RC-Hangout

Many of you may remember the 290mm FPV quad that I scratch built, last year. It was a heavy sucker but it did fly and then it did crash. I really have no explanation why it crashed. I was flying around my usual field, with my Dad on deck. I was about 60-75 feet in the air and the quad just began to tumble uncontrollably and then met terra firma very firmly, lol. The damage was really not that bad but I put the quad on the shelf and stepped away for a few month. I decided to build another quad, trying to make sure that I was building it as light as possible. Unfortunately, I think I was going so "light weight" that I began to lose structural integrity and the quad arms could easily be torqued. I did try to fly the quad and it was just impossible. No matter what I adjusted in the Naze, I could actually see the front and rear arms torqueing while in flight. I was less than impressed. I began to give my original ECHO 290 another look and decided to strip it down and remove the landing gear and the upper deck. I wanted to try to squeeze as much as I could into the main frame of the quad (rx, Naze, esc's, and a bit of wiring). I knew that the vtx would not be able to go inside the main frame. it's going to sit on the outside, rearwards of the battery. Here are some pics of what's going on....
The above pic is of my "light weight" 250 quad. I used 10mm x 10mm carbon fiber square tubing for the arms. Unfortunately, no matter how tight the hardware was, I could grab the front and rear arms and I could twist them with relative ease. Disappointing.
The above pic is of my original ECHO 290 quad with the broken bits still on board. I spent about 3 hours deciding how to proceed but I think I'm on to something special now.
The above pic is of the new ECHO 290 quad. I removed the landing gear (although cool looking, just dead weight). I removed the upper deck as well. Now, this quad kinda looks like that ImmersionRC Vortex 285 quad. Pretty cool, actually!
The new frame idea is minus the landing gear and upperdeck, as well as any hardware. Weighing 183.8grams.
The Naze32, 20amp Afro ESC's (flashed with BLheli), motors, FPV cam, and a bit of wiring.
I soon realized that my HobbyPartz ActionCam just wasn't going to work being mounted on the top. I decided to move the ActionCam to the nose. I bent a bit of 3/4" x 3/4" aluminum angle to act as a tilted cradle. Now, the ActionCam does have a small viewing screen on the backside. To protect that screen from getting scratched on the aluminum, I wrapped the aluminum with black packing tape and then adhered a small piece of black foamboard (also wrapped in black packing tape) to the aluminum. The viewing screen then rests against the softer black foamboard. I just have 1 ziptie holding the cam in place but I will probably use two (one that wraps over the top and bottom and then another that wraps around from side to side.
With the ActionCam mounted on the nose, there is no way that the FPV cam would be able to see over ActionCam if the FPV cam were mounted on the top deck. Solution: A small pine block, with a taper on the rear, is secured to the top deck via two 3/4" coarse thread sheet metal screws. This block was also wrapped with black packing tape. The FPV cam was then secured to the block via another 3/4" coarse thread sheet metal screw.

Thus far, my resurrected ECHO 290 quad is looking quite promising and I'm happy with it. I'm anxious to get it to the finished step so that I can weigh it and compare it's weight to the original ECHO 290 quad's bulbous weight. I'm sure that my quad isn't going to be as light as anything that Dan, Lee, Stambo, and Graham fly, but it should be lighter than my original ECHO 290....and that will be an accomplishment.

....more to come.

I kinda knew you wouldn't stay away from quads for too long after having a taste Derek
I would be a little concerned about how vulnerable that FPV camera is sticking out up on top there.
Although I can't think of a better way to do it.
I suppose a couple of pieces of thin alloy or CF screwed to the side of your pine block may offer some protection.
The thing with proximity flying tends to be not so much if you crash, but how much damage you do when you crash.

...and I knew that you would know that I wouldn't be able to stay away from quads for too long, lol. It's just like my planes and helicopters....it's an awesome flying experience.

I'm definitely concerned about the vulnerability of the FPV cam on top. Some carbon fiber screwed to the sides of the pine block would definitely be better than nothing at all. I do have some extra CF here. Perhaps I can cut something out to give some protection.

I like the statement that you made, "The thing with proximity flying tends to be not so much if you crash, but how much damage you do when you crash". This is SOOO very true, lol.

Thanks for checking it out, Stambo!!!

Hey there Derek. Looks like you can have fun building this quad. Looks great! Good luck with your first flight mate.

Stambo suggested that I put some kind of protection around the FPV cam. I agreed with him immediately. I was thinking it needed something, too, I was just unsure what to do. Below is a pic of what I've come up with for camera protection and I added the vtx and a battery. I just need to tidy up some wires and run the Cleanflight setup and calibration. Then put the props on and it's "Game On!!!"

I did weigh the finish quad. It's still a bit heavy at 772.1 grams but it weighs less than the previous ECHO 290 which weighed 862.8 grams. Once I get a new Mobius or Runcam, I'll take off the HobbyPartz action cam. Until then, here is the pic of the near finished Resurrected ECHO 290 FPV quad
I wish I had some prettier standoffs that I could use instead of the nuts and bolts but all my standoffs are just too short. The nuts and bolts will have to suffice for the time being.

Ok, I'm happy to report that the Naze/Cleanflight setup went as it should and I was able to get everything to work. In the Setup tab, the accelerometer was calibrated on a level surface and I can see that my quad orientation moves as the quad in Cleanflight moves. Everything is working in the Receiver tab. I can move the left stick on my tx down and to the right to arm the board, apply throttle and the motors turn and they turn in the proper directions. The flight modes work with my AUX1 switch. I did manage to forget to calibrate the esc's. I'll do that after I finish this post. I powered up my FPV system and that works.

Too cool!!!

EDIT....a few minutes later and I'm back. ESC's, with BLheli have been calibrated. No troubles.

Now...where's that non-fridged day when I'm not working? lol

Nice Derek, hope the maiden of this new version goes well, happy flying mate,

Thanks Kev! I imagine the maiden on this quad will go better than the one that I built and then tore down. This frame is just so super solid and rigid.

Now I just need a day when it's not blistering cold and I'm not working, lol.

I'm definitely pleased that I was able to get the Naze32 and Cleanflight setup without having to scream for help (although I surely know the help would be given, lol).

Ok next we gonna have to teach you about BorisB Betaflight, just to confuse the issue.
I am running it now and tried Gtune (new version of autotune that works) on the weekend.
It only adjusts P for now but seems to do a pretty good job of it.

I've heard great things about Betaflight. Is that run on the Naze also? Instead of Cleanflight, it's Betaflight?

Yup, my quad flew great on stock PIDs.
Jacobs new one needed a little tweaking but Gtune got it close.

Beta flight is the way forward.

Do we have a writeup or tutorial on how to get started with Betaflight?

If we have I can't find it so heres a link for you.https://youtu.be/OhYNKOv-t38

Nice one Derek:)

Thanks for that, Dan!

Thanks Graham! Many of the people that I'm subscribed to, on YouTube, have been sharing some awesome FPV quad videos lately and it rekindled that fire for quad flying again. So, the ECHO 290 is back and has some improvements. It's a bit lighter and has stronger ESC's. I'm looking forward to getting the goggles back on.

I flashed Betaflight tonight Derek it took longer to plug the laptop in than to load:) Simples:)

Sounds good. Maybe I'll give it a go.

Although the temperatures were still pretty cold today, the wind was pretty decent...so the wind chill wasn't bad at all. I took the quad into the front yard for a maiden attempt. NOTE TO SELF: be sure all prop nuts are tight...not just 3 of them, lol. Yep...that 4th one flew off upon lift off and the quad flipped over. I have no idea where the prop went but I did find the prop nut. Life is good. I have plenty of spare props.

I replaced the prop and tightened ALL 4 prop nuts. I powered up the quad and armed the Naze32. The quad did lift off the ground but it was insanely difficult to control. It was a wild short ride. I probably only flew it for 30 seconds or so and it was a nightmare. Now, I really have no idea what I should be adjusting to smooth this monster out. It was like flying a helicopter with negative expo...but I set the quad down and no damage done.

Any thoughts?

Post up screenshots of your config and PIDs from cleanflight Derek, we'll get it sorted.