Does Anyone Here Fly Drones??

[Ratmick]

Making some good progress, not only did it power on without catching on fire, all of the stuff I have touched so far is talking to each other

Transmitter and receiver are bound and are communicating.

Managed to upgrade the firmware of the Flight Controller.

Receiver is controlling the Flight Controller, which is sending stats back to the Transmitter for flight telemetry, there was some...quirky bits with the FrSky XSR Rx and the Matek FC.

Drone is pointing the right direction(s) in the Betaflight app so the on-board gyro is working.

Managed to upgrade the firmware of the ESCs.

Flight Controller is sending info to the motors via the ESCs which are spooling up in the right directions. Will have to fine tune the spooling up revs, one slightly lags the others.

Plus I managed to configure Arm and Flight Modes in both the Tx and Betaflight.

Going to tackle the camera/camera board and the VTX this week.

[Bent8]

Have watched dozens of videos on youtube and now trying to decided whether to get the DJI Spark Fly More ($859) or the Parrot ANAFI ($1099)

I know they're not really in the same class but the Anafi is really good value.

My RC experience is in cars and buggies so flying is a whole new ball game for me.

Any advice ?

[XB GS 351 Coupe]

I bought the DJI Spark fly more combo and never looked back.

Can't comment on the other.

[XB GS 351 Coupe]

Got a mini drone for Fathers Day on Sunday

Not an FPV racer unfortunately, however it looks like a fun toy to be flying around the house, shed and back yard.

Can't look a gift horse in the mouth I suppose, and you can never have too many drones....

[XB GS 351 Coupe]

Here is a quick video I did the other day when I had to go out to Wingham:

[creative]

the tello isnt too bad for what it is. Just be aware its brushed motors so will wear out.

[XB GS 351 Coupe]

Originally Posted by creative

the tello isnt too bad for what it is. Just be aware its brushed motors so will wear out.

Yeah flies ok, around the house, very stable and easy to fly, I have not tried it outside yet.

Only been using slow mode, so far.

[creative]

have a watch of the quadfathers opinion on it.. he did 4 videos regarding it. Heres the first.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVhYSuTMN4I

Benedict has been one of the major players in the tiny whoop/micro scene. what this guy doesnt know about brushed quads isnt worth knowing and is very well respected in the community.

[XB GS 351 Coupe]

Had already watched that video.

[Ratmick]

Have been beavering away in the background and I am nearly done.









The little black thing above the camera is a 'omg I am lost in long grass buzzer' activated by a switch on my transmitter.

A few things I still need to do:

* Get some more practise in on FPV FreeRider.
* Check the VTX works with the FC and my goggles (which it did when I used a different FC so it should be ok).
* Tune the motors so they all spool up at the same speed.
* Need to work out how to turn the rates down so I don't spear it into the ground or the nearest tree on its maiden flight
* Drop on some props and wait for a still day (like today actually)...

Would be handy to have a mate that already had a drone but the best I have is a mate who is still building his first and lost heart.

Anyone has any last-minute things for me to check please let me know (I'm looking at you creative ).

[creative]

Originally Posted by Ratmick

Have been beavering away in the background and I am nearly done.

image

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The little black thing above the camera is a 'omg I am lost in long grass buzzer' activated by a switch on my transmitter.

A few things I still need to do:

* Get some more practise in on FPV FreeRider.
* Check the VTX works with the FC and my goggles (which it did when I used a different FC so it should be ok).
* Tune the motors so they all spool up at the same speed.
* Need to work out how to turn the rates down so I don't spear it into the ground or the nearest tree on its maiden flight
* Drop on some props and wait for a still day (like today actually)...

Would be handy to have a mate that already had a drone but the best I have is a mate who is still building his first and lost heart.

Anyone has any last-minute things for me to check please let me know (I'm looking at you creative ).

Looking good!

Lots of questions to give you the best advice though.

* What Version of BF are you running? Highly recommend 4.0 even though its development stages still.
* What esc protocol are you running - oneshot/multishot/dshot? Oneshot and multishot need calibrating, dshot doesnt. you just set the sliders in blheli to 1000/2000 and its done.
* Change the super rates down to .50 on the pid tab, also add in some expo (i run .25) to smooth out the middle of the stick. As youu get better, up the rates to match your skill ( I run 1.0 rc rate and .85 super rates with .25 expo on all axis)
* Things to check before your first maiden:
Board orientation is correct
motor order is correct
motor direction is correct
props are on correct
escs calibrated if needed
* Always start with a test hover to make sure it responds as it should.
* Message me if you need anything else! and good luck!

[XB GS 351 Coupe]

[XB GS 351 Coupe]

[XB GS 351 Coupe]

[Ratmick]

Originally Posted by creative

Looking good!

Lots of questions to give you the best advice though.

* What Version of BF are you running? Highly recommend 4.0 even though its development stages still.
* What esc protocol are you running - oneshot/multishot/dshot? Oneshot and multishot need calibrating, dshot doesnt. you just set the sliders in blheli to 1000/2000 and its done.
* Change the super rates down to .50 on the pid tab, also add in some expo (i run .25) to smooth out the middle of the stick. As youu get better, up the rates to match your skill ( I run 1.0 rc rate and .85 super rates with .25 expo on all axis)
* Things to check before your first maiden:
Board orientation is correct
motor order is correct
motor direction is correct
props are on correct
escs calibrated if needed
* Always start with a test hover to make sure it responds as it should.
* Message me if you need anything else! and good luck!

Ok the latest Betaflight for the Matek F405 is v3.5.1...do you recommend v4 over this?

The ESC protocol I am using looks to be ONESHOT125, will research calibrating these tomorrow.

I will have to decode the third line

Tried to keep the power cabling as short as possible to keep the weight down.

Wet weight is 503g with a 1550mAh 3S Tattu pack (I have some smaller 1300mAh 3S Turnigy packs so should be slightly under 500g for those).





The board orientation matches Betaflight.

Pretty sure the motor directions are correct, but will recheck.

...and yeah, the props

[Ratmick]

Is there any benefit over one ESC Protocol over another?

[creative]

Originally Posted by Ratmick

Is there any benefit over one ESC Protocol over another?

yes.

Dshot is a digital signal. no calibration needed and is better at dealling with packet loss in the signal and is also quicker at 1200 (600 is on par with multishot)

in respect to weight, for a freestyle rig dont get hung up on it. Mine are all between 650 and 700g. I like them on the heavy side as I have better control over them.

I am not a fan of BF 3.3, 3.4 and 3.5. Couldnt get them to tune right. I would recommend 4.0 but it is still under development. I just did a skitzo frame on 4.0 and didnt need to change anything except FeedForward. The stock tune was spot on!

To decode the 3rd line, just go to the pid tab in BF and you will see what it means. Everyone has different settings here so go with what you like the best. Also do a search on youtube for skitzo and stingerswarms guide to PID tuning... its something you will need to get your head around at some point.

[Ratmick]

Ok I have had some partial success and some stupidity...

Upgraded to the latest iteration of Betaflight v4.0.0.



Changed my ESC protocol to DSHOT600 (as 1200 didn't do anything).

Alas the upgrade to v4.0.0 blanked my v3.5.1 settings (with no backup) and I now have to start again...

This is fine but at first I was only able get the quad to correctly orient in the YAW plane.

PITCH and ROLL were reversed on the Setup screen in the Betaflight Configurator and I couldn't work out how to swap them back. Tilt the drone forward and back and it displays right hand side down/left hand side down. Tilt the drone so right hand side is down and it displays nose up/left hand side down nose down.

End up doing a 'Reset Settings' and was better but still broken...now PITCH was pitching (but reversed, tilt nose down, BF displays nose up).

ROLL was also reversed (tilt RHS down, BF displays LHS down).

I shifted the YAW alignment under 'Board and Sensor Alignment' to 180 degrees and it seemed to fix both PITCH and ROLL.

FWIW I expected 'North' or straight ahead to be...straight ahead.

North in my case seemed to be -16 degrees to the left....so I had to reset the Z axis offset to -16 deg so it's pointing straight ahead.

However I unplugged the USB cable and reconnected and now it's pointing 16 deg to the right...so I reset it to 0 deg...and backed away from the drone.

I'll do the rest tomorrow...my brain hurts now

[creative]

Are you using the accelerometer? Have you calibrated that as well? In summary:

set yaw angle under alignment like you have ( look for the arrow on the board as thats forward and on the top of the board. If you have mounted it upside down you also have to adjust the pitch axis alignment IIRC), once the axis are moving in their right directions, place the quad on a level surface ( has to be super level) and click the calibrate accelerometer button. Thats all you should need to do.

Personally I turn off the accelerometer as I fly acro only and its not needed for me.

[Ratmick]

Originally Posted by creative

Are you using the accelerometer? Have you calibrated that as well? In summary:

set yaw angle under alignment like you have ( look for the arrow on the board as thats forward and on the top of the board. If you have mounted it upside down you also have to adjust the pitch axis alignment IIRC), once the axis are moving in their right directions, place the quad on a level surface ( has to be super level) and click the calibrate accelerometer button. Thats all you should need to do.

Personally I turn off the accelerometer as I fly acro only and its not needed for me.

My board is oriented the correct way with the arrow on top and pointing forwards. The Matek site instructions for the F405 however tells you mount it like I have but set 270 degrees of YAW to get everything to align properly, which I did with v3.5.1.

This isn't needed with v4.0.0, you need 180 degrees of YAW.

I'm not sure why this is but I am not going to argue if it works.

[creative]

yeah, sometimes if it works, just leave it.

I usually use 90 or -90 as well. does the same thing. lol

[Ratmick]

Originally Posted by creative

yeah, sometimes if it works, just leave it.

I usually use 90 or -90 as well. does the same thing. lol

I think I have put everything back in...

In regards to PIDs and EXPO...were you referring to RC EXPO or THROTTLE EXPO or both?



...found a YouTube video by StingersSwarm, will watch it.

For some reason Joshua Bardwell irritates the poop out of me...will watch his videos as a last resort.

[creative]

Both. Up the super rate if you want the quad to react faster. 0.5 is good for a beginner though but flips and rolls will be slow. RC expo smooths out the center stick and and makes it react less at center but full stick deflection at the ends. Good for if you are all twitchy in the middle.

These settings are a personal thing so tweak to how you like.

you should be ok on the stock PIDs but will probably have to increase Feed Forward. Have a read of the tuning notes on the betaflight github to help understand that. I run mine at around 90 but again, each quad is different.

Skitzo did another good tuning video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8o0WWl5c12Y slightly dated but the fundementals are still the same.

[Mercury Bullet]

Originally Posted by XB GS 351 Coupe

What's the law 're flying over people's houses?

I know if I ever spotted one above my property flak would be heading up.

[mac_man_luke]

think its technically legal to fly over but if you are standing in your yard they have to be 30m away (horizontally, not vertically) from any person

[creative]

Originally Posted by mac_man_luke

think its technically legal to fly over but if you are standing in your yard they have to be 30m away (horizontally, not vertically) from any person

nope... casa's simple info page

You must not fly over or above people. This could include festivals, sporting ovals, populated beaches, parks, busy roads and footpaths.

This is half the reason the hobby is villified. Whilst it may seem safe, technically its not allowed, nether is what I do with fpv for that matter and then you have people say they will shoot it down if it ever flys over my house.. which again whilst its illegal, you have no control over what does and doesnt fly over your property.

[Ratmick]

Originally Posted by creative

Both. Up the super rate if you want the quad to react faster. 0.5 is good for a beginner though but flips and rolls will be slow. RC expo smooths out the center stick and and makes it react less at center but full stick deflection at the ends. Good for if you are all twitchy in the middle.

These settings are a personal thing so tweak to how you like.

you should be ok on the stock PIDs but will probably have to increase Feed Forward. Have a read of the tuning notes on the betaflight github to help understand that. I run mine at around 90 but again, each quad is different.

Skitzo did another good tuning video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8o0WWl5c12Y slightly dated but the fundementals are still the same.

Alrighty...

TBS Unify Race HV VTX is talking to my Fatshark Transformer SE box goggles.

Managed to find the video from my Runcam Split in the goggles and can see video without my glasses on (but I am screwed when I take the Goggles off). Video quality is quite good...but I don't recommend walking around the house holding your drone in front of you wearing Goggles and not only because people think you look like a dork.

I didn't have any OSD info but I noticed as I was packing up that I hadn't configured the 'Runcam Device' in the 'Ports' section of Betaflight (I forgot to add it back after the upgrade to v4.0.0 erased my config). Added it in under UART4 and lo and behold I now have the right camera modes appearing under 'Modes' whereas previously I had generic labels.

Will test this tomorrow night but I'm getting closer

[Ratmick]

Originally Posted by creative

nope... casa's simple info page

This is half the reason the hobby is villified. Whilst it may seem safe, technically its not allowed, nether is what I do with fpv for that matter and then you have people say they will shoot it down if it ever flys over my house.. which again whilst its illegal, you have no control over what does and doesnt fly over your property.

I advise people to watch the YouTube footage from the States as it's full on and there's a lot of it BUT don't think you'll get away with that stuff here

Really you'd be going to shoot a 5" quad, they're tiny and they move really quickly. You'd need a shotgun and you'd need the drone close and stationary...and when is this going to happen?

Plus shooting a drone in a built-up area is more dangerous than a drone in a built-up area and you'd go a row of brick ones

[Ratmick]

Originally Posted by Ratmick

I didn't have any OSD info but I noticed as I was packing up that I hadn't configured the 'Runcam Device' in the 'Ports' section of Betaflight (I forgot to add it back after the upgrade to v4.0.0 erased my config). Added it in under UART4 and lo and behold I now have the right camera modes appearing under 'Modes' whereas previously I had generic labels.

Will test this tomorrow night but I'm getting closer

Hahahahaha, what a numpty...

Had numerous issues with the Runcam Split v2 I was trying to use.

As far as I can tell the Matek AIO FC wasn't able to supply the amount of current it required nd the thing would work while connected to my PC (most of the time) and not when running off a 3S pack. Couldn't get the OSD running, camera wouldn't turn on or off/turn wifi on or off or change modes...PLUS the FPV video quality was great until you went into ARM and then it got worse with more throttle.

...so I pulled the damn drone apart and put my Runcam Swift v2 back in.

Pain in the sphincter, however it's now working (I have OSD) and I have more space in the stack.

However, the FPV video quality (although better when the drone is spooled up) isn't the same standard as the Split v2.

AND I now have no flight video recorder...and I have to put the damn thing back together and re-secure wiring and Loctite screws.

So I will either need a Runcam 3S or a GoPro Hero4 or 5 Session if I want to record my flights

[Ratmick]

Drone back together, but not tested apart from a static tether to Betaflight.

Found a seller of a Runcam3 on eBay, snaffled that for $75 and that will do for the flight recording.

Relocated the 'I am lost' buzzer I mounted on the action cam platform to underneath the platform on the bottom plate...the fun never ends