[Recursion]

Since I have all my components ordered and now I'm playing the waiting game, I would start my build thread to track my progress. The goal of this build is to construct an FPV quadcopter with two cameras (Gopro and CCD), 1.2Ghz video TX, night flying capable, and for now, a rudimentary OSD (just voltage display).

I wanted this frame to look sleek, hold a gopro up front without seeing parts of the quad, and have enough internal space to hold the number of components I'll be putting inside of this. I chose the HT-FPV frame from Hoverthings, which met all of my requirements. To keep with the theme, I'm going to be designing this to have all of the visible parts to be black, matching the frame.

Frame parts laid out:



Frame finished:



Hopefully I'll have everything but the motors and liPos next week, and the remainder the following week (I used slower shipping). After that I'll post updates on my build progress from here.

With most controllers you should be able to get everything inside the main frame and arms and fairly clean and out of the way. If you need any ideas on placement let me know and I can send some pics.

[Recursion]

Thanks.

I have most things imagined out, but we'll see what happens when it comes to putting it all together. The one thing I havn't done is figured out the best way to switch between cameras over RC (know a schematic for a switch?), and I still need to build those special antennas I see everywhere (I'll probably do that after I see what I get with stock).

Second I guess is where to put the GPS's to get the best signal. I want to have them near the body since putting them on a pole is just asking to lose them in a crash (and I will crash). I have one for the flight controller and one for the OSD.

[dege13]

TheFlyingRookie on YouTube has this same frame and lots of video of putting it together, trying two different motors, two different flight controllers, two different battery locations, ect. May help with your build.
http://www.youtube.com/user/TheFlyingRookie/videos

[Recursion]

I'm in touch with a bunch of people flying with the frame including the designer (and flitelab here), so I should be okay. I saw one of these videos before, and I'll be honest, I couldn't stand listening to him talk. One of his videos is 18 minutes of him looking at a picture of a naza GPS speculating about it.

I think I'm done spending money on this thing for now at least. Buying the eagletree OSD last night was an impulse buy when I figured out how to get one for cheaper :F

I was only looking to buy Ferrite Rings

[dege13]

I do like watching TheFlyingRookie's videos. Sometimes I have to skip through the video. The Naza GPS video was the worst, not being a DJI fan, I agree.

I have not got an OSD yet. I have a lot to talk about on the topic, but basically, I am out of money for my build too until I get it flying and use all the stuff I have right now (camera mount, frame I am building from scratch with carbon fiber).... I know the feeling.

[Recursion]

Yeah, everything combined really adds up. I'll likely be in my garage for a while putting this all together properly. I've taken the downtime to upgrade my Turnigy 9x a bit in the past 2 days. It now has a FrSky module and a back light. I read last night that I can use the USBASP I ordered to flash my ESCs to upgrade the 9x firmware with the open source er9x/open9x firmware.

I'll be reading up on that firmware to see if it's worth it for quads.

[dege13]

What mods have you done on your 9X? I sold my 9X with my last quad when I sold it. But I have another one on order from HobbyKing. Hope they get more stock soon.

A guy in the RCCanada forums started this thread on 9X mods:
https://www.rccanada.ca/rccforum/showthread.php?t=130373
I had the LCD backlight mod on my 9X but that was it. I am very interested in if the other firmwares will help with quadcopters/multirotors.

[Recursion]

Only the FrSky telemetry module and the backlight so far. I got the FrSky module because it warns you when you're signal is fading, it apparently has greater range, is reported to be more secure, and you can program in failsafe responses (i.e. throttle to 30% when you lose connection with the RX). It has other telemetry modules but the OSD will do all that for me. I have parts on order to allow me to auto center both sticks if I choose to as well.

Hobbyking restocks them all the time, but they are sold almost the same day. They had the set about 3 weeks ago, and last week they had the 9x without the TX/RX module. I almost bought a second one as a spare (in case I break this one). :F You simply can't beat the price.

[Recursion]

I've been considering what I would need to record the over the air video on my ground station. I'd like to avoid spending a lot of money on it because I will already be recording locally with the GoPro.

I was looking on kajiji today at cheap used cameras with NTSC inputs, and I remembered that I have an old Samsung SC-X210L camera sitting in my old technology/cable box that records 740x480 video to an SD card.

My mini project for now is going to see if I can hack this thing into accept NTSC video input. I think the battery doesn't hold a charge anymore, but I could always wire that directly. If it works I will need to buy or build a 12v to 3.7v converter. It's amazing that only 6 years ago this was seen as prime technology.



Does anyone know where to get decent cases of different sizes that have foam inside that you can cut or mold to whatever? You know, like the ones you see in the movies for guns.

I've seen people putting quads and groundstations in them, but the ones they use cost as much as a Quad. Anyone know of where to get them in Canada for a reasonable price? I was thinking of trying princess auto.