180 Quad Build

This is a build log for my 180 quad.

Main Parts:

• Armattan  Morphite 180
• Armattan F1 FC
• Oso Mini PDB (I would buy the Armattan PDB if I had to do it again. A 5v step-down is not needed with the F1 FC)
• Armattan 1306 3500kv Motors x4
• 5mm Locking Prop Nuts (1306 3500kv motors are all CW)
• Littlebee 20amp ESC x4
• Pololu 12v Step-down
• Piezo Buzzer
• Lemon RX Satellite Receiver (I already have a Spektrum transmitter). I bought the DSM2. Apparently that is the old one. Buy the DSMX version.
• Turnigy nano-tech 1300mAh 4S 45~90C (choose how many you want. You could also do 3S)
• Extra standoff's and bolts for landing gear

Miscellaneous Parts:

• Battery Strap
• Heat Shrink (assorted sizes. I used 1 inch to go around arms to hold ESC's)
• Gemfan 4045 4" Propeller (Many)
• Wire (12awg for battery)
• XT60 connector
• Extra JST pig tails

Tools:

• Soldering Iron
• Solder (Rosin Core)
• Helping Hands
• Solder Sucker (Helps when redo's are needed)
• Tweezers (hobby grade)
• Wire Cutter/Stripper
• Multimeter (Preferably with continuity tester)
• Metric Hex Drivers (I used a 1.5 and 2.0)

Overview

Site I used to purchase items: RCCrazed, RotorGeeks, MultiRotorSuperStore and Amazon

Learn to solder if you do not know how. I did not know how so I watched youtube video's to learn. Then do some practice.

Build

This video helped me a lot: 

The parts that came with my frame do not match the ones in the video. I used the 12mm nylon bolts to hold the PDB. Put them through the bottom and hold them on with the M3 nylon nuts:

The PDB will slide on top of this. Here is a picture of the bottom:

Now you can follow the video to:

• Install the Motors and trim the wire
• Install the ESC's
• Solder to the PDB
• Install the Pololu
• Make and install the battery cable

Here is mine as I was getting started:

The soldering of my Pololu's did not go well. I am assuming this is because my lack of experience. I fried the 5v and could not get rid of a short so I pulled them both off. I connected the battery with the 12v still connected and I saw smoke. I am lucky I didn't break anything else.

I installed the motors the same way as in the video. The only difference is all my motors are CW.

I stacked the 6mm standoff's to mount the F1 FC on top of the PDB:

I'm not sure if this is how you are supposed to do it but it worked. I used the M3 nylon nuts to hold the F1 FC.

Be sure to check your connections as you go. I thought checking with an Ohm's tester was the same as a continuity test. It is not. Once you connect an ESC, Pololu, Controller etc..., the Ohm's test will show a reading when connected to negative and positive. I did find that the the Ohm's test did show a lower reading when connected to negative and positive vs positive and positive or negative and negative. My multimeter does not have a continuity tester.

Install the F1 FC

There is not a lot online about this. It seems everyone is using the Mullet. I installed the right angle header pins for Power, ESC's, Vbat, Buzzer and Telemetry:

Here is how to wire the Lemon RX Satellite to the F1 FC:

I got confused with the wiring because my satellite came with all black wires. It is the same as the ones with colored wires. From left to right: Power (Red), Ground (Black) and Signal (Yellow).

I went through Chris's video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZckH9UeZIk) to setup the F1 FC through Cleanflight.

Binding to the Lemon RX

This is pretty straightforward. Connect the the F1 FC and enter Command line Mode. Enter:

set spektrum_sat_bind = 3

For me the value is 3 because I am using DSM2. Change the value according to your device. See https://github.com/cleanflight/cleanflight/blob/master/docs/Spektrum%20bind.md

save

The will reboot the device. Now all you need to do is unplug the F1 FC and plug it back in. You should see the Lemon RX led flashing. Now you can bind with your transmitter.

Adjustments

PID

I needed to change these a little. I had some bouncing when I hit the throttle:

Rudder and Throttle

I needed to reverse my Rudder and Ailerons. On the DX6 this is done in Server Setup>Reverse. This can be verified in the Receiver section.

Minimum Throttle

Make sure your Minimum Throttle is equal to or less than you minimum throttle in the receiver section. If it is not, you won't be able to arm. This can be modified on the DX6 in Servo Setup>Travel. I had to change my to 127.

Modes

Angle and Horizon mode on Aux 2 which is D on my DX6 (0 is manual):

Beeper on Aux 1 which is A on my DX6 (1 is off):

Finally:

Here is everything together and working:

This was a challenging but rewarding experience.

Whats Next

FPV gear and OSD.