Quadcopters and other tech toys?

[MannDude]

I think those DJI props do not have round holes, I think are 'keyed' on two sides so you may need to drill the hole out so its completely round.

I use HQProps 9x5E props and they worked ok on 3 cell batteries but were a little under powered but now that I am on 4 cell batteries they are perfect and have lots of power.

If I were you I would probably try a HQProps 9x4.5 MR (multirotor) prop.

You can pick them up from RTFQ for $5.00 per set (2).

http://witespyquad.gostorego.com/propellers/hq-prop-9x45-carbon-composite-prop.html

The HQProps are very well made and are typically balanced better than most props strait out of the package.

Now I am in the process of building a 250mm Carbon Fiber mini H quad..  Parts should start arriving in a week or two..

They don't, but my motors are DJI style so I've been trying to find props specific for it. Though the carbon ones I bought, although they're DJI style and slotted, produce pretty unstable flights. Unsure why, really. The props I have on now are non DJI style, but I can use the thinnest shim/adapter available and wedge them on the motor real tight and flying with those are great. At some point in the future, no time soon, I'll get some different motors so I can use my existing ones on a tri-copter project... but it's not really a big issue yet and I really have no interest in spending that money.

I'll tell you what though, I am very happy with that Mobius camera. The footage is great. I'm trying to eliminate the jello in the footage but all in all it's not super bad. I've got some ideas and some stuff laying around the house that may help eliminate it. I'll upload some footage soon.

Next on the list is getting an FPV setup. Unsure of my total flight time, but really getting the hang of flying my SK450 and even after the deadcat conversion it's flying pretty solid right now. I have a good area near me for practice, and while it's mostly open space there are a few trees here and there which would make for a good FPV challenge, just doing low flights through the tree line. Though evveenntually, need to pack the car up and hit up a nearby state park or some other nice scenic places

 

[Aldryic C'boas]

And after seeing this video... I think I'll probably start looking into these as well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9KZ3jgbbmI

 

[MannDude]

And after seeing this video... I think I'll probably start looking into these as well.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9KZ3jgbbmI

Do it. It's quite fun and I'm happy to find a hobby that combines my love for technology with something that is 'hands on'. 



That's the most recent update of my quad. Now have a lot of room to mount some goodies. 

I have the camera mounted where it is, because I get better / less shakey-footage there. When fine tuning the settings and getting used to the dead-cat conversion kit, I did a nose dive and broke the turnbuckles that helped prevent the front in from shaking too much in flight, so need to figure something out as an alternative. =/

 

[FLDataTeK]

Well keep in mind that both motors and props do not come very balanced so you need to balance both to get rid of the jello.

Search Youtube for videos on how to balance them.. There is two methods for motors... The vibration app on your phone and the laser pointer method.

Also to help get rid of jello some people have been using something called "Moon Gel". Its sold at music stores and is used on drum sets. Its a square pad made of material simular to the toy you used to get out of the coin operated machine that kinda looks like a hand and you throw it out and it sticks to things.

Here is a video showing it.   

http://youtu.be/5mFbmjGpp9M

That guy has alot of decent videos.

https://www.youtube.com/user/Painless360

Also on your mobious instead of recording at 1080p 30 fps change it to 720p 60 FPS and that will reduce the jello alot as its less visable at higher framerates.

 

[ThePrimeHost]

My wife got me an Parrot AR 2.0 drone the father's day before last and it's a blast.  12 - 15 min avg battery life and you fly via an android or i-device. The only real limiation is that it uses wifi for a signal as opposed to a standard radio frequency so I'm nervous about sending it up "too" high.  Still, the first person real time view is pretty awesome.

Parrot's "Bebop" drone should be out later this year and they offer a wifi extender.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZdSMAG90Rs

 

[MannDude]

I've got a good package coming today. Need to cobble and wire everything in tomorrow when I have the time... Time for some backyard FPV (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GGC60N2/ref=oh_details_o02_s00_i02?ie=UTF8&psc=1 , http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00G3ED5VS/ref=oh_details_o02_s00_i01?ie=UTF8&psc=1 and of course: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BIUZ99S/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1) Probably use laptop or bring a monitor out to the garage for the video feed, also have a little 7" screen out there already that can be used for this as well. May eventually get something a bit more dedicated for FPV, but for now this is just for testing.

Also got a good box of props from http://www.quadrysteria.com/ . I ordered on Sunday, they had it shipped by noon Monday and it traveled across the country and made it to me by Wednesday. HobbyKing probably wouldn't have even shipped by the time these were delivered.  

 

[HalfEatenPie]

Well my deadcat frame came in and I was able to build it up today.

First few test flights were pretty good, a little twichy so some tuning will need to be done.

Here are a few pics of the new frame.

The two antenna for the controller RX and then the video TX antenna in the back.

And its final form...

Dead cat frame eh?

The design reminds me of this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMfgJo1I010

 

[MannDude]

Tomorrow's project: FPV

 

[FLDataTeK]

Tomorrow's project: FPV

That is the same video rx/tx set I have.  I flew right at 1/3 of a mile (1750 feet) with it on Friday. I am still using the crappy stock whip antenna. But it works well.

Oh and a new addition has arrived... Still waiting on some parts so I can start the build.

Here is my Carbon Fiber Mini-H Quad frame.. 



If your looking for a cheap set of goggles get the HobbyKing DIY goggles.. For $29 you can't beat it.

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewitem.asp?idproduct=53706&aff=1289329

if you want to see my video of my slightly modified set check out the video.  

http://youtu.be/THtC_sVnRko

 

[MannDude]

That is the same video rx/tx set I have.  I flew right at 1/3 of a mile (1750 feet) with it on Friday. I am still using the crappy stock whip antenna. But it works well.

Oh and a new addition has arrived... Still waiting on some parts so I can start the build.

Here is my Carbon Fiber Mini-H Quad frame.. 



If your looking for a cheap set of goggles get the HobbyKing DIY goggles.. For $29 you can't beat it.

http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewitem.asp?idproduct=53706&aff=1289329

if you want to see my video of my slightly modified set check out the video.  

http://youtu.be/THtC_sVnRko

Nice! Good looking frame, too. Looking forward to seeing it all built up. Eventually I'm either going to build an FPV mini-quad, or a tricopter. I'm leaning towards the min-quad because, gosh, they just look like so much damn fun!

I had a little crash today that actually did something for me that I intended to do myself. My quad is out in the garage or I'd snap a picture, but that front plate on the deadcat conversion... never was a big fan of it's size. I mount my Mobius above it, and it gets a good shot without propellers in the video. Anyhow, was having some fun today doing fast, low flying across the field. Decided to film one, and well...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtY-2pL8v3E

Guess I got a little brave and a little too low. Only made it like 30 feet before I crashed... haha. Was having some high speed fun today. Anyhow, that crash was caused by that front plate on the deadcat conversion from snagging the ground. It broke clean off about 2" up from the rest of the frame and I was planning on actually cutting it off in about that same spot, so I'm not mad. Still have plenty of room to mount what I want on the remainder of the plate if I wish, like my FPV camera. Since the weather was nice today, and supposed to rain tomorrow I figured I'll tinker on the FPV setup then.

EDIT: Unsure why YouTube kills the video quality so much. Raw footage looks good on my PC, even the exported file (though noticeably less nice) looks decent. YT, even in HD looks like shit

 

[FLDataTeK]

Yep you needed to throttle up some to maintain your altitude.

At least it broke off where you were gonna cut it anyways.

Yeah Youtube jacks with the video quality when it reencodes the video.

 

[MannDude]

Yep you needed to throttle up some to maintain your altitude.

At least it broke off where you were gonna cut it anyways.

Yeah Youtube jacks with the video quality when it reencodes the video.

Yeah, I know. The point was to go fast and low. I just.... got too low

Update:





The three blade props are on there right now as they're the only ones I have that are work out a big box of props I recently purchased... The other ones don't work due to the motors I have. I had some cheap Gemfans that worked fine with the DJI style motors even though they weren't DJI props... just using the shim/adapters that come with them for a snug fit. The new box of props, ha. Have some 10X4.7's (for example) that are too thick. They fit on the motor shaft fine but I can't tighten them down as only about two threads stick up above them. Then, I got some carbon mixed 9X4.5's.... the opening on the bottom of those are too small to fit over the raised area that all other props fit snuggly over (with or without an adapter/shim)... Also got some 9X4.7's with the same problem as the 10X4.7's (too thick). These tri-blade ones are nice though. I know they're not as effecient, but they work.

I have a prop balancer, but of course it itself is unbalanced so right now it's absolutely useless until I can get it balanced. Frustrating hobby sometimes.

Since it was around 11PM when I got FPV working and it had just rained, tomorrow I'll be having my FPV maiden flight. Tested the range earlier by walking down the alley behind my house and walked two blocks. My laptop/ground-station was inside the garage and the transmitter/camera signal would have been inbetween a person, trees and perhaps a shed or two. Didn't go any further but likely could have.

You can also see where the plate broke off in my last crash... it was pretty clean of a break but I'd had prefer it broke off just a little further up. Next on the to-do list is likely get new motors so I can stop being limited in prop selection and save mine for a tricopter build or something. Other than that, all I want to do is build a gimbal for my mobius and I'll be pretty happy.

 

[MannDude]

Just had my first FPV flight...

It's different. Will be better this weekend when I can drag some chairs and table out to the field because it was a weird setup this evening. Surprised I can stream back to my laptop with no lag, and even capture the stream at the same time. I may upload a snip of the FPV capture. 

 

[FLDataTeK]

Here is one of my flights with my mini... Man that thing is fun...

Already broke an arm...    But have another frame on the way so I will have spare parts.



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

 

[MannDude]

At 1:51 and 3:29 I yelled, "Ohh!!" Some close calls

 

[FLDataTeK]

At 1:51 and 3:29 I yelled, "Ohh!!" Some close calls

LOL yeah a little close..

But this little quad has tons of power to punch out pretty fast. 

I got some 6" props in the mail today that should add 150 grams more thrust per motor than the 5x3 props I am running now.  Then the next quest is to bump up to 4S batteries for even more power.

Your quad is looking good.. How you liking the FPV experience?  Takes a little getting used too.

 

[MannDude]

Had some fun today...







Got another battery on the way, too. Got a 4500 mAh pack to try out from eBay... unknown brand (http://www.ebay.com/itm/161374696520?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649) , so will see how it goes...  

 

[catatonic]

BBC Click had an episode on drones yesterday. iPlayer link

 

[MannDude]

Gimbal and skids on the way.

 

[nunim]

What's the total cost of putting one of these together, including camera?