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Building a Quadcopter

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Note: This is the start of the 'My Projects' section. This is where I post about the projects that I personally do. You can track my progress, my decisions and their outcomes for the problems I face and of course failures (sort of...). So, I hope you enjoy this as much as I do and please leave comments.

Ever since I started building model aircrafts I wanted to build a Quadcopter (a.k.a. Quadrotor). I was fascinated by their agility, their simple design and control but need of a complicated stabilization system. The only thing that delayed me to build one is the relatively high cost for the components. But finally I found an opensource quadcopter project named AeroQuad (link) which was just within my budget. So, I started gathering my resources...

The first thing I needed was a good Transmitter/Receiver pair, which turned out to be a problem because a good pair costs a lot. A quad will need at least a 4-Channel one. That's a bare minimum, so a 6-Channel one would be the choice. I needed one that is both inexpensive and reliable. So, after hours of searching on eBay and hobby stores, I found this one from HobbyKing.com

The HobbyKing HK-T6Av2 Tx & Rx
The package includes a Transmitter, one Receiver and a Bind Plug, all for just $22.99.
You can buy it from here



Now, I didn't consider this because of the low price. But the reviews were good, and I recently had a chance to tryout one of these and was satisfied with the performance.

Some features of this are,
  • 6-Channel 2.4GHz Transmitter and Receiver
  • Channel Mixing and Servo Reversing capability
  • Trainer System option
  • Can be configured via a PC
One receiver is included in the package. But we can buy additional receivers for $8.98 (link), which is cheap compared to some other branded receivers.

One thing to note is that the Cable needed to connect the Tx to the PC for configuration is not included in the package. We have to buy it separately. It is available from here for $2.99. You really need to buy one if you're going to use the Tx/Rx with a quad.

So, after considering all these I placed the order, via a good friend of mine. Now I'm waiting patiently until it arrives.
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Comments

  1. Sandeep EllawalaApril 21, 2011 at 12:17 PM

    So when do you expect the goods to be arrived and the delivery be completed? I mean roughly how much time will it take?

    ReplyDelete

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