Spedix Alien 250 Carbon Fiber Hexacopter kit for $150
0Banggood has the Spedix Alien S250AH ARF kit for $149.99 with free shipping. I wouldn't say this is the cheapest 250 kit out there. Not by a long shot. But it's got some awesome features you won't find elsewhere...
It's a hexacopter. That means six motors. This kit comes with six SunnySky 2204 2300kv motors.
It also includes six made-to-fit SimonK 12A ESC's. The ESC is round, and custom sized/shaped to fit inside the arm, just below the motor mount. Super sweet, very clean installation. PLUS, the ESC's have integrated LED's. No more separate LED installation and wiring required.
Made-to-fit PDB includes bullet connectors and 12v/5v BEC. Want a kit, but don't want to mess with soldering? The product description leads me to believe the whole thing is plug-n-play with bullet connectors.
Your choice of KK2 or CC3D flight controller.
Includes a "DSM2 compatible satellite". My best guess... this is a satellite receiver?
Of course it also includes the usual hardware, standoffs, 5045 rotors, etc.
Here's the contents list from Banggood:
Package Included:
1 x S250AH alien frame kit
6 x 2204 2300kv brushless motor
6 x 12A ESC
1 x CC3D or KK2.15 flight control
1 x Power ditribution board
3 x 5045 cw carbon fiber Propeller
3 x 5045 ccw carbon fiber Propeller
1 x Battery strap
1 x DSM2 Compatible satellite
1 x Standoff Set for controller and power ditribution board
After seeing @fultonmartin's beetle hex build, I'm considering grabbing one of these for my next build. I checked Aliexpress.com and the lowest price I found for a similar Spedix kit was $230, so at a buck and a half, Banggood seems like a decent deal.
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Damn you @ruouttaurmind! The only downside is it's only available with the KK. But I can pick up another CC3D elsewhere, or maybe try another multi-wii. I like that the PDB has built in BEC.
Should be a quick build, everything is made to fit the frame...
@fultonmartin it comes with your choice of KK or CC3D... edit: just noticed the CC3D version is sold out...
double edit: might be an opportunity to mess with the KK board if you haven't already tried one? Otherwise... Aliexpress has CC3D for around 11 bucks
@ruouttaurmind Have a KK on the first quad I built (TWiT KH 250) and one slated for use on the 'noodle copter' I have the parts for, but haven't done any tweaking on them. Might as well...
@fultonmartin Didja order this Spedix?
@ruouttaurmind Guilty... If I can keep my addiction down to one a month, I figure I'm ok.
@fultonmartin Ya, I remember saying that about four or five projects ago...
Well, I feel a bit responsible for pointing this out to you... so... I guess I really should get one too...
@ruouttaurmind I'll wait... mine's shipped...
@fultonmartin Timing is everything. They are sold out of both CC3D and KK kits and aren't permitting backorders. :^(
Next time...
Kit came today:
Even included what looks like a satellite receiver, although I don't know what good that does without a main receiver that can use one...
@fultonmartin So. Jealous.
That's a pile o' goodies right there.
Starting slowly; parts for one arm:
Directions show two screws / motor, with a washer. But the included washers are 2mm, and the motor screws are 3mm=don't fit. So I'm using all four screws, with blue thread lock. And despite the fact that all the prop nuts are black, half of the motors are left-hand threaded. (Yay!)
There's just enough room in the arm for all the wires.
No BEC in the speed controller, so I can't hook up my servo tester to get the rotation correct; guess I have to leave the cover off the arm until it's all wired.
More to be revealed...
@fultonmartin NICE!
What's your initial impression? The fact that it actually came with instructions and drawings seems to be a plus.
@ruouttaurmind For the price, it's excellent. The drawings are much better than most, although there aren't any instructions, as such--for instance, I have no idea what I'm supposed to do with the satellite receiver. There's a long thread over at RC Groups that I'll mine if I have to--I'd like to know starting values to put into the FC, for one.
@fultonmartin From what I've been reading, both KK and CC3D support GPS input for telemetry info (but not for positioning I guess?).
I was hunting around for a similar price since I missed the Banggood sale, and discovered Spedix also makes another variation of your hex:
Same size, but with a different motor orientation. Apparently yours is optimized for speed and agility, and this other one for stability and power.
@ruouttaurmind Hmm, I like that frame better. Can't find the pieces anywhere, though I finally found Spedix's site, and they sell the whole frame for $50. I'll see how mine flies...
@fultonmartin Hobby King has it for $35.
Incremental progress
Mounted the arms to the bottom plate, several times, AAMOF, because I kept getting the numbers wrong.
Temporarily hooked up the power and FC; I wanted to check the motor rotation.
I found a YouTube video of a BNF Spedix quad--KK2 setup and discovered from that that the 'satellite' plugs into the KK and binds to a Spektrum DX6i (a transmitter I actually have). (I have two other KK FCs, neither of which has the same plug that the satellite connects to.) Took me a few tries to figure out which 'mode' the KK had to be in to utilize the satellite (DSM2).
I did a quick run though of the KK setup, armed it, and discovered that every motor had to be reversed! So I did that, tucked the wires back into the arms, and mounted the power distribution and KK, using some of their hardware and some of my own. I would have liked to leave the KK in its nice case, but then I'd have to mount it with foam tape.
Need to put in the rest of the screws, and the top plate and clean plate.
Maybe Friday...
@fultonmartin Looks great! What function does the satellite receiver perform? Telemetry data or some such?
@ruouttaurmind It's the receiver. A closer reading of the KK manual seems to say that it can use pretty much any satellite as a receiver, with an advantage being that you only need one cable between the satellite and channel 3. I may try that on another build; I have another KK in my spares.
Finished. Put in the rest of the screws Friday evening, and the top plate, and the clean plate.
Today I went through the transmitter / KK setup, using the hints given in the aforementioned BuddyRC YouTube video, calibrated the ESCs and put on the props.
Every other model I've built using black props in the back and some other color in the front; this is no different. But there were 4 green ESCs and 2 red; red always goes in the back, no? (Well, except for when it's the port side, with green the starboard--but they didn't include 3 of each.) So it seems sort of unbalanced to me.
I maidened it (video to follow, but maybe not today); it doesn't fly as well as the Beetle (although it was pretty windy, so...). It's time to learn about tuning PID settings.
@fultonmartin It looks great, man! When you say "it doesn't fly as well" do you mean it's not as stable? Or not as zippy? Or it just tumbles out of the sky and falls like a stone? ;-)
@ruouttaurmind Mostly not as stable, but that could be because of the wind, or maybe the balance. It's my understanding that the FC should be at the COG, and I have it there, but it seems the front rotors are working too hard.
I can get the symmetrical top / bottom plates from Hobby King for $19 and turn it into the one you found; I may try that.
@fultonmartin I find, with my ZMR250, the default PID tuning gave it a constant forward motion. I guess because it's a racer and just designed to go forward? I tweaked the PID profile and got it to hover reasonably well.
Sorry it took so long to get the video out; I use Premier Elements, but I seem to have to relearn how to do PIP every time, and it takes a chunk of time I don't like to allocate. So here:
@fultonmartin Not bad! Are you still feeling like it's not that stable?
What size battery are you running in it?
@ruouttaurmind I'm ashamed to say I haven't flown it since. I had a 1300 3S 30C in it, IIRC. I need to set up a test stand to see what those motors draw (I have the parts), but I don't think that had anything to do with it.
@fultonmartin I was curious because when I fly my ZMR250 with a 2700mAh battery it's much less controllable than when I fly with a 900mAh battery. The added weight presents a challenge for hovering and slower flight. When flying more quickly, the heavier battery is smoother to fly, but (obviously) much less responsive. Turns take more room and have more "slop". Gaining altitude is slower and less responsive. Dropping altitude is faster though... :-)
@ruouttaurmind get a higher C rated 2700 battery. Higher C rating = quicker response
@DJMajickMan The one I'm using has a 40c rating. I don't think it's as much about the power, as the weight/rotor ratio. With the added weight of the big 2700 battery I think I need more rotor lift. Either longer rotors or more aggressive rotors with a sharper pitch.