F450 NAZA FPV Rig
- Thread starter azure
- Start date
maxwelltub
Member
That was a great crash landing! Did you have visual on your quad when your video feed went down? Any use of the fail safe function?
:nevreness: Thanks.... It took me a couple of seconds to find it once I lost the feed. Had no GPS / RTH at the time, so no fail safe. It was about 300 yds. away and I couldn't tell which way it was oriented. I tried manipulating the controls to see if I could figure it out from the direction it was pitching, the result of which you can see in the video. I never could get a handle on it and just tried to use throttle to slow the descent rate and mitigate the damage before I lost sight of it behind a small hill. Mostly it was just stupid luck.
Last edited by a moderator:
Sierra Nevada FPV
Here are some clips from my 6th series of FPV flights a couple of weeks ago. Not surprisingly, I had some video downlink issues at 5.8ghz with all the impenetrable rock that was around. I put a colleague into some of the shots for scale and to have something as a focal point. There is no onboard stabilization (just a strapped GoPro), but I did tweak in post a little to get rid of some of the bumps that were caused by the ubiquitous desert turbulence in rough terrain.
In the time that's elapsed since I shot this, I've switched over to a 1.3ghz diversity setup, using Siricana's SPW Omnis and a Helical, which is proving to be much more solid, with better obstacle penetration and range.
Here are some clips from my 6th series of FPV flights a couple of weeks ago. Not surprisingly, I had some video downlink issues at 5.8ghz with all the impenetrable rock that was around. I put a colleague into some of the shots for scale and to have something as a focal point. There is no onboard stabilization (just a strapped GoPro), but I did tweak in post a little to get rid of some of the bumps that were caused by the ubiquitous desert turbulence in rough terrain.
In the time that's elapsed since I shot this, I've switched over to a 1.3ghz diversity setup, using Siricana's SPW Omnis and a Helical, which is proving to be much more solid, with better obstacle penetration and range.
Last edited by a moderator:
Yes, I'm using the Haier 10.5"; it's small but works okay, is portable, and runs 12v. I also have a Vizio MV 19" that was recommended for FPV on another site, but find that there's around 100 ms of latency which makes it harder to fly aggressively and accurately when close to stuff. I now use it as a 2nd, "passenger" monitor if anyone comes out to watch when I'm flying.
The most important thing when deciding what monitor to get is that it doesn't switch to black or "blue screen of death" when the signal gets weak. You want to be able to fly through the static. For FPV, if it abruptly cuts out when there's just a small amount of degradation, you're screwed. I didn't know this when I first bought and learned the hard way.
I've never tried goggles. I like that I can tell if someone is approaching me with my peripheral vision while viewing a monitor. It's cool that goggles are so portable though, and I'm not averse to checking them out at some point.
Thx! And yup, good call... the 101 near Camarillo. I need to find other places to fly that don't take me 2 hrs. to drive to. One of the problems with living in LA. I need to come join you at the river when it's a little cooler.
Did you get the GPS / RTH up and running yet? It's now saved me twice when my downlink crapped out down low and behind stuff. That being said, since I switched over to 1.3ghz with diversity last week, I haven't had any drop outs. I'm finding that the 1.3ghz SPW omni + helical combination is making a big difference, and is much more solid, when compared to a single 5.8 CP.
Last edited by a moderator:
kloner
Aerial DP
no, not yet.....
LA is full. last time i went up there on a sunday afternoon i vowed not to come back. hours and hours of sitting there on the 405. That area is different up over that mountain into malibu. I lived in Chatsworth for 8 years growing up so am pretty familliar with it all, made Zuma my spot
LA is full. last time i went up there on a sunday afternoon i vowed not to come back. hours and hours of sitting there on the 405. That area is different up over that mountain into malibu. I lived in Chatsworth for 8 years growing up so am pretty familliar with it all, made Zuma my spot
The Malibu mountains would be great if the terrain wasn't so inaccessible when crashing. The hills are so steep and the brush is just gnarly. Plus, I REALLY don't like rattlesnakes. I've considered the beach... Zuma, Pt. Dume, but wonder how the lifeguards would be? I took it up to the beach in Ventura once (the crash video I posted) and found that it just got trashed from all the salt in the air.
Just Plane Mike
Member
Last edited by a moderator:
Just Plane Mike
Member
Hello Azure
Love your thread. I'm a newbe, could you post some links to the equipment you are using. I just starting, Got the DJI 450 with GPS, flying, looking at a gimble mount next, then will be looking for a GoPro Hero2(i heard it the one to get now) and next on to FPV equipment, Your using a separate camera for the FPV i believe, I could go that route but would be nice to view through the GoPro if that is possible. Thanks for any info and help you could pass along .. Mike
Love your thread. I'm a newbe, could you post some links to the equipment you are using. I just starting, Got the DJI 450 with GPS, flying, looking at a gimble mount next, then will be looking for a GoPro Hero2(i heard it the one to get now) and next on to FPV equipment, Your using a separate camera for the FPV i believe, I could go that route but would be nice to view through the GoPro if that is possible. Thanks for any info and help you could pass along .. Mike
Last edited by a moderator:
Thanks, man.
I use the GoPro to record/document my flights, but have not used the output for FPV, instead using a dedicated Sony Effio-P 700TVL camera. I know Kloner is using the GoPro output and likes it, saying it works well. I'd heard that with the Hero One, there was a fair amount of latency (delay), though I can't attest to this first hand. Supposedly, the Hero 2 is better. For the kind of flying I'm doing, anything more than a few milliseconds can mean the difference between flying and crashing. I had a Vizio monitor that I used initially for FPV and found that it had too much latency for my taste and switched to the Haier 10.5" that I'm using currently. Whatever monitor you choose, just make sure it doesn't blue or black screen if the signal gets weak. When the signal degrades, you need to be able to fly through the static.
If you look at my signature below, you'll see a list of the gear I'm using currently. I've found that for the most part, http://www.readymaderc.com will have all that you need for FPV. Also, http://www.dpcav.com is a good source. For antennas, http://www.circular-wirless.com/en is my first choice. I know that US dealers are carrying them now, but I just deal with Juan (Siricana on FPVLab.com) directly, even though he's in Spain; he's just such a great guy. http://www.securitycamera2000.com has good prices on cameras if you don't mind waiting for them to come from China. The guys at Team Black Sheep, http://team-blacksheep.com/shop, have selected and modified gear that is really good; gear which for the most part can be sourced elsewhere, but they've refined it to their tastes in a way that you know works. The downside is that you'll pay a premium for it.
If you're interested, there are a few more recent videos on the Youtube channel that were not posted on this thread:
http://www.youtube.com/azureaerials
Last edited by a moderator:
Daniel-Geneva
Member
Hi Azure
Very nice video indeed... I love it.
I'm using Graupner 9'5x5 with 3S and 4S, and today I tested 10x5 Graupner with 4S and I get 13mn flight.
Could you share your gains
And what's do you prefer 9'5 or 10' ?
Thanks
Very nice video indeed... I love it.
I'm using Graupner 9'5x5 with 3S and 4S, and today I tested 10x5 Graupner with 4S and I get 13mn flight.
Could you share your gains
And what's do you prefer 9'5 or 10' ?
Thanks
I'm flying the Avroto 2814 motors which are heavy and really inefficient with the 9x5" Graupners. With 4S 4200mah, I'm getting around 9 minutes conservatively. I tried 10" props, but found that the higher disk loading with the 9" was smoother and less prone to bumps in turbulence. It's a beast with 10", just depends what you're looking for. The Tiger MT2216 motors have been recommended as a better match to the F450, and I may try them.
I fly almost exclusively in Manual mode, so my gains may be different from people that prefer flying in ATTI or GPS. Additionally, I'm finding that how you set your rates and expo on the transmitter is just as important as the gain settings, and it's really a combination of both factors that makes it feel right to me.
BASIC Pitch: 140 Roll: 140 Yaw: 155 Vertical: 110
ATTITUDE Pitch: 90 Roll: 90
Rate in MANUAL Pitch: 45% Roll: 50% Yaw: 100%
Rate in ATTITUDE Pitch: 100% Roll: 100% Yaw: 100%
Expo both Modes: Pitch: INH Roll: INH Yaw: 3%
View attachment 5174View attachment 5175View attachment 5176
WOW, you get some killer range with your setup and sweet videos.
I'll be testing out my F450 900mhz 500mw system out this weekend.
WOW, you get some killer range with your setup and sweet videos.
I'll be testing out my F450 900mhz 500mw system out this weekend.
