Author Archives: deuce4

And the winner for the best porta-quad comment is Kevin Ryan, for his poetic entry:
“When the need for speed,
need for carrying ease and
need to fly in the breeze come together
– its Porta-Quads for speedy, easy, breezy flying.
Get One today!!”

For complete list of entries, see FPV (Multi-Rotor, Heli and Fixed wing) Facebook Page (a good group to join!)

Other Entries (samples):

I think the best reason for myself to have Porta-quads compact folding frame would be the ability for me to get into FPV and to explore new areas of my town that I may not be able to get into myself. Plus it would be something to show my friends what it really could be like and get them into quads and FPV.

My use for a Porta-quad would be to secretly take an FPV multicopter on family vacations and go fly before everyone wakes up. It’s so small that it easily fits in baggage!

I’d like one so when the wife tells me I’m not allowed out to play I can sneak it out in my pocket

I have a very very small car and i am in great need for a very very small quad..

I am a cyclist, and I am travel to Poland and threw Europe this summer with my bicycle, I would love to bring a quad with me on the whole trip.

Would love to have something to fit in a pack for fpv on the go well traveling florida for those hard to get to flying spots ! Plus it’s got some sexy curves.

The most practical reason for having a folding quad is so that it can fold up in a crash and Sasquatch deterrence. It is a proven fact, Sasquatches avoid folding quads. A friend of mine has a folding quad and all of the times we’ve been out flying, we’ve never seen a Sasquatch. Please help me stay safe from Sasquatches and send me this frame!

I need a Porta-quad because I am attempting to put together a team for search and rescue of lost persons. I work for a fire department near Atlanta Georgia, USA. This concept of UAV will give me the capabilities of a more compact frame to allow for packing and hiking through wilderness or urban areas to find the proper deployment location.

Porta-Quad Build Log

Contributed by Adam Wilkinson, Tasmanian Porta-Quad Pilot.

Porta-Quad Instructions (old)

Please see this page for the latest information.

Favourite 4-in-1 12A Esc Review

Favourite Sky III 12A

UPDATE APRIL 2015. New Firmware Files here!

The common wisdom is that 4-in-1 ESC’s (Electronic Speed Control) are to be avoided, the primary reason cited that if one ESC is faulty, the whole thing has to be replaced. I am sure that was true in the earlier days of quadcopter tinkering, but I find current ESC technology quite reliable, and the convenience and simplicity of wiring a 4-in-1 ESC trumps. Beside, these things are relatively cheap ($35) that replacement won’t bust the bank.

I have found the Favourite 4-in-1 12A ESC reliable for use with 1806 and 2204 2300KV motors, with very smooth transitions in speed. They are pre-loaded with good firmware (a custom BLHeli firmware, according to the manufacturer), but the firmware can be updated, and the settings changed through a custom USB linker device available from Favourite (note: the spelling of the company Favourite, sometimes appears as Favorite as well).

USB Linker for Favourite

The USB linker shows up as a “Human Interface Device” in Windows, rather than the typical COM port, which requires the use of the custom Favourite “Multi_Brushless 1.20 USBLink” software. The ESC and the linker appear to be SiLabs hardware.

To update the firmware or to change the settings of a 4-in-1 ESC, there are a few tricks–each of the 4 internal ESCs needs to be updated individually (this applies to all 4-in-1 ESCs on the market). Below shows the procedure for attaching ESC cables.

Overall, a nice tidy way to control a mini-quadcopter’s motors. Highly recommended.

~~FIRMWARE FILES HERE (current as of 1/1/2015)~~ OLD– SEE LINK ABOVE