/diy/ - Do It Yourself

[Anonymous No.1711425]

OP is late edition.

Previous thread >>1688899

-------

In /rcg/ we discuss anything & everything remote controlled - multirotors, fixed wing, cars, rovers, helis, boats, submarines, battlebots, lawnmowers, etc.

>How do I get started with racing drones?

https://oscarliang.com/mini-quad-racing-guide/

https://www.fpvknowitall.com/ultimate-fpv-shopping-list/

> How to build a racing drone (16 part video series from Joshua Bardwell)

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLwoDb7WF6c8mWARrcxtX_G6yytK7QFHID

>What about planes?

https://www.flitetest.com/

>What about aerial photography, is DIY viable?

Buy a DJI if what you actually want is to take good photos/videos, go DIY if what you actually want is a fun project.

>I want a dirt cheap drone to fly around my yard/garden

Syma X5C

>I want a dirt cheap drone to fly inside my house

Eachine E010/Hubsan X4

>What are some good YouTube channels for learning or fun?

Joshua Bardwell - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCX3eufnI7A2I7IkKHZn8KSQ
Painless360 - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCp1vASX-fg959vRc1xowqpw
Flite Test - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9zTuyWffK9ckEz1216noAw
Peter Sripol - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7yF9tV4xWEMZkel7q8La_w
7demo7 - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTa02ZJeR5PwNZK5Ls3EQGQ
ArxangelRC - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCG_c0DGOOGHrEu3TO1Hl3AA
RagTheNutsOff - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWP6vjgBw1y15xHAyTDyUTw
Albert Kim - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnJyFn_66GMfAbz1AW9MqbQ/

[Anonymous No.1712529]

I really wanted to build a programmable drone, maybe put a neural network on it to get it to fly autonomously. Any good starting points?

[Anonymous No.1712755]

Anyone know any good quality servos in the 11.1-14.8v, 40-70kg/cm, sub 100g, and sub 150$ range?
So far i've found this beast but in my application failure isn't really an option so i'm kinda dubious of going Chinese, i'd much rather go Taiwanese or Japanese, though i'm also running a tight budget so i'm not too sure.

[Anonymous No.1713188]

>>1712529
>autonomously

Skydio is an Autonomous drone. The rest of them you fly yourself.

Even DJI drones you have to fly yourself, but they do have some autopilot stuff. Just not like the Skydio.

[Anonymous No.1713825]

>>1712529
http://ardupilot.org/ardupilot/index.html

>>1713188
Most people in this scene use 'autonomous' to refer to something that can follow a waypoint mission, which includes pretty much any DJI or Ardupilot drone.

[Anonymous No.1713932]

Hi, I have a problem where if I roll more than 3 times with the stick pulled all the way to the side my receiver disconnects and I crash?? This is on a quadcopter

[Anonymous No.1713940]

>>1713932
What quad/firmware/radio/receiver/etc.? You're not by any chance using stick arming & inadvertently disarming?

[Anonymous No.1714082]

has anybody built their own fly boards from scratch, including coding and debugging own firmware? i started playing with that but after a couple of incidents i figured this shit is just too scary. imagine your code hangs and kill switch logic fails since it is an early prototype. need to be able to test it tethered. but seriously fuck this. imagine damaging someones property or killing their entire family.

[Anonymous No.1714092]

>>1713940
FrSky R-XSR with firmware up to date. I'm not disarming it, my roll rate is something like 850 degrees/maximum so I believe the forces experienced by the craft while it's flying are causing this. It flies great in all other circumstance

[Anonymous No.1714098]

>>1714092
post a picture of your quad then, it's clearly fucked up

[Anonymous No.1714116]

Where are the folks that used to say you couldn't make a multirotor out of wood?

[Anonymous No.1714146]

>>1714116
No one ever said you couldn't, we said it wasnt as practical or strong as a carbon fiber frame and depending on the design wouldnt fly well or weigh sigificantly more.

[Anonymous No.1714150]

>>1714146
given shitty carbon fiber geometries you tend to see wood ain't that bad of an option

[Anonymous No.1714154]

>>1714150
Im 99% positive the cheapest of Chinese frames are going to last longer than a plywood frame.

[Anonymous No.1714341]

>>1714116
Nobody ever said that? Wood used to be the norm.

>>1714092
850 deg/s is very tame, 'excessive forces' aren't your issue. There's something fundamentally wrong with your build if you can't roll it. Give us some pictures.

[Anonymous No.1714370]

>Syma X5C

so what can I expect to get out of this thing ?

-charge time
-flight time
-distance
-controllability
-etc...

[Anonymous No.1714376]

>>1695670

this is cool as fug
how much ?
what u gonna do wit it ?

[Anonymous No.1714378]

>>1712529
>build a programmable drone

so one that does way points I guess?
nothing like that exists yet ?

[Anonymous No.1714394]

>>1714378

See >>1713825. Waypoint missions have been a standard feature of Ardupilot for probably the best part of a decade.

>>1714370
It's a toy grade quad, so don't expect too much, but at the same time it's great fun if you have realistic expectations. I wouldn't try to push beyond maybe 100m or so, you'll get 6-8 minutes in the air & the dirt cheap USB charger it comes with takes ages (but the batteries are tiny so you can buy a whole bunch really cheap). It actually flies surprisingly smooth/quiet.

[Anonymous No.1715023]

Multipart post!

1) Fix emotion drone:
I have an emotion knock off drone, flies ok with controller, I can log into it's wifi, but none of the apps I've tried work ( included the one recommended by seller ). Could I just grab one of these boards from alibaba, swap it in, and fix that issue?

2) pimping out Xyma5cs:
I have access to like 20 broken xyma5c's I can buy. What I really need though is the "auto hover" functionality so I'm not having to constantly fucking microtweak the altitude - I'm doing these with my old ass dad and young son who don' have that level of coordination. Do these come with it stock? Can I upgrade these fuckers?

3) Adding FPV:

This seems like a mimum requirement to keep my dad engaged - no one wants to wait until later to wathc the video. Plus I doubt he can even work a microsd. What's a nice cheap FPV cam I could slap on these things. Are there generic apps that work with any wifi cam? Or is that a whole second thing I need to sort out?

4) View screens

My Dad can't manage a second phone - Are there some LCD options that I can use to still access these apps? Or that connect direct to the camera wifi?

>>1714376
I threw it up on ebay for a ridiculous amount of money until I figure it out. Right now it's just sitting there taking up room. I know that's lame as shit, but w/e. I bought it as a novelty for like $20, then got charged $150 for shipping so now I gotta make some money back on the fucking thing. I don't know much about drones, just getting into it - do know a lot about overspending and bad decision making on auctions in different countries though.

[Anonymous No.1715043]

>>1715023
2) I think there is at least one version of the X5C (perhaps the X5HC?) which has a barometer for altitude hold, but the basic version doesn't have it. I have no idea if the basic version has the unpopulated solder pads for a barometer, or if it's possible to reflash the firmware to support a retrofitted barometer.

3/4) My understanding is that most of these wifi video streaming things are fairly proprietary & will only work with their own specific apps.

Also remember that most of the FPV scene is concerned with analogue 5.8GHz video, not digital wifi/app based stuff. You can very easily/cheaply glue an all-in-one camera/analogue video transmitter onto the thing & then watch it live on a cheap little LCD that will also record to microSD. But if you're looking for something more 'user friendly' which will support direct edit/sharing of the video within some sort of phone app, you're stuck with these naff wifi options.

[Anonymous No.1715060]

>>1715043
>My understanding is that most of these wifi video streaming things are fairly proprietary

ok - like 99% of them are made by the same chinese developer. I was hoping there was some generic standard for finding the camera and playing it

>most of the FPV scene

I didn't know that. that is perfectly fine though I just want him to be able to see where he is flying through a device. Can you point me to something like that? Can the LCD and the remote communicate in parallel from different devices ( eg: syma x5 is using s.4g controller, but the fpv camera is 5.8ghz and the LCD can pic that up independently )

[Anonymous No.1715063]

>>1714394
>It's a toy grade quad, so don't expect too much

ok what would be the next level up from this and how much would I expect to pay and get out of performance compared to the bottom of the barrel starter, Syma X5C

[Anonymous No.1715075]

this thread is kinda slow eh ?

[Anonymous No.1715137]

>>1715063
next step up would prolly be FPV. if you wanna just dip your toes in then the Tinyhawk rtf kit is a good one. Just budget a bit more for some spare batteries and props
if you get hooked, most likely the transmitter will be worthless for whatever next quad you decide to upgrade to. maybe the goggles too; you'll definitely want something better in the long run anyway
Alternatively, get a good transmitter (FrSky QX7 or X-Lite) and PC simulator of choice (e.g. Liftoff, DRL, etc.) then once you're comfortable there, buy something like a 2s whoop or toothpick build

[Anonymous No.1715139]

how are these fuckers on rcgroups and rotorbuilds getting sub-45g and even sub-40g on these 2s toothpicks? im guessing AIO cam, nylon hardware, direct solder motors? but i guess 46.4 for mine isn't horrible either . .
I'd rather have the better quality seperate cam & vtx and more durable metal hardware anyways

[Anonymous No.1715142]

>>1712755
pls answer someone

[Anonymous No.1715181]

Just ordered the jumper t16 pro. How bad did I fuck up?

[Anonymous No.1715185]

>>1715139
Diapole vtx antenna, lighter canopy (or delete), direct solder motor connections, and maybe a different frame, shorter battery pigtail.

[Anonymous No.1715318]

I have two light branches from the neighbor's yard about 14 inches long. I'm thinking of lashing them into a cross and transplanting the guts of a cheap toy drone onto it.

Does this seem feasible? I'm considering an Eachine E58 as the Uighur child voluntary organ donor.

[Anonymous No.1715325]

>>1715318
You can strap 4 motors to anything even remotely rigid & it will fly, so yeah, go for it.

[Anonymous No.1715339]

>>1715325
thank u

[Anonymous No.1715382]

>>1715139
>sub-45g
what does this mean

[Anonymous No.1715838]

>>1715382
Less than 45 of the metric measurement for weight of the quad

[Anonymous No.1715865]

>>1715139
that purple part seems hella heavy

[Anonymous No.1715977]

>>1715838
ok, didn't realize it was weight. Is there a reason for going for low weight, or is it just tweaking stuff for fun.

[Anonymous No.1715980]

>>1715137
>2s whoop or toothpick build

maybe I just skip steps 1 and 2 and go with 2s whoop or toothpick build

now what im I looking at ?
-cost
-performance
-charge time
-flight time
-camera
-distance
-etc

I want to fly something around for at least 15 minutes and have good controllability' distance of 50-100 yards outside would be nice, how much im I looking at for something like this that is reliable ?

where to buy such a thing ?

[Anonymous No.1716141]

>>1715060
Something like this

https://www.banggood.com/Eachine-TX04-PAL-Super-Mini-Light-AIO-5_8G-40CH-25MW-VTX-700TVL-120-Wide-Angle-FPV-Camera-p-1166418.html?rmmds=search&cur_warehouse=CN

plus this

https://www.banggood.com/5_8G-48CH-4_3-Inch-LCD-480x22-169-NTSCPAL-FPV-Monitor-Auto-Search-With-OSD-Build-in-Battery-p-1364626.html?rmmds=search&cur_warehouse=CN

is all you'd need.

Obviously you can spend more on a better camera & a better LCD, maybe a LCD that has a built in DVR that records video to microSD.

Analogue 5.8GHz FPV can be picked up by anybody within range who has a LCD/goggles, so it's completely independent of the drone's actual controller.

[Anonymous No.1716257]

what is this 'DJI' I keep hearing about ?

what will 300 burgerbucks get me in a DJI ?

[Anonymous No.1716290]

>>1716257
That's about enough money for a replacement propeller.

[Anonymous No.1716404]

>>1716257
DJI being some fancy protocol for specwhoring

[Anonymous No.1716451]

I'f I'm not interested in racing or photography and just wanted to build a drone with some sensors so that I could program it to fly by itself, what sorta cost would I be looking at? Or is there a decent off the shelf solution that I can upload code to

[Anonymous No.1716515]

>>1716257
DJI is a Chinese (Shenzhen) company that is the world's biggest/most successful producer of turnkey drones. They sell consumer focused camera drones (the sort of thing that regular people buy for <$2000 to make aerial videos), professional focused camera drones (the sort of thing cinematography outfits spend $10k+ on for filming Hollywood movies), industrial/inspection drones (the sort of thing infrastructure companies buy to inspect pipelines, turbines, etc.) & agricultural drones (the sort of thing farmers in China use to spray chemicals over crops).

$300 will buy you an older second hand Phantom or maybe a second hand Spark, which are both good choices if you want a fairly idiot-proof flying camera.

>>1716451
If you're interested in toying with your own payloads/code, you probably want to build a cheap Arducopter drone. You can definitely do this for less than $200, though if you don't already have things like a battery charger, radio & tools you will have to spend a little bit more getting those set up.

[Anonymous No.1716734]

>>1715977
The lighter the craft, the more agile, it's all a power to weight. Imagine running with a backpack full of soup cans versus in just track shorts, the weight of the bag is heavy and will push you around, causing you to counteract it. You might be able to keep the same pace, but you'll get tired faster (less battery/flight time).

[Anonymous No.1716826]

>>1716734
ok, I would think that you'd be looking for some power/weight ratio, rather than strictly weight. I guess you guys probably do look at that though.

[Anonymous No.1717148]

I'm making my first foamie.
If I have yaw control through differential thrust, I don't need to hook up the rudder to anything, right? I could just have it as a solid vertical stabiliser.

[Anonymous No.1717221]

<------What is this? DJI part I think

>>1716734
ok gotcha, thanks

[Anonymous No.1717272]

>>1717148
You can do that.

>>1717221
Why would you think that would be from a DJI or any drone in general? Looks like a very solid chunk of metal, possibly some IC engine part.

[Anonymous No.1717287]

>>1717221
Oh yeah, that's the hydraulic pump from a Phantom 2. It's missing the hose, but if you want to save money on a replacement it's a standard truck 2" diesel fuel hose you could buy at Walmart.

[Anonymous No.1717322]

I've found this servor "armor" at servocity, which I think is pretty nice, but it is expensive as fuck and only fits a small set of servo motors.

is there any other cheap and easy kind of transmission for servo motors? I just want something that helps to relief the stress on the gears while dealing with heavy loads and fast impacts.

[Anonymous No.1717364]

>>1717322
High quality servos will have some pretty beefy bearings in there, i see that only useful for small servos, and even then what sort of application can get away with small torque but still has heavy loads on the axle?

[Anonymous No.1717366]

>>1717322
Why don't you just 3d print your own blocks?
this sort of application is exactly what 3d printing excels at

[Anonymous No.1717407]

>>1717364
there are basically 3 kinds of forces on a shaft: linear force parallel to the shaft, linear force perpendicular to the shaft, and "rotational" force (torque).
while motors are made to deal with torque, the other two forces will only wear the gears out.
however, I'm not sure if I really should be worried about it.
I want to use a servo to steer the front wheel of a rc car I'm making. At this moment the wheel body is directly fixed to the servomotor because I don't have a better idea.

>>1717366
I wish it was made of metal and I don't have a 3d printer.
I could pay someone to print it though, maybe I should give it a try.

[Anonymous No.1717408]

>>1717366
The servo casing is die-cast ABS, the gears are nylon. and the axle is steel. The servo is way tougher than anything you could 3D print.

I don't really see where that "armour" would be useful either, but you couldn't 3D print something to do the same thing.

[Anonymous No.1717410]

>>1717272
It was listed as "DJI parts and components"

>>1717287
you are fucking with me right? I just realized that bulb is like the one on a gas engine

[Anonymous No.1717413]

>>1717407
That's an awful idea.
This picture is how RC car steering works.
https://adsk-designacademy-content-live.s3.amazonaws.com/s3fs-public/design_files/RC%20Car%20steering%20assem.png
It's super easy.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Cs3ArI1R-o
This video is a very weird design, but just replace his fork with your servo arm.

[Anonymous No.1717422]

>>1717408
Just because a material is thicker per a given unit of weight doesn't mean that you couldn't make a stronger structure out of a weaker material
Just beef the design up and print it, it'll work fine

[Anonymous No.1717423]

>>1717422
>thicker
*stronger

[Anonymous No.1717424]

>>1717407
But anon the gears are not the ones being stressed when you apply linear forces on the shaft, it's the bearings

[Anonymous No.1717428]

>>1717413
that looks interesting, thanks.
I want to make something bigger, maybe I will have to resort to 3d printing indeed.

>>1717424
the bearings look too small desu. can I trust on them?

[Anonymous No.1717438]

>>1717428
the servos probably use standard size bearings, find the spec sheet of the bearings and see if they're strong enough for your application

[Anonymous No.1717442]

>>1717408
>die-cast ABS
Do you mean injection moulded?
>>1717422
3D prints are much weaker than commercial plastic, because they consist of tiny tubes of plastic partially fused together. If I bought a plastic dowel, and printed one of the same dimensions, the printed one would snap at a fraction of the force as the bought one.

[Anonymous No.1717447]

>>1717442
3d prints aren't that weak, layer bonding is a bit weak but along the layers they're almost as strong as injection molded parts.
All it means is that you've got to take the anisotropic material strength into consideration when designing the part
PLA for example has pretty much the same tensile strength as pine has along the grain, or polyester resin, nothing to scoff at

[Anonymous No.1717502]

what are these called and how do I use them?

[Anonymous No.1717515]

>>1717502
Are those for attaching the servo to balsa wood?

[Anonymous No.1717516]

>>1717515
I have no idea, they just came with the servo and I don't know what to do with them

[Anonymous No.1717542]

>>1717502
>>1717515
>>1717516

Actuators? I'm not a foamer

[Anonymous No.1717589]

>>1717502 see >>1717515

>>1717542
do you know what that word means? Did you mean anchors?

[Anonymous No.1717606]

>>1717502
Thats a mounting kit for the servo and two servo horns.

[Anonymous No.1717705]

>>1717502
I think their name is "grommels" or "grommets", but I've only ever heard it spoken. They're used when you mount the servo with bolts. You fit the grommel into the bolt hole on the servo, put the metal thing inside it, and then just screw it in. They might be vibration dampening or something, I don't know.

[Anonymous No.1717708]

>>1717516
Forgot to reply to this.
You don't actually need them. If you use bolts too big to fit inside the rubber, then just skip them. I've bolted servos directly in before and it works fine. If you're mounting it with glue like on foam planes, it's entirely irrelevant.

[Anonymous No.1717866]

Hey /rcg/, I've been mainly flying planes and quads, but I do have some RC toy cars which I'd like to use and mod for fpv driving and I have one of those chinese platforms with 4 dc motors which I'd like to use for pixhawk autopilot. I've searched the ardurover wiki for model examples and other forums/places and all I've found is that for using a rc toy car I need a ESC like pic related for a few bucks, a 2s/3s and a RC receiver and I'm good to go for basic stuff.
I'd just like to build a basic ardurover with rpi onboard for ROS learning and RC toy cars would be used only for fpv driving around the house/street.
Any recommendation or information/wikis/forums would be welcome before I make a wrong purchase

[Anonymous No.1717871]

>>1717708
is the rubber supposed to go inside the hole of the servo horn? because it doesn't fit at all

[Anonymous No.1717901]

>>1717871
It doesn't go into the servo hoen you wacko. It's for the 4 screw mount point on the side.

[Anonymous No.1717907]

>>1717901
ahh now I get it. thanks.
how do people usually fix stuff on the servo horns? tiny screws?

[Anonymous No.1717910]

>>1717907
Metal wire.

[Anonymous No.1717915]

>>1717907
http://airfieldmodels.com/information_source/model_aircraft_hardware/l-bends_and_z-bends.htm

[Anonymous No.1718147]

>>1717915
>>1717910
nice, thanks

[Anonymous No.1718152]

>>1718147
>>1717915
To make your own, you only really need piano wire and a pair of needlenosed pliers, though there are tools that let you effortlessly make perfectly aligned bends if you do a lot of them.
The bends you'll be interested in are the Z and the modified Z bends. The Z is two 90 degree turns, creating a |____ shape. Modified is the same, but the turn is twisted 90 degrees in the Z as well (in our out of the screen). From the bottom, it would look like this. |, while the unmodified would just be flat.

An easy way to DIY your own Z bend tool is to take a pair of flatnose pliers and cutting a grove the same width as the wire into the tip on one side.
http://www.flyrc.com/make-your-own-z-bend-pliers/

[Anonymous No.1718431]

good websites to buy starter drones ?

how are the Walmart drones in the $200 range...

[Anonymous No.1718436]

>>1718431
I'd suggest asking in RCG on diy, they'd know better what to get, take a look at banggood or aliexpress for drones

[Anonymous No.1718438]

>>1718436
Where do you think you are?

[Anonymous No.1718448]

>>1718438
sorry I was on csg in the same tab, honest mistake

[Anonymous No.1718542]

Turns out the new Eachine EV800DM are superb for the price - still prefer the form factor/weight distribution of FatShark, but if something like these Eachine had been around 3-4 years ago I can't imagine I would've bought FatSharks.

Might dismantle them & remove the battery to cut down the weight, then use a regular lipo on the headstrap just like I do with the FatSharks. Probably use them for some outdoor flights before I risk breaking them though.

[Anonymous No.1718635]

how much for an automated lawn mower ?

how are the reviews thus far ?

[Anonymous No.1718638]

>>1718431
other anon was correct with Banggood. What country are you in?

[Anonymous No.1718847]

>>1718431
I'd recommend going for a drone that is compatible with multiprotocol tx so one day when you buy a decent radio you can fly the drone and learn to fly with it further. Eachine e010 with fpv mod is nice but is underpowered as hell

[Anonymous No.1718848]

Am I doing this right?
Bought a few 18650 sanyo 3500mah liions from a guy locally, im testing with imax and accuccel chargers charging at 1a and discharging at 0.5 amp getting the specified capacity right?
Also ive read they should be kept at 4.1v instead of 4,2 giving the bqttery more cycles?

[Anonymous No.1719109]

Building my Mini Skyhunter v2, the instructions are obviously for a previous revision as many of the parts don't match. Instead of two separate carbon fibre reinforcements for the wings that fit on either side of the foam in the centre, mine came with one wide carbon fibre piece.

What should I do? Cut the foam away, glue the carbon fibre across the middle, then glue the removed foam back on top?

The only other option I can see is to cut out the central part of the carbon fibre, which seems like it would sacrifice rigidity/strength?

[Anonymous No.1719168]

>>1719109
Before you cut anything, see if maybe the plate is supposed to slot inside the wing or something. It seems to have the same bolt holes. Is there a slot from behind the wing where it might simply slide in?
>Cut the foam away, glue the carbon fibre across the middle, then glue the removed foam back on top?
That would be my thought too. Use a fine tip felt marker like the ones we used to use to label bootleg DVDs to draw the outline of the wing, then use one of those snap-blade knives to cut the foam. Adjust so that you have the right blade length and angle, to get a uniform cut, and move slowly.

[Anonymous No.1719400]

What are some good wings to learn to fly with that I can use for a long time and upgrade if I take care of it? I got an xt lite cf module for my jumper t16. I know it's capabilities can never come close to being fully utilized by a quad or 5.8hhz video signal. so I want to learn to fly something more efficient and get more hands on experience with what it feels like to fly for longer periods. Also any tips for getting started with planning long range flights, hunting thermals, or judging wind, and things like that I should know when flying 900mhz?

[Anonymous No.1719506]

>>1719168
Nope, they definitely go on the bottom surface. Picrelated is the instructions for an older revision that comes with two separate pieces that sit around the foam rather than one wider piece that spans right across. They even spelt their own company name wrong on the front page of the instruction booklet, so I'm not too surprised about this desu...

[Anonymous No.1719584]

>>1719400
>I know it's capabilities can never come close to being fully utilized by a quad or 5.8hhz video signal.

25-30km or more is perfectly plausible with 5.8GHz video.

[Anonymous No.1719655]

>>1719584
Yes but can't the 2w output level transmit way farther in the right conditions with the right receiver?

[Anonymous No.1719789]

>>1714154
Even better because then you can just toss it into the fireplace and make a new one

[Anonymous No.1719843]

I've given up on the instructions - they go into great detail for the elevator, but then literally don't mention the ailerons, motor, or even any of the entire fuselage assembly _at all_. They even spelled their company name wrong on the front cover.

[Anonymous No.1719849]

>>1719843
So you were able to figure out how to get that support in there?

[Anonymous No.1719857]

>>1719849
I cut the foam off, glued the carbon fibre plate in place, then glued the removed foam on top of the carbon fibre. UHU Por seems to stick all this stuff together great.

[Anonymous No.1720180]

Guys, Solid State batteries are coming even closer.

The guy who invented the Lithium battery has invented the Solid State battery with Glass and Sodium and they are working with Tesla to bring the battery to the market.

[Anonymous No.1720183]

>>1720180

While Goodenough has a fair bit of credibility, unlike just about every "just around the corner" battery innovation I've seen over the last 15 years (I was into EVs before it was cool), I'm not going to hold my breath that it'll happen any time soon, if ever.

If it happens, unexpected great surprise for me. If not, well, not like I had my hopes up, anyway.

[Anonymous No.1720367]

>>1720183

Goodenough was on the team that developed the RAM in your computer too.

The science behind the solid state battery makes so much sense and its clearly going to be the future. Using a liquid electrolyte is bad for so many reasons.

[Anonymous No.1720372]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0nA8CfxBqA

[Anonymous No.1721316]

1/ I stripped down a Parrot 2.0 drone and once I tore off the foam I realized the booms aren’t connected to the motherboard ( just wires ). What can I use to link these together? Are there standard plastic tubes or shapes or whatever for building a body?

2/ I want to do this with older dad. He’s struggling with all the buttons - there is no way I can also get him to download an app, log into the Wi-Fi, etc etc.

What is the cheapest phone or alternative I can use as a dedicated monitor? Like some android 4 phone?

[Anonymous No.1721452]

>>1719843
What's the difference between this and one of those V shaped wings? I want to get into fpv wings but I'm absolutely clueless

[Anonymous No.1721580]

>>1721452
I should start out by saying I'm definitely no expert in fixed wing.

A flying wing is the absolute simplest fixed wing design, as you only have two control surfaces (the bits that hinge up & down), one on each wing. These control surfaces combine the functionality of ailerons (roll) & elevator (pitch), so are often referred to as elevons.

The benefits of this approach I guess are simplicity, cost, durability, etc. & I suppose if you're talking about fast/race style FPV fixed wing with decent crashability it's probably the best approach. Fewer moving parts, fewer electronics, etc.

The one I'm building in >>1719843 has three control surfaces, because it has the elevator on the tail separate to the ailerons on the wings. This adds complexity & expense, as you need a third servo. I also have the option to fit two additional servos in the vertical stabilisers on the tail to add rudder, whereas flying wings essentially never have rudder (they often barely even have a vertical stabiliser).

The first fixed wing I built & flew (actually the only one I've flown so far) was a flying wing with just the 2 control surfaces/servos. It's probably the easiest way to get started as there's so little actual wiring/config to do & you fly it with just throttle plus the right hand stick.

[Arcadebro No.1722607]

>>1719843
I have the same lamp to my RHS.
Nice

[Anonymous No.1724481]

Wanna sprite Cranberry?

[Anonymous No.1724980]

How can I get battery voltage from an omnibus f4 pro v2 if I use a pdb such as pic related?

[Anonymous No.1724981]

>>1724980
To clarify- I want the battery voltage on the osd.

[Anonymous No.1725089]

>>1724980
>>1724981
If you just want voltage & don't care about current, you just need to connect the small 'vbt' pad on the PDB to the big 'BAT+' pad on the FC. In fact I'm guessing you'll need to do that anyway to actually power the FC, unless you're feeding it the 5V rail separately.

[Anonymous No.1725139]

>>1724980
>>1724981
>>1725089
Oh you'll need to hook up ground between the two as well, if you haven't already.

[Anonymous No.1725284]

>order a pair of EDFs on ali
>never show up, get a refund
>order a pair of similar EDFs from another seller
>receive the second order
>a few days later, receive a letter from customs that there has been an error and that I need to come sign for them
>receive the first order
>compare the two
>identical
My plan was a foam F-22, but now I kind of want to make an insane four engine plane. I'm thinking maybe a B-2.

[Anonymous No.1725517]

Good Day

This is Stew from UAV Futures

>Stop reading this in my voice.

[Anonymous No.1725729]

Maiden flight was a disaster because I (foolishly) decided that starting with 3S would be the sensible thing to do, but turns out it was too underpowered which combined with the elevator being too downward before trimming & it just couldn't pull out.

Taped the booms back into the wings, put a 4S in it & it flew great :)

Who else has the chance to fly this weekend?

[Anonymous No.1725737]

Looking for a drone for inspecting roofs and taking pictures of said roofs, so camera quality is important and zoom would be preferred. DJI is not an option because I need to inspect roofs potentially in their geofenced areas. Parrot Anafi seems decent. Anyone more well versed in drones have any input?

[Anonymous No.1725748]

>>1725737
DJI is the only serious contender for that sort of application. Just go through the unlocking procedure for the geofenced areas. I use DJI for work & regularly fly right next to a military airbase, the unlocking procedure is fairly pain free.

[Anonymous No.1725756]

>>1725729
I'll be flying my race wing at an airfield, but it's probably going to be the last flight of the year. Snow's starting to come down hard, and it's not so fun to fly when your batteries are so underpowered.

[Anonymous No.1725761]

>>1711425
>Joshua Bardwell
the most pretentious and anally retentive guy on YT. how anyone can watch more than a couple of videos of his is amazing to me. Oh, and all that clcikbait... damn

[Anonymous No.1725775]

>>1725761
It's only quite recently that he's become so insufferable IMO, with all the clickbait & shilling. Back when /rcg/ started he was quite different. Maybe I'll remove him from the OP next time, considering I don't even watch his stuff anymore myself.

>>1725756
I found my wings were fine today (-2°C when I started flying, up to 0°C by the time I'd finished) but when I tried to fly some packs on a 5" quad the effect was really pronounced. I guess using lipos I bought/spec'd for multirotors in planes that only have 1 motor gives more leeway for poor performance.

[Anonymous No.1725796]

>>1725748
Wasn't aware of that. Thanks, anon

[Anonymous No.1725839]

Been a while since I did a webm

[Anonymous No.1726575]

Quick question, I think I know the answer, but can you run a Blheli_32 ESC from a standard servo PWM signal or does it have to be something more /digital/ like DShot?
Quadcopter noob looking to build a plane.

[Anonymous No.1726661]

>>1725775
Setting up a new BF 4.1 FC?
>check the JB video
Need help with smart audio?
>check the JB video
PID tuning?
>check the JB video(s)... there’s like a million
LUA script issues?
>check the JB video
What FPV cam should I buy next?
>check the JB video
Why’s my quad doing XYZ?
>check the JB video

Leave him in the OP. You can filter out the shill stuff at a glance, but few (if any) youtubers can give that level of detail about so many things. And frankly, his Gucci gear review videos are reasonably honest. It’s a pretty ivory tower you must be in to say his channel doesn’t/didn’t help you in the hobby.

[Anonymous No.1726664]

>>1717221
Bitch that’s a carbourator.

[Anonymous No.1726711]

>>1726575
Yes, all esc's support PWM. Also post plane.

[Anonymous No.1726813]

>>1711425
where have you been?

[Anonymous No.1726936]

>>1726661
Agreed, he's one of the better reviewers and is still educational. Once he quit his day job, I think we all knew the level of shilling was going to dramatically increase. And he needs to stop associating with rotor riot before they really do something stupid.

[Anonymous No.1726972]

>>1725775
Yeah, minus nine here and I was really feeling it.
Still had fun, but from now on I'm only going to be flying micro stuff indoors.

[Anonymous No.1727024]

>>1726711
I’m going to start with the FT mini mustang kit and see if I like it. I like the look of war birds. I have a couple mini quad motors and ESCs laying around, so all I really need is the frame, servos, and receiver. Any have experience with the RX6R?

[Anonymous No.1727036]

>>1727024
Don't start with a warbird. If you want something to start with, FT Simple Cub or FT Simple Scout are better ideas, they use the same techniques and parts that you use latter on for the cool warbirds. They're just a lot easier to fly.

[Anonymous No.1727059]

>>1727036
>>1727024
If you have any experience with fixed wing on a sim, it should be alright. FT models are pretty sturdy I assume, so it should handle a few crashes.

[Anonymous No.1727062]

>>1727024
Oh and also, make sure your ESC's have a 5V regulator. Quad esc's usually don't have those anymore, and you need 5V from somewhere to feed into receiver and servos.
You could also have a separate 5v reg too, but that's an extra hassle that you'd have to wire anyways.

[Anonymous No.1727063]

>>1727059
Is there an inexpensive sim you’d recommend? I’ve used DRL sim for quads before but haven’t looked into stuff for fixed wing.

[Anonymous No.1727067]

>>1727062
I have a box of 6A switch mode buck converters from an old Arduino project. Is having a built in BEC that much better for killing the motor?

[Anonymous No.1727070]

>>1727063
I've personally used Heli-X, the physics are pretty gud for everything but quads, and is relatively cheap, and also has a free trial. Then there's stuff like phoenix and realflight, basically anything goes for just starting out.
>>1727067
Mostly just weight and simpler wiring because you have the BEC integrated into ESC, but those will work too.

[Anonymous No.1728439]

Guys, you are my hope.
Recently i bought eachine TX805 with smart audio.
I am using mamba F722s with betaflight 4.1 firmaware, vtx table is turned on.
The problem is that i have smart audio menu and i am able to navigate through it, but i am not able to apply any of settings (band, channel, power).
Quit interesting is that when i am using TRAMP i am able to see mine vtx table (like label of band and my frequencies) and power settings in "VTX TR" osd tab, but when i am using TBS protocol i have only STATUS in "VTX SA" osd tab.
Any ideas?
p.s. sorry for engrish, stupid slav here.

[Anonymous No.1728799]

>>1726661
>It’s a pretty ivory tower you must be in to say his channel doesn’t/didn’t help you in the hobby.

Tbh even his genuinely useful videos usually suffer from the issue that you have to jump through several minutes of talking to get to the 5 seconds that you actually need, which would've been much better communicated with text - which is why I will always click on a search result for an Oscar Liang article before a JB video.

[Anonymous No.1728839]

>>1728439
I figured it out, thanks to debugging.
Mine UART3 is not working at all :c. I don't know why it is not working, but it was the reason.

[Anonymous No.1729759]

>>1725839
What the hell is that super smooth gimbal?

[Anonymous No.1729780]

>>1729759
It ain't a gimbal, it's one of those 3D cameras. It's actually pretty awesome for RC, the new ones are actually pretty light, and you can just mount it on a carbon fibre rod sticking out a bit either above or below the plane/quad/heli. On your computer you can view the video in surround and edit it to look sort of like a gimbal. Often the software has a "recognition" feature where you can select a target to keep in the centre, that's how you get these cool videos. You could stick a 3D cam on any shitty drone with a track feature and get pretty much DJI levels of smooth video.

[Anonymous No.1729837]

>>1729759
I think he's cutting a slice out of a 360 degree cam

[Anonymous No.1729987]

>>1729780
>>1729837
>>1729759

It's just a 360 camera (not a 3D camera). They use a IMU to record the rotations throughout recording, then that data gets used to level the video when you process it.

[Anonymous No.1730103]

>>1728839
The F722S has like 7 UARTS, were you able to get it working on another one?

[Anonymous No.1730176]

>>1729987
>3d >360
Oops, yeah, that's what I meant to say.
What model is that? Would you recommend it?

[Anonymous No.1730226]

>>1730103
Yes i do. It is not convenient from the build side, but it works.

Also i have a question about flying in snow.
I am really afraid of snow hitting bearings of motors. Is it a real problem or i am worrying about minor problems?

[Anonymous No.1730232]

>>1730176
Mine is the Xiaomi Mijia Mi Sphere, which was the first 360 camera to have IMU stabilization & was an absolute game changer when it came out. It's a couple years old now though & the Insta360 One X now has higher resolution & much better stabilization in most situations. I've not personally used any of the 360 cameras from GoPro so I can't comment on them.

[Anonymous No.1730265]

Is there an IRC for RCG?

[Anonymous No.1730268]

>>1730265
It's slow for a thread, let alone a chat.

[Anonymous No.1730293]

>>1730265
Sure, it's right next to the usenet page.

[Anonymous No.1730705]

>>1730226
Motors are pretty resilient to water. But I would suggest that you get some conformal coating like Lakier and coat your electronics (FC, ESC, VTX, camera, etc.).
I've dipped some of my quads in water even without coating, and they usually recover without permanent damage if you dry them fast enough, but you will save money in the long run when you coat them, and I wouldn't recommend flying during winter/rain without it.

[Anonymous No.1730922]

>>1730705
Right now i am using russian PLASTIK 71 for conformal coating, it is acrylic resin based composition.
I covered every piece of electronics, but only outside joints of the fpv camera, as i do not want do dissemble it. Is body coating enough for ratel or should i cover internals too?
Also, should i coat internals of mine runcam 3s?
Pic related - mine overweighted 4s drone.

[Anonymous No.1730985]

>>1730922
I personally wouldn't bother opening tge fpv camera. Especially because you don't want to coat the camera sensor itself

Not sure about the runcam tho, I'd guess it should be fine unless you forget/lose it into a pile of snow for a longer time.

[Anonymous No.1731795]

Hey, trying to build a ROV submarine with FPV. camera needs 5V, but only getting 4.3V at end of 200ft cable. Presume it's the same for the video signal (0.27V reading). I can run a separate 5V line to the camera no problem, but what can be done about the video signal loss?

[Anonymous No.1732100]

>>1721316
Perhaps you can mount the guts in a freestyle quad frame? A decent cheap one with plenty of room is the Source One frame. Though I’m not sure what size props are on your parrot so do a little research.

As for a cheap tablet I’d look at refurbished Samsung tablets on eBay for the best value.

[Anonymous No.1732102]

>>1731795
If you’re asking here, there’s a high chance this will be over your head but the easy solution would be to add an OpAmp circuit to the receiving end. Also, larger gauge wire, twisted pair, and shielded cables will improve signal quality. Though that would make the cable signicantly stiffer.

[Anonymous No.1732147]

Sup guys, I'm fiddling around with the design of a fixed-wing drone that will have a large cargo capacity. I expect that at takeoff the cargo will weigh about 4X the empty weight of the airframe/engine/fuel, so let's say 800lbs cargo and 200lbs everything else.

With an overall aircraft weight of around 1000lbs, it's going to require a lot of takeoff power to get moving and get into the air. I am thinking about using a pulse-jet as a sort of rocket assisted takeoff. Once airborne, an ordinary piston engine will sustain it in flight.

How much thrust do I need to get out of the pulse-jet engine? Assume takeoff velocity will be, say, 50mph or so and it will use a high-lift at low-speed airfoil such as an S1223rtl-il. Would 100lbs of total thrust be enough? What percentage of that would be needed for sustaining flight once airborne?

[Anonymous No.1732155]

>>1732147
The fact you're asking such a basic question when talking about a 1000lb+ aircraft strongly implies you are laughably out of your league.

[Anonymous No.1732163]

>>1732155
That goes without saying, this is 4chan after all.

[Anonymous No.1732169]

>>1732155
Surprisingly, I'm not that far out of my league. I've never designed a plane before but I'm not doing that now either. I'm ripping off existing designs and using standard glass-on-foam construction techniques that are well known in homebuilt aircraft manufacturing.

The drone will be unmanned, of course, kind of by definition, so if it craters, nothing irreplaceable will be lost, and I can make improvements based on the cause of failure. Test flights will be over water with no marine traffic below (benefits of living on an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean), so at worst some fish might get a little gasoline in their diet and I'll have to boat out to retrieve the shattered pieces.

[Anonymous No.1732188]

>>1732147
Why wouldn't you just use a rocket engine? pulse jet a shit
also, assisted takeoff stuff is only for short runway

[Anonymous No.1732240]

>>1732188
Because it needs to be able to restart itself repeatedly.

[Anonymous No.1732245]

>>1732240
pulse jet still a shit though
also where'd ya find one? you can find commercial hobby size jet motors but probably not pulse jet motors, baking too much complications into a design is just asking for trouble, just throw on a couple jet motors there and you'll have plenty of thrust to take off, no need for propeller engines either

Or how about you use electric motors for take off? electric motors have incredible power to weight ratio, and if your'e only using them for takeoff then you wont need heavy batteries.

[Anonymous No.1732383]

>>1732245
when he sees the price of a turbine this stupid idea will stop.

[Anonymous No.1732523]

>>1732383
> turbine
> pulse jet
pick one, retard

[Anonymous No.1732547]

>>1732383
yeah probably

[Anonymous No.1732780]

looking to buy a fpv drone kit just for messing around. could i get some recommendations please?

[Anonymous No.1732821]

Bought the Eachine E58 and flying it was really fun, but trying to make it stable was very hard. I don't know if it was because it was my first time flying a drone, because of the wind, or because the drone is so light (there is plenty of wind here).
Anyway, I felt like I wanted to upgrade to something more robust, is there a model you would recommend as an upgrade to the E58? Preferably something with more flight time.
Also, since we're in /diy/, what is the advantage of building your own drone? It looks much more expensive, I guess you get better controllers/batteries and the chance to add any function you want?

[Anonymous No.1732836]

>>1732821
>Preferably something with more flight time.
I found out the hard way, was having too much fun with mine and dropped straight down snapping an arm off.

[Anonymous No.1732869]

I got a pair of these on the cheap - what kind of camera can I use with them? Any sort of 5.8 hz camera? This plugs into the wall for power.. wtf? Shouldn't there be a battery system for this?

Skyzone SJ-V01 Glasses Goggles 7 Inch FPV Video 5.8G HD Headset HDMI Input Bulit-in 40 Channel 40CH Receiver (Type 1)

[Anonymous No.1732873]

>>1732836
I've been treating mine with utmost care, but I guess you can't avoid crashes with these things, still mine has survived plenty emergency landings already.
I must say that at least it is tougher that I expected.

[Anonymous No.1732883]

>>1732821
> Eachine E58
New to the hobby, but here is the deal - that drone is a copy of a "real" drone the mavic. The real mavic is a bit larger and heavy like a fucking brick. All these small light drones are basically crap that won't do anything in the wind. They break constantly, all have different battery styles. I tried to use these to bond with my dad, and he was just like "you can't even control them - this is a dumb hobby". And he's right, but I didn't want to have him learn on a $300 drone.

Enjoy those little guys for what they are - like a toy squirt gun, compared to pellet gun.

As far as upgrading - take a think about what you really want to do with this hobby. are you just fucking around? definitely buy used. I got a phantom 1 for $50. Sure, 3 of the batteries were puffier than my girlfriends nipples, but overall it was a great opportunity to try out the slightly more advanced drones. Also learned to get the fuck out of the way, you really don't want to bat those fuckers out of the way. blades hurt and draw blood. These drones aim to be stable photography platforms. They can do shit like set up waypoints, return to a set point if connection drops etc.

Shop around your local CL and ebay. I had a hard time selling my mavic for $500. Then there is also the "Racing" upgrade path. Which I guess is about flying tiny little fucking drones around using goggles that make it seem like you are pod racing around your house.

Moral of the story is that these things drop in value the second you buy it, and if you are willing to go a few years back - you can get one hell of a deal.

[Anonymous No.1733067]

>>1732869
yes, any 5.8 GHz transmitter will work. They do use a battery, not sure why they included a wall plug.

[Anonymous No.1733185]

>>1732821
The advantage of building your own is you can make it do exactly what you want, fixing it is easier since you bought the parts ad assembled it yourself, you can get better performance for a lower price, and the satisfaction of doing it yourself.
Disadvantages being, it takes a decent amount of reading, and you can easily waste money on bad parts or ones that don’t work together.
I personally enjoy freestyle FPV and have competed in a few local drone race events. Any other “toy grade” upgrades will likely be outgrown or thrown in a box in your attic after a few weeks but I haven’t heard of anyone giving up the hobby after building themselves a legit freestyle/race rig.

[Anonymous No.1733186]

>>1732780
https://banggood.app.link/jzU0X6Sum2

[Anonymous No.1733217]

>>1733186
is this one better than the EMAX Tinyhawk RTF?

[Anonymous No.1733347]

>>1733217
They tinyhawk allegedly flies better on 1S, but the Novice lets you upgrade to 2S if you can handle the higher speed. And I’ve heard the eachine goggles are better. This is all from reviews I’ve read so take that with a grain of salt as I have never owned a whoop.

I played on a sim for a few hours then dumped $300 on a FrSky radio and a Wizard. Never looked back.

[Anonymous No.1733354]

>>1733347
based on specs, etc, which would you go with if you were starting out hypothetically?

[Anonymous No.1733381]

>>1733186
I would personally never recommend the novice for anyone. The quad itself might be perfectly good, but the package as a whole is horrible, as both the controller and goggles are absolute worthless shite. It doesn't cost much more to just pick a generic whoop (mobula 6/7 or US65 or tinyhawk), good box goggles with diversity and DVR (EV800D) and a proper transmitter(jumper, flysky or Q X7)
that doesn't feel horrid, and that you can actually use for your other quads down the line.

>>1733354
Can't say if tinyhawk rtf or Novice would be better, have owned neither of them, but a few friends have UK65 and I own a mobula 7 personally. If your absolute maximum budget is ~150$, the tinyhawk and novice are basically the only choices you have if you want to have all three in the same package; quad, transmitter and fpv goggles. (You can of course pick and choose a roughly equivalent package yourself, but it's still going to be equally bad)
On the other hand, what you should buy also depends on if you are interested in starting this as an actual hobby and are also interested in getting more quads along the way, or just want something to mess sround with for a while, and forget about the whole thing after you get bored with it.

If you are starting this as a longer term hobby, I would start with a proper transmitter, and get used to flying with a simulator. You can then buy the quad and goggles later. Although if you are in a hurry, I can't stop you from buying everything at once..
Jumper, flysky and frsky are basically the only relevant manufacturers for transmitters, and frsky is basically the go-to option. Q X7 is a good starter transmitter.
For goggles, EV800D (not to be ämixed with EV800) are basically your only option for goggles under 100$.
For quad itself, mobula 6 or 7 are both nice. Haven't tested 6 myself, but reviews for it are positive.

[Anonymous No.1733385]

>>1733381
i just think it looks cool to have and mess around with. dont honestly think i care much for how much faster x goes than y. i suppose ill watch some more reviews on both the tinyhawk and novice and go from there

[Anonymous No.1733401]

>>1733381
Honestly I prefer that type of controller. Maybe not that particular model, I've never used it, but one of the guys at my flight club made his own 6 channel out of a playstation controller and it's honestly the most comfortable shit I've ever used. With modern circuits and batteries there's honestly no need to make RC controllers these huge boxes any more. They can be convenient and ergonomic instead. Also instead of these useless little grayscale screens and single roller wheel controls they could just give us a phone app and let us do video and profile on a high-res touchscreen.
So much of this hobby is out of touch with life. Even DJI, which are probably the most up-to-date company in general, aren't all that great at it.

[Anonymous No.1733709]

>>1733381
>For goggles, EV800D (not to be ämixed with EV800) are basically your only option for goggles under 100$.

The new EV800DM are $86, I would rate them above the EV800D.

[Anonymous No.1734701]

>>1733401
Check out the FrSky X Lite. It’s a pretty good all-around transmitter that fits your hand like an PlayStation controller

[Anonymous No.1734801]

Checked out rotorbuilds, wish I knew what to build
Something like a toothpick 5 inch would be interesting

[Anonymous No.1734881]

>>1733401
>one of the guys at my flight club made his own 6 channel out of a playstation controller and it's honestly the most comfortable shit I've ever used

As the other anon says, something like the X-Lite series from FrSky is what you want, but it's worth pointing out that the thumbsticks on something like a Playstation controller have zero accuracy compared to the proper gimbals on a RC controller (which necessarily take up more space).

[Anonymous No.1734889]

Where can I find video footage of the actual live video the pilot sees while flying with a current fpv setup?

[Anonymous No.1734891]

>>1734881
I'm pretty sure they weren't the gimbals from the game controller, those are usually small and rubber. These were metal tipped and looked more like some kind of miniature version of what you'd get in a TX. I didn't actually fly with the thing, I just jiggled the sticks around a bit on the ground, but it felt decent enough. It wasn't just a direct conversion, he'd ripped all the electronics out, he'd cut slots for toggle switches, and he'd 3D printed a new backside which was a bit taller to fit the batteries. The screen just stuck out on the back awkwardly.
>>1734701
That looks interesting, thanks. 135 bucks seems like a pretty decent price for a 16ch (?) controller.

[Anonymous No.1734892]

>>1734889
Wifi video like on a DJI? Not mentionably different from the final video you see uploaded on youtube. 1.3 or 5.8 GHz video like on most DIY FPV setups? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LltDtKs2sQ4

[Anonymous No.1734921]

>>1734892
>Wifi video like on a DJI? Not mentionably different from the final video you see uploaded on youtube.

Except for the really bad pixelation & latency changes when the signal gets low.

[Anonymous No.1735018]

>>1734889
YouTube Pilots will sometimes edit the DVR from their goggles into their videos. MrSteele comes to mind (though I find his commentary annoying)

>>1734891
It can transmit 16 channels and has great telemetry and tons of receiver options to support anything you could want (I fly an X9 Lite and have been loving Access so far for quads and a plane)
But in practice, since it has a limited number of switches, you can expect using more like 6-8 channels. That’s enough for arming, switching modes, maybe launch control or smart audio to your VTX, and a buzzer. Unless you’re flying a plane with flaps, lights, and landing gear the X Lite should be more than enough. You can get really creative with the mixer too, to get more functions with the same number of switches.

>>1734801
If you’re new to the hobby, avoid toothpick frames. You’ll be swapping arms (or the whole frame if it’s a unibody) every weekend.

[Anonymous No.1735027]

>>1734889
look for FPV camera reviews, RunCam, Caddx, or Foxeer. Albert Kim (in the sticky) does a lot of these. Also, most of the toothpick style frames are too small to carry an HD camera so videos about these will usually only be recorded FPV footage.

[Anonymous No.1735033]

>>1711425
This hobby fucking horrifies me, particularly quadcopters. Imagine building a quadcopter and writing your own firmware... So you could have both hardware and software issues and who knows what's gonna happen if you beta test this thing... It could crash and injure someone or damage property... Gives me shivers. I'd stick to LED blinking.

[Anonymous No.1735037]

>>1735018
>Unless you’re flying a plane with flaps, lights, and landing gear the X Lite should be more than enough.

The more pertinent consideration with the X-Lite range for planes is that they don't have physical trim controls for all axes. I've only used mine to fly a 3-channel plane so far, I don't actually know what I'd have to do if I wanted to fly something with a rudder (except use my X9D+ ofc).

[Anonymous No.1735093]

Cadxx Vista !

Digital DJI VTX

[Anonymous No.1735106]

>>1735093
>uFL

In the trash it goes.

[Anonymous No.1735186]

>>1735106

If you say that you dont know how to build properly. Been using ufl for years with zero problems.

[Anonymous No.1735187]

>>1735106

Also if you look close at the pics they are using a bracket to make sure it stays in place.

[Anonymous No.1735291]

>>1735037
You can set the trims digitally as a mix since they run opentx. Doing it in flight would be... interesting.
>>1735033
Most hobbyists don’t write their own firmware. The developers of the flight controllers typically use either Betaflight (or an open source spinoff) or KISS firmware which uses accompanying software to configure them. Higher end flight controller boards also come with a “black box” to log flight data to debug and troubleshoot your shit if it stops working. Most name-brand manufacturers nowadays make relatively reliable hardware too. Just do your research and there’s a 99% chance you can get up in the air with a DIY build.

[Anonymous No.1735378]

>>1735187
>Using a bracket rather than just using a connector that stays in

I've never understood this sort of logic.

[Anonymous No.1736662]

Having fun with a 1m DLG sail plane at the park but never touched FPV or onboard video recording. Ultimate goal is going higher altitudes (500m+) and smooth 4k video footage. What's the plausible way to get there? Not afraid to build a larger 2-3m wing + powered fuselage but is it even worth it if you can't achieve high fidelity video? 2-5+ kts wind in my area on a good day.

[Anonymous No.1736869]

>>1736662
You can easily fly a gimbal on something way smaller than 2m, like a MFD Crosswind Mini (1.6m). Take a look at ArxangelRC in the OP.

[Anonymous No.1736973]

>>1736662
1.2GHz video can go pretty fucking far but you definitely can’t stream HD. The hot setup would be 1.2GHz analog video while you’re flying and then either a gimbal or an electronically stabilized 4K video camera. Use 900MHz RC control (Crossfire is the way to go there)

[Anonymous No.1736975]

>>1736973
Bear in mind that you need an amateur radio license for that, and if you're flying further than you can see the plane (legally defined as 100 metres) you'll also need to file a flight and a mission plan, and have certification (either a pilot's license or a commercial drone operator license depending on location). You're pretty much guaranteed to not get permission if your plane weights more than 500g, so find something lightweight.

[Anonymous No.1737005]

>>1736975
It's worth pointing out that different countries can have very different rules. I don't know what country you're from, but a 100m definition for line of sight seems ridiculous - here in the UK it's 500m, with specific exemptions for large fixed wing out to even _further_ distances.

>>1736973
>The hot setup would be 1.2GHz analog video while you’re flying

1.2GHz will give greater range per mW than 5.8GHz, but long range 5.8GHz is still viable & often much cheaper. A 1200mW 5.8GHz VTX will do 20km+ with an appropriate receiver antenna & antenna tracker setup.

[Anonymous No.1737251]

>Even DJI drones you have to fly yourself, but they do have some autopilot stuff.

I got to fly a DJI for work. Annoyingly, we needed to be registered with an authorisation or the thing wouldn't take off in certain areas. Essentially, the government would be able to ground all such drones at will.
Do the flight controllers you guys are using also have such limitations?

[Anonymous No.1737256]

>>1737251
No, hobbyist/DIY stuff doesn't have these restrictions. A lot of the stuff we build doesn't even have GPS.

Registering/unlocking areas with a DJI drone isn't exactly an arduous process though, I have to do it all the time for work.

[Anonymous No.1737513]

>>1736975
A HAM license is cheap and very easy to get. Probably the least of your worries if you want to fly ridiculously long range.
I got mine back in high school.

[Anonymous No.1737638]

Is it possible to run Ardupilot on an ATMega328, as I already have some Arduino Pro Minies lying around?

I'm interested in running Ardupilot pilot connected to a flight simulator. I'm aware I'd have to figure out how to feed such an autopilot with data from the sim and then control commands/signals back into the sim.

[Anonymous No.1737772]

>>1737638
Do you mean a sim like SITL?

[Anonymous No.1737795]

>>1737638
No. Even the original Ardupilot hardware for ancient versions of the firmware was the ATmega2560, whilst current hardware for current versions of the firmware is STM32.

[Anonymous No.1739341]

>>1737772
Flightgear

>>1737795
Well, now I know, thanks.

I guess the only other thing I have lying about is a raspberry pi.

[Anonymous No.1739531]

>>1739341
>I guess the only other thing I have lying about is a raspberry pi.

Not gonna work - you need a microcontroller, not a computer. Flight control has real time constraints. You can get something like a Matek F405 STD for <$30 which will run any modern Betaflight, iNav, Ardupilot, etc.

[Anonymous No.1739609]

>>1739531
>Flight control has real time constraints.
I was considering the possibility of running it on the bare metal of a pi for that reason also. I'm also curious that the documentation lists:

>BBBMini* (Linux)
>Beagle Bone Blue (Linux)
>PocketPilot* (Linux)
https://ardupilot.org/plane/docs/common-autopilots.html#common-autopilots

I'm unsure if this means in runs on top Linux on these boards or on their bare metal. I know the Linux kernel can be tweaked for real time, but it's not ideal. Interestingly looking through the ArduPilot source code there's some scheduling of its own in there.

I think the pi is capable hardware wise, whether it's actually doable is another question.

[Anonymous No.1739612]

>mfw the breeze stole my Syma X5C

[Anonymous No.1739677]

>>1739609
>I was considering the possibility of running it on the bare metal of a pi for that reason also.

That's not how computers work.

>I'm unsure if this means in runs on top Linux

Whilst it might be theoretically possible to run flight control firmware on top of something like RTLinux, why would you? You're talking about a horrendous challenge just to save $30 (or less!).

[Anonymous No.1739750]

>>1739612
FUCK, me on the pic. I once assembled a chair wrong, but not the frame, the fucking back rest. Had to drill out a screw because I screwed it too tight. That chair has three screws ever since.

[Anonymous No.1739784]

>>1739677
>That's not how computers work
Per my present knowledge, I disagree.
While computers and microcontrollers are not the same thing, they do have a lot in common.

If someone was able to port FreeRTOS to the pi then why not ArduPilot?

[Anonymous No.1740896]

BLheli_S firmware with RPM filtering is now FREE.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bi5JZ2HPL3M

[Anonymous No.1740939]

>>1739677
>That's not how computers work.
its bare metal if its running on the chip.

[Anonymous No.1740945]

>>1711425
I'm curious why quads and drones don't use multi-bladed props. For a helicopter, the complexity, weight, and cost go up significantly as you add more blades, but drone props are one molded piece. OR, they're simple hinged setups. Wouldn't a 4, 6, or more bladed prop provide much more thrust for not a ton of extra weight? Would it make a difference to battery life?

[Anonymous No.1741021]

>>1740945
The more blades you have, the less efficient your prop becomes. Props work best when they chop through "clean" air, and the more blades you have the more "dirty" air from the previous blade each blade has to chop through. The optimal efficiency prop is a single blade with a counterweight.
More blades would mean more thrust, but also less battery life for the same total output than just using a longer two blade prop.

[Anonymous No.1741137]

>>1740939
Can you actually run things 'on the chip' with something like a BCM2711 in the same way as you can with something like a STM32F405 though?

>>1740945
It's a balance between performance & efficiency. For something like a DJI camera drone, you're always going to see twinblade props because efficiency is way more important than absolute thrust. For something like a race quad, triblades are the norm, because you want more thrust & 'grip' without really caring about whether you can fly for much more than 3 minutes.

[Anonymous No.1741196]

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/drones-huge-tracking-network-expanded-162955689.html?guccounter=1
>FAA to require mandatory trackers in drones
LAND OF THE FREEEEE

[Anonymous No.1741216]

>>1741196
>live in Swedistan
>no drone laws whatsoever beyond the common sense "don't fly over airports or above the clouds" stuff
Feels pretty good for once.

[Anonymous No.1741661]

>>1741137
>Bare metal, Assembly language
https://www.raspberrypi.org/forums/viewforum.php?f=72&sid=ded0251006015c5416b6e806c3fc2b0d

[Anonymous No.1741674]

>>1741216
I met trappy (TBS owner) last year at nationals in vegas. The most interesting thing he told me was when I asked what country he thought you could get away the most at, his response was US. I was expecting to hear china, or a dutch country. He said something along the lines of the FAA is all talk and very little punishment. Consider the amount of long range vids posted by US users on YT and FB and the worst that ever happens is a phone call, if that. Personally I have a 107 and fly for work, so I keep it within the regulations when on a job, but every time I fly freestyle I often break a rule or three.

[Anonymous No.1741685]

>>1741674
Yeah, that's probably true. I've had cops stop by me twice when I've flown in a park, but it was more because they were curious than because they wanted to arrest me. They apparently didn't know you can have a camera on a plane too, they thought only quads had cameras, so I showed them what the video was like. It's a debatable legal situation because I am technically filming within a block of a government building, but honestly where can you fly within a city that isn't close to a government building anyway? Cops don't give a shit as long as you're not obviously doing shit like filming preschoolers or sunbathing women or whatever.

The issue with these new laws is that they actually do plan to enforce them. Companies like Amazon and Pizza Hut and whatever want to use drones to deliver things to people, and see hobbyists as an obstacle.
>a dutch country
I'm surprised you'd say that. The Netherlands are very thickly inhabited, you legitimately can't find a place to fly there where you can be out of sight of buildings once you go above the trees. The US I would call relatively safe because you can actually go to empty places. Flying in the NL would be like flying in New York, you can do it but nobody will argue it's going to be safer than, say, Wyoming.
It's why I think Sweden is such a safe place to fly. No laws, no enforcement, and a low population density. Even city regions like Trestad have lower population density than the emptiest parts of the NL.

[Anonymous No.1742096]

What am I doing wrong here? I have a fs-ia6b with 4 channels hooked up, power on the right hand side (5Vin). These connect directly to a spare 4-in-1 ESC I had lying about (Eachine Tyro129 Spare Part 40A BLheli_S 2-6S 4in1 Brushless ESC for RC Drone FPV Racing), no FC for the purposes I'm using.

However only the motor on channel 3 spins (throttle up stick). Pushing any of the other channels and I hear a beep from the motor but no spin. Each motor works and spins when I connect it to channel 3 so they're all fine despite my shitty soldering.

The fuck is going on?

[Anonymous No.1742104]

>>1742096
are you sure your transmitter is set up correctly so that all those channels are duplicating the throttle channel? It helps if you tell us what the fuck you're doing with this, btw.

[Anonymous No.1742106]

why dont you like botgrinder

[Anonymous No.1742111]

>>1742104
>It helps if you tell us what the fuck you're doing with this, btw.
FPV ROV submarine. Connecting the receiver through 200ft of CAT6 cord down to the ESC.

Don't think the transmitter is the problem, I can move another stick/channel, see it moving on the transmitter, and then that corresponding motor beeps at me, but doesn't move.

Sufficient power being delivered to the ESC, no signal loss from the receiver either.

[Anonymous No.1742135]

>>1742111
Here's a shitty drawing of what should be happening, should be really simple

[Anonymous No.1742147]

>>1742106
Because he's one of the clickbait bullshit FPV scene?

[Anonymous No.1742201]

>>1742111
I've not used a 4-in-1 ESC, but wouldn't the motors be spinning when your sticks are centered? Do you have your transmitter programmed so they all act like a throttle? Idk what the signal looks like when you're at a negative value on the stick.

>>1742106
face tattoos and generally an attention whoring edge lord. Also, the rotor faggots are better pilots.

[Anonymous No.1742379]

>>1742096
>>1742135
If they are directly connected to receiver using PWM, you most likely have to do throttle calibration for all esc's.
Set your transmitter to send maximum signal values for all corresponding channels, and then plug power to your rov. They should calibrate, beep, and should work after a powercycle.

https://oscarliang.com/how-to-calibrate-esc/

[Anonymous No.1742541]

>>1742379
oh I get it, bottom left is motor off for all four motors. This arms all the motors and gets them all spinning. I'll get fuckery with the transmitter setting endpoints.

Not sure if I can calibrate more than that without a FC, can't connect to BetaFlight or BLHeli without USB

Thanks!

[Anonymous No.1743603]

>>1742541
What is the application here? Do you actually need individual control of the four motors? If not, it would make a lot more sense to just send the same signal to all 4 ESC inputs, either by mapping it as such on the transmitter (not sure if cheapy FlySky radios support this) or just splicing one output of the receiver to all 4 inputs of the ESC.

[Anonymous No.1744109]

I want to run a standard balancing connector onto this battery. Right now I figure I need to very very gently cut off the plastic housing - I can't think of any good way to safely solder wires to those copper connectors. Any suggestions?

I'm also having problems ordering the right plugs. I got some JST plugs for another project and they are all the wrong size.

Are there any "standard" connectors, or is this whole hobby just a million different competing plugs?

[Anonymous No.1744298]

>>1744109
>Any suggestions?

Be careful.

>Are there any "standard" connectors, or is this whole hobby just a million different competing plugs?

For regular 'dumb' hobby grade batteries, JST-XH is the standard for balance connectors, while the XT range (XT30, XT60, XT90) is the standard for discharge connectors.

Commercial shop-bought drones (eg DJI, whatever you have there, etc.) tend to have proprietary connectors so they can force you to pay extortionate amounts for their batteries.

[Anonymous No.1744694]

Hey guys I wanna get into FPV drones, and I came across this video, and was wondering if this would be a good start, or no? What would you recommend? I don't mind spending a couple hundred dollars USD to get started. I have soldering experience, and some electronic knowledge.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5r2pS1oIoCw

[Anonymous No.1744757]

>>1744694
Yes, Drone Mesh is a very good channel.

[Anonymous No.1745668]

>>1744298
Thanks. Right now I'm discharging my batteries with a 12v bulb... whats a good automated solution? I/d really like to standardize a bit, so I dont have 10 different chargers, 10 different battery connectors, etc.

[Anonymous No.1745685]

>>1745668
I use one of these isdt dischargers. Most chargers will have a discharge mode built into them, but they can be slow. You can also get a "cable squid" that is a bunch of different connectors soldered together (usually to an XT60). I use that when I need to charge my fatshark battery or the JST 2S batteries I use for odd things.

[Anonymous No.1745689]

>>1745668
Your charger doesn't have a Discharge mode?
Most chargers these days have at least Charge, Balance Charge, Storage Charge and Safe Discharge. Storage Charge will discharge a LiPo down to the optimal voltage for long term storage, and Safe Discharge will just slowly drain the battery to a set limit.

[Anonymous No.1745897]

who else /sky pirates/ once remote id kills the hobby for good and there is nothing left but to knock commercial delivery drones out of the sky in retaliation for their corporations lobbying the faa to destroy recreational rc aircraft?

[Anonymous No.1745910]

>>1714154
Plywood? Nigga what kind of ghetto grade sinker are you making? If you're using wood for flight, you only EVER use balsa. If you want reinforcement, give it a coat of resin, but you never use plywood. Fuck off back to /fit/ you brainlet.

[Anonymous No.1745943]

>>1745689
>>1745668
I've never come across a charger that actually has a _useful_ discharge mode, they're all limited to such low discharge rates (due to thermal limitations) that they take hours to discharge a bunch of packs if your session gets rained off. I have one like >>1745685 & it's a huge quality of life improvement.

>>1745897
The amount of sensationalist clickbait crap around these new regs is painful. I've lost track of how many times things have 'ruined the hobby', yet here we are still doing things exactly the same as always.

[Anonymous No.1745953]

>>1745943
The proposed RID regs are significantly more restrictive than anything previous. The FAA thinks that 99% of what's flying today can have a magic firmware update to make them compliant, everyone has 2 or less models, and everyone will be perfectly happy to sign up for a subscription service that tracks your every move while flying. It will fuck over everything from LOS fixed wing to FPV to camera drones. And it's all unenforceable. The "mystery drone swarm" over Colorado shows us that even when Sheriff Joe Blow knows when and where a big pack of drones will show up, night after night, they still can't figure out. Or they just don't give a fuck. And the FAA expects that these will be the guys out there writing tickets for someone flying at 401ft, FPV with no spotter, no registration number sticker, and no remote ID in the middle of a farmer's field.

[Anonymous No.1745958]

>>1745953
>And it's all unenforceable.

So it's no different than all the previous times the hobby has supposedly been 'ruined'? People are just going to continue flying, breaking these new regulations just like they currently break the old regulations, & nobody is going to care, right?

Unless I'm missing something huge, it's still just going to be a case of "don't be a dick" & nobody will come to any trouble.

[Anonymous No.1745960]

>>1745897
That could become a fun new hobby in itself. Shouldn't be too hard to knock out Pizza Hut drones with a shotgun. Even if the quad survives the pizza will be full of lead, it'll tank their yelp reviews.

[Anonymous No.1746024]

>>1745910
Plywood is actually very good material for parts requiring more endurance than balsa can provide, even if you coat it in resin, while also being cheaper and easier to source. Stop being an elitist faggot :)

[Anonymous No.1746047]

>>1745958
pretty much, but the fact that it exists at all is bullshit.

>>1746024
I think the woodfag is talking about plywood for a quad frame and probably doesn't even know about the thin ply we use for firewalls and shit.

[Anonymous No.1746502]

>>1745689
I have a Phantom 1 unit, and some cheap ass chargers. So maybe I could use a recommendation for a decent charger.

Does this cable have most everything I need, or is there a specific one I should look for ( like the Traxxas one ) https://www.ebay.com/itm/Multi-19-Mega-Squid-RC-Charge-Plug-Adapter-Plug-King-Lead-Cable-19-in-1-3M-T-HOT/222140108859

>>1745943
>>1745685
Thanks I'll keep my eyes out for something like this.

>>1744298
>>1744109
So I sliced off the top, and I see this little panel. What I think I'm seeing is a black ( common ) wire, and then each color is positive for a separate cell.

I want to attach the balance cable I chopped off a Phantom 1 battery. Am I correct that each positive goes to a grey wire, and ground goes to white?

Can I cut the pcb out entirely? Right now, those pins put out the following voltages:

10.5
7
3.5
0

So it looks like the board is adding the voltage for each one, instead of what I expected:

3.5
3.5
3.5
0

I tried testing voltages on my existing Phantom1 Battery, but it shows NO voltage when I use my MM on the balance charger terminals ( not sure if that is right word - the pins on the balance charger )

[Anonymous No.1746505]

>>1746047

I'd expect to see drones regulated into the fucking ground in the next 10 years. either because the airspace gets massively cluttered, and hobbyists are interfering with [insert whatever company rules this space], or because of security issues.

It only takes a few real scares to fuck everything ( eg: landing your drone on the white-house lawn ). Regulation happens slowly until there is a crisis, or even a perceived one. And then you are stuck with it forever. 20 years after 911, and I am still taking off my goddamn belt and shoes in airports for some stupid fucking reason. I'm convinced that is simply to make people feel both "safe" and "under control" at the same time. Right wing will never admit it, but they love that authoritarian crap. ok, clearly went on a rant there.

Speaking of aviation, is it me or is the FAA fucking slow and miserable and antiquated? Anyone have to deal with them for hardware or software approvals?

[Anonymous No.1746506]

>>1746502

[Anonymous No.1746513]

I own jumper t16. As i understand r9m 2019 wont work with it because of ACCESS protocol.
But would pre-2019 TX work with new 2019 RX?

[Anonymous No.1746529]

>>1746502
>Does this cable have most everything I need, or is there a specific one I should look for

A better question to ask yourself is why you need that many different connectors. Pretty much everything I have (from tiny 2S packs to giant 6S packs, whether for quads, wings, cars, etc.) is XT60, except for a small handful of XT30 for really small stuff & some XT90 for really big stuff.

>So it looks like the board is adding the voltage for each one

That's standard for a balance connector.

>I tried testing voltages on my existing Phantom1 Battery, but it shows NO voltage when I use my MM on the balance charger terminals

Has it been sat fully discharged for a long time? It could just be dead.

>>1746505
>It only takes a few real scares to fuck everything ( eg: landing your drone on the white-house lawn ).

Post Gatwick pretty much nothing actually changed here in the UK. Yes, they introduced new regulations, but they were already common sense precautions under the "don't be a dick" mantra.

>>1746513
There are no '2019 versions' of the receivers. A brand new R9 MM OTA flashed with ACCST firmware should work with any R9 module also flashed with ACCST firmware, regardless of whether that module is the 2019 version or not.

I happily use R9 MM with ACCST firmware with my original R9M & the exact same R9 MM receivers with ACCESS firmware with my new R9M Lite Pro.

[Anonymous No.1746556]

>>1746529
I have a bunch of small stupid drones I got for 5-10 USD. Most don't have balance connectors, and there are about 5 different types of plugs. It's good to know though that at a certain point in the hobby, it's mostly just a few types of plugs.

>That's standard for a balance connector.
ok, I get it now. So I should be able to cut off the board, and wire direct to the balance cable I have already.

>Has it been sat fully discharged for a long time? It could just be dead.

No, it shows power on the red/black discharge leads.

[Anonymous No.1746576]

>>1746556
>No, it shows power on the red/black discharge leads.

If there is a voltage across the discharge connector, there should be a voltage across the balance connector. The first & last pins of the balance connector are literally soldered to the same battery tabs as the discharge connector (as the picture above shows). Are you sure you're making proper contact with the contacts of the balance connector?

[Anonymous No.1746587]

>>1746529
>common sense legislation
Where have I heard that before.... Ah yes, guns. Common sense to an outside-of-the hobby group quickly becomes not common sense. Especially when you look at the retards around you and think about how much "common sense" they have. Then apply that common sense to a hobby you have spent 1000 hours participating in and researching while their research consists of fear-mongering (((news))))

[Anonymous No.1746605]

>>1746587
Tbf the US is the only country in the world whose 'common sense legislation' on guns is so dumb. Over here in the UK where our common sense legislation on guns actually makes sense, our common sense legislation on RC is also pretty okay.

[Anonymous No.1746658]

>>1746605
It's almost as if America is really kind of a shithole, just one with relatively good PR.

[Anonymous No.1746693]

>>1746605
Eh, the UK common sense laws are pretty dumb, too. Picrel is a "rifle". Take off the little stick at the bottom and you have an assault pistol.

But the point isn't to circle-jerk or discuss gunlaw. I just think that "common-sense" laws eventually become burdensome legislation and are dangerous for this hobby.

[Anonymous No.1746944]

>>1746605
Unless you grew up shooting, it's hard to explain just how emasculating it is to have them taken away. A firearm is one of the biggest power trips out there, knowing that you can basically take someone's life whenever you want. And when you equate your self preservation with those firearms - your ability to protect your family, your property, your rights - it's a big fucking deal.

I feel it would be like telling the average person they can't drive alone anymore for security reasons, or that they can only use butter knives moving forward, or that they can't lock their doors anymore, because terrorists or something.

I understand that guns are a problem, and that mass murders are a giant fucking problem. And I definitely see both sides of that argument, and I have no fucking idea how to resolve it. like I've got an opinion on every damn thing, and I just don't know what will work.

[Anonymous No.1747548]

>>1746529
>There are no '2019 versions' of the receivers.
Thank you! It is aftermarket time, heh!

[Anonymous No.1747820]

I'm looking for a light FPV fixed wing build to make. I've done the FT blunt nosed versa and the FT explorer. Hated the versa, liked the explorer enough. What have you all built or liked?

[Anonymous No.1747849]

>>1747820
Are you looking for a fully DIY foamboard design, or a commercial moulded foam option?

[Anonymous No.1747912]

>>1747849
Full DIY foam was the idea. I could do moulded foam if it were, say, less than US$40.

If nothing comes up, I'll probably just do another Explorer. Working on an internal chassis now to hold all the electronics.

[Anonymous No.1747913]

>>1747849
>>1747912
*fully diy foamBOARD

[Anonymous No.1748451]

>>1747912
Finished the chassis/wiring harness for the FliteTest Explorer. Is this a stupid idea? GPS and ESC don't have a place here because they need to hang loose/be attached higher in the plane.
Cable guide don't have slits in them on purpose for printing and will be dremeled later. Weighs ~30g. Last explorer was 1kg. Receiver is towards the front, for those familiar with the model.

[Anonymous No.1749016]

>>1748451
Honestly it seems like your laughably over-complicating a really simple task that could just be achieved with some 3M VHB tape?

[Anonymous No.1749018]

>>1749016
you're*

Sorry. been drinking.

[Anonymous No.1749086]

>>1748451
get rid of the "cable guides" and just leave slots for zip ties. Having a good mount for the FC is a good idea.

[Anonymous No.1749429]

>>1749016
>>1749086
Looks like it'll work good enough. Zip ties would have been a good idea. Might do that for round 2. Now it can just slide right into the plane body and attach to the peripherals.

[Anonymous No.1749819]

I'm preparing for a mid range (4-5km), line of sight, fixed wing flight. I have historically used a 1.2ghz vtx, but will be flying with someone with a better 2.4ghz setup on the same polarization (he gets ibcrazy stuff where I get chink shit). So instead of buying other 1.2ghz stuff, I want to get some 5.8 gear. Most of my flying is fixed wing and high 200+ meters and in front of me. I'm looking for the best chink setup i can get for this. I think the realacc stuff has potential. Any experience here or opinion? My principal concern is that if the pagoda antenna is vertical, it will be broadcasting signal at 200+ meters high instead of to the ground. If I angle the antenna diagonally, that may help for a range of distance, but may struggle elsewhere.

[Anonymous No.1749821]

>>1749819
*better 1.2ghz setup

[Anonymous No.1750137]

>>1749819
I think you're massively exaggerating the nulls of the pagoda.

[Anonymous No.1750140]

Pity it was so cold today (hovering around freezing), but I guess for the first 5" session of the new year it was pretty alright nonetheless.

[Anonymous No.1750214]

>>1750137
Wow, you're right. I saw another graphic that made it look much more linear.

[Anonymous No.1750540]

>>1750140
It looks like a great weather to fly, heh.
I started mine second season two days ago after a really big pause. I am still not able to tune mine quad fine, but screw it, it is fine.

[Anonymous No.1750543]

>>1750540
And flying in cold makes your fingers to move slower. I definitely should buy some kind of warm shield cover for mine tx.

[Anonymous No.1750553]

>>1750540
>>1750543

With my X9D+ with the longer stick ends fitted I was able to fly with full gloves, but now with my X-Lite Pro even with the longer stick ends fitted I can only use fingerless gloves.

[Anonymous No.1750567]

>>1750553
Right now i am using "3d rockers" from aliexpress with jumper t16. As i am a thumb-style "pilot", flying in full gloves is nearly impossible for me so i have to use fingerless gloves.
Other option is to use portable-usb heaters like this with your fingerless gloves:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32957879034.html
I should receive them soon and can leave a comment about their usability if you are interested

[Anonymous No.1750570]

>>1750567
Huh, should i use instead?

[Anonymous No.1750626]

>>1750567
>https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32957879034.html

I actually tried something very similar already, they didn't really help much. They kept the main part of my hands warm, but the finger tips outside the fingerless gloves still got far too cold.

I think the big heated 'transmitter gloves' are the only truly effective option, but they just look so impractical.

[Anonymous No.1751045]

>>1730922
Overweight 4s bro

[Anonymous No.1751053]

I picked up some older drones- can someone help me figure out what all this shit on here does?

-I need a X9D controller for the FrSky x8R receiver.
-Radiolink is like a processor / control center?
-Telemetry is going to be sending critical information back to my controller
-uh I see a buzzer
-A Long range antennae? Guessing I need a R9M transmitter that plugs into the X9D?

So this is gonna seem really stupid - but what is this drone good for? Any reason to buy/build something like this over a mavic pro? I over estimated the financial value of these guys I think - I'm holding what like a $100 drone?

[Anonymous No.1751076]

>>1751053
>I need a X9D controller for the FrSky x8R receiver

There are many controllers compatible with the X8R, not just the X9D.

>Radiolink is like a processor / control center?

The key word there is 'Pixhawk' & yes, that's the flight controller.

>Telemetry is going to be sending critical information back to my controller

Telemetry via the X8R would send basic info back to your controller, telemetry via the 915MHz radio would send more complete info back to another 915MHz dongle which could be attached to a computer/tablet/smartphone.

>uh I see a buzzer

Used for diagnostics/warnings.

>A Long range antennae? Guessing I need a R9M transmitter that plugs into the X9D?

There is no R9 hardware in this picture. You have a regular 2.4GHz receiver (the X8R), you have a 915MHz SiK style transmitter for MAVLink telemetry & you have the big 'puck' antenna on the stalk which is GPS + magnetometer.

>but what is this drone good for

Honestly? Not much. Something like this makes a fun project to build & mess around with, maybe to learn about using ground control station software (Mission Planner etc.) for flying waypoint missions, but in terms of _use_ it's fairly pointless.

>I over estimated the financial value of these guys I think - I'm holding what like a $100 drone?

Personally I wouldn't pay that much second hand.

[Anonymous No.1751078]

>>1750626
>I think the big heated 'transmitter gloves' are the only truly effective option, but they just look so impractical.
Nah they are worse

[Anonymous No.1751099]

>>1751045
Hahah, screw that thrust-to-weight ratio and effectiveness!
I really want to switch to 6s, but 6 packs are two times more expensive as 4s packs in my local-shop. And as i am a cheap-ass student i am fine with 4s setup (and it still feels kinda overpowered for me after one season).
>>1751078
Are they? I have seen a lot of pilots equipped with them in moscow like, 10 years ago.

[Anonymous No.1751106]

>>1751078
>>1751099
I know that Gab707 uses one when filming in the mountains for ski promos.

[Anonymous No.1751215]

I'm setting up my omnibus f4 pro and GPS and I'm having angle issue. Whenever I rock my board front to back, there is a left to right rotation/lean on it as well. I have changed all the mag alignments through each direction and they all do this (but will change direction of the rotation). I have also changed the magnometer to autodetect and a few other models. I'll upload pics of my current settings in a sec. I followed these instructions https://github.com/iNavFlight/inav/wiki/GPS--and-Compass-setup and have the same MN-M8NGPS (at least it looks like identical) as the instructions.
I selected "none" for Magnometer and it fixes it, but I want a mag, so how can I get this to lean/rotate correctly with the mag.

[Anonymous No.1751216]

>>1751215
Current settings. Pretty much set back to default because I couldn't find other settings that worked.

[Anonymous No.1751272]

>>1730265
honestly the closest thing is rc facebook pages

[Anonymous No.1751274]

>>1750626
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WE-b2LjRW5E
How about taping these to the back of your hand and wearing a slightly bigger glove?

[Anonymous No.1751277]

>>1751076
Awesome thanks. Exactly The kind of info I was looking for. How does this drone compare to something like a phantom? I have a FpV camera and headset I was going to hook to it and maybe an old GoPro. I like the idea of mission control software as something to learn.

I figure it’s a fun platform to learn on since I can bolt whatever to it

How does someone add high end features like object voidnce, or return to home stuff.

How do I go bout programming this dude?

[Anonymous No.1751283]

>>1751076
I have a spectrum dx6 available. Can i get a different receiver and plug it in to replace the x8r? I’m not finding what other controllers are compatible other than the frsky dx9 series.

[Anonymous No.1751297]

>>1751099
someone correct me if im wrong but its also easier to blow parts on 6s compared to 4s

[Anonymous No.1751308]

>>1751274
Again, same issue - heating the hand doesn't keep the fingertips warm.

>>1751277
>How does this drone compare to something like a phantom?

Poorly, to be honest. One of the main things that makes DJI drones so good at what they do is how highly integrated everything is, especially the camera, with everything coming through the one app interface. This simply isn't something you can ever hope to achieve with a DIY build.

>How does someone add high end features like object voidnce, or return to home stuff.

Return to home isn't high-end, any quad with a GPS/magnetometer can do it. Object avoidance is pretty much completely out of the question though.

>How do I go bout programming this dude?

Read up on the Arducopter wiki pages, that's the firmware you're going to want to run on that Pixhawk flight controller.

https://ardupilot.org/copter/docs/introduction.html

>>1751283
>Can i get a different receiver and plug it in to replace the x8r?

Yes. Again, look through the Arducopter wiki pages, lots of information there.

[Anonymous No.1751319]

>>1751308
>Object avoidance is pretty much completely out of the question though
Get ten laser rangefinders (eight for the sides, one for the top and one for the bottom), pull the parts that make it work and figure out how to connect them to an STM32, install Betaflight and write your own plugins.

[Anonymous No.1751329]

New Air Unit

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AixGznU-oM

[Anonymous No.1751363]

>>1751319
>and write your own plugins

Yeah, this is decidedly non trivial. If it were, you can guarantee that Ardupilot or PX4 would have it by now.

[Anonymous No.1751543]

>>1751308
Thanks for pointing me in the right direction on the drones.

[Anonymous No.1751668]

>>1711425
I went to the hobby shop to pick up some wire, and I came across a build kit for a little non-lego-brick quadcopter, about tiny-whoop size.

Every component had a connector that could be fitted to the controller board. The whole thing could be put together in about a minute, maybe five if you have fat fingers. All without a soldering iron, with extra ports for instant additions of 2 more propellers or a camera.

Is there any reason that this isn't how all build kits are shipped? Are the weight savings of say, maybe an entire half gram, really that critical outside of micro drones? What am I missing?

[Anonymous No.1751749]

>>1751668
>Is there any reason that this isn't how all build kits are shipped?

>Every component had a connector that could be fitted to the controller board.

Because that's hideously proprietary, locks you into buying upgrade/replacement parts only from them, teaches you nothing about basic electronics, component choice, etc. It's fine for an initial introduction to the hobby, but if you're going to invest more time & resources into DIY you need to learn how to actually DIY.

[Anonymous No.1751755]

>>1751749
So, it's more a "process-enjoyment" thing than a practicality/performance thing after all.

Why add unnecessary steps for the sake of having unnecessary steps? You're not mining the ore to smelt and hammer into motor components, then fighting an Arab for his oil to refine into the plastic frame, are you? Not even soldering the chips, caps, resistors, or diodes onto the board.

Literally a more onanistic version of PC building. Does holding a soldering iron make you feel like a cool tech man in a stock photograph?

[Anonymous No.1751760]

>>1751755
You're underestimating quite how restrictive the proprietary nature of quad kits like that are. To use your PC building analogy, imagine if you bought a motherboard from Asus & that meant that you were only able to use certain specific models of graphics card from Asus, certain specific sticks of RAM from Asus, a certain specific power supply from Asus, etc.

Especially when it comes to something like a miniquad, where we have maybe 20+ wires connecting to a 36mm square PCB, there simply aren't suitable standardised connectors & just using solder pads makes infinitely more sense - for compatibility, reliability, space/weight saving, etc. It is most certainly a practicality thing.

[Anonymous No.1751763]

>>1751760
A connector could easily be snipped off to satisfy your solderlust, larptechnician.

[Anonymous No.1751770]

Guys how do i approach building a hand gesture control drone.

[Anonymous No.1751784]

>>1751763
At least after 10 minutes of soldering i am sure that all wires will stay connected after any crash and that it is impossible for me to break a connector on a board.
Plus i am not sure that it is possible to waterproof anykind of connector.
Take a look on the lipos for whoops, there are: xt30, mcpx, micro jst, bt2.0. At least there are something to choose from, heh.
Imagine the same variety of options on wires of your motors, tx, vtx, led-strips, you name it.
Also, you can use bullet connectors like every plane / boat / car user do. But it is more easier to solder wire to board than wire to connector, IMHO.

[Anonymous No.1751785]

>>1751755
>So, it's more a "process-enjoyment" thing than a practicality/performance thing after all.
Always was

[Anonymous No.1751789]

>>1751763
Some components *do* regularly come with connectors (especially things like FPV cameras & VTX). The point is that the scene is simply too diverse wrt standards/layouts & also too *small* for plug-&-play to be a widespread reality. Just learn to solder, it's not hard.

>>1751770
Arducopter with a companion computer running OpenCV? I'd work on getting the hand gestures just working on the computer first, then try to integrate with the drone.

[Anonymous No.1751805]

I am using the newest betaflight and I noticed that I lose 20ish seconds of flight time every time I move the filternig slider to the right (motors are still cool) . Is this normal or should I look for another cause? Fairly new to this

[Anonymous No.1751911]

>>1751760
Nah, you could use generic, industry-standard plugs. Motors for example take power from three wires. These can be made with banana plugs, and actually already are. They plug into an ESC, which needs information that can come either via serial (in which case you can have all four motors on a single two pin plug), via ppm (in which case you can have all four motors on a single three pin plug) or via pwm (in which case you need four three pin plugs). JST-PH is a pretty common connector that would suit this application, and if we use the three pin one as the standard you can still do serial communication, it's just that one of the pins isn't connected to anything (though if we do use three pin for serial it lets us power the FC off of the BEC, which means three pin is technically the better standard for all these options). Modern FCs are pretty advanced, making components that use a handshake protocol to determine if they should use ppm or serial is very simple.

We could standardise if we wanted to. Almost everything we do is very low current digital communication, only servos in planes and motors in everything need bigger power, and servos don't need enough power to require more than a JST PH anyway, and motors can still be standardised around current-appropriate sizes of banana plug. The reason there's no standardisation is because vendor lock-in is still profitable, and there's no legislation to protect the consumer. Remember what cell phones used to be like? Every brand had its own model of charger, and sometimes going between models even in the same lineup meant buying a different charger for that. Twice as much back when we had to disconnect the batteries to charge. When smartphones came around this trend was about to continue, but the EU ruled that everyone had to use USB, and that's why all phones but iPhones use micro-USB or USB-C nowadays.

[Anonymous No.1751957]

>>1751911
>The reason there's no standardisation is because vendor lock-in is still profitable

Bare solder pads are as 'standard' as it gets. Vendors selling components with bare solder pads & pre-tinned wires (which is the majority of the scene) are doing the exact _opposite_ of vendor lock-in.

>We could standardise if we wanted to.

Nobody in the miniquad community wants abortions like picrelated.

[Anonymous No.1752007]

>>1751911
>you could use generic, industry-standard plugs.
Allow me to rant about your sentence. *Ahem* I sell electronic parts. We get people coming in the door all the time asking for a plug to fit X. X might be an RC car, a quad, a board out of a TV, some car stereo equipment, or a chinese dildo. They all say the same thing: "I thought you'd just have one on the shelf, I mean, it's just a standard plug". Well let me tell you something. There are 50+ vendors selling wire to board connectors, and they all have 20+ different series of connectors, many of which look the same to joe sixpack. They aren't. Then you have 100 differnet connectors in each series, with different mounting style, number of pins, pitch between pins. And that's just the wire to board stuff, then you have wire to wire, board interconnects, and if you have a mil spec canon plug on your god-forsaken turd of a machine, that's a whole new can of expensive worms.

TL;DR: There is no "industry standard connector"

[Anonymous No.1752015]

>>1751911
>>1751957
>>1752007

[Anonymous No.1752021]

>>1751957
>>1752007
I just gave JST PH as an example, that's about as close as you can get to a standard in the hobby, it's the balance plug you have on your batteries.

[Anonymous No.1752030]

>>1752021
You've just made a perfect argument against your own case - balance connectors are JST-XH, not JST-PH.

[Anonymous No.1752040]

>>1752030
It doesn't matter which particular combination of letters they are, the fact that nearly all batteries have them is my point.

[Anonymous No.1752049]

>>1752040
It matters because it's a bad argument in favour of your 'standardised connector' when there are so many variants of it you don't even know which one you have.

Precisely this sort of situation with very-slightly-different pitches in picoblade connectors trolled the Tiny Whoop/micro community when people realised they were breaking battery connectors.

[Anonymous No.1752054]

>>1752030
Technically some batteries (e-flite) have JST PH connectors :P Learned this the hard way when ordering some smaller packs off of Hobbyking, then had to purchase separate connectors just to make an adapter for charging.
Not arguing against your case either way, just wanted to point it out for no reason :)

[Anonymous No.1752332]

I bought a few of these Propel RC Spyders - I like them because they hover to a set height after you hit "start", which is great for my son. I got extras because they break and get lost and shit.

I have 2 problems. Sometimes they just bounce up and down on the ground. Any idea why this happens? And second problem is one batch of them the left joystick doesn't center. So they don't really auto-level. They all have the same specs on the box I think - it's just that some have a centering joystick and some dont. they don't seem to be cross compatible.

My son is attached to like one specific one ( Red ) so I bought more since his is acting all retarded and just bouncing up and down on the floor. but these new ones have a different controller ( doesn't center ) - so yeah. I'm tired. am I making sense?

[Anonymous No.1752427]

>>1752332
If the controller doesn't centre that implies it doesn't have the barometer for altitude hold so the throttle is manual. Does the packaging for these ones without the centering definitely say it has altitude hold? They may well make two different versions.

[Anonymous No.1752584]

I was just flying outside in the snow and on my last battery the quad just flipped out when I punched it and I was spinning all over. For a second I recovered and it spun around strange again. Kinda like it lost a prop blade or something. So I disarmed and crashed into a tree and some snow.

When I looked at the quad it was missing a prop blade and I brought it in an switched it out.

So I tried to fly the last of my battery and when I armed the quad flipped out and said runaway.

I checked the quad out and the motor I replaced the blade on was not spinning properly. It felt like it had some odd resistance. So I blew it out with the air compressor but that didnt help.

I was gonna replace the motor but when I was taking the arm tape off I noticed that the ESC failed and one of the mosfets fell off when I removed the tape. When I un soldered the motor and spun it there was no resistance.

It was spinning perfectly fine when it was not connected to the ESC.

But when the wires were on the ESC it was making the motor spin really slow and felt like resistance. Because the ESC and mosfet was broken it was making that happen.


I just swapped out the ESC and now its all working again.

[Anonymous No.1752762]

new thread
>>1752187
>>1752187
>>1752187