Do you sell quads ready to fly? Can I purchase everything from you directly?
Since we are primarily a frame manufacturer we do not offer ready to fly quads. We do sell flight controllers and a few other DJI products (such as parts or kits upon request). For complete ready to fly quads using our frames, or motors, escs, etc, we recommend www.witespyquad.com
What type of flight times should I expect from a 450 sized quad?
6 minutes on a 2200mah 3s lipo
13 minutes on a 5000mah 3s lipo
25 minutes on two 5000mah 3s lipos in parallel (assuming you know how to do this).
Which frame do I need, the 450 or the 550?
The 450 is the most popular and the frame we recommend. If you are planning to try to lift large payloads you will need larger props (11") and the larger frame was made to accommodate this. The most important reason for choosing the 550 is if you are looking for better stability or carrying larger loads, you can use larger props.
Can I order my frame with two different colors, say red arms and black landing gear?
Yes, if we have the colors available. Typically we only stock black and red, and occasionally blue. As long as we have the parts in stock, we do not charge any fee to mix colors.
Where are you located?
We are in St. Petersburg, FL, USA
Which motors do I need?
The motors you will want to find for this frame (both the 450 and the 550) are 28mm outside diameter outrunners, between 900Kv and 1050Kv with a mounting hole spacing of 16mm - 29mm. They will need to be mounted from the bottom, so that the prop attaches to the outer bell (the part that spins) with a prop adapter. Some outrunners have a shaft and a collet to mount the prop to the collet. These will work too be we always prefer the prop adapters which screw down to the outrunner bell itself. They are more reliable and can not slip off like the clamp down collet adapters can.
Never frames such as the HT-450 and HT-FPV allow up to 38mm motors to be installed. They should be mounted with only two screws (arm plates are not wide enough to use all 4).
I have the HT-FPV frame (and the board) and am using the parts off my VC-450. When soldering the ESC's to the board, do you lay the wire flat into the conductive area or try and stick some of the wire end through the hole, then solder?
If you can get some into the hole to make a stronger mechanical connection that is great, but if not, just fill the hole with solder, and get a good flowing shiny solder joint and you will be fine.
What gauge wire do you recommend for the battery lead? I'll be using anywhere between a 3S 2200 mah and 3S 3800 mah.
14-18 AWG should be fine. 12AWG can be very difficult to solder without a high wattage iron.
What is the Quadrino and is it difficult to configure?
The Quadrino is based on the Adruino MultiWii opensource flight controller (http://www.multiwii.com/). We wanted a very high quality MultiWii controller so we had one designed just for us. It flies extremely well and provides features such as autolevel and heading hold. It also provides a barometer for Altitude hold, however this one feature is still undergoing development and needs some improvement. For sport flying and FPV the flight characteristics are very good. There are no surprises with the Quadrino as it is very predictable and auto level mode works well. The quality of the board is very good, and it is designed for longevity and convenience. The labeling allows the board to be connected without need of a wiring diagram, and the board is coated to prevent corrosion, and the hole in the center of the board allows the use of a canopy without wires being in the way. The Quadrino is known to have the best warranty support of all MultiWii flight controllers.
The Quadrino can be configured for many different multirotor designs such as Tricopter, Quadcopter, Y6, Hex, X8, etc. The software it runs is open source, meaning you can modify the original software. For software programmers and hardware hackers this is fantastic as you can add or customize features in the software. It is also good for engineering students who are experimenting with new designs or are interested in writing their own control software. The software can be intimidating at first to configure so we generally have it set to fly correctly with the VC450 out of the box so that no configuration changes are needed. To update the settings you will need a computer with USB port. This can be a Windows Machine, MacOSX, or Linux. For more information about changing the settings of the Quadrino, see the VC-450 witespy manual in the downloads section of this website. New features are being added all the time so it is useful to learn how to update the firmware.
What is the Naza and how does it compare with the Quadrino?
The Naza is a new flight controller by DJI International. It is designed to be very simple to configure. It requires only a few settings and it flies very well. It has a Baro for altitude hold and this mode works extremely well and has made the Naza very popular for FPV enthusiasts. It supports Quad and Hex configurations, Y6, but not Tricopter, etc. If you are looking for a very simple to configure controller which is very easy to fly, the Naza would be a great choice. If you like something highly configurable for any type of multirotor build, and would like to have the freedom to modify and upgrade it at will, then the Quadrino might be a better choice. We like and fly both.
You say the Naza does really good altitude hold but does the Quadrino hold work as well and does the Naza have heading hold like the Quadrino and does the Quadrino have the auto land feature like the Naza? What is the difference in how they fly?
What do I need to build my own Quad using your kit?
1 Frame kit
4 motors with 5mm prop adapters
4 speed controllers (18A - 20A)
4 8x4.7 slow fly props (2 normal and 2 reverse)
1 Flight controller
5 Male to Male servo extensions approximately 6" in length (receiver to flight controller)
4 Male to Female servo extensions approximately 6" in length (flight controller to ESC)
1 receiver (6 to 8 channel recommended)
1 Battery connector to match opposite connector on lipo battery
1 Power distribution board (optional but it will make things easier)
Soldering skills and 18AWG stranded wire
1 3S 2200mAh LIPO battery
1 transmitter (6 to 8 channel recommended)
We also recommend adding light strips to the quad so you can tell which is the front and back. Turnigy LED strips are our favorite for this, and they can be run directly from the power distribution board. You will also need a lip battery charger if you do not already have one.
I have never flown a helicopter or plane, but I have experience with cars, etc. Will it be hard to fly?
Yes, it will be very hard to fly. Of all the R/C toys, helicopters will full cyclic and rudder are the hardest to fly. It can seem almost impossible at first as it is very easy to become disoriented as the helicopter rotates in the sky. Combine this with something which looks the same on all sides and the results can be upsetting. We recommend that you first learn to fly a helicopter on a simulator before flying any r/c helicopter. Now having said that, quad copters are also one of the easiest types of full cyclic helicopters to fly since they are computer stabilized. But this is not a substitute for flying skills, you will still need to control the helicopter.
I have flown collective pitch helicopters, how do these compare?
They are much easier to fly than CP helicopters, and can lift much more weight. They fly very smooth, have less rotor energy, and to a helicopter pilot can be very fun and low stress. A quad copter has an incredible amount of power. The smaller blades are also very much safer than a standard helicopter but do not underestimate the damage that can be cause by these small blades. They are razor sharp so use the same precautions that you would use with a standard helicopter. Avoid people always. There are 3 motor motors and ESC's which can fail over a standard helicopter, and any one of them can bring it down in an instant.
Would this be a good gift for my child of age X?
We recommend that only those 18 and older use this product. If you do not have helicopter flying experience then you should fly under supervision of an EXPERIENCED helicopter pilot in a place determined safe for R/C flying. While these may look like toys, they are not toys, and can cause serious damage or injuries if flown carelessly. You accept all risk when using this product. Please be safe.
Should I use 8"m 9" or 10" props?
We recommend 9" props for most flying with motors around 1000Kv. With the 8" props you will easily be able to lift a gopro or other small camera. 10" props can be used if the 8" props do not provide enough lift for your application. You will notice more vibration with the 10" props due to blade flex. We have found that 9x4.7 are the best size prop for a 450 sized frame with motors in the 1000Kv range.
Which tools do I need to update the firmware on the Quadrino?
You need the firmware itself, which we have hosted here:
http://www.hoverthings.com/downloads.html
You also need the correct version of the Arduino development ide:
Mac OS X
Windows
Linux 32 bit, 64 bit
How do I enable AUX2 (mode pin 2) with the Quadrino?
When enabling RCAUXPIN12 define, you must also ensure AUX2PIN (in def.h) is also set to 0.
I am not sure which motors connect to A, B, C, D on the Quadrino, and which direction they should spin. Please help!
Sure look at the quadrino, and on the left side you will see a circle with A, B, C, D in small circles around it. The little arrow which says -->X represents the front of the quad if you imagine the circle as the quad, and the small circles as the motors. So A is the left front, C is right front, B is right rear, and D is left rear when in X mode. A and B spin clockwise, C and D spin counter clockwise.
My Quadrino powers up with a usb cable but gets nothing when hooked up to battery power by speed controllers. When everything is hooked up the receiver light doesn't come on. Any suggestions?
Sounds like the protection diodes are blown. We have seen several of these lately, not sure why. The good news is that the board has a good warranty. Email cfm@colinmackenzie.net to check on your warranty status.
Which gains should I run with the Naza, and will <name brand> speed controllers work with it?
There is a spreadsheet being maintained by Naza owners to report working speed controllers and gain settings. See it here:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Au16aK6Q-0p0dENkdXVGVHJLRm5fRTFQdjBZbUhxZ3c&pli=1#gid=0
Which transmitter do you recommend?
Any 6 - 9 channel radio will work fine. We like Futaba or Spektrum, but there are other radios which will work well also. It does not need to be a helicopter radio since nearly all quads fly in airplane mode. We recommend 2.4ghz for its failsafe options.
How can I mount a GoPro camera to my VC-450?
See youtube video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6SuOXUFwbg&feature=related
How do I configure the Naza flight controller?
You will need the drivers: http://www.dji-innovations.com/files/naza/NAZA_USB_Driver.zip
And the Naza Assistant: http://www.dji-innovations.com/files/naza/NAZA_Assistant.zip
The Manual is here: http://www.dji-innovations.com/files/naza/NAZA_User_Manual_en.pdf
See my youtube video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEueAlT88ZA
Why does the throttle seem slugish in autolevel mode, or why does the quad climb quickly when switced into stunt mode?
When flying to autopilot mode you do not have direct control of the throttle. You command the Naza to climb, descend, or hold altitude. Because hold altitude is always mid stick, take off will always be above half throttle. When switching back to stunt mode from a hover, the quad will climb because you are switching from alitude hold to direct control of the throttle.