Frame Finished

I needed to add a battery holder and something to protect the electronics in case of an upside down landing, so I decided to do both at once.  It was relatively easy to do.  Below are the pics.

Top View

Side View

Back View

ESC Not a Problem - HK Control Board

Earlier I had written that I thought that the Turnigy Trust ESCs were a problem because they couldn't be manually throttle calibrated.  Turns out that I was wrong.  It was actually the HobbyKing control board that was causing my headache.
Here is the info that could save you that headache too!

HobbyKing Control Board v3.0 Atmel 328PA:
Unfortunately as is the case with many HK products they have absolute crap for support and rely on other users to do it for them, and often have outdated or just wrong user manuals.  In this case, it was the latter.  You see, HK rips off designs that others come up with and have their Chinese supplier build them for 1/10th the price, and then sells them on the cheap - and price matters with this stuff, so that is why I shop there.  Anyhow, that isn't the point.
The point is that they had a user manual for this item that tells you to put everything as Atmel 48PA, which is what the KK board version uses, but the Atmel 328PA is distinctly different in that it has a different memory size!  And unfortunately, the chip itself doesn't know what is up, so it will just do what you tell it to do.  What you really need to do is:

1. Use the new Atmel Studio 6.0 software
2. Plug your HK Control Board into the USB programmer and plug the battery into the control board!
3. Open up the dialogue for programming in Atmel Studio
4. Tell the software that it is the Atmel 328PA and click Apply
5. Click Read and then see what it says.  It should tell you that it is the Atmel 328PA chip.
6. Go to the Fuses tab and set "SPIEN" as checked; BODLEVEL = 1v8; SUT_CKSEL = 8Mhz 6CK/14CK +65ms (Default)
7. Go to memories, select the .hex file you want to load, and then click on program.

That fixed my problems of the motors not being synced up.  Now it appears to be working just fine.

FPV System: Now Working!

Thanks to the folks at ReadyMadeRC I now have a functioning FPV system!  The problem was a bad battery - and since it was the only battery I had that had a JST connector I couldn't test it with another one... I was probably a little shortsighted in buying just one, and will correct that now that I know it is working.

Anyway, I'm glad I bought my camera system from them because they were very responsive to my questions and I couldn't imagine HobbyKing being nearly as cooperative as they were.

ESC Problem?

Apparently the Turnigy Trust 45A ESC doesn't allow for throttle calibration, but tries to do it "automatically"... which is fine for a vehicle that uses one ESC, but not for one that uses 4 ESCs.  I'm waiting for some feedback, but will probably have to go with a Turnigy Plush 40A ESC - that is one I know will work.

FPV System

Just a quick note on the FPV system.  As I posted earlier I was having trouble getting the Tx to power up - luckily it wasn't the FPV system, it was instead a defective battery.  Unfortunately, I wasn't able to test this myself as I didn't have a second battery with a JST connector.
However, the guys at Ready Made RC were awesome.  They shipped me replacements of the Tx and the Tx cable, and when that didn't work they had me send everything back in a pre-paid envelope they included.  They quickly located the problem and kept me updated.  I just got a note that they shipped it all back yesterday.
Once again I can't stress how helpful they were.

Homemade Frame: Flying Cake Pan

Flying Cake Pan Design.  Angle view.

After the failure to launch caused some catastrophic warping of the frame (which I believe is due to motor torque with blades on), I decided to build on from scratch.

The hardest part was trying to figure out what materials to use - I went with 3/4" square aluminum tubing for the arms, an 8 in cake pan for the chassis, and some 3/4" by 1/8" aluminum bar for support (the pan vibrated a lot until I added it for reinforcement).



Here are some tips on the build:

Flying Cake Pan Design:  Top View Showing Electronics.

1. Go to Dollar General or something similar - they sell 8" cake pans that are a thin aluminum and are extra-light weight (cheap)...  best of all it only cost $1!
2. Use three screws per arm - it will make them a lot more stable.  All the screws I used total cost about $4 at Home Depot - if you live close or go there often buy more than you need and return what you don't need as they have a good return policy.
3. Measure everything twice before you cut and before you start drilling holes.  Once you start drilling holes try to use previous holes as a guide or else the bolts might not go in clean (trust me).
4. Use some washers on the top side of the cake pan as that will help you have more area to crank down on when tightening.

I need to add some landing gear and a battery mount.  I'm not sure how I'm going to do the battery mount yet, but for the landing gear I'm going to use a couple of aluminum bars - they'll help strengthen the frame as well and might give me an option for a battery mount as well.

Expected re-launch:  4 days.

Complete Fail

I went out to the park to fire it up and I never got more than a foot or two off the ground before control problems kicked in...  It wad a total failure. 

Worst of all I warped the frame - it was a total piece of crap.  The torque from the motors is what caused it to warp... Not a crash!

I am going to home depot now to get materials to build my own frame.  Fingers still crossed I can get off ground this weekend.

First Flight in 30 Minutes

Top View of Quadcopter Before Maiden Flight

I've done basically everything that I can on the ground... now it's time to test this thing out, at least briefly, in the air.  This will let me test the gyros, and figure out if I'm completely wrong in my setup.

Side View of Quadcopter Before Maiden Flight.

The last two things I did were install a crash bar on top (out of an aluminum bar), and mount the antenna facing up, by using a straw I cut in half and then taped to the crash bar.

Neither of these is really necessary, but the bar on top is both useful for carrying the quad by and will save the KK board in case of an upside-down landing.

I didn't want the antenna just dangling around so I decided to use the straw (perfect diameter) to hold the antenna upright.

The sun is almost up and I want to get to the park before there are too many people around so I can test this thing without anyone being to nosy.

Fingers Crossed!

FPV System Issues

As an FYI, I still haven't managed to get the FPV system working.  I did some troubleshooting that Ready Made RC suggested, but nothing got going.  I have a suspicion that it is actually a problem with the battery for the system.
The guys at Ready Made RC have been very helpful, however, and I have sent the whole system back to them so they could test it themselves (this was after they had already sent me a replacement Tx and cables).
Definitely glad that I went with them.