Mud Skipper Build

[IceFyre13th]

Now that most of my FPV racing questions have been answered and from my original "what do you think of this" post found here Opinions on the ZMR 250 quadcopter frame

I am now an owner of the ReadyMadeRC.com Mud Skipper RMRC Mudskipper 250 - Kit [RMRC-MS-KIT] - $69.99 : Ready Made RC LLC, The Leader in All Things FPV, RC, and Beyond

Other parts for this build include:

FPV
Goggles Quanum Cyclops FPV Goggle w/ integrated Monitor and Receiver
Transmitter Quanum Elite X50-2 200mw, 40 Channel Raceband, FPV Transmitter

Camera
Mobius http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/..._HD_Video_Camera_Set_With_Live_Videut.html
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store
Wiring for Mobius /__61655__Mobius_USB_to_AV_Out_FPV_cable_with_Charging.html

I will be adding a CMOS camera also, just have to figure out what one to get.

Flight Controller
Seriosly Dodo Flight Controller RMRC Seriously Dodo Flight Controller - Rev 3a [RMRC-DODO-FC] - $39.99 : Ready Made RC LLC, The Leader in All Things FPV, RC, and Beyond

ESC's
V-Good ARM 32 30 amp ESC V-Good RC - ARM 32 - 30A Lite ESC [30A-0-LITE(2-4s)] - $14.99 : Ready Made RC LLC, The Leader in All Things FPV, RC, and Beyond

Motors
Scorpion M-2208-2000kv (Stealth Edition) Scorpion M-2208-2000kv (Stealth Edition) - Scorpion Power System

Propellers
GemFan 3 blade propellers, size 5 X 5 X 3 http://www.gemfanhobby.com/Product/Main/En/4106ea05-6dee-410d-9b4d-a56200a6b7c3

Power
4 cell Lipo, yet to be determined brand / type

So far the biggest issues are with vendors who refuse to include instructions for the product....

The Mud Skipper frame and Seriously Dodo flight controller, would it be too hard to include a set of instructions....they said they were included but are not. And the downloaded instructions are missing way too many steps and information.

Mud Skipper Frame, nothing said about the power distribution board, how its wired, what are the connections for.......and some of the braces will be in the way of the connections that need soldering, might be nice to show some recommended electronics mounting locations too.....sure they have YouTube videos posted....but have you ever tried to build by watching those, its a real pain in the you know what.

Seriously Dodo flight controller, really no downloadable instructions anywhere......and trying to read the picture of the pin-outs on their website is next to impossible. (I copied and pasted the web page to word and was able to scale the pictures up to a readable size. Still have too figure out how it all works though.......and again I hate YouTube video instructions...especially the ones for this item.

More to come later, and yes I will include pictures.

 

[Raidwing]

Now that most of my FPV racing questions have been answered and from my original "what do you think of this" post found here Opinions on the ZMR 250 quadcopter frame

I am now an owner of the ReadyMadeRC.com Mud Skipper RMRC Mudskipper 250 - Kit [RMRC-MS-KIT] - $69.99 : Ready Made RC LLC, The Leader in All Things FPV, RC, and Beyond

Other parts for this build include:

FPV
Goggles Quanum Cyclops FPV Goggle w/ integrated Monitor and Receiver
Transmitter Quanum Elite X50-2 200mw, 40 Channel Raceband, FPV Transmitter

Camera
Mobius http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/..._HD_Video_Camera_Set_With_Live_Videut.html
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store
Wiring for Mobius /__61655__Mobius_USB_to_AV_Out_FPV_cable_with_Charging.html

I will be adding a CMOS camera also, just have to figure out what one to get.

Flight Controller
Seriosly Dodo Flight Controller RMRC Seriously Dodo Flight Controller - Rev 3a [RMRC-DODO-FC] - $39.99 : Ready Made RC LLC, The Leader in All Things FPV, RC, and Beyond

ESC's
V-Good ARM 32 30 amp ESC V-Good RC - ARM 32 - 30A Lite ESC [30A-0-LITE(2-4s)] - $14.99 : Ready Made RC LLC, The Leader in All Things FPV, RC, and Beyond

Motors
Scorpion M-2208-2000kv (Stealth Edition) Scorpion M-2208-2000kv (Stealth Edition) - Scorpion Power System

Propellers
GemFan 3 blade propellers, size 5 X 5 X 3 http://www.gemfanhobby.com/Product/Main/En/4106ea05-6dee-410d-9b4d-a56200a6b7c3

Power
4 cell Lipo, yet to be determined brand / type

So far the biggest issues are with vendors who refuse to include instructions for the product....

The Mud Skipper frame and Seriously Dodo flight controller, would it be too hard to include a set of instructions....they said they were included but are not. And the downloaded instructions are missing way too many steps and information.

Mud Skipper Frame, nothing said about the power distribution board, how its wired, what are the connections for.......and some of the braces will be in the way of the connections that need soldering, might be nice to show some recommended electronics mounting locations too.....sure they have YouTube videos posted....but have you ever tried to build by watching those, its a real pain in the you know what.

Seriously Dodo flight controller, really no downloadable instructions anywhere......and trying to read the picture of the pin-outs on their website is next to impossible. (I copied and pasted the web page to word and was able to scale the pictures up to a readable size. Still have too figure out how it all works though.......and again I hate YouTube video instructions...especially the ones for this item.

More to come later, and yes I will include pictures.

I am building a speed addict 210r and using the dodo. I am waiting for my esc to come in (next 3-4 days) to continue the build but I have everything else. Anyway I think I have everything figured out, perhaps we can be of assistance to each other. Collective knowledge and such.

 

[IceFyre13th]

I am building a speed addict 210r and using the dodo. I am waiting for my esc to come in (next 3-4 days) to continue the build but I have everything else. Anyway I think I have everything figured out, perhaps we can be of assistance to each other. Collective knowledge and such.

Definitely collective knowledge will be great.

All of the rest of my parts arrived last night (UPS decided to deliver my Friday delivery on Monday). One of those parts is the radio reciever.

Spektrum DSMX Quad Race Receiver with Diversity (SPM4648): Spektrum - The Leader in Spread Spectrum Technology (notice the date expected by)

Something I thought would be on back order, but ReadyMadeRC (RMRC from now on) actually had in stock. It is tiny, and will fit any frame with ease.

So having the whole weekend with nothing to build I did some searches to find the missing "instructions" RMRC did not include with the Dodo. What I found was the clean flight instructions have most of the information needed (found here cleanflight/docs at master · cleanflight/cleanflight · GitHub ) and once you get through all the bashing a lot of information can be found at RMRC Seriously Dodo Flight Controller - RC Groups

I also tested my motors with propellers and found that at 100% I have 832 grams of thrust and draw just over 20 amps (20.15 amps) of current. X 4 this equals 3328 gram of thrust at 80.6 amps. This was using a 4 cell lipo from one of my big birds. So now I need to find a battery that can supply this amount of current in a FPV racer size, any suggestions? Calculations say at minimum a 1800 - 2000 mAh at 50C battery would be safe.

Total weight of the Mud Skipper I estimate will be 675 grams so I should have a 4.93 to 1 thrust to weight ratio.

And I went to my local hobby store and picked up a FPV camera, got a Foxeer XAT650M ( http://foxeer.com/XAT600SM-Super-Mini-Sony-600TVL-Camera-g-15.html )

Finally I looked at the power distribution board that came with the Mud Skipper.....it is very simple. Everything marked with a + is from the positive battery terminal, everything marked - is from the negative battery terminal, and the two areas marked "Pololu" are for the output of RMRC's Pololu voltage regulator (this is worthless in my opinion, what they should of done is put an adjustable voltage regulator on the board (5-12 volt output at 3-5 amps) and maybe a power filter as well for the FPV items).

More to come later.

 

[Raidwing]

Great job on finding the info on the dodo. I just finished mine last night. So as for battery, I use the tattoo 4s 1550 mah. Cheapest I can find with the shipping and I'll add extremely fast shipping, is quadrysteria.com I believe they have an 1800mah and they come in 40c and 75c ratings. Excellent battery for quads.

 

[IceFyre13th]

As normal, every time I sit down to build something comes up at home that needs attention.......

Thanks for the Tattoo battery info, looks like I will be getting a few of the 4S 1800 75C ones along with some other parts from quadrysteria.com

 

[Raidwing]

As normal, every time I sit down to build something comes up at home that needs attention.......

Thanks for the Tattoo battery info, looks like I will be getting a few of the 4S 1800 75C ones along with some other parts from quadrysteria.com

LOL! Join the club, I get the same at my house. It's always kids or wife or something. Finished my build, but still waiting for my TX to come in. I'm beside myself with anticipation. I can't wait to crash...err fly it.

 

[IceFyre13th]

Spent a few hours today trying to build the MudSkipper frame........lets just say it needs a lot of re engineering......

1. two spacer bars go directly over the solder pads for the ESC power wires.....very easy to short out your battery.
2. these same two spacers leave no room to use connectors on your flight controller....too bad my pins were already soldered on to the FC.
3. no way to plug in the usb cable to the flight controller as these same spacers are again in the way.

Bottom line on the Readymade RC MudSkipper frame, DON"T BUY........it is junk.

So after finding all this out I spent 30 minutes un-soldering everything from the MudSkippers PDB

I am once again looking for a frame...........at least I have the rest of the parts to build with

 

[Raidwing]

Spent a few hours today trying to build the MudSkipper frame........lets just say it needs a lot of re engineering......

1. two spacer bars go directly over the solder pads for the ESC power wires.....very easy to short out your battery.
2. these same two spacers leave no room to use connectors on your flight controller....too bad my pins were already soldered on to the FC.
3. no way to plug in the usb cable to the flight controller as these same spacers are again in the way.

Bottom line on the Readymade RC MudSkipper frame, DON"T BUY........it is junk.

So after finding all this out I spent 30 minutes un-soldering everything from the MudSkippers PDB

I am once again looking for a frame...........at least I have the rest of the parts to build with

Might I suggest www.catalystmachineworks.com, I promise you will be pleased. My 210r is a great machine. Tight build but we'll engineered. They are pricey, but you get what you pay for.

 

[Raidwing]

Plus they have good support, instructions, and I have built mine so I can answer any questions.

 

[Raidwing]

I will post a pic when I get home from work today.

 

[IceFyre13th]

Thanks for the recommendation....wish they had the 250 size in stock.

More news, the mudskipper is now down to $29.99 on RMRC's site........and I guess my review will never make it on there either, but makes you wonder why the price dropped to the floor from its original $119.99.

Meanwhile I have ordered a Toro 250 Frame from Toro 250 Class FPV Racing Drone Frame Kit (US Warehouse) so I can build something.

 

[Raidwing]

Might I suggest www.catalystmachineworks.com, I promise you will be pleased. My 210r is a great machine. Tight build but we'll engineered. They are pricey, but you get what you pay for.

Here are some pics of the 210r that I have.

 

[Raidwing]

Thanks for the recommendation....wish they had the 250 size in stock.

More news, the mudskipper is now down to $29.99 on RMRC's site........and I guess my review will never make it on there either, but makes you wonder why the price dropped to the floor from its original $119.99.

Meanwhile I have ordered a Toro 250 Frame from Toro 250 Class FPV Racing Drone Frame Kit (US Warehouse) so I can build something.

That looks like a decent kit and you should have plenty of room to mount electronics any which way you want. Lol

 

[IceFyre13th]

I really just want to get a build done so I can learn to race........every weekend in the park next to my house there are a group of racers practicing, I want to play too!!!! LOL

Frame will be at my house on Thursday according to FedEx tracking...........thinking about skipping the PDB and going "squid" wire style for now as the Toro dose not include one, or just go get a PDB from the hobby store....

 

[Raidwing]

Lol I know how you feel. I'm waiting for my radio tx to come in. It takes soooo long! Rrrrr. Anyway the guys at the club are always bragging about what they did with their drones. What a bunch of richards. You should check out the vortex, 250 size already built and ready to go.

 

[Raidwing]

I would get the pdb. Don't need anymore setbacks.

 

[Raidwing]

Check out liquid tape. Or more specifically, liquid electrical tape. Apparently you can spray it, dip it, or brush it on. You will want the brush on. It's awesomeness, promise!

 

[IceFyre13th]

and or Plasti-dip.......I know the liquid tap stuff well, it great when you forget to put the shrink tube on before you solder and also great to use with crimp on connectors

 

[Raidwing]

Lord knows I've done that more than a few times! Lol

 

[IceFyre13th]

Built the frame last night, but wouldn't you know it one spacer was missing from the kit............they put 3 26.5mm spacers in the kit when there should only be 2, and only 2 36mm spacers when there should be 3......

Looks like I need to go to the hobby store and see if I can find one (the ZMR250 uses the same spacers), might as well get a PDB while I am there.

Other than the missing spacer the Toro 250 is a nice bird, lots of room and the FPV camera mount is tilt adjustable for 360 degrees. It has a good battery location. A deck for the video transmitter (I am not going to use an action cam this area was for so I took off the vibration isolated camera mount).

Tips if you get one, there are tabs the battery and video deck have that locate into slots on the side frames, epoxy these in....it makes the frame stiffer and it will twist less when glued. Don't use the "landing gear" the kit has, get a 450 size helicopter landing skid or use something else (the kits gear attach to the motor arms where the ESC's go, the screw heads could cause a problem).

Battery, I have a "testing" battery Turnigy nano-tech A-SPEC G2 1800mah 4S 65~130C Lipo Pack (US Warehouse) and it fits, but is a little long. Main thing to remember is most any battery up to 36mm wide will fit, the 1800 4S I have (above) is 102mm long......90mm or less length would fit better so I will be looking for some 1500 4S batteries. these will be perfect, Tattu 1550mAh 14.8V 75C 4S1P Lipo Battery Pack Racing with XT60 plug (will see if my local hobby store has some while I get the missing spacer and a PDB).

More to come later....................