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AUGUST 2017 _ http://www.popularmechanics.co.za 27drone was about a year ago and I have since only logged
about an hour of flight time, most of that on a Tiny Whoop
and indoors. The rest of the time was spent flying a Phantom
4 and Mavic Pro. That’s not really flying. Those DJI machines
have so many pilot assist features that you don’t really gain
respect for the fact that you’re piloting an aircraft.
What makes the CrashBOX approach unique is that the rest
of the industry is wholly focused on throwing 4 mm carbon
laminates at the problem. Is it better? Time will tell. This design
is just as difficult to fly as any other similar frame, but where-
as a snapped arm on a conventional frame will end your day,
Jonathan had the trashed drone ready to fly within an hour.
Could’ve been 20 minutes had he known how crap a pilot I
was and brought his tools and more props with him.
Within the world of FPV, I like the CrashBOX design. The
hinged enclosure for the PC boards is great. The colours and
aesthetics are amazing. And the custom mounts for the high-res
camera are among the best solutions I’ve seen. Am I tempted
to back him on Indiegogo? Yes, I am. But for now, I’ll get back
to the simulator.MOBILE
Get some flight time,
wherever you are.- DRONE ON MY PHONE (IOS)
This is by far the closest you’re going to get
to what it really feels like to fly a mini quad.
The challenges ramp up your skills nicely, with
the only thing lacking being actual damage.
Get acquainted with the free version first,
then stump up the R30 to get the advanced
controller and tweak your settings to get the
exact level of control that suits your skill level. - QUADCOPTER FX SIMULATOR (ANDROID)
While the physics isn’t as accurate as on our
iOS pick, the plethora of flight mode options
and damage indicator is quite handy. Put it
this way: if the simulator feels like hard work,
they’ve got it right. - ALSO TRY: FPV FREERIDER
1.2.3.SOLDERING IS KEY
“Don’t be scared to spend money on an iron.
Magnum is locally made and is a great product.
You can shop cheaper entry-level Magnums
or try getting one secondhand. The most
important thing is a clean tip. Your tip will last
longer if you clean it often; just have a wet
sponge and get rid of the old solder because
new solder will have new flux in it. Once you’ve
tapped it once, most of that flux is actually
gone. If you see smoke, it’s probably too hot.
If you see it hit and then melt quite nicely, then
it’s perfect. You only need the heat for biggerstuff like 12-gauge wire. The problem with
holding heat on big wires is that the heat
dissipates into the board itself and if you
have surface mount components that get
too hot, they are going to shift and move.
The big downside of these (all-in-one)
boards is that the negative plane goes right
across the board and that sucks up all of
the heat. The secret then is to get your iron
as hot as possible and do short hits, let the
board cool and go again. I like the split
between the PDB and flight controller.TOOL UP
“Get a good 1,5 mm and 2 mm hex driver, a
pair of wirecutters and a very small pair of
needle-nose pliers. Those are pretty much the
only tools you need. Then something like a
Dremel heat gun or even a lighter to work with
your heat shrink is also a nice thing to have.”250 IS ENOUGH
“I always tell guys to get a ZMR 250 frame
when you start out. You get videos and tutorial
blogposts all over the Internet for it. You get
space to work in and there are many ways
to customise it. The great thing is that when
you want to move on, you will already have
all these pieces and transport it straight into
something else.”BATTERY KNOWLEDGE
“The battery is always a standard LiPo.
Guys are jumping straight to four cell (4S)
batteries and dumbing down to cope with
the extra power. It’s best to do that now,
so you don’t have to change in future. The
charger can be any standard four-button
charger or even just a plug-and-play charger.
Go for 1 500 mAh or bigger because you’re
doing mostly hovering. But check the C
rating because of the high amp draw. The
95 C is more expensive, but it’s built to take
the abuse of powering these things. Put
your batteries at 60 per cent for storage.
Don’t leave it at 100.” PMGETTING STARTED
Let’s get something straight: you will crash, so you better learn to build. Alan Ball,
founder of Flying Robot, is on hand to get you set up.