CineStar 6 night ops

[RTRyder]

A little while ago I upgraded the firmware on the CS6 WKM to the latest version and being a bit bored I decided to go try it out by the light of the LED strips on the back arms. I figured as long as I was going to fly it I might as well put a camera on too, so I tie wrapped the wounded NEX 5N to the platform and went for it. There's a big full moon in the sky so I aimed the camera up a bit to get it in the frame, problem is it came out as just a small bright spot in the video. Not a lot of detail in this one, not much light to work with around here at night...

I also changed the basic pitch and roll gain settings before the flight so I didn't know quite what to expect but it flew well. I'm now down to 250 on those gains which is the lowest setting I've attempted to fly the CS with since I first set it up with the WKM and found that it need a LOT of gain to be controllable even in ATTI mode. The Maytech ESCs really do make a big difference in how it flys.

Ken

 

[Siteline]

RTRyder,

Do you have a method for dialing in your "Gains"? Do you move the Pitch and roll basic gains on X2 and X3 in the same direction up or down. Or do you tackle one at a time, pitch then roll, systematically? You probably cover this in another thread, eh? I'll look.

 

[RTRyder]

RTRyder,

Do you have a method for dialing in your "Gains"? Do you move the Pitch and roll basic gains on X2 and X3 in the same direction up or down. Or do you tackle one at a time, pitch then roll, systematically? You probably cover this in another thread, eh? I'll look.

Simple rule of thumb, if the basic pitch and roll gains increase, the ATTI gains must decrease. If you find you need basic gain settings of 200 or more then the highest ATTI gain that will be useable in anything other than dead calm air is about 80%. I have the basic setting fixed, I change them only in the software, the ATTI gains are on a slider on the TX and range from the lowest setting possible of 40% to a high of 110%, typically I find the settings to be in the 50 to 70% range depending on the how much the wind is blowing. The problem is not enough assignable ports on the WKM controller, I'd like to have both sets of gains on sliders, but if I do that I lose the ability to change the tilt of the camera platform.

When I'm dialing in the setup I'll forego the camera platform tilt and use X2 and X3 to control both sets of gains until I get one locked down, then I'll put those on a fixed setting and keep the ATTI on a slider as I have yet to find fixed settngs for both that work in all condtions.

Ken

 

[Siteline]

Thanks for that RT! Then when you have that sorted out you get into dual rate and expo to iron out the feel even more? I really haven't played to much with DR/expo but it sounds like that can make quite a difference in achieving good video results? Oh by the way I thought I would share that I too am a Ryder of BMW's, I'm on a beautiful 1981 R100 that I've had and rode, all over for the last 15 years. Bulletproof! I wish these Multi's would operate that reliably.

 

[llbr22]

Simple rule of thumb, if the basic pitch and roll gains increase, the ATTI gains must decrease. If you find you need basic gain settings of 200 or more then the highest ATTI gain that will be useable in anything other than dead calm air is about 80%. I have the basic setting fixed, I change them only in the software, the ATTI gains are on a slider on the TX and range from the lowest setting possible of 40% to a high of 110%, typically I find the settings to be in the 50 to 70% range depending on the how much the wind is blowing. The problem is not enough assignable ports on the WKM controller, I'd like to have both sets of gains on sliders, but if I do that I lose the ability to change the tilt of the camera platform.

When I'm dialing in the setup I'll forego the camera platform tilt and use X2 and X3 to control both sets of gains until I get one locked down, then I'll put those on a fixed setting and keep the ATTI on a slider as I have yet to find fixed settngs for both that work in all condtions.

Ken

Same dilema here with not being able to control both and save tilt control. I tried my first flight yesterday with atti gains less than 100 (at 90) and what a difference! I have my basics up to 300, so I'll try bringing them down closer to 50 and see what happens.

 

[RTRyder]

Same dilema here with not being able to control both and save tilt control. I tried my first flight yesterday with atti gains less than 100 (at 90) and what a difference! I have my basics up to 300, so I'll try bringing them down closer to 50 and see what happens.

Hook up to the Assistant software and set the control you use for the ATTI on the TX to midpoint in it's travel. The sliders I use have a notch at midpoint that can be felt as the slider moves as well as an audible signal. What I do next is set the ATTI mode to INH and save it to the WKM, now I can enter the setting I want for my mid point on ATTI (I use 65% as a baseline) and then save and set it up again for adjustment via X2 or X3. Now use the end point adjustments on the channel used for the ATTI gains to get the desired minimum and maximum settings at each end of the slider or knob travel.

I start each flight with the ATTI set at midpoint and once in the air if conditions are calm I'll go higher on the setting to get the best stability without twitching or jerky compensation if there's a slight wind. If it starts out in windy conditions I almost always have to drop to around 50 to 55% as soon as I'm in the air or the CS is jumping all over the place in the wind, the lower setting calms the response to the wind gusts and smooths the flight as much as possible for the prevailing conditions. Unfortuantely lowering the ATTI gains often loosens up the GPS position hold to the point of being almost useless, especially if it's fairly windy, but in those conditions I'm not likley to try to remain planted in the same spot for very long anyway, nearly impossible regardless of the flight mode.

Give this a try and see how it works for you.

Ken