(13-Aug-2018, 02:04 PM)SnowLeopardFPV Wrote: I generally only use the following 4 tips depending on the type of soldering work I'm doing - miniature chisel tip, medium chisel tip, large bevel tip & large knife tip. I somehow don't think I'll be needing the knife tip for any quadcopter work 

I use the one on the left for small and large pads, never had an issue.

(13-Aug-2018, 03:46 PM)Sugs Wrote: How do you like that soldering rework station?  I've been surviving with an old weller but have been thinking its time to upgrade, and having a hot air device for heatshinking would be nice.

I've had it a couple of years now and I think it's great. I was previously using an old Weller PS-3D thermostatic soldering iron which had different magnetic tips with different numbers on for different preset temperatures. It served me well and I still have in the back of my cupboard as a backup. This new Chinese branded one obviously isn't the same quality as a Weller or a Hakko but it does the job good enough for my needs and it  hasn't failed me yet.

I've mainly been using the hot air gun for soldering/desoldering SMD components and for re-flowing solder. It hasn't been used much for heatshrink but I guess I'll be using it a lot more for that type of thing now. The only complaint I have with my one is that while the soldering iron has a detachable plug, the hot air gun is hard-wired and tethered to the base unit so you have to drag that around even if you're not intending to use it. I see the newer version now has detachable plugs on both the iron and the hot air gun which is much more convenient so I think I will very likely mod mine to be the same.

It's been a couple of weeks since my last update, but I've managed to get some more work done on this as and when I've had some spare time around other commitments.

The ESCs are finally all fitted and wired up. Now I know another reason why people use 4-in-1 ESCs. It saves having to do 40 additional solder connections! So that was 52 solder connections in total to do for those 4 ESCs. What a long and fiddly job that was  I'm not sure if I'm going to use telemetry from the ESCs but I figured I'd just connect up the wires for that anyway because at least it gives me the option through configuration without having to go back and add in extra wires which would be a PITA with the ESCs already heatshrunk and wired in.

Anyway, pictures are better than words and as per usual I've gone completely overboard with them  Enjoy  

All completed  This should at least keep Krohsis happy

1. Fitting the Flight Controller.
   
   
   
   
2. Testing power on. Rather than a smoke stopper, I'm using a bench power supply for this which has current limiting capabilities and effectively does the same as a smoke stopper, but better because you have full granular control over the exact maximum voltage and current you want. The ESCs have been configured via the BLHeliSuite to spin the motors in the correct directions and to use the samegreen (front) and red (back) colour theme as the rest of the quad. No other ESC configuration have been made for now. All motors could be spun up just fine through both the BLHeliSuite and the Betaflight Configurator   This is when I then realised that I'd been an idiot because I'd forgotten to connect the MMCX connector from the VTX antenna to the PDB and the quad had been powered up for a good 10 minutes on the bench. Easy to forget when the VTX is part of the PDB instead of a separate board. So at this point I was kicking myself because didn't know if I'd fried the VTX and wouldn't be able to find out properly until I'd wired the camera up.
   
   
   
   
3. Camera harness was next to be wired in and this is when I realised that I'd been an idiot again. Wiring up the camera has the option of an audio feed but what I failed to check was where the pad for that feed was. All pads are on top of the PDB and easy to access after it has been bolted to the frame with the ESCs soldered to it...except the audio pad which I had failed to realise was on the bottom of the PDB and non-accessible after the PDB is fitted with the ESCs all soldered up  I really didn't fancy having to de-solder and re-solder all of my nice joints on the PDB again, so I resorted to unbolting the motors and the stack from the bottom then flipping everything forward to get to the bottom of it. Only a few cable ties got wasted along with a bit of a dent to my pride
   
   
   
   
4. The FC also had to be removed again to get the camera voltage sensing wire to the VBAT pad on the PDB. I could probably have got away without doing this as I'm not planning to use the OSD from the camera but I decided to do a proper job as it gives all possible options going forward without having to go back and rewire stuff.
   
   
   
   
5. FC fitted and the ESC telemetry wire (blue) soldered to UART3 along with the remaining wires for the camera (5v, ground, and video out). This was the first opportunity I had to see if I'd burned the VTX earlier by powering it on for 10 mins with no antenna attached. The picture came through just fine in the goggles. All I needed to do was to adjust the focus of the camera lens. I think I probably got away with it because the VTX was set to 25mW as a default. Phew. At least I could stop sweating now
   
   
   
   
6. Fitting of the rear LED tail lights and buzzer. The LEDs have been configured in Betaflight to just display red for now to match the back colour theme of the quad. These are shown working in some later photos.
   
   
   
   
7. Fitting of PTFE tubing (4mm outside diameter, 2mm internal diameter) for housing the receiver antennas. The rear 3D printed VTX antenna mount has some holes already in it for these  They just need to cut to the right length and glued in.
   
   
   
   
8. Fitting the receiver. I was originally going to mount it on the underside of the top plate but I found that cable tying it to the top of the VTX antenna cable seemed to be an ideal place and it left the top plate completely free for removal wit no wires fouling it up. I guess I am yet to see if the close proximity to the VTX coax will induces any kind of interference in either the VTX or the receiver. I'm not sure if anyone already knows, but if I find it does then I'll just have to relocate the receiver onto the top plate as originally planned.
   
   
   
   
9. First power on test with all peripherals connected. After this the receiver was then bound to the radio transmitter before fitting the top plate.
   
   
   
   
10. ESC protectors fitted along with with the top plate and battery. A final power on test with the bench power supply (in case of any final issues) was then done followed by a successful battery power on test. The radio transmitter is still also all working as is the camera feed to the goggles 
    
    
    
    
11. A good few weeks of elapsed assembly time and almost 70 solder joints later and my first quad build is finally all finished and working  I just have a couple of minor remaining things to go back and do. One is to wire up the camera control wires to the FC, but I need to get some JST connectors and a crimping tool to do that because I don't really want to butcher the harness that came with the remote. I also need to get one of the smart self-powered lot model buzzers but for now I will live with the standard buzzer.
    
    
    
    
    
12. Weight without battery is 467 grams, and with a Tattu 1550mAh battery is 641 grams, so this is certainly no light weight 
    
    
    

Some basic line-of-sight flight tests will be next 

Nice! This should get you the builder badge.

AWESOME work SL.....this has to be one of the best build threads on the forum.  You set the bar pretty high.  I appreciate all the detail, and you do great work as well, even if it did take FOREVER!  

Have you settled on an HD cam yet?

Now lets see some video of this bad boy in the air.......

Nice looking rig SL!  Excellent build log as well.  Looking forward to the maiden!!

And that's how it's done! Attention to detail is everything, nothing more rewarding than finishing a build, powering it up and everything just works. Thanks for all the great pics.

Good deal, looks great. I always just butcher up harness when I need plugs. I find I end up with way too many harness stashed away otherwise. Looking forward to some flight video.

First line-of-sight test flights were completed successfully yesterday in my back garden (yard)  This space is only 10 square metres with neighbouring gardens on either side and also to the back. One mistake and it would mean an apologetic visit to one of the neighbours with cap in hand grovelling to get my quad back  The tree at the back also overhangs quite a bit so that could also be unforgiving if a bit too much throttle was applied. If anyone wants to get a perspective on how small and tight the space actually is, some photos are HERE.

For some proper flights I need to try and find a huge open field with no obstacles in. I have one place in mind which looks like it might be suitable but it's on the site of a science research campus where ESA and another space related company is also located along with a few satellite dishes. Putting any security related issues aside with me flying there, I'm not sure if the dishes would pose any kind of interference problems. I guess there is only one way to find out if I'm brave enough 

As to Krohsis question about an HD camera, I'm not getting one for now as I'll likely just end up smashing it to pieces. Maybe if/when I get better I'll start to think about it.

Test flight #1 was done using angle mode because this is what I've been most accustomed to with my Hubsan X4 H107D so I thought I'd start off with the easy option to avoid destroying the quad  It's understandably much more lively than the Hubsan I've been used to flying, but I managed to keep it mostly in the camera view

Test flight #2 was done using rate mode and this was the first time I had ever tried flying in rate mode so I thought why not just capture it on camera without any prior practise  I think I did OK(ish) for a first go but it's clear how difficult rate mode flying actually is, especially via LOS. I could probably do with dialling down the rates a bit to start off with. I did also have acro trainer mode switch on as a safety net so in the worst case it wouldn't tilt past 30 degrees in any direction. I have a feeling that FPV acro using goggles will be a bit easier than LOS acro. But I certainly won't be attempting any FPV acro flying in my back garden 

Of course, it did enter my mind about trying to land it on the trampoline in through the top but knowing my luck I'd either have ended up shredding the netting or I'd have flipped out into the next door neighbours garden 

Anyway, here are the test flight videos...

Congrats on that first flight, always a great sense of satisfaction after you get it flying.

I flew LOS for several months before I finally purchased goggles. I used horizon mode which allowed me to flip and roll if I wanted, and also get used to how the quad flew and how agile it was, and build some confidence. Needless to say I was very comfortable with the quad by the time I had goggles. Once I had them I think I flew maybe two or three packs in horizon and then just dove in and flipped it to acro. I found it easy to make the jump as acro makes way more sense with the goggles on.

Thanks for the words of encouragement

Because I've been so used to flying angle mode and LOS with the Hubsan at low altitudes (no more than 20-30 feet off the ground), I think I'm going to have a bit of a psychological battle with switching to FPV and higher altitudes while also switching to using rate mode at the same time. I know it's going to feel like the quad is completely out of my control way up in the sky. Maybe I just need to take baby steps and get used to the quad first in angle mode and LOS, then switch to FPV as you did, although I'm conscious about everyone saying don't do that because you pick up bad angle mode habits that you will find hard to shake off. But maybe I already have those bad habits from flying the Hubsan so it might be that I can't make the bad habits worse than they already are.

I think I need to try and take a trip to that field at the weekend with the goggles if I can get some spare time away from family commitments, and see how things go. Maybe I'll end up just flying line of sight, or maybe I'll give the goggles a go depending on how confident I start to feel.

Congrats on the successful hover!

Also props for a great build-log.

Great job hovering! I wouldn't over analyze the angle to rate mode thing. I started flying rate very quickly after starting because of the "bad habits" warning and had experience with rate mode in helicopters. And I believe that can be true for some to develop bad habits, but also overblown a bit. Frankly when I get into something new, I will go to Horizon for a bit of safety. The video I just posted of flying around the mountains, I was in Horizon for part of that. I hadn't flown much in 10 weeks, and flying is a perishable skill. It was breezy down low, and I didn't know if it was worse up high. And my angst level at that altitude and being rusty was off the dial. So I flew in Horizon with my finger on the switch, so I could go to angle if I needed it, or to rate if I was comfortable. I never went to angle that day, and when I was down on the deck I was in rate. My point is, don't overthink the angle vs rate. You will know when you're comfortable to make the change, and may go back and forth for awhile, or your whole flying career. You are WAY to analytical in your thinking from what I have seen in your posts to ever let yourself develop bad habits.

Glad you flew your first build and had no crashes. FWIW, you don't have to crash....I had 96 flights before my first crash, take it slowly, keep practicing and you will be kicking ass in no time! Congrats! Thanks for sharing the experience with us.

Like Krohsis said, If you learn to fly FPV with the same methodical approach as building, you will do fine.  I also believe the "bad habits" many people mention are overstated, your brain adjusts very quickly when you realize you have to level the craft yourself when flying acro/rate.  There were a few things that I wasn't expecting when I put the goggles on and horizon mode was very instrumental in getting me used to the FPV experience.

1.  The weird out-of-body experience.  Took some flying time to feel like I was actually sitting on my quad when flying.  I sat in a chair a few times when starting out but now can stand up no problem.

2.  How quickly the quad can cover ground and gain altitude.  I was very surprised by how far away my quad got and how fast it got there.  Also how everything looks different at altitude and how easy it is to get "lost", even if your quad isn't very far away.  Making a conscious mental note of landmarks before you take off is very helpful.

3.  Landing.  I started out with my camera angle too high which made landing for a newbie very uncomfortable.  Couldn't figure out how to slow myself down enough.  Lowering the camera angle helped a ton, and starting my approach from a longer distance to give me time to slow down and loose altitude was key.

So go find a big open field with no obstacles and start flying, and keep us in the loop!