x8 weight loss program

pyrate · May 26, 2016

just finished rebuilding my x8 onto a tarot 650 frame
I shed 1.7 lbs off the weight of the bird including battery

trying to find some descent 700kv motors now
should give lots of lift or flight time depending on prop

RichWest · May 26, 2016

What reason(s) made you choose the Tarot frame?

pyrate · May 26, 2016

seemed solid enough and popular, price was right for a first time attempt at something like this.
You have to remember, my first RC anything was the solo less than a year ago

RichWest · May 26, 2016

Sure, no problem, got to start somewhere. Look forward to reading more from your build.

pyrate · May 26, 2016

I will have pictures this weekend, and hopefully a maiden
Most of the guys on FB are betting on a crash. I don't doubt it
But then again I may nail it

Jubalr · May 26, 2016

pyrate said:
just finished rebuilding my x8 onto a tarot 650 frame
I shed 1.7 lbs off the weight of the bird including battery

trying to find some descent 700kv motors now
should give lots of lift or flight time depending on prop

Tarot is a good frame. For motors, I always had good results from Sunnysky. Used their 400kv on my 800 size Hex. They were very smooth and quiet.

pyrate · May 29, 2016

Well made a choice to use castle creations escs looks like a bad move could not get to calibrate. they don't play well with pixhawk

Jubalr · May 29, 2016

pyrate said:
Well made a choice to use castle creations escs looks like a bad move could not get to calibrate. they don't play well with pixhawk

Sorry to hear that Pyrate. For my PH builds I used Maytech ESCs. Very good product. A little pricier, but worth it.

pyrate · May 29, 2016

yeah these were pricey, should have done my research better.
Part of the game I guess.

pyrate · May 30, 2016

well color me silly
got them to fire, I had the trim set wrong on my radio (beginner alert)
still will not calibrate in PH

pyrate · May 30, 2016

lts aliiiiiiive
and it actually flies but needs some serious tuning

rcglider · Jun 5, 2016

What is the AUW? Bare frame weight? I have a Sky Hero 750 Y6 which flies very stable but is also heavy. I bought a 3DR X8 frame kit during the fire sale. The bare frame is ~750g.

I use KDE motors which have been very reliable, so was considering transferring them and the Pixhawk from the Y6 and make a X8. Finding a light yet strong frame is not easy.

pyrate · Jun 5, 2016

I have some serious tuning to do

rcglider · Jun 5, 2016

What version AC are you using?

LOL I liked the trampoline bounce off the grass....must have been testing the landing gear?

When I first put my big Y6 together, I couldn't even get it to stay stable enough to tune it, so yours isn't that bad.

What's the ThrOut look like at hover? RCOU? Post a log file if you want.

pyrate · Jun 5, 2016

3.3.3
On a FY650 frame with an extra deck
AUW with battery no payload it is 6.7 lbs
one pound less than the 7.7 lb 3dr X8

running the 800KV motors that were stock on the x8 on castle creations 35S Phoenix ESCs
Right now I am looking at sunnysky 3508 700Kv on 13 inch props as a replacement

Jubalr · Jun 5, 2016

Sounds good @pyrate. Should be a good frame for you. Going to try the 'Auto Tune'?

pyrate · Jun 5, 2016

first thing I am going to do is recalibrate it all.
This morning trying to get the failsafes working after I hosed them, I reloaded a saved parameter file.
I am hoping that is what caused the instability. If that don't work I may just try autotune. the guys over in FB seem to thing it was flying fine