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Bad Munki
Nov 4, 2008

We're all mad here.


Ambrose Burnside posted:

is this thread aerial RC only or are there any weird degenerates who also gently caress around w tethered ROV submersible stuff

Man I had a tethered rov submersible thread on these here forums like a decade ago but I never finished the project, it’s sitting in my basement, let’s fuckin do it, bro

Bad Munki fucked around with this message at 23:31 on Jan 10, 2020

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aunt jenkins
Jan 12, 2001

Ambrose Burnside posted:

is this thread aerial RC only or are there any weird degenerates who also gently caress around w tethered ROV submersible stuff

I would if the only one of those that I've found wasn't $1600

Ambrose Burnside
Aug 30, 2007

pensive

Rincey posted:

I would if the only one of those that I've found wasn't $1600

that's what i thought but i did some research, turns out there's an informal DIY approach to this that's actually p dang cheap and "good enough" for most conceivable hobbyist applications, here's an example i think is real clever
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfJ0Y3oZTzQ

his whole assembly is p much
- an off-the-shelf ~$100 underwater fish-cam + viewing screen unit, w the screen having been integrated into a nice-but-unnecessary custom control box
- a bunch of expanding foam-injected pvc pipe for the frame + buoyancy tanks
- three $10-on-ebay mini bilge pumps w RC boat propellers stuck on the shafts
- simple electronics, just some solenoids, fuses etc no "computerized" control at all
- a waterproof electrical junction box, extra-waterproofed by being potted with, fukn, candle-grade paraffin wax after final assembly
- an umbilical made from nylon rope and the control cables all bundled inside a cord cable organizer conduit

control is way simpler than i expected, it doesn't control its movement in the usual manner comparable commercial ROVs do, which is having neutral buoyancy and using control surfaces + attitude control to navigate in 3 dimensions.instead:
the buoyancy tanks are "calibrated" at the first test dive to accommodate the final operational weight of the thing, w weights being added to the bottom tubes until the whole thing has gentle positive buoyancy. floats on top/weights on bottom keep it right-side up and removes any need for attitude control. two thrusters mounted axially on either side provide forwards, backwards and left/right, while the third (on top pointing down) makes the craft dive, w surfacing being automatic once the dive thruster is disengaged. the main deficiency I see w this control scheme is that maintaining level underwater travel or holding position is not possible without something extra like microcontroller handling of station-holding thru a lot of thruster on-off switching or proper PWM control. the BOM he put together for his from-scratch build is $287 USD


if you're not interested in making your own, though, you're p much correct, there's a modest spread of entry-level camera-equipped ROVs but i don't think i've seen any that come in under $1000 USD

Ambrose Burnside fucked around with this message at 01:27 on Jan 11, 2020

Bad Munki
Nov 4, 2008

We're all mad here.


That up there is roughly the approach I was chasing, except a raspi with a camera inside a pressure hull with a flat window at the front, and I had this wild plan of compressed air inside and ballast tanks I could fill/purge to change the buoyancy.

In retrospect, the ballast system is probably largely what led to me not completing the project. :v:

ImplicitAssembler
Jan 24, 2013

I want to build all of the vehicles..didn't realize it could be done so cheap, so certainly want to hear more!

Ambrose Burnside
Aug 30, 2007

pensive

Bad Munki posted:

That up there is roughly the approach I was chasing, except a raspi with a camera inside a pressure hull with a flat window at the front, and I had this wild plan of compressed air inside and ballast tanks I could fill/purge to change the buoyancy.

In retrospect, the ballast system is probably largely what led to me not completing the project. :v:

i don't think any of these designs, DIY or prosumer, use actual submarine-style gas ballast control, it doesn't seem practical at this scale/budget. Manually calibrating for neutral buoyancy and using fins/rudders to control trim and navigate + hold station at will is how the commercial offerings mostly seem to do it, and its def the preferred way to do things, but also seems much more complicated than the "run dive thruster to dive, otherwise float" DIY approach of that guy's ROV that works quite well and requires no processor-based stability management at all
I think the fanciest people get irt ballast is a one-shot Emergency Surface system, where a latch/clamp keeps a bunch of metal ballast permanently linked to the ROV- unless it gets stuck underwater for some reason and can't surface or safely be pulled out by the tether, when it'll help you recover what might otherwise get lost. kinda seems like a gimmick tho, tbh, you use a strong n tough cord in the umbilical for a good reason



E: to be clear I'm not actively building one of these, but it's on my projects list. underwater ROVs are probably the first sort of 'drone' that actually appeals to me in a strong way, probably b/c underwater really is the only commonplace terrestrial environment that's overwhelmingly off-limits, unseen and unexplored by people. people have stood on the surface of the moon but nobody's ever explored the retaining pond across the street, that sort of thing

Ambrose Burnside fucked around with this message at 01:50 on Jan 11, 2020

Bad Munki
Nov 4, 2008

We're all mad here.


Oh yeah, I totally agree, it was not the right solution. BUT! I still maintain it was a Cool Idea, if just from a curiosity standpoint.

If/when I pick the project up again, I'll be scrapping that entirely, which is cool, because then I'll have upwards of like half a cubic foot of pressure hull to put whatever the heck I want in.

Ambrose Burnside posted:

underwater really is the only commonplace terrestrial environment that's overwhelmingly off-limits, unseen and unexplored by people. people have stood on the surface of the moon but nobody's ever explored the retaining pond across the street, that sort of thing
Facts.

Ambrose Burnside
Aug 30, 2007

pensive

Bad Munki posted:

Oh yeah, I totally agree, it was not the right solution. BUT! I still maintain it was a Cool Idea, if just from a curiosity standpoint.


oh yeah, for sure. you could probably make it work if you stuck to off-the-shelf Tiny Pneumatics- use 12-gram CO2 disposable cartridges for the supply, cannibalize a lovely paintball gun/airgun for tapping the gas and for its precision valve control, duct tape a solenoid actuator to it, something along those lines


sth i suspect is worth pursuing and actually viable at a hobbyist scale is ballast-shifting, used for propulsion in untethered endurance underwater 'glider' designs. very, very different type of vehicle- tremendous endurance due to the extremely low energy consumption glider propulsion requires, must travel horizontally long distances to dive or surface, low speed, no fancy video feed or direct control, largely autonomous, and communication is only possible when


i am stopping writing mid-sentence as a testament to "google it first" b/c i just found an existing open-source autonomous micro-AUV glider design with an arduino pro micro for a brain http://seaglide.org/
they solved the ballast issue, for the record, with an actual ballast tank, not ballast-shifting- they used a large plastic syringe as the "tank", and emptying/filling it with a stepper motor and leadscrew. the basic design p much just travels in a slow dive-quick rise sawtooth pattern along a straight heading until the 9V battery (lol) runs out, mostly just useful for gathering sensor research data over long periods of time, but you could def add other functionalities to the core design, more useful stuff like intermittent location/data transmission while surfaced, the ability to direct it to travel to specific places or in predetermined patterns if equipped w tracking and a rudder, etc.


e: here's a good build log with a bunch more specific resources n developments, not just my speculation from a butt: https://publiclab.org/notes/ajawitz/07-11-2015/buoyancy-driven-underwater-glider

this in particular is interesting:

quote:

OpenLRS
Most recently, I became aware of an exciting new open source technology through another project that involves a DIY aerial vehicle. OpenLRSng was originally designed as an ultra long-range transceiver for "FPV" (i.e controlled through a realtime 'first person' video feed) RC aircraft that uses 433MHz on UHF instead of the commercial 2.4 Ghz RC transmitters. I initially became interested in it because it represents an exciting open source alternative to the various proprietary RC control systems on the market. Furthermore, it can even be built from scratch using common, arduino-compatible RF Modules-http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2114859!! The best part in relation to the seaglide project is that it can supposedly TRANSMIT UNDERWATER!!!

the common understanding is that you either need tethered control or largely- autonomous operation, but apparently if you get into the lowest of the low RC transmitter frequencies, as in "you probably need a ham operator's licence to do anything at this frequency legally", you can apparently transmit and receive continuously when submerged at shallow depths. ~~~neat~~~

Ambrose Burnside fucked around with this message at 03:05 on Jan 11, 2020

Bad Munki
Nov 4, 2008

We're all mad here.


Ambrose Burnside posted:

oh yeah, for sure. you could probably make it work if you stuck to off-the-shelf Tiny Pneumatics- use 12-gram CO2 disposable cartridges for the supply, cannibalize a lovely paintball gun/airgun for tapping the gas and for its precision valve control, duct tape a solenoid actuator to it, something along those lines
I was looking at a larger CO2 bottle initially, until I realized I'd be holding it horizontally in the hull which could lead to liquid CO2 dumping through my valves, which could make for a slightly less controlled air flow situation...so then I switched to a small HPA bottle, which is certainly more exciting from a danger perspective! But I wanted the stamina a larger bottle would provide as compared to those little mini canisters. And that's about where I stalled.

quote:

sth i suspect is worth pursuing and actually viable at a hobbyist scale is ballast-shifting, used for propulsion in untethered endurance underwater 'glider' designs. very, very different type of vehicle- tremendous endurance due to the extremely low energy consumption glider propulsion requires, must travel horizontally long distances to dive or surface, low speed, no fancy video feed or direct control, largely autonomous, and communication is only possible when
I don't know if Delta-Wye is still around here, but if so, paging Delta-Wye...we went to the same school for a while and accidentally ran into each other here, he helped me on a ton of electronics stuff with the project. He was either on exactly such a project or was involved or something, he was telling me about it anyhow, may have been that same one, I forget, but yeah, oil bladders and shifting ballast and wings to propel forward as they sink and rise and such. Wicked cool ultra-long-duration stuff, just huck those birds into the ocean, and they surface once in a while, roll sideways to put a wing up in the air, which has an antenna they use to phone home and report telemetry, and then back down they go. Friggin' awesome.

Bad Munki
Nov 4, 2008

We're all mad here.


Boy now you got me going, had to dig through multiple junk pile locations to find all this.



Obviously this was very a much a design-as-you-go type project, just build it and see why that didn't work and then modify to work around. Not pictured is the on-board raspi that was planned to communicate via ethernet on the tether. I actually had most of the software for that working, it'd stream a video feed and telemetry to some software on my laptop, and the laptop would do some silly telemetry overlays on the feed as well as feed control signals from a usb gamepad back to the ROV.

Those ballast tanks are huge, but the yellow rack the whole thing is built on had a bunch of lead shot in the bottom to keep it all nice and level. It was actually pretty close to correctly weighted: with dry ballast tanks, the whole thing would float just right with the bottom of the window right at water level. Drain the tanks and down she goes. Whether or not that had any hope of controlled stability is a totally different question.

Bad Munki fucked around with this message at 03:21 on Jan 11, 2020

Ambrose Burnside
Aug 30, 2007

pensive
man i like that glider's syringe-leadscrew ballast system- it's not as simple as the Normally-Buoyant approach but it's pretty close, and it gives you true hydraulic ballast control from a handful of simple/reliable mechanical components and absolutely no high-pressure-rated storage tanks, solenoid valves etc at all. ballast can be adjusted infinitely given a syringe + tether electricity supply, but is heavily-limited in a 'pneumatic' design with no ability to compress its own surface air. It even addresses my pressure- and environmental-suitability concerns around cheap off-the-shelf electrically-actuated valves you'd probably use for a ballast flood valve- the leadscrew is a self-locking linear actuator so the plunger won't move without the motor being activated or something breaking, and there are zero mechanical valves in the syringe-tank's flow path, which largely addresses the possibility of the expected pond silt/debris fouling a valve and preventing the ROV from surfacing because the tanks can't be purged. and, of course, you get very fine servo control of the ballast tank levels, which hugely simplifies microcontroller automation of stuff like station-holding, level travel or automatically maintaining a set distance above the bottom
If I ever take a crack at this it'll almost certainly be as a conventional tethered video-equipped ROV, but I think it's worth combining the two propulsion and control systems- namely, using small modified bilge pumps as cheap, reliably-waterproof thruster pods for forward/back/turning, while handling all buoyancy and trim with a leadscrew-syringe 'true' ballast tank.

Ambrose Burnside fucked around with this message at 03:57 on Jan 11, 2020

Ambrose Burnside
Aug 30, 2007

pensive
other drone-scale submersible resources:

found a really slick + scaled-up seaglider build intended for real oceanic use, it uses the battery pack and other weighty electronics as a shifting ballast, shuttling it back and forth and also rolling it to offer both pitch and directional control without needing any rudders or external control surfaces
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVg47-5Skjs

that seaglider project grew out of a similar, conventional ROV open-source project intended for students, called SeaPerch https://www.seaperch.org/build
it seems to be the likely inspiration for the PVC-tube-frame positively-buoyant approach that most everyone runs with, although some stuff has objectively been improved since, for ex they build and waterproof their own thrusters using DC motors potted in film canisters and it's a kludgy mess compared to the virtually-readymade bilge pump thrusters in the youtube version I posted above. the sensors and accessories for the seaperch are interesting, though (the links in the build manual/on the website are dead but wayback machine archived it all). i especially like the DIY stereo hydrophone plans that use a pair of condenser mics potted in mineral-oil-filled canisters, giving you that Authentic U-Boat Captain Experience as you listen for the screws of potential minuscule destroyers patrolling the local flooded quarry

Only registered members can see post attachments!

Ambrose Burnside fucked around with this message at 08:16 on Jan 11, 2020

Combat Pretzel
Jun 23, 2004

No, seriously... what kurds?!

Ambrose Burnside posted:

but apparently if you get into the lowest of the low RC transmitter frequencies, as in "you probably need a ham operator's licence to do anything at this frequency legally"
:lol:

Yea, right.

Lack of HAM operator license doesn't appear to prevent people from using frequencies on licensed bands at power levels they're not certified or allowed to use.

Combat Pretzel fucked around with this message at 19:10 on Jan 11, 2020

Ambrose Burnside
Aug 30, 2007

pensive

Combat Pretzel posted:

:lol:

Yea, right.

Lack of HAM operator license doesn't appear to prevent people from using frequencies on licensed bands at power levels they're not certified or allowed to use.

note the 'legally'- i'm into SDR stuff and am probably gonna grab a hackRF soon, im acutely aware that people don't hew close to the letter of the law w this stuff. still worth mentioning as an aside b/c it can complicate things- actual licenced hams are some of the most miserable goody-two-shoes sorts ive run into and really will report people transmitting improperly for petty reasons- or no reason at all beyond You Broke The Rules- and the fines are real stiff. in the context of a glider it's probably easier than usual to get noticed/hosed with b/c a single 'flight' can last for days, and if you're talking to the thing intermittently it'll probably be from home and not "where you go to fly drones" or w/e.


e: more ROV stuff to dump here: this guy offers free 3D print files for various bespoke air pumps and valves designed specifically for authentically-ballasted RC model submarines, b/c apparently there isn't anything off the shelf that really cuts it http://www.scratchbuildwithjohn.com/3d-plans/

Ambrose Burnside fucked around with this message at 20:53 on Jan 11, 2020

Combat Pretzel
Jun 23, 2004

No, seriously... what kurds?!
Team Blacksheep are being sweethearts again.

Someone is reworking OpenTX' mixer scheduling to run it synchronously with comms to the transmitter modules, and suddenly TBS has this "CRSFShot" protocol that reduces latency. All they did was to drop it from 200hz on the OpenTX side to 150hz, to match the receivers, profit from that third party work (which should improve latency for _all_ protocols in OpenTX), and do some marketing.

I hate this hobby.

ImplicitAssembler
Jan 24, 2013

Speaking of submersible ROV's

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGEZApd9MMk

mobby_6kl
Aug 9, 2009

by Fluffdaddy
^^^
That's pretty cool! I'm surprised the little toy submarine remote worked as well a it did underwater.

Rincey posted:

I would if the only one of those that I've found wasn't $1600
Have you guys seen the Chasing Dory? https://www.chasing.com/chasing-dory.html
The techtablets guy reviewed a kickstarter version earlier, seems like it's basically a smaller version of the $1600 with a shorter tether: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4bIeOI_LuT8

CloFan
Nov 6, 2004

nevermind!

CloFan fucked around with this message at 15:55 on Jan 15, 2020

CapnBry
Jul 15, 2002

I got this goin'
Grimey Drawer
How many times in a row can a motor's C-clip go flying off while trying to put it on, and you still be able to find it easily before it is considered an Act of God? It just happened three times for me and I feel like The Golden Child.

I snapped my quad in half over the weekend (lousy $9 banggood frame) and spent the night making this Dan Marino Memorial Quadcopter from the parts! I'm really stoked about how nice the paint on the arms turned out. Just 50 cent acrylic paint from Walmart. It sticks to the cut carbon like glue but wipes right off the top and bottom surfaces. Nice way to jazz up any build.

Zorilla
Mar 23, 2005

GOING APE SPIT
ISDT Q6: ABNORMAL BATTERY CONNECTION *SCREEEEEEEEE*
Me: What's abnormal about it?

IDST Q6:


Between this thing's random intolerance of parallel charging boards, false warnings about reverse polarity after unplugging a battery at the same time I have a 1S parallel board connected (which is a completely passive device, so that makes no sense), the scroll wheel that either doesn't respond or jumps an entire page in the wrong direction, and the lens that scratches no matter how soft the cloth is you use to clean it, I'm done with it. When it works, it works great and has a fantastic user interface, but I'm guessing all the reviewers who have this and other ISDT products as their top picks haven't used it as their main charger for any extended period of time.

I also managed to melt the scroll wheel assembly with barely any heat at all while taking the lens off to get rid of the heavy sprinkling of dust that found its way inside the screen over the last year and a half. Yeah, it's not bad enough that this thing is glued together like the some of Apple's greatest hits, they had to use plastics that melt before the glue does.

For anyone interested, the HTRC C240 charger is on Banggood for $55.99 ($20 less than most other places right now). Dual outputs, 1-6S support, and a 150W internal power supply for about the same price as a Q6 Plus. Hopefully, that one will serve me a bit better.

CapnBry posted:

How many times in a row can a motor's C-clip go flying off while trying to put it on, and you still be able to find it easily before it is considered an Act of God? It just happened three times for me and I feel like The Golden Child.

I always work inside of a clear plastic bag whenever I need to mess with c-clips.

Zorilla fucked around with this message at 00:00 on Jan 15, 2020

Slash
Apr 7, 2011

I've used an ISDT Q6 for about 18 months and it has always worked perfectly (screen is definitely scratched though). I've used a super-cheap parallel charging board, and the ISDT milled aluminum one with no issues.

CapnBry
Jul 15, 2002

I got this goin'
Grimey Drawer
Yeah the screen on that thing is made from Scratchonium or something. I got one a couple of weeks ago and did one test charge on my desk before moving it to the bench. It had some dust and fingerprints on the screen so I wiped it with a microfiber cloth and scratched it. It came with a screen protector but I didn't put it on immediately, which was clearly a mistake. No issues so far but I've only used it a dozen times so far.

I'll have to try to remember that clear plastic bag trick next time I take these apart. I'll probably only remember it the instant the clip flies off though. :smith:

i own every Bionicle
Oct 23, 2005

cstm ttle? kthxbye

Zorilla posted:

ISDT woes

I have had two of those pieces of poo poo and my experience has been the same. They don’t like my fused parallel boards as far as I can tell, and they have fallen apart. I have replaced it with a SkyRC EQ4 with no screen and only one button for each port as my beater travel charger (they are on sale for 40 bucks at helidirect right now). It doesn’t do more than 4S (which sucks) but that’s my only gripe with it. It’s rugged as hell, quick to get stuff charging because there’s only one button and one connection, only beeps once and not incessantly when it’s done. I will use my big Hyperion charger for big packs and when I want to find IR and balance state.

Alternative pants
Nov 2, 2009

WILL AMOUNT TO NOTHING IN LIFE.


Has anyone sent in a comment to the FAA yet? I'm still working on mine and how the purposed rules will effectively end not only a great hobby, but also end STEM opportunities in schools. There are a couple of schools here in OK that are incorporating drones at various grade levels to teach basic electronics work as well as programming with arduino type stuff.

Corky Romanovsky
Oct 1, 2006

Soiled Meat
No, I haven't. Pretty dumb requirements that encourage non-compliance. Put commercial UAVs above 500ft, with special declaration/authorization if operating below that.

moron izzard
Nov 17, 2006

Grimey Drawer

Alternative pants posted:

Has anyone sent in a comment to the FAA yet? I'm still working on mine and how the purposed rules will effectively end not only a great hobby, but also end STEM opportunities in schools. There are a couple of schools here in OK that are incorporating drones at various grade levels to teach basic electronics work as well as programming with arduino type stuff.

It would destroy a large amount of my former employers drone research program as well. We don't always operate under our COA depending on convenience / location (though ironically the requirements under the COA for ~manufacturers~ certifying aircraft as fit for flying was hilariously trivial compared to the proposed rules for 107 operators).

Elendil004
Mar 22, 2003

The prognosis
is not good.


Alternative pants posted:

Has anyone sent in a comment to the FAA yet? I'm still working on mine and how the purposed rules will effectively end not only a great hobby, but also end STEM opportunities in schools. There are a couple of schools here in OK that are incorporating drones at various grade levels to teach basic electronics work as well as programming with arduino type stuff.

I submitted a comment, it would be tremendously bad for all the work I do and would kill a ton of entire industries and hobbies. It's also scary as poo poo because we've seen drones attacked, and pilots attacked, and giving every idiot with a gun access to the pilots info and location is nuts.

Corky Romanovsky
Oct 1, 2006

Soiled Meat
Without the pilot location information publicly available, how will HOA rentacops protect the interests of their employer?

Elendil004
Mar 22, 2003

The prognosis
is not good.


https://medium.com/@MossPhotography/an-open-letter-to-the-ama-leadership-concerning-the-rid-nprm-8f77846303a1

The AMA has airways kind of sucked and this guy puts some words together on why, relayed to the Remote ID rule.

CapnBry
Jul 15, 2002

I got this goin'
Grimey Drawer
The FPV Freedom Coalition has a Google Doc going with their suggested talking points and proposed regulations. Only thing that is lacking there is the definition of what a UAS is. Is a UAS everything that flies with a remote outdoors? Does this regulation mean everything from a 20g whoop to a 50g 3ch F949 to a 600g quad to a 50lb monster scale corsair would be covered by the same requirements?

The FAA says that the average amateur operator has 2 flying machines, FPVFC says the average is 10 flying machines. Both these seem a little off, but the FAA says each last an average of 10 years. What! They also think that 20% of all non-part-107 flyers equipment is upgradable to do RID, although none of my flying machines are. There's a lot of assumptions here that are just not at all correct.

Corky Romanovsky
Oct 1, 2006

Soiled Meat
Gonna be cool when cops have an equipment failure and can't read your remote ID that is functioning properly, so they EM snipe your vehicle and fine you.

moron izzard
Nov 17, 2006

Grimey Drawer

CapnBry posted:

The FPV Freedom Coalition has a Google Doc going with their suggested talking points and proposed regulations. Only thing that is lacking there is the definition of what a UAS is. Is a UAS everything that flies with a remote outdoors? Does this regulation mean everything from a 20g whoop to a 50g 3ch F949 to a 600g quad to a 50lb monster scale corsair would be covered by the same requirements?

The FAA says that the average amateur operator has 2 flying machines, FPVFC says the average is 10 flying machines. Both these seem a little off, but the FAA says each last an average of 10 years. What! They also think that 20% of all non-part-107 flyers equipment is upgradable to do RID, although none of my flying machines are. There's a lot of assumptions here that are just not at all correct.

There is a 250g low end for RID related requirements. The super heavy stuff already has its own certification requirements outside of part 107, but I imagine the RID options will be the same. Yes, the FAA has defined all remote controlled aircraft as UAS in their rules for a few years now.

Alternative pants
Nov 2, 2009

WILL AMOUNT TO NOTHING IN LIFE.


Got my Armattan Gecko this past week. Thew a caddx turtle on there, now I've gotta actually tune the thing since all the rates on the FC were super slow. The first half of this video was a bunch of full stick maneuvers, the second half was with the rates doubled.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f0sWt6jBSEw

bullets cure cops
Feb 3, 2006
I just ordered some 4000mah 35A rated Samsung 21700 cells (INR21700-40T) to make a couple of 4S packs. I'm interested in seeing how they feel for long range cruising and what kind of time I can get out of them. Now I just need to figure out what size heat shrink to get for them. It feels like whenever a order a single size of heat shrink for a specific purpose, I always guess wrong.

Splode
Jun 18, 2013

put some clothes on you little freak
So I've just begun getting into FPV drone stuff, so far I've just got the RTF kit from EMax with the Tinyhawk.

I'd like to get something with a decent HD image, but I'm pretty happy with the smaller size, as I live in a city, and my opportunities to take a 6S 5" drone out and scream around a field are limited (and likely to be made illegal at some point by my capricious government)
I know I'll need a better controller (and I'd like better goggles, but so expensive!) but I've picked those out already.
What I'm struggling to choose is the next quad to get. I'm looking at HD whoops like the:

Beta75X HD whoop
Beta85X HD/4k? Whoop
GEPRC CineEye HD
Eachine Cinecan HD
Mobula 7 HD (is the overheating issue really fixed in the new version?)

I'm also considering HD toothpicks, as it seems like they're the same sort of price as the HD whoops, but with better cameras. There's a neat one from BetaFPV, but also the R249 from Diatone looks nice.

Has anyone got any insights, recommendations, or experiences with any of these?

Splode fucked around with this message at 01:26 on Feb 1, 2020

Corky Romanovsky
Oct 1, 2006

Soiled Meat
What do you mean by HD and better goggles? What are your expectations? Pretty much all the video feeds will be the same, some difference in camera light performance but in-goggle video isn't going to be 1280x720 unless you get something like the DJI digital video system.

Splode
Jun 18, 2013

put some clothes on you little freak

Corky Romanovsky posted:

What do you mean by HD and better goggles? What are your expectations? Pretty much all the video feeds will be the same, some difference in camera light performance but in-goggle video isn't going to be 1280x720 unless you get something like the DJI digital video system.

I want to record HD videos on the drone for later viewing, I know analogue video is analogue video. The drones I listed are capable of it, you load an SD card into the onboard DVR and it captures decent quality footage (not go-pro quality, but those are expensive)

As for better goggles, I currently have very cheap box goggles. They work, but they don't sit on my face particularly well and they're not particularly immersive.

Combat Pretzel
Jun 23, 2004

No, seriously... what kurds?!
If you're in the Crossfire ecosystem and need/want a new more compact remote, the Tango 2 seems nice. It's been revealed today and distributors get their shipments tomorrow ostensibly, i.e. it's shipping next week.

Alternative pants
Nov 2, 2009

WILL AMOUNT TO NOTHING IN LIFE.


Still working on tuning my Gecko, but I got it Smith enough to where I feel comfortable hitting gaps on a quad bigger than a whoop.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShWFYN3rQgA

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Bad Munki
Nov 4, 2008

We're all mad here.


Alternative pants posted:

Still working on tuning my Gecko, but I got it Smith enough to where I feel comfortable hitting gaps on a quad bigger than a whoop.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ShWFYN3rQgA

That's cool, but I have one question: are you a nascar driver? :v:

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