Hey Guys, 

So tehStien already needs yet another frame... The version of the Martian III that I got was a knockoff (did you know that there are actually clones of RealACC frames out there? LOL!... no really... and they're actually significantly lower quality too). I knew it was a knockoff but I got it anyway because I was able to order it domestically. The problem is not everything lines up quite right and the supports for the camera wont go in the holes correctly. I got it together the first time but recently when trying to re-mount the stack (ugh nylon standoffs... kill em!) I was unable to get everything back together. 

So now I am thinking about a new frame. Maybe a talon (on Campy's recommendation). 

Anybody used a talon frame with individual ESCs on arms (rather than AIO)? I've seen pictures of it and it looks like they place OK but before I invest $115 in a new frame I figured I'd ask for feedback.

here is one photo I've found:


Also... I don't see a spot for a battery strap on the bottom and for some reason no one likes to take pictures of this frame with a battery strapped on Where does the strap go?

The battery strap runs inside the aluminum "box". There is a pad included that covers the bottom carbon plate sandwiched in the "box". For a bottom mounted battery it's a great setup.

(18-Nov-2017, 04:48 PM)McDee Wrote: The battery strap runs inside the aluminum "box". There is a pad included that covers the bottom carbon plate sandwiched in the "box". For a bottom mounted battery it's

Thanks this is very helpful!

If you're thinking about putting the ESCs on the arms of a vertical armed frame, I'm sure it will fly, but are you prepared to have people making fun of you every time you take the quad to the field?

Joshua Bardwell got fairly roundly ribbed for doing the same thing.

(18-Nov-2017, 11:12 PM)unseen Wrote: If you're thinking about putting the ESCs on the arms of a vertical armed frame, I'm sure it will fly, but are you prepared to have people making fun of you every time you take the quad to the field?

Joshua Bardwell got fairly roundly ribbed for doing the same thing.

The good news is, out of all the people I fly with, there are really only a couple of guys who are more experienced and have a few builds under their belts. Most probably wouldn't even quite know what the purpose of vertical arms are for unless I explain it. I doubt anyone would be making fun of me at the field :p 

Now I am somewhat concerned about the impact that having the ESCs on there would have to the aerodynamics but I figured that it still would be less surface area than horizontal arms...

You won't get away that easily! You won't be able to resist posting here about it and I'll see that you've put ESCs on the arms. I'll keep bugging you about it and asking questions about how you think it might fly differently if you took the ESCs off the arms and put a 4-in-1 in there like it's supposed to be built.

If you're going to build a quad with vertical arms, it seems counterproductive to make the arms any thicker than they need to be. It makes the arms twice as thick at the point where the ESC is. As a radical design, I think you have to follow the design in your build to get the best experience of the design's advantages and disadvantages. Otherwise, you'll never know if compromises like putting the ESCs on the arms stopped your new quad from flying as well as it could.

(19-Nov-2017, 03:06 AM)unseen Wrote: You won't get away that easily! You won't be able to resist posting here about it and I'll see that you've put ESCs on the arms. I'll keep bugging you about it and asking questions about how you think it might fly differently if you took the ESCs off the arms and put a 4-in-1 in there like it's supposed to be built.

oh, I see... thanks for clarifying... now I understand... when you say 

(18-Nov-2017, 11:12 PM)unseen Wrote: are you prepared to have people making fun of you every time you take the quad to the field?

you really mean, am I prepared to have you make fun of me every time I post on IntoFPV :p lol... 

here is my thing though... I am not going to re-build the components of this quad as they all work just fine now. So the alternative is that I put it in another horizontal armed frame just to protect myself from teasing. 

The thing is... there are more benefits to this frame when compared to putting it into a legit Martian III. 

It's 20g lighter
There still is less surface area in the arms
Better motor cooling
The design is much more professional and more likely to be precise, less likely to have parts that don't go together due to defects
It's a gateway rebuild: if I like how it works with this existing quad, it'll give me a reason to build a new one with AIO ESCs next time (although truthfully, I still have those set of sunnysky ESCs that I was planning on using on the next build)
It looks much better than a martian


That's just the stuff off the top of my head. 

So... I dunno... 

At the same time... ordering a $20 martian frame would be a lot easier. I know exactly where to put components in that frame and I wouldn't have to worry about distance between stack and motors (with the sideways arms the routing of the ESCs will be less than a straight line, so even though I am thinking about going from 220 to 220, there is some risk that I might have to re-think some wires)