My first FPV experience... I am SO stupid and ashamed

A

aWanderer

Member
I finally got to try the new 4S with 10" props and it was outstanding... for about one minute and forty-eight seconds. Not only was I trying the new $85 4S, but it was the first time trying the FatShark goggles too. I first hovered around to make sure all was well for about 38 sec. I landed and then put the goggles on, but not over my eyes. I then hovered at a safe 10-15 feet and then slid the goggles down over my eyes. I just hovered there for a bit and slowly started to rotate the quad. It was drifting around a bit and increasing in alt. I was getting very nervous as I drifted over and beyond the building I was standing near. Somehow, the communication between my spotter and I became really bad, really fast and I thought I was drifting far over to where the parking lot was. Last thing I wanted to do was have something happen and damage someone's car or worse, hit someone.

I started to panic, the quad felt like it was not responding (but it was) and I then had no idea where it was relative to me so I decided to cut the throttle from about 30' up. Of course, it dropped like a rock, hit the cement and broke the ends off two arms where the motors mount, broke the AV ant., the GoPro camera mount and destroyed the brand new 4S battery. I could have taken the goggles off, but I was standing next to the wall of a building and it was well beyond the other side so it would not have helped.

What I learned...
  1. although I was very far away from the parking lot, the quad made that distance up quick. Should have went out into the country somewhere.
  2. since I am inexperienced in FPV and was not going to be doing any FFF, I should have adjusted the camera to point downward more so I could see where I was relative to my position.
  3. Should NOT have let the alt. go above 10'
Sooo.. stupid of me. I have about 4 yrs. of heli experience, large .50-size nitro, etc. I should NOT have tried this there - BAD idea. I honestly didn't think it would be that difficult.

Ideally, I should have a fellow RC pilot, hooked up with a trainer cable, would be perfect but I don't have that option. Lesson learned and will NOT happen again. Total damage: $220
 


BorisS

BorisS

Drone Enthusiast
I also smashed up my brand new HT FPV quad yesterday. Didnt even get to FPV. Quad yawed out of control and flipped in the air. Checking it out afterwards one of the ESCs went bad and that was probably the reason.

aWanderer, did you do some simulator FPV flights before you first flight ?

Boris
 

Bartman

Bartman

Welcome to MultiRotorForums.com!!
sorry to hear it and kudos for owning up to it. it so important with any of this stuff to take it slowly.....things go bad so quickly! Your $220 repair bill will probably save someone else from going down the same road....
 

Kilby

Kilby

Active Member
Sorry for your accident, but thanks for sharing. The best thing you can do before putting the goggles on is make a mental map in your head of your surroundings. Obviously, this is much easier to do in a big open field. After a while, it will come second nature and you won't even realize you are doing it.
 

A

aWanderer

Member
Thanks for the support. BorisS; no I don't have a sim anymore. I honestly didn't think it would be difficult, but it is VERY different. I definitely needed to slow down. In addition, I should have also adjusted the camera settings (It's an OSD). The brightness I think was to high. I have mental notes of everything I did wrong so I will slow it up and take baby steps now. I just can't believe I did that... lol.

1. BIG open field... these RC's are FAST
2. Don't go to high. Minimizes damage and danger of hurting someone
3. Camera settings/angle. adjust adjust adjust
4. Sloooowww down.. enjoy the experience of the setup
5. LAND if you have any doubt.

I believe that if I had adjusted the camera angle down more so I could see the ground, none of this would have happened. Without seeing the ground, losing the quad relative to your position without experience was the biggest mistake.
 

A

aWanderer

Member
BorisS said:
aWanderer, did you do some simulator FPV flights before you first flight ?

Boris
Click to expand...

Can the simulators do FPV/quadcopters now? It's been about five years since I owned one. If so, I'll go buy one now. Another thing to note about FPV, or at least for me, is that there is a slight delay between your actions and the video. This is normal right?

I see FMS has a model but what about for RealFlight
 
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R

RTRyder

Merlin of Multirotors
aWanderer said:
Thanks for the support. BorisS; no I don't have a sim anymore. I honestly didn't think it would be difficult, but it is VERY different. I definitely needed to slow down. In addition, I should have also adjusted the camera settings (It's an OSD). The brightness I think was to high. I have mental notes of everything I did wrong so I will slow it up and take baby steps now. I just can't believe I did that... lol.

1. BIG open field... these RC's are FAST
2. Don't go to high. Minimizes damage and danger of hurting someone
3. Camera settings/angle. adjust adjust adjust
4. Sloooowww down.. enjoy the experience of the setup
5. LAND if you have any doubt.

I believe that if I had adjusted the camera angle down more so I could see the ground, none of this would have happened. Without seeing the ground, losing the quad relative to your position without experience was the biggest mistake.
Click to expand...

Some of the main reasons why I prefer MK hardware for FPV, the DJI WKM would work just as well. With altitude hold you can get to a "safe" altitude and stay there, in my case a safe altitude is above the tree tops so there's nothing I can run into because I didn't "see" it.

GPS position hold is great for starting out, you can take off, lock the multi in place with altitude hold and position hold, then swap over to flying through the goggles. To take it a step further, on my first couple FPV flights I set a waypoint course in the MK flight controller and basically just went along for the ride once in the air, gives you a chance to get used to the perspective without having to worry about actually doing the flying. Once I got used to the view from the FPV camera I had enough confidence to fly around without the GPS being in control, from there I progressed to taking off with the goggles and eventually landing as well, autoleveling is your friend when learning both.

In a worst case scenario, gain some altitude and flip the switch for come home and let it fly back to the takeoff point on it's own, or if just a bit unsure of location use position hold while removing the goggles for a look around, if you can't see it then hit come home and wait for the multi to find it's own way back. There have been a couple instances where I've taken the goggles off and not been able to spot the quad, it was high and far enough away to be little more than a black dot in a very large sky.

Eventually it becomes familiar enough to not need the additional flight aids, but it's sure nice to know they're available in the learning stages, and it does help to have a very large open area you're familiar with to start out.

Ken
 

A

aWanderer

Member
That is excellent advice. I hope DJI puts out an add-on for the basic controller so we can add a GPS module but I know that is just wishful thinking. Maybe I will switch controllers this summer to something with RTH and GPS hold. I agree that those are the BEST options to have when learning. I just don't have a thousand dollars to spend on it at the moment... I will probably do it at $220 payments - lol

Excellent advice! Those features and FPV should be mandatory.
 

A

aWanderer

Member
I see your point now... Mikrokopter gives you the features without the cost. I wonder if I could use the DJI motors and ESC with the MK controller?
 

kloner

kloner

Aerial DP
arent you flying a naza controller?

Phoenix flight sim has both quads and not infinite landscapes you can fpv in. 3d too
 


A

aWanderer

Member
kloner said:
arent you flying a naza controller?

Phoenix flight sim has both quads and not infinite landscapes you can fpv in. 3d too
Click to expand...

Yes I am using the Naza.

Also, I'm hesitant about a sim working/translating well to real life. Same prob I had way back with helis. Sim never worked well for me
 

kloner

kloner

Aerial DP
btw, you can get a chineese hack cable and all of the main sims like realflight, phoenix, etc for like $10. Search phoenix sim cable, there everywhere now
 
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Bowley

Bowley

Member
I know where youre coming from with this thread. FPV can be quite unnerving.I never ever experienced trembling hands learning to fly full scale, yet starting with FPV my guts would go cold and hands shook like hell, sometimes still do. despite operating remote controlled submersibles FPV as my day job.
 

A

aWanderer

Member
lol... yes. My wife said my hands were shaking when I reached out to pick up the GoPro, ant. and other pieces... I like the rush myself.

I am using a modified FlySky THx9 Transmitter. I don't want to mod it for the sims. I just need to take it slower, pick a safer place to fly and I'll get there.
 


kloner

kloner

Aerial DP
in phoenix it has an auto level feature you can turn on, the camera is flat forward like you'd be if you actually flew instead of trying to hover. once it goes forward, everything follows pretty easily. I have an alarm on exactly 50 on the throttle that beeps so i know when i'm locked into atti, then you don't gotta touch the throttle anymore, just fly

I never flew around anything though, waited till could leave town and fly to where i can hit myself and the dirt. i've only gone twice, flew 20 packs each time we went, you just pick up on it. I didn't like the goggles at all for the reasons you crashed. When it's near me i prefer to look at it eye to craft, taking goggles off was blinding, looking off a tv screen to the sky is way easier. There is a point there though that you leave the screen and have a hard time finding it

heres that link to the cable, the us warehouse is a little more but get it now
http://www.dealextreme.com/p/usb-2-0-almighty-flight-simulator-dongle-900151480
 

R

RTRyder

Merlin of Multirotors
aWanderer said:
I see your point now... Mikrokopter gives you the features without the cost. I wonder if I could use the DJI motors and ESC with the MK controller?
Click to expand...

Mk uses I2C speed controllers so the only way you could do it would be with an I2C to PWM convertor. The convertor boards aren't expensive but it's been my experience that they aren't a perfect solution, tends to be some wobble and instability unless you're using reflashed PWM ESCs.

I use the Mk mainly because I have several sets of boards and speed controllers acquired over a few years time span, some of it was displaced by DJI WKM hardware. There are some less expensive GPS capable flight controller systems, but less exepnsive is relative in that category, you will still spend somewhere between $750 to $1000 for anything that actually works.

You may see DJI come out with a position hold for the Naza as a plug in option, the controller has the capability, just don't expect to ever see it do waypoints or anything that the more expensive WKM is capable of. The other option is to keep an eye out for used MK gear for sale but by that time you may have gotten enough FPV stick time in with the Naza to not need the GPS, certainly nice to have but not a requirement for learning.

Ken
 

A

a944734

Member
There is no delay, it is realtime. Let me tell you, it is exactly like the real thing, plus I can use my real transmitter with it.
Only thing that bothers me that one cannot turn off the auto-level of the various quads - yet. Feature was promised, but that
was a while ago.
 

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