How easy is it to build a quadcopter please?

[nickyb]

Hi All,

I was looking at an RTF for a Tarot T-650 quad but its out of my budget and I think I would prefer to get the satisifaction of making it myself from all the seperate parts.

I';m no electronic';s engineer (but pretty steady with a solder iron) so if I buy the ESCs, motors, NAZA etc, is it pretty easy to all put together etc.

I mean setting up the TX and RX, configuring the motors with the ESC etc.

It just sounds a daunting task!

Any advice much appreciated,

Nick

[Smeagol]

Hi Nick,

I knew nowt about RC let alone flying one of these things, but I built my own quad from scratch completely. I';m not going to say it was easy, but the problems I had were down to the parts supplied not being configured as they should have been.

The guys on here are tremendous, start off with a good idea of what you want to achieve, whether it';s simply fun acrobatic flying or FPV with a camera and video recording, then post the details. The members will help with advice on the hardware and specs that you will need.

I went through all this on my thread and simply wouldn';t have succeeded without their help that';s for sure. The achievement of building it yourself from scratch and actually flying it for the first time is amazing, and the build process teaches you a lot along the way, how to repair them when the usually inevitable crash happens. Which is why your build list should include spares of the more susceptible components.

Theres usually a few in the chat area too, so prompt help is usually only a keyboard away.

Teslahead on here has designed his own teslaquad and teslahex, checkout his threads to see them in action, he sells them as kits or almost ready to fly, his support is excellent too, I';ve only ever seen praise for his stuff.

Hope that helps a wee bit at least.

P.S. if you';re as gormless as Blakey your avatar give up now 

[nub]

buy yourself a DJI F450 and KK2 board, learn the basic';s, then upgrade.

[nickyb]

Hi Nick,

I knew nowt about RC let alone flying one of these things, but I built my own quad from scratch completely. I';m not going to say it was easy, but the problems I had were down to the parts supplied not being configured as they should have been.

The guys on here are tremendous, start off with a good idea of what you want to achieve, whether it';s simply fun acrobatic flying or FPV with a camera and video recording, then post the details. The members will help with advice on the hardware and specs that you will need.

I went through all this on my thread and simply wouldn';t have succeeded without their help that';s for sure. The achievement of building it yourself from scratch and actually flying it for the first time is amazing, and the build process teaches you a lot along the way, how to repair them when the usually inevitable crash happens. Which is why your build list should include spares of the more susceptible components.

Theres usually a few in the chat area too, so prompt help is usually only a keyboard away.

Teslahead on here has designed his own teslaquad and teslahex, checkout his threads to see them in action, he sells them as kits or almost ready to fly, his support is excellent too, I';ve only ever seen praise for his stuff.

Hope that helps a wee bit at least.

P.S. if you';re as gormless as Blakey your avatar give up now 

Hi mate,

Many thanks for the info, all this will be taken on-board. I';m going to buy a frame and probably buy the Naza stuff like AP, GPS etc, so hopefully I won';t get too many problems on the setup.

No, I look nothing like blakey 

[kilby]

I would also ask if you have any experience of RC quads or helis.

Mainly because I had no flying experience (apart from a coaxial heli) it seemed like a good idea to make sure that any inability to fly was due to piloting skills rather than my building.

I';m planning my own build now that I have an idea of what I want and knowing that any big flying issues will most likely be due to poor build quality

[DT]

I knew nothing about multi rotors or anything RC until a few months ago and I still don';t know much. Personally I really enjoy building them and it';s an interesting challenge if you have the patience to learn. I think I maybe enjoy building more than flying at the moment but I';m sure that';ll change when I learn how to avoid trees and keep it in the air

[flybywire]

Nick
Just a few thoughts I had....Maybe of some use?
I came back to the hobby a couple of years ago, hadn';t touched a bit of RC gear etc for over 40 years!  Can';t even remember what it was that got me back in, but I know I wanted to dabble in RC helicopters.  My recent build history is as follows: Gaui 425 (with Spektrum DX6) & RTF Blade MCP.  I learnt to fly the Blade, great fun by the way, and great for getting the feel of flying again (which was fairly easy until you started to throw it around too fast!) whilst assembling the Gaui, which I loved, as it is a top class kit for the dosh, at the time the frame kit cost just £65! (now c £135)  I finished the Gaui, but due to space restrictions, I didn';t really have the opportunity to fly it much, so I looked at multi';s instead.
Next I put together an X525 frame & motor/esc combo purchased from separate sites in China, I also took early baby steps in the fpv field, (inspired by the likes of David Westerntahl and others on Youtube).  I managed to get the quad in the air, but with a Gaui gu-344 gyro, it was pretty much like flying in manual all the time, so found it too tricky for fpv.  I think mine must have been duff (second hand off the bay). The fpv kit did work, but unfortunately I managed to extract the magic smoke out of it one sad day, not a massive issue really as frequency wise it was incompatible with the Fat Shark Attitudes that I bought soon after!
I did persevere with the X525, and managed to strap a gopro on top to capture some early shaky footage, which inspired me to go further..
Next build was a Droidworx CX4, other end of the scale, cost me about £600 for the frame alone!  I must have been on drugs at the time  as I also splashed out on a Wookong M (£700) and successfully persuaded myself to buy a DX8 as well!  I don';t regret the DX8 one bit I have to say ( as the 6 is ';toy-like'; in comparison).
I find I don';t use the CX4 that much, I have more fun with the cheap(ish) DJI 450/Naza combo that I built later, The gimbal on the 450 works better in reality to the expensive Photohigher I bought that';s designed for the CX4 (yes another £225!  )
I also purchased an iOSD for the CX4, which I never ever got to work with my cameras. 
My most recent purchase (back on the drugs!!) is a 550 hex with afro';s etc, always fancied a hex.
I also bought a SIM as well, Aerosim Rc, which helped to get me back into piloting a RC plane/quad again.
Oh yes, and somewhere along the line I also bought an ASW 28 100" span glider from HK!  Still yet to fly, complete with Guardian stabiliser.
So anything RC is possible really, but in hindsight (that wonderful thing) I';d have been better off starting with a good old DJI 450/NAza combo, but hey, what the heck it is a ';hobby'; after all is it not?


Hope you make the ';right'; choices and get in the air soon, that';s the main thing.  Everybody does it differently in this hobby, so there';s no real ';right'; way I guess, just maybe learn from our mistakes? (some hopes..).
Cheers

Andy

[Col_M]

How easy are quads to build?

Depends on your skills, background and qualifications really. I found building my quads trivially simple.

There is very little to do and as long as you can solder, put red to + and black to -, know which way a prop needs to rotate, that';s about as complex as it gets. The rest is sticking stuff with double sided tape and doing up screws.

The tricky part is knowing what parts you need in the first place, knowing how to match props to motors and tuning flight characteristics (gains, PIDs, transmitter etc.) once you actually have it in the air. ;D People on here can easily help you with all of that.

[nickyb]

Nick
Just a few thoughts I had....Maybe of some use?
I came back to the hobby a couple of years ago, hadn';t touched a bit of RC gear etc for over 40 years!  Can';t even remember what it was that got me back in, but I know I wanted to dabble in RC helicopters.  My recent build history is as follows: Gaui 425 (with Spektrum DX6) & RTF Blade MCP.  I learnt to fly the Blade, great fun by the way, and great for getting the feel of flying again (which was fairly easy until you started to throw it around too fast!) whilst assembling the Gaui, which I loved, as it is a top class kit for the dosh, at the time the frame kit cost just £65! (now c £135)  I finished the Gaui, but due to space restrictions, I didn';t really have the opportunity to fly it much, so I looked at multi';s instead.
Next I put together an X525 frame & motor/esc combo purchased from separate sites in China, I also took early baby steps in the fpv field, (inspired by the likes of David Westerntahl and others on Youtube).  I managed to get the quad in the air, but with a Gaui gu-344 gyro, it was pretty much like flying in manual all the time, so found it too tricky for fpv.  I think mine must have been duff (second hand off the bay). The fpv kit did work, but unfortunately I managed to extract the magic smoke out of it one sad day, not a massive issue really as frequency wise it was incompatible with the Fat Shark Attitudes that I bought soon after!
I did persevere with the X525, and managed to strap a gopro on top to capture some early shaky footage, which inspired me to go further..
Next build was a Droidworx CX4, other end of the scale, cost me about £600 for the frame alone!  I must have been on drugs at the time  as I also splashed out on a Wookong M (£700) and successfully persuaded myself to buy a DX8 as well!  I don';t regret the DX8 one bit I have to say ( as the 6 is ';toy-like'; in comparison).
I find I don';t use the CX4 that much, I have more fun with the cheap(ish) DJI 450/Naza combo that I built later, The gimbal on the 450 works better in reality to the expensive Photohigher I bought that';s designed for the CX4 (yes another £225!  )
I also purchased an iOSD for the CX4, which I never ever got to work with my cameras. 
My most recent purchase (back on the drugs!!) is a 550 hex with afro';s etc, always fancied a hex.
I also bought a SIM as well, Aerosim Rc, which helped to get me back into piloting a RC plane/quad again.
Oh yes, and somewhere along the line I also bought an ASW 28 100" span glider from HK!  Still yet to fly, complete with Guardian stabiliser.
So anything RC is possible really, but in hindsight (that wonderful thing) I';d have been better off starting with a good old DJI 450/NAza combo, but hey, what the heck it is a ';hobby'; after all is it not?


Hope you make the ';right'; choices and get in the air soon, that';s the main thing.  Everybody does it differently in this hobby, so there';s no real ';right'; way I guess, just maybe learn from our mistakes? (some hopes..).
Cheers

Andy

Thanks Andy, appreicate the post.

Nick

[dp106]

For me the hardest part of building a quad is the soldering having never really done it before. Sounds like you have that covered though.

If you';re going to go straight for the dji naza that';s going to be an expensive first craft to learn on. It would be well worth getting a hubsan or similar to get your flying skills up to scratch. Which would you rather stack a £40 quad or one costing £500..

[flybywire]

No worries Nick mate, I do recommend that ';SIM'; though!  Either Aerosim Rc or Phoenix.

[Hands0n]

I was new to the hobby also. Bought a 450 clone ready to fly off eBay, it came with a KK2 board. Not an easy combination to start off with - crashing and breaking the arms was de rigeur. I changed FC to a MultiWii Pro 2 and that seemed to be the end of my crashing all over the place! The KK2 is okay really, but my view is that it isn';t something I';d advocate starting off with. I know many won';t agree.

I found MultiWii on the Pro 2 and a very cheap HK 385P performed really well, nice and stable once the PID were relatively close.  Switching to Manual mode wasn';t the same hair raising experience as on the KK2 (even when in its own stability mode!).

To your opening question - actually building these things isn';t difficult, the choice of components, in particular motor and prop size are important though. Plenty of help and advice on here, the team got me on track in no time at all.  Now I understand a lot more, it isn';t that difficult or complex, I feel very confident to build my own and have three flyable and one scratch build using Wickes finest pine wood  ::)

[nickyb]

I was new to the hobby also. Bought a 450 clone ready to fly off eBay, it came with a KK2 board. Not an easy combination to start off with - crashing and breaking the arms was de rigeur. I changed FC to a MultiWii Pro 2 and that seemed to be the end of my crashing all over the place! The KK2 is okay really, but my view is that it isn';t something I';d advocate starting off with. I know many won';t agree.

I found MultiWii on the Pro 2 and a very cheap HK 385P performed really well, nice and stable once the PID were relatively close.  Switching to Manual mode wasn';t the same hair raising experience as on the KK2 (even when in its own stability mode!).

To your opening question - actually building these things isn';t difficult, the choice of components, in particular motor and prop size are important though. Plenty of help and advice on here, the team got me on track in no time at all.  Now I understand a lot more, it isn';t that difficult or complex, I feel very confident to build my own and have three flyable and one scratch build using Wickes finest pine wood  ::)

Thanks hands-on...

Nick

[guest325]

I only found multis last Christmas, it started with a Hubsan x4 then I wanted bigger so I bought a bnf off Peter King which I didn';t really fly for quite a while - I used a J P Twister quad as my beater because repairs were cheap.
About 4 months ago I started to fly my 450 and sold on my Hubsan and Twister at the moment I';m building a KK2 450 (Tarot frame) and I';ve designed and built a VTail frame that will have KK2 and the same powerset as my 450 Tarot.
If you are interested enough to want to do it yourself you will - there is always plenty of help if you need it on here; I had no idea how to set the KK2 up but reading through the advice on here I succeeded with only a couple of silly mistakes - done the maiden today, look out for my vid!

[nickyb]

I only found multis last Christmas, it started with a Hubsan x4 then I wanted bigger so I bought a bnf off Peter King which I didn';t really fly for quite a while - I used a J P Twister quad as my beater because repairs were cheap.
About 4 months ago I started to fly my 450 and sold on my Hubsan and Twister at the moment I';m building a KK2 450 (Tarot frame) and I';ve designed and built a VTail frame that will have KK2 and the same powerset as my 450 Tarot.
If you are interested enough to want to do it yourself you will - there is always plenty of help if you need it on here; I had no idea how to set the KK2 up but reading through the advice on here I succeeded with only a couple of silly mistakes - done the maiden today, look out for my vid!

Thanks Darrell, looking forward to the video of the machine.

[guest325]

Thanks Darrell, looking forward to the video of the machine.

Just to add a little something to this, I have to say that there is nothing like the reward you get from seeing something you made fly - it';s magical!!!

[ChrisH]

Building it is the easy bit! Getting bitten by the bug is the hard bit! Ooh look at that... Must have one of those.... 

I started with a quad, then an Hubsan (wrong way round). Followed that with a Tarot FY680 and added... list is too long. Got a DJI miniIosd to plumb in, gimbal to sort out. Half the fun for me is tweaking and modifying!

Welcome to a hobby that needs a friendly bank manager if you';re not careful! 

[Hands0n]

All of what Chris said  I';ve got several GPS nowadays, a mix of CN-06 and CN-06v2 that I replaced some with (never buy one, always two, just in case!).  Same with FCs, a few of those. ESCs, motors, cripes! probs enough to build a couple more.  But you never know when you';ll want that bit ...

Eeek, its an addiction 

[nickyb]

Building it is the easy bit! Getting bitten by the bug is the hard bit! Ooh look at that... Must have one of those.... 

I started with a quad, then an Hubsan (wrong way round). Followed that with a Tarot FY680 and added... list is too long. Got a DJI miniIosd to plumb in, gimbal to sort out. Half the fun for me is tweaking and modifying!

Welcome to a hobby that needs a friendly bank manager if you';re not careful! 

ahh....another expensive hobby of mine 

[fruitsalad]

before you know it its taking over the house,boxes here n there..
boxes of foam sheets,half built projects,planes and quads  in about every place imaginable..
well thats my house to a tee 

[Hands0n]

Cripes!    For a moment I thought you were describing my house! 

[guest325]

Cripes!    For a moment I thought you were describing my house! 

+1     

[guest325]

before you know it its taking over the house,boxes here n there..
boxes of foam sheets,half built projects,planes and quads  in about every place imaginable..
well thats my house to a tee 

I';ve got a load of correx as well, a Wot4 alike to put together some time or other 

[pete-c]

buy yourself a DJI F450 and KK2 board, learn the basic';s, then upgrade.

I agree with nub it is a good place to start as any, and you learn as you go along.

Pete