My monster multicopter with brushless gimbal!

[mysql]

I'm going to try running it with 2 batts to see flight time (I think it will get around 18 minutes), then I'll strap on the gimbal.

The unfortunate thing is I'm still waiting on the carbon filled props to arrive. Until I get those, the slowfly props (as seen in the photo above) are flexible and cause vibrations. So video footage will likely contain jello.

 

[mysql]

I landed at 18 minutes. It had 15.0V remaining, so I am guessing it can do 20 mins on 10,000mah 4S.

 

[captain]

Show me the video...

 

[mysql]

Quick video just to show it hovering.

 

[captain]

Man those blades went from off to hammer time... I want one..

 

[mysql]

lol. And that was only like 2% throttle.

 

[Schism]

That bad boy is so cool. Was that a kit or built from the ground up? How much would it cost?

 

[SoCal Blur]

This is definitely on my "TO DO" list!

 

[StromBusa]

A guy in Georgia built one and installed thermal on it. Uses his for hog scouting. Just in case you needed some way to "rationalize" it to whoever.

Duck finder 3000 ....lol

 

[StromBusa]

that is very cool, do you get a real time direct video feed to use in navigation control, or do you need to land to get the vid?

 

[mysql]

that is very cool, do you get a real time direct video feed to use in navigation control, or do you need to land to get the vid?

Two cameras. GoPro on gimbal does the high quality high definition stabilized footage. While I could also use the video out from the GoPro to pilot from, it is almost completely unusable in low light conditions. So I have a Sony CCD camera that does the live video feed, and I pilot from that.

Over the air video resolution is not high, but there isn't any latency issues either.

 

[mysql]

I need to get some longer carbon fiber tubes to position the gimbal further to the front of the hex so the front arms aren't in view. But this gives you an idea.

 

[007MI6]

Still loving this thing! Really want to see some lower level, terrain fly-arounds. Really liked the ones around house and in the neighborhood.

 

[Schism]

curious, how high have you flown that bad boy would you guess? this octo copter is very cool.

 

[mysql]

You can fly it as high as the range allows. Should be around 1.5 to 2.5km. With dragonlink you can go around 30km.

 

[SoCal Blur]

I love this thing! What do you think is the max weight it can ressonably lift?

 

[captain]

Curosity is killing me, how high are you really flying over the soccer field?

 

[mysql]

don't know about the height. I don't have an OSD that displays GPS info. Also wasn't trying to fly particularly high.

The motors I am running can do 1400g each (3 lbs of thrust), so in theory it can generate 18 lbs of thrust. You normally don't want to use up half your thrust in weight, so I would say it can do 9 lbs total weight. The copter itself weighs 4.6 lbs, so my answer would be about 4.5 lbs of extra weight...

 

[SoCal Blur]

don't know about the height. I don't have an OSD that displays GPS info. Also wasn't trying to fly particularly high.

The motors I am running can do 1400g each (3 lbs of thrust), so in theory it can generate 18 lbs of thrust. You normally don't want to use up half your thrust in weight, so I would say it can do 9 lbs total weight. The copter itself weighs 4.6 lbs, so my answer would be about 4.5 lbs of extra weight...

hmmm... not sure that is enough to carry my experimental particle beam weapon.... I'll need to get some bigger motors

 

[mysql]

You can always go with larger motors.... but they eat power. Need to find just enough power that doesn't consume too much.

I can get 13-15 minutes flight per battery. I have 5 batts that are 14.7V 5000mah, and about 5 more that are half capacity, but I can run in parallel.

On my much smaller quad (f330), it can run 18 minutes on the same batt. So considering how much bigger the hex is, and that it has 50% more motors, it's doing quite well.