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Not true that's just an advisory.
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May 4, 2012 20:36
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Vitamin J posted:Not true that's just an advisory. With the 1 watt limit won't the 50 MHz signal provide more range than the 72 or 75 MHz signal meter all things being equal? Would the 27 MHz provide even greater range?
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May 4, 2012 22:39
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Yeah maybe theoretically but you've got to remember this is hobby grade equipment and only designed to be used within a half mile or so. Sensitivity of the receivers and the antennas used aren't the greatest. What you're talking about would need a custom designed tx and rx.
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May 4, 2012 23:10
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I've been practicing a lot with my MSR X and can lift off nearly vertical now, despite its desire to shoot off left every time. Now I'm working on turning, which with this particular model means it'll slide back and right on left rudder and slide left and forward on right rudder. I've dialed in a good mix to help tame it a majority of it, but I still have to correct it manually depending on forward velocity. I can recover from about 50% of rudder maneuvering attempts as long as I have about 10 ft of airspace to drift around in. I think my progress is being hampered by my disorientation when the helicopter comes about to nose-in and I apply the correction in the wrong direction momentarily and make the problem worse. I don't get disoriented when I fly my S107 inside because the yaw is so smooth and linear I don't have to think about correcting anything. I also don't fly the S107 at the same distances away as the MSR X. I'm not concerned about tweaking the behavior or mechanics of the helicopter itself; I want to improve my piloting skills to be able to cope with unique characteristics and flying rather than chasing with sticks, for any type of craft. I've ordered an MCX2 to practice orientation at a distance with a more stable platform like the S107, and it will use the same transmitter as the MSR X so my muscle memory will transfer. Do any of you more experienced pilots have any suggestions or training tips for this whole learning to fly process? edit: wow, going back to 3 channels on the S107 is lame and slow as poo poo. I just took the MSR X out to an open field and having more space to make mistakes and correct them is awesome. edit edit: don't put little lipos in your coin pocket. I lost one on the way to the park tonight. In related news, black & mild butts are about the same size as a 160mah 1S lipo, and there are a lot of them in this park 
ickna fucked around with this message at 04:38 on May 7, 2012 |
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May 6, 2012 19:48
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Put in my order to hobbyking, it seemed that the payment never showed up on their side. I put in a support ticket and to be fair to them it was sorted with the minimum of fuss, but in the meantime some of the stuff has gone on backorder despite the fact I spent ages tailoring my order so none of it was out of stock.  Is there any good resources out there for mods and things for the Axn floater jet, for instance I'd love to make a set of floats to fly it off water.
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May 7, 2012 15:25
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SomeDrunkenMick posted:Put in my order to hobbyking, it seemed that the payment never showed up on their side. I put in a support ticket and to be fair to them it was sorted with the minimum of fuss, but in the meantime some of the stuff has gone on backorder despite the fact I spent ages tailoring my order so none of it was out of stock. To be honest, as long as you waterproof the bottom of the front (where your electronics sit) you should only need to put floats on the wingtips.
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May 7, 2012 17:17
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Went over to a friend's place in another state for the weekend, and after playing with his trainer, we went to the lhs and I picked up a mini super cub so we could get it in the air before dark. There's a perfect huge field right outside my neighborhood that is rarely used except for occasional practices. Oh god what I gotten myself into, I've already read this thread a second time and am listing what I need for mods I've found on rcgroups.
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May 7, 2012 18:19
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So I built a thing... It flys pretty well I guess. I've never flown anything before so it's hard to compare. kkboard hobby king knock off Park300-1600 w/ 6x3 props I tested the motors and they pull 450grams each at 8 amps with a 3S battery. Due to the large swept area being blocked by the low motor mounting, on the arms they only pull 380 each (15% loss). Frame weighs 90g. Total weight is around 500g (there's an extra arduino and shield that I'm testing stuff with). 2.5 lift/weight ratio. Hovers at ~65-70% throttle. Wiring is all internal. It's been fun, but I'm going to change quite a few things. I've already reversed the shafts to increase efficiency. Probably going to switch the design to a quad until I can fly better (I'm doing ok I think). The weight is really high, aside from a conservative frame design I'm using 25amp escs because HK was out of the ones I wanted; now that I've tested everything I could get away with 12s. I haven't weighed my second frame but it's probably below 70g. I'll remeasure when I get my quad center made.
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May 15, 2012 08:00
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Bigger rotor blades will help. A lot. Like double the span. Goto to like a 12x2.. if they make them. You've got the space, you're just wasting swept area. Even somehting like a 9x2 would make a huge diffrence. Nearly doubling your swept area.
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May 15, 2012 15:42
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if he wants bigger props he'll need bigger motors and bigger ESCs. Those park300's are only rated for a max 9A and a 7x3.5 prop.
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May 15, 2012 16:57
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CrazyLittle posted:if he wants bigger props he'll need bigger motors and bigger ESCs. Those park300's are only rated for a max 9A and a 7x3.5 prop. I'd hope he could go with a shallow enough pitch. But here's only so much available, eh?
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May 15, 2012 17:02
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Nerobro posted:I'd hope he could go with a shallow enough pitch. But here's only so much available, eh? yeah, 9A isn't a lot but those motors make up for it with kV
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May 15, 2012 17:08
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Nerobro posted:I'd hope he could go with a shallow enough pitch. But here's only so much available, eh? Even with a really fine pitch you still would need a bigger motor. Power required increases pretty linearly with pitch but increases with the Square of diameter. Use this site to find a good power system. Idealy you should be able to hover at less than 50% power this greatly increases the efficiency. http://ecalc.ch/xcoptercalc_e.htm?ecalc
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May 15, 2012 22:12
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Yeah, I got the 6x3s based off that calculator and confirmed them on my testing rig. I tested a few other spare props and 8A was the closest I got to the rated 9A (I tested some 10in props that gave me twice as much thrust but drew 18A  ). The only reason it isn't hovering at exactly 50% is because it has a whole bunch of extra stuff on it.
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May 16, 2012 02:41
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I should read SA more. I totally missed this thread. Check this baby out. Paint job isn't done here  Paintjob mostly done. Waiting on electronics.  New ground station, integrated with google earth. Diversity antenna setup. Circularly polarized for badass multipath rejection. 
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May 16, 2012 15:38
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I love drones, that thing looks really slick. X8 right? Still using them to kill pigs?
ease fucked around with this message at 16:04 on May 16, 2012 |
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May 16, 2012 16:01
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ease posted:I love drones, that thing looks really slick. X8 right? Still using them to kill pigs? Yeah, crashed one of the skywalkers. The other one is flying like poo poo and refuses to trim right. I think it's bent. New skywalker with 1.9meter wing is on the way. X8 is mostly complete, but the camera mount takes forever since our thermal camera is so drat big.
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May 16, 2012 17:06
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Dude, the X8 is sick, you're gonna love it. A local (Daemon) has one and it just floats around with barely any power. He was slope soaring it at our last meet at about 9000ft ASL. Someone else had the new Skywalker 1900 with the wood wings which was pretty cool, but it was still outperformed by the X8 with a smaller battery. The next thing on my list is Google tracking on my Android, but I'm using Skylark gear right now and they're pretty sketchy. They've been saying for months the tracking app "will be out soon." I just maidened my new plane yesterday. It's a Popwing/Tek Sumo with a 10" blunt section my buddy cut for me. Makes it 46" wingspan and 1200 grams with 2x 2200mah 3S. This is also my first plane on 1.3ghz. I took it out past 2 miles on the maiden and did a flyover of Red Rocks Amphitheater and Bandimere Speedway. I want to fly over Bandimere Speedway later this summer at night when the jet-dragsters are in town. I will need to invest in a GoPro for that for sure. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMD5zK_2z8s  
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May 16, 2012 17:38
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Oh yeah I forgot to post about my other new plane, a Dynam P-51. Going for a racer style plane, need to repaint it with more yellow so it goes faster  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3UfZM9RZlg http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m131/vitaminjsa/IMAG0144.jpg Vitamin J fucked around with this message at 19:52 on Jun 4, 2012 |
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May 16, 2012 17:45
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First parts for my QR build came in today : Turnigy Talon V2 frame  And not mounted yet, I have 4 NTM Prop Drive Series 28-26A 1200kv motors. Need to order ESCs and decide on a controller board. Right now I'm stuck between waiting for the cc3d or just going multiwii. Anyone know a good place to buy wire by the spool online? Local autoshop only has very stiff auto wire. I want something much more flexible for battery/esc leads and what not.
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May 21, 2012 22:49
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I tend to buy my wire from hobbyking. They have a nice flexible silicone coated wire and it is reasonably cheap. Next time I do a multirotor I am buying motors with long leads from the factory and milling a power distribution board into the frame.
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May 21, 2012 22:56
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Here's a similar wire from McMaster-Carr, 16 AWG, silicone insulator:code:
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May 22, 2012 00:21
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helno, check out the new TBS Discovery for ideas. They have power distribution built in as well as an optional FPV system power supply and OSD. http://forums.openpilot.org/topic/10613-tbs-discovery-beta-build-logreview/ I put a new camera (Sony 600TVL) on my new wing and really wrung her out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyMMYChA2Ns
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May 22, 2012 22:49
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I've always wanted an RC plane, and after seeing some cool FPV stuff combined with a salary that actually lets me buy hobby stuff, I'm tempted to start buying RC plane equipment. Probably a basic foam glider (which I'd like to upgrade to FPV eventually) However, I have two concerns: I live on the peninsula in Charleston, SC. There are three airports that surround the peninsula, although the closest is 16 miles away. Will this be a problem? I've sporadically read to stay under 400' and 3 miles away from an airport, otherwise I should be fine. Second, there aren't a lot of open fields around here. A few open parks, but not much else unless you get out of the city...towards the airports. How big of an area do you need to fly in?
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May 23, 2012 17:41
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You should be fine as far as the airports are concerned. Yes 400' within 3 miles is the FAA advisory, it's not actually a law but it is drat good advice to follow. You need to check local rules and laws before you fly though, the FAA doesn't restrict it but your local parks commission sure as hell can. Secondly a good size park will be ok to fly in, maybe an acre or so minimum. When you start to FPV you will notice you have much more freedom and the launch site isn't as critical because you're no longer limited by your eyesight and can fly further and higher.
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May 23, 2012 17:58
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Awesome, good to know. Will the amount of houses/trees in the near vicinity affect FPV due to interference? Will I have to keep the plane in line of sight at all times (even if the plane is pretty far away)? Basically, I'd hate to lose my plane because it passes over the tree line LoS and interference goes through the roof.
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May 23, 2012 18:04
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Houses will cause interference depending on what frequency you run the video on. Don't be that guy who sets up an FPV plane and then proceeds to learn to fly over top of populated areas.
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May 23, 2012 18:12
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polyfractal posted:Awesome, good to know. Will the amount of houses/trees in the near vicinity affect FPV due to interference? Will I have to keep the plane in line of sight at all times (even if the plane is pretty far away)? There is a good quote I read on another forum: "FPV is self-regulating." Each individual has to learn, build, and test their rig themselves. If you start small and grow progressively you'll do much better. Right now your goal should be to fly a plane LOS successfully.
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May 23, 2012 20:23
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Vitamin J posted:You need to do some more reading. Some video systems can transmit miles through houses, trees, and cars while some can't even transmit through a single tree. Depends on frequency, antennas used, noise floor, humidity, etc etc. Will do.  I was curious because I don't want to get into flying if I'll be limited to LOS flying only (due to where I live). I have every intention of flying LOS only for as long as it takes. I've read many places about people who jump into FPV too fast and then nosedive their expensive equipment into the ground. I like that quote, and it jives nicely with what I've found so far from my (limited) reading. Lots of helpful people and information, but I haven't found a single "this is what you need to do" step-by-step guide. Probably a good thing, since it forces people to understand what they are doing rather than painting by the numbers.
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May 23, 2012 20:43
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Is there anyone trying to make 4in1 ESCs yet for quad rotors, or would that just get too hot? edit: Now that I think about, its kind of stupid. Get one motor stuck and you burn out the whole thing. Unless they make them with modular parts. ease fucked around with this message at 21:59 on May 23, 2012 |
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May 23, 2012 21:53
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It's just a tricky hobby. I could box up my plane I just flew 2 miles with and send everything to you and you may only be able to fly 1000ft just because you could be in a heavy rf area with lots of interference. Lots of new guys get obsessed about range and either confuse themselves or end up wasting money because they have this unrealistic goal stuck in their brains. The range comes naturally; you're going to turn around when the video gets bad or you're going to crash. The more you learn the better set-up your plane will be and you'll be able to take it out further with more experience. Those first few flights you're going to be making GBS threads yourself with a combination of fear and excitement and range will be the last thing on your mind.
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May 23, 2012 21:55
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ease posted:Is there anyone trying to make 4in1 ESCs yet for quad rotors, or would that just get too hot? I'm considering making one over the summer, actually. The designs are pretty straightforward, and the open source firmware exists, I just need to rewrite it slightly. It will be more expensive than anything from China, obviously--the FETs, voltage regulators, and passive components will be "name brand", so they will be somewhat more reliable (which primarily means that a lot less will be dead on arrival, or fail soon after). The main cost increase, though will probably be for the PCBs themselves--they get expensive at low quantities, especially since I think I'll have to use thicker copper than is standard (but I haven't done the math yet). If I do get around to making some, I'll probably have some for sale. What sort of current range might you be looking for?
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May 23, 2012 22:04
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Thats pretty cool, are you going to have the boards printed? I'm looking at 25a right now.
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May 23, 2012 22:14
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ease posted:Thats pretty cool, are you going to have the boards printed? 25A is just around what I've currently been buying, so that should be good (although I might spec out components for up to 30A). And yeah, I'll be laying out + ordering the PCBs (since doing it myself is a waste of effort). I'll probably start with an initial test order of 3, then order 10-15 more for an initial run, a handful of which will be reserved for stress testing + design verification. And I just realized that, design-wise, it's pretty much trivial to throw on a current-sense amplifier, a shunt resistor, and a few more passives, as well as a divider for measuring battery voltage. I could use something like: http://www.sparkfun.com/products/9028 but the amplifier they use isn't particularly new, nor cheap. I mean, I designed + built a current monitor + coulomb counter for doing high discharge tests for batteries used in an electric car, but that had to handle a fair bit more power...I can probably add the equivalent of an attopilot, but it might add up to $5 to the price, so I'm not 100% sure it's worthwhile...
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May 23, 2012 22:35
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Vitamin J posted:Those first few flights you're going to be making GBS threads yourself with a combination of fear and excitement and range will be the last thing on your mind. Hehe..this sounds awesome. I think I'm going to get a Floater-jet, Bixler or Sky Surfer, depending on what I can find in stock first. They all appear basically identical and good starter planes (that can take a beating for when I inevitably smash them into the ground). Tangentially related, but holy hell is HobbyKing's website a steaming pile of poo poo. Not only is it slow and bloated with obnoxious upsell-ads everywhere, they make you jump through hoops to find products and most of them are out of stock.  I'm tempted to build a non-lovely interface to HobbyKing myself.
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May 25, 2012 20:50
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Compared to other online hobby shops, they are slightly better than most  At least the in-stock items are listed first. But yeah, the amount of bloat is pretty insane.
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May 26, 2012 05:45
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I used Value Hobby when building my cub project : http://www.valuehobby.com/index.php They are decent. Based out of Illinois. Have all Chinese stuff in stock and near hobby king prices and 3.99 shipping. Not the best place to look for planes though. ease fucked around with this message at 14:07 on May 26, 2012 |
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May 26, 2012 14:02
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So, I got a couple of the new SK450 quad frames from Hobbyking last week, and finally got around to assembling them. Despite being a clone of the DJI F450, they are still pretty nice...and cheap! Despite the lack of integrating a power distribution PCB into the center frame, I like that the motor mounts are somewhat nicer, as well as the removable feet. However, I've run into a bit of a problem. I got a set of NTM Prop Drive 28-26 motors, along with the matching accessories. The prop mounts attach directly to the top of the rotor, which I kinda like, since most of my annoying repairs so far have been bent motor shafts. However, the motor shafts stick out of the bottom for some weird reason (mount props on the bottom using collet adapters, I guess?), which is a problem since part of the legs/feet are right in the way (yeah, yeah, this wouldn't have been an issue if I had been using a real F450, due to different design). The shaft isn't reversible, switching that around wouldn't help. I figure I have 3 choices: 1. Drill a hole in the leg strut to allow room for the shaft. I'd rather not have to do this, since I don't have the proper vice to hold the leg upright underneath my drill press. 2. Cut the interfering strut off completely. The plastic of the entire leg is pretty thick, and the smaller strut at the bottom should keep it from splaying out on a hard landing. 3. Shorten the motor shaft. This seems like the cleanest solution, despite needing to isolate the motor from dust (or I could take off the weird c/e clip, remove the rotor + shaft, and cut it then). I'm somewhat concerned about heating the shaft too much and loving up the heat treatment, though. Ideas? I got two frames (since they are so cheap, and HK has no spare parts), and a bunch of extra shafts (but I really don't like installing new ones in my press, for some reason).
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May 27, 2012 00:06
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If you have a hand power drill, couldn't you just shove the leg into a vice and just drill a hole for the shaft that way? I just don't see the need to use a drill press since accuracy isn't hugely critical.
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May 29, 2012 00:31
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Well, it would have been an issue, since I would need to drill straight down , or else I'd have to use a bigger drill bit to give more clearance, bringing me closer to drilling out the sides of the strut. In the end, though, I just cut off the struts with a dremel. Worked well. Anyway, I flew it today with 1000kV motors and 10x4.5" props. Pretty powerful, although the ESC's don't actually move the motors until like 25% throttle, or so. I set the range multiple times via the kk multicontroller, but whatever. I hovers @ 50% with a 2200mAh battery, which is higher than I thought. Maybe the throttle range is just off, because I expected it to hover at ~30%. As expected, though, I managed to crash it spectactuarly (there was some problem either with my tx/rx, or with the controller itself, since I suddenly lost control for a couple seconds, and only got it back after it was too late). However, those neat little fiberglass motor mounts on the SK450 worked well--I broke 2 of them in the crash, along with two of my cheap GemFan props, but none of the motors seem to be damaged (or at least it's limited to minor bearing wear or something).
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May 29, 2012 02:34
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