fltundra
Member
Well lately 90% of the last 40 hrs has been over water and have never had a loss of gps, just gives me a little more confidence. Much easier to fly at the edge of LOS on UHF. I get plenty of manual time on my RC eye one xtreme.
XAircraft SuperX
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Motopreserve
Drone Enthusiast
Well lately 90% of the last 40 hrs has been over water and have never had a loss of gps, just gives me a little more confidence. Much easier to fly at the edge of LOS on UHF. I get plenty of manual time on my RC eye one xtreme.
No one is challenging your supremacy.
I'm merely pointing out that tuning based on the mode that HE would be using most often might be helpful for HIS needs.
I personally like the feel of the flight characteristics in Atti better than GPS mode (but SuperX GPS far better than Naza), but that's neither here nor there, since JWoike is welcome to choose any flight mode he wishes and feels most comfortable in.
fltundra
Member
Hope you didn't take my post wrongNo one is challenging your supremacy.
Just trying to share my experiences and reliability of the X.
Motopreserve
Drone Enthusiast
I'm just messing with you
fltundra
Member
Ok
It's amazing what you can gain by just parking it in gps mode in a 10 knot wind and slowly yaw around and watching how it transitions headings. How it handles the wind was my biggest tuning aid. If that makes sense.
SamaraMedia
Active Member
Ok, testing went well today - after 4 tries to get a sat lock - sweating bullets before getting started. That pushed my time envelop to a shorter flight than hoped but I did get in about 7:20. I set the gains to default, 1.1 on roll, pitch and yaw and .9 on height. I thought I had set the g nob back to 0% at mid-point by adjusting my sub-trim servo back but looking at the black box info it is at -16% at mid-point. Guess I have to figure that adjustment out. It sounded better on launch than it has any other time testing. It gave me confidence to fly a little more aggressively in GPS and Atti modes.
I tried to level #1 & 4 motors better but after looking at the flight report I think they could be worse. Output levels are further apart than before and much higher voltage but that could be attributed to the more aggressive flight. Vibe level seems to be better even under FF flight. Rain on the way for the next 3-4 days so testing will have to wait 'til next week. I was surprised at the graphs, thought they would be better than they are but I could be reading them wrong.
In regard to flying. I have been flying in GPS because I didn't feel comfortable with the inconsistent hover but plan to fly more Atti once I think I'm on the right path. Taking longer than I had hoped to tune this puppy but making head way.
Latest log - http://log.xaircraft.com/#2015_08_19_192813.500_133.1.07.20
I tried to level #1 & 4 motors better but after looking at the flight report I think they could be worse. Output levels are further apart than before and much higher voltage but that could be attributed to the more aggressive flight. Vibe level seems to be better even under FF flight. Rain on the way for the next 3-4 days so testing will have to wait 'til next week. I was surprised at the graphs, thought they would be better than they are but I could be reading them wrong.
In regard to flying. I have been flying in GPS because I didn't feel comfortable with the inconsistent hover but plan to fly more Atti once I think I'm on the right path. Taking longer than I had hoped to tune this puppy but making head way.
Latest log - http://log.xaircraft.com/#2015_08_19_192813.500_133.1.07.20
Motopreserve
Drone Enthusiast
That makes sense.
I have always used a technique that @kloner described to me early on, which is to get the MR hovering pretty steady a meter or two off the ground - and then climb out fairly rapidly while keeping an eye on it. Try to take note of whether there are oscillations in the pitch or roll direction (for me they were always slight since the superx was pretty bang-on out of the box). If you see issues, you can increase/decrease for that axis as needed. Once you have the pitch/roll working well, you can use the gain knob for any further combined tuning, especially on a day to day basis when conditions change. Luckily this procedure always got me a happy flying machine
Motopreserve
Drone Enthusiast
Glad you are making progress. Sometimes it takes a little bit to get it where you want it - but the patience will pay off. It's a great FC that should bring you hours of confident flight.
SamaraMedia
Active Member
Last time I'll bore you with log results since I think they're dialed in good enough to move to the next point of getting some test flights with some more dummy weight added to simulate having a gimbal and camera on. I went out yesterday for three short, 3 minute, flights and tested hover in GPS and Atti to see how the motor outputs and vibrations levels were after concerns the day before that the output levels were higher than I expected due to fast foward flight tests. The last three logs show very good, imo, motor output and vibration levels. First flight - 134.1.03.33 - was in GPS, hovering about 15-20 ft up and doing a couple steep climb outs as Moto described Kloner recommending. Motor output well matched with a couple spikes at climb outs. Second - 135.1.02.59 - was in Atti, same hover with minimal stick input to correct position with same result, third - 136.1.02.23 - GPS and a couple ff moves and return to home since batts were near LVCO. Very pleased with results, thanks for working through this with me, I was almost ready to throw in the towel...
http://log.xaircraft.com/#2015_08_20_054631.000_136.1.02.23
http://log.xaircraft.com/#2015_08_20_054631.000_136.1.02.23
fltundra
Member
Your getting a little close to 100% without your camera and gimbal. Do you have a current sensor on board? Your going to want to know what it was on those climb outs. Because I think you probably need a higher c rated lipo. I am not for sure, but that was a pretty good voltage drop. Your max climb was 5.03 m/s, and if there's enough power it will do 6 m/s.
View attachment 25965
Something going on also with your compass and heading. Lines should be perfectly parallel. Do another compass calibration by itself, and you don't have to go through the full routine. Anything mounted close to it?
View attachment 25966
Attachments
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SamaraMedia
Active Member
fltundra
Member
Ahh,.... Gps is to close to the batts
Raise it, just the current flowing through those wires creates a magnetic field. As far as the batts go. Do you have a charger that measures IR.
If so take a reading and lets see where they are at. Other then that, what gauge wire do you have going to the PDB and what's the total wire distance from esc's to batts?
Raise it,
just the current flowing through those wires creates a magnetic field. As far as the batts go. Do you have a charger that measures IR.If so take a reading and lets see where they are at. Other then that, what gauge wire do you have going to the PDB and what's the total wire distance from esc's to batts?
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fltundra
Member
Meaning you don't have to do stick cali again, just go directly to compass cal. Same goes if you just make receiver change you only have to do stick and neutral point cal. I haven't calibrated mine in over a year and lines are always parallel.
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SamaraMedia
Active Member
Ok, I'll get a longer GPS post too start. Yeah, I only do a GPS calibration at the field. Figure nothing else has change since doing initial stick cali. Do you go through the hole process if you change gains in the firmware - 1.0 to 1.1 on roll etc...? I may have made some changes in a sub trim menu for what I think adjusts my G knob.
SamaraMedia
Active Member
Distance from batts to esc? Not near machine right now but my guess is from batt to Y tail. 6", Y tail 4", EC5 connector to provided AS150 connector 6-8", provided AS 150 power cable to PDB 12", PDB to esc 6". Hope that everything.
fltundra
Member
Need to see some pics to help you more. But right off you need each batt going directly to the pdb. You want wires as short as possible between batts and escs. What gauge wire are you using for the batt connections to the pdb?
fltundra
Member
SamaraMedia
Active Member
Didn't think so, thanks.
SamaraMedia
Active Member
There in lies the problem with kits like this. The PDB is mounted to the bottom center plate and has 6 female mini phono type jacks where a cable solder to the esc plugs in. The original design of the kit has the esc mounted out under the motor, I modified the arms so I could get all three motor leads through the foldable arms and move the esc inside the center plates. From the PDB are two 10 gauge wires with AS or AX150 bullets for battery connection, since I don't have those and not fond of them I made an extension with EC5 connectors to work with the batteries I have. Then to be able to run the batts in parallel I needed to make a Y plug, thus the tangled web or wires. I'll try to get you some pics tonight when I get home. Thought I was finding a cheap alternative to the S900 but winding up with a "cheap" alternative in the end. Should have just spent the money on a Hexacrafter or Vulcan hex or X8 and built it from the ground up like I normally would do. You get what you pay for...
fltundra
Member
All you need to do is get another set of 10 gauge wires to the pdb. I think all those extra connectors and wire, plus the Y is contributing to your voltage sag. Make sure they are short as possible without creating any strain on the wires.