Tuesday, August 4, 2015

FreebirdRC Raven 234 : UPDATE

After a bad crash with the Raven I decided to purchase a new FC and 4-1 esc to try and make a tidy cleaner build. 

I went for the following :

ESC
http://www.readytoflyquads.com/rtf-mini-4-in-1-12-amp-35x35-hv-blheli

Flight Controller
http://www.readytoflyquads.com/the-flip32-deluxe

In the meantime I made up a HK250 frame with the old running gear that I promptly crashed and broke .... not happy. In doing so I damaged the 1806 motors so the Raven will have 2204s to stanf up to the crashes better.






Here is the mock up of the frame with 2204 Emax motors and 6045 props


Finally after 7 week wait the parts arrived. First job was to solder up the ESC. I used bullet connectors as I change things often and wanted the ability to change a motor out if required in the field. The soldering was a little tricky as the pads are small. 


The next challenge was that the ESC did not have a lot of space around the mounting holes and the used of nylon nuts didn't work. So I designed and printed spacer plates. This allowed for a slim design and easy mounting.





Then I did the same for the Naze32 Delux, This made the stacking and mounting of both boards very easy. I took a few prints and design changes to get it right. It now works really well.



ESC Stack.

FC Plate sits on top and holds the ESC firmly in place.


Then the FC sits on top of that plate.


Next I had to make the custom length cable and loin the one form the ESC to the Naze32 Delux. It took a while and a lot of double checks to make sure I had the wires match up correctly as the documentation was poor. 


All done ready to go


With the main power cable I used my XT60 plug holder and routed the wires through the frame. SO in crashes when the battery rips off there in no change it can damage the ESC.


Next my custom cable was routed through the top plate and hot glued so that the wires could not move to stop any change of the carbon fiber cutting the insulation on the wires.




All mounted and wired up ready for the rest of the hardware.


Here you can see the two plates stacked together and the wiring.


Starting to look tider



The D4RII is zip tided to the top plate. The full center stack is lower than the prop nuts so protected in a crash.


The final build, next up tuning.


Pretty happy with final build and AUW. I an currently flying 3s and still learning more advanced acro flying and tricks, Once I get more comfortable I plan to move up to a 4s.