Starting F550 Build and Have Questions

JHook · Jun 27, 2017

At DJI Store for $429 (DJI F550 Flame Wheel ARF kit, NAZA M V2 (not Lite), Landing Gear). Cheapest price I can find and free shipping.

Fatbloke-Dim · Jun 28, 2017

rebelyellNC said:
OK JHook, remember that you asked my opinion, so I'm gonna give it to ya, but I know it's probably going to draw fire on here. Ever since the P2 and all the flyaways (yeah, I know, ...pilot error), I have cherished my P1.1.1 all the more. The lack of a smart battery and all the FW updates (limiting the usefulness) just fit the bill for me. So with the P2s, P3s (+suffixes), P4s (+suffixes), and all those other models with deadly expensive batteries and flawed firmware (according to the owners), I wanted a bigger and better drone. So I saw a video of a guy transforming a P1 into a hex. He documented his progress and problems, much like I did on the F550 Build thread, and when I saw that monster take off, I knew I was six-motor bound. I'm sure there are a lot of happy and excited P-whatever owners out there, but I enjoyed building my F550 from scratch, more than I would have if I just opened a box and pulled out an assembled bird. She flies like a dream and I can't wait to experience loops and rolls in manual mode. I got some basic aerobatic fun in with the P1.1.1, but just haven't tried it yet with the F550. The videos while doing these maneuvers should be a hoot.

Oh, ...there's one other thing. I'm just an old guy, so I'm a cell phone-tablet-smartwatch-mobiledevice hater. It's not the tech I hate (being an I.T. Specialist), it's what it's done to our culture. Watching people walk into lamp posts or down open manholes or out into traffic just irritates me (and it's got to be painful for them). Or going to the doctor and seeing EVERYONE in the waiting room with a "device" stuck in their face, just gets under my skin. When I worked for a community college teaching computer repair, one of my colleagues came to the house to visit. He brought his wife and three teen daughters, who sat on the couch TEXTING each other. That was probably what started my lack of love for these things. Anyway, that's about all I see now on the P-whatever forums, is I-this and I-that and will this phone or tablet work for this or that. If you took that away, I bet these folks would actually enjoy hands-on flying much more.

Well, I guess I'll get off the rant stump now and wait for the flames to rush in. Hey, there may even be someone else out there that feels the same way, ...who knows? OK, rebelyellNC out!

With yer on the tech-hating ! We're watching as our species de-evolves aided by "electronic soporifics " ! And the young 'uns are our future? Cripes. ;-(

JHook · Sep 14, 2017

Ok, here we go. After doing a little research. Maybe the best deal for the kit is $429 through Dji store.
Any thoughts?
Then ordering a welder 40 watt soldering station

JHook · Sep 14, 2017

LOL. Ok purchased my first item. No, not the F550 kit
My weller WLC100 soldering station on Amazon.

P51 pilot · Sep 28, 2017

I am very new at this drone stuff. But my dad flew model airplanes back in the 50's when he had to build his own radio so I have experience that way.

I have been pondering a 550 build myself. Will a P3S controller work for it? I have watched a build video on youtube and it looks straight forward to me.... but was hoping to hear you say that they had great directions in the kit.

What can a guy get a kit for..... and more importantly what extras do you have to fork over money for. I have a P3S and controller.

Last question for now.... How tough is it to get all the calibration etc after the physical build is done? (I tried to upgrade my P3S while it had a broken camera. It went from a flyable drone with no camera to a brick that wouldn't fly at all.....hopefully a guy I know is gonna get it going again) Just seemed to be a lot of different ways out there to "upgrade", and very little info on what to do if upgrade didnt work and turned bird into a brick.

rebelyellNC · Nov 25, 2017

JHook said:
Ok, here we go. After doing a little research. Maybe the best deal for the kit is $429 through Dji store.
Any thoughts?
Then ordering a welder 40 watt soldering station

Hey J, as you can see, I haven't been on here in a looooooooooong time. I was shocked to see over 4000 views. Looks like folks are still interested in the F550. So I see you scored the soldering station, that's great. I should come in real handy on a custom build. So did you ever fork over the dough to DJI for the F550???

rebelyellNC · Nov 25, 2017

P51 pilot said:
I have been pondering a 550 build myself. Will a P3S controller work for it? I have watched a build video on youtube and it looks straight forward to me.... but was hoping to hear you say that they had great directions in the kit.

Hey P51, welcome to the forum. As I just told JHook, I haven't checked in here in quite a while. I was glad to see you are considering the build, but sorry to see that no one replied to your questions. As for the P3S controller, I don't have any direct experience with that one, but I know the one listed earlier in this thread, the DJI DT7/DR16 is a smooth fit and no compatibility problems.

P51 pilot said:
What can a guy get a kit for..... and more importantly what extras do you have to fork over money for.

As for the kit cost, as JHook said above, DJI has the best average price, but deals are available elsewhere. Check the previous comments earlier in this thread for a number of good suggestions, and some things to watch out for. As for the extras, it depends on what you want. Do you want FPV capability? If so, you'll need an action cam and a video transmitter for the bird and receiver/monitor for the ground. Again, all this covered earlier in the thread, with things like, problems faced and solved, cost, availability, cautions, etc.

P51 pilot said:
How tough is it to get all the calibration etc after the physical build is done?

This is an easy one, ...not tough at all. The only calibration needed is with the DJI Assistant software and a compass calibration before your first flight. All this is also covered earlier in this thread.

If you're seriously considering a build, I would start a page one of the thread and digest all you can prior to purchase. That way, you'll have all the info you need and avoid costly mistakes. As always, you are welcome to post questions and your experiences (with pics we hope) here.

P51 pilot · Nov 25, 2017

Thanks for the reply. Money has went really tight this year so maybe next Christmas. Just looks like a fun build to me.

Will take your advice and read through everything.

JHook · Nov 26, 2017

welcome back Rebel,
I have not purchase the kit yet, but looking for the best cost. It looks like its DJI Store at $429.
I did purchase video camera (Gopro 4), but returned it when my computer could view the video's.LOL
So I also need to purchase a new computer to watch and edit my drone video's. Im looking at the Apple Imacs.

Thanks for popping back in, I wish I could more post on retractable landing gear. Will the DT7/DR16 support the extra channel for the landing gear?

gasjkh2 · Nov 26, 2017

The 550 is a fab drone. I have one and fly it regularly along with my P3 Pro. They are different drones to fly but the 550 you can mod it to whatever level you want. I love both drones for different reasons.

rebelyellNC · Dec 2, 2017

JHook said:
welcome back Rebel,

Thanks J, I miss the guys here when I'm not on regularly.

JHook said:
I did purchase video camera (Gopro 4), but returned it when my computer could view the video's

??? You stated you returned it when your computer "could" view the videos. Did you mean "could not" view ??? What kind of computer? What file extension on the videos?

JHook said:
Will the DT7/DR16 support the extra channel for the landing gear

The seventh channel on the DT7/DR16 should support any function that is servo related, including retracts. That's my understanding on it, unless someone corrects me, which I always welcome.

JHook · Dec 2, 2017

You stated you returned it when your computer "could" view the videos. Did you mean "could not" view ???

COULD NOT

What kind of computer? What file extension on the videos?

I'm operating Windows 7, I don't remember the file extension. We are going to the Apple Store this month to shop for Christmas.

Jorgeldelapaz · Aug 3, 2018

I was looking for info on battery, i found it on this thread ,very good info,im also putting together a f550 just not sure what battery to use till i read the tread.

WU5C · Aug 3, 2018

I would advise an upgrade the the S550 which is more stable and you can run a 4S 10000 and have just about 28 minutes of flight . If you just cruze then you can obtain longer flight times. but then again who just cruzes. Yes you will have to order different motors, and you can obtain retractable land gear and you can mount just about any type of GoPro you want. Just my two cents