Techpods in stock. orders yours now!
Introducing the Techpod
A Small Unmanned aerial vehicle designed with the hobbyist in mind. Its long wing span and light weight foam and composite structure giving it unmatched endurance performance in its weight class. With light weight and durable EPO foam construction the techpod is not only resistant to damage but also comparatively inexpensive to replace.
- Cruise Speed: 32knots
- Max speed – 55knots
- stall speed @4.5lbs about 11 knots
- Climb Rate – 2000 ft/min
- Wingspan = 102 in
- wing area = 605 sq in
- Wing loading = 1.191 lbs per sq ft @ 5 lbs
- Fuselage Length = 45 in
- Dry weight = 2.75 lbs*
- loaded weight =5.0lbs (2.25 lbs of battery/payload)
- EPO Wings and fusalage contruction
- Carbon Fiber Tail Boom and wing spars
- flight times well in excess of 1 hour. make that 2 hours!
- assembly time 5 hours
Required for flight, not included:
- Motor : E-flight Power 10 brushless in runner
- ESC : Castle creation Thunderbird-54
- Batteries: Thunderpower Pro Light v2 3S 2600 mah x2 wired parallel
- Servos:
- 4x hitec HS-65 (ailerons,flaps)
- 2x hitech hs-82 (elevator, rudder)
- 2x HS-55 (pan,tilt)
- TX & RX Spectrum DX-7
- Prop: APC E11x7
- Camera: CCD Killer Camera Micro NTSC Camera
- or equivalent components
what kind of clear dome do you get with the kit? glass, acrylic, polycarbonate? How thick is it?
It is clear acrylic. It is 1/8 inch thick There will be replacements available when the techpods start shipping.
Thanks
Wayne
would you be willing to sell one now? The only place on the web that sells clear domes is microdomes.com
Is that you’re source? I hope not, because they surely take a huge chunk of the profit margin away!
Yes that is my source. The factory in China attempted several times to reproduce them but nothing made the grade. I was able to cut a deal for $15 each because of the high quantity. Was not willing to comprise. Cost me a bunch of $ I don’t really have but what’s a guy to do? Searched high and low on alibaba no luck.
Did you mean sell you a dome or a techpod? If dome the answer is no for the time. And in the future only techpod owners will get replacements at $15 as promised.
whats the different between the two kits
The “kit” needs assembly. The ready to fly one has all the components and is fully assembled and ready to fly.
cool setup, what’s the camera triggering options here?
Camera trigger options would be up to whatever electronics you decide to use. I just make the airframe.
From the drawing it appears that the motor shaft is near horizontal and considerably above the center of mass. Past experience with pushers in this configuration shows that the thrust vector needs to be angled down a lot more to avoid pushing the nose down. How are you addressing that issue?
I have 2.5 degrees of down thrust dialed in to the motor. yes not having the thrust line centered on the drag line is non optimal however some of my design goals lead to compromises. things like pusher prop to get the prop out from in front of the camera, having the prop protected on landing as well as allowing clearance for a large prop for efficiency all lead me to this set up. I have the plane dialed in pretty good and it is highly stable given different throttle setting.
What is the waiting period for a RTF version once ordered? 1 week? 2 weeks?
I will need about 3 weeks to complete the first round of RTFs from kickstarter. After that I should be able to get them out in 1-2 weeks.
Is it still possible to order this airframe? The kickstarter project is finished and fully funded, or I didn’t find an option there. Are you planning to manufacture these planes after you ship all airframes funded through kickstarter? Where can I buy one now? It is so frustrating that this plane went under my radar and now there are no left((
I have plenty for sale. right here hobbyuav shop just click on that link and you will find the store.
thanks
Hi, is it possible to add a gps chip to this UAV?
yes, I fly with GPS, autopilot,FPV camera and Tx. you can learn more at diydrones
Will you be posting an updated list of components or are you fully satisfied with those you’ve listed so far? And is the recommended E-Flite Power 10 an inrunner or outrunner? The motor your link goes to is an outrunner.
I do have some different set ups I recommend. for high endurance you have motor running a 6 cell lipo. yes the power 10 is an outrunner.
What motor would you run with the 6 cell Wayne. I have a power 10 in stock
http://www.foxtechfpv.com/all-multirotors-products-foxtech-multirotor-motor-c-79_136.html
Is it possible to have a assemble version with Metal Serovs, Motor, ESC ?
How hard will it be to install FPV gear if Ordered Assembled from you guys?
Yes I will begin taking orders for custom ready to fly builds in a couple of weeks.
Is it possible to buy it directly from you and deliver it to Germany? rctech.se is out of supply and it cost really a lot of money. 270€ is 360$. This is quite much compared to your price.
OK I’ve been taking with my Distributor in the EU.He agreed to lower his price.
Wow, that was fast. Thank you very much. Now I’ve bought one.
Can I order the kit directly from you, if I live in Germany? The Kit from http://www.rctech.se is out of supply and it is quite expensive. 270€ = 360$. In your shop it’s just 230$. That is really a difference.
I want to mount a down looking GoPro on board, will it fit in the nose dome, or would significant modification be required to look down thru the belly?
Will spare parts be available?
there are accommodations to put a downward looking camera in the belly.
Hi,
With a 250g camera for mapping, what’s the expected Flight Time?
Is it possible to fit a Maxamps 3S 11000mah? 158mm x 59mm x 30mm, 620g
I could’nt find your e-mail, can you please post it here so I can ask some questions directly?
Thanks
Yes the techpod can handle the 250 gram camera. You can get 2 hours flight times with the right battery. As for the battery you specify, it may not fit with that camera at the same time. You may want to look at two smaller batteries to give you more flexibility. You will need to consider the CG when designing your layout.
And a e-mail that I can contact? I didn’t found it (only the australia one)
Info@hobbyuav.com
Sent you an e-mail, thanks
Wayne,
I’d like to order, and noticed the icon for Google wallet as an accepted form of payment. I could not see where I could select this during checkout. I’d like to use Google wallet or Amazon Payments. (Basically, anything but Paypal)
Thanks,
Jeff
jeff, i can send you an amazon payments request.
Thanks, Wayne! Go ahead and send the request…
Sir, I absolutely love this model and am considering it for a long-range FPV application.
One question:
What is the range of motion of the camera and pan/tilt you are using with the TechPod? Can it turn 90 degrees to look directly to the left or right?
Thank you so much. If not exactly 90deg, very close to that. I will also depend on how you set it up.
Awesome, I’ll be placing an order for one shortly. The specs on this model beats anything else I can find.
Hey thanks. Feal free to drop me a line if you have any questions.
Hi, is there any ETA for the composite version? Thanks
Working on it now. Hope to have something in a few weeks