550 Pilot's lounge

[ElGuano]

How do the blades unfold and lock....is it like a cam or a ratchet?

They don't lock or unlock at all. Completely free-spinning on teflon bushings. It makes me wonder how they handle sudden acceleration changes from the motors (attitude corrections), but I'll have to see if I can fix the gains before I know if it's an issue or not. I think this is the same system on the S800/900/1000 so I suspect my concerns are only theoretical...

 

[PJA]

I saw the folding tri-blades Props for the Phantom... http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2207204...

But now that I see your Folding Props, ELG, it's time to think new upgrade for my f550...

By the way, I nominate your UAV, Mr. ELGuano, as the 'best innovative creation from an f550 frame'... I'm digging it...

(Paint those landing gear black, at least... just sayin'... )

 

[ElGuano]

I saw the folding tri-blades Props for the Phantom... http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2207204...

But now that I see your Folding Props, ELG, it's time to think new upgrade for my f550...

By the way, I nominate your UAV, Mr. ELGuano, as the 'best innovative creation from an f550 frame'... I'm digging it...

(Paint those landing gear black, at least... just sayin'... )

My folding props are from those same guys who do the Phantom folding props. I hear they're not beneficial on the smaller Phantom because of the added weight, but when you get into 12-15" props, the benefits start outweighing the costs.

And I wish I could take credit for all the ideas I've used; I stand on the shoulders of giants but am just better about posting progress/pictures

And yes, I hear you about the landing gear. I'm seriously noodling on what to do with those in the long run. I've extracted the Naza LED from them in order to fit the 15" props so at this point I could be running anything....

 

[djp4059]

And I wish I could take credit for all the ideas I've used; I stand on the shoulders of giants but am just better about posting progress/pictures

Don't be so humble ELGuano, I think your awesome. You not only post these mods, you also help anyone interested in doing these mods. I'm always searching these posts to see what you come up with next (even though it keeps costing me more money LOL).

I had never used Arduino IDE until your Neo-Pixel post (I'm not much of a coder, but I can pick apart some of it) which led me to make a GPS tracker for my F550. Even though it was a little pricey to make, I just wanted to give it a try. And I got it to work and Cooking-Hacks.com liked it so much they featured it on their blog- http://www.cooking-hacks.com/blog/a-rea ... s-tracking - and here's a link to their forums cause they did help to clear somethings up for me - http://www.cooking-hacks.com/forum/view ... d5de3f0622 .

So keep the mods coming.

 

[havasuphoto]

My F800 is ready for another flight!!
Received new engine mounts from Aerial mod, replace all, and everything is now aligned and tight.
You might also remember I replaced the ESC wires with some that I did myself-and they were a little heavier than what was removed.
My new AUW is 3540 grams!!

I powered everything up, and had to switch a few ESC wires-got 4 out of 6 wrong....go figure. But, got the props on and double checked rotation-and everything spins correctly.
also-I used M3X6mm bolts in my engines to mount them-before I was using the same, but they were screw heads and had an angle at the head that I thought wasn't a good idea to stay tight.

I powered up the aircraft and powered up all engines with the remote-and no Puff the Magic Dragon!!!

So, we'll see how well this thing flies Tomorrow with the 11" props. Before-I had a very difficult time adjusting gains. I'm hoping the new mounts, and the fact that each arm/engine is now tight and straight will make a difference.

I do have a Plan B-just not sharing right now.
Once I fly tomorrow, I'll do the switch from EZ UHF over to Futaba!!!

 

[ElGuano]

And I wish I could take credit for all the ideas I've used; I stand on the shoulders of giants but am just better about posting progress/pictures

Don't be so humble ELGuano, I think your awesome. You not only post these mods, you also help anyone interested in doing these mods. I'm always searching these posts to see what you come up with next (even though it keeps costing me more money LOL).

I had never used Arduino IDE until your Neo-Pixel post (I'm not much of a coder, but I can pick apart some of it) which led me to make a GPS tracker for my F550. Even though it was a little pricey to make, I just wanted to give it a try. And I got it to work and Cooking-Hacks.com liked it so much they featured it on their blog- http://www.cooking-hacks.com/blog/a-rea ... s-tracking - and here's a link to their forums cause they did help to clear somethings up for me - http://www.cooking-hacks.com/forum/view ... d5de3f0622 .

So keep the mods coming.

Thanks for the kind words! And wow, that article is great. You did a really fantastic job with both the lights and the GPS, hats off to you on such a clean and innovative build!

This is what I really love about this community. You do something, contribute a little, and see where other people can take it. For me, the flying itself is only half the fun.

 

[havasuphoto]

@El G; I have a light question; I've been looking at these strobes; http://flytron.com/light-systems/188-strobon-xl-police-strobe.html

I will be using a Futaba 70008SB receiver-and I want to use 1 of those servo wires-like on channel 8(I'll be running S-bus), to power this strobe. Is that possible?
What I'm worried about is the amperage. it says;

Current Consumption: 5mA(idle)/80mA(average when working)

And the voltage is between 5 and 6 volts. That's not an issue. It's the amps I'm concerned with.
On their other single white strobes, they pull 1000 mah for 40ms. So, I imagine this one will pull twice that-2 amps for 40ms. I'm concerned that's a lot of amps being pulled from the receiver. Is it possible to power these lights, and not have a "brown out" while they pulse? I don't want the aircraft to wiggle every 40ms.

The other idea would be to power them separately. Perhaps with AA batteries? I'm guessing 4 would be needed. Or, 2XCR2032 lithium batteries?

 

[ElGuano]

40mA per LED is on par for a 5v LED emitter. The description seems a bit vague, but I'm assuming it's drawing 80mA instant. That's peanuts for the most part. You COULD power it from your RX, meaning you power it from your NAZA/PMU, and I would bet money you'd never see a brownout. But as a matter of best practice I would never wire it that way. I'd get a small 5v SBEC , and then you can run whatever you want off that. Plus, it'll be lighter than any separate battery combo you could come up with, and you would never have to remove/charge it. The rx would then only need the signal wire, and the grounds will be common so you might not even need that to the rx.

You could power 12 of these just off your laptop's USB power. I've got 75 LEDs with max 60mA draw on my 550, all of those are powered off a 7A 5V bec.

 

[havasuphoto]

40mA per LED is on par for a 5v LED emitter. The description seems a bit vague, but I'm assuming it's drawing 80mA instant. That's peanuts for the most part. You COULD power it from your RX, meaning you power it from your NAZA/PMU, and I would bet money you'd never see a brownout. But as a matter of best practice I would never wire it that way. I'd get a small 5v SBEC , and then you can run whatever you want off that. Plus, it'll be lighter than any separate battery combo you could come up with, and you would never have to remove/charge it. The rx would then only need the signal wire, and the grounds will be common so you might not even need that to the rx.

You could power 12 of these just off your laptop's USB power. I've got 75 LEDs with max 60mA draw on my 550, all of those are powered off a 7A 5V bec.

What's an SBEC?
So-I could run a 3 wire servo wire to the SBEC for control-but would only need the signal wire and the ground-I could remove the positive?
My internet is being pokey slow right now-I can't even get on that sight I posted. Can you look at the specs for the single white strobe, and tell me what you think? It says 1000mah for 80ms, or thereabouts. That's 1amp-which is kind of high.

 

[djp4059]

I think he may have meant a UBEC.

https://www.adafruit.com/product/1385

 

[ElGuano]

I think he may have meant a UBEC.

https://www.adafruit.com/product/1385

Yeah, a BEC (battery eliminator circuit) comes in two typical types - Linear and Switching. Absent special sync requirements, switching is generally preferred since it's more efficient and results in less heat loss than a linear bec, which "burns off" extra voltage to bring it down to the output level.

So-I could run a 3 wire servo wire to the SBEC for control-but would only need the signal wire and the ground-I could remove the positive?
My internet is being pokey slow right now-I can't even get on that sight I posted. Can you look at the specs for the single white strobe, and tell me what you think? It says 1000mah for 80ms, or thereabouts. That's 1amp-which is kind of high.

The description isn't standard nomenclature that I'm aware of, but it's not drawing one amp. mAh is capacity, ms is time. So think of it this way - it will draw enough power to drain a 2200mah in about 2 hours, so 0.5C, but it will only drain that much for less than 1/10th of a second. Add to that we're talking 5v instead of 12 or 14, and the drain being discussed is minuscule. At least, that's how I'm reading it, they don't say it draws 1000mA for 80ms, it says 1000mah, not sure exactly what they mean. Maybe someone more versed in electrical circuits can chime in?

But yes, what you would run is something similar to how my Neopixel LEDs are set up. +5V and Ground go to your BEC. Separately, a signal wire (and possibly a y off the ground will go to the signal (and ground) pin of your RX. That splits the power and the signal, so you could theoretically string hundreds of these LEDs together and still control them off a single RX channel.

 

[havasuphoto]

Thanks. I've seen UBEC's....there was a 5volt/12 volt one I was looking at on Readymade's site. Not to sure about the switching part-but I think I can figure it out.
I just like those white strobes-on top, and the red/blue strobe on the front bottom; switched by 1 switch on the remote. When I fly in the mountains, strobes would be nice. I fly FPV-but, other people need to see where the aircraft is....so this idea would help.

I just hope they don't create "noise"....I don't want a pulse in my video feed.....

 

[ElGuano]

I just hope they don't create "noise"....I don't want a pulse in my video feed.....

If your lights are on a separate 5V bec from whatever i powering your FPV I don't think you'll see interference from it, it's essentially isolated behind the bec.

 

[havasuphoto]

OK, that's good. I was just going to solder the BEC onto the main PCB pos/neg, on top of everything else. Same place the PMU 2 gets it's power.
OR, I could power the BEC off an ESC pad.....which do you think would be better? Already have the main batt, PMUV2, and the AVL58 running off that main PCB pad in the back.

 

[ElGuano]

OK, that's good. I was just going to solder the BEC onto the main PCB pos/neg, on top of everything else. Same place the PMU 2 gets it's power.
OR, I could power the BEC off an ESC pad.....which do you think would be better? Already have the main batt, PMUV2, and the AVL58 running off that main PCB pad in the back.

I would do the battery pad if there's space, closer to the power source. I wouldn't hesitate to use an ESC pad if that's the most convenient, but I'm also very noise-tolerant for my electronics/FPV...

 

[havasuphoto]

OK, that's good. I was just going to solder the BEC onto the main PCB pos/neg, on top of everything else. Same place the PMU 2 gets it's power.
OR, I could power the BEC off an ESC pad.....which do you think would be better? Already have the main batt, PMUV2, and the AVL58 running off that main PCB pad in the back.

I would do the battery pad if there's space, closer to the power source. I wouldn't hesitate to use an ESC pad if that's the most convenient, but I'm also very noise-tolerant for my electronics/FPV...

I'm not noise tolerant-in fact I already have too much of it. Still looking for the source. I suspect that when I switch from UHF to Ghz with the Futaba, my noise may go away....at least that's my hope.

 

[ElGuano]

If that's the case, you might want different circuits from your flight battery to whatever you're powering....Main leads to ESCs/PMU, solder another circuit (or use the balance leads) to separate 5V bec for lights and 12v bec for FPV....just thinking out loud.

 

[OI Photography]

havasu, you can use one of these for what ElGuano is describing: http://www.readymaderc.com/store/index. ... ts_id=1761

The JST tap would go straight to your BEC(s)...I use one of those on my 550, and the dual-voltage BEC you're eyeing at RMRC would plug right in to that as well. Just put that adaptor between your battery and the rest of your power chain to keep things isolated.

 

[SanCap]

havasu, you can use one of these for what ElGuano is describing: http://www.readymaderc.com/store/index. ... ts_id=1761

The JST tap would go straight to your BEC(s)...I use one of those on my 550, and the dual-voltage BEC you're eyeing at RMRC would plug right in to that as well. Just put that adaptor between your battery and the rest of your power chain to keep things isolated.

I just had 2 of those delivered to me fro RMRC today. Very nice quality.

 

[havasuphoto]

havasu, you can use one of these for what ElGuano is describing: http://www.readymaderc.com/store/index. ... ts_id=1761

The JST tap would go straight to your BEC(s)...I use one of those on my 550, and the dual-voltage BEC you're eyeing at RMRC would plug right in to that as well. Just put that adaptor between your battery and the rest of your power chain to keep things isolated.

That's an excellent idea, thanks!! Just attach the BEC to the battery balance plug-done. no soldering and I can take it on and off as needed.....simple.

And-if changing out my remote system doesn't get rid of my noise, it's time to start isolating things to different power source.
the anti-interference board does nothing....