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Newbie who need little help

Antitor

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Hey y'all,

hope everyone is doing fine here!

First time using a Forum, kind of excited ?

I'm new to all that drone stuff.

I bought myself a Happymodel Modula7, and its a lot of fun to fly around with it.
(one of my 1s already puffed, how can that happen?)
Already have a radio (FrSky Taranis) and some ugly box googles (FatShark recon V3).

Now I thought about building my first ''real drone'', but I dont have a clue about which parts I should buy, which fit together etc.

Maybe someone could help me out with a good and affordable (maybe around 200$) beginner build.:)

Any help is appreciated, thank you!

Cheers,
Antitor
 
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Hi @Antitor, welcome to the forum!

The Mob7 is a great little quad, I have one myself, and luckily it has not blown an ESC yet! ?

1s batteries tend to be a little less sturdy than their multi-cell brothers, both because they are usually very small MAH ratings, and also because they are by themselves and don't have another cell to lean on. They are inexpensive, and it happens, but try to keep them at 3.85 volts in a cool dry environment when not being flown, and many will last a long time. I have some that are 3 years old and doing fine.

The radio is great, and the goggles are some of the best in their price range, so there is nothing wrong with those. Many of the best pilots, who aren't famous and rich, are tearing up the sky with that same equipment. And it is actually true that expensive top of the line gear can't make you a better pilot, and a good pilot can always adapt and fly with just about any junk they are handed. So while your goggles can improve one day, it won't be what makes you a better pilot, just a poorer pilot. ?

What Frsky Taranis did you get, a QX7, or 7S, or a X9D+ of some kind?

You can put together a great quad for less than $200 easily if you stick to good quality, but fairly priced parts, and stay away from the hype. There is a thousand little things to consider, and even more choices to navigate, to try and answer your question about "what to build", so here is a couple of things to think about before you go out and bye bye bye. Also, just so you know... almost everything can be made to work together within reason.


What prop size? 3", 4", 5", 6" 7" ??? 5" is the original sweet spot.

Individual ESC's or a 4in1??? While 4in1's are nice and compact and clean looking, when an ESC inevitably blows, and it will likely be sooner than later, you need to buy and solder a new 4in1 and that is expensive and a pain not to mention throwing 3 good ESC's in the garbage. With individuals, it is much less soldering, and much less expensive to replace.


A great beginner part list that cannot be beaten for the price is...

TBS Source One frame
Emax ECO or low end iFlight Xing for motors
Low end Diatone Mamba or iFlight Xing for a 4in1/FC stack or a CLRacing F4S and Spedix ES30HV for AIO FC and individual ESC's
Cameras... there are too many great ones to list, there are plenty of good choices made by Caddx, RunCam, and Foxeer.
vTX... again, too many to name, but I would look at Rush Tank series, PandaRC, RDQ Mach3, or maybe even splurge on a TBS Unify if I could find it on sale.
RX I would get an R-XSR, or maybe a XM+ depending on remaining budget.
Batteries... hard to go wrong with CNHL MiniStar series or Black series, but Tattu FunFly and RDQ make great affordable packs also.

Of course there are a ton of small nickel and dime things you possibly will need to build like various heat shrinks, double sided sticky tape, zip ties etc.
You will also likely need a good charger and a parallel charging board unless you want to spend all day babysitting charging lipos.

I can refine these things with what is available (and/or on sale) if you want, so just let us know.

Again, welcome!
 
Hi @Antitor, welcome to the forum!

The Mob7 is a great little quad, I have one myself, and luckily it has not blown an ESC yet! ?

1s batteries tend to be a little less sturdy than their multi-cell brothers, both because they are usually very small MAH ratings, and also because they are by themselves and don't have another cell to lean on. They are inexpensive, and it happens, but try to keep them at 3.85 volts in a cool dry environment when not being flown, and many will last a long time. I have some that are 3 years old and doing fine.

The radio is great, and the goggles are some of the best in their price range, so there is nothing wrong with those. Many of the best pilots, who aren't famous and rich, are tearing up the sky with that same equipment. And it is actually true that expensive top of the line gear can't make you a better pilot, and a good pilot can always adapt and fly with just about any junk they are handed. So while your goggles can improve one day, it won't be what makes you a better pilot, just a poorer pilot. ?

What Frsky Taranis did you get, a QX7, or 7S, or a X9D+ of some kind?

You can put together a great quad for less than $200 easily if you stick to good quality, but fairly priced parts, and stay away from the hype. There is a thousand little things to consider, and even more choices to navigate, to try and answer your question about "what to build", so here is a couple of things to think about before you go out and bye bye bye. Also, just so you know... almost everything can be made to work together within reason.


What prop size? 3", 4", 5", 6" 7" ??? 5" is the original sweet spot.

Individual ESC's or a 4in1??? While 4in1's are nice and compact and clean looking, when an ESC inevitably blows, and it will likely be sooner than later, you need to buy and solder a new 4in1 and that is expensive and a pain not to mention throwing 3 good ESC's in the garbage. With individuals, it is much less soldering, and much less expensive to replace.


A great beginner part list that cannot be beaten for the price is...

TBS Source One frame
Emax ECO or low end iFlight Xing for motors
Low end Diatone Mamba or iFlight Xing for a 4in1/FC stack or a CLRacing F4S and Spedix ES30HV for AIO FC and individual ESC's
Cameras... there are too many great ones to list, there are plenty of good choices made by Caddx, RunCam, and Foxeer.
vTX... again, too many to name, but I would look at Rush Tank series, PandaRC, RDQ Mach3, or maybe even splurge on a TBS Unify if I could find it on sale.
RX I would get an R-XSR, or maybe a XM+ depending on remaining budget.
Batteries... hard to go wrong with CNHL MiniStar series or Black series, but Tattu FunFly and RDQ make great affordable packs also.

Of course there are a ton of small nickel and dime things you possibly will need to build like various heat shrinks, double sided sticky tape, zip ties etc.
You will also likely need a good charger and a parallel charging board unless you want to spend all day babysitting charging lipos.

I can refine these things with what is available (and/or on sale) if you want, so just let us know.

Again, welcome!

Thank you so much for your reply @HighTechPauper !

A lot of information that I have to get into my head ?

So I fly my Mod7 almost every day, so they are charging in my garage, and sometimes it is getting pretty warm in there (Texas ye ha!). Sometimes forget to unplug them in the evening, can it damage the Batteries they left for too long on the charger? (use an Ultra Power UP-S6 charger)
These 3.85 V have to be the storage voltage right? What would be the best way to get a 1s to that voltage?

Good to hear, almost everyone is talking bad about these box googles... because of they are 19:6 and not 4:3, does it even make a huge difference? Oh and I have the Frsky Taranis QX7.

I will try to stick around 200$, just because I know that its not worth for a beginner to buy a premium quad. My crash rate is still way to high for a fancy drone ?

If its the sweet spot, 5'' it is!

This list looks really good, and a lot of options too!
I will definitely take a closer look at all these parts. (for whatever reason I got a FrSky XM+ SBUS mini receiver in my last order... don't ask me why ?, maybe I could build around that)

Where should I buy all these parts? There are a lot of websites like getFPV, team blacksheep, RDQ, banggood etc.
Also what batteries should I start with? 4s or 6s? What should I know about them?
Do I need special tools for building all that together? (except a soldering iron)

Ok, I'm already sorry for so many questions!
I hope y'all can help me out with that ?
I appreciate your help a lot!
Thanks!

Cheers,
Antitor
 
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Hi and welcome to the forum Antitor,
Let me start by saying batteries that we fly ( lipo ) are one of the most important but also one of the most dangerous pieces of kit we own. if they are not treated with respect and charged, flown and stored correctly they can just die or at worst explode.
Number 1 rule of this hobby/ obsession,
Never leave your batteries on charge without supervision.

The list Randy put up is fantastic and very budget wise.
Personally I would build around a 4s battery to start with and if you decide to eventually move to a 6s build. 4s is plenty for me.
Be very cautious buying from non specific FPV dealers.
Get FPV is great.
Use your xm+ and build around it like Randy said. No problems with that rx.
Please learn a little ( a lot ) about using, charging and storing lipo batteries before you commit too much.
 
Hi and welcome to the forum Antitor,
Let me start by saying batteries that we fly ( lipo ) are one of the most important but also one of the most dangerous pieces of kit we own. if they are not treated with respect and charged, flown and stored correctly they can just die or at worst explode.
Number 1 rule of this hobby/ obsession,
Never leave your batteries on charge without supervision.

The list Randy put up is fantastic and very budget wise.
Personally I would build around a 4s battery to start with and if you decide to eventually move to a 6s build. 4s is plenty for me.
Be very cautious buying from non specific FPV dealers.
Get FPV is great.
Use your xm+ and build around it like Randy said. No problems with that rx.
Please learn a little ( a lot ) about using, charging and storing lipo batteries before you commit too much.

Hey and thanks for your response @Wayno52!

I'm already digging into that LiPo topic, a lot to learn and understand! Have to treat them like kids, thought I still had some time with that ?

Is the 4s preference or just better for beginners?

Thank you for the advice!

Cheers,
Antitor
 
See my responses (opinions) in red below.

Thank you so much for your reply @HighTechPauper !

A lot of information that I have to get into my head ? Don't worry too much, it comes in time!

So I fly my Mod7 almost every day, so they are charging in my garage, and sometimes it is getting pretty warm in there (Texas ye ha!). Sometimes forget to unplug them in the evening, can it damage the Batteries they left for too long on the charger? (use an Ultra Power UP-S6 charger) No, once the charge cycle is complete it will stop the charging so that isn't really the issue, but leaving a battery on the charger unsupervised is a big no no. Never leave batteries unattended on a charger, if bad things happen (unlikely, but very possible) you need to be there to throw it outside before your garage gets burned to the ground.
These 3.85 V have to be the storage voltage right? What would be the best way to get a 1s to that voltage? The only way with a charger like that is to pull it off when it is around the right voltage, what a pain. But you will need a different charger for your 4s batteries and hopefully it will also be able to be used to storage charge your 1s lipos also.

Good to hear, almost everyone is talking bad about these box googles... because of they are 19:6 and not 4:3, does it even make a huge difference? Oh and I have the Frsky Taranis QX7.
I don't think it makes a big difference (4:3 or 16:9), you get used to whichever after a few days. Yes, it is true, everyone has an "opinion" on these things, but you need to take it all with a grain of salt. QX7 is a great radio, you will likely never need another for the life of this hobby for you.
I will try to stick around 200$, just because I know that its not worth for a beginner to buy a premium quad. My crash rate is still way to high for a fancy drone ?

If its the sweet spot, 5'' it is!

This list looks really good, and a lot of options too!
I will definitely take a closer look at all these parts. (for whatever reason I got a FrSky XM+ SBUS mini receiver in my last order... don't ask me why ?, maybe I could build around that)
The XM+ is fine, no worries there.
Where should I buy all these parts? There are a lot of websites like getFPV, team blacksheep, RDQ, banggood etc. I try to buy from RDQ or Heli Nation or Pirodrone. If I can't then I will go to GetFPV but NEVER Banggood except in very rare occasions.
Also what batteries should I start with? 4s or 6s? What should I know about them? Go with 4s, plenty of power, less expensive, and much less chance of blowing things up. 6s is an awful lot of power, you can easily blow things up going to that voltage, and it is like giving a brand new driver a Lamborghini for their first car. It just doesn't make any sense.
Do I need special tools for building all that together? (except a soldering iron) Yeah, you will want some decent hex drivers, some good mini/micro side cutters, but you can probably get by with what you have for the rest of it and build your tools as you go.

By the way, a little puff on your 1s is not a big deal, if they fit reasonably well and don't get too puffy, they will be fine for a while longer.


Ok, I'm already sorry for so many questions!
I hope y'all can help me out with that ?
I appreciate your help a lot!
Thanks!

Cheers,
Antitor
 
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Thanks for all the answers!
I will definitely don't let my lipos charge unattended anymore, don't try to burn down my garage.

I took a closer look at all the parts that you send me and picked these out, would they fit together?
A lot of parts a not available, so I only picked the ones that are in stock. (around $200)

What do y'all think?


Cheers,
Antitor
 

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That isn't a starter quad, that is a very nice quad, excellent choices. Now all you really need to do is pray all the parts show up with no failures among them, your soldering is spot on for both large pads with a lot of copper, small and delicate ones where it is too easy to lift the pad off the fiberglass PCB, and you don't break it on the first flight!

Test your FC before you ever solder on it, plug it into Betaflight and see that the gyro is working properly and get a CLI dump off it.

For large power and grounds, turn your iron way up so that you can get in and out as quick as possible, and have the heat to battle all that copper trying to cool the iron off.
Keep a big solder ball on your tip anytime your not using it, it keeps the iron heat from attacking the cladding on the tip by attacking the solder, and it keeps your tip nice and tinned.

Good luck!
 
Also, if the FC comes with BF3.5.7 installed, I would leave it there until you've proven and flown it for a bit, 3.5.7 is the best out of box ever created so far, and too many issues can muddy the water with all the new code in the 4+ revs of BF. Once you've proven its golden, you can try to upgrade with a little more confidence that the hardware is good.

IMHO
 
Great looking set up, I see only 1 ESC in basket though. Not 4?
Also that VTX is 16x16 and may be difficult to mount? Also it is Ufl connector and if you go with that you will definitely want to wack a little e6000 on it once antenna is on there. They love to come off.
Just my opinion though.
Keep us posted with build pics.?
 
That isn't a starter quad, that is a very nice quad, excellent choices. Now all you really need to do is pray all the parts show up with no failures among them, your soldering is spot on for both large pads with a lot of copper, small and delicate ones where it is too easy to lift the pad off the fiberglass PCB, and you don't break it on the first flight!

Test your FC before you ever solder on it, plug it into Betaflight and see that the gyro is working properly and get a CLI dump off it.

For large power and grounds, turn your iron way up so that you can get in and out as quick as possible, and have the heat to battle all that copper trying to cool the iron off.
Keep a big solder ball on your tip anytime your not using it, it keeps the iron heat from attacking the cladding on the tip by attacking the solder, and it keeps your tip nice and tinned.

Good luck!
Im already excited to build that quad!

I was looking for some props that could fit this motor, there are so many! The biggest problem is that the hub thickness is always bigger than the 4mm shaft of the motor.
I'm kind of confused which props to buy, do they have special pieces that can fill up that space? Should I only get props that fit perfect?
What about that nut on top of the prop, do I have to get it separately?
Extra wires, do I need some? Connector for the battery?


I just don't want to miss on something.
Thank you again.

Cheers,
Antitor
 
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Wayne is right, I missed a number of things being so late at night when I replied, 4 ESC's, 16x16 vTX won't mount easily on the stack without some kind of adapter, and all these motors have 5mm prop mounts even when the shaft inside the bell is smaller. Yes the prop nuts should come with the motors. This all being said, it is impossible to know if you have everything for a build until you start the assembly, the camera may need some thin nylon washers between the mounts on the quad frame to keep from stressing the camera case, you may need some miscellaneous wires though most will come with the individual pieces, etc. I personally don't have a preference between U.fl and MMCX on my vTX, they both have good and bad, but it is all we have, some E6000 or Welder glue or Shoe Goo is a good thing to have in the build arsenal, it is lighter than hot glue and won't melt if used on a hot vTX for instance, plus you can grab it an stretch it and it will peel right off. This is truly a hobby for tinkerers, there will be questions and issues along the way, we will do our best to help when you run into them but it is almost impossible to foresee them all. By the way, even if you can't mount the vTX in the stack, that is what they make double sided sticky tape for, we often just mount things on top of one another with it when needed. There will always be something extra needed here and there, some screws may break or get loose and fall out, you may need some heat shrinks or electrical tape or extra zip ties, it is nice to have a small heat gun since you can do damage with a lighter to shrink things, etc. The list really goes on and on, and can nickel and dime you if you do much building (or repairing, which is guaranteed in this hobby). So unlike a complete build kit, you may find you need something you don't have and need to go looking to buy some somewhere. Boy, I can ramble can't I?
 
Ok, hope that I got the most parts for the start.

I switched out the vtx, should be easier with this RDQ Mach 3. Put also some pigtail XT60 in, couldn't find one coming with the parts.

Are there any special tools which I cant find in a good toolbox?

If y'all give me a thumbs up, the order will be out! ?

Thank y'all!

Cheers,
Antitior
 

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I think the props COULD be too long, the 52 number, those are 5.2 inch, stick with a 5.0 inch for now until you see how much clearance there is before it hits the frame standoffs.
Plus you are new, so you will be quite a while before you need any more pitch, which are really for racers mostly. Start with a 5031 to 5040 until you get some experience and know how much clearance you have before clipping the frame standoffs before getting any 51XX or 52XX props.

The lower the pitch, the easier it is to control the throttle stick, and that is the hardest part of learning control.

I really like DAL and I really like HQ, I would grab at least 2 sets of each since props are the number one consumable in this hobby, hate to see you grounded because you don't have a fresh set of props or single prop of the correct pitch to match the others. Once you get more experience you can get something bigger.

I like these...

 
Hey hey, back again.
All the part arrived during the week. I hope that is all I need for building it together.
Will keep y'all updated how it goes ?
 

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Hey hey,
so after I unpacked all my stuff for the build, I tried to figure out how to build it together. Its not that easy, but with a little help from Mr. Google and all the manuals I started working.

-They frame was quickly build together.
-I soldered Cam/VTX/RX... everything worked out fine, but it was not easy to solder on these tiny pads!
-with all the motors in place my next step is to connect them with the ESC and then the ESC to the F4S.
but there is my first question I couldn't find an answer: The ESC on the FC side has 5V and ground and 2 twisted white and black cabel with S & I. What do they stand for? Which one should I connect to the M pads?

I heard about Capacitors, do I need them at the beginning, or can I add them afterwards?

Its definitely a lot of fun to build and tinker a little bit around. I learned a lot already!

Thank you so much for your help!

Cheers

Antitor
 

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