it looks like. I got a new frame today and am not sure which I will use.

 

[FlyByKnight22]

It's a wild ride for sure. I made some progress tonight. I'm test fitting everything to see what it looks like. I got a new frame today and am not sure which I will use.

View attachment 19740 View attachment 19741

Looks good to me Biggin!

I like the looks of those three blade props, always been a fan of them even on fixed wing aircraft because of their torque.

My frame looks similar to your 2nd photo, it’s a ZMR-250 class sized racing quad. I’m using 3-Blade Dal cyclone 5045’s to start with, that is if I can get the FC board up and running

I’m finished with putting it all together but struggling tying to get the flight controller to talk to my TX.

If I can’t get it sorted out soon, I’m considering a different FC board and that probably means 4 new ESC’s also as my FC board is an all in one ESC/FC board.

Looking forward to seeing your finished quad and maiden flight.

Best Regards,
FlyByKnight

 

[bigone5500]

I worked a little bit on the stack. In order to use it with a DSMX Rx, you have to bridge two pads on the FC. By default, the wrong two pads are bridged. I had to desolder them and apply solder to the correct ones. If anyone plans to do this type of soldering, I recommend having some fine solder wick, isopropyl alcohol (90+%), and some flux (I use RMA-218). You also need to use a fine tip on your iron. I used the wick to remove the existing solder then cleaned the pads with alcohol. I then used the end of a swab (no cotton) to apply a very small amount of flux to the appropriate pads. Then carefully I placed a small ball of solder to them and worked it until they bridged. I can't half see so I had to employ my big ol' magnifying glass.

Before I go any further, I need to plan out my build. I need to figure out where I'm going to mount my Rx and how I'm going to secure the VTX (two standoffs have components in the way).

Here is the result.

 

[bigone5500]

To connect my DSMX Rx I will need to use this 3v connection right?

 

[Tony]

That is correct sir! If you don't like all of the magic smoke in your satellite, you can keep it connected to the 5v port

 

[bigone5500]

Yeah, them 'lectrons are chain smokers.

 

[bigone5500]

Is it personal preference what side you solder the battery leads to? I like the bottom pads. They look to be the best choice in my opinion. But it may be better to have them soldered to the same side as the leads for the FC.

 

[Tony]

I'm pretty sure that part doesnt' matter. That board has 4 different layers, but both sides of those pads should connect just to the VCC pad and not the other pads. So I would think you can put it anywhere on those pads. The gold runs all the way around just like on the ESC's.

 

[bigone5500]

Ladies and gentlemen, we are bound.

 

[bigone5500]

Ok. I need to know if there is anything I need to set up in BetaFlight before I solder my motors.

Under Power & Battery, how do I set up these settings?