Well the fact that you have a functioning FPV rig means your doing SOMETHING right SF! :friendly_wink:
I agree, the rth is sooo critical to peace of mind. I have seen many examples of this function on youtube showing the reliability of the Naza w/gps that it sold me to take the plunge.
The frequency thing is somewhat confusing for me for now, but half the fun for me is doing the research and gathering opinions before jumping in. I used to have a novice class ham license (morse code only). Not sure if I must renew it or if I even can but I live waaay out in the boonies so chances are no one will bother me if I go the 1.2 ghz route. But that is for the future.
I have another motivation to do this... my oldest daughter and long time boyfriend finally made it official with their engagement. A May '14 wedding is planned. I am hopeful to have the fpv thing down so I can safely and reliably get some good video footage of the reception (too distracting for the ceremony, but who's gonna fly it while I give my daughter away??) then put it together in a video/music presentation as an after wedding gift for them. Lofty goals, but one worthy of pursuing. Plus, it just looks like FUN!!
My heli experience peaked around 18 years ago. I had a great teacher (who I found out just passed away last summer :sorrow
and he was a miniature aircraft factory rep/pilot. I had tried a couple of other heli's ( a schluter heliboy i bought new in denver while in the army and a used schluter superior...) and like your yardsale experience both ended badly. My friend finally talked me into a new Miniature aircraft .60 size excel. A bit scarey 'cause of the size, but extremely stable. I actually got fairly good at forward flight and not too bad at nose in, which, to me is the first thing one should master. But, the cost of crash parts for the big bird and the messiness of nitro fuel had me drop it to pursue interests.
Fast forward almost 20 years later, this past December my daughter and future son in law give me a brookstone stunt copter for Christmas and sheesh, the thing is fun. kinda of pricey but with full collective, quite an amazing little bird. She saw a sales guy flying one in the local mall and they sprung for it. She remembers when I took her to fly with my MAS friend. It reminded me how much I enjoyed the hobby back in the day, so bought a Trex 700e dfc for normal flight and a 450 pro dfc to try 3d once the simulator gets old....Then I dove in an got a Heli max 1SQ to see how it feels to fly a quad.... even MORE fun. Then I discovered the FPV thing.. and the "gotta have it" meter was pegged! Haven't even built the helis yet, but I will eventually as you can't really beat them for sport flying. I know guys flip their quads and fly them fast, but my goals are purely cinematic with the quad as well as experiencing the technology the NAZA/gps provides. The level of sophistication available to today's r/c hobbyists just blows my mind!:surprise:
I just started my f450 build yesterday. I purchased a set of legs and the batwing from Yuri at Iris Aerial. Nice stuff. I bought several black arms as I don't really care for the white and the naza LED will be facing backwards, so that should be all I need for orientation until I do the FPV thing. Got a gopro naked (cheap and I here many many unhappy customers who bought the 3 regarding build quality) and ordered a fairly inexpensive undermounting gimbal from a nice swedish guy who makes his own stuff like Yuri. but it hasn't arrived yet It uses one micro servo to angle the camera. Very nice stuff and reasonably priced.
So on with the build.
Ok, sorry for the war and peace story. I get carried away.:dejection:
Good luck on your tweaking and I'd love to see the vid if you make one. I will try to remember to take a few photos of my build and post here to share.
Happy flying SF and thanks again for your input. Much appreciated.
:02.47-tranquillity:
