About to order parts for my first QC, but Id like others advice before I invest the money.

Hello all! I'm about to order parts for my first quadcopter, but I don't want to accidently buy parts that don't work well together. I've already done a ton a research, but there is so much more to learn.

I will be using it for videography with a GoPro and a brushless 3D printed gimbal. I'm not looking for aerobatic performance, I'm looking for smooth footage. The frame that I am going to make myself is quite large because of this.

Parts list: (Red symbolizes parts I am not sure will interact well with others)
I already have Dx6i transmitter
$6 6Ch 2.4Ghz Receiver
$10 x 4 1000kv motors
$13 x 4 30A ESC
$4 Set of 10x4.5 props
$30 KK2.1.5 Flight Controller
$23 x 2 2450mAh 4S1P 30C battery
$5 power distribution board (with extra slots)
$4 Low voltage alarm

$1 Anti-vibration balls
$13 x 2 Gimbel motors
$30 Brushless Gimbal V3.0 Controller Martinez
The Gimbel

$17 USA parts shipping
$9 International parts shipping

(About $275 total)

The frame:
I will be making my own frame out of 3/4" aluminum tubing with 1/8" walls. The center braces (one on top one and on the bottom) will be made out of 1/8" CNCed aluminum plate. It will look something like this. The three electronic boards will be stacked with spacers in the top center in the order of: power dist. board, gimbal controller, flight controller. The batteries will be Velcroed in the back in some way to keep the center of gravity in the center. Ive attached my design with the units in mm.

Questions:
Do you see any potential problems of parts not working well together?
How much range should I expect? Could I lengthen the wire to add range?
Is the Kv rating and the prop size optimal for the frame? (This is my biggest worry)
Is there any problem with running the gimbal off the same battery as the rest?
Is having the center of gravity in the center very important? Will mounting the camera in the front be a problem?

Thank you so much for the help!!!

 

The only concern I see is the $6 6Ch 2.4Ghz Receiver ...... I would just get a factory receiver to be safe that it will work and not lose communication with the transmitter.

Everything else will work for your first build, good luck too!!!

 

Thanks for the suggestion. I switched it out with this: http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=31224

I'm still very confused about the proper blade / motor / battery combo. Does anyone have any experience with the most optimal combination for my use?

 

Still do not like the "knock off" receiver, when I say "Factory Receiver" I mean http://www.horizonhobby.com/products/ar6210-6-channel-dsmx-receiver-SPMAR6210

To calculate your motor / prop use http://www.ecalc.ch/xcoptercalc.php?ecalc&lang=en

 

Don't get the orange. I had a few lost signals with that. Its great for gliders cuase you can go on failsafe but on quads you can't afford to have a lost signal. Especially if you are using KK2 board since that does not have a failsafe. Go with at least a frsky module aond a turnigy 9xr if you are on a budget. Also for motor and battery combination here is my suggestions for your frame size

11" prop with a 640KV motor
25a multirotor esc
4s battery at least 3000 mah

Good luck with everything.

 

When you say "no fail safe" does that mean that it will continue flying at its current speed if it looses single or it will fall to the ground?

 

It will hover as long as you have failsafe on your radio set to hover but without GPS it will not come back to you.

 

You would be better served with a quad build at RCGroups.com or MultiRotorForums.com. One really needs a 9 channel radio transmitter (or more) for a quad build especially if one wants a more powerful flight control board. 4 channels control the basic flight functions. The fifth channel is usually assigned to self leveling which only leaves one unassigned channel. The fancy, powerful FCB's offer BARO, RTH, GPS, etc. one could not take advantage of these additional functions with a 6 channel transmitter.

eCalc is a good predictive program to get an idea of how different component match/mix will affect flight times and payload capacity. It is not perfect, but it will give a reasonable estimate of performance.

With some FCB's with a loss of transmitter signal the multi-rotor will keep on flying until they run out of power. There are all kinds of ways to have a flyaway. In many cases it is pilot error and/or the pilot's inability to pilot his aircraft.

This is why owner/operators should learn to fly or at least get some practice on basic 3 and 6 axis stabilized multi-rotors as a "trainer quad" before they start flying the fancier multi-rotors with the FCB's that do the flying for them. Sooner or later those FCB's will fail or the O/O will error in programming and the O/O's find out to their dismay that they really do not really know how to pilot their aircraft.