Complete drone rookie would love some help getting my drones running

[DroneNoob]

A friend of a friend sadly passed away leaving a collection of what I believe to be some racing drones, some general purpose (if that's a category) larger drones with all the spares and transmitters.
My friend knows I love to tinker and offered them to me as he didn't have time to figure them out. I couldn't say no obviously however I don't actually what I've actually got. Ordinarily I'd google whatever it says on the bottom and try and figure it out for myself but the majority of the components seem to be completely unmarked which has me kind of stumped.
I'm certain they're incomplete but there's a big box of spares which hopefully has the missing pieces. Can upload more pictures and info if anyone is willing to spare some knowledge.

Cheers

 

[Wayno52]

Hi noon, yep they certainly look incomplete or pulled apart.
Can you send more pics of parts that you have?
It will help for sure. Try to get good quality pics as close up as you can but in focus.
Wayne

 

[RENOV8R]

Big one looks like a Tarot 650 Ironman with most of the internals removed. The next one is a DJI F450 Flamewheel and looks like it's possibly complete with what appears to be a Naza-M V2 flight controller. Nice little bird, I'd be glad to get it in the air for you, but shipping would probably be pretty steep. Here's a video for you to go through and get an idea of what you're getting yourself into.

 

[Wayno52]

Nice one Ren, great work identifying them.

 

[DroneNoob]

Cheers Wayne, uploading a photo dump of the majority of kit we ended up with now. Is there a preferred photo sharing site or put them all on here?
I think you're spot on Ren, having a quick google it definitely appears to be those two! Cheers for the link, looks like i'll start with the flamewheel

 

[DroneNoob]

Took longer than expected to organise the images, have put them into an imgur album if you guys have a chance to browse through. There is also a 6 arm version of the tarot along with a 4 arm version of the racing drone but both appear to only have motors and speed controllers attatched. I've put the images here > Drone Images

 

[HighTechPauper]

So sorry about your friend passing @DroneNoob! That is quite a haul they left you, it will take time to sort it all and learn what you need to know. I don't know much about this generation of stuff but @RENOV8R is a fantastic resource to help you figure it out! I will try to help if I see something I know, and GOOD LUCK!!! Keep us posted!

 

[DroneNoob]

**UPDATE* Thanks for the support @HighTechPauper, I've spent the last 3 days rotting in front of the computer trying to figure out what I'm supposed to be doing!

My time has been split 65% trying to get things to connect to the computer (I guess driver issues are something everyone in the drone community just accept? very frustrating to say the least haha); 30% staring at overly complicated transmitter and receiver manuals to get them to talk to each other; The remaining 5% putting components back on the drones and sifting through boxes of spares.

I managed to get the F450 in the air! once I'd managed to get a receiver plugged in and bound to the transmitter and the dji assistant software to actually connect it was relatively painless to set up. The flight was pretty short lived as i crashed into my living room wall but nothing damaged and I'm confident in the setup now. Once the weather is better I'll get it out in the park (managed to find a local guy who has drones that told me the good spots where I won't get bothered)

The little 6 rotor drone, however, I have not had any luck with besides connected the goggles to the camera and walking round the house with the headset on and holding the drone . I've followed so many youtube videos on how to get it in boot mode and connected but it just refuses to let me flash it or modify the cli (I can view it and see whats currently on there when connected not in boot mode. Naze32 Cleanflight 1.9.0 for reference). Tried it on windows 7 and 10, cleanflight and betalfight, Tried impulserc and zadig to get it to connect when the board is in boot mode. As soon as i short the pins and connect it, the board gets the correct blue light but the pc can no longer see it. Will have to have another go at getting it sorted next weekend.

 

[RENOV8R]

Way to go DroneNoob, glad you're making progress! I'm sure your friend will be able to help you out on the 6 armed bandit

 

[VirtueViolater]

Yup, ...... it's on now....lol
I predict a quad build in your near future....lol

 

[DroneNoob]

@VirtueViolater can definitely see that happening once I've got these ones going .

Someone might be able to help me with this, so I found out why I can't connect my transmitter (graupner mx-20) to my transmitter on the 6 wing racer, (orange rx receiver). The graupner doesn't support dms2... So much wasted tinkering but at least I figured it out. Does anyone know what receivers are compatible with graupner and can communicate with the flight controller over the single servo cable? (I assume its ppm?) The graupner receivers seems painfully expensive in comparison to others but if I'm locked to it then I guess I'll just splash out haha

 

[HighTechPauper]

The Graupner stuff uses HoTT I think and it is its own protocol that won't work with other stuff. The part in the quad is called the Receiver and if there is an OrangeRX in it then it is Spektrum (DSM2 or DSMX) and it may be more advantageous to get a Spektrum transmitter. They make a 6 channel you can get new for $60, but I was hoping the MX-20 might have a "JR Module Bay" that you could get a DMS2/DSMX module for it but it doesn't look like Graupner supports that.

 

[RENOV8R]

As you seem to be quite handy and also have a grasp on the electronics side of this hobby, I'd say just get a Taranis QX7 and a couple XM+ receivers and be done with it. Worthwhile investment if you're going to stay in the hobby

 

[HighTechPauper]

I agree, but I think you may want to get the R-XSR model of RX so if you want telemetry it would be an option that the XM+ doesn't support.

 

[DroneNoob]

Cheers guys! So I think my plan is to sell the graupner mx-20 with the gr-24 receiver and use the money to buy a taranis transmitter and appropriate receivers. I haven't really looked into the telemetry yet, not sure of the benefits but I'd rather future proof it then have to upgrade at a later date.
Do you guys have any idea how much I would get for the tx or where is best to sell it? It's in mint condition, I'm not even sure it was properly used.

 

[HighTechPauper]

Not many guys that fly acro/race quads fly with Graupner that I have ever heard of, I wouldn't have a clue where to sell or how much. Maybe ask over at the Graupner USA Facebook page, they could probably tell you what it might be worth as an older model.

 

[VirtueViolater]

Graupner makes a tx?

 

[HighTechPauper]

Graupner makes a tx?

While we never see them here, they make a bunch of them.

Handheld Radios - Radios | Graupner USA

 

[RENOV8R]

Dang, that's one serious radio..................

 

[DroneNoob]

So... I've gone for the Taranis QX7s and a bunch of R-XSR receivers! Got one receiver for each drone plus a spare for a potential future build . All arriving Friday where operation "make drones fly" begins. I've found a local rc shop that stock Graupner and seem interested in buying it (they also second second hand gear), seems like they're used much more in the rc plane world.

On another note; while I was playing with the dji and racer, my friend (who has the other half of the drone collection) has figured out the tarot drones with the arducopter flight controllers so they should be in the air soon too!

Apart from not being able to think about anything other than drones for the past 8 days, it's been great fun figuring them out. Loads of respect for you guys, there's so much more of a technical aspect to drones than I ever expected!