Things They Do Not Tell You

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ChrisMohrSr

Member
I think I may have put things back together correctly, except for attaching the camera mount which was a pure oversight on the part of an aging mind. I am still in a lot of pain, but I must battle on to reach my goal of getting airborne before I go underground or my ashes are spread across Pacific waters.

View attachment 13512

As you can see from the photo I must work from half of our dining room table. We live in a mobile home on my oldest daughter's property so we have no garage in which I may have a workbench.

I now await instructions from Ken as to exactly what to do next. There is no real hurry because I still have to balance the propellers. It will probably take me awhile to decide on the best way of doing that.

My Big Bird has a bullet connector and the battery that came with it has a bullet connector. That's just fine: however, I just acquired two batteries that have Dean connectors. I cannot seem to find some kind of adapter cable to resolve that discrepancy. Someone please tell me where I can get such an adapter cable or whatever it is called.
 

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bensid54

bensid54

Member
Looks good so far Chris! I didn't balance my props and it seems to work fine for me although maybe I should, I'm just not sure how much difference it will make.
 

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ChrisMohrSr

Member
bensid54 said:
Looks good so far Chris! I didn't balance my props and it seems to work fine for me although maybe I should, I'm just not sure how much difference it will make.
Click to expand...

Well, it couldn't hurt. I should be receiving a Du Bro prop balancer today. I'll let you know how it works out.

 

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ChrisMohrSr

Member
Hi ben,

Once assembled the Du Bro Prop Balancer does an adequate job of balancing props; however, getting there is not half the fun. In fact, getting there is no fun at all. The screw threads on the posts are coated with a residue from the manufacturing process. This makes assembly a real chore. Although the regular nuts and the knurl nuts are the correct ones, they could not overcome that residue without much blood, sweat and tears on my part. I first tried DW-40 which did not work. I finally had to clamp the posts in a vise and very carefully turn the knurl nuts with a pair of pliers. By this method I finally overcame the residue and the nuts moved freely on the post threads.

Another thing that should have been explained in the instructions is the fact that the nuts installed on the bottom of the unit must be forced fit. Someone unfamiliar with nuts and bolts would think that the nuts were too large and become quite frustrated.


Chris
 

bensid54

bensid54

Member
Sounds like a bit of a learning curve there, can you post a pic of this thing so I may know what I'm in for.
 



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ChrisMohrSr

Member
Prop Balancing

bensid54 said:
OK. Will do
Click to expand...

Hi ben,

Here is how I balanced my props:

Some people who use the Du Bro prop balancer jump though all kinds of hoops to balance their props. Some sand or scrape material off the prop. I frown upon that method because once you remove material from a prop and then discover that you removed too much, it's usually too late to do anything about it. You can then scrape the other blade, but how far can you go with that until you have a useless prop on your hands.

I have discovered that the heavier blade is usually heavier by very little. What I do is to take a small piece of Scotch tape that I calculate to be more than I need and apply it to the back of the lighter blade letting some extend over the edge of the blade. I then cut off small slivers until the blade balances. Once the blade has balanced I remove the tape and reposition it so all of it is on the back of the blade. Then I rub the tape down until I feel that it has adhered well to the blade.

There you have it. Simple and effective . . . and if you don't get the results that you want, just remove the tape and start all over. You cannot go wrong.

Stay Safe,
Chris
 
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ChrisMohrSr

Member
Things I Do Not Know

Well, my Big Bird is put back together and, I think, is ready to fly. Now if only I knew how to help it to do that.:upset:
 


bensid54

bensid54

Member
Thanks for the input on blade balancing! That is the way I always did it on RC helicopter main and tail blades, makes sense to do it that way on these blades. To start your copter did you arm the motors first?
 

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ChrisMohrSr

Member
I wish I knew what you guys were talking about. I have no idea of what to do next. I had never heard of Naza or any of this before Ken took me under his wing. I don't know how to arm the motors or hook up the Naza to a PC. Even if I did I wouldn't know what to do next.

Ken said that when he sent the bird back to me he would send me some detailed instructions I will need to get it together and in the air for the first time. I have not heard from him through the forum since I received my flying machine back.

After all he has done for me I don't want to bug him. I'm sure he is quite busy and will get to me in due time. If any of you guys can tell me what to do next I sure will appreciate it.
 

bensid54

bensid54

Member
Take both sticks on the radio pull them both down at the same time and both to the right all the way at the same time, then when the motors are running move the throttle stick ONLY up past 10 degrees of it's total travel then the motors will keep running. Once at this point make sure your radio switched to GPS mode because that is the safest to start with. Now go into a field place the machine twenty feet in front of you and lift it off the ground ten feet and make it sit at one level don't try to fly it just yet just get used to it going up and down. Now very slowly make it move in one direction at a time till you get comfy with how it feels.
 

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ProPilotWannaBe

Member
So Chris, the first thing you need to do is check over all the installation and make sure things are connected properly and everything is talking to eachother correctly.

To do that, find a USB to micro-USB cable, and plug it into the LED on your MR. The LED is a little square inch piece with an LED on one side that flashes at you when you plug the battery in. On one side of that is a micro-USB port. Ken may have included a USB to micro-USB cable for you. If not, it's something you can pick up at Walmart or anyplace pretty much.

You will need to download to your computer the Naza Assistant Software with the following link:
http://download.dji-innovations.com/downloads/nazam-v2/NAZAM_2.16_Installer.exe

That will install the software on your computer, and with that program running, and the USB cable plugged in and connecting the computer to your MR, and you connecting the battery on your MR, you should get a pretty screen like the following:
View attachment 13563

If get to this point, GREAT! If not, please let us know.

But once you get that screen, now you should be able to move the two main sticks on your transmitter. As you move the left stick from bottom to top on the transmitter, you should see the slider labeled "T" move from left to right. As you move the left stick left to right, you should see the slider labeled "R" move left to right. Same goes for the right stick moving the "E" and "A" sliders. You'll want to confirm the correct movement for each. Lastly, you'll want to confirm that in the bottom left corner where it says "MODE" that it reads "GPS+Atti" next to it. You need to find the switch Ken programmed for that, and you should see it switch between "GPS+Atti", "Atti", and maybe "Manual" (not sure exactly how he set that up). Regardless, find the position that puts the mode in "GPS+Atti" and keep it that way for your first flight.

Once you confirmed all the above, let us know, and we'll walk you through taking the MR outside to start the motors and get it up in the air.
 

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bensid54

bensid54

Member
Ken is supposed to have it setup which to me means plug it in watch the lights flash, understand what the flashes mean then arm the motors and go from there. Too much info at once can confusing and Chris doesn't need to have too much to deal with.
 

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ChrisMohrSr

Member
I don't know how to thank you guys for this assistance. I understand what you both said and I will digest it and put it into practice within the next day or two.

I will let you know the results, good or bad.


Thanks a Billion,
Chris
 



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ChrisMohrSr

Member
I really want to understand this technology, but first for my emotional and psychological satisfaction I really need to see this damn thing fly. Once I have the confidence that I can really get it off the ground and safely back on the ground again, I can apply myself to learning the knowledge all you very generous and much appreciated multirotor addicts can provide.
 

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