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My First Build- Dronz Fury 252 RX

Hebrews12v2

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Dronz Fury 252 RX Build


March 9, 2016


Today I completed my first Build. I completed it, but it is not finished. Reason being is that there are a couple items that did not get kitted for my Build that I will be ordering to “Finish” it. See my conclusions at the end of this Document. This is my first Build Log, so I appreciate any comments you may have on how to improve or add useful information.



Parts Used:


  • Dronz RX 252 Frame - $79.95

  • Dronz Gopro cam mount - $11.95

  • Naze32 Rev5 FC - $24.99

  • LT200 Camera Set - $28.42

  • Matek Buzzer/led - $4.29

  • Volo PDB - $5.56

  • (4) Dys XM20A BLHeli - $11.64 x 4 = $46.56

  • (4) Cobra CM 2204/28 Motors - $20.99 x 4 = $83.96

  • Gemfan 5050 Tri-blade props - $5.00

  • Bits & Pieces (Shrink wrap, extra screws etc). $10.00

  • Dronz T-Shirt - $22.95

  • Total for all = $323.63
Add in shipping of around $20.00 and total rises to: $343.63



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Price I paid from Dronz was somewhat less than $400.00 U.S. for the above Build Package. Now that I have experienced a build I will in the future be ordering everything separately to save a few more bucks. That being said, I am not unhappy at all with the great experience I had with buying this “Build & Fly” kit.


I am a big supporter of free enterprise.and Dronz has excellent Customer service with an amazing staff.They did just recently change from a Lifetime warranty on their frames to 2 years. That should still be more than sufficient us racers as truly, 2 years probably is the lifetime of a frame.


Note they will replace any part of the frame damaged during this period! Here is the Dronz Store for you to check out their merchandize. I here a rumor that they also will soon have their own branded motors!



Pimping out:

I had seen another Dronz builder use a red hex laminate on his build, so I asked where he got it and bought a Blue Hex for my build, with which I pimped out the top body and arms with.
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Adding Motors:


Once completed with the Blue hex I proceeded to install each of the Cobra CM2204/28 2300KV motors to each arm. As I went to install the first motor I realized that the screws that Cobra provided would not work. I had a few 3M x 6MM screws that I had previously purchased, but not enough to put four screws on each motor. I decided to put 2 or 3 screws on each and purchase more later so I could continue the build:


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Once completed with Motor installs I Then Used the provided shrink wrap from Dronzonline to clean up the look

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ESC Install:


Next step was to start adding the BLHeli XM20A ESC’s. Dronzonline provided a one page install document that recommended to install the ESC’s inside the Body, vs. the Frame where I have typically seen them installed. The PRO is that they will be better protected there. The CON is that they “may” not cool as well stuffed inside with the rest of the electronics in the arm. I also at this time added the Power Distribution Board (PDB) so that each ESC would be completed as I went along. (Note that I cut each ESC power lead to fit inside Frame). As I went along, I realized I didn’t have large enough shrink wrap to cover over the soldered connections. I ended up using electrical tape. I also remembered to reverse two leads to the ESC’s on Front right and rear left so that motors would be in right rotation.





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5 Volts!


Next up was to add my Pololu 5volt drop down board for the Flight Controller power etc. I decided to keep it short and sandwich in between the PDB and Flight Controller. I was trying to maximize room as much as I could: Heat wasn’t an issue for this device. Unfortunately I didnt have large enough shrink wrap so I had to electrically tape this as well.


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Check that Rotation!


Now that I had 5 volts, it was time to pull out my servo tester and confirm I had rotation right for each motor.


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Got to see where I am going, Right?


Next up was to install the Camera hardware and wiring. This is all about FPV, right? I found out the Egae did not quite fit right in the camera bezel, so I had to do a little filing for a slot. I also noted there were no screws to hold the camera to the bezel, even though both had screw holes. Luckily I know how to use a hot glue gun!



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Talk to me Baby!

Finally, I was ready to install the Naze32 Rev 5 Flight Controller. I plugged in the ESC’s in correct order starting at rear right (as viewed from the back),with Number 1, moving to front right for Number 2, then continued to the next front left ESC as Number 3, and finally plugged in the rear left ESC to Number 4 position on the flight controller. Next I added the JST plug from the Pololu step down to supply power to the Flight Controller.


Initially I had soldered all the 90 degree pins to the Flight Controller. I had thought I was rotating the board 90 degrees, but as I got further along the build I realized I would not have space. I ended up rotating the board back to facing front of the frame and de-soldered the 90 degree pins since I was going to be using PPM. I cut off the 3 pin JST plug and soldered it into position 1, 2, and 3. Now my NAZE32 rev 5 was an Abusemark board, but it did not look like any of the manuals that are available online, I used an educated guess and figured out pin 1 was Negative(-), pin 2 was Positive(+), and the 3 pin was the signal wire for PPM. Those of you who are more familiar with the NAZE32 may be able to see how my board is different.
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Lights, Camera, Buzzer!

Now I was ready to plug in the Camera and Buzzer/LED. I ended up having to clip the Camera power leads that were set for a JST and soldered them directly to the PDB, I also had to solder up the Buzzer with a JST for the buzzer output from the Flight Controller. While at that I added a JST to plug into the front side of the Flight Controller for 5 volt power. I also ended up soldering a lead from the Buzzer for the LED control to output 5 (pin 8) on the NAZE32 so that I can control the LED’s from my Remote Control. Here is my handiwork below:


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Connection, connection connection!

The time was here now to add my D4R-II Receiver and Prepare the NAZE32 in Cleanflight. I added a model to my Taranis Plus and bound it to the Receiver. Then I plugged the USB in and fired up Cleanflight to set the basic parameters. I like to set the arming to a switch on my Tarantis, as well as a few other goodies. I won’t bore you with the details here as that is more of a tutorial than a build log. After testing everything I realized all was working, but my ESC’s were wonky….Time for -



BLHeli Suite to the Rescue!

I Had never used BLHeli Suite before, but thanks to the many tutorials I have watched and read online I was able to upgrade my ESC to 14.4 and found that ESC 4 was not slaved to the Master. Once I used the Suite to slave it and write to ESC’s, I went back to Cleanflight and was able to finish my basic setup for flight.


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Basic setup complete! Major Tong to Ground control!

Once done with that I put my model together as best I could for time being and took below pictures. I have a few outstanding issues that prevent me from doing initial Line of Sight flight as I will state in my closing comments below. But basically I am “complete” on my first ever build. I’ll probably never be “finished” as I'm sure I’ll continually upgrade and improve as I grow in experience and knowledge.

Let’s look at a couple pictures, then move on to my conclusions……

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Ok, So it is 4 in the morning, but I want to get this finished for my friends to comment and peruse for their edification. Here goes my closing comments on this Dronz Fury 252 RX Build & Fly Kit.

Conclusions:

I was surprised by how my several months of perusing videos, forums, articles, blogs etc had helped prepare me for my first Build. Now I do have some other pre-built Models, and I purchased them purposely so that I could learn more on the “programming,tuning and flashing, etc. etc.” of them well beforehand of doing a Build. I think that all served me well, and I hope this Build log is a testimonial to that.

I LIKE this Dronz RX 252 frame. I haven’t flown it yet, but the build was solid and it looks awesome! I am excited to fly it, but as of the writing of this post, have yet to do that due to some outstanding areas I need to address before even first P.O.S. flight. Let’s look at what those and other issues are:

Motors needed (M3 x 6mm) screws - This is a biggy. I technically could test my frame “Line of Sight”, but because over the (16) M3x6mm screws I need, I only have (10) installed. That means two motors have 2 screws, and the other 2 have 3 screws. I have to buy more and install before flight. This is critical!

Needed Larger Shrink wrap for ESC's & Power plug - Not as critical, but this would have made my build look better and helped me make a cleaner build.

Needed XT60 Power plug Mount for deck - Again, Not Critical, but I “think” I like the idea of a deck mounted XT60 receptacle for my battery plugs. My opinion on this may change over time.

Need extension for VTX mount - This is pretty critical. As you can see in my pictures, I have the VTX hanging out the back because my kit did NOT include an extension. I can certainly fly this way, but I am putting my VTX system at risk as well as limiting transmission to my googles by the current setup. I will be purchasing an extension setup and moving the VTX inside the frame as soon as possible.

Naze32 instructions
- This one is debatable. While manuals exist online, My Abusemark NAZE32 Rev 5 is “DIFFERENT” than manuals show. I was able to figure it out, and it works great, but I had to make an educated guess on my PPM hookup. I still also need to work on teh LED portion. My Buzzer works, But LED’s are not lighting by switch “yet”.

Buzzer Instructions - I kind of fumbled my way through this also, related to last point. I do have buzzer working as I want, but I now need to get LED’s set up via a switch on my Tarantis. I do this for all my models, but haven’t got this right on this board yet.

Camera Mount incomplete - needed filing and hot glued.It would have been nice to have the inside slot in place on the bezel, as well as the two side screws I needed to mount the FPV camera to the bezel.

VTX needs extension better antenna - As I mentioned earlier, The VTX is without an extension. To me this is CRITICAL! When we wreck, we need the VTX isolated so that the antenna is only part damaged. Without the extension we risk damaging the board, which means we buy a new VTX.



Ok, It is 4:30 A.M on 3/9/16. I will add to this late if I see a need, but for now I believe this is pretty much a done deal. I hope you enjoyed my build log. It isn’t really all that long, as I used pictures to try to tell the Tale. Let me know what you think in the comment section below!
 
Last edited:
Great job Dude, wow fantastic build documentation, must have taken nearly as long as the build... ha ha
Waylander
 
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Reactions: Hebrews12v2
Really nice build report. Thanks for taking the time.
I've got a controller to use. I have GOPROs. Why have I not built one of these yet...
smh...
:(
 
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I suggest you do! I can't believe how much fun it was, and not all that hard. It takes a bit to program and fiddle with the P.I.D.'s but that is part of it also. Once my other parts get here I'll be getting this tuned up and flying. Currently I am flying my Vortex Pro mostly.....what a blast! This Fury 252 RX will be as much, if not more fun!

I hope you order a frame and build one soon, you won't regret it.
 
Great job with the pictures....it made following your build easy...
Have you flown it yet?
 

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