The Mini Quad Racing’s history

As the time goes by, the drones have became more  and more mature, in the past ten years, we are only can play rc planes in sight, but now we can through GPS to control our planes out of sight or Further, and now the FPV drone has been more and more popular, there were many FPV racing  in the world in 2016. FPV drone is a mini quadcopter, Pilots through VR glasses to control their drones. Next let’s know  the  history of mini quad racing.

The explosion of this racing aspect of the hobby has to go back to the development of “mini quad”. Before that people were mainly flying larger 450mm sized quadcopters and hexecopters.

The 450 quadcopters are heavier, and they lack the agility and durability (in crashes) compared to a racing smaller 250mm size mini quad. Mini quad are made for crashing, so even when you crash you can usually just pick it up and fly again within seconds. This gives pilots the confidence, and allows them to fly faster, through smaller gaps, and pushing their limits to the next level.

The numbers 250, 450 etc, is the diagonal motor to motor distance, basically that indicates the size of the multicopter.

Since then, we’ve seen huge progress in the horse power of these mini quad, increasing propeller sizes, higher LiPo battery voltage, larger motors… Some insane power to weight ratios of over 10:1 is becoming possible, turning these little toys into insane rockets, which are capable of reaching 80 miles/hour (~125Km/hr).

Article source: http://rcfpvplane.com/history-of-fpv-drone-racing/

Do you remember DJI Phantom 1?

Maybe you know DJI Phantom 4 pro or Mavic, but do you remember the first member of Phantoms? DJI Phantom 1 is an old and classic quadcopter in the DJI quadcopter family, it published in 2013, it is the first one of Phantom drone. I think most newbies of drone hobby don’t know this Phantom 1, and we are hard to find some information about it, so I will post some simple information about DJI Phantom 1.

DJI Phantom 1 is a quadcopter for shooting, and with a 2700mAh 3S lipo, it can finished a beautiful video and flight show. Though it is not famous like other Phantoms, but it is still a classic. Phantom 1 can fly in the temperature -10°C ~ 50°C, so you can fly your DJI Phantom 1 in the most seasons and Areas. Either in Alaska or in the Florida, Summer or Winter, you will have a good flight time. The Phantom 1 take off weight only 1200g, so when you choose a battery for your Phantom 1, you should consider your lipo battery’s weight, it will affect your drone’s flight time, Tattu 2700mAh 3S lipo is a good choice; and the Phantom 1 Max Ascent / Descent Speed is 6m/s, Max Flight Velocity is 10m/s, they are all very fast, you can spend very short time to get to very high and far away place, but the remote control’s communication distance is 1000m, so you should control your drone’s flight distance. There are some DJI Phantom 1 basic parameters, we can know more about Phantom 1 from these.

Phantom 1 Basic Parameters

Operating Temperature	-10°C ~ 50°C
Power Consumption	3.12W
Take-off Weight	<1200g
Hovering Accuracy (GPS Mode)	Vertical: 0.8m
Horizontal	2.5m
Max Yaw Angular Velocity	200°/s
Max Tilt Angle	45°
Max Ascent / Descent Speed	6m/s
Max Flight Velocity	10m/s
Diagonal distance (motor center to motor center)	350mm

Phantom Prop Guard Weight(Single)	18.7g
Size(Single)	Angle(155.0°) Radius(112.32mm)
Whole Size with Four Prop Guards	575.5mm

Phantom 1 lipo battery and Charger

Charger AC Input	100-240V
Charge Current	1A/2A/3A
Current Drain for Balancing	200mA
Power	20W
Battery Type	LiPo battery

At last, I will give you some advice about how to choose the DJI Phantom 1 lipo battery. Because Phantom 1 take off weight only 1200g, so you shouldn’t choose too high capacity lipo battery, it will be too heavy, I advise you can buy lipo battery from DJI official or Tattu 2700mAh 3S lipo, because DJI Phantom 1’s lipo battery are offered by Gens Tattu in the early, and you will hard to find DJI Phantom 1 and DJI Phantom 1 lipo battery now. I hope my advice will give you who has bought DJI Phantom 1 some helps.

Article Source: http://rcfpvplane.com/the-classic-drone-dji-phantom-1/

DJI Multirotor-spreading wings S800

I think most drone/UAV hobby players are very familiar with DJI, like DJI Phantom 1, Phantom 2, Phantom 3, Phantom 4, Phantom 4 pro and DJI Mavic pro; because these DJI products are all very famous on the world, and DJI has became the largest UAV company, they have many other products you have not know. We have knew these DJI Phantom and Mavic are all quadcopter, DJI has many Multirotors, like DJI spreading wings S800.

About DJI spreading wings S800, I just know it not long ago. The same to you, I only know Phantom and Mavic in the past, I got the information of DJI spreading wings S800 from GensTattu.com, in my opinion, I think DJI produce quadcopters, Yuneec produce Multirotors, now I found I’m wrong, so I have a deep to know DJI spreading wings S800 and tell you what I have knew.

DJI spreading wings S800 is a Professional Hexa-Rotor Platform, it is still used to shooting, but S800 with 10000mAh 6S lipo(Tattu 10000mAh 6S lipo is design for DJI S800) can Load Weight about 2.5KG, 10000mAh lipo can provide enough power to power S800 take 2.5Kg things, the Phantom 4 pro with only 5000mAh battery can’t do it. And on another way, S800 is very Stable.

Professional Hexa-Rotor Platform

A built-in damping system allows the S800 EVO to be assembled without additional frames and dampers. The system helps minimize size, reduce weight and simplify assembly.

Circuit-Integrated Center Frame

All circuits from your powersupply to the electronic components are integrated into the center frame, which simplifies the wiring, reducing the possibility of malfunction and increasing the ease of maintenance.

Integrated Frame Arm Design

A power and signal wires for the motors, ESCs and LED indicator are integrated into the frame arms, resulting in a simple, neat appearance The overall design is safe, reliable and stable, which has been proven by our extensive testing.

Integrated ESCs

All Electronic Speed controller (ESC) components are installed beneath the motors, solving the problem of heat dissipation. LED indicators are included to help you easily identify the nose and tail of the S800.

High Performance Brushless Motors

High performance brushless motors reduce noise and vibration, enabling smooth control while, improve the stability and performance of aircraft, and simplify maintenance, extending its lifetime.

Efficient Carbon Fiber Propellers

Tested for perfect balance, the S800’s propellers have an exquisite appearance, light weight, high efficiency, and high strength.

Clear Installation Labels

Clear labels for connection are shown on the center frame and arms. The connection sequence is also indicated to help avoid incorrect installation.

Quick Installation Of Landing Skid

Simple assembly and disassembly of the S800 landing skid, makes it convenient to carry and transport. When installed, it can support heavy weights.

Perfect WooKong-M Compatibility

A WooKong-M IMU installation position has been reserved on the center frame. In addition, labels on the center frame helps users install the flight control system correctly and quickly.

DJI spreading wings S800 is a very good UAV, it can give you longer shooting time, and you can also use this UAV to take some 2.5KG weight things, I think it will be very funny. I haven’t use DJI spreading wings S800, I only know it form some videos or news, if you have a DJI spreading wings S800, I hope you can share some experience about DJI spreading wings S800, Thanks.

Article source: http://rcfpvplane.com/dji-spreading-wings-s800/

Talk about the different between 3S and 4S lipo

When you build a mini quadcopter, there are many questions you will meet. For example, how to choose the lipo batteries? What’s the different between 3S lipo battery and 4S lipo battery? How to choose the motors?…I have knew more about lipo battery, and today I will talk about the different between 3S and 4S lipo battery.

Gens Ace 1300mAh 3S 25C Lipo battery

First you must know what is 3S lipo battery? what is 4S lipo battery? I have one article is about these, and now I will have a simple description. When you bought a Gens Ace 1300mAh 3S 25C lipo battery, the “3S” is the voltage of this lipo battery; as we know, 1S=1 cell= 3.7V, so 3s=3cell= 11.1V. So 4S lipo battery is a 11.1V lipo. I advise you can read this article:The analysis of lipo battery  parameters to know more about lipo battery knowledge.

The next step is talking about the different between 3S and 4S lipo for mini quadcopter. It’s kind of obvious, the main difference is voltage that powers the motors. In my experience with cobra motors, the speed of my quad goes up a lot because of the extra 1S.

Let’s say we have a 2300KV motor, when powered under 3S lipo (12.6V), RPM (rotation per minute) is 2300 x 12.6 = 28900 (in theory). That means the motor spins 28,900 times a minute with no load. When you power the same motor with 4S lipo (16.4V), the RPM is 2300 x 16.4 = 37720, a huge increase in RPM.

Increase in RPM means more thrust, more power, and your quadcopter flies faster. However, the relationship of motor thrust and voltage is not linear due to efficiency loss. Some motors perform well in 3S, but not as good as expected in 4S where most energy just transforms into heat. Apart from thrust, we also need to consider other aspects such as torque, current draw etc. The easiest way to determine if your motor is suitable for 4S is to search for thrust data table, or test it yourself. Some motors rated for 3S simply cannot run on 4S, where the high voltage/current could damage and burn the wires.

Some might ask if a 3S quadcopter can out perform a 4S quad, the answer is definitely yes. Many factors come into play that can determine the speed of a quadcopter: combination of motors and propellers, weight, etc. But under the same condition, a multirotor that runs on higher cell count battery should have more power thus faster.

Also note that 4S setup are usually a little heavier than 3S, because of the additional weight of the voltage regulator, and heavier batteries. Like many high capacity batteries are all heavier than low capacity batteries. So you can accord your need to choose the voltage of your battery. If you want to build a racing quadcopter, I advise you can bought a 4S lipo with high discharge, like Tattu 1300mAh 4s 75C lipo battery.

Article source: http://rcfpvplane.com/difference-between-a-3s-and-4s-setup-for-mini-quadcopter/

 

What brand battery do you use for your drone?

There are many different brands battery on the market, many people have their favorite drone battery, maybe that’s battery is not the best, but they only know or have only used that’s one, so I will introduce some brands batteries to you.

Gens Ace and TATTU Batteries

I have used this battery, so I  know this battery very much. I think most people have heard these two battery, one is Gen Ace, the other is Tattu. What is the difference between them?  In fact, both of them come from the same company, we can call this company is Gens Ace & Tattu; Gens Tattu battery is a professional racing battery, and many FPV racers are used the Tattu battery. There is a video about FPV racers from Tattu:

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41PNtmwDKo4

 Gens Ace batteries are one of the top LiPo battery manufacturers around in terms of performance and quality in general. However if you are are after some professional level batteries I can highly recommend the Gens Ace TATTU series of Lipos. All TATTU batteries have passed the UN battery test which is the highest quality standard test for lithium polymer batteries, something that most other manufacturers don’t test.

Gens Ace & Tattu hot batteries:

Gens Ace 1300mAh 3S 25C Lipo battery

Gens Ace 5000mAh 3S 45C Lipo battery

Tattu 1550 mAh 3S 75C Lipo battery

Turnigy

Turnigy (hobbyking) are very popular because they offer great performance for very low prices. I have used many of these batteries and although they do work very we however these batteries are great value for money for hobby drone builds. However these batteries dont seem to hold out as well as gens-ace in terms of charging/discharging cycle life.Do you have any battery brands that you like to use? Let me know so I can add it to the list.

Lumenier

Lumenier was announced in June of 2013. The Company consolidates all of the high-end FPV products produced by FPV Manuals LLC including the QAV400, QAV500, and QAV540G fpv airframes. Out of the passion for FPV the first fpv manuals products were designed and brought to market. Lumenier is a FPV producer, most pilots buy the FPV drone from here, and they also sale FPV lipo batteries, FPV is their main products, so Gens Ace Tattu is better than Lumenier.

These are three brands batteries, but I know the Gens Ace & Tattu very much. If you want to buy drone batteries, I recommend  you can go to http://www.genstattu.com/ to buy them.

Christmas gifts: Tattu 1300mAh 4s 75C lipo battery

Hello every drone lovers, Merry Christmas! There are many Christmas gifts on GensTattu. Here I will introduce one very hot battery for you, if you have a Emax Nighthawk 250, QAV250, QAV180/210 or some other drone and FPV, this battery will very suitable to you.

Battery Info:

Tattu 1300mAh 75C 4S1P lipo battery provides you high quality, reliable power, suitatble for Nemesis 240 Mini，Skylark M4-FPV250,Mini Shredder 200,INDY250 PLUS，HOVERSHIP MHQ2(270):,ZMR 250,Emax Nighthawk 250,Mini H,QAV250, QAV180/210, Danaus, Vortex 285, Mini H, FLIP FPV FRAME, Emax Nighthawk 250, ZMR 250, HOVERSHIP MHQ2, MOJO 280, drone and FPV.

Specifications:

• Minimum Capacity: 1300mAh
• Configuration: 4S1P / 14.8V / 4 Cells
• Discharge Rate: 75C
• Max Burst discharge Rate: 150C
• Net Weight(±20g): 155g
• Dimensions: 74mm Length x 35.5mm Width x 29mm Height
• Charge Plug: JST-XHR
• Discharge Plug: XT-60

Christmas gifts:

There are many Christmas gifts on Gens Tattu online website, and Tattu 1300mAh 3s 75c lipo battery is on of these Christmas gifts. In the usual time, you may need cost about 30$ to buy one Tattu 1300mAh 4s 75C lipo, but now you needn’t, it is only need 22$, your save 8$ is your Christmas gifts.

If you can’t find the lipo battery you need, you can view this page to find you need.

http://www.genstattu.com/christmas

 

Get a Free Wingsland S6 Pocket Selfie Drone

Do you know Wingsland S6? Have you ever herd Wingsland S6 drone? I guess you may not, because Wingsland S6 is a new produce on 2016. Wingsland S6 is a Unique Slim 4K intelligent handheld drone, it is 26.8mm thick only. Wingsland S6 is 230g weight, it can be close with you. With its 4k camera and many features you will be able to take the best photos and videos from all different heights and angels. And you can put the Wingsland S6 into your pocket, so it has another name is pocket drone. Do you want to get a Free Wingsland S6 Pocket Selfie  Drone ? I advise know more about the Wingsland S6 and at last I will tell you how to get a free Wingsland S6 drone.

( Wingsland S6 video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfbDTYdrdeM )

Next let me introduce the features of Wingsland S6 drone.

One touch to control take-off or landing, green-hands users will be able to learn how to fly quickly.

When aircraft flies far away, you can use one-key return to home function, aircraft will automatically return to the place it took off and landing. S6 also supports dynamic intelligent return to home function, you can choose aircraft to return to take off place or to the new place where the user is.

S6 is able to record the aircraft direction when it takes off, when you start course lock mode, no matter where is the physical direction of the aircraft nose, users can control aircraft according to the aircraft direction when it takes off.

Outdoor hovering

Built-in GPS and GLONASS dual satellite navigation guarantees precise positioning hover.

Indoor hovering

Infrared and optical flow sensor systems for positioning when GPS signal is not sufficient.

Auto follow me

In this mode, aircraft will be like a spirit by your side and shoot automatically. Users can improve auto follow me aerial safety by expanding all modes.

Self-defined flight path

Users can operate aircraft by dragging and self-define aircraft flying actions, it will be more intelligent and interesting.

Versatile APP

S6 Wingsland Fly APP has functions like: image transmission & flying data display, aircraft & camera setting and control, flying emulator and video edit and so on. Wingsland Fly APP provides quite detailed operation tips and function introductions for users.

There are some parameters of Wingsland S6:

Brand Wingsland

Height(±2mm) 26.8

Length(±5mm) 138

Width(±2mm) 79

Net Weight(±20g) 0.23

Motors Brushless Motor

Propellers 4 x Spare Propeller

Battery 7.6V 1400mAh 10.64Wh ( 2S LiPo )

Max Flying Speed 8m/s

Flight Modes Beginner Mode, Standard Mode, Home Lock Mode, Course Lock Mode

Lens FOV 117°, f/2.2, focus at ∞

Sensor 1/3.06 inch (CMOS), Effective Pixels:13M

Live View Quality 480p, 720p

Wi-Fi Frequency 2.4GHz

What do you think of the Wingsland S6 drone? Don’t you think it is very beautiful and easy to use? Do you want get one for free? There is a good news for you:

Good News !!!

Genstattu.com will be sending out 10 sets of the Wingsland S6 for you to review. Are you a blogger, YouTuber, editor or anyone who is extraordinary active online? Do you think you can make a big voice telling people what’s Wingsland S6 like. If yes, then you are the one we are looking for!

You can know more information on this page: http://www.genstattu.com/s6

You can share this news to your friends. Thanks.

Merry Christmas !

Contact me? Click here: https://dronebattery.wordpress.com/contact-drone-battery/

How to choose Propellers When you build a quadcopter

I think most people which like to build a quadcopter have a problem is “how to choose propellers “. In fact, propellers are the same important to motors and lipo batteries. As we know, most people usually choose brushless motors and famous lipo batteries(like Gens Ace & Tattu); but for the propellers, they may know less about them, so this article will tell you the knowledge of the propellers and teach you how to choose propellers.

The Basics – Size/Pitch

On every quadcopter, there are two CW (clockwise) and two CCW (counter-clockwise) propellers. There are propellers of different length and pitch. For example 9×4.7 (sometimes 9047) propellers are 9 inch long and has a pitch of 4.7 inch. 5x3x3 (sometimes 5030×3) means 3-blade 5″ propeller that has a pitch of 3 inch.

The Size of a propeller is measured from tip to tip, and it’s sometimes called diameter, as when you spin up a prop you get a circle and the diameter is the size of the prop.

Pitch is sometimes called pitch length too, which can be defined as the travel distance of one single prop rotation.

Generally, either increased propeller pitch or diameter will lead to higher current draw, because more air is moved (assuming RPM is the same), and it gets harder to spin. In a nutshell, larger propeller or higher pitch length will increase your vehicle speed but also use more power.

Effects of Prop Size and Pitch

When deciding on prop size, length and pitch, you need to find a good balance.

Generally a prop with lower pitch numbers can spin faster (higher RPM), the motors don’t need to work as hard to spin it so it pulls less current. If you want to do acrobatics, you will need lower pitch propellers which provide higher acceleration and it puts less pressure on the power system. Lower pitch propellers will also improve stability.

A higher pitch propeller moves greater amount of air, which could create turbulence and cause more prop wash. It generates more thrust in the expense of higher current draw, but giving you higher top speed.

A smaller prop is easier to stop and speed up while a larger prop takes longer to change RPM due to inertia.

Material

Propellers can be made of different materials, plastic, carbon fibre, wood etc. Each type of material gives unique features, for example carbon fibre and wooden props are stiff and best known for their smooth performance, certain plastic compound are very durable… check out this post for more info.

Shape

The shape of the propeller also plays a big part in performance. The most distinctive difference would probably be the tip of the props: pointy nose, bull nose (BN) and Hybrid bullnose (HBN). Basically for propellers that are the same size and pitch, pointy tip props are the most efficient however pulls less thrust. Bullnose props can pull higher in thrust number, however they also draw a lot more current. This is due to the fact that they have a larger surface area than than the pointy tip props. And HBN props is in between the two.

Number of Blades

The most common propellers are probably 2 blades (or dual-blade). The next up is Tri-blade which is also very popular among racers and freestylers. You can sometimes even see quad-blade and even hex-blade. Basically, the more blade a prop has, the more surface area and thus can generate more thrust. However that also leads to higher current draw and lower efficiency.

Testing is Only for Reference

It’s important to check out motor thrust tests, and see which props work better with the motors you plan to run. Same propeller can perform very differently on 2 different motors.

Even the for props of the same size and pitch, when they are made of different material and by different manufacturers, the performance also tend to be very different. Here is an example where I compare the 5030 props of two different brands.

However these bench tests are done in static environment, and therefore it doesn’t represent the motor/propellers true performance in the wild – where air are moving and there are many other factors that can have some effect on it. One of the most noticeable difference between static bench test and real flight is motor thrust, which is normally 5%-10% less in real flight than in static bench test.

Conclusion

With a well propeller combination, your quadcopter should achieve great efficiency, not only improve battery life time, but also allows great user control experience. Hope this post has helped you select the best propellers.

Source: http://rcfpvplane.com/choosing-propellers-for-your-quadcopter/

What is a LiPo Battery ?

A LiPo battery powers all of the electronics, and motors on your drone,. The   difference with LiPo batteries and the ones you would use in your TV remote is the chemicals used in the battery. LiPo batteries are based on Lithium Polymer chemistry (hence the name LiPo) which allow these batteries to have a very high energy density compared to other types of batteries. A battery with a higher energy density will be able to hold more energy compared to another battery of the same weight which is why LiPo batteries are commonly used with R/C aircraft and drones.

There are other types of batteries such as nickel cadmium (NiCad) or nickel–metal hydride (NiMH), however these are seen as older battery technology and are not really used anymore because they are very heavy and dont hold much energy compared to LiPos.

A LiPo battery is constructed from individual cells, where each cell consists of some metal and chemicals packaged together to generate an electrical charge. By connecting these cells together in various ways we are able to make different LiPo batteries with various voltages, and capacities. More on that later on

What the numbers mean

We will now discuss what all of the numbers mean that specify a LiPo battery. This wil help you to know what you are buying and how to choose the correct LiPo for your application.(This is a Gens Ace 2200mAh 3s 25C lipo battery)

Number of cells

Determines how many volts the battery will have. 3.7V (nominal) per cell. 1, 2 or 3 cell (or 11.1V) is the most common in beginner planes. (3 cell lipo battery is 3s lipo battery.)

Capacity

How much energy that is stored in the battery. Usually written in milliampere hours or mAh for short.

Milli means a 1000th of. So a 2000mAh battery is the same as a 2Ah battery

If you draw 2 Ampere through that battery it is going to last for 1 hour.

If you draw 1 Ampere it’s going to last 2 hours

If you draw 4 Ampere it’s going to last ½ hour or 30 minutes or 1800 seconds

C Rating

Is how much power the battery delivers without dropping too much in voltage

How many Ampere it can deliver is dependent on the capacity of the battery

To calculate how much it can deliver you take the C rating and multiply it by the capacity rating

If you have a 1000mAh battery and a 20C rating that is 20 times 1 which is 20 ampere.

There are normally 2 different C ratings. One for continuous discharge and one for burst, which means how much it can deliver for a very short time (10 seconds)

More Lipo battery Guide on http://rcfpvplane.com/