Trip

Aus Trip

This thing comes from http://eyefly.info and the complete bundle is 199€. They even sell their own motors (german quality instead of cheap chinese ones). It's a small shop and Nic (the owner) reinvests the income of this hobby project back into the shop.

For the flightcontrol they recommended "Flyduino NanoWii" which is based on MultiWii.
PID-Settings:
Roll:   P=3.8   I=0.03   D=23     RATE: 0.35
Pitch: P=3.8   I=0.03   D=23     RATE: 0.35
Yaw:   P=5.0   I=0.045 D=0
Alt:     P=6.4   I=0.025  D=24
Level: P=9.0  I=0.01    D=100
Rate: 1.0   Expo: 0  (but 35% Expo on transmitter)

Total weight: 440gr with 1600mah and Mobius
Packing size: 20x20x8cm! (if props and antennas are unmounted).

Motors and ESCs are from their set (2300kv, 1806) running on 3S.

Batteries:  I use the same as on the DRQ250 (SLS 1600 and 1800mah 3cell)  and get a bit more flighttime out of them. 7-9min maybe - gotta test more.

Props: I tried the "Maytech Carbon" 5x3 they also sell and they are awesome. I'm normally not into balancing props (too lazy) but here it really made a difference! (Prop on a screwdriver, sand off some material from the prop half that moves down). Was maybe 15mins of work.

As you see in the vid the roll and loop rate is insane. Power is plenty - hover at 1/3. I'm not used to have so much "way" on my throttle stick left until full throttle ;-)

The downsides? Well maybe just the size - it's not easy to find space to fit additional stuff on it. The mobius is a tight fit between the front props - but no props in view! My video transmitter mounting is not optimal now. If I fly back to me the battery and copter block the antenna - signal gets a bit bad.

ImmersionRC Duo5800 vs Black Pearl Video Diversity receiver comparison

In this comparison video I wanted to find out if the Black Pearl (all in one - Display with diversityRX) is compareable to the dedicated ImmersionRC Duo5800 receiver. On paper they both have 90dbi sensitivity. See in the second part how they look in comparison. For my test setup I seperated video TX and RX with a few thick walls at home.
Also I measured all my antennas with the ImmersionRC RF Powermeter. You see the values at 2:24.
The normal ones were affected by alignment (horz vs vert) and the SPW ones were "immune" to different alignment - as expected. The directional antennas had great antenna-gain in the cone and somewhat less optimal outside of it.

Btw. you can also measure the mW of your video TX. You plug a 30dB attenuator in between and set it in the powermeter. Great to measure the advertised milliwats vs the real output!

Sorry for this not being super scientific but it gives you an idea of the image quality.

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EQUIPMENT as seen in the video:

Circular-Wireless.com Antennas
5.8 SPW Antenna    5.8 Helical Antenna

ImmersionRC:
Spironet SPW  Spironet Patch
RF Powermeter
5.8gHz Video Transmitter
Diversity Duo5800

Globe Flight:
Black Pearl TFT with Diversity RX

...more in my "Hangar"

Playlists:
►my TOP Videos
►Multicopter DIVES
►Teamflying, FPV Meetings
-
►Black Snapper
►TBS Discovery
►MiniQuad

►FACEBOOK
►BLOG: http://RCSCHIM.blogspot.com
►in case you wanna buy RCSchim a beer Thanks!!! ;-)

DIY FPV Goggles - cheap alternative with superb quality picture!

Here are the Buildpics:

DIY Goggles (Facebox)

Here I had my first look through it - and it was an amazing picture!

+ big
+ sharp
+/- comfy to wear - only the weight can be a problem if you pack too much on the goggles...
- some soldering needed? some cutting and fiddeling around

Maybe I can fit an adapter to use the NexWave 5.8Ghz module directly on these goggles?

-> Additional info (in german!) here at FPVCommunity from Prometreus
(with many pics!)


PARTLIST:  (complete costs ~ 70€ / 100$)
It ueses the frame from FlyingWings.co.uk
around 20$? - fast shipping from UK to EU!
You can order deluxe version (with strap and extra lens). While I didn't use the lense here the strap itself is good enough. Just added a broader band at the back (see build images).

and a 5" TFT display from Dealextreme
(available in EU warehouse ~ 40$)
If you find them somewhere else - dont buy at DX - they're slow! EU warehouse is a joke. They deliver from China through Netherlands. So no customs but 3-4weeks delivery!

and finally better fresnel lens (optional) (tried both - this upgrade really gives you better quality!)

►►Update: just before publishing this vid I did a 2nd testflight with the MiniQuad. The picture is really big, great to fly BUT: the blackscreen issue can be tricky/scary. So not sure yet if I'd trust this goggles for an expensive, bigger, unstabilized platform. So if you have some other safety features (second monitor for emergencies) it's ok.
Hover recommended routing it throug a DVR - this might eliminate the black/bluescreen. Or optimal: search for a similar size display without bluescreen.

Credits:
All links here provided are tips from Prometreus - thanks!
Check out his channel and subscribe him in return!

Fatshark Dominator HD

First tests were a bit dissapointing. I compared them against RCV922 and AttitudeSD.
RCV922 has 46° fov and funny: it's sharp without diopter for me (I'm short sighted). AttiSD require diopters for me. Initially I didn't use diopter glasses and thought the DomHD are no way as sharp as the 5 year old rcv922 ;-)
After putting on the diopter lenses now (the ones from AttiSD fit) - the picture is really good! Most notably you get blown away by the color quality. Also you get less barrel distortion. These optics sure were hard to design!

FOV - screensize

For me it was always the most important factor to really get immersed with FPV - big screen! The RCV922 were great regarding this - but you couldnt read OSD info in the edges...
AttiSD were better for OSD - but not so good immersive feeling. DomHD now delivers both - quite sharp on the edges and huge screen. On the last FPV meet I tried many different models (AIO, Skyzone, Cinemizer). Most of them have around 30° fov - way to little for my taste!

Wearing comfort:

I always preferred the foam from rcv922 over the rubber eyecaps. So old ones are nicer to wear for me. With AttiSD and now DomHD I get ugly eyerings with fpv sessions ;-)

IPD adjustment:

Is fine for me - almost sharp in all corners - much better than with RCV922 for sure.

Image comparison:

This is hard - and I here only had limited time. Used just a galaxy S4 cam pressed against eyecaps (approx same distance on all 3 goggles).

DVR:

Super option! I tend to fly just with 5.8 nexawave RX without groundstation. Just makes no sense flying miniquads with huge groundstation. Keep it portable here!So DVR is a good safety option if you crash. One wish: please make the DVR autorecord after powerup. May be energy waste and SD card wast - but also use cycle recording!

And: if you crash and panic and tear away your goggles you may be dumb enough to just unplug power and not stop DVR rec first. In that case the DVR recording is lost. So we have to get used to always stop REC after crashing ;-) Other than that: rec quality is really good, 720x480 30fps with 8mbit

Headtracker:

The first batch is said to be delivered with a free (instead of optional) Trinity HT Module already installed. I didn't test it yet but the new module should be really accurate and makes me wanna revive an big plane and install Pan/Tilt on it (which I hopefully will find the time for).

Verdict:

First I was a bit dissapointed - but now I don't wanna use the other goggles ;-)
Diopters were needed - that was one dissapointment - and I couldnt believe the high price (650€ in germany!) - but now I learned here from Fatshark that the LCDs are making it so expensive.

too lazy to read? Here's my Video Review:

DJI Phantom 2

My Mods:

• wider landing gear
• simple gopro antijello mount
• Carbon props (better against vibration on video!)
• installed FrSky X8R receiver to use Taranis Radio
  

Weight:
1,2kg FPV ready with Gopro and Battery!
15min with Zenmuse Gimbal and Gopro3
Power consumption: 270mah/min

Phantom Assistant Software:
Install all available firmware updates...
Switch to NazaM mode instead of Phantom mode to enable some additional features!
Gains:
      Pitch Roll Yaw Vert
Basic: 120 120 100 200
 Atti: 200 200

Flyaway problems:
My conclusion - the std. radio and the internal receiver are crap. They can be tricked by interfering signals (wifi,...) quite easily! I don't know any other 2.4 radio that is so sensitive...
read here...

GPS Antenna is fragile!  /  GPS reception issues!?!
If a newbie crashes his phantom (maybe because of a flyaway) the top mounted ceramic GPS antenna might get cracks and the reception of GPS satellites can be weak or even worse can be sporadic (sats dissapear while flying - flightcontroll is confused - tries to countersteer the sudden loss of position and goes crazy?)
I have a P2 here that had a crash and now the sat fix sometimes takes forever, sometimes it's here in a few seconds. I learned that if I fly in Atti Mode first, then after landing I could get GPS fix really fast.
Ultimately: I had serious problems getting GPS fix - even with new antenna! Only after removing the (somehow torn apart) protection foil copper thing it worked for me. Maybe the foil was giving a short circuit to the GPS antenna circuitboard? No Problems since than...

Interesting Links:
German - Startvorkehrungen - was tun bei einem neuen Phantom 2
Flyaway discussions - good explanation

Broken GPS Antenna as cause for no GPS Fix (always 3 red blinks...)
Replacement GPS Antenna: found at Digikey Part: GP.1575.25.2.A.02 ANTENNA GPS PATCH 1575MHZ

more Pics:

Phantom 2

DRQ250 - MiniD Racing Quad

All up weight 580gr (with cam, fpv and 1600mah 3cell battery)
Flighttime: 7mins
Power Consumption: avg. 215mah/min    avg. 13amps  (but most of the times flown speedy!)

Cams: Mobius Wideangle and seperate FPV cam
ImmersionRC 5.8 VTX with SPW antenna fed directly from 3cell 1600mah SLS Battery

Radio: FrSky Taranis <-> 2.4ghz X8R Receiver

KK2.0  Version 1.2 (update pending - but I fly manual here it shouldnt change much...)
Gains:
Roll    Pg 65/ lim 100       Ig 37/ lim 20
Pitch  same (linked)
Yaw   Pg 60 lim 25          Ig 40 lim 10
Stick scaling all at 60

Shoppinglist:
get the Frame @ Droneframes.com

Electronics: http://myRCMart.com
Motors (they have cw and ccw nuts - so get 2 of each kind):
2 x RCX 1804 (2400KV) Brushless Motor (Anti-Clockwise) (ZMR-XPOWER-10)
2 x RCX 1804 (2400KV *R) Brushless Motor (Clockwise) (ZMR-XPOWER-16)
Hobbyking Multistar Motors? (just saw them - might be a good option)

4 x RCX 15A ESC Brushless Motor Speed Controller (SS Series / Multicopter - SimonK Firmware) (RCX07-187)
Update: Motors are not so good, Vibrations and not equal performance - so buy more to select the best maching to get good results. Or get the recommended SunnySky ones...

Props (get some spares - you'll need them!)
2 x 5x3" (3-Rotor) EPP5030 Counter Rotating Propellers (CCW / Black / 3pcs) (RCX01-124)
2 x 5x3" (3-Rotor) EPP5030 Counter Rotating Propellers (CCW / Green / 3pcs) (RCX01-127)
2 x 5x3" (3-Rotor) EPP5030 (*R) Counter Rotating Propellers (CW / Green / 3pcs) (RCX01-126)
2 x 5x3" (3-Rotor) EPP5030 (*R) Counter Rotating Propellers (CW / Black / 3pcs) (RCX01-125)
if you can fly - change to the more expensive carbon props:
4 x 5x3" EPP5030 Counter Rotating Propellers (Pair / Carbon Fiber) (RCX01-130)

Resources and Links:
buy it here: http://Droneframes.com
or here: http://efpv.co.uk
BUILDLOG from Sine @Openpilot

DRQ250 Buildlog/Pics:




Onboard CAM - Update:  I now use a second FPV cam for Downlink. Everyone does it this way - I did some tests and now I'm also convinced ;-) - see this LAG / FOV demo vid: