FPV drone misadventures

Lewis Nelson
Sep 4, 2018 · 4 min read

Several months ago I had the urge to get myself a drone, not just a little house bound drone, but one that I could fly outside with a good range on it. As with any new project, I started researching (mainly watching YouTube videos). I came across racing quadcopters and knew that’s the type of drone I wanted.

I’d then found to get the most out of them you’re better to build them yourself. The information was overwhelming, but I got through it and figured out what I needed in order to get into the air. A transmitter, goggles and all the drone parts. It was going to be relatively expensive, so I ended up buying most of the parts from China. It took me about 4 months to commit to buying a drone. I bought the transmitter on next day delivery to practice on a simulator.

About 3 weeks later I had the parts to build my drone. I decided to dry fit everything a couple of times to see where all the parts went and also to double check I hadn’t forgotten anything. After a few days I started to build it properly. Misadventure number 1:

I’m a noob when it comes to soldering, however I was quite pleased with my first attempt (minus lots of burnt plastic). Everything was in place, it was time to plug the battery in, or so I thought. The battery went on it made some beeping noises then one of the motors began to smoke. I managed to unplug just as it was verging on bursting into flames. I’d burnt out the motor from short circuiting it against the positive lead on the battery…

Another motor was ordered (from China) which took another couple of weeks to arrive. In the meantime I re-soldered everything to a higher standard and configured what I could in betaflight. The motor arrived and I couldn’t wait to get it setup. I done some final configuration in betaflight and blheli and it was ready to fly. I set aside a Friday afternoon for it’s maiden flight to the backdrop of a viaduct. I thought it was a perfect setting to get some awesome footage. In my mind I’d be buzzing around the viaduct doing flips and rolls. In reality it was misadventure number 2:

I put the props on the wrong way at first so it wouldn’t take off. The battery was moving the center of gravity to the back of the drone as well so when it did get off the ground it flew onto the hill behind it. Finally I got the battery sorted and the props around the right way. I was up in the air at last! No goggles yet, just line of sight flying. Something wasn’t right though. The pitch and roll were reversed. I couldn’t figure out why so just swapped the channels on the transmitter. Now the roll was inverted! Ah too late I crashed. Two of the frames screws had sheared and one of the props had sliced a receivers antenna. It was a fix at home job.

I fixed it the same day ready to fly again. Turns out the PCB board was rotated 90 degrees so I had to swap the motor layout. I waited until the next Tuesday to take it out. This time in a different location, but just as picturesque. I’d checked and tested everything, nothing could go wrong this time. I’d got to the spot and unpacked everything. Got the props on, the battery on and was ready for a quick hover to check everything was setup correctly. Misadventure number 3:

I armed the drone and slowly applied the throttle, the drone jumped then stopped and made a few beeping noises. In hindsight this should have been a sign to check it out. Not to worry though, just flick the arm switch and go again. Same result. OK third time lucky! Only this time one of the props flew off and I had no idea where it went. I’m just glad I was at a safe distance. It flew off into the long grass somewhere along with the lock nut. I had spare props, but no more lock nuts.

I’ve ordered some more lock nuts and props. I’m pretty sure I forgot to check the motor directions once I reconfigured them and that’s why one of the props flew off. I’ll check it out later, right now I’m close to giving up on flying a drone. The idea of soaring above the hills and trees is the only thing keeping me going right now. Maybe next time. Fingers crossed the fourth misadventure isn’t as bad as the previous 3.

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