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CloFan
Nov 6, 2004

I discovered a tv series this weekend, Getaway Driver, that uses fpv shots extensively. It's a cool concept for a show and the drones really add to it. Sometimes I dream of a career change, doing this kind of work would be fun as heck

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Dominoes
Sep 20, 2007

Shameless self-promotion: I just launched a pair of ExpressLRS receivers. Dual and single radio variants: https://www.anyleaf.org/elrs-rx-dualradio.

Open-hardware available here with KiCad files, schematic images, and gerbers/assembly files: https://github.com/AnyLeaf/elrs-hardware So feel free to make your own or w/e.

Props to goon CapnBry for playing a big role in writing and maintaining the ELRS firmware!

namlosh
Feb 11, 2014

I name this haircut "The Sad Rhino".

Dominoes posted:

Shameless self-promotion: I just launched a pair of ExpressLRS receivers. Dual and single radio variants: https://www.anyleaf.org/elrs-rx-dualradio.

Open-hardware available here with KiCad files, schematic images, and gerbers/assembly files: https://github.com/AnyLeaf/elrs-hardware So feel free to make your own or w/e.

Props to goon CapnBry for playing a big role in writing and maintaining the ELRS firmware!

This is awesome, I was just thinking of getting into building a drone and one of the requirements would be open source everything.

Toot your own horn as much as you want, great accomplishment

Dominoes
Sep 20, 2007

Thank you!

slidebite
Nov 6, 2005

Good egg
:colbert:

https://www.avweb.com/aviation-news/drone-collision-report-issued/

https://dronedj.com/2023/01/23/canada-issues-report-on-2021-police-drones-collision/

Canadian police force in Toronto suburb flies drone at 400AGL on an approach path with a runway and get smoked by a 172.

Beve Stuscemi
Jun 6, 2001




Boy howdy don’t read those comments

evil_bunnY
Apr 2, 2003

slidebite posted:

https://www.avweb.com/aviation-news/drone-collision-report-issued/

https://dronedj.com/2023/01/23/canada-issues-report-on-2021-police-drones-collision/

Canadian police force in Toronto suburb flies drone at 400AGL on an approach path with a runway and get smoked by a 172.
LOL of course the one time a GA plane smokes a drone it's the piggies.

CapnBry
Jul 15, 2002

I got this goin'
Grimey Drawer

Dominoes posted:

Shameless self-promotion: I just launched a pair of ExpressLRS receivers. Dual and single radio variants: https://www.anyleaf.org/elrs-rx-dualradio.

Open-hardware available here with KiCad files, schematic images, and gerbers/assembly files: https://github.com/AnyLeaf/elrs-hardware So feel free to make your own or w/e.

Props to goon CapnBry for playing a big role in writing and maintaining the ELRS firmware!
Oh I didn't even know this was an open source hardware design, sweet! I'll have to make sure we include that info in the docs.

DreadLlama posted:

Its baby brother, the "Mini Guinea" weighs only 256g (without electronics). It can not carry a truck. But it can carry dreams.
This is true. One carried my dreams just a year ago, and I think there was still enough space inside to carry at least some truck parts? Rockin that sweet 2 minute paint job and realistic sharpiewindows.

DreadLlama
Jul 15, 2005
Not just for breakfast anymore
Nice! That is a sweet looking plane if I ever saw one. I dig the blaze orange "find it in the grass" markings.

Does it fly easy? Actually, this is a long shot but I don't suppose you fly sims? I've been binging Liftoff®: FPV Drone Racing and it's got me thinking that before building anything, step 0 really should be flying the aircraft in a simulator. I was looking at https://www.wings-sim.com/ because they've got the FT Kraken, but no Guinea unfortunately.

Thanks for sharing that awesome plane!

CapnBry
Jul 15, 2002

I got this goin'
Grimey Drawer
Oh of course I fly sims, it is an excellent way to learn and get comfortable with the controls without having to repair a plane every 15 seconds. I haven't used Wings, but I haven't heard anyone say anything bad about it either. I have RealFlight 8, which I would hate to recommend due to it being unreasonably expensive and also virtually unchanged over the past decade, but it does an okayish job at simulating RC planes. It looks like hot garbage, or an MMO from 2003, and a UI that is downright hostile, but there aren't really a lot of options for sims. PicaSim is a free simulator that has some good physics, but again the UI is like a 1990s Java app for some reason. I would recommend it if you're into saving money, before spending on either of the other two.

The Mini Guinea flew great, most the FT designs are really easy to fly. I used a pair of old quad motors (2206 2300KV) and 5x3.5 props on a 3S 1300mAh and there was plenty of power. I don't usually put wheels on my planes because the grass is just too long/dense where I fly for them to work, but I could just about taxi the thing with that setup. It is light so it can go fairly slow in the air, you can set up a little differential thrust to have it turn real fast too. That said, something that has dihedral in the wing is a better trainer, because letting go of the sticks the model just wants to get back to level itself. The flat wing of the Guinea doesn't help in that respect.

You hear a lot of "start with 2S then when you've got more experience you can 'move up' to 3S" but I think that is incorrect advice. Sure, with more power you can really crash with more speed, but learning to fly with an underpowered model is a really hard way to learn. I learned on a FT Tiny Trainer with a 1806 2200KV motor (Power Pack A) with a 6x3 prop and a 2S battery and you need 80-90% throttle just to stay in the air, so you don't have any power available to go over obstacles. A great advantage of RC over real planes is that they have fantastic power to weight ratios and that lets you get out of almost any situation by just going straight up, or at least not stalling when making an abrupt hard turn. I flew that model last month just for nostalgia and I can't imagine how I was able to learn on it with such little power. The Tiny Trainer is a fine trainer, but just make sure you're at 50-60% power at the most for normal level flight.

An only slightly more advanced model is the FT Tutor, which I think is their best of the non-Master Series designs. I think it would be a great plane to learn on because it can fly pretty hands off and is still a manageable size.

DreadLlama
Jul 15, 2005
Not just for breakfast anymore
Now I want to build 3 4 airplanes. Thanks.

RealFlight Evolution has an interesting price point for sure. But on the other hand, from the steam description: "With [...] the ability to edit and add aircraft and sites, there's an almost infinite number of flying options available."
If for the price of one model, I could play with an infinite number of virtual models, there might be some justification for costing as much as it does. Especially if the site editor includes a pathway like "Drone photogrammetry --> Agisoft Metashape --> RealFlight map. But the real question is how's the vehicle editor? Is it like Kerbal Space Program or more like notepad? I once tried to make a plane for MS flight simulator 2000 and I was literally too dumb for it. There are people who can design aircraft in a text editor, but I am not one of them.

I agree with you on skipping 2s. I had a brushed 2s quad back in like 2015 that couldn't actually fly with its landing gear, prop guards, and camera attached. It could take off and toilet-bowl, but I had to remove all the accessories to actually do anything with it. If "Liftoff" is any indicator, a power to weight ratio of 4:1 is the minimum to move while maintaining altitude. Maybe someone with more than 20 hours of (simulated) flying experience can make do with less, but I sure can't at my skill level. Acro mode is hella fun though.


CapnBry posted:

differential thrust

Thank you for reminding me that I need to find/buy a transmitter that supports throttle mixing. Anyone know how to do that on a RadioLink AT9S Pro? The manual is small and also Chinglish, and the transmitter is unpopular enough that there isn't a lot of community support on it. I might upgrade to the Taranis X9D. It seems to be popular, and there are tutorials on it. Is there any reason to stay away? I might not need all 24 channels right away but between lights, bomb bay doors, seed spreader, mode switching, flaperons, gimbal PTZ... it all adds up.

I'm going to check out PicaSim at least. I've never heard of it until literally just now. Thanks!

DreadLlama fucked around with this message at 20:46 on Feb 1, 2023

Splode
Jun 18, 2013

put some clothes on you little freak
Don't go with a Taranis, FrSky's protocols are a confusing mess these days. Go with something that supports ELRS, it's open source and outperforms everything else.

In the drone world the radiomaster transmitters seem very popular

guidoanselmi
Feb 6, 2008

I thought my ideas were so clear. I wanted to make an honest post. No lies whatsoever.

DreadLlama posted:

Nice! That is a sweet looking plane if I ever saw one. I dig the blaze orange "find it in the grass" markings.

Does it fly easy? Actually, this is a long shot but I don't suppose you fly sims? I've been binging Liftoff®: FPV Drone Racing and it's got me thinking that before building anything, step 0 really should be flying the aircraft in a simulator. I was looking at https://www.wings-sim.com/ because they've got the FT Kraken, but no Guinea unfortunately.

Thanks for sharing that awesome plane!

I learned to crash on Wings before learning to crash irl. It's definitely an idealized sim so you won't train on how to work with winds

DreadLlama
Jul 15, 2005
Not just for breakfast anymore
Thank you for the advice! As the first radio I purchase that does not come as part of a kit, I'm trying to make it a good one. Hopefully the last one I buy, ever. I'm trying not to ask questions that I can google. So hopefully this isn't a waste of everyone's time.

Let's say I get a RadioMaster TX16S MK II - ELRS

Is it compatible with any receiver from any manufacturer that also is ELRS?

If it is, which brand has the easiest time setting up telemetry display on the radio? For example with RadioLink you just buy a PRM-03 and make 3 connections, one to the FC, one to the receiver, and one to battery. This causes the controller to display a whole bunch of information about the vehicle. Mostly battery voltage but also Lat&Long, number of satellites it can see, speed both vertical and horizontal, distance from home and what flight mode it's in. One module, three connections, lots of data.


To get the same information from an FrSky receiver it looks like a minimum of two modules are required: FrSky S.PORT GPS Sensor, and FrSKY FLVS ADV, plus a receiver that supports telemetry. And it'll display battery voltage, gps co-ordinates (and possibly more {like distance to home etc}. I don't know).

Are there any ELRS receivers that can send telemetry data back to the controller without any modules, or with just one module?

I'm looking at the HappyModel ELRS EP1 Dual RX for example. The manufacturers page says "Telemetry power: >19dbm" so it must support telemetry, but there's nothing about what (if any) accessories are needed.

Like, there's: https://oscarliang.com/setup-expres...%20the%20radio. and https://www.happymodel.cn/index.php...etry/telemetry/ but neither talk about hardware. Does that mean a separate telemetry module isn't required? Because I'm assuming it just means I'm bad at finding documentation.

I will continue to hem and haw about wings vs. realflight. Liftoff still has a tremendous amount left to teach me.

fake edit: ELRS seems to use the CRSF protocol where you plug the Rx into the telemetry port, like this painless360 video. Is that how ELRS works? Did I just spend an entire evening figuring that out? I am not a smart man.

ImplicitAssembler
Jan 24, 2013

If you already have a Taranis X9D, just use that.
Build some FT planes, crash them, repair, repeat. You can get telemetry back to the screen on the Taranis as well, but just focus on learning how to make the planes work first.

DreadLlama
Jul 15, 2005
Not just for breakfast anymore
I don't have an X9D. I have a radiolink AT9S pro that came with quadcopter kit. It doesn't appear to support differential throttle and I need that eventually so I'm looking to upgrade. It's a shame because it supports 12 channels which appears to be exactly number that I need.
code:
yaw pitch roll throttle 4
bomb bay doors		1	5	
seed spreader 		1	6
mode switch 		1	7
autotune	 	1	8
gimbal pan tilt 	2	10
flaps			1	11
arm (must be aux1)	1	12
(unless I've forgotten something. Oh dear. Have I forgotten something?)

So far all I've done is cross the X9D off my shopping list and put a RadioMaster TX16S MK II - ELRS in its place. I'm the sort of person who thinks about these decisions for a few months before acting on them. No Taranises in my future now.

But thank you, specifically for the advice and patience you've given over the years. I try not to clutter up the thread with "thank you" posts but I want you to know I do appreciate your patience and knowledge. You're good people.

Right now my biggest decision is whether to spend $155.93 on RealFlight Evolution or $203.91 to get that plus wings-sim. I know I can't resist getting the best one eventually. Just a question of whether I spend money on an intermediate before then.

But yes, good advice. Make planes work. Simulated first though. I don't want to hurt anybody.

edit: This is a good video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpnbJPU3hU0

DreadLlama fucked around with this message at 23:18 on Feb 4, 2023

CapnBry
Jul 15, 2002

I got this goin'
Grimey Drawer

DreadLlama posted:

Is it compatible with any receiver from any manufacturer that also is ELRS?
Yup, all ExpressLRS hardware is compatible with each other, they just need to be on the same major version to talk to each other, which is 3.x currently. The TX16S is a popular choice for being affordable, having a color touchscreen that you can mostly read outdoors, and being covered in switches and knobs. The standard hall gimbals are also great. The new Boxer is my favorite radio though. It is smaller and has a black and white LCD, but has the same gimbals. I just find the TX16S hard to hold as a pincher because there are TOO many switches for me. In a smaller gamepad style, the Zorro is amazing and was my main radio until the Boxer came along. It has some interesting momentary switches in great positions, but has fewer switches than any of the others. For a budget option, you just can't beat the Jumper T-Lite V2. It is an incredible value, a single 18650 battery lasts forever, and has a 100mW internal ELRS TX which is enough to get at least 5km (without obstruction). The gimbals are not great and the screen is tiny, but I still think it the best handset under $100 (at $60).

ExpressLRS does various telemetry items, but the receivers themselves don't generally support measuring the values themselves. The receivers only report signal statistics such as link quality, RSSI, and SNR. Instead a flight controller or external PCB is used. For flight controllers the telemetry values are:
-- Attitude (pitch roll yaw)
-- GPS position
-- GPS speed
-- GPS satellite count
-- Heading
-- Altitude (usually a GPS / barometer fusion if coming from a flight controller)
-- Battery voltage
-- Current (amps)
-- Battery percentage
-- Battery mAh used
-- Barometer Altitude (only a few things support this)
-- Vertical speed (only a few things support this)

Built into the receiver, the only integrated sensors are Battery Voltage, Barometer, and Vario but only if they say they support it-- there's only a few. For other sensors, Matek sells a few external boards that break out servo outputs and adds GPS stuff and battery voltage/current and even one with an integrated BEC. For one of those, you add your own receiver to it, usually soldering it right to the converter. There are no other commercial external sensors, but there is an open source SBUS to CRSF converter project that allows FrSky sensors to be plugged in and also will output SBUS protocol (but who wants that? Yuk!).

ExpressLRS wires to things the same way TBS Crossfire / Tracer does: 5V, GND, and RX/TX wires.

ImplicitAssembler
Jan 24, 2013

I'm resurrection my heavy/long range helicopter drone project again, as a potential backup for work, as the long range UAV we were intending to buy has a serious leadtime now. (6+months). Mine wont fit all the requirement (I'll be limited to maybe 3 hours duration), but it also wont cost $700.000.
It hasn't flown in a couple of years and was stripped down for the relocation, but the plan is to get it flying/tuned and then see what range I can get out of it.
I've been looking at ELRS as a potential substitute, but I would need more parameters for telemetry, (OAT, CHT, fuel flow ) along with the usual flight controller parameters.

We've also been trying to figure out a 'bug' with our M300/H20T. The H20T would stop recording at 29 minutes, 29 seconds, regardless of video format, file size, etc.
Now the system is normally *extremely* good at warning you about everything and wont do anything without giving you a warning/message, etc....but this one would just stop.
It's not mentioned in the specs or manual and if you contact sales, you'll get told that there's no limit on recording time.
So, it requires us to keep track of time (the standard mission we can just about finish in 25 minutes, but any hiccups/weather and it *can* take longer), but to deal with it, we do have to slow down to a hover, re-start the recording and resume, which again, doesn't help the look on the end product and adds a bit extra post-processing. (And adds more time to the flight).

First we went through the dealer. Firmware updates, various SD cards, etc. No change. Eventually they contacted DJI and was apparently told "This is how it is".
We went "bullshit" and then contacted DJI support ourselves.
First we got bullshit answers. "It's because it's a Fat32 format and is limited to 4GB".
Yes, but the system already knows how to deal with that and if we record the thermal only, the file size doesn't even hit 1GB.
Then it became even more ludicrous: "It's because due to import/export regulations, that if it can record more than 30 minutes, it's classified as a video camera and not a drone and is taxed differently". (And then for good measures repeated the Fat32 limit).
I got really mad and asked to speak with someone other than a standard support drone and it got escalated to 'Costumer Care'
She then repeated the import/export issues in 'some European countries' and is now starting to offer free goods from their store to make the issue go away.
I've now replied that it's totally nonsense. The M300 and H20T has their separate sales pages and one is clearly labelled as a drone and the other as a camera. The word 'camera' appears 17 times on the H20T page.
I've asked for a custom firmware update to remove the recording limit, so we can get the product that they've advertised.
I'm tempted to pursue legal action to get this sorted.

Meanwhile we're looking at this as a replacement.
https://workswell-thermal-camera.com/wiris-enterprise/
It's thermal camera looks much better than the H20T anyway (and the video feed actually contains thermal info, unlike the H20T) and their software is much much better.
RGB/Visible quality isn't as nice, but the thermal side will more than make up for it.

slidebite
Nov 6, 2005

Good egg
:colbert:

These last few posts kinda remind me of something I've been wanting to ask,

is there a good resource to describe getting into FPV quads? Or maybe a good go-to recommended "kit"?

ImplicitAssembler
Jan 24, 2013

slidebite posted:

These last few posts kinda remind me of something I've been wanting to ask,

is there a good resource to describe getting into FPV quads? Or maybe a good go-to recommended "kit"?



https://oscarliang.com/

namlosh
Feb 11, 2014

I name this haircut "The Sad Rhino".

ImplicitAssembler posted:

"It's because due to import/export regulations, that if it can record more than 30 minutes, it's classified as a video camera and not a drone and is taxed differently".

Lol, I’m in no way trying to say you’re wrong

But this is a real thing… we bought a Sony A7 camera that’s meant to take videos and such: it won’t record more than 30 minutes at a time

I think Techmoan or someone mentioned it, but there’s a serious tax/tariff put on video cameras which is defined as “can record more than 30 min contiguous”. Some camera manufacturers choose to disable that feature in order to keep the cost of the camera down.
You’re right to look for another firmware. They probably have one for Asia and other places where the tariff isn’t a thing.
Oh and it’s been around forever… like since the 90’s

It is total bullshit, lol
Good luck!

DreadLlama
Jul 15, 2005
Not just for breakfast anymore

Thank you for the detailed write-up!

My build includes a pixhawk 4. So that means the Rx will be able to pick up GPS and battery voltage and send it back to me? Because that's the main, super important thing. I have some paranoia about sending an aircraft without being able to see battery voltage. If it were possible, I would monitor the voltage of each individual cell. But no extra modules are needed? Just plug the receiver into an open telemetry port and I get a control link and telemetry coming back downstream? Neato!

Like you, Painless360 and Joshua Bardwell both prefer the ergonomics of the Boxer, I however am a huge fan of big bright color screens. And I want all the knobs, switches, and buttons I can get.

But first thing's first. Fixed wing sim while waiting for parts from China. Thanks to you guys I now know which parts to get.

slidebite posted:

These last few posts kinda remind me of something I've been wanting to ask,

is there a good resource to describe getting into FPV quads? Or maybe a good go-to recommended "kit"?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ou5i9zdyqn0

Don't do what I did, which was to buy a mavic mini, fly it around for a bit, and declare myself "good at drone flying". In dunning kruger terms, that's the same as ascending mount stupid and staying there. Do like the video suggests and start with a simulator, then graduate to a cinewhoop style frame with prop guards. They might not be "optimal" for acro mode but by the time your skill is at the point where the drone is holding you back you should have a better idea of what you want to get into. This one is cool because the controller that comes with it will be able graduate with you to bigger and better things. You will probably want more than 8 channels eventually but since you don't right now it's hard to argue with the price point ($80 on its own). And, really importantly:

quote:

Can be used with simulator via the USB C port

Liftoff is not only a good learning tool, it's also really fun. And it's like $30. It'll pay for itself the first time you don't crash and break a prop. Plus it has multiplayer. If enough goons buy it we could maybe do some cool poo poo together. I don't know.

I think we can all agree that it's bullshit that a $10,000 camera is giving its owner any hassle at all. The manufacturer should be bending over backwards to fix the issue, not giving the runaround. Ten. Thousand. Dollars.

edit: I feel dumb now. Everything I just asked about is right here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8NbnbLM9bE&t=247s

DreadLlama fucked around with this message at 04:42 on Feb 5, 2023

ImplicitAssembler
Jan 24, 2013

namlosh posted:

Lol, I’m in no way trying to say you’re wrong

But this is a real thing… we bought a Sony A7 camera that’s meant to take videos and such: it won’t record more than 30 minutes at a time

I think Techmoan or someone mentioned it, but there’s a serious tax/tariff put on video cameras which is defined as “can record more than 30 min contiguous”. Some camera manufacturers choose to disable that feature in order to keep the cost of the camera down.
You’re right to look for another firmware. They probably have one for Asia and other places where the tariff isn’t a thing.
Oh and it’s been around forever… like since the 90’s

It is total bullshit, lol
Good luck!

Yeah, once I got hold of the Customer Care and they repeated it *and* started offering free goodies, it was clear that they were serious and not just blowing smoke up my rear end...but they are selling it with a drone that has 50 minutes of air time, so they have zero excuse for this bullshit.
Or at least, zero excuse for not having it mentioned *anywhere* and have their sales bots say that there's no such limit.
At least not for $13k.

(Also, now thinking back, I think it's the exact same with my Olympus em10...it also stops after 30 mins!).

Edit: Googling reveals it's to avoid a 5.6% tarif. We would actually happily pay an extra 5.6% to make this go away. Those $700 would quickly be recovered.

ImplicitAssembler fucked around with this message at 06:11 on Feb 5, 2023

slidebite
Nov 6, 2005

Good egg
:colbert:


Thanks, will check it out.

DreadLlama posted:

Don't do what I did, which was to buy a mavic mini, fly it around for a bit, and declare myself "good at drone flying". In dunning kruger terms, that's the same as ascending mount stupid and staying there. Do like the video suggests and start with a simulator, then graduate to a cinewhoop style frame with prop guards. They might not be "optimal" for acro mode but by the time your skill is at the point where the drone is holding you back you should have a better idea of what you want to get into. This one is cool because the controller that comes with it will be able graduate with you to bigger and better things. You will probably want more than 8 channels eventually but since you don't right now it's hard to argue with the price point ($80 on its own). And, really importantly:

No worries about that - I know enough to know I'm not great lol

Thanks for the recommendations, will look at them.

CapnBry
Jul 15, 2002

I got this goin'
Grimey Drawer

DreadLlama posted:

My build includes a pixhawk 4. So that means the Rx will be able to pick up GPS and battery voltage and send it back to me? Because that's the main, super important thing. I have some paranoia about sending an aircraft without being able to see battery voltage. If it were possible, I would monitor the voltage of each individual cell. But no extra modules are needed? Just plug the receiver into an open telemetry port and I get a control link and telemetry coming back downstream? Neato!
I've never used a pixhawk, but if it is running Ardupilot, but according to the docs it seems it will work. No CRSF-based system supports per-cell voltage, only the combined battery voltage with (ugh) one decimal place.

That page says "However, [ExpressLRS] does not provide bi-directional telemetry like Crossfire." but I have no idea what that means and is likely incorrect. It might be referring to over 3 years ago when we hadn't written the telemetry part yet, but all the telemetry stuff on that page works with ExpressLRS. The "ArduPilot Parameter Editor" would be under "Other Devices" in our Lua script, but I do not believe it works because I removed the floating point support from our Lua to free up memory we need.

Dominoes
Sep 20, 2007

FWIW, I've considered a setup where a dedicated ELRS Tx/Rx pair is used to pass arbitrary information (Could be called the overloaded term "telemetry") from A/C to operator by hijacking the control channel data. This is probably only apt if you're using custom firmware on both ends of the link. Shouldn't be tough to do hardware wise, since ELRS has already handled the over-the-air stuff, which can be seen as the hard part. The rest is just unpacking and packing data as binary, and shaping it to fit the CRSF data specs.

CapnBry
Jul 15, 2002

I got this goin'
Grimey Drawer

Dominoes posted:

FWIW, I've considered a setup where a dedicated ELRS Tx/Rx pair is used to pass arbitrary information (Could be called the overloaded term "telemetry") from A/C to operator by hijacking the control channel data.
There's a PR for doing this already on our github, called Airport. It completely replaces the control link code and converts it to just send arbitrary data through a UART. That means you'll need a second set of TX / RX, but it runs in the same application framework as our control link does. Just hook a receiver to another UART on the FC, and use the USB port on a TX to connect it to a computer and you can run Ardupilot Misson Planner over it. It isn't a perfect solution because the connection is still lossy (no guaranteed delivery of data), but it has been proven too work as a telemetry link.

All the pinouts for ExpressLRS hardware is public in our target definitions too, so if someone doesn't like it, they have know all the pins they need to wiggle to write their own solution from scratch without having to cobble together their own hardware too. There's a lot of opportunity for innovation by devising a clever bandwidth scheduling system or devising better packet layout more suited to becoming a wireless bridge.

Dominoes
Sep 20, 2007

That sounds great!

evil_bunnY
Apr 2, 2003

ImplicitAssembler posted:

She then repeated the import/export issues in 'some European countries' and is now starting to offer free goods from their store to make the issue go away.
I've now replied that it's totally nonsense. The M300 and H20T has their separate sales pages and one is clearly labelled as a drone and the other as a camera. The word 'camera' appears 17 times on the H20T page.
Amazing.

That's a beefy thermal resolution, no wonder it looks decent

GWBBQ
Jan 2, 2005


I have a Mavic Mini with 4 batteries and I'm going to be flying Newark-Atlanta-Birmingham tomorrow. I also have a laptop, phone, and 2 Canon LP-E6 batteries. I'm flying Delta. Am I going to have issues with bringing that many Li-Ion batteries on a plane in carryon?

drowningidiot
Sep 27, 2014

GWBBQ posted:

I have a Mavic Mini with 4 batteries and I'm going to be flying Newark-Atlanta-Birmingham tomorrow. I also have a laptop, phone, and 2 Canon LP-E6 batteries. I'm flying Delta. Am I going to have issues with bringing that many Li-Ion batteries on a plane in carryon?

I think you might have to leave one of the drone batteries behind. The rule is one in the drone and two spares. I went to Hawaii last month with pretty much the exact amount of gear and didn’t have any issues so I don’t think you need to worry about the laptop or the camera batteries. I was travelling with my girlfriend so I just put my 4th drone battery in her carryon so if you have somebody with you then that’s an option.

GWBBQ
Jan 2, 2005


drowningidiot posted:

I think you might have to leave one of the drone batteries behind. The rule is one in the drone and two spares. I went to Hawaii last month with pretty much the exact amount of gear and didn’t have any issues so I don’t think you need to worry about the laptop or the camera batteries. I was travelling with my girlfriend so I just put my 4th drone battery in her carryon so if you have somebody with you then that’s an option.
We rescheduled our flight for Friday because of questionable weather. I'm also traveling with my girlfriend so I'll probably ask her to put one drone battery and maybe the camera batteries in her carry-on.

Now I just have to figure out how to fit a DSLR, two lenses, a drone in a hard case, and a telescope in a carry-on bag and backpack.

ImplicitAssembler
Jan 24, 2013

https://www.faa.gov/hazmat/packsafe/more_info/?hazmat=7

Max 100 watt hours per battery, no limit on amount. You're fine.

evil_bunnY
Apr 2, 2003

ImplicitAssembler posted:

https://www.faa.gov/hazmat/packsafe/more_info/?hazmat=7

Max 100 watt hours per battery, no limit on amount. You're fine.
Can't carriers be assholes and further restrict the amount?

ImplicitAssembler
Jan 24, 2013

Carriers don't look inside your luggage.

DreadLlama
Jul 15, 2005
Not just for breakfast anymore
What's the deal with 433MHz in Canada?

I read some words on the internet that it's used exclusively for RFID on shipping containers.

www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/47/15.240 posted:


§ 15.240 Operation in the band 433.5-434.5 MHz.
(a) Operation under the provisions of this section is restricted to devices that use radio frequency energy to identify the contents of commercial shipping containers.
But that site is American. The only Canadian sources I can find don't mention shipping containers. They just say "amateur"

https://ised-isde.canada.ca/site/sp...ns-sf10759#s2.2

code:
430 - 432	RADIOLOCATION
		Amateur

432 - 438	RADIOLOCATION
		Amateur
		Earth Exploration-Satellite

438 - 450	RADIOLOCATION
		Amateur
It says exactly the same thing about the frequency range including 915MHz, which is purportedly the only legal one in Canada.
code:
902 - 928	RADIOLOCATION
		Amateur
		Mobile except aeronautical mobile
And if you look at the frequency allocation chart, it says the same thing: https://ised-isde.canada.ca/site/sp...ctrum_Chart.PDF




433MHz and 915MHz appear to be treated identically. There's nothing about the way they're described to indicate that one is legally distinct from the other. It looks as though if someone needed a telemetry radio and hypothetically had a 433MHz one sitting unused on their shelf for the past 2 years, they would be fine to go ahead and use it rather than spend another $70~ish USD buying another 915MHz radio.

At what point do you decide you've done enough due diligence and just use the hardware? Do you trust a government-run website? Or for truly definitive answers, do you check an internet comedy forum?

DreadLlama
Jul 15, 2005
Not just for breakfast anymore
I'm double posting!

Dominoes posted:

Shameless self-promotion: I just launched a pair of ExpressLRS receivers. Dual and single radio variants: https://www.anyleaf.org/elrs-rx-dualradio.

Open-hardware available here with KiCad files, schematic images, and gerbers/assembly files: https://github.com/AnyLeaf/elrs-hardware So feel free to make your own or w/e.

Props to goon CapnBry for playing a big role in writing and maintaining the ELRS firmware!

I've noticed these are back in stock. Do you have a firmware target in ExpressLRS Configurator?

CapnBry
Jul 15, 2002

I got this goin'
Grimey Drawer

DreadLlama posted:

I've noticed these are back in stock. Do you have a firmware target in ExpressLRS Configurator?
They're not officialy in ExpressLRS yet. We've received hardware, there were some changes needed, and I just got updated hardware a couple days ago.

You can use "HappyModel EP Dual 2.4GHz RX" (for the True Diversity one linked there) as a workaround though, since the layouts are the same, but I can't remember if the telemetry transmit power values are accurate.

CapnBry fucked around with this message at 19:01 on Mar 4, 2023

DreadLlama
Jul 15, 2005
Not just for breakfast anymore
Sweet!

You just got yourself a customer!

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Dominoes
Sep 20, 2007

Sweet! LMK if you have any Qs or suggestions.

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