RealFPV SpankyJAB is born

[JAB1a]

Hi All,
Well I have spent (almost wated) enough time trying to build my own frame from scratch. I have built 3 different design all using G10 plates and nylon posts.

My first incarnation was to carry a GoPro as the flight camera as well as using it for the FPV camera and it did very well and stable but was a little over weight, it was in the H configuration. Here is my first outdoors test flight with the frame LOS:

Custom Mini H Quad Maiden Flight on Vimeo

Here is the first FPV flight with the H frame:

FPV Mini H Quad Night Flight Maiden on Vimeo

In this picture, the first design is the frame in the middle, I had swapped out the GoPro for a Mobius to see if I could save some weight but it was just not enough-



The frame at the bottom is the part built replacement for the first design, I had decided to shave some weight by making it X configuration and shinking the frame to only 240mm diagonal (~170mm from side to side). With this 2nd design I decided to copy the isolation mount for the camera from my larger quad which uses wooden rods and rubber/foam to dampen vibrations.

I also decided to use a Sony PZ0420 as my FPV camera because I found there was a <1 sec lag from  the GoPro camera which made it very strange to fly with.



This second frame was a screamer, it was very fast and well balanced but again just too heavy and the isolation mount did not work so well and the FPV camera was in a funny position to get a great view/perspective.

So I needed to have a rejig and rethink, I looked at how the Mini Spanky and QAV frames worked using the isolation plates instead of mounts so it was time to try a new direction.



Here is the third design, called “MiniJAB”, this frame has everything I had learned from the other builds and is also using a different flight controller. I had always used a LoveFlight Rabbit Flight Controller which is very good and easy to setup with plenty of features but its getting a bit long in the tooth now so it was time for a change, introducing the Nase32 Acro



Above is the Rabbit Flight Controller in comparison to the new smaller Nase32 Acro, this Rabbit was the one used and abused by my big quad and was also the exact board used in this video-

FPV Quadcopter Awesome River Crash and Scuba Diver Rescue With Sound

 so you can see some connections have got a bit of corrosion as a result but still functioning 100% like new.
I decided to mount the Nase under the middle plate so it left me plenty of room for the battery, Rx and FPV gear to all be protected and keep the centre of mass central



This frame was excellent, left me plenty of room for any extra’s and was rock solid stable in hover and high speed but again he was a portly fellow so the performance was very low, perfect in a hover and glide but as soon as momentum came into play on a tight corner then it just did not have enough power to counter act its own weight.




Here you can see it all finished and ready to fly, I used old fuel hose (from my HPI Savage X) to isolate the top plates which worked very well and having the mass of the battery above that made things very solid and vibe free.

First FPV flights of MiniJAB on Vimeo

So the next step was to cut weight by cutting holes/slots in the frame plates, before I did that I thought I would have just one more fly up on the moors, this did not end well, due to lack of power I plowed into the top of a gorse bush at full speed which move the top plate right into the spinning knives that are the 5” carbon props, they destroyed the front nylon posts and chopped right into my Rx-FC wires (using a 6Ch Spektrum Rx)...

This left me a bit down trodden so to save myself the full rebuild and chop central hassel I decided to look for new premade frame. The frame that stood out for me on price and build style was the RealFPV Spanky Mini frame –

http://multirotorparts.co.uk/shop/product_info.php?cPath=22&products_id=50



Above is the Spanky plates next to the soon to be dismantled MiniJAB



The frame is just a touch bigger than the MiniJAB but SO much lighter, I never weighed the MiniJAB but completed the Spanky is about half the weight in comparison.
And so the build begins



You can see the old MiniJAB arms above the frame.

I was so excited about this frame I barely stopped to take any photo’s, the build was done over two evening and went very well.



I decided to use my new Taranis with this frame so I did not need to take two remote with me to the flying field for both the Mini and Bid Quad, the mini is now fitted with a X8R FrSky Rx



Very clean lines and a place for everything on this frame



Above you can see the vTx is attached to the top plate and the X8R is attached to the middle plate



The middle plate sticks out quite a bit at the front and this adds some very much needed protection to the PZ0420 Cam







After a quick 30second LOS flight is was obvious that the frame was dialled in and rock solid, so I leaped straight into FPV... WOW this thing is a rocked! The power to weight ratio is crazy!, the first FPV flights were on open moor land were the wind was very gusty but the Spanky loved it!, it was a bit hard going into the wind but across and with the wind it was super smooth and responsive. After two flight I started to get bored just flying around close proximity so it was off to a better location for some squeezing through gaps.

I am still editing the first few flights but I will get the video up on here ASAP, its fast pace and some head jurking going on

So far I have had about 3 crashes that have plucked me out the air (all trying to do some spectacular close proximity) but not a single bit of damage has been done, this frame is rock solid!

[MrBen]

Looking good there Jab, what motors are u using? Looking forward to seeing some videos from you on this frame!

Oh and what props?

[JAB1a]

Looking good there Jab, what motors are u using? Looking forward to seeing some videos from you on this frame!

Oh and what props?

Hi mate, thanks for all your great service, I am a happy man... until this happened

"Well the great thing about these Mini quads is you can keep them with you in the car at work and then go fly at lunch time... this has not gone to plan.

I just snapped an arm doing about 30mph and clipped the ground






"

Any idea on how to replace the bottom plate? I can afford a whole kit again just for the plate

Motors are 1804 ZMR 2300Kv from BangGood and the props are carbon fibre 5"x3" from RCTimer, they are super tough and have yet to break one even after this tumble

[JAB1a]

Here is the raw crash video, I was not going as fast as I though. I was looking at the gap under the trees too much and did not notice how low I was...

SpankyJAB Loses An Arm on Vimeo

[MrBen]

very unlucky, should have cartwheeled, been dusted off and back in the air.

[xxpitt]

Yeah a rear arm too. Didnt even take brunt of the impact. Must of just been a freak one off that

[JAB1a]

Thanks both, I was shocked when I approach the quad that the arm was at an odd angle, and the back one broken is even stranger.

The break does seem to be in a natural weak spot as there are holes cut in the arms to save weight which has given them a 'design flaw', there would be so much more strength if the holes were not there any more. The photos above showing the underside of the frame clearly show where the weak spot is.

Thanks to MrBen a new base plate is winging its way to me so will be back up and running very soon

[bigMouse]

Yes I agree, a hole placed in the most highly stressed area, doesn't appear to be  a useful hole either!

[JAB1a]

Maiden flights of the SpankyJAB:

Spanky Mini FPV Quadcopter

This video is clips taken from fir first 3 days flying (about 3 flights per day). As you can see its quite stable out of the box as I have not done any prop balancing or PID tuning. Very happy

[chatch]

i can offer you a carbon fiber plate as close to at-cost as i can. i will post back with updates, i expect 7-10 day lead time. the plate is 3.5mm or 4.0mm thick, i have to test the samples before i decide. the price difference is negligible, so i'm really just weighing the difference in wow factor(thickness vs. total weight).

[bigMouse]

Do you think the anti-vib spacers are doing much good?
If so I might try adding them to my mini hexa build.

My spanky works hard to fly and its under 1500 grams, the mini hexa is much better (no anti-vib spacers) with the extra two motors but am experiencing some jello

[Martink1974]

im sure you mean 500g , 4s is the way , when it comes to the vibe mounts they do defo help , but jellow is mostly on mine down to tuning with spanky unless I have bad prop or damaged motor try lowering gains and do jellow tests , the orange bobins I have from qav have worked best for me , and you can repair them if they break

[MrBen]

I have never had jello on my 3s spanky or my 4s spanky so you guys must be doing something wrong!!!

[bigMouse]

agreed I'm using crap props but I wouldn't use anything else at the rate I replace them. Yes adjusting pids do help and currently are using very low settings.

I could add bobbins but it means an extra plate, not that it would weigh much extra, early days on the hexa anyway.

sorry martin yes, meant 500grams

[MrBen]

i just use the standard plastic 5x3 2 bladed props that everyone sells, I dont even balance them!