Assistant Admin Comment by Joshua Johnson on February 2, 2013 at 3:54am

Awesome quad looks great Chris. Thanks for making an informative video! I would love your expertise on my Micro Siri Heli.

Comment by Paul Braun on February 2, 2013 at 1:25pm

Chris - Thanks for putting the effort into making this video.  It was good to see the process from front to back.  Too bad you don't live in Madison, WI - I could use the help once my son and I get ours!  I am debating on a quad or hexa rotor.  Any recommendations?  Also, I'm debating what kit to purchase.  I've looked at 3DR's and JDrone's off of DIY Drones but there seem to be a handful of others on the web as well.  Frankly, it's a bit overwhelming.  Our ultimate goal is to capture flight video and utilize FPV with goggles so several kids can experience flight while I fly.  I'd love any suggestions you might have...

Comment by Darrell Burkey on February 2, 2013 at 2:10pm

Very nice. I built my hexa a few weeks ago and you confirmed a few things I wasn't totally sure of.

There are two things that struck me as quite odd about the hexa kit. First off, I thought having the PDB board loose was very strange. As you say all the wiring keeps it in place but I screwed it in place like they do on the quad. Last thing I want is the main board with all those connections on it being able to move around.

The second oddity is that the hexa appears to be provided with only three landing legs. It's quite a heavy bit of gear all up and even after I added legs for each arm I've snapped legs on hard landings. I really don't think three legs are going to support it properly. The 3DR quad is much lighter and it comes with four legs of course.

Another observation is how much less vibration there is in the hexa than the quad I built earlier. I don't know if that's just because I spent a lot more time making sure the hexa was put together as well but I'm very happy with it and the performance. It's very smooth in the air and easy to fly.

Comment by Peter Klimon on February 20, 2013 at 1:23am

Chris,

Can you possible do a followup showing exactly where the the cables get connected from the PDB. I cannot find any clear examples of how to connect the wires...

BTW - Great video! I hope you can maybe do a one that is not quite so condensed...

Comment by Chris Lovett on February 20, 2013 at 1:35am

Thanks.  I think the information you need for connecting the PDB to your APM is on this wiki page http://code.google.com/p/arducopter/wiki/APM2RC - scroll down about 4 pages until it shows the "Output" connectors, which includes the power input from the PDB.

Comment by Steve Monro on May 10, 2013 at 8:56pm

Wow, this is a great quick video. I have just purchased one of these bad boys and so am waiting with expectation for it to arrive. Chris, the biggest question I'm having right now, is what battery and charger to buy. I'm sure I'm not the only one that has struggled with this. These flying machines are totally new to me (well, the DIY types). Could you post a link the type of batteries/charger you have? Did you need different connectors too? And how much flight time are you getting with it?

Basically, I don't know if I'd under-power or cook my new device with the wrong battery or voltage... eg, a 3C or a 4C etc... there are just so many variables to consider.

I'd just love to know what the basic requirements are, because the 3drobot site isn't much help, except that it just says "batteries and transmitter not included". 

I'm looking at buying from HobbyKing. What are your thoughts?

Many thanks, Steve

Comment by Steve Monro on May 10, 2013 at 9:47pm

Hi Chris, I think I may have found what I was looking for in this post, but still keen to know what you are running. (http://diydrones.com/group/arducopterusergroup/forum/topics/payload...). Thanks. :)

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