Martian iii 220

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So components have started arriving  ::)
This quad is built on a budget (about £220). I already have i6 tx, lipo charger, Quanum V2, and vrx.

Here is first photo of the boxes of bits.




facebook photos upload


First impressions are everything so small!!!
Quality of frame isn';t great. Plates look OK but arms need tidying.
Motors feel good, all seem to have same feel. So hopefully that is OK.
ESC 4 in 1 that comes with mounts might not be what I expected. Looks like M3 nylon bolts and spacers. Thought it was the hex ones with stud that stacked. So that might mean more bits to buy.

Waiting on Wet & Dry to smooth frame edges. RunCam Split being dispatched on 10th July. Heat shrink, batteries, pagoda antennas, and FC anti vibration mounts on way.

Hopefully Wet & Dry arrives tomorrow and I can start build.

[ched]

While I am waiting for Wet & Dry thought I would check some bits out.

Thought I would add info here for my future reference as I always forget how I did things.
So I will ramble on, just ignore me 

So first thing Flight Controller.
It is an Omnibus F4 Pro V3 from BangGood.
I plugged the usb in and connected to Betaflight. It came running OMNIBUSF4 3.0.1 Oct 18 2016. I noticed the model in BF was 90degrees off, not a good start.
Installed drivers and Zadig (Win7) as per Blue Falcon RIP, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gh-KxmzFiqA
and
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ur_mU7Eu69E
Pressed DFU button and plugged usb in, just got Green light on so in in DFU mode.
Loaded Omnibus4SD s target, and latest stable build 3.1.7 Omnibus4SD 10-04-2017.
Flashed and it worked  ::)
Power cycled and model now moving same direction as FC  ::)
So all good so far.
I will post a component list soon.

[ched]

Very little progress today. Why is it you wait so long for parts from far east then they arrive and you are snowed under with work!!!!
Anyway had a little play with layout. Built the stack temporarily to see how high it is. They never list the thickness of boards with connectors on.
Anyway the stack of 4 in 1 esc, FC, RunCam Split (not arrived so temp carbon plate) and the flysky rx measures about 26mm high. Ordered different standoffs as ones in esc pack are just long bolts with spacers.

Loosely built frame and as it';s supposed to be built internal measurement is 29mm!!!! That might be a bit close for comfort. As I am not using the pdb I bought an extra fibreglass plate (couldnt find carbon one) I realised I could swap the bottom plate and move the main body above the arms and gain 4mm  ::) So now have a 33mm space for stack 
Anyway here are a couple of images on my bench/desk.






I know the bolts in the middle are upside down, dont worry not had time to clean up edges yet so I will build it correctly  ::)

While the frame is listed as a X its not a true X. Normally the people who know seem to suggest a stretched X in pitch axis is good for manoeuvrability but this is stretched in the roll axis. Basically motors are closer together front to back (136mm) vs side to side (171mm). Which is actually what I wanted as my RunCam Split will be the HD cam. As it';s inside frame props will be in HD Video so more between motors the better.

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Note: Cheredanine was right  the motor wires are not long enough to get to the 4 in 1 esc!!!
They are about 20mm too short. So 22awg cable ordered.

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OK so build progressing slowly due to work commitments.
Wet and Dry arrived, sanded the frame to make edges smooth. Used 180grit and sanded under water and it went well. Only slight issue was I was a little over enthusiastic and left some fine marks on the top and bottom of plates. No big deal just doesn';t look perfect 
All motors mounted (not thread locked yet, do people still do that?) and connected to 4 in 1 esc on bottom of stack. Temp positioned FC above esc, still waiting on anti vibration mounts.

The FC is an Omnibus F4 V3 pro, well a Banggoog copy. I plugged in the 4 in 1 esc cable to esc then to FC. Then soldered +ve battery cables from 4 in 1 to FC current sensor then out of current sensor to batter connector, plus a 22awg -ve from esc to FC.
Checked for shorts, all good. So applied power, all good no magic smoke. Esc made strange noise and carried on beeping!!! Tried to connect with BLHeli (chrome app). While it said it connected I tried to read and no data!!! After about an hour of trying BLHeli suite and reinstalling drivers etc I realised as normal it was my error!!!!
Be aware that the 4 in 1 connector goes into J11 on F4V3Pro NOT J4!!!! So had to extend 4 in 1 control cable connector! Now it all works, BLHeli App works and I changed the motor directions to be correct  ::)
Can';t build more of stack as RunCam Split seems stuck in France since last Friday

So thought I would have a play with the ';Matek LED Tail light WS2512B with Buzzer Dual Modes'; module. Hooked up to the J1 connector. The LEDs come on white, all good. Switched on LED Strip in Betaflight and tried to get colours to change. No luck. By this time it was 2am. So thought best to call it a day 

Just had a check this morning and found that by default the module is in TX mode. So I think I have to bress and hold button for 2 sec to enter colour mode then scroll through colours till LEDs OFF then after 10 sec it should save FC mode. So will try that later.

Will try and add picys as way too much text but at least I have nots to refer to for my next build  ::)

Still to do:
Setup LED
Connect buzzer and set tx/rx
Connect Camera
Connect VTX
Connect RX
Setup OSD
Solder on XT60
Calibrate gyro etc ESC running DShot600 so no cal  ::)
Attach battery strap and plate.

[Cheredanine]

Nice thread mate.

May be helpful to others when your had to connect to ... to include photos

Always use threadlock

[ched]

Had fun with Matek LED strip/Buzzer. Looks like the cloners of my Omnibus F4 V3 Pro didn';t bother with the led strip port J1 as it wasn';t working pre BF 3.1.7!
Just remapped LED Strip to PWM6 and all working  ::)
In CLI resource MOTOR 6 NONE , then resource led_strip a8.
Couple Of images:






image hosting with direct linking




image hosting

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Finally making progress.
Anti vibration mounts arrived as did RunCam Split. So started positioning things.
Have just connected rx connected to FC plus battery for telemetry.
It';s a bit tight in the stack, had to be careful on which spacers/standoffs to use to get everything in as you can see!




picture upload








Should be fairly easy now I know everything fits. Just have to connect up RunCam Split, vtx and LED/Buzzer rear mount.
Hopefully over next few days I will get time to finish.  ::)

[ched]

One little tip to add.

Don';t stick your XT60 into bluetac to hold while you solder. Pins get hot and melt bluetac into the XT60 and it';s a pain to remove!!!!!   ::) ::) ::)

[Cheredanine]

lol I frequently use bluetac to hold stuff when I am soldering but would stay away from the metal I am actually heating.

Tip mate, which you may know - when soldering wires to an xt60 plug, plug it in to its counterpart (without it being connected to a lipo), the heat required for an xt60 can result in the plastic holding the pins becoming malleable and deforming so your pins may not stay straight, plugging it in prevents this

[ched]

Hopefully this works. It is my build list. Think I have everything listed.

Component	Description	Link	Price
Frame	Martian III 220mm frame 4mm arms	https://goo.gl/rYXDtF	19.04
Motors	4 of Racerstar Racing Edition BR2205 2300KV Dark Blue	https://goo.gl/SzpurH	22.58
FC	Omnibus F4 Pro V3	https://goo.gl/iMdfwT	21.02
ESC	Racerstar RS30x4 30A Blheli_S ESC with 5V 3A SBEC	https://goo.gl/RxRtBA	34.91
VTX	Eachine VTX03	https://goo.gl/bamaf4	8.72
Camera	RunCamSplit3	https://goo.gl/6m4W81	59.06
Led/Buzzer	Matek LED Tail light WS2512B with Loud Buzzer	https://goo.gl/RdJhs2	3.96
Frame Plate	Replacement for PDB	https://goo.gl/4iAMhf	1.26
Props	10 Pairs Kingkong 5040 5x4x3 3-Blade	https://goo.gl/d4RiXE	5.15
Battery Protector	Battery Protector + Strap	https://goo.gl/DuaMGB	2.21
AntiVib	Anti Vibration mounts	https://goo.gl/QMvdc4	2.21
Batteries	Infinity 4s 1500mAh 70C Graphine	https://goo.gl/DyAznS	17.37
rx	FlySky X6B rx	https://goo.gl/WUw8rj	8.72
Heatshrink	328 pcs size 1mm to 14mm	https://goo.gl/rQWi6C	3.48
Wet&Dry	3 sheets various grade	https://goo.gl/AG18q5	2.48
Wire	22 gauge silicon wire motor extensions	https://goo.gl/oecmVW	0.99
StandOff	180 pcs m3 nylon standoffs	https://goo.gl/VgWh6Y	3.59
Pigtail	RP-SMA To IPEX	https://goo.gl/ErmuJs	1.21
Antenna	Pagoda 5.8Ghz Right Hand, RP-SMA	https://goo.gl/C5hsLq	7.85

Total £225.87

[Cheredanine]

Nice mate,
Am curious about a couple of things, notable the performance of that vtx and (probably a bit late) the auw of the split (29g for everything?)

Otherwise my only concern is the weight vs the somewhat lacklustre power of those motors, but sure you will figure it out

[ched]

Nice mate,
Am curious about a couple of things, notable the performance of that vtx and (probably a bit late) the auw of the split (29g for everything?)

Otherwise my only concern is the weight vs the somewhat lacklustre power of those motors, but sure you will figure it out

Just checked RunCam Split 25gms inc cables excluding bracket and no micro sdcard.
The vtx03 was only £8 so not expecting amazing performance but worth a try. Seems to get reasonable reviews.
Weight will be about 530gms inc battery. Motors are not great but bench test showing towards 1000gms of bench thrust. So in theory somewhere near 8 to 1 thrust. It';s no racer just for me to have a bit of fun and learn arco.
When I break things it';s easier for me to get a budget to buy better bits  ::)
Cheers mate.

[Cheredanine]

Split - ty mate, still playing at sub250g full sized racers, 25g is right in the "almost" area :)

Interested in how you find it after a few flights mate, weight is half that of even unify

Expect any bench figures to drop by at least 25% in the air mate, that said thrust figures are comparable with the cobra 2204 2300kv which were great in their day, don';t think you are intending to race this so shouldn';t be too much of an issue

[ched]

While I wait to be able to continue building thought I would jot down a few things. Most if not all of this will not be new to anyone but just my ideas and way of doing things.

The FlySky X6B has 2.5mm holes that don';t fit on normal stand-offs as they have 3mm threads. I used a 3mm drill bit to gently (by hand, no drill) enlarge the holes to 3mm. Went OK and rx still works.
The x6b has iBus so I am using that for first time. It also has a battery voltage input for telemetry. If you use the Flysky i6 you can get Firmware to update to 10ch + alarms (search RC Forum).
I wanted to have a plug and socket so I could disconnect rx if necessary so I directly soldered wires to the back. It has pads labelled Vcc, Gnd, and iBus and I plugged that into J5 on the Omnibus F4 V3 (gnd, +5v, and rx). The battery voltage wires were soldered to the Omnibus ';motors'; and Gnd pads with a 3 pin plug to the rx. Outer pins on 3 way plug gnd middle batt voltage.



Looking at the image I will have a look at the soldering on the gnd pad, doesn';t look too good.

I had to mount the rx front to back on the right side. I am not sure this is ideal as it shifts weight to one side but it is only 5gms. The reason I didn';t mount side to side on front or rear stand offs is that the RunCam Split is below the rx and the micro SD card fits in a ';cage';. The ';cage'; requires the lid to lift up to get the card out. By placing the rx to the opposite side the micro SD card cam be removed fairly easily.

I will try and add images later.

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The RunCam Split.
I wanted a good fpv cam and wanted to record HD. I didn';t want to have to keep swapping my SJ4000 from my F450 to the Martian. So the Split came at the perfect time for me.
I had to build the Martian3 frame slight different to put arms lower giving me an extra 4mm internal space.
I was going to use the Splits plastic mount to make it same width as HS1177 but it was a bit of a squeeze with the carbon mounting plates.
So I used the metal bracket. It bolts (with supplied bolts) through slots in the Martian3 frame. These did have to be opened out from 2.5mm to 3.0mm but the brackets fits great and I can slide it back towards the stack a bit.
The camera will stick out a bit which isn';t idea but not much I can do about that.
One major disadvantage of the Split is that as it normally sits low (in fpv position) and has wide (2.5mm GoPro lens for me) the props will be in view. Well I expect them to be. Not great but If I used a RunCam3 + RunCam Swift 2 that would be 80gms. The Swift is only 25gms all in. So I save 55gms which equates to about 10% of all up weight!!!
Again I will add images later.

[atomiclama]

I am not sure this is ideal as it shifts weight to one side but it is only 5gms.

It will make ** all difference  ::)

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Images still to come.
Just a little time to connect a few more bits up. Connected the Martek LED/Buzzer to power, PWM6, -ve buzzer pin to FC. All working, slightly annoying that unless tx is on buzzer is going off! Suppose it is actually a good thing in case when I crash and have to find it.
Connected up the vtx03 so thought I would try a little test. Switched on the BF OSD and set it up with some data on screen, saved & reboot.
Setup the VTX03 to E4 200mw but can';t see anything other than static on goggles! I am guessing as I have no camera connected hence no PAL or NTSC the OSD wont work?
Hopefully that is the issue.  ::)

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Little more work progress today. Well I say progress, soldered a 1n4001 diode into power line of runcam split. Powered it up and although it powers on and will record the wifi module won';t work! After a bit of head scratching I checked voltage and it was only 3.8v!. Looks like running 5v from 4in1 esc (5v 3A) through the omnibus f4 v2(not v3 as advertised!) reduces voltage. So even removing the diode I don';t think I can use on board video power filtering.

I will give the runcam split a test on bench PSU at 5v and see if wifi board works. If it does will have to try unfiltered 5v from esc and hope for low noise.

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Tested RunCam Split on 5v bench supply and wifi module works fine. All setup and ready to work now.
Connected up and no image on goggles. Then realised that I connected my vtx03 up wrong!!!!! Oops. I had the 5v out connected to the 5v supply on my FC!!!! Corrected things but although the vtx03 lights up and I can change channel and bands cant get a signal on goggles. I do get a slight change to static when correct frequency is selected on vrx but no images. Tried Auto, Pal, and ntsc in BF OSD still no images.
So hopefully have time to play this evening. It would have been this afternoon but after our flood last week, found another contributing factor.... Gutters blocked with cr4p after chimney stack removal earlier this year. So bloke coming to ';vacuum'; out gutters!!! No one will/can do it off ladders as its 3 stories high!
Anyway hopefully work out if I destroyed the vtx later.
Cheers

[ched]

RunCam Split all working, 5v bench psu and hooked up to tv.
VTX03 all working, 5v bench psu and hooked up to composite out of freeview box. Good image on goggles on correct band and channel.

Connect both the Omnibus F4 V2/V3 although both power on no video to goggles. Short video pins on FC and image in goggles.

Looks like FC Video chip dead!!!!!

Now for BangGood fun.......

[DarkButterfly]

RunCam Split all working, 5v bench psu and hooked up to tv.
VTX03 all working, 5v bench psu and hooked up to composite out of freeview box. Good image on goggles on correct band and channel.

Connect both the Omnibus F4 V2/V3 although both power on no video to goggles. Short video pins on FC and image in goggles.

Looks like FC Video chip dead!!!!!

Now for BangGood fun.......

I had an issue like that with my Kakute F4, I had a short between the video and ground pins on the VTx connector, it was so slight I couldn';t see it and couldn';t understand why I wasn';t getting any video through the goggles, a quick buzz with the meter found it, one quick fix and all was good.

[ched]

I had an issue like that with my Kakute F4, I had a short between the video and ground pins on the VTx connector, it was so slight I couldn';t see it and couldn';t understand why I wasn';t getting any video through the goggles, a quick buzz with the meter found it, one quick fix and all was good.

Cheers DB. If I short the video pins where I soldered them on the FC video signal is transmitted.
I will check as I originally wired up the vtx03 up incorrectly and I cut off the proper gnd & +ve wires  So I did have to solder them back on. I could have a slight short there.

I might desolder the vtx and just connect to a composite connector then plug in to tv and see what happens.
Cheers.

[ched]

I have checked the connections and they are all good.
I have buzzed out the video in/out to the video chip and they appear to be connected through capacitors as per circuit diagram.
So looks like video chip is dead!!!!

Now to have fun with BangGood..........

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Contacted BangGood by a few different methods  Sent photos, not that that really shows anything.
After 1 reply and my not accepting their first offer of 200points  they are refunding  .
So new Omnibus F4 V2/3 Pro ordered from ebay (OK I know another clone but one from Unmanned Tech that is supposed to be a V3 is double the price plus the images show a V2 and they have not answered my emails enquiring about which version they are actually selling!!! So ebay it was, always got paypal to fall back on if this one is faulty.
Only snag is it will take about 10 days even though it is a UK supplier!!!!!! I wonder......

Off to do more roof repairs....... It never rains but it pours!!!!!!

[Cheredanine]

Lol uk supplier my sainted aunt ******, it will be a bg dropshop

[ched]

It can';t be a BG drop shipper as BG don';t have any omnibus f4 v2/3 pros. Probably an AliExpress drop shipper  ;D

[HexDecimal]

Hopefully you';ll have more luck with that X6B RX than I';ve had recently with the FS-IA6B RX...

Keeping an eye as I already saw the Martian III frame as a potential next build... once I';ve got the current working haha..

[ched]

Hopefully you';ll have more luck with that X6B RX than I';ve had recently with the FS-IA6B RX...

Cheers.
X6B seems to be good on the bench. Reading forums range seems good. I went for the X6B as it is light does iBus and has voltage telemetry built in.
Only issue I had was the 30.5mm spaced mounting holes are only 2.5mm not the normal 3mm of standoffs. I carefully opened up the holes to 3mm, all seems OK but only time will tell.
Good luck with your iA6B.

[ched]

Lol uk supplier my sainted aunt ******, it will be a bg dropshop

It arrived today.  ::) Fingers crossed I can complete the build this evening  ::)
No sign of any foreign postage just Royal Mail 48 hrs. So no matter where it did come from it arrived 7 days after order.
Happy Soldering....... ::)