Hello all, I'm about to take the plunge into the RC world. Been wanting to do this since Standard 4, but you know life has its priorities... and RC flying was priority #17263.

So 35 years later, here I am.

I hv decided to start by building a quadcopter since it seems to be the least threatening to fly, especially with a GPS-equipped flight controller. But before I start throwing money buying all the bits and pieces, I need some advice from you senior guys:

What radio should I buy?

My requirements are:

1) Not clunky like the toy-grade ones with the nasty buttons, dip switches and hollow plastic shell that break when a noob like me tosses it around.

2) Has battery voltage telemetry, to save myself from crashing the quad because I won't know how to gauge how much juice I have left.

3) Has a 1km range at least, so that I won't outgrow it when I check out FPV flying later on.

4) 2.4 ghz, so that it won't interfere with 5.8 ghz transmitters in the future.

5) 7 channels at least, so that I can control camera gimbals in the future.

6) Costs around RM550 at the most.

I'm thinking the RadioLink AT10, but I'm hoping maybe you seniors know of better options..?

Hey that's my favourite vaping 18650 battery..!

RM550 for the radio lah.

Ahh... since you own an AT9, do you know where I can find that plug that goes into the back of your RadioLink AT9 transmitter for training purposes?

Are you using APM..?

After a month's worth of reading, I reckon this is the best bang for the buck for GPS flying. Found one going for US$26 and a plug-in GPS for another US$14, shipping US$5... that's under RM200 for a GPS-capable FC... could not argue much against APM at that price.

I'll start building in Oct.

By the way... where do you guys recommend I go to buy LiPo batts?

Need 4S 4000 mAh 35C.

How much do they charge to ship LiPos here?

This post has been edited by ZZR-Pilot: Aug 10 2016, 01:18 PM

Hi guys... after months of studying while waiting for the parts to arrive from Banggood, I have finally gotten around to building my first ever mini quad using a Kingkong 210-sized sandwich frame + CC3D on LibrePilot.

It's soooo satisfying to fly something I had handpicked the specs for, assembled, screwed together, soldered with my own two hands and configured on my laptop all on my own.

Now I can finally graduate from RealFlight 7.5 simulator and my stupid toy micro drone to the real thing. LOL...

Already I learned that a low voltage buzzer is not an accessory but a necessity because I stupidly drained out my two new 2200mah LiPos. One went puffy... the other one, well... I'm learning how to recover a badly discharged LiPo now. *SIGH*

Hey good tip!

BTW.... where can I get locking nuts for my propellers? My RCX motors came with those spinner type thingies that have a habit of coming loose. The other day a plastic bag floating in the wind snagged one of the props and the spinner just disappeared. Now I'm grounded until I can find a way to screw down the prop.

The specs say the prop mount has a 5mm shaft, does that mean it'll take M5 size lock nuts?

http://www.myrcmart.com/rcx-h18066-2400kv-...ame-p-7990.html

Also... when throttling down to land, my quad has a nasty habit of bouncing like a yo-yo before even touching the ground. As a result I tend to cut the throttle causing the quad to land hard. Is this normal?

The spinner that spun off and disappeared after snagging a plastic bag did have blue threadlock in it. I noticed this problem is more pronounced on CW props, because the direction of spin tends to undo CW nuts. And those spinners are not cheap (about US$1 each), I can't afford to keep losing them on a regular basis.

It happens in all modes. I'm going to recalibrate my transmitter & CC3D then I'll dial in a new, flatter throttle curve on my transmitter. We'll see how that goes this weekend.

Thinking of building an X-UAV Sky Surfer X8 for FPV flying later this year.

Does anyone know where I can get the foam laminated with monocote?

True. Before choosing a car, gotta learn how to drive first. Before choosing what drone, gotta learn how to fly first.

I built a 210-sized sandwich quad to learn to fly with, since the frame looks very sturdy & can take a hard smack into a tree. But I can only fly outdoors, which limits my flying opportunity.

Then I got an Eachine E010 for like RM60... whoahh I can learn to fly indoors anytime! So cheap too & it's pretty much indestructible.

The Furibee F36 is exactly like the e010, but flies even better for the same price. I got that too, since it looks like it can haul a micro 25mW FPV cam much better. Cheap ass Tiny Whoop!

Totally recommend the Furibee F36 as a trainer to those wishing to buy DJIs in the future... that's if their egos aren't too big to learn to fly with a cheap china miniquad.

Always inspect for white stress marks on ur props. Sometimes when ur props hit something, they will fly ok at first... but the damage will show in the form of stress marks. A few flights later the stressed plastic suddenly gives way.

Some plastics are more brittle than others and are more prone to suddenly giving way when damaged.. esp the larger props that are physically subject to greater stresses during flight.

Having bashed my CC3D drone into trees & walls a number of times (newbie style), I have come to treat props as consumables.

These things will break eventually coz you're bound to hit something. Sometimes the drone flips. Sometimes the drone mows the grass. Sometimes it trims the trees & hedges. All these things will damage the props to varying degrees... some just a bit, some a bit more... but eventually they will all add up and cause the prop to break.

So personally... I don't buy fancy expensive props. They're gonna break too eventually so what the hell.

My fave are the Kingkong 6045 and Kingkong Triblade 5045.

Durable enough to withstand my hamfisted flying. And when they about to break, they're cheap as hell to replace.

In your case... better ask the sifus whether got cheap props for DJI drones or not.

SNAFU eh... hmm if you're dead sure the props in question were totally undamaged and yet they simply and inexplicably broke up during hovering, then maybe it's a quality issue.

At any rate, it could be a signal for u to avoid buying this brand of props.

If you ask me though, breakages are more likely with larger props and those made of brittle material.

Everyone knows carbon fibre doesn't give and flex as well as cheaper thick plastic... and when they hv had enough, they simply shatter.

I have an Eachine E010 and the Furibee F36 that I had whooped by soldering a micro camera + VTx. Both use the same Eachine E010 battery.

Does anyone know where to buy batteries for the Eachine E010.

150mAh 45C.

Checked on Banggood, eBay etc... apparently China suppliers all refuse to ship this battery to Msia.

Oh nice! What microquad are you using these on?

What type of connectors do these batts have? If they're not the Eachine one, I will need to find the corresponding one to solder to the power terminals.

That's a damn nice step-by-step tutorial. Sweet!

Bought 2 sets of those Floureon batts on Gearbest.

Went to eBay and got some 2-pin Walkera connectors. Along the way I saw some 3amp LC filters (looks like pre-built torroid inductor + capacitor) for like under US$2 a pop, grabbed a few of those too for my upcoming HJ-Y3 tricopter build and maybe an HMF-Y600 tricopter GoPro platform in the future (using 4215-650KV motors, 30A ESCs & APM 2.6 repurposed from an S500 quadcopter project that never happened).

I'm a happy chappy.

Thanks heaps, mate!

RC porn..!! I think I'll skip the Taranis QX7 (plasticky) and I'll pass the Taranis X9D Plus SE (getting old in the tooth).

Interesting to note that the Taranis QX7-S is also in the works, this time with hall effect gimbals... unfortunately still with that toy-like plasticky shell.


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Frsky Horus X10 – lighter Horus X12S or advanced Q X7?
by montis 14/07/2017 | 11:55 3 Posted in New products

Frsky has announced their new radio transmitter – Horus X10. It has the outlook of the X7 and the features of X12S. It is lighter than Horus X12S and has some less features like no GPS and no 6-axis sensors and is powered by a Li-Po battery. Thus price range will be lower than X12S – around $330.

The new TX features hall effect gimbals, Frsky proprietary firmware (as in Horus X12S), menu navigation rotary wheel is similar as in Q X7. Horus X10 has external antenna and also two internal antennas, as well built-in upgraded iXJT Module.

We are waiting for more information.

Preliminary features:

AudioSpeech Outputs (values, alarms, settings, etc.)
Full telemetry and real-time data logging
Antenna detection and SWR warning
All CNC 6ball bearings gimbals with accuracy hall sensor and extensible by stick ends
Built-in wireless trainer system
6 position encoder for easier flight modes switch
Easy to set up models with FrSky FrOS operation system
MP3 Player and Speaker
Industrial High Resolution TFT Screen Readable Outdoors
Two internal and External Antenna selectable
Lighter than the X12S
Lithium-ion battery
Available in 2 color options



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Want to get an F3/F4 Omnibus Pro for my next build after CNY. Need baro & magnetometer.

Where do you guys recommend I get it from?

Price is a major consideration, but then I loathe the risk that comes with cheap Chinese knockoff boards from Banggood/Ali/eBay.

In that case, how do I avoid ending up with dud, faulty FCs on BG?

Is price an indication of quality on BG?