Hobbyking S500 Frame Review

S500 Quadcopter

I am building a new quadcopter for higher quality photography using the hobbyking s500 frame, which is similar to the sk450, but slightly larger.  It is now flying and I can comment on its pros and cons.

Pro

• Slightly stiffer arms than Sk450
• Plenty of space for electronics
• Higher landing gear to allow for camera gimbal
• Adjustable mount for gimbal - can shift gimbal forward and backward 
• Integrated pcb for power distribution 
• Spare parts available
• Low cost 

Con

• Landing gear not too sturdy 
• Landing gear too low to use included adjustable mount with 2 axis gimbal, have to hard mount to pcb

Note Top of Landing Gear, too flexible, not well attached to frame

I used sunnysky 2212 motors and they are much better than the turnigy motors on the SK450 - powerful, quiet, less vibration, smaller. I was also able to use my pixhawk controller which would not interface properly to the turnigy plush ESCs when I tried it on the SK450. For the S500 build, I used low cost Spider ESCs with SimonK firmware, which worked well with the pixhawk. Carbon fiber props and the previously reviewed Flysky i10 radio rounded out the build. 

First outdoor test flight is shown below. 

Summary 

The S500 is a good frame for a camera quadcopter, but it is not recommended for a beginner builder. Modifications are needed for camera mounting, the landing gear, and perhaps for power wiring so it helps if you have some experience with building  quads. 

S500 fully assembled with Gimbal, Telemetry

Latest flights - SK450 Deadcat

Got three flights in last week and the quadcopter is still in one piece.  The video from the quad is cleaner than before as there is less vibration, but still a bit of jello.

Back Up and Running

My Deadcat SK450 is back running and as well as ever, the youtbe proof is above.  The modifications I made:

1. Replaced 3DR Pixhawk and GPS with Hobbyking Micro APM and no-name GPS.
2. Removed 3DR power monitoring module.
3. Used Spektrum DX6i radio and DX610 receiver.
4. New landing gear shock absorbers (see picture).

The finished unit is shown below:

Reconstructed Quad

The other mods are shown in the following pictures:

Deadcat SK450 Test Flight

Flying Flowerpot 2.0 -- SK450 Quadcopter Rebuilt

Flying Flowerpot 2.0

I finished the Flying Flowerpot quadcopter rebuild and had a successful basement test flight in the new configuration.  Changes since the last blog posting:

1. Moved the camera mount again, to the upper level but with a new mounting bracket so the camera is out front between the props.
2. Moved the receiver slightly.
3. Tidied up the wires.

The following photos show the Flying Flowerpot 2.0:

Top view, no flower pot

Note the receiver attached to top level with double sided foam tape

New camera mount

Front view

Rear View

First Flights with Camera

I managed to get some quadcopter test flights done with my Veho VCC-005 action camera attached, both indoors and outdoors.  You can see the results in the attached Youtube video.  I also checked out the Loiter and Althold modes by triggering them from the transmitter while in flight and they seemed to work well.

Lessons from First Quadcopter Build

I learned a few things from building my first quadcopter drone.

1. The USB port is very fragile, attach a permanent short extender cable to connect to your PC.  Otherwise, you will be buying a new controller.
2. You need to take time to think as you assemble the drone.  There are lots of ways of attaching components and taking some time to think will yield a better result.  Spending time with the Mission Controller application will help you set up your drone, understand how it will work, and allow you to test some of the functions before flying.
3. The best places to get pieces are online stores like Amazon and Hobbyking, Home Depot, and your local hobby shop.
4. Nylon cable ties are a great way to attach things to the quadcopter frame.  Why use bolts when a simple tie will do?
5. Learn how the controller works before flying.  There are some modes like "althold" that sound useful but should only be triggered after flying.
6. Make a tethered test setup to test fly your quad.
7. Use the Wiki, google, youtube, and manufacturers sites to find solutions to problems or helpful tutorials.
8. Get a good soldering iron and learn to solder.

Building and Free-Flying Quadcopter Part 13

Time to see if the quadcopter really flies.  You can see the successful test flight in the basement above, but the lighting is not great and Youtube has further degraded the quality to potato-camera level.  The quad flies well but is a bit sensitive to throttle and needed some work on securing the battery.  The not so smooth flying technique is the pilot's fault as I was trying to keep it away from the ceiling.  The hovering is pretty good and the next step will be some test flights outside when there is no wind.