RC aerial vehicles: because we don't have flying brooms

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Hobbies, Crafts, & Houses > RC aerial vehicles: because we don't have flying brooms

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Golluk: Oct 22, 2008

Got myself one of those ImmersionRC power meters. I have a number of various antenna and Vtx, so it will be interesting to measure and compare them. And to find the best channels to use.

One thing I quickly found with that though, was it does take some time to set both the VTx and power meter to each channel/freq. And seems to read a higher if you round up vs down to the nearest 50mhz. So 5725mhz, with the power meter set to 5700 might be 30mW, but 34mW set at 5750. I assume this is due to the non flat/linear response to frequencies, and them shifting the curve up or down when they calibrated at those 50Mhz steps.

I was kinda hoping to just flip through the channels and bands on the VTx, and just see which measured the highest Db/watt. But as they mention, it's a power meter, not a spectrum analyzer.

Speaking of, anyone know if there is a cheap 5.8ghz spectrum analyzer like that 2.4ghz lantian? The closest I know of is that RF explorer, but that runs in the $200-300 range.

# ? Mar 13, 2019 14:01

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# ? Jun 3, 2024 20:18

CapnBry: Jul 15, 2002; I got this goin'; Grimey Drawer

Golluk posted:

Got myself one of those ImmersionRC power meters. I have a number of various antenna and Vtx, so it will be interesting to measure and compare them. And to find the best channels to use.

I have one of those too that I got for testing 2.4GHz transmitter output and it is only really useful for testing if you hook it directly to the transmitter with a cable and not trying to sniff it with the included little antenna. Getting the power meter's antenna just perfectly aligned with a transmitter antenna is a great way to compare numbers because just 5mm in any direction and your reading could be 20-30% different.

It would be nice though if the USB charging port also dumped the data and accepted commands to switch bands and modes so it could do sweeps and stuff like you want but it is still a pretty neat device for troubleshooting.

# ? Mar 15, 2019 20:59

CapnBry: Jul 15, 2002; I got this goin'; Grimey Drawer

My Rhythmic Crotch posted:

iNav is also very wonky about servo trim, last I checked anyway. It does that weird averaging thing where it tries to guess what your servo trims are set to. It's just dumb.

I always thought iNAV wanted your transmitter trims to be zeroed since "trim" received in any stabilized flight mode will be interpreted as a rotational rate. Two ticks of down trim on the elevator may make you fly straight in manual mode but in horizon mode it is "continuously pitch up at 3 degrees per second". I get around this by flying in MANUAL (aka PASSTHROUGH) and getting all my trims set, iterating if they are so far off that I need to physically adjust the surfaces. Once I have that all worked out, I just enter the center points into the configurator and zero the transmitter. I know they have a SERVO AUTOTRIM mode but that requires a dedicated switch since you flip it on and hold the stick to keep you flying straight and level for at least 2 seconds and it averages the stick position to set the new center points. I say dedicated switch because you need to keep the switch on until you land and disarm and use stick commands to save.

For cheap flight controllers / stabilization I use the Omnibus F4 Pro V2, which has gyro, baro, current sensing, OSD, microsd, 4 servos, 2 motors, and 3 UARTs and I've gotten them from time to time for $15-$18 on Aliexpress or eBay. Add a BN-180 GPS (no compass) for $12 more and you've got more fixed wing drone technology than many of the world's air forces. Plus it gives you fun blackbox logs to look at and see how many deceleration Gs your crap landings inflict on your model!

Unrelated, I 3D printed some landing gear for my DTFB Mustang, since the scoop on the bottom makes a fantastic arresting hook if you don't have landing gear. Educational experience: don't mount the landing gear directly on the CG mark.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxXZoKFdON0

# ? Mar 15, 2019 21:22

Corky Romanovsky: Oct 1, 2006; Soiled Meat

Some of the craftier designs cause the landing gear wheel to touch forward of the mounting point. Been thinking about landing gear a lot lately and have some family-free days coming up, doubt I'll get beyond cleaning up my workspace though...

# ? Mar 16, 2019 00:18

Golluk: Oct 22, 2008

The fact that prop didn't shatter the first time it hit cement, tells me that plane needs a bigger engine :P I do like the rubber band shocks though.

For the RF power meter, I just finished checking which frequency on my M80 quad works best with the Airblade antenna I use on my VRx. Mounted it to a solid fixture to keep it in place while I changed the frequency to match what I was setting the M80 VTx to. Best seemed to be 5740 at -7.5db. Worst was 5945 at 12.5db. I realize at best it gives me what I should use for that specific antenna. The VTx could have a higher/more efficient frequency, but as you said, I'd have to attach it directly to find that, then try to find an antenna with the best tuning at that freq. And maybe there is more black magic in the VRx that would change things again.

I think the strangest thing I found though, is just how off the frequency chart in the M80 manual is. It claims to have 4 bands, 8 channels, some of which are duplicate. What I painstakingly found, was it actually had 6 bands. The 6th having only one frequency I would call flyable, and half I couldn't find anything even close enough to get an image. Other than the band order not being the same, and that mystery 6th band, it matches up to the EV800 VRx I use.

It does actually have some data you can get over USB with telnet, but it was pretty limited from what I recall. Mostly read, no write. Being able to switch frequency over usb would be very handy.

# ? Mar 16, 2019 02:37

CapnBry: Jul 15, 2002; I got this goin'; Grimey Drawer

Golluk posted:

The fact that prop didn't shatter the first time it hit cement, tells me that plane needs a bigger engine :P I do like the rubber band shocks though.

Haha my prop budget would be sky high if i had motors powerful enough to shatter props on a ground strike. The rubber band shocks are neat but they sort of operate in reverse of how they should. It takes the most force for them to move from their fully extended position and it takes less and less force the more they absorb despite the rubber band getting tighter. When in full shock-absorbed mode, 100% of the force is trying to pull the wheel forward and 0% of it is pushing back against the ground.

quote:

It does actually have some data you can get over USB with telnet, but it was pretty limited from what I recall. Mostly read, no write. Being able to switch frequency over usb would be very handy.

Oh snap see here I didn't even think that they would have a USB interface for it but the ImmersionRC people clearly are pros. If you connect to it over serial/USB, you can set the frequency with 'f#' where # starts at 0=32MHz and goes up to 15=6000MHz. 'd' and 'e' read back the dbm, 'd' being average and 'e' being peak. There's also 'p' which reads back like 1923.11234 (not frequency specific but goes down the higher the receive power) and 's#' which sets the span (0=10ms, 4=160ms). So it does look like it would be possible to make an app to build a crude spectrum analyzer from it after all!

# ? Mar 16, 2019 15:19

CrazyLittle: Sep 11, 2001; Clapping Larry

ImplicitAssembler posted:

Timecop also has a major grudge over betaflight for years and should be taken with a grain of salt. While he should certainly be credited for the initial work, he has frankly been irrelevant since then.

If by "grudge" you mean Dominic from cleanflight (not betaflight) regularly stole other people's FOSS code without credit, then yes.

# ? Mar 23, 2019 07:04

evil_bunnY: Apr 2, 2003

Good thing cleanflight is completely irrelevant these days then. Last time I checked they forked BF and then proceeded to do nothing.

# ? Mar 23, 2019 09:15

i own every Bionicle: Oct 23, 2005; cstm ttle? kthxbye

Using a Taranis, is it possible to control a servo output from a telemetry input? If so, is a lua script the way to go? I have an airplane with a gyro that has pretty simple gain control (one channel controls the gain, it does not have full PID control) and I�d like to reduce gain as the airspeed increases.

# ? Mar 23, 2019 16:42

Ambihelical Hexnut: Aug 5, 2008

Whoop updates:
Mobula 7 still rocking hard indoors on 1s. I really enjoy flying it; key change was the V3 frame which is 900x stronger than the other two versions. I finally broke one motor after hundreds of crashes and ordered a replacement set on Amazon, who accidentally sent me two sets. Sweet.

I have a beta65 lite which runs bayang protocol and bought the $9 toy transmitter from China. It works surprisingly okay, makes a good set for the kids to crash.

My fleet of 2 dozen whoop batts has had several come to their end in the last month. I think the only reason is use, since I treat them all the same, but some packs just won�t get the mobula in the air anymore while others are full strength.

Great fun! I shouldn�t have gotten a whoop so early in my career because their idiosyncrasies and my inexperience really turned me off for a while.

# ? Mar 23, 2019 18:39

xsf421: Feb 17, 2011

Ambihelical Hexnut posted:

Whoop updates:
Mobula 7 still rocking hard indoors on 1s. I really enjoy flying it; key change was the V3 frame which is 900x stronger than the other two versions. I finally broke one motor after hundreds of crashes and ordered a replacement set on Amazon, who accidentally sent me two sets. Sweet.

I have a beta65 lite which runs bayang protocol and bought the $9 toy transmitter from China. It works surprisingly okay, makes a good set for the kids to crash.

My fleet of 2 dozen whoop batts has had several come to their end in the last month. I think the only reason is use, since I treat them all the same, but some packs just won�t get the mobula in the air anymore while others are full strength.

Great fun! I shouldn�t have gotten a whoop so early in my career because their idiosyncrasies and my inexperience really turned me off for a while.

My UR65 is finally dying after a year of being slammed into concrete walls at full speed, so I'm seriously considering picking up a mobula Monday. How is it inside on 1s? I flew my friend's on 2s and it was a bit twitchy and fast for me to fly inside.

# ? Mar 23, 2019 21:38

Ambihelical Hexnut: Aug 5, 2008

I think it�s fabulous inside on 1s. I posted a while ago that I originally hated it because I had only tried it on 2s and I�m just not a good enough pilot to do that indoors, but 1s was a revelation because I had great power but it is docile enough to control.

# ? Mar 23, 2019 22:13

Golluk: Oct 22, 2008

I'm temped to get something like the mobula7 or trashcan. I've been enjoying flying a brushed M80. Sadly my replacement frame got a split in it when I let some friends try flying it indoors with hardwood floors. It was worse than me flying acro on full weights, and I had them on angle mode with reduced reduced weights. The whole too much throttle, up into the ceiling, oh crap, cut throttle, drop to the floor sort of thing. Of course I did nail the edge of a door flying fast, and attempted a roll in acro.

# ? Mar 24, 2019 17:53

CapnBry: Jul 15, 2002; I got this goin'; Grimey Drawer

i own every Bionicle posted:

Using a Taranis, is it possible to control a servo output from a telemetry input? If so, is a lua script the way to go? I have an airplane with a gyro that has pretty simple gain control (one channel controls the gain, it does not have full PID control) and I�d like to reduce gain as the airspeed increases.

You can do this with a mixer LUA script. Completely untested, even for syntax but here's the gist.

code:

local function run(speed)
  -- return between -1024 and +1024
  -- this example returns 100% (1024) at speed=0
  -- and 25% (-512) at speed=150
  return 1024 - ((1024+512) * (speed / 150.0))
end

return { 
  input = { {"your_speed_telemetry_name", SOURCE} },
  output = { "what_to_call_your_output_except_limited_to_4_characters" },
  run = run
}

Then set the MIXER source for whatever channel you want to output it on to what_to_call_your_output_except_limited_to_4_characters. You can also add inputs of type VALUE to allow you to set the max speed and reduction right on the radio (theoretically, I've never tried this) without editing the LUA.

CapnBry fucked around with this message at 20:31 on Mar 25, 2019

# ? Mar 25, 2019 20:29

i own every Bionicle: Oct 23, 2005; cstm ttle? kthxbye

CapnBry posted:

You can do this with a mixer LUA script. Completely untested, even for syntax but here's the gist.
code:
local function run(speed)
  -- return between -1024 and +1024
  -- this example returns 100% (1024) at speed=0
  -- and 25% (-512) at speed=150
  return 1024 - ((1024+512) * (speed / 150.0))
end

return { 
  input = { {"your_speed_telemetry_name", SOURCE} },
  output = { "what_to_call_your_output_except_limited_to_4_characters" },
  run = run
}
Then set the MIXER source for whatever channel you want to output it on to what_to_call_your_output_except_limited_to_4_characters. You can also add inputs of type VALUE to allow you to set the max speed and reduction right on the radio (theoretically, I've never tried this) without editing the LUA.

Thank you! I did some searching and couldn�t find anything like this even though I knew it should be possible.

# ? Mar 25, 2019 23:28

You Am I: May 20, 2001; Me @ your poasting

Finally built my first FPV - an Eachine Tyro79

It is a very cheap model, and sadly was missing some parts from the kit, like a cable to connect the camera to the flight controller (fixed by hacking one of the connectors on one of the supplied camera cables) and some nylon standoffs. It was a little tough to build as there were no build instructions. Thankfully there is a few YouTube videos covering this model.

However it flies, and will give a good run on the weekend.

# ? Apr 5, 2019 07:53

CapnBry: Jul 15, 2002; I got this goin'; Grimey Drawer

i own every Bionicle posted:

Thank you! I did some searching and couldn�t find anything like this even though I knew it should be possible.

I actually saw some changes coming in the opentx source code to allow the use of telemetry items as mixer sources so this might be all built into the radio UI by next release. I could also be misinterpreting the code changes though.

I have also been thinking about building an FPV quad. I mean, I've got a transmitter and some micro receivers, that's like 90% of what I need right? :v:

That Eachine Tyro79 looks cool but I think I'd want something that can carry a gopro too. I'm struggling to keep myself from dropping $100-200 to just cruise around and look at things and possibly spy on girls, when I think I really prefer fixed wing flying. I do like putting things together though...

# ? Apr 6, 2019 14:10

Corky Romanovsky: Oct 1, 2006; Soiled Meat

Fixed-wing, huh. Probably have a mishmash of parts, too. How well do quadcopter flight controllers do with different motors, props, and moment arms?

# ? Apr 6, 2019 14:25

xsf421: Feb 17, 2011

Got my mobula7 in, seems to get some pretty decent battery life on 1s (GNB 450mah). I'm somehow even getting ~4 minutes running 2s on the batteries that came with it, happymodel branded 250mahs. This thing is a riot on 2s.

# ? Apr 6, 2019 22:35

CapnBry: Jul 15, 2002; I got this goin'; Grimey Drawer

Corky Romanovsky posted:

Fixed-wing, huh. Probably have a mishmash of parts, too. How well do quadcopter flight controllers do with different motors, props, and moment arms?

Yeah I've got a couple of F4 flight controllers, some micro receivers, FPV goggles, but not enough same motors or ESCs to just hot glue two paint stirrers to fashion a frame and give it a try.

I have used iNav in little nano goblins that weigh 200g and bigger 1400mm wingspan models and there's not much configuration to change between planes. You just set cruise throttle (or don't) then set how fast the model can pitch, roll, and yaw, rough out some pid numbers using that and you're done. I usually take it up once on manual mode to measure the rates and center the servos, then enter the observed values and we're good to go. I think fixed wing are really easy to tune compared to multirotors so you just need to be in the right ballpark to get decent stabilization. I mostly use it for being able to go into loiter mode because I've stood in another red ant pile in the field or forgot I left the transmitter in low power mode.

# ? Apr 7, 2019 12:36

My Rhythmic Crotch: Jan 13, 2011

FFffffuuuckkkk USPS

I've had this toothpick build sitting here, waiting on $80 worth of unobtanium 1103 motors to come from china. USPS lost them somewhere between california and here :argh:

# ? Apr 7, 2019 18:17

Leandros: Dec 14, 2008

Finally finished building everything and fitting it on my frame (had to put the runcam pcb on the outside of the frame with some foam around it :shobon:

), only to have the goddamn battery wire to the 4in1 ESC break off. These fuckers are an absolute nightmare to solder as they just suck all the heat right away from where it needs to be. Before that happened though, the drat thing just spun and shut off right after takeoff. Any common causes to this, aside from prop/motor direction? They're all spinning correctly...
e:

Leandros fucked around with this message at 21:59 on Apr 8, 2019

# ? Apr 8, 2019 21:54

Slash: Apr 7, 2011

Leandros posted:

Finally finished building everything and fitting it on my frame (had to put the runcam pcb on the outside of the frame with some foam around it ), only to have the goddamn battery wire to the 4in1 ESC break off. These fuckers are an absolute nightmare to solder as they just suck all the heat right away from where it needs to be. Before that happened though, the drat thing just spun and shut off right after takeoff. Any common causes to this, aside from prop/motor direction? They're all spinning correctly...
e:

Trick for soldering Power Cables to PDB's is a hot soldering iron, turn it up by 50 degrees than your normal temp.

You could have the motor numbering wrong. Check that the motor numbers match the picture in Betaflight. You can do this in betaflight by spinning each motor individually in the motors tab (PROPS OFF!!!).

Another option which would cause this is Flight Controller orientation , move the quad around and check that the model in betaflight moves the same (i.e. tilting front down causes the picture to also tilt front down). If not there's an orientation setting you can change.

# ? Apr 10, 2019 09:33

evil_bunnY: Apr 2, 2003

Leandros posted:

Any common causes to this, aside from prop/motor direction? They're all spinning correctly...

Motor numbering and FC orientation. One good system check before first flight is to to put the propless quad on a smooth surface, then arm and give it yaw commands (it should yaw the right way) then roll/pitch commands (you'll see the motors accelerating).

evil_bunnY fucked around with this message at 09:40 on Apr 10, 2019

# ? Apr 10, 2019 09:37

BurntCornMuffin: Jan 9, 2009

CapnBry posted:

I have also been thinking about building an FPV quad. I mean, I've got a transmitter and some micro receivers, that's like 90% of what I need right? That Eachine Tyro79 looks cool but I think I'd want something that can carry a gopro too. I'm struggling to keep myself from dropping $100-200 to just cruise around and look at things and possibly spy on girls, when I think I really prefer fixed wing flying. I do like putting things together though...

Funny enough, I'm thinking of building a 1s fpv fixed wing with tiny whoop parts I have lying around. It's a bit daunting, though, as I haven't seen any working examples. I'm no aeronautical engineer, so I have no idea what I'm doing.

# ? Apr 10, 2019 19:09

Slash: Apr 7, 2011

BurntCornMuffin posted:

Funny enough, I'm thinking of building a 1s fpv fixed wing with tiny whoop parts I have lying around. It's a bit daunting, though, as I haven't seen any working examples. I'm no aeronautical engineer, so I have no idea what I'm doing.

https://itchythumbs.co.uk/product/tiny-wiener-tiny-wing

# ? Apr 11, 2019 10:23

BurntCornMuffin: Jan 9, 2009

Slash posted:

https://itchythumbs.co.uk/product/tiny-wiener-tiny-wing

That is a pretty good start, hopefully swapping out that motor for a brushed 6x15 with at least 15000kv driving 31mm props will still be okay.

How much stock should I take in this Wing Cube Loading calculator for determining performance characteristics? It looks like both that tiny wing is (guesstimating, since they didn't give wing surface) about 15g/dm^2, which I've gleaned is hard to fly for those new to fixed wing, and I saw some other popular wings (like the RMRC Nano Goblin) that have even heavier cubic wing loads. Is there a scale adjustment, or is it more of a really subjective thing that I'm caring about too much?

For the wing shape, I had read that delta wings are more of a supersonic thing, and that a better subsonic wing shape would be elliptical or at least a tapered rectangular shape, but that was in the context of full size aircraft. Does that also hold at this scale? Is there a performance benefit for deltas in flying wings, or do manufacturers just do it to look cool?

What's a good way to estimate what sort of cruising airspeed my motor/airframe combination will give me? Also, do super-high kv motors, like the ones I have lying around from my tiny whoops have an adverse effect on fixed wings?

Am I overthinking this?

# ? Apr 11, 2019 16:15

CapnBry: Jul 15, 2002; I got this goin'; Grimey Drawer

Slash posted:

https://itchythumbs.co.uk/product/tiny-wiener-tiny-wing

I dunno what you're talking about!

I got a pair of 1104 8700KV motors for like $6 and mated it with a 6A ESC and a 2.5" prop and made a brushless F949 last year, but it eventually became so bent and flimsy you could only turn left if you gave it full rudder and full up elevator. I took the guts out and 3D printed this and covered it with saran plastic cling wrap. It flew okish but the scotch tape elevon attachment was pretty sloppy. It has so much power on 1S you could probably get the 50g thing into low earth orbit.

BurntCornMuffin posted:

How much stock should I take in this Wing Cube Loading calculator for determining performance characteristics? It looks like both that tiny wing is (guesstimating, since they didn't give wing surface) about 15g/dm^2, which I've gleaned is hard to fly for those new to fixed wing, and I saw some other popular wings (like the RMRC Nano Goblin) that have even heavier cubic wing loads. Is there a scale adjustment, or is it more of a really subjective thing that I'm caring about too much?

The (theoretical) good thing about cubic wing load is that it is supposed to be scaled already, so a 6 WCL on a 400mm model flies like a 6 WCL on a 2500mm model. The "wing loading" (not cubic) is size-specific though, so you can't compare wing loadings very well across models of different sizes.

quote:

For the wing shape, I had read that delta wings are more of a supersonic thing, and that a better subsonic wing shape would be elliptical or at least a tapered rectangular shape, but that was in the context of full size aircraft. Does that also hold at this scale? Is there a performance benefit for deltas in flying wings, or do manufacturers just do it to look cool?

The reason the wings are swept back on flying wing models is just for stability. Mostly it is because the weight of the motor in the back is so heavy you'd have a hard time getting the CG right, so they sweep the wings back, which brings the center of lift back which means your CG can move back too. "Plank" style planes with a rectangular wing and a pusher motor like the Nano Goblin have a long nose so you can put the battery far enough forward to make this unnecessary. Having the tips further back also increases the length of lever arm of the elevons sort of like why a traditional plane's tail is so far back, which makes the tips of the elevons more effective than their root ends.

quote:

What's a good way to estimate what sort of cruising airspeed my motor/airframe combination will give me? Also, do super-high kv motors, like the ones I have lying around from my tiny whoops have an adverse effect on fixed wings?

I think you're overthinking things now, but all fixed wings I've flown (400mm to 1600mm) stall between 10-20mph, with most being around 14-17mph. You can really get into the weeds with trying to figure out what motor size, kv, battery cell count, and prop size are appropriate. That link might not work because that's a paid site, but you can find motors they do have and get an approximate idea of what size you're looking for. You just want thrust to weight of 1.0-1.5 I'd say. I've flown as low as 0.75 thrust to weight but it feels pretty underpowered and can be hard to control for a new flyer since having power can get you out of almost any bad situation.

High KV motors going balls out I can't imagine there would be a problem as long as you're getting the proper amount of thrust. A guideline I've seen for power is about 75-100W/lb of all-up-weight, so a ~225g/8oz plane you'd want 37.5-50W, which is 10-13A on 1S, 5-6.75A on 2S, or 3.3-4.5A on 3S. On the model I posted a picture of, I get about 3A draw on 1S so I can estimate that the max weight of the airframe it is fun to carry is about 67.5g.

CapnBry fucked around with this message at 19:27 on Apr 11, 2019

# ? Apr 11, 2019 19:23

ImplicitAssembler: Jan 24, 2013

BurntCornMuffin posted:

What's a good way to estimate what sort of cruising airspeed my motor/airframe combination will give me? Also, do super-high kv motors, like the ones I have lying around from my tiny whoops have an adverse effect on fixed wings?

Am I overthinking this?

Ecalc.ch

# ? Apr 12, 2019 02:03

Leandros: Dec 14, 2008

Slash posted:

You could have the motor numbering wrong. Check that the motor numbers match the picture in Betaflight. You can do this in betaflight by spinning each motor individually in the motors tab (PROPS OFF!!!).

this'll be it. I put the ESC in so that the battery pads are in line with the flight axis, I think by default it expects to come out to a side. Can I swap this in the FC config? Otherwise the wires will be a bit cumbersome to route to the correct pads.
e: custom mixer to the rescue, although now the FC stops responding to the configurator shortly after connecting...

Leandros fucked around with this message at 13:54 on Apr 12, 2019

# ? Apr 12, 2019 12:35

Warbird: May 23, 2012; America's Favorite Dumbass

loving moran tries to ruin things for everyone.

# ? Apr 12, 2019 12:55

CapnBry: Jul 15, 2002; I got this goin'; Grimey Drawer

Warbird posted:

loving moran tries to ruin things for everyone.

"'... this incident shows why the federal government must mandate a remote identification system for airborne drones as soon as possible' said Adam Lisberg, the corporate communication director at DJI Technology."

You're so right. That government mandate that excludes drones from being able to fly over or near sporting events clearly works so well that this can be solved with more legislation. He also said that this pilot had subverted the geofencing restrictions in the DJI firmware, so even if the drone would have had a government-mandated drone remote identification system it likely would have also been defeated. What we need are enforcement drones and awesome aerial footage of high speed drone chases and destructive takedowns by law enforcement.

# ? Apr 12, 2019 14:17

evil_bunnY: Apr 2, 2003

Leandros posted:

this'll be it. I put the ESC in so that the battery pads are in line with the flight axis, I think by default it expects to come out to a side. Can I swap this in the FC config? Otherwise the wires will be a bit cumbersome to route to the correct pads.
e: custom mixer to the rescue, although now the FC stops responding to the configurator shortly after connecting...

You can swap the command wires in the cable.

# ? Apr 12, 2019 14:20

Altimeter: Sep 10, 2003

Is there a standing recommendation for a first drone if I need to get some photos of my house/yard? I'd like to be able to fly directly overhead and shoot straight down to make it easier to get scales correctly for some drawings, and I'm kinda interested in loving around with drones in general. I'm fairly technically literate and am willing to gently caress about a bit to get things up and running. I'm not trying to be as absolutely cheap as possible, if there is a value proposition/price performer option I'm not opposed to spending more, but it seems like what I'm looking for shouldn't be too demanding.

Thoughts?

# ? Apr 13, 2019 23:50

Warbird: May 23, 2012; America's Favorite Dumbass

I�d say one of the smaller DJI line for photo taking and general fuckery. You can likely get a used one for a pretty reasonable price. They are pretty much flying cameras so you�re getting good photo/video and crash prevention with pure flying fun as a trade off. Someone here may be able to recommend a less common brand that would be more cost effective.

What would be a realistic price point to get into aerobatic flying frames? Steele�s videos have me interested in trying something a bit more dynamic than my Mavic, but I�m not sure I could expand my drone budget too much. I can use my DJI goggles in analogue mode, so no need for fat sharks just yet.

# ? Apr 14, 2019 00:49

Enos Shenk: Nov 3, 2011

Leandros posted:

The complaints about the ribbon cable on the Runcams are also valid points for me.

Oh man, gently caress the ribbon cable on the Runcam Split. I bought one of the first gen ones, it took me 2 hours of farting around with that loving thing to get it to work. When I went to upgrade my quad, I pulled the Split out and reinstalled it in a new frame, that loving ribbon cable refused to work.

It's just sitting in a part bin because of that cocksucking piece of "design".

# ? Apr 14, 2019 00:56

Slash: Apr 7, 2011

Mutar posted:

Is there a standing recommendation for a first drone

Thoughts?

An older DJI Phantom 3 Pro or similar would be fine. Or if you want something fancier/more compact maybe a new Mavic Air? Both should be around the �300 price point i think.

quote:

What would be a realistic price point to get into aerobatic flying frames?

If you don't need goggles, you're probably looking around the �500-600 mark for a DIY build plus transmitter and batteries.

I recently built myself a new racing drone and it came to �400 all-in using all top-notch parts. A Taranis costs �100-200 depending on which model. Decent batteries are �20 each, and a decent charger and power supply is about �100.

# ? Apr 15, 2019 11:40

Ambihelical Hexnut: Aug 5, 2008

For fpv I think it�s harder to do better price to performance than an emax hawk 5 which come up on holiday discounts fairly often for less than 250.

For an AP drone make sure you check out the manufacturer�s geo fence map before buying lest you find out you�re not allowed to fly st your house.

# ? Apr 17, 2019 12:32

porktree: Mar 23, 2002; You just fucked with the wrong Mexican.

Ambihelical Hexnut posted:

For fpv I think it�s harder to do better price to performance than an emax hawk 5 which come up on holiday discounts fairly often for less than 250.

For an AP drone make sure you check out the manufacturer�s geo fence map before buying lest you find out you�re not allowed to fly st your house.

I'm seeing this on Amazon for less than $250 now - what controller would you recommend to go with it? I've only flown Dji (Phantom 3 and Mavic 2) and cheap-rear end Syma's. Can I use the Dji RE goggles with this?

# ? Apr 24, 2019 20:54

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# ? Jun 3, 2024 20:18

My Rhythmic Crotch: Jan 13, 2011

It's a radio, not a controller. *grumble* Some kind of Taranis is usually recommended, like an X9D or X-Lite.

The RE goggles need the matching camera and VTX.

# ? Apr 25, 2019 04:20

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Hobbies, Crafts, & Houses > RC aerial vehicles: because we don't have flying brooms

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