QAV500 FPV quad

[JasonInAugusta]

I've used Xoar in the past (last flew in 2009) and I never trust "prebalanced" props. I always checked them myself on a magnetic balancer.

I installed the NAZA software last night and checked it out. Will have to get the quad powered up soon. Lots of cool video to be shot around the island.

The Eagle Tree OSD Pro is overkill for a quad but hey, I can transfer it to other airframes in the future. I have a nice lil' full carbon fiber UAV from Afghanistan that I'd like to put in the air. It's set up for the pitot tube style airspeed indicators, has mounting locations for cameras and such too. That lil' bird can be put in the air and flown autonomously by the Eagle Tree system. I'll have to post a pic of the that thing later. Maybe when I start working on it.

The rest of the gear was just based on the recommended setup from FPV Manuals. The ESCs have a 400Hz refresh rate so they should be fine with the NAZA. I don't have much of a desire to buy an ESC then have to use 3rd party software to make it work. Too many variables in the mix for mistakes to happen or stuff to go bad. The last thing I want to deal with is lawn-darting this thing because the ESC/FC didn't get along.

The big question now is do I build a portable 12V LCD display setup or just buy some goggles...

[MTHead]

Ya, the Hex is running pre-flashed SimonK 400Hz and the quads are running the DJI OPTO's.

The UAV sounds COOL! I was thinking about the WooKong for the Hex but the way points are incredibly expensive after the 1k initial price. The YS-4X was going to release in a month or so and was quite a bit cheaper but the GUI lacked severely and way points ran on Android only (for field use) which doesn't help when your sipping the iPhone Koolaide. I'd need a Android table just to Bluetooth to the flight controller for way point load and couldn't edit it unless I had WiFi to download new maps..

My ground station is all mounted to a tripod and runs off a 3500 3S, 5.8ghz DUO and 7" monitor.

With that being said, I vote goggles unless you plan on sitting under a black tarp. At least here in AZ you can't see squat even with a shield and I believe the goggles will give you more enjoyment while shooting the video. Not sure how the Eagle Tree OSD works with goggles though, I know Immersion is supposed to be plug and play, haven't played in the OSD field yet.

I picture you hiking in to wherever your going to shoot, then moving to another location. All that would be much easier if it fit into a backpack as long as you don't want to video your OSD, then you'll have to haul a DVR too.

[JasonInAugusta]

Originally Posted by MTHead

Ya, the Hex is running pre-flashed SimonK 400Hz and the quads are running the DJI OPTO's.

The UAV sounds COOL! I was thinking about the WooKong for the Hex but the way points are incredibly expensive after the 1k initial price. The YS-4X was going to release in a month or so and was quite a bit cheaper but the GUI lacked severely and way points ran on Android only (for field use) which doesn't help when your sipping the iPhone Koolaide. I'd need a Android table just to Bluetooth to the flight controller for way point load and couldn't edit it unless I had WiFi to download new maps..

Apple Koolaid, you say?

iPhone. Turn on hotspot. Use your wireless on the phone with the Macbook. Turn on bluetooth. Bluetooth from Macbook to bird. Done.

Next problem?

The ground station is still in flux. First few flights will be LOS stuff where I can see the bird, test the NAZA RTH and verify that it will work properly. Then start doing distance tests with the Video TX/RX system. I figure if I get in trouble and lose video I can just flip a switch and make the bird return home.

Here's the UAV.

[chino63]

Cool stuf man, those quad copters look like alot of fun. I'm sure your attention to detail will net some spectacular video.

[JasonInAugusta]

Been racking my brain on this thing tonight.

Using my old DX7 with AR7000 receiver.

I went though all of the setup procedures and everything was fine until it came to setting up the failsafe if I switched off TX power.

After a few hours of head scratching I found that my old AR7000 (one of the first ones available) has OLD firmware on it and I'd need an AR7000 with 1.6 firmware or just get an AR7010

Think I'll get a 7010 so I can set up the failsafe. Until it arrives I'll flight test with the AR7000 and keep the joker close by.

[JasonInAugusta]

Progress!

Picked up an AR7010 at the hobby shop yesterday. Bound the RX so that the NAZA failsafe kicks on if I shut off the radio, got GPS Atti, Atti, and Manual modes programmed, and programmed a mix into the radio where I can flip a switch and put the bird in failsafe mode.

After that I programmed ESCs 1 and 2 and soldered the motor connections for proper rotation.


Today I'll get ESCs 3 and 4 programmed and wired, mount the receivers, go over all of the controls one more time in the NAZA software, and give the bird a flight test.

Close.

[JasonInAugusta]

Been flying it this evening on a little 3S 2200 pack. Need a 4S 3300 for it.

I spent time adjusting gain settings and such, it flies nice right now as far as stability and such, but I know I can get more out of it. Just need to play with it for a bit to find the right gain settings.

I also accidentally put it into failsafe mode. With this flight controller when the bird goes into failsafe it'll do one of two things depending on how high you're flying. If you're flying below 20 meters of altitude it will climb to 20m then navigate back to where it took off and land. If you're flying above 20m it will descend to 20m and fly back to where you took off then land.

I accidentally hit the switch where I had programmed failsafe when I picked up the radio. The failsafe is set to engage when that switch is on and I'm in Atti mode. I was flying in GPS Atti mode then flipped the mode switch to Atti mode and it immediately started climbing.

So it's pitch black out, I'm flying in the neighborhood, and this thing is "out of control". After a few seconds I realized what I had done, flipped the failsafe off, and brought it back in.

So far, so good. More time on the gain settings then I'll take it to the park and test it more thoroughly with LOS flying before I start with the FPV stuff.

[Antisimplistic]

Is this your first fixed / multi rotor? Did you find the sq1 a helpful learning tool? How is the flight learning curve?

[JasonInAugusta]

First quad, but I've flown 3D helis in the past. Still have an Align Trex 450SE V2 somewhere.

What's SQ1?

Quad was easy to fly. Flies and hovers like a coax heli.

[Antisimplistic]

Sq1 is that tiny little quad... I thought you mentioned buying one, but I guess I was mistaken.

I guess I'll jump into the deep end with my build later this year'

[JasonInAugusta]

I flew this today from the front yard with the GoPro so I could see from the aircraft's perspective how stable it is at altitude and have a solid time for flight duration with the 3S 2200mAh packs I'm using for now. To test the airframe's vibration isolation capabilities I flew a worst case scenario with four unbalanced APC 10x4.7 props. One even had a chip in the trailing edge about a 1/3 of the way out from the hub.

Flew with stock gains in Atti mode and, after seeing the video, I need to make some small adjustments to smooth it out a bit - or just learn to be gentler on the sticks. I wasn't flying with the FPV gear, just LOS flight. Currently charging the battery for the FPV video RX so I might do a FPV flight later today.

Initial flight video is uploading now. I'll post that link when it's active.

[JasonInAugusta]

from Jason Carter on Vimeo.

[rnpnick]

When did they add waypoint autonomy to the eagle tree system? Mine only had RTH.

[JasonInAugusta]

Sorry, got confused.the waypoints are for manual flying on the OSD.

[Antisimplistic]

Ordered my frame, motors, landing gear, DJI flight control / gps and a few more bits yesterday! Thanks for the confidence building thread!

[Abavuso]

Where did you find the FVP equipment? My wife bought me one of those little mall helicopters for my birth day and not I'm hooked!!! So naturaly I decided to go to the next bigger thing... a quad copter I ordered all my parts and am waiting for them to show up. I really want to go FVP once I learn to fly it.

[JasonInAugusta]

Originally Posted by Antisimplistic

Ordered my frame, motors, landing gear, DJI flight control / gps and a few more bits yesterday! Thanks for the confidence building thread!

No problem. Let me know if you need help.

Originally Posted by Abavuso

Where did you find the FVP equipment? My wife bought me one of those little mall helicopters for my birth day and not I'm hooked!!! So naturaly I decided to go to the next bigger thing... a quad copter I ordered all my parts and am waiting for them to show up. I really want to go FVP once I learn to fly it.

I got my 5.8GHz stuff from DPCAV has accessories for FPV, UAV, Ham Radio, Robotics, & more!. I got the 600mW ImmersionRC TX, Immersion RC 5.8GHz RX, 2 SMA to SMA cables, the 5.8GHz bluebeam cloverleaf antenna set, and the 480-line camera.

If I were to change anything in the system I'd go with a diversity RX and add a RHCP (right hand circular polarized) 8 or 11dBi patch antenna from ReadyMadeRC for multiple receive paths to the ground station.

With FPV flying you've got two links to the aircraft - control and video. You're going to run out of one or the other first. With a quad you'll likely run out of battery before you run out of range of either the video or control systems.

[Cheatin]

Originally Posted by JasonInAugusta

First quad, but I've flown 3D helis in the past. Still have an Align Trex 450SE V2 somewhere.

What's SQ1?

Quad was easy to fly. Flies and hovers like a coax heli.

For those who want to test the waters on the cheap...

1SQ RTF Quad by Helimax, best 100 bucks I spent on myself for Christmas! Impressive on high rates, very agile even outdoors in the wind.

Heli-Max 1SQ Quadcopter 2.4GHz RTF



Your build is top notch, the FPV must be really trippy to fly with.

[JasonInAugusta]

young_version gave me a simple gimbal assembly he was no longer going to use. I tried it yesterday and found that I need to work on the mount to the roll axis servo. There's a little shake in the unit at that point. I'll work to get rid of any movement there.

[JasonInAugusta]

Went out and tested the FPV system. Seems I'll need a diversity RX and a patch antenna to "fill the gaps".

from Jason Carter on Vimeo.

Also got rid of the vibration isolators on the gimbal and hard mounted it to the frame. I figure I'll let the bobbins on the QAV frame handle the vibration and make the gimbal as solid as possible. Also swapped the servos out to Align units. DS525M on roll and a DS425M on pitch. Initial tests (in the dark) show quite a bit of improvement over the standard mounts with the rubber isolators.