New RealFPV Spanky 6 frame JAB1a Build Log

[JAB1a]

Hi All,

 

Here is my build of the new Spanky 6" frame, Chris Hatcher is the designer of the amazing Spanky range of frames and I have had excellent results using the Spanky 5" for quite a few months due to the excellent design and super strong G10 construction.

 

The video below shows my Spanky 5 during a session of FPV racing ...

 

 

I wanted to try the new Spanky 6" frame due to it allowing the use of 6" props (going to use 6x3) and also able to house a GoPro at the front in its own little cut out section. The frame can be purchased from this site in the USA...

 

Spanky 6 FPV Quadcopter Airframe

 

First impressions...

 

http://i.imgur.com/DpLP5eAl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/0Faw7TKl.jpg

 

The frame looks very well made, clean tool cuts and not a rough edge to be found, all bolt holes line up and plenty of hardware to put it all together, there are even some spare parts included like spare bobbins and hex posts in case of damage.

 

http://i.imgur.com/5TKDYUvl.jpg

 

Above: the underneath is a clean and smooth as the Spanky 5, all bolts are the exact length to not stick out past the nut so there is less to scrap or snag on the ground while flying close proximity.

 

The look is very different on the Spanky 6 compared to the 5, the top two plate are a lot longer and now incorporate a place to hold a GoPro and has cut outs for a velco strap to hold the camera in. Here is the 6 next to my 5...

 

http://i.imgur.com/XZvRaSvl.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/1z9yMWil.jpg

 

The arms of the 6 are spaced out a lot more than the 5, being further apart long the frame as well as further apart across the frame which should make it very stable. The picture below shows the Spanky 5 arms above the 6's...

 

http://i.imgur.com/jl98IJUl.jpg

 

The bottom plate of the Spanky 6 is a bit thicker than the Spanky 5 as well which is good as the arms are that bit longer that the extra strength is needed. The Spanky 5 arm is on the left and the Spanky 6 arm is on the right, you can see the 6 is at least .2mm thicker...

 

http://i.imgur.com/W9Ho2uQl.jpg

 

To compare the size against other frames here is my line-up...

 

http://i.imgur.com/SXeD8Sel.jpg

(from the left, Emax 250Pro CF, Spanky 6, Spanky 5)

 

http://i.imgur.com/MTBhqeFl.jpg

(from the left, Spanky 6, Emax 250Pro CF, Spanky 5)

 

For this build I will be upgrading the normal motors and ESC's that I use for the much more powerful and advanced KISS ESC's and AirBot Micro Titan 2204 2300Kv motors...

 

http://i.imgur.com/PhvUfGdl.jpg

 

I have tested these new items on the Emax250Pro frame and they give an incredible power to weight ratio that I have never experienced before. As I had used the parts in another frame to test I had done most of the ground work setting individual parts up like adding the mesh to the motor wires, the reason I did this is to give the wires a lot of protection, during many of my forced visits to the ground (crashes) I have realised that the motor wires are very exposed and do get caught on things if not properly tucked away and also are prone to a stray prop blade hitting them if a motor is detached (very rare).

 

Here are most of the parts that will be used in this build...

 

http://i.imgur.com/176bo4Vl.jpg

 

there is:

 

4x Airbot Micro Titan 2300Kv motors

Micro Titan 2204 Motor 2300KV

 

4x KISS ESC's

KISS ESC 2-4S 12A

 

Naze 32 Full using BaseFlight firmware (personal firmware preference)

FULL NAZE 32 flight controller

 

Fatshark vTx fitted with Gav's excellent V3 Skew Planar antenna

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FrSky X8R receiver

 

A metal case CCD camera from FirstpersonView.co.uk

 

2x mini step down transformers (1x 5v, 1x 12v)

 

The two step down transformers are to supply a constant 5v and 12v to the different components on the frame, this will allow me to swap between 3s (11.1v) and 4s (14.8v) without the need to change leads or swap items in the field.

So the build begins...

 

http://i.imgur.com/DyP6Vcvl.jpg

 

The motors fit perfectly on the arms and has a 2mm rim around the outside still to protect the bell from a direct hit. The mounting holes for the motors also allow the wires to route neatly straight down the arms instead of being annoying and being off centre like most frame I have tested other than a Spanky.

The bobbins give plenty of room for the ESC's and distro board to be fitted between the bottom and middle plates...

 

http://i.imgur.com/B66BWKWl.jpg

 

This frame also has a new added feature which is 'Bobbin Stays', they are small ali parts that attach to the bottom plate but go though a hole in the middle plate which hold the top section of the frame in the event of a hard crash, the Spanky 5 does not have this and has been known to rip bobbins apart, you can see the silver stays here just in front of the bobbin...

 

http://i.imgur.com/mi1Avgvl.jpg

 

These do not touch the middle plate otherwise they would transfer vibrations from the dirty section to the clean, they are only there to stop the bobbins from over extending during a crash by holding the top section in place via the lip on top of the stays.

 

Middle plate fitted and all is going well, you can see I have one of the step down units sat on the middle plate (5v one on the left of pic), I end up moving this between the bottom and middle plate sat between the ESC's to make the middle plate less cluttered and use the V shaped cut outs in the plate to feed the wire into the Rx...

 

http://i.imgur.com/olI0Rghl.jpg

 

Naze32 Full fitted and wired to the ESC's and I have now moved the step down unit between the plates at the back (right of pic)...

 

http://i.imgur.com/P24ixl7l.jpg

 

Here is where I am seating the Rx, I think this space is to hold the Lipo but I am going to put the Rx here instead as its away from the FC and Vtx...

 

http://i.imgur.com/pptbPfkl.jpg

 

the four wires at the back are (from right to left), 5v In, 5v out to FC and then the two PWM cables.

I fitted the Rx to test the directions of the motors were right and Murphy's law all four motors were spinning in the wrong direction. Luckily I did not shrink wrap the ESCs as I was worried they did not have heat sink fitted and thought if I just slid heat shrink over the ESC's then I would know if they got too hot as the wrap would change shape, also the wrap acts like a mini wind tunnel making sure the ESC's get a good air flow. Glad I did that as it allowed me to slide the heat shrink back and get access to the PCB's. The KISS ESC's has this excellent feature were you can just bridge a small jumper to reverse your motors instead of having to swap and resold two wires on each motor...

 

http://i.imgur.com/13qpyu4l.jpg

 

As you can see I just had enough room to get my fingers and soldering iron in to join those two pads together. After doing this on all four ESC's, all four motors are now turning the right direction, that feature saved me a lot of hassel and time.

 

Next will be doing the finishing touches to add the Rx permanently ready for a LOS test fly and then its time to fit the FPV and give it its first proper maiden...

 

Please let me know what you think about this build and the new frame, it would be nice to hear your comments or suggestions

 

More to come soon...

[Garacesh]

I know nothing about quadrocopters, half the stuff you wrote there makes no sense to me, and your images won't load because imgur is blocked here.. But going by the video, blimey that looks fun!

 

Can you get the video feed streamed to a VR headset?

[JAB1a]

I know nothing about quadrocopters, half the stuff you wrote there makes no sense to me, and your images won't load because imgur is blocked here.. But going by the video, blimey that looks fun!

 

Can you get the video feed streamed to a VR headset?

 

Sorry @Garacesh I did write this for multirotor forums so I didn't pull any punches on the write up, let me know if you need anything cleared up. ESC=Electronic Speed Controller, FC=Flight Controller.

 

The live video feed is being transmitted from the quad fitted with a camera at 5.8Ghz back to a pair of video goggles that I wear, this way I am flying the quad as if I am inside the quad realtime, its very immersive and the adrenaline does flow freely

[Garacesh]

I think I do get the gist of most of it.. Might be something I need to look into, with those goggles etc. What's the average cost-of-entry? I'd imagine this certainly wouldn't be on the cheap side!

[JAB1a]

I think I do get the gist of most of it.. Might be something I need to look into, with those goggles etc. What's the average cost-of-entry? I'd imagine this certainly wouldn't be on the cheap side!

 

To start from having nothing then you would be look in the range of £600-£800 to get a similar setup to mine but that includes everything needed. I brought everything in small batches so the price was more manageable, you could be flight Line Of Sigh for only a few hundered but as soon as you start looking at FPV the price can sky rocket but like with most things there is a cheap or expensive way to do things so you could in theory get a similar setup for much cheaper than I got things for. Its all down to how much time you want to research and find the right items that work on your setup.

 

Best advice for anyone thinking of getting into multirotors is to buy a Hubsan X4, under £30 and is an amazing toy that if you can master the control you will be a very competent pilot on the larger quads and not be relient on GPS to save you as you will already have the skills to recover. Buy plenty of props and a prop guard and get yourself some exta lipo batteries so the fun never stops.

[Sunnyknight]

I've said before that i'd like to build one, just never got the time.

 

The only thing i would question is, is there a frame (hex) that can house a camera underneath and is there a rotatable mechanism? I assume this would cost a little more?

 

It'd be great to have one of those.... Then we could both make clips!

 

EDIT: never mind, i found one! It costs £90! The f......................

Edited December 11, 2014 by Sunnyknight

[Ant]

That looks fantastic!

 

I've hardly mastered flying my first build yet but I've been looking at future upgrades and options already. Loving the design, frame etc of that. At a quick glance looks a very similar design/style of the TBS frames I've seen. Correct me if I'm wrong of course.

[JAB1a]

This frame and other items are an excellent Combo. The Spanky range were second to use the Clean/Dirty frame setup (Lumier being the first with the QAV500 I think), and TBS is all dirty apart from sections were you can add a clean plate for mounting gimbal/camera. The TBS also has a built in distro board (one of the frame plates) I believe which is a nice feature.

 

I have always kept away from TBS or DJI products, manly due to the over price of the equipment but they do make things nice and simple to use.

[Garacesh]

EDIT: never mind, i found one! It costs £90!

 

Ooh, link?

[Garacesh]

Slight bump.. This makes me even more tempted to get one..

BBC News - The most stunning drone pictures of 2014

[JAB1a]

A bit more progress...

 

Here we have the frame ready and setup for its first LOS test fly. For the test I mounted the Lipo on top of the frame and did not fit the GoPro, this kept the CG right on the FC in the middle.

http://i.imgur.com/py0DfLol.jpg

 

The test LOS flight went perfect, the frame is super stable and has a locked in feel on stock PIDs. I found once I added the GoPro the C of G went from the middle to very far forward on the frame.

 

The designer shows that the lipo needs to be held at the back of the frame, I didn't think this would keep the CG centeral but after fitting the GoPro and putting the lipo inside the frame at the back the CG was again spot on the centre of the FC again, wow great design.

 

As you can see in the photo above I have placed the RC Rx on the back of the frame where the LiPo needs to be seated so I need to move things around...

 

http://i.imgur.com/p0eUfqPl.jpg

 

I managed to move the 5v step down module and the Rx to the front of the frame, as I did not plan this from the start it looks a bit cramped, If I used a smaller Rx other than the X8R then this would look a lot neater. I have also rotated the Naze32 board to allow its USB to connect out the side of the frame and also get all the ESC wires not facing forward so that I have room for the Rx to fit with plugs. To do this in CLI I typed...

 

SET board_align_yaw = 90

 

This tells the FC that it has been rotated by 90 degrees, if I turned the FC the other way I would use...

 

SET board_align_yaw = 270

 

Now its time to fit all the FPV gear and go out for its first full tests, Im very excited about the next steps as its been quite a while since I flew with the GoPro and I look forward to the footage.

[Ant]

Looking great!

 

I really enjoy reading these sorts of build threads especially now I have a good idea how everything works. Giving me loads of thoughts and ideas how I might want to progress eventually.

 

Schools broken up here already, so I have my quad sitting here next to me hoping to make use of the field space later.

[JAB1a]

Cheers @Ant, we still have a few more days to go here and the weather is terrible I am just waiting for a good time to go out and test the frame FPV. I am a little behind on the build thread, all FPV gear is fitted and its just sat there gathering dust waiting for just the right moment to test.

 

Bring on some snow and nice calm winds

[JAB1a]

Xmas and new year out the way the weather is still terrible here so no video's to show yet.

 

http://i.imgur.com/J1JRtlb.jpg

 

Here is the Spanky 6 as it sits today, over time I will tweak and change the layout to be more... refined. The stand out 'feature' is the FPV camera mount, I tried to have the camera unprotected mounted on the top plate but I found once the GoPro had been fitted I lost too much view of the ground so I needed a fix.

 

http://i.imgur.com/teX0y1i.jpg

 

Pictured above is my old custom made Mk2 MiniJAB quad which I housed a Sony PZ0420 camera between GF sheet and nylon posts. Reusing this I lowered its height and fitted it with foam and a cut out for the camera, I have about a 5 degree tilt up.

 

I did some LOS test flights at home and found that there was no jello or vibrations getting to the GoPro at all which I was impressed with but as I fly a lot of time in strong winds then I thought I would give the camera a bit more dampening just incase...

 

http://i.imgur.com/pk0cKIml.jpg

 

You can see I have some rubber underneath the camera and on each side to hold it perfectly still.

 

http://i.imgur.com/YFm8kQ3l.jpg

 

Plenty of room left inside the frame for other components and the USB connector on the Naze32 is in perfect reach.

 

http://i.imgur.com/HZZ9xv6l.jpg

 

Just behind the FPV camera on top you can see I have added the FrSKY GPS V2 sensor to log the speed and details of my flights. I have tilted this as well so that the antenna still gets a good LOS of the sky above when the quad is in heavy throttle changes (frame banked forwards).

 

http://i.imgur.com/pthPlpHl.jpg

 

All built and ready for its maiden FPV test flights, its going to be a rough ride to start with and its very windy here in Devon.

 

I managed to get out on 2 separate days for a quick flight, the power available is incredible and the frame is very stable. I need to do some PID tuning as there is still some oscillations...

 

Best viewed full screen @1080p 60FPS