I've built a quad so fast I can barely control it

My original QAV250 has been put out to pasture. It's got good kit on it and flies well but I have been flying the Tweaker 180 most of all. My favourite flight of all time was with the Tweaker 180 on the beach at Folkestone. I still grin remembering it. It's nothing fancy but just good old fashioned fun.

I've been saving my pennies over the winter. My parents had given me some Chrimbo money that I didn't spend, wondering how things would be with Naomi. As soon as she started to get some rhythm, I found that flying time might be a thing.

So, I asked the chaps who race in the nationals what sort of stuff they're putting on their quads these days. I put together a parts list and one evening just blew my savings on the bits. I didn't go super-Gucci, just a step below.

WHAT A BRUTE!
Here's the parts:

  • Frame: Stanton Frames TSX200 with 4mm arms (rather than 3mm because I don't trust myself). PDB is part of the super structure and has 12v and 5v built in.
  • Flight Controller: Raceflight Revolt running Raceflight One firmware.
  • Electronic Speed Controllers: Little Bee 30A.
  • Motors: Emax 2205S Red Bottoms
  • Props: Clyclon 5045 triblade.
  • Receiver: XM+
  • FPV Camera: HS1177
  • Video Transmitter: Team Black Sheep Unify Pro 25mW
  • Video Antenna: Team Black Sheep Triumph
  • HD Cam for Youtube: Xaomi Yi on custom printed part

I don't have footage just yet as I haven't been able to get out since I put the camera on. BY GOD IT'S FAST.

The TSX 200 is a fantastically clever piece of engineering. The arms are secured with a single bolt, the strength coming from them meeting in the middle:
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This makes swapping out arms very easy. The ESCs are mounted on the arms and solder straight onto the PDB where it meets the rest of the frame.

I'm also very impressed with the Raceflight Revolt flight board. The setup used a wizard and I've not felt the need to tune it. When doing a breaking turn, there's no appreciable prop wash vibration at all. It's mounted on rubber grommets:

Check out the insane amount of camera tilt you can get on it!

Can't wait to fly it again, until I have a video, here's another beauty shot.

Comments

So here's a vid with me trying to control the bastard through the gates.

brainwipe's picture

Rotor riot have done a video on how motors are made. The amount of work and QC that goes into one is extraordinary.

brainwipe's picture