I am new to drones but I have read a lot of literature on the working and selection of components for custom made drones. I had a question particular to this drone kit: DJI F450. I wish to attach a roughly 1 kg or less payload (in addition to the drone’s own weight; including the frame,batteries and other components). I’ll be using 2210/920 kV DJI motors with 10’’ propellers. What max payload can this configuration for this drone kit allow me to carry?
If this is not possible, then can someone suggest me a cheap alternative drone(<$1000) that allows me a 1 kg payload with mission planner capabilities?
Ignore the videos. An F450 or F550 are not serious machines. They cannot lift those kinds of weights in a meaningful way unless you want 3 minute flight times. Trust me I build heavy lift F450s in the day. There is not enough space for payload either.
An S900 is the way to go. Cheap used.
If you are in the US, I have a heavy lift compact hex and a monster DJI E1200 powered quad that you can buy if you are interested. They were build for mapping.
Essentially the same answer you got on the RCG forum. As many have I’ve built several quadcopters on these cheap frames from 3S to 6S power and they are very poor at handling a payload.I have one now on 6S and 13" props only to play around with (no payload). Even if you plan the build properly to result in a hover at ~50% throttle the flex in the arms and frame at heavier load is a problem. I have used the cheap plastic arms, aluminum extended arms and G10 extended arms.
A brick is a safe payload as you lose nothing but the cheap quad when it crashes.
If you do decide to buy one of the kits anyway don’t make the mistake of using collet prop adapter motors that the cheapest kits come with. Avoid the generic ESC’s also. Buy the $19 frame kit and source the motors and ESC’s separately. Or save yourself a lot of pain and buy one of Marc’s craft!
4 mentions of “cheap”. Better get out my thesaurus
hi @Shuja_Amjad
if you want to carry payload with cheap frames don’t mistake and don’t use f450 , its using simple cheap plastic arm and it will increase your vibration when you install payload (as my experience) and you will have many problem with this build
i think best cheap frame to do this is S500 frame it have carbon electrode inside and can carry about 1.5kg payload per arm without any danger of braking (as i tested) BUT its not meaning that you can carry 6 KG with this frame i’m always afraid of center Plate
but for carrying 1KG its safe to use S500 and you will have less vibration vs F450
also there is some super IMPORTANT advice from @dkemxr
Hi guys, does it mean, that if one wants to include not payload, but a few more non-standard devices like stereo camera, companion computer, lidar, etc. each probably ~ 200g, this will be also a problem or at least it will affect the flight?
no 200g is not a payload but its depend on your motors
if you are on 1:2 thrust ratio it will affect your flight , if currently you are on more its bad to add 200g , if you are on less don’t worry
for example :
i have 2 f450 with 1820g weight with camera and gimbal, vibration is about 6 and flight is totally ok
im using air gear 450 with 1100g thrust per motors at 4s
config:
f450 frame
cuav pixhawk with m8n gps and other in pack like power module , external led and …
genc ace 5500 mah 4s
t-motor air gear 450 pack
tarot t4-3d gimbal
xiaomi yi action camera
tx-5d video tx
100mw hollybro telemetry
So i found this s500 frame sold by an online retailer in my country:
Can you confirm if this is the quad you are referring to?
Also can you suggest me the combination of components which will ensure a takeoff payload of 1 kg? (As in which motors to use+esc+battery)
I seriously advise you to ADVERTISE your needs in your own country first. A lot of people had this spec of hexacopter for carrying heavy cameras a few years ago – not sure about Pakistan though. The advent of the DJI Phantom 4 Pro and Mavic and Inspire means they are mostly gathering dust.
You may find one cheaply and much higher spec than you can buy. Try it before you buy all the parts yourself. The frame you are looking at is still not very good – it would probably work though.
Edit – what is your payload? A gimbal, a hard mounted mapping camera?
Yes it is for seeding. I need the drone for a research project. Currently the mechanism is in development. I’ll finalize it after I find a suitable drone to carry the 1 kg weight
