550 Pilot's lounge

[dougsnash]

Is it just me or is everyone finding this "wonderful" new lead free solder requires a lot more heat to melt and flow than the good old 60/40 we all used for years? I've only recently used up the last of my old fashioned solder and have decided I really hate this new enviro-friendly crap I'm being forced to use now.

Doug M

 

[havasuphoto]

Is it just me or is everyone finding this "wonderful" new lead free solder requires a lot more heat to melt and flow than the good old 60/40 we all used for years? I've only recently used up the last of my old fashioned solder and have decided I really hate this new enviro-friendly crap I'm being forced to use now.

Doug M

Why are you being forced to use that?
I just started to learn to solder and use 60/40 lead. I had the one size, but discovered it was to thick to tin the wires, so I went to the local radio shack and picked up the really thin stuff, still 60/40 lead rosin core.

I actually got a free small roll of the non-leaded solder with my new iron, and I threw it in the trash.....

@Ol; got 6 wires tinned, bullets soldered, and heat shrink applied. Only took about 2 hours, 1 burned finger, and oh my aching back!!! Only have 12 more to do!!
That readymade jig makes doing bullets so easy. Heat doesn't leak out, so the bullet stays hot and the solder flows in quickly. not sure why I got the extra arm...and, the "helping hands" thingy I got from radio shack helps with the wire tinning-has a magnifying glass on it, so these old eye's, even with reading glasses on-can see the solder flow through the wires
Getting old just plain sucks!!!

 

[ElGuano]

Is it just me or is everyone finding this "wonderful" new lead free solder requires a lot more heat to melt and flow than the good old 60/40 we all used for years? I've only recently used up the last of my old fashioned solder and have decided I really hate this new enviro-friendly crap I'm being forced to use now.

Doug M

Yep, I prefer the old stuff too, it tins easier, flows finer and lasts longer. Oh well, times go on, things progress, some things regress. They used to advocate we throw used batteries into a campfire to dispose of them, too

 

[dougsnash]

I Made a second flight with my F550 this evening. I flew for about 8 minutes and was getting a continuous red flashing on the LED so I landed. After about ten minutes I checked the battery with my cell checker and it still shows 48% charge. I think I'll have to drop my first level warning a bit to squeeze a bit more flight time out of my battery (4S 8000mAh RMRC Orange). Also, this flight I strapped a second camera on to the F550 to a) record GPS data (Garmin Virb Elite) and b) check the image quality on the Virb because it is fairly new too and I wasn't happy with the image quality on the last flight I made with my full scale aircraft (fixed issue with a settings adjustment). With the Garmin temporarily added, my all up weight was 2790 grams. Still lots of battery left after 8 minutes of fairly aggressive flying at 2.8kg, I'm pretty happy with those numbers.

After about 20 minutes of resting, I'm seeing 15.38V on the battery. My first level warning was set at 15.0V and I have dropped it to 14.8. I have my second level set at 14.5. Both loss numbers are set to zero. Do these sound like reasonable voltage warning numbers for a 4S battery?

Now for the only real issue I had with this flight, I have a Goodluckbuy silver gimbal installed and am still tweaking the gains to get stable video. I had major jello on my first flight even before takeoff so the problem must have been with the gimbal gains. I dropped them a bit and eliminated some of the vibration in the gimbal but now the gimbal won't always stay level in flight. I guess I have some more tweaking to do. For the price of this gimbal I am fairly satisfied with it so far. If a $300+ Zenmuse was behaving like this cheapie, I'd be pissed, but for $60.00 with shipping, I can stand to do some tweaking.

Doug M

 

[havasuphoto]

For 4S, I have my 1st level set at 14.1volts and 2nd level at 13.8 volts. That being said, I'm always aware of my voltage levels via the iOSD mini, so I really don't rely on the LED to tell me when to return and land.
You need to consider how quickly or slowly your set-up drops in voltage to determine your levels.

what engines and props are you running?

I have the same batteries, and can run them down to 14.0 w/o issue-that adds up to about 8% remaining. But-I'm running 2814-770kv motors with either 11 or 12" props. My AUW is 3400 grams(I have 800mm extended arms). I'm getting around 14 minutes with the 12" props and about a minute less with 11" props.
I'm still tuning my gains-so your mileage may vary.

But-you can safely drop your voltage warnings a bunch. For loss, I use 0.50..but some use 1.10 and some use 0.

Bottom line is; if you don't have the iOSD mini, you need a stopwatch, and start timing your flights and checking voltage-so you have an idea of when to return home and arrive well before the 1st level warning lights turns on.

If you're doing FPV flights-I highly suggest an OSD solution. Either the iOSD mini from DJI or another solution so you have the voltage displayed on your screen.

 

[dougsnash]

what engines and props are you running?

I'm running the DJI E300 Tuned Propulsion System which has 2212/920KV motors and 9.4X4.3inch props.

Doug M

 

[dougsnash]

Bottom line is; if you don't have the iOSD mini, you need a stopwatch, and start timing your flights and checking voltage-so you have an idea of when to return home and arrive well before the 1st level warning lights turns on.

If you're doing FPV flights-I highly suggest an OSD solution. Either the iOSD mini from DJI or another solution so you have the voltage displayed on your screen.

I have an Oculus Rift VR headset on order which I plan on configuring for FPV but I haven't figured out exactly which system I will be feeding it from. Right now I am using my Phantom FC40 camera which does not have much range or any capability to work with an OSD system so I am using a stopwatch and my battery tester. I'm still tweaking the setup numbers on both the NAZA and the gimbal but that is part of the fun.

Doug M

 

[Acill]

Took the 550 out for the highest and furthest FPV flight yet. I love these goggles, but the antennas I have are in need of some serious placement messing with. I have a clover leaf on a ImersionRC 600mw and Skyzone goggles. I get fuzzy sooner than expected. My Antenna is in the center of the underside of my 550 pointing down. Anyone have a better location they recommend?

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4VdPqgPRs2k[/youtube]

 

[PJA]

Now for the only real issue I had with this flight, I have a Goodluckbuy silver gimbal installed and am still tweaking the gains to get stable video. I had major jello on my first flight even before takeoff so the problem must have been with the gimbal gains. I dropped them a bit and eliminated some of the vibration in the gimbal but now the gimbal won't always stay level in flight. I guess I have some more tweaking to do. For the price of this gimbal I am fairly satisfied with it so far. If a $300+ Zenmuse was behaving like this cheapie, I'd be pissed, but for $60.00 with shipping, I can stand to do some tweaking.

Doug M

I have a GLB Gimbal on my Phantom... It sounds like you need to balance the props for your jello situation... Don't know if you did that or not, but it does help the jello effect and vibrations immensely... just sayin'...

Good Luck with your 550...

Mine keeps on evolving... I should be adding an overpriced Zenmuse H3-3D to mine by next weekend... I'll post if I'm happy with it or not...

 

[dougsnash]

I have a GLB Gimbal on my Phantom... It sounds like you need to balance the props for your jello situation... Don't know if you did that or not, but it does help the jello effect and vibrations immensely... just sayin'...

Good Luck with your 550...

Mine keeps on evolving... I should be adding an overpriced Zenmuse H3-3D to mine by next weekend... I'll post if I'm happy with it or not...

I have not balanced the props yet and I'm in a hotel for a month on TDY with no equipment for doing it (small town without a hobby supply store in the middle of nowhere). I don't believe the jello effect was related to the props, though, because it was occurring before I even started to main motors and there was a bit of a vibration coming from the gimbal. Also, three of the six vibration balls on my isolation mount had popped out shortly after takeoff and the gimbal was hanging on the safety tie-wraps so I doubt the isolation mount was doing much isolating. On the second flight I had the gains turned down a bit on the gimbal and had the isolation mount secured better and jello was much less of an issue. The problem was that the gimbal did not have the oomph to control the camera while I was yanking and banking so I ended up with some odd camera angles.

Now I hope I've found a happy medium with the gimbal gains which will allow me to control the camera without causing vibrations. Keep in mind I'm using my tiny FC40 camera so seeing some strange gimbal behaviour is not surprising due to the camera being substantially lighter than the GoPro the gimbal was designed to carry. I am waiting for my SJ4000 GoPro clone to arrive but will not likely see it till I get home in mid-Sept.

Thanks for the prop suggestion though, I might have to see if I can jury rig some sort of balance system to double check the props.

Doug M

 

[havasuphoto]

I didn't know the E300 was rated to run on 4S. In fact-I just checked, and its NOT rated for 4S. So, you need to return it to 3S configuration first.....hopefully things didn't get to hot.

Returned from a flight with my F800 and the 11X5 E-Graupner props, AUW 3400, wind was calm!!! It balanced and held a hover like a pro!!! No gain adjustment needed. I flew out about 600M or so, and just hovered around back and fourth and got 13 min. flight time, landing at 14.0 volts. Exit voltage was 14.66@10%...starting voltage was 16.73@98%.
Will report back Mah used later. Mah used 6919

I'm quite surprised just how much more stable the 11's are than the 12's. yea, lost a minute or so of flight time, but the aircraft wasn't wobbling out of control either.
In fact, towards the end of the flight-right on Que, the South winds picked up to about 10mph...I had a very slight wobble, adjusted the p/r gains a tiny bit and it stabilized in the wind. So-this is a completely different animal with 11" props on it.

Not sure what the deal is with the 12X4.5 APC MR props.....maybe it's to much prop? I know it doesn't like the wind, at all.

Now-if I could just get the aircraft to stop and hold a position when I release the stick in GPS. Not sure what's going on there-but when I release the stick, the aircraft makes a hard left, J-turn. Then, in a hover, it drifts around quite a bit. Might be that it's just to heavy for Naza to correct it quickly enough....
It's been IMU calibrated and compass has been danced.

 

[ElGuano]

I wouldn't worry too much about E300 on 4S. As long as the ESCs aren't sealed in a watertight shell, it should be fine; there are a lot of people running them at higher voltage.

 

[SanCap]

"I didn't know the E300 was rated to run on 4S. In fact-I just checked, and its NOT rated for 4S. So, you need to return it to 3S configuration first.....hopefully things didn't get to hot."

According to the specs you can use 3S-4S, it also says 3S is Recommended.

 

[havasuphoto]

I wouldn't worry too much about E300 on 4S. As long as the ESCs aren't sealed in a watertight shell, it should be fine; there are a lot of people running them at higher voltage.

Good to know. When I glanced at the spec sheet, I saw 3S, and said; "Oh no!"....

 

[dougsnash]

I checked the capabilities of the E300 before I ordered it and the 4S battery and verified they would work together. I'm flying in Canada so the problem we have here is overly cold temperatures in the winter not overly warm temperatures in the summer. After my eight minute flight yesterday evening I hand checked the ESCs and they were no warmer than ambient temp so I don't think I'll have any issues flying 4S.

I had originally planned on going with extended arms and the E600 system but decided I would be wasting money at this point in the hobby to set up a F550 with such capabilities. If I'm still having fun with my two rigs (F550 and FC40) in six months, maybe I'll plan an upgrade. For now though, the E300/F550 does way more than I need.

Doug M

 

[havasuphoto]

I checked the capabilities of the E300 before I ordered it and the 4S battery and verified they would work together. I'm flying in Canada so the problem we have here is overly cold temperatures in the winter not overly warm temperatures in the summer. After my eight minute flight yesterday evening I hand checked the ESCs and they were no warmer than ambient temp so I don't think I'll have any issues flying 4S.

I had originally planned on going with extended arms and the E600 system but decided I would be wasting money at this point in the hobby to set up a F550 with such capabilities. If I'm still having fun with my two rigs (F550 and FC40) in six months, maybe I'll plan an upgrade. For now though, the E300/F550 does way more than I need.

Doug M

That's fine-but like I said before; you can safely lower your 1st and 2nd level warnings and get more flight time. it takes me a minute to go from 14.2 to 14.1.....and if you land at 14.0, it's right around 8 to 10% remaining.

 

[dougsnash]

Gimbal question?

So I tried playing with my gimbal settings and have dialed them in a little closer. After partially disassembling my gimbal, I was able to count the poles on the brushless motors and found they were actually 12 pole motors not 18 like I though they were. Unsurprisingly, correctly setting the pole value in the configuration program made a big difference in the behaviour of the gimbal, the gimbal seems much more stable in both pitch and roll.

One problem I am still having is a noticeable roll axis reaction to a change in yaw. This is only a two axis gimbal so I would think it should not care about yaw at all. The interface program I'm using shows the gimbal is correctly detecting yaw but I cannot figure out where the roll reaction is coming from. Do any of you, with higher quality gimbals, see this roll reaction to a yaw movement on your gimbals?

Doug M

 

[havasuphoto]

Gimbal question?

So I tried playing with my gimbal settings and have dialed them in a little closer. After partially disassembling my gimbal, I was able to count the poles on the brushless motors and found they were actually 12 pole motors not 18 like I though they were. Unsurprisingly, correctly setting the pole value in the configuration program made a big difference in the behaviour of the gimbal, the gimbal seems much more stable in both pitch and roll.

One problem I am still having is a noticeable roll axis reaction to a change in yaw. This is only a two axis gimbal so I would think it should not care about yaw at all. The interface program I'm using shows the gimbal is correctly detecting yaw but I cannot figure out where the roll reaction is coming from. Do any of you, with higher quality gimbals, see this roll reaction to a yaw movement on your gimbals?

Doug M

Most of us have H3-2D or H3-3D gimbals. I've not heard any real gimbal discussions on here. You might try another forum?

@Ol: Wires are done!!! 2 burned fingers-that's it!!!
Tinned, added bullets, and heat-shrunk 18 aluminum wires that go from the engine to the ESC, all by myself!! Took 2 days-gonna guess about 5 hours.
Just for grins-I weighed all the wires...you're not going to believe how heavy these things are!! 190 grams!!! All that lead solder adds up, I guess. I'll weigh the 18 I take off to see what the difference is. With soldering, I figured if it was worth doing, it was worth over-doing
Solder is cheap

Oh well-I'll install them sometime during the week. Wanted all black wires-have an all black Hex...and, zero chance of any of these joints being a cold-solder. These are the "extension wires" that ship with T-motors.

 

[OI Photography]

Looks good! I know it feels good to look at that pile of connectors and be able to say you did it all yourself. And now you can handle soldering any bullet connectors in your future easily

 

[havasuphoto]

Looks good! I know it feels good to look at that pile of connectors and be able to say you did it all yourself. And now you can handle soldering any bullet connectors in your future easily

Yep-I got this. but what really helped the most is that Readymade solder jig(and the advise I got here). It's made of bakelite(sp?), which holds the heat in....so it's easy to get the solder flowing evenly....2/3'rd's full...sort of
Just put the solder tip into 1 hole and you can flow in from 360 degree's around the wire.

I'm just surprised at the weight! Sure hope the other wires are close to these in weight. be interesting to compare anyways.

I just hope none of the engine bullets come off when I replace the wires...I already did 2 arms, with heat shrinking the bullet connectors together(not looking forward to slicing that off)-and on those 2 arms, each one had a cold solder on the engine connector bullet. Those are a PITA to get to, and I don't want to take the motor off. Last time I had to build up some boxes to hold my "helping hands", heat up the bullet w/solder, and jam it onto the wire quickly-not the ideal way to do it..but it worked.
Now with the jig-it will be much easier.