I received the prototype QAV400 kit on the day my family and I were travelling down the coast for a short holiday. After a two hour drive to my inlaws beach house and putting the kids to bed, I built the QAV400 in one sitting. FPV gear and all.  Something that I have never done before.  Being similar to the QAV500, the build was familiar and fun.

Something to note is that unlike this prototype, the production frame will have an integrated PDB in one of the frame plate (just like the QAV500)

      the QAV400 inbetween a QAV500 and FPV FLIP

QAV400 (prototype)

OpenPilot CC3D

F30A simon k ESCs

T-Motors MT 2212-13 980kv motors

graupner 8x5 e-props

dragonlink rc with sanders style monopole antenna

600mW 1.3ghz vtx with cloverleaf antenna

rmrc 480 FPV camera

HK 12v voltage regulator

2650mah 4s 35-70c nanotech lipos

GoPro Hero2

AUW is 1380 grams

M2M is 400mm (fully symmetric motor layout)

The next day I tuned it (LOS) in the back yard of the beach house in some crazy wind. 

mayan apocalypse style

It was really windy for four days before finally, one day while down the beach the wind dropped to around 5-7 knots.   

This was my first FPV session with the QAV400.

I really like this thing, it is definitely a fun FPV machine.  Full power climbouts are rocket like and mega fun due to the powerful, smooth tiger motors and sweet 8 inch graupners.  Rolls are axial and quick while flips, although smooth felt a little laboured (due to the weight distribution). This can be improved with some more tuning.

The video is nice without even trying. Even with 1080p, in wind, during high speed, high G manouvres, the video remains pretty much silky smooth.

Oh, and the crash.  Damage? sand in one motor, a flat cloverleaf and a very slightly bent front arm. (fixed with 2-3 light blows with a rubber mallot)

I was attempting a lazy loop way too low and ended up trying to roll and power out to save it. I guess I wasn't fast enough

Thank you Tim.

I'm on the hunt for members that are flying their CC's or CC3D's and haven't received their red "CC Multi Pilot" award.  I'm sure there are some of you out there that have been inadvertantly overlooked. We recently got up to speed on the "Flasher" awards that were outstanding, but I'm finding the missing Multi Pilot awards a bit harder to pin down, so help me out.

If you haven't received yours, please provide a link to your build or video, just a slight bit of proof or justification, and I'll see to it that you get your due as soon as practical. 

With the Revo just around the corner, we'll be handing out a bunch of the blue versions for Revo polots.  There's an inconvenient little bug in the forum software that requires an Admin to award the first award if a member doesn't have any yet.   Moderators can award subsequent awards without a problem, so this little venture is a stab at getting those missing "first awards" done before the real rush hits...  There are more Mods than there are Admins, and we don't want to bog them down...

If you're missing something else, go ahead and let me know here, too.  Credit where credit is due, but only where due! 

Jack

As many know by now what this frame is, Just new to me since I've been out of the loop.  I own a HT-FPV frame right now, its been awhile since ive keep posted with the forums on that frame but i remember a lot of people were complaining about tail-wag, and making washer mods to the motors to tilt them a little bit.  Though, I dont seem to have issues with mine too badly, I was curious ( from those who made a HT-FPV to this frame ) is it worth spending the cash to do so?  I dont crash often so I'm not blasting money on arms, so that isnt my main reason id switch.  I just wondered in terms of flying, What's the pros/cons comparing the two frames together? I can see the  Flip fpv has more room as well, its designed for FPV use.

I'm still flying mine on 3300mAh 3S lipos, havnt decided to make the jump to 4S since my entire system and video runs off the 3S battery ( 12V components )

back from my hackerspace with an usb dvb interface used as a rf spectrum analyser :

here is the spectrum of the oplink talking to a revo (434Mhz):

and here is the 41mhz band at the same time :

you can see that there is not many interferences

my interface is a terratec Tstick+ using SDRSHARP and it cost me ... 12€ (less than 18$)...

I'm most likely missing something simple with this, but I'm lost as to what it could be.

It is also possible to mount square aluminum profile. See a build with 15x15 mm alu arms below.

Features
- based on Hoverthings Flip arms
- will fit standard square alu arms too
- symmetrical design
- 450 mm diagonal mtm
- 3 or 4 deck configuration possible
- vibration dampening possible with 4 deck config
- supports up to 10" props
- propeller free view (up to 10") with 4 deck config

The story
After a lot of fun with my Warthox x-quad I decided it was time for a next project. Obviously this had to be a h-quad. I've considered several commercial frames but went for DIY because it's so much fun. Of course there is a chance of absolute failure as I've never designed a frame from scratch but hey let's consider that as part of the fun.





Many thanks to Fabian and Friedrich for the amazing cnc work!

Current Uav file attached

A NSW multirotor group that meet regularly for crazy LOS and FPV fun and games.

We are a diverse bunch with a great mix of Skills ,Knowledge,Toys, and facial hair     We even have our own custom frame guy so expect a Razorback frame in the near future.

Rules 1: Have FUN

           2: Learn something

           3: Try not to crash into one another 

Locations  :Camden Turf Farm http://goo.gl/maps/ZiBfJ

Members so far : 

Stanley

smithy

soupbones

vegetoast

furnibird

Hulksta

Mic_S

I've just purchased an HT-Flip and I'am considering using a PDB in the build.

In my H-Frame I made up a wiring spider and despite my limited soldering skills, it works fine.

I have a basic grasp of electronics, but it seems to me that PDB's are an open, exposed circuit and as such might be prone to RF or EMI.

On the other hand, the spider wire harness is fully enclosed.

I'am in two minds about it, and would appreciate some advice and thoughts.

Thanks.