H4 Alien 680mm quadcopter build and review - mounting electronics [Part 7]

In this video we mount the rest of the electronics and level up the motors using a smartphone. We are almost done with the build. Here we just mounted all the small bits and pieces like telemetry modules, buzzer, power module, receiver and so on, before setting up the pixhawk. Next videos will be setting up the pixhawk and test flying. The frame is carbon everywhere with red plastic clamps, so it is a foldable frame. All in all it seems a very good quality frame. This quadcopter should be used for mapping/photographing fields (with crop) from above. We'll see how that unfolds soon. Stay tuned and subscribe!
Parts used in this build:
Frame (H4 Alien 680 mm:
bit.ly/1xyS8Jq
Motors (Mulitstar 490kv):
EU: bit.ly/14gcScb
Global: bit.ly/1CX3KqW
ESC's (Blueseries 30A):
EU: bit.ly/1vMZH94
Global: bit.ly/1Hj8Eyi
Flightcontroller (3DR pixhawk w/ GPS):
www.robotshop.com/eu/en/3dr-px...
Propeller (15" carbon):
EU: bit.ly/13LO1vH
Global: bit.ly/1wHr7wt
Battery (4s 6000 mAh Nanotech):
EU: bit.ly/1D94uqd
Global: bit.ly/1tH7RVi
Camera holder (Battery holder H.A.L.):
EU: bit.ly/1y8VFey
Global: bit.ly/1w9caDb

[@TinyGreenWorkshop]

+Ari Stotle
I still cannot reply to your comments due to your privacy settings :/ It was a really good point you had on the sharp edges and the wires, i will definitely fix that.
As for the "missing" clamps it seems you are watching the series in the wrong direction as i have stripped down the frame to save weight in part 1 of this series ;-)
Regards.

[@aristotle6597]

Yes I have been watching some in reverse order because I could not get some to play at the times I was trying to view them because of errors from YT popping up. If you are only using one clamp to lock the arm it might be a good idea to also drill a small hole through the frame directly in front of each clamp & put an M2.5 or M3 security bolt through the frame at that point secured with a small wing nut at the bottom with a rubber washer to stop it vibrating free while it's flying to act as a locking pin to stop the possibility of the arm coming free from the clamp under certain conditions, such as the single clamp developing a fracture & becoming weakened, because even if you have all the props spinning the right way & therefore putting the torque force from the motor & prop to the back of the clamp under acceleration, when you decelerate it could let go of the arm & obviously the result would be catastrophic for your aircraft. I'm using both clamps but I'm still going to use a locking pin as I've described too because those types of clamp have been known to fail occasionally. These things occur to me as I'm building mine up because I'm a diagnostic engineer by profession & can see the possible danger areas for possible failure of certain things naturally because I've been doing the job for so long now it's become a habit with me. ;-)

[@TinyGreenWorkshop]

Ari Stotle Hey again. I'm sorry for the late answer i have been quite busy lately. Anyways, i have flown it some times now and i am confident it won't unsnap. Possibly it can crack and then unsnap, but i'd rather have that the arms fold back in the case of a crash rather than the whole frame breaks because of a crash. Plus i don't want to unscrew 4 bolts every time i have to transport it somewhere. That is just my opinion even though i know how you feel when you see areas of weakness and possible danger i have developed that habit as well, but sometimes one also have to judge if the small improvement is worth it in other aspects :-)
Hope your build is going well.
/Martin

[@aristotle6597]

MultiCopterBuild
Hi Martin..That's a good point about the arm folding back in a crash & yes, there are many things that could be done to improve lots of things really, but it all depends on how far you want to go with it & also what you are going to be doing with it, if you are happy with it at the end of the day then that is all that matters really..It might be a good idea to check the clamps each flight though to stay safe because they have been known to fail from hairline fractures....Yes, mine is coming along great thanks. I bench tested the motors with the props on them this evening & was getting 1.8Kg thrust from each motor with a 4s lipo at 85% throttle & after several minutes the motors & esc's were only just warm, so all seems to be going well so far. I am just waiting for some longer spacing pillars to arrive from China though so I can do a small modification to the frame on the underside where the battery plate is, to allow my RX & some other electronics for full telemetry to sit in that space below were the flight controller is mounted. The 10mm spacers that came with the frame are too small for that so I'm replacing them with 15mm spacers. It will then leave the top completely free of any electronics & all the electronics will then be housed & well protected. If my mathematics is all correct I should get about 17 minutes of flight time with the AUW I intend flying it with & that is exactly what I was aiming for with the setup as it is, there is not really much more you can get from a quad though, so my next project is going to be another big hex or octo which I will want to stay in the air for at least 30 or maybe 40 minutes... At some point I might even get around to making some video like you do but I tend to get carried away when I start building stuff & the time just zipps by & then before I know it I've finished what I was doing before getting the camera out...I will get some video of this latest quad flying though & hopefully it won't be too much longer...Happy flying..Steve.

[@TeeSCee]

Hi, you have to make sure that all the parts of the copter are level, not just the motors. If the motors are all level, but the frame is not, your copter will be offset.

[@tomtam558]

Hi. How did you power the motor? Did you use a pdb?

[@gokulsangamitrachoyi746]

what is the length of each boom?

[@davidringler7131]

Realy nice work!,Do you ever use CorrosionXhd for waterproofing electronics?

[@TinyGreenWorkshop]

Yeah. Check out part 2 and 3 of this build and you will see :-)

[@aristotle6597]

It's an interesting series of videos you have on this build & I'm enjoying watching them....I just noticed a bit of a difference between my frame & yours though, they are identical really but mine came with double locking clamps for each of the arms, which makes me think that there might have been some issue or other with the single ones like yours has by not holding the arm securely enough & maybe letting go of the arm under certain flying conditions, I notice that your frame has the holes for two clamps already drilled which is a bit confusing really...

[@Makelifehappennow]

Well done clever technique for. motor balancing

[@TinyGreenWorkshop]

Thank you. It works like a treat!

[@jacksonhookom1800]

How much did it cost?

[@TinyGreenWorkshop]

Jackson Hookom Around 2500 USD everything included :-)

[@jacksonhookom1800]

how do you spend that much like get a dji