MSH Tetras unboxing/build/discussion

[Jomaba4308]

Got a present in the mail! Happy Birthday to myself!
Here are some unboxing pics for now. I will post pics of the build as I go. I bought from MSHUSA.com and a special Thank You to Alex (OnTheSnap) who got the answers to my questions and even removed the XT60 for me so I could use my preferred connector.

 

[Jomaba4308]

Started working, didn't get much today but it's a start. Got the motors bolted to the mounts and the camera installed in the cage. I did have to get some M3 screws because the M2 provided in the kit do not fit the motors.

 

[Hebrews12v2]

Great pictures! I look forward to your report on your flying experiences... I especially look forward to how well it survives multiple crashes. My poor Walkera and Eachine which both have plastic parts like this one does and usually breaks right at the plastic joinery.

I have yet to break one of my all Carbon Fiber flyers. As long as you are able to get parts for this you will really like it I am thinking. It is no fun when you don't have a part you break in inventory.....

Looks like a really fun flyer!

 

[Jomaba4308]

The plastic parts aren't regular plastic like you may be thinking, they are a carbon composite which is much stronger. Same stuff used on the Protos 500 molded frame. Don't hold me to it (yet) but I think I read somewhere that the carbon composite that MSH uses is 30% carbon, I will try to verify.

I would definitely hope that MSH USA keeps up with parts demand regardless of durability.

 

[Jomaba4308]

Started my soldering, got the battery connector soldered and the pigtail soldered to the board. Learned a new trick, USE FLUX. Or not only cleans the joint but also the heat transfers much more efficiently. I am now going to get some liquid flux and use it on every solder joint, dip wires & bullets, brush it onto pads. I also put a glob of hot glue on the battery.

 

[Jomaba4308]

Tonight I soldered 2mm bullets to the escs so that I can easily remove and switch out broken parts, arms, motor mounts, motors. Got the motors bolted to the arms, escs & wires shoved in the arms and the arms bolted to the frame. I also got a close-up of the hot glue I put on the battery lead to prevent accidental shorting while powered.

 

[Jomaba4308]

Here's a parts list of my components:

Motor- Multistar Elite 2204-2300kv
Esc- Zeus/Littlebee 20a
FC- Dragonfly32 Pro/Betaflight
Cam- Runcam PZ0420m
OSD- MinimOSD
RX- Spektrum diversity quad racing sat Spm4648
Servo- Futaba S3154
VTX- DRAK 5.8 variable power but I may switch to the RMRC Cricket 600mw
Antenna- VAS Duraspec LHCP (maybe the new Cyclone?)
Battery- 3s 2200, possibly move to 4s down the road but I'm just starting out so that could be awhile.
Props- Lynx orange 2 blade, everything from 5x3 to 5x4.5

Goggles- Headplay HD with VAS Airblade LHCP

 

[Jomaba4308]

Got the escs soldered to the pdb, bottom plate & landing feet bolted on and my carry case made.

 

[Jomaba4308]

Yesterday I cleaned up a couple dirty solder joints for escs, soldered pins to my FC board, OSD board, bolted on the camera cage (still need to solder that. The bundle of red, yellow, black wires on top are from the camera). The last thing I did was bind my receiver and start the FC setup.

 

[Jomaba4308]

IT FLIES!!!
After starting the basic setup yesterday I decided to mount some props and see if it would fly and it did.
I didn't do much because it's dark but I did hover around a bit and used the lights for orientation.
I still need to get the video system up and running and then I can really have some fun! But I am still waiting to get a wedge printed so that I can mount my vtx.

 

[Jomaba4308]

IT FILES!!!
Soldered the vtx to the pdb and flew a couple packs in the back yard.
I thought it would be a good thing to start with the horizon mode untili get the hang of it but even as a first time fpv pilot I found it to get in my way. I will however leave the accelerometers active and use horizon mode as a panic mode.
I've already chewed a set of props crashing into a tree, good thing I prepared myself and bought a big bag of props early.
Now I can start flying a couple packs at a time a couple times a week and get some stick time!

 

[dirkclod]

Looks good Jomaba !

 

[Jomaba4308]

I went to a field today with a friend to rip out a couple packs after work. Evidently my skill after a total 5 fpv batteries (~5 min each to storage) is further along than his was at that point when he started out.
I could be happier than a kid in a candy store just fpv'ing all day
I had planned on getting a couple pics of everything this afternoon ready to fly but I was too excited to just fly that I forgot. Then we had done evening rain coming and I didn't think about it until I was packed up and ready to go home.
I will get some of those RTF pics posted before the end of the weekend.

 

[dirkclod]

Maybe your just a natural at it

 

[Jomaba4308]

Finally got the pics of everything ready to go that I wanted to post!

 

[dirkclod]

Looks good Jomaba .Now watch out for them tree's

 

[Jomaba4308]

Looks good Jomaba .Now watch out for them tree's

Still?
I had a run-in with a tree once already, wrecked a set of props on my first fpv flight. I hit every switch OTHER than my killswitch until I took off my headset and realized I didn't hit the right switch. I have since moved my arm/kill switch to the back-right switch I'm used to from my helis.

 

[Chris G]

Really nice build Jomaba, and a great start to FPV, and quad crashing.
As you go through a few more sets of props, I think you will really start to get the feel for what your Tetras can and cannot do.
I think you are wise to start with a 3S, but there will be a time, very soon, when you'll want to try that 4S.

The design and geometry of the Tetras craft look to be very well put together, in a way that may reduce impact stress on many of the parts.
I like the narrower arms with wrists for the motors, and it looks like some of these parts are interchangeable.
Stock up on Props, stay out of tall trees, away from any water( somehow drones are drawn to the smallest puddles) and stay away from anything harder than a tree, i.e stone, concrete, playsets, street wires and poles.

Did I see you mention having a Runcam? can you share any video yet?
Of course we want to see you fly, but include your crashes (Also called Alternate Landing Approach) too.

 

[Jomaba4308]

Sorry it's been awhile.
I had 3 more personal meetings with the ground and on the 3rd separated the glue on one arm. I can fix it with some JB Weld just haven't gotten to it yet.
One crash was because I went to LVC but the other 2 went into failsafe, one was out of range but the other can't be explained.
But no props were damaged! Thank You Lynx!

I have a RunCam yes but not the one you're thinking of. My RunCam is the PZ0420m board cam, not the HD recording camera.
The only way I can think of to record flights on the Tetras is with a DVR, don't know where to mount a camera to record otherwise.