550 Pilot's lounge

[OI Photography]

True and I can't imagine that every place that sells accessories (not just for FPV) that use that port are either paying licensing fees to go pro or facing legal action.

Oh I tried to fit an old ipod connector into the back of the GoPro, it doesn't quite fit. They're both 30-pin and the pins do line up, one of the latches is keyed 180 degrees around. Maybe it is proprietary after all?

Well I was just referring to others who tap in to it on the gopro for charging and/or video feed. I could be wrong but it occurred to me that there might not be so many (or any) if gopro charged for it.

This discovery also seems to support our skepticism about the rumor: viewtopic.php?f=26&t=22798

 

[havasuphoto]

So, do the newest versions of the H3-3D come with the 30 pin back plug for the GP3? If not-I guess if I decide to go that way on my F800, gonna have to "sacrifice" my perfectly good 2D.

No, AFAIK current H3-3Ds are all "v1.1" which have the USB ribbon cable. IMO it's not the huge deal everyone makes it out to be, but to each their own.

OH-and why can't we have a rotatable 3rd axis, like the CM3000?? Is that to much to ask of DJI? That CM has been out well over a year-and I haven't heard much about it-other than it's heavy. Doesn't seem to be much talk of it at all anymore. Wondering if that ended up being a lost cause or what?

I figure it's a number of things - the main market for the H3-3D is the Phantom, which doesn't have retracts or enough channels to support a controllable 3rd axis; the Phantom isn't a platform intended for dual-operator; it wouldn't be economical or weight-efficient to build it with a slip-ring, you'd need a larger motor with a central shaft to pass through wires (which would again not allow unlimited 3rd axis movement and could twist and bind); and DJI offers unrestricted movement on its professional line of Z15 gimbals.

I kind of wish the H3-3D had a greater yaw range as well, but I doubt I would use it, and I think they made the right engineering choices for what is one of the lightest 3-axis gimbals around for the Phantom.

Great....I just don't like the fact that a lot of people are reporting tearing of the cable, and some sort of strange audio feedback.
I tend to swap my camera between ships often...
so, if I need on, I'll just shop around for used.

@Ol; weather for Tuesday through the rest of next week is looking bad. And, that fancy readymade solder jig is calling my name.

I need to start soldering those bullet connectors so I can re do my wires, and I have another idea for mounting my ESC's that will look cleaner.
So, after Tomorrow, I'll probably pop the top and get started on the clean up......
Then, put the 12" props on. I sure love those E-Graups though....haven't checked to see what they make in 12" props. I like that they're stiff, relatively easy to balance, and smooth as can be.
I worry that the APC MR's will be to bendy. And-I'm just not ready to dump the cash on those beachwood props-just yet. But, if I don't over-heat with 12", I see those in my future

Question; you guys have heard of liquid electric tape, right? Does it come in black? And-how easy is it to remove if you need to re-solder that point?
Have black electrical tape on the points now-but I want a nicer looking inside. thought that liquid tape would work better than the hot glue....
And-not quite sure what to put on the "main" battery pos/neg solder joints. Nothing on it now...so it's either liquid electric tape, or black tape. I need to solder on a BEC eventually-that's why I asked if some of it can be removed with either rubbing alcohol or acetone?

 

[havasuphoto]

True and I can't imagine that every place that sells accessories (not just for FPV) that use that port are either paying licensing fees to go pro or facing legal action.

Oh I tried to fit an old ipod connector into the back of the GoPro, it doesn't quite fit. They're both 30-pin and the pins do line up, one of the latches is keyed 180 degrees around. Maybe it is proprietary after all?

Well I was just referring to others who tap in to it on the gopro for charging and/or video feed. I could be wrong but it occurred to me that there might not be so many (or any) if gopro charged for it.

This discovery also seems to support our skepticism about the rumor: viewtopic.php?f=26&t=22798

So why is DJI dead set on that HDMI cable option? Are they trying to push us into using Lightbridge?

 

[ElGuano]

So why is DJI dead set on that HDMI cable option? Are they trying to push us into using Lightbridge?

HDMI? If we're talking about the H3-3D, the default connection is composite (analog) video out through the USB, not HDMI. You don't have to use it if you don't want to, but the HDMI cable only comes with the lightbridge.

 

[havasuphoto]

So why is DJI dead set on that HDMI cable option? Are they trying to push us into using Lightbridge?

HDMI? If we're talking about the H3-3D, the default connection is composite (analog) video out through the USB, not HDMI. You don't have to use it if you don't want to, but the HDMI cable only comes with the lightbridge.

My bad-I get confused easily...I meant the USB connector. Whatever the current connection is with version 1.1 or is it 1.2?


And you're right-if DJI would allow us some manual yaw, or maybe a yaw angle hold-it would be nice.
I still haven't tried FPV mode yet......looks like it would be fun.

 

[PJA]

OH-and why can't we have a rotatable 3rd axis, like the CM3000?? Is that to much to ask of DJI? That CM has been out well over a year-and I haven't heard much about it-other than it's heavy. Doesn't seem to be much talk of it at all anymore. Wondering if that ended up being a lost cause or what?

I forgot all about the Arris CM3000 Gimbal. After you mentioned it I looked up some info about it... Hobby-Wing has it for $309.00... http://www.hobby-wing.com/arris-cm3000-gopro-hero3-brushless-motor-gimbal.html

Here are the specs:

Feature of ARRIS CM3000:
Simple structure with light weight.
Full carbon fiber frame.
3 brushless motors directly drive.
With 8pcs anti-vibration damper absobers, easy to adjust
Compatible with Gopro3
Weight: 252g
Working voltage: 3S Lipo

The Arris CM3000 would probably have been the better choice for a new gimbal since I do have retracts on my f550...

I just want to get a few good flights in with my 550 the way it is, then I was going to expand it to a 650 or an 800 (I have the extension arms already) and possibly convert it to a 4S system, etc... That would be my next project for this winter, and then I may just consider the 3-axis ARRIS CM3000 or whatever gimbal has a manual rotating 3rd axis by then...

Edit: I was also looking at the DYS Smart 3 Axis Gimbal... $209.00 ready to work out of the box, fully assembled and tuned... USA Seller... Sounds interesting...

 

[havasuphoto]

Yea, the CM3000 may be "challenging". You may want to search youtube to see if there are any good video from users out there. I've heard getting it "dialed in" with the PID's can be a pain.
I know a few guys were using them-but I haven't seen them around in ages.

Really tough to do 3rd axis by yourself. Then you have to figure out which way is back to the front of the aircraft if your FPV, and I think it would cause more problems than it solved. Yawing the aircraft for pan is still a very easy solution.
And, with the bigger arms-the aircraft is rock solid. I've done POI shoots at over 12m/sec, 50 feet out from the POI, and it looked like the camera didn't move an inch off the subject...it's that stable.

I didn't fly this morning-got up at 5:30am and I could hear and see the wind....too much for me, and my 7+lb F800. I don't mind flying in the wind. But-I want to get a comparison at this weight, between 2 different props. And the only way to do that-is on calm days. That way wind isn't a factor in the equation-because it can be so variable.

So-going to spend some time re-arranging the way my ESC's are mounted to the arms(at least 4 of them-that's all the brackets I have. I Have to get 2 more from a friend in town that has the same set-up. will post pictures of the new way I'm mounting them).

 

[havasuphoto]

Got 3 of my ESC mounted the way I want

I have 3 of my ESC's mounted the way I want them to be. I used an arm bracket/holder, for lack of a better term(don't know what they're for-but I had some extra's, and have a friend that has a few more).
What I did was use 2 pieces of red 3M sticky tape on the inside arm mount to the ESC, just forward of the capacitor, and 2 pieces on that arm bracket, turned so the longest side is facing the ESC.

The sticky tape is just there to cushion and provide a little support. I then used just 1 black zip tie around the arm, at where it attaches to the body. I'm open for suggestions on a better way-but they're solid on there now.

Bracket;








Underside;


I am going to replace the wires/bullets, and probably heat shrink the bundle of 3 wires, just after the bend, and figure out some way to attach it to the under-side of the arm going back into the body-so it won't be too visible.

 

[havasuphoto]

Went out Today for my first 2 flights with the FPV gear attached, AUW 3330 grams. I had my 1st level warning set at 14.00 volts, and landed both times at that loaded number on my iOSD screen.

Both flight times were identical, at 13 minutes!! Not bad. Considering it was "windy", 10mph steady with some gust. Both flights were about the same-and I only went out to about 600M, and 50M up.
I did hit speeds over 55mph with the tail wind, in Atti mode, and around 50mph in GPS mode.

The aircraft handled the winds beautifully. But it should, at 7.34lbs-it takes a lot to move this thing.

And-it handles like a pig too. Compared to the P2-you need to make almost twice as much control movement to get the same response. And, you really need to pay attention to the throttle on these heavy aircraft. Also, my gains are around 200 for basic P/R and 300 for yaw. I think basic Attitude is 225.

Temps; air was 96 deg's, and the hottest ESC was 126 deg's; so 30 deg's above ambient-which is what I saw before with the old engines/ESC's.

Battery in voltage was 16.71@98%, and out was 14.56@8%. Battery #1 concerned me-it had a cell gap of 0.085 on cell #1.
So-cell 1 read 3.60, and the other three cells were around 3.69 to 3.71.
Battery 2 read the same as above, but the cell gap was negligible, with all of them being right around 3.70.
Does anyone see a problem with the above voltages or gaps?

The quality of my FPV video feed is still terrible. Just like before; as soon as I start the engines, I get some sort of interference-that gets increasingly bad with distance. I only really noticed it when I put the goggles on....so, the only thing I can think of is to replace the 433Mhz EZ UHF transmitter/receiver, with the 2.4Ghz Futaba set-up.
That's the only difference between the F800 FPV set-up, and the P2 set-up. And with the P2-I get crystal clear video.
I can't think of anything else that is causing this interference-and I don't think the FPV "filter" would help here. I don't even know if it would work on a 2D-I think the 3D has more pins?

But-my next test flights will still be with the EZ UHF, with 12X4.5 APC MR props. I want to see what the increase will be in temps on the ESC's, and also see what my flight times are.

Once I get 2 successful flights with that set-up; it's time to open it up, do some re-wiring, and install the Futaba receiver and prey it binds-and that Naza can figure out that it's not Traditional like it's set now-but defaults to D-Bus.

I'm sure it's 1 remote wire from S-bus(bottom horizontal plug below channel 8 on the receiver), to X2 plug on Naza. Fire up remote, then aircraft and see if it binds. If not, I'll need to page through the 14SGH and try Fasttest 12 or whatever the 4 options are-repeat the above until I get it bound.
Then see what Naza has to say.
I plan on writing down all my current numbers(gains, etc), to make sure I don't lose anything when I swap out remotes.

I'll be using Ianwood's V4 profile on my 14SGH(exactly the same profile for the P2).

So, to summarize; I lost roughly 3 minutes with the increase of 300 grams. Not bad-I'm still in the 12+ minute range-but running the battery down to 8% concerns me a little. I don't know enough about 4S yet to figure it out.

 

[ElGuano]

The 0.1v difference concerns me. Does it charge back up to 4.2 with the other cells, and does it consistently discharge the same way?

I typically never have cells differ more than 0.04v, or 0.02v when combining packs.

 

[havasuphoto]

The 0.1v difference concerns me. Does it charge back up to 4.2 with the other cells, and does it consistently discharge the same way?

I typically never have cells differ more than 0.04v, or 0.02v when combining packs.

Yes-it recharges to with those ranges of the other cells. I'll go back in the history of my charger and check this pack to see what it has done in the past.
It took in 6981 mah, and batt 2 is still charging.

I believe this is the first time I've had such a discrepancy in the cells. It's never shown "red" before-that's what caught my attention.

What the lowest safe voltage per cell on a 4S?

 

[ElGuano]

Same as any other 3.7v cell, the battery stresses more as it approaches 3.3v unloaded, and depending on load it may drop voltage in use dramatically between 3.0v and 3.4v. With 4s you have less line loss so your loaded and unloaded values will be slightly closer.

I'd watch the battery and see if it consistently does this. If so I'd remove it from flight duty sooner rather than later.

 

[havasuphoto]

Same as any other 3.7v cell, the battery stresses more as it approaches 3.3v unloaded, and depending on load it may drop voltage in use dramatically between 3.0v and 3.4v. With 4s you have less line loss so your loaded and unloaded values will be slightly closer.

I'd watch the battery and see if it consistently does this. If so I'd remove it from flight duty sooner rather than later.

OK, will do. I'm still pulling them out with 3.70 remaining, unloaded, or 3.50 volts loaded(14.0 volts). Don't think I want to go any lower than that right now-not point.
I'll update this post when Batt 2 is done charging, and see what is in the memory on my charger for these batteries-just to see if this is something brand new.
There is no puffing-and the out temps of both batteries were the same at about 10 deg's above ambient-at 118 degree's.

 

[OI Photography]

The quality of my FPV video feed is still terrible. Just like before; as soon as I start the engines, I get some sort of interference-that gets increasingly bad with distance. I only really noticed it when I put the goggles on....so, the only thing I can think of is to replace the 433Mhz EZ UHF transmitter/receiver, with the 2.4Ghz Futaba set-up.
That's the only difference between the F800 FPV set-up, and the P2 set-up.

I think the relevant difference here is the associated wiring on the two aircraft. Since the problem begins when the motors start I would bet it's related to on-board power connections/wiring rather than the wireless signal transmission.

 

[havasuphoto]

The quality of my FPV video feed is still terrible. Just like before; as soon as I start the engines, I get some sort of interference-that gets increasingly bad with distance. I only really noticed it when I put the goggles on....so, the only thing I can think of is to replace the 433Mhz EZ UHF transmitter/receiver, with the 2.4Ghz Futaba set-up.
That's the only difference between the F800 FPV set-up, and the P2 set-up.

I think the relevant difference here is the associated wiring on the two aircraft. Since the problem begins when the motors start I would bet it's related to on-board power connections/wiring rather than the wireless signal transmission.

Interesting.
I'm going to re-do my motor wires from copper to aluminum. I have the GCU stacked on top of the iosdmini and pmu v2. I'm not sure where to start looking for where the interference is coming from or how to clear it.
I intend to "bundle" as many wires as I can to clean things up. But after that-and swapping motor wires out-I'm out of idea's.

 

[ElGuano]

If you're closely monitoring the battery it should be ok if you're running to 3.7. I don't want to give ultra-conservative advice to people who know what they are doing and are diligent about tracking. A bad cell can be catastrophic but I don't think you are quite there yet with this one.

 

[havasuphoto]

Alright-went back and checked the history of this battery-and today was the 1st time cell 1 was outside the norm. In all other charges of both batteries, all cells were within spec.
Nice to have the iOS net 720i-which has a memory function and remembers all your charges. And, I number my batteries, and charge in order; batt #1 first, and so on.

Also-battery #2 finished charging, and took back in 7110 Mah!! That's getting a lot out of an 8000mah pack-never seen that before.
I don't believe I would have had enough Mah to reach the 2nd level of 13.80.
But-it's nice to know I can get this much out of these ready made 4s 8000 packs. Probably gonna order another 1....just because I have 3 P2 batteries, might as well have the same for the F800.

Anyone have any idea's on how to cure my video noise? Starts with the engines.......I'll try to give more details as I fly more, to try and nail down what might be the cause.
Does anyone know if the FPV Filter will plug into a 2D gimbals plug/GCU??

That may solve the issue? My 433mhz receiver antenna is very close to the gimbal/go pro.......

 

[OI Photography]

Does anyone know if the FPV Filter will plug into a 2D gimbals plug/GCU??

That may solve the issue? My 433mhz receiver antenna is very close to the gimbal/go pro.......

Yeah the anti-interference board from an H3-3D will connect in line with the -2D (same 8-pin cable), but I have no idea if it'll have any impact on your issue...I am curious to hear what you find though!

 

[havasuphoto]

Does anyone know if the FPV Filter will plug into a 2D gimbals plug/GCU??

That may solve the issue? My 433mhz receiver antenna is very close to the gimbal/go pro.......

Yeah the anti-interference board from an H3-3D will connect in line with the -2D (same 8-pin cable), but I have no idea if it'll have any impact on your issue...I am curious to hear what you find though!

I'd like to know if anyone has purchase just the anti-interference board on it's own-and if they could provide a link, that would be nice too
I'm not taking the 1 off my P2 because it's kinda of stuck/wedged on there pretty good....so, I'll have to find one somewhere and try it.

 

[OI Photography]

This is where I got mine: http://www.allerc.com/dji-part-44-zh3-3 ... -9204.html