My FC40/P1 Transformation / 3.6km = 11,800ft FPV

IIVII · Apr 1, 2015

Note: This thread was originally posted on the FC40 forum , but i thought it might also help someone with a P1 , so i reposted it here .. for more details pls check the original thread on the FC40 forum , there are alot of Q&A's throughout the replies .

Hey Everyone ..

I was flying few weeks ago and one of the stock ESC's gave up midflight .. i ended up going home with my FC40 literally in pieces .. so i thought it's time to build my own long range one of a kind FPV machine .. here's what my FC40 looks like after a huge makeover ..

The specs of the reborn Fc40 :

Frame : Alien X 500mm / cost $13 .. it's so cheap i bought 4 complete frames for the cost of one DJI shell .
Motors: DJI E300 Black 920kv / cost $17 each .
Video TX&RX : BOSCAM 2.4G RC802 +TS321 500mW / cost $55 .
FPV Cam: HD 700TVL 1/3" SONY / cost $13 .
OSD: MinNaza mod / cost $11 .
FPV screen : ebay 7" / cost $30 .
ESC : Q Brain 4in1 25A /cost $33 . btw. it'll need alot of work to get it calibrated with DJI s-bus receiver , so if u want somthing like plug n play go with DJI E300 ESC's.
Battery : Multistar 4S 6600mAh / cost $44 .
Props: 4 Pairs DJI 9450 / cost $24 .

am still using the FC40 Naza / GPS & compass / TX & RX . i used a shoe shine sponge plastic case as a GPS pod and it worked great :mrgreen:

i've also modded the stock DJI radio with a built in 3s 2000mah battery powering both my FPV equipments and the transmitter through a 12v to 6v UBEC. so no more AA batts every weekend

Flight time with the above specs i'm gettin' an average of :

(22-23 min) with Multistar 4s 5200mah .
(27-28 min) with Multistar 4s 6600mah .
(31-32 min) with Multistar 4s 8000mah .

Range wise i went as far as 3.6km = 11,800ft and still had a solid signal as u can see in the video below

The Alien X frame is not only cheap , but it's light , tough and way bigger than the phantom (500mm vs 350mm) . and it's alot more stable than the original DJI frame ever was .. especially in high wind conditions .. here are a few pix of my new FC40

My pilot's side setup with a BOSCAM 2.4G RC802 , 7" FPV screen , DV flight recorder and 2.4Ghz / 5.8Ghz Mini BiQuad Antennas:

The Original compass .. i used a piece of plastic bent to 90° to hold the compass vertically and in-parallel with Naza

Transmitter internal battery mod

Next to a monster 700mm APM project

Flying with a friend .. this video was shot with a DJI P2V+

Flying out in the desert .. testing a Mobius cam and a little homemade 1 axis servo gimbal . the glitches u see on the FPV screen is due to my friend's P2V+ 2.4Ghz WiFi extender as we were sitting afew meters from each other ..

3.6km = 11,800ft range test this was done with an old ZIPPY Flightmax 4s 5000mAh batt .. on a very windy day .. i could've gone alot farther , but i didn't trust that batt .. more to come

Flying in manual mode max speed (97 km), flips, loops and rolls

IflyinWY · Apr 4, 2015

Well, I don't understand why your thread hasn't been hit.

You've done an amazing job upgrading the FC40. My hat is off to you Sir. I will continue to follow in your footsteps with enthusiasms and vigor.

IIVII · Apr 4, 2015

Hey IflyinWY thank u .. i truly appreciate ur kind words

i guess ppl around here ain't into these kinda mods ..

rebelyellNC · Apr 4, 2015

Hey IIVII, I agree with IflyinWY, sometimes it makes you scratch your head as to why folks don't reply to a thread, especially one as interesting as this one. I'm on a long range FPV quest myself and was in awe of your accomplishment. I lost my bird on March 12 in the swamp (unrecoverable), but my replacement should be here Tuesday. I'll have to start building it up and modding from scratch again. Considering how long it took to get the original to where it was (sig), it may be a number of months. But I too will be following this thread, because I have learned so much on this forum from others in their endeavors and especially their questions.

Thanks for the post and keep stretching that limit

IIVII · Apr 4, 2015

Thank u rebelyellNC .. and sorry about ur lost bird

CactusJackSlade · Apr 9, 2015

Cool.... when you state your flight time, what voltage and % is left in the battery packs? Are you maxing them out or staying in the safe (20%-25% capacity remaining) range?

IIVII · Apr 9, 2015

i usually land at 13.6v-14v / 3.4v-3.5v per cell (under load) which i consider safe .. the % is set to read zero at 13.6v on my OSD .. i've been runnin' my lipos to 3.4 per cell for years with no problems .

IflyinWY · Apr 9, 2015

CactusJackSlade said:
Cool.... when you state your flight time, what voltage and % is left in the battery packs? Are you maxing them out or staying in the safe (20%-25% capacity remaining) range?

Pretty impressive stuff isn't it CactusJack?

Hey IIVII,
I couldn't hardly believe DJI would come out with a new bird that can't even keep up with your old FC40. You've done some seriously impressive work, and I had to blow your horn for you.

Sure hope I'm not throwing you under the bus.

IIVII · Apr 9, 2015

the funny thing was my friend that owns a P2V+ .. he kinda hated his new P2V+ v2 after flying side by side .. he went through 2 batts while i was still in the air on my first 6600mAh (Mid Range) batt .. not to mention the speed and 8x the range .. i'm working on a better brushless gimbal to make this bird a true long range flying HD cam ..

btw. i think DJI is catchin' up .. notice the Phantom 3 comes with a 4s battery now

IflyinWY · Apr 9, 2015

Yep, I noticed the battery. I bet they have built 3 birds just like yours, and they should thank you for the instructions. You're teaching them well, I'm glad they are watching.
I wonder when they will offer you a position in their R&D department.

Hey DJI,
Build me a bird that will haul a 6 pack of beer from 2000 to 2800 meters. Summer is coming and we are going to want refreshments up on the mountain.

IIVII · Apr 9, 2015

IflyinWY said:
Hey DJI,
Build me a bird that will haul a 6 pack of beer from 2000 to 2800 meters. Summer is coming and we are going to want refreshments up on the mountain.

here's the quad u need

IflyinWY · Apr 9, 2015

IIVII said:
here's the quad u need

To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

That's a good one.

CactusJackSlade · Apr 9, 2015

IflyinWY said:
Pretty impressive stuff isn't it CactusJack?

Hey IIVII,
I couldn't hardly believe DJI would come out with a new bird that can't even keep up with your old FC40. You've done some seriously impressive work, and I had to blow your horn for you.

Sure hope I'm not throwing you under the bus.

I agree It's great work.... but it's not really new - my point is that it's not a Phantom any more and anyone who wished to build up a quad with longer flight times and more battery room can certainly do so fairly easily. The 8000 mAh's he is using to get 30+ minutes is about 35% more battery. A stock P2 can get 20 min so 35% more battery would be in the realm of also getting 30+ min flight time.

As I mentioned DJI would have to part with their current size/shape body. If I would have been in charge of the new P3 project i would have probably designed some type of battery receptacle area that could take different sized batteries. If long duration is the goal: big whompin battery if nimble zippin is your goal, smaller lighter battery.

I am by no means slamming or denying IIVII's good work, it's just that what he built up is not a new concept. Why DJI did not try to get more flight time I think we can both agree upon

IIVII · Apr 9, 2015

CactusJackSlade said:
I agree It's great work.... but it's not really new - my point is that it's not a Phantom any more and anyone who wished to build up a quad with longer flight times and more battery room can certainly do so fairly easily. The 8000 mAh's he is using to get 30+ minutes is about 35% more battery. A stock P2 can get 20 min so 35% more battery would be in the realm of also getting 30+ min flight time.

As I mentioned DJI would have to part with their current size/shape body. If I would have been in charge of the new P3 project i would have probably designed some type of battery receptacle area that could take different sized batteries. If long duration is the goal: big whompin battery if nimble zippin is your goal, smaller lighter battery.

I am by no means slamming or denying IIVII's good work, it's just that what he built up is not a new concept. Why DJI did not try to get more flight time I think we can both agree upon

true it's not really something new , but a loaded P2 1300g-1400g won't fly more than 14-15 mins where with my 4s setup am in the same weight category 1450g loaded and getting double the time.

the secret lies in the 4s batt / E300 motors/ DJI 9450 props combination.. why didn't DJI use the 4s batt in the first place is beyond me

here's a flight test of a the same multistar 6600mah 4s batt & E300 motors on a naked f450 .. as u can see he is getting 33 mins .. i bet with a 8000mah he can easily hit the 36-38 mark .

CactusJackSlade · Apr 10, 2015

The new P3 is actually a 4 cell, but only 4480mAh. and yes yours could probably go close to 40 minutes with a 8000 on your rig.... but no camera and gimbal.

Here is 97 minutes - pretty extreme: http://diydrones.com/profiles/blogs/my-97minute-06second-record-quadcopter-flight

23 (claimed) minutes with camera and gimbal is pretty good considering the batteries are less mAh than the P2's... Probable would have been in the 30 minute range if they'd kept the 5200mAh battery capacity.... but I'm assuming they did not want to change the shell size/shape.

Anyway, not trying to beat a dead horse but there are always trade offs weight vs time etc...

Cheers

Search

Search

My FC40/P1 Transformation / 3.6km = 11,800ft FPV

IIVII

IflyinWY

IIVII

rebelyellNC

IIVII

CactusJackSlade

IIVII

IflyinWY

IIVII

IflyinWY

IIVII

IflyinWY

CactusJackSlade

IIVII

CactusJackSlade

Similar threads

Recent Posts

Members online

Forum statistics

We value your privacy