I’m just beginning to build and fly a drone for heavy lifting, long flight time, fpv and semi-automated flight. I was going to do it from parts (arduino, gps module, drone frame, engines, props, etc) but realised soon that it’s a big chunk of work, better buy a pre-built one with the possibility of making changes on its software and hardware.
So that I ended up at the following:
http://www.unmannedtechshop.co.uk/dys-d800-x4-professional-multi-rotor-package-for-aerial-photography-and-heavy-lift-pnf/
The description says it needs a flight control module. I found this one (not by accident, I want to use ArduPilot) with FPV support:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/APM2-8-ArduPilot-Flight-Controller-6M-GPS-OSD-915Mhz-Telemetry-Absorber-RC150-/311480774821?hash=item4885b370a5:g:1PQAAOSw-zxWokAB
Questions are:
- will they work for the purposes mentioned above?
- what else do I need to buy?
- any thoughts?
Hi
If this is your first drone I would suggest you start with a smaller and cheaper frame, just untill you get to know the basics, but it’s up to you at the end of the day :-). It’s just abit cheaper to replace incase you don’t set it up properly.
Otherwise the APM kit will work well as the autopilot, but I would suggest you consider using a newer platform such as pixhawk, or pixhawk. But APM is still find if you are looking for a basic kit.
You will also need to buy a r/c controller and batteries for your system. And if you want to add FPV you will also need a camera, video transmitter and a monitor.
Hello, another first timer here. i have purchased this quadcopter kit from internet and this is my school final project. it came with a ARDUCOPTER 2.8 controller, AT10 radiolink transmitter, R10D receiver, GPS capability and 4 FMT F15844 motors. the ESC’s are XINITE 30A. after using mission planner to setup the controller i can not get any of the motors to run. what am i doing wrong. there were no instructions in the kit.
Have you loaded new arducopter firmware onto your board?
Could you provide some details on how everything is connected and also have you gone through the first time setup and completed your ESC and radio calibration?
the first thing i did was use mission planner to load firmware. hope i chose the right one. i am building a quad in a X config. it has GPS, unsure of brand. it came with a ARDUCOPTER 2.8 controller, AT10 radiolink transmitter, R10D receiver, GPS capability and 4 FMT F15844 motors. the ESC’s are XINITE 30A.
Thanks for your answer.
Yes this is going to be my first professional quad. After some research I found out that Navio2 looks to be the best for me, as it can run Arducopter on a Raspberry Pi platform allowing me to extend and customise it easily. Or can it be done with Pixhawk too? Why is that better?
What RC controller you recommend? There are so many options like ‘with telemetry’ and ‘with receiver’ … I don’t know what do I need and what do I not. I want telemetry, and I saw it can be bought separately, but what does the RC controller have to do with it? Is there all-in-one model? 
In terms of batteries, I’ll go for the Tattu 10000MAH 22.2V 25C 6S1P LIPO BATTERY PACK.
Navio is definitely the most powerful especially since it now also supports the raspberry pi 3. So that would be the best if you looking to do lots of customisation. But pixhawk is also still a great platform and is still very popular and cheaper so it depends on what you need
As for the controller, my suggestion is the frsky taranis X9D as its one of the best r/c controllers and also is widely used in the multirotors/drone field so loads of guides and mods you can do
Thanks!
The problem is that its out of stock ATM. 
Which receiver do I need for this RC controller? What do you recommend? Thanks!
UPDATE: I found the X8R is recommended by many people but has some compatibility issue with SBUS to CPPM stuff - but it can be solved by a simple converter like this:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FrSky-SBUS-to-CPPM-Converter-Decoder-1-convert-SBUS-signal-into-CPPM-/171964454856?hash=item2809e157c8:g:4JYAAOSwA4dWGQjC
Am I right?
If you are using a Pixhawk based system then you dont need any converter as you can connect X8R directly to your Pixhawk flight controller
Ok in that case then the Navio2 is the same as it supports both CPPM and SBUS Receiver inputs so you do not need any converter. The older Navio+ only suppoerted CPPM, so you needed to use a SBUS to CPPM converter for that one.
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Thanks for the help so far I think I have an idea of building my drone …
One more thing I read in the Navio’s docs is a BEC, do I need to buy that too? If so what do you recommend?
I’ve bought the following already:
- 1 x Navio2
- 1 x Raspberry Pi 3
- 2 x Tattu 10000MAH 22.2V 25C 6S1P LIPO BATTERY PACK
- 1 x DYS D800 X4 Professional Multi-Rotor Package For Aerial Photography And Heavy Lift (PNF)
- 1 x 100mW Unmanned Telemetry Kit V2 (433MHz)
- 1 x FrSky ACCST Telemetry 2.4GHz 8/16-Channel Receiver (X8R)2016 LBT
- 1 x FrSKY Taranis X9D Plus ACCST (M2) Transmitter Only (2016 LBT)
- 1 x FrSky ACCST Telemetry 2.4GHz 1/16-Channel (XSR) 2016 LBT FW
- 1 x FrSKY Firmware Upgrade Smart Port Converter Cable (SPC)
- 1 x FrSKY USB Firmware Upgrade Cable FrUSB-3 (FUC-3)
- 1 x GT Power X-Charger B620 1-6S 400W Balance Charger (DC)
- 1 x Pixhawk Power Module cable V1-0 Output-BEC-3A-with-XT60 ( http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/APM2-5-2-APM2-6-Pixhawk-Power-Module-cable-V1-0-Output-BEC-3A-with-XT60-Plug-UK-/291272159858?hash=item43d12c7272:g:orIAAOSwDN1URL2W )
- 1 x XT60 to EC5 male/female converter
- 1 x XT60 to EC5 female/male converter
Can you please have a look at this list and check if I need something else? Thanks a LOT! 
UPDATE: I have not decided what camera to use … And I’m not sure how it works. Obviously the Raspberry Pi can broadcast its video via WiFi but thats another layer of system I might not wanna have. Is there a built-in solution, for example transferring the video to the APM Planner through the telemetry stuff?
UPDATE2: I’ve just realised I bought 2 Telemetry Receivers ?? …
That list seems ok, however you will only need to order 1x telemetry kit, as you get 2 modules in a kit.
Also if you are using a large multirotor such as the D800, then you might want to rather use the X8R receiver as it uses PDB antennas to get better range than the XSR. XSR is realy ment for mini quads which have limited space for a R/C receiver.
As for the power module, that will provide the regulated power to your navio board to power everything and also is used to monitor your battery level, however just be sure that when you are buying one from an unknown seller as there are a bunch of dud ones, and other that done include any voltage/current sensing, and the power module is not a device you want failing while in flight as it means you loose power to your autopilot.
Thanks for your time for replying me!
Yes, I realised after buying them, that the XSR was probably not needed.
Can you please have a look at the ebay link of the power module, any thoughts of it?
have a nice weekend!
The one from eBay looks like it’s only the BEC part, and does not have any current/voltage sensor components. We sell one at our shop if you are interested - High Voltage APM Power Module with 3A UBEC - Unmanned Tech UK FPV Shop and should get more stock soon.
Otherwise hope you also have a good weekend 
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I was going to buy that one from your shop but it’s been out of stock for ages… 
The one I linked it does have current sensor according to the description. I hope it won’t fail…
I’ve got another question … It turned out that the charger has no mains so that I have to buy a power supply module… Can you recommend me one matching with my charger and batteries mentioned above. Thanks!!