If all goes well... this could be a great weekend!

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Zenmuse + F450 ARTF kit + NAZA Mv2 GPS + Phantom Upgarade board + 2nd R2008SB = :D
 
Took advantage of the bundle price did you? I just ordered the same. It's a fantastic price for what you get.
The F450 will get used as spares for my F550, the Naza V2 will get installed in my F550 and my existing Naza Lite will get sold. Zenmuse will go on the F550 and the GLB gimbal will get sold.

Actually, I might just build up the F450 with the APM 2.6 I have lying around and use it as a hack quad.

Also, I have the same soldering iron as you. It's great isn't it.
 
I love my 450. I loaded it up with all sorts of stuff I couldn't put on the phantom. Problem is that when I drop the throttle, its a rock. If you decide to go with an iOS ground station, make sure you take note of that and when you tell it to drop down, you make it drop down at the slowest speed possible. It will still drop like a rock but it might have time to save itself before smashing into the earth. Learned that lesson a few times now.
 
Are you doing a conversion of a Phantom?

I just built myself an F550 and I have a slight technical issue with altitude hold. Let me know if you run into the same thing.
 
Yep the deal was just too hard to turn down.... I actually wanted just an AeroXcraft gimbal to begin with (so I could use it 'off phantom'). That was £270 + P&P and when I saw the deal @ £538 for an F450, NAZA mv2 with GPS and the whole 450 kit it just seemed like the better long term investment (especially as I can now design parts around the Zenmuse equipt Phantom and the f450 frame).

I considered making the Phantom a Phantom v.1.1.1 and putting the older Naza on the 450 but for the extra £46 for the upgrade board I will now have a Zenmuse ready Phantom & F450... I am already mid design on a 'quick mount' for the Zenmuse so I can hot swap it without a screw driver from Phantom to F450/550

I will build the F450 to begin with but I can see it being a 550 in the future. Only 2 motors, 2 ESCs and 2 legs & power board needed afterall (more money!!!).

I am filming the whole lot from 3 angles and have a massive build/blog pending on RCgroups soon

rilot said:
Also, I have the same soldering iron as you. It's great isn't it.

First time using it with any real aggression to be honest (I had gas powered before but that was no good for this task). I got a little worried at 400c when it wouldn't melt the high temp solder but with a large bit and 450c it is like butter. I am doing the Phantom today and the 450 over the weekend (if this goes well).

@Ksc - I will probably go the iOSD mini to start with on the F450 but I will be testing my FO-OSD kit on the Zenmuse (gulp) first. If that works I may not need the OSD.

@miskatonic - I will let you know on this. I plan to be ballsey and upgrade both to 4.02 (so yes it could be a really bad weekend!). Phantom is VERY happy on 3.14 right now but of course the Zenmuse needs 3.16 iirc. Sods law would be a good build followed by crappy firmware problems!
 
I have been flying my Phantom on 4.02 and it is rock solid. I am not sure if my F550 issue is firmware related.

That also brings up a good point, why not just build an F550? They are not that much more money but you get a lot more out of the design.
 
I overloaded mine. FPV. OSD. ground station. zenmuse. a bunch of other dumb stuff the hobby shop had. I need to get better motors. If you figure out which are the best of the best upgrade motors, let me know. I'll buy some.
 
Honest answer as to why it isn't a F550 is budget... I can't come close to justifying £538 outlay when all I really want is a gimbal and the extra £100 tipped the scales just too far (especially as I am having to replace my ipad too!!).

I have heard mixed reviews on F550's in terms of fun factor. I am sure they are a more stable platform for gimbal work but until/if I get a CAA license to make some money on this hobby I don't full 'need' that level of stability without at least a little 'yank and bank' entertainment. Frankly the Phantom with Zenmuse is useable for most projects I will do for myself and building the F450 first allows me to get a gradual step toward the feel of a hex.

Time will tell. It will come down to how much I use each of the two quads and for what purpose... if I keep reaching for the Phantom due to convienience and portability then I'll know to try the F550 route first. If that fails simply I will sell it and invest the money in something else that wets my appetite like an FPV plane. Transversly if I find I use the Phantom more but crave the stability/payload of the F450 for better shots then I will sell the Phantom and use the money for a big case and the parts to build the 550.

I think like many I am just in a 'where do i want this hobby to take me' phase right now. I was lucky to find a commercial outlet with my Shapeways parts which helps fund it a little (and that has made the guilt of spending money a little less!). I am finding myself bringing up the Phantom in more and more conversations with my web design customers too. My hope is I will get one that is eager for its use. Even if they won't fully fund the CAA license it would at least cover a good portion of it and over the next 5 years who knows what that could lead to. I mean who doesn't like doing what the enjoy and getting money for it afterall!! :mrgreen:
 
Bear in mind that if you do want to get the CAA certification you have to do it on the platform you intend to fly. You can't certify on a Phantom and then fly an F550 professionally.
 
rilot said:
Bear in mind that if you do want to get the CAA certification you have to do it on the platform you intend to fly. You can't certify on a Phantom and then fly an F550 professionally.

That I did not know... interesting. All about air worthyness I guess. I wonder if you have to keep maintainence logs for any work carried out on it like you would a light aircraft!?

Well I just finished both builds to at least a point where I can get out and test them tommorrow (weather permitting).

I stupidly used the DJI vids for both builds.... Phantom Upgrade kit was fine until it came to using the grey 8 pin cable. Seems many have fallen into this trap where basically the video says which leg hole to use but doesn't mention it simply cannot work via that route. Most used the provided black cable in the Zenmuse box which is longer but I need that for the F450.
Only other thing is how the Zenmuse mounts to the anti vibration bracket... the vide suggests you screw in from abouve, the parts suggest you simply cannot. Maybe the changed the design and this is an older one but it means I have to unpop all the rubber bushes to remove the Zenmuse. Another reason a hot swap design is being done.

F450 build was actually much easier and less fiddly/stressful than the Phantom upgrade. I followed the original DJI video for the first part and then used the specific NAZA Mv2 video for the final bits..... now it is all buttoned up, talking to my T8J... BUT there is a huge mistake here.... it is fixable but is a REAL arse.

Rather than tell you I'll simply show this picture and see if the keen of eye can spot it ;-)

IMG_1652.jpg
 
miskatonic said:
GPS mounting?

Nope... 3 more guesses and i'll say - it is a right howler. My fault for not noticing and using an old DJI video to assemble the kit ;)
 
I dunno. From the angle of your picture the GPS is not pointing directly towards the front of the aircraft. It may just be the angle of the photo.
 
Gps is pointing in the direction they say to (although in that pic i'd not fixed in in place).
No the error revolves around where you mount the Zenmuse!! The F450 build vid shows the 'winglets' (for want of a better word) left and right of the front. The zenmuse however has to mount to these winglets.... This means i either have to mount it on the side and fly siseways or take it all apart and rotate the legs and Zaza so the winglets face front and aft.
I only noticed it as the final bolts were going in.

Watch the F450 install here and notice how they start mounting it side on but at 1:44 suddenly the whole frame orientation has changed!! My own fault for relying on a DJI vid :oops:

http://www.dji.com/tutorial/zenmuse-h3- ... tutorials/

I hadn't mointed the GCU yet anyway so its no major loss. Just a pain.
 
DeweyAXD said:
I wonder if you have to keep maintainence logs for any work carried out on it like you would a light aircraft!?

Yes you do.
Between passing the written part and taking the flight exam you have to submit a full flight manual for your craft, detailing all maintenance procedures and schedules, pre-flight checks, etc etc.
You also have to keep a log of all flight plans.

The cert is a total arse. I'm getting ready to take it myself on my Vulcan Mantis once I've built it.
 
Man, you guys are some highly motivated folks to go through all of that. I tip my hat to you, sirs!

For my part, I'll stick to the flying of R/C as a pleasure-filled hobby. BTW..although you gave the game away already, I noticed before watching the video. I feel you pain. I just built a Jumper 600 kit and it really tested my patience. Had to re-do several things AND build a small custom mounting bracket out of aircraft aluminum. OTOH, I had NO videos to watch and a solitary exploded diagram (poorly copied at that) written in CHINESE as guidance. The only thing I could actually READ and count on was the metric hardware designations. Still got built though... :cool:

PF
 
I thought the CAA licensce would be quite involved. Basically taking everything you need to fly small planes and applying as much of it as possible to the quad.
Wouldn't be so bad as long as you can add/remove parts to the frame (like the gimbal). That way I could use the 450 for paid work and the Phantom for fun.

Flight tests in high winds were today. I swapped the whole F450 frame orientation round in the morning and soldered the GCU on too. Actually this made everything fit better than the other orientation with some space to spare. Really solid in flight and the new design 10" DJI props were surprisingly good (and much quieter compared to the Phantom).

Phantom/Zenmuse fly like a dream. High winds in a tight garden made me a little nervous (especially with 4.02 installed). Seemed to be stable even up in the 25mph gusts. Only problem was that the tool controlling it who decided to do a rapid decent into the tight garden, caught a massive gust and binned the whole thing into a tree.... crunch. Fortunatley all is ok with it and the Zenmuse!

Next phase is to mount the Zenmuse to the F450 and come up with way of the hot swap between the two.

I had never realised they did an unofficial version 2 of the Zenmuse but it seems many have discovered this too. While the newer motors and lighter composite anti vibration bracket are all good I must admit the older one looked a lot easier to remove. My one can only be removed by unpopping all the rubber mounts... which is a PITA. The metal bracket of the gimbal itself is threaded but it is designed to be screwed into from above (not the camera side as was the old one).

Either way a good weekend!
 

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