Scorpion Sky Strider 280 Racer

[Rob Barnes]

So I've decided to build a Scorpion 280 Racer using the Scorpion Sky Strider 280 Airframe & Scorpion Motor Combo.

I will need the following to finish and any advice will be appreciated thank you !

ESC,s x 4 off
Rotor Blades
Flight controller
Camera's , do I need 1 or 2
FPV equipment etc
What batteries ?
Thinking of buying a DX7 or DX6 as I only have a Mikado VControl at present , do I need a 7 channel radio ?

[Rich23]

Hey

Its a great looking airframe and should work very well. The only thing I would suggest is removing the landing legs, they will snag and cause the quad to flip. I think there is a solution you can get 3D printed on thingyverse.

As for flight controllers I use a Naze 32 full with cleanflight/Boris B (I think I may have a spare Rev6). Start with 5030 props if your completely new to 250 Quads, then go to 5040 or even 5045 bull nose if your after more punch. I use a Taranis for my Vortex quad but Spektrum have released a PCCM receiver. LINK. I would say 7 channels would be ideal. I use Fatshark/ImmersionRC FPV gear but there are plenty of options out there. I think the UK limit is 250mw for video transmitters now. As for camera's, you will only need one to fly through and one to record your flights if you wanted. I have a 600TVL to fly through (soon to be upgraded to a 700TVL) and a Mobius that I record the flights with. Batteries I would say start with 3S and go to 4S once your happy, its 2 different machines!

These are good links which will help out with gear and tuning.

OscarLiang.net - Sharing Knowledge and Ideas
https://github.com/cleanflight/clean...ID%20tuning.md

Hope this helps

Rich

[PeteStewardson]

Rob rather than buy a spektrum you can use a Neo on it, but it needs pro upgrade as well. If you use the macrocells you can drop the data straight through for stick positions. Not the cheapest way of doing it but it's possible

[Rob Barnes]

Thank you for the advise , I will start looking into it .

[Supa Koopa]

Well I'm just going through the same thing and I am almost ready to go, just waiting on motors.

ESC,s x 4 off - FVT Little bee 20a. They are fairly cheap at around a tenner each and get really good reviews. Basically you want blheli firmware with oneshot.

Rotor Blades - depends on motors. The Strider will take 6 inch props, so have a look around to make sure you're not pulling too many amps. 5045 will be over 20amps on full throttle and 6045 will be nearer 30. I'm probably going to try 6030 or 5045.

Flight controller - Naze 32 seems to be the one to go for. The seriously F3 seems pretty good but is expensive and fragile by the looks of the reports. Get a naze and load betaflight firmware as this seems to be the bee knees.

Camera's , do I need 1 or 2 - Up to you. One in the front for FPV and a mobious up top for recording if you want. Mine will have 1. it's a sony 1/3 ccd 600tvl which seem to be a popular choice. There are some with better image quality but some come with extra lag. If you're after racing or fast flying you don't want any lag.

FPV equipment etc - Up to you again and how you're eyes are. Quanum V2 if you want cheap with huge field of view, but you look a bit weird with a breadbin attached to your face. Skyzone goggles have built in diversity and are pretty good. Fatshark are the most popular and will be gettig diversity modules next year. Dom V3's or Dom HD V2's if you are feeling rich. I bought the HD V2's as I wanted the increased field of view, but be warned they can cause some people problems and are ridiculously expensive. The new face plate takes a bit of getting used to but is great to stop them steaming up with happens on all goggles.

What batteries ? depends on if you go 3 or 4s. I'm going to be using 3s 2200mah as I have a load of them but in all honesty they are a bit too big and heavy. I will probably go to 4s at some point and that will be 1100-1300mah. Only bad thing with the Strider is the batteries are strapped to the bottom of the frame which is a bit poo. Someone on RCGroups managed to re-arrange things so hi 4s 1300 is sitting in the top part.

Thinking of buying a DX7 or DX6 as I only have a Mikado VControl at present , do I need a 7 channel radio ? 6 channel should be fine. Now the problem with spektrum is the fact that they don't send out ppm on most of their receivers. They do now have a receiver that does cppm but it's about £70. I bought an orange r620x which also does cppm on a spektrum and was £25. But saying all that if I was buying a new transmitter for a quad I would buy a FrskyTaranis 9x for about £150-160. If you look at any of the racing series videos they are everywhere.

Motors - You didn't mention them but there is a huge range to choose from. Cobra 2204-2300kv are really good if you can find them but good luck with that. Emax 2204-2300 are cheap and okay from what I've read. Cobra 2206-2000 racing series are mental bu can draw a lot of amps. The scorpions look nice but expensive. I'm waiting for the Xnova 2206 to come out. They're available in the states but not made it here yet.

RCGroups FPV racing is a good place to look.

[dillwhacker]

Hey Rob, a couple of random comments....
Don't skimp on the camera - the CMOS ones are rubbish. You need CCD. some are better than others when it comes to very high contrast, like when you point into the low sun. The Sony 'super HAD II' seem to be the best I have seen. Use the setup menu cable thingy and turn on 'WDR' and set gamma to 'LCD' - this can make a lot of difference.
Make sure your flying camera can be adjusted in up/down tilt. You will probably want it almost horizontal for the first few flights, but when you start hooning around, the quad will be 40 degrees nose-down, and you won't be able to see the horizon unless the camera is tilted up.
I think the UK legal limit on VTX power is 25mW, which is pretty low. Will be OK for a few hundred metres in clear air, but wet trees absorb 5.8 GHz like you wouldn't believe. I use 200 mW and wish I had fitted 600...If you use 25mW with a clover leaf on goggles with 85dbm sensitivity receiver, you will struggle flying in anything but clear air.
Just my 2p worth.....

[Scotvar]

If you go the spektrum route I'd go for a lemon ppm rx. I use one on both my for racers and they're great. Two good friends of mine who are bother very well respected members on here have used the lemon with ppm after trying it mine and love it. There's no latency or lag like was experienced with taranis.
I would look at 7 channels though.
Hope this helps.

Paul

[Rob Barnes]

Ok so far:
Scorpion 280 Racer
4 x Scorpion Stealth Edition 2350kv Motors
Naze 32 Flight Controller Version 6 with a buzzer
Sony 700tvl CCD Nextchip Fisheye Lens CCTV PCB Board FPV Camera
TS5823 Mini 5.8Ghz 32CH 200mW Wireless Microwave Transmitter Antenna for FPV
4x Simon K 20A Brushless ESC Quadcopter 20 AMP BEC 2A 5V 2S-3S LiPo
Fatshark Dominator v2 goggles coming this week
1600mAh 3s Optipower flight packs

I need I think a distribution board I think , what else as im getting excited lol !

[bigpops]

You'll need a receiver for the Doms if you haven't got one already. You might as well get the Raceband one. That will receive 24 of the 32 channels that your VTx can transmit.

[Rob Barnes]

Do you have a link please ?

[bigpops]

FatShark 5.8GHz Race Band Receiver Module FSV2442 5001313

Shop around you can get it for a little less, but it's sometimes hard to find it in stock.

[Vrp]

Check this link

Quadcopter Parts, Drone Parts, Multicopter Parts UK Superstore - RadioC

[Rob Barnes]

Progress so far !

[Rob Barnes]

So I've now added to my Project some Fatshark Dominator V2 Goggles with a Race Receiver Module and a set of IBCrazy 5.8GHz Bluebeam Ultra Antenna Set (SMA) (RHCP). Next step is the drone show on Saturday at the NEC to see what else I can find to get this thing flying !

[Rob Barnes]

So todays update lol ! Ive just brought a new Spektrum DX7 amd some Optipower 1600mAh 3s packs , so not long to go until its airborn , just waiting for my camera and receiver form ebay lol ! Hurry UP !

Looking at Receivers for my radio which one would you recommend Ar6100 ??????