Many reviewers complain of weak audio performance. Contour recognizes the problem and says they will replace affected cameras. Audio is not such a big deal for me anyway.
I have used neither the Go Pro or the Contour cameras. I do like Contours form factor better and I do like that it is waterproof without any housing. And I also really like that you can rotate the lens for mounting in any orientation - and there's the one touch, instant on switch too. For $89, I think it is a great deal.
Greetings All,
I have been reading the thread with great interest as I'm a Propeller fan and have built my own quad from scraps and HomeDepot. I'm using the HoverFly pro and have never flown any type of RC. As an air traffic controller, I didn't have too much of an issue with orientation as we do that daily looking out the window and on the radar. I agree with the throttle curve if you have one and aileron/elevator/rudder curves as well. It makes it quite a bit easier to land and take off. In fact, I've placed the curve point on my Futaba throttle just below the point of lift off and attached to to a switch. The quad gets to that point and lifts slowly and smoothly. As I bring her to the ground, it's much more smooth than a linear curve. Since its on a switch, I can switch it out if I'm feeling uncomfortable. Nice work gentlemen. Maybe the wife-unit will approve a 'Christmas present'.
I finally bit the bullet and ordered my ELEV-8 last night, and I picked up the Spektrum DX8 radio set at a local hobby shop yesterday - I'm wondering if Ken or someone else who has a Spektrum DX8 can save their setup to the SD card and post the file here for any of us newbie pilots??? It sure would save me A LOT of time with the radio and let me spend more time on the build!
Thanks in advance to anyone who can help with this!
Hi Jason,
Nice to have a ground station now!. Do you have some scheme to calibrate the ESCs for those of us who cannot set the PWM end points of our ESC? I have thought of several ways to do so, but am interested in your thoughts on the matter.
Regards,
TCIII
Tom - the flight software will start up and hold "full throttle" to the ESCs for a user-specified duration, up to a second, then begin the usual init with the throttle off. For most ESCs that are auto-calibrating that sequence should work. It should say in the manual for the ESC if it supports the power-on throttle setting. I haven't tried this yet myself but I have some ESCs that work this way en route. Many commercial UAV boards work this way.
@Jason,
Thanks for the insights. Much appreciated. Will give it a try as soon as my Propeller Platform and ProtoPlus boards show up. They should be here in TX by tomorrow hopefully.
Regards,
TCIII
I got a chance to fly it in a big field today and it really rips. I'll see if I can get some video tomorrow.
Hi Jason,
I ran the GroundStation.exe application and opened the configuration tab. At the top of the tab you have the Gyro orientation selection, but I believe that the ITG3200 Gyro Icon is really the ADXL345 Accelerometer since the Accel board has eight solder holes while the Gyro has only seven and the Icon has eight. Also, the ITG3200 Gryo does not have the "X"/"Y"/"Z" orientation legend on the board while the ADXL345 board does.
Comments?
Regards,
TCIII
Yup - you're right. I took the picture of the wrong sensor. The pin rows are on the same side of the board though, so if you use that as the guide it'll be correct. I'll fix the program and upload a new version.
Hi Jason,
Nice flying. Wish that I had your skills! Maybe some day!
I received my Gadget Gangster Propeller Platform USB and the ProtoPlus Shield board yesterday. Last night I experimented with laying out the Gryo and Accel on the Shield. It looks like I might move the SDA/SCL pins to 13/14. That way the receiver and ESC input/outputs can come in on one side of the shield while the sensor control line run on the other side of the shield making for a clean installation. I know that the Propeller Platform USB is more expensive than the Parallax board, but it is small enough to fit in my Rad Rotary Rev 7 quad where the Aeroquad Rev 1.6.1 Arduino 328 presently resides.
Regards,
TCIII
Cats92,
What is going on with the ELEV-8 that has it unstable? Have you tried adjusting your gain settings? When your gain settings are not quite right, the ELEV-8 will we unstable during flight and will give off a kind of beaping sound. The board does not go into trouble mode, as you can still arm the board and fly, but it will have a kind of "hard to fly" feeling about it. If you start around 40 for your gain setting, and adjust from there, you should see better results! If you are still having troubles, let me know. Happy Holidays!
I'd like to report that I have finished my ELEV-8 and have successfully test flown it. I'll post a really bad onboard video shortly.
Unfortunately, two of the motors have bearings that are not too great. This will be apparent in the video. I have already ordered replacement bearings. A quick Google search reveals that other people have had issues with the bearings in these motors as well. I'll also put up a video where I spin the motors so that you can see the difference in the bearings.
After I get the replacement bearings I will try to make a nice blog post with more pictures and videos.
@Rich, this isn't too uncommon with the Turnigy 2217s. Have you found that the bearings cause a performance issue during flight? In my ELEV-8s it has been a minor audible nuisance but I haven't tied it to a failure yet.
Yeah, it's got a terrible vibration. Power-wise, it seems fine. My total flight time is less than five minutes but it flies very well considering the vibration problem. One motor has a questionable bearing, the other is worse. I think having two of the motors with bad bearings amplifies the problem. I'm hoping that I have provided a valuable service by using up the problem motors.
You can hear it pretty well in this video, don't watch in full screen if you know what's good for ya.
Rich, major problems with vibration in the video. I can't help but wonder if you've experimented with the gain setting yet. If not, reduce it a few notches and fly again.
If the problem is from the motors then we will replace them pronto. I'll get a request in tomorrow.
No, I haven't changed any gain settings. It is something that I need to experiment with. The intial settings specified were +/- 25% but my radio doesn't do that so I set it at 25/75. Using one of the settings results in not even getting off the ground, which obviously isn't correct, so I need to look into it further.
Knowing that there is some vibration coming from the bearings I figured I should take care of that first because it could be interacting with the gyros. However, I will try lowering the gain while waiting for the new bearings that I have on order and see how that works.
Hi Rich, Based on the video you posted, I would say that you need to adjust your gain. I'm 99% sure that it's not the bearings. Take a look through some of the final setup videos HoverFly posted for information on the gain.
So today I messed with the gain. I went from 75% gain down to 45% and now it is very smooth. I also reduced the end play of the motors but I doubt that made any difference.
The bearing noise still annoys me but I have to say it was a pleasure to fly this time. Very smooth.
Video to follow... The video didn't turn out too great. It was raining lightly and droplets on the lens made everything fuzzy.
Oh I am feeling seasick... it is so much more stable on a boat
Rich: How much flight experience do you have? Even with the vibration, the quad is actually quite stable. Hope I can get my quad that stable quickly because my flight experience is dubious at best (never flown long enough to get to try landing - on planes).
Now that the xmas rush is over, I may get time to try my home-brew quad and Jasons gyro PID code for starters.
Yeah, that video is not for the queasy. It doesn't look like it in the video but I have been flying RC for about 30 years, helicopters for about 16. I am quite impressed with the HoverFly board. It is working really well.
It's been raining here so I took a flight in my (still not finished) shop. I reduced the gain again to 35% and it is the smoothest yet. I'll be posting the video in the next couple hours.
@W9GFO,
I have several of the Turnigy 2217 on a quad frame from Aeroquad. I have found the Turnigy motors to have extreme shaft runout when using the pedestal style propeller mounts. So I have always reversed the motor shafts and used collet style propeller mounts on the motor shafts. This results in much less runout which will save the motor bearings. I also balance all the props that I use on my quads. Instructions for reversing the motor shaft can be found on the web.
Just a thought.
Regards,
TCIII
Comments
Many reviewers complain of weak audio performance. Contour recognizes the problem and says they will replace affected cameras. Audio is not such a big deal for me anyway.
I have used neither the Go Pro or the Contour cameras. I do like Contours form factor better and I do like that it is waterproof without any housing. And I also really like that you can rotate the lens for mounting in any orientation - and there's the one touch, instant on switch too. For $89, I think it is a great deal.
But my first choice would be the Go Pro Hero 2.
I think the Contour is a better form factor for our uses, too. The deal you found is fantastic.
Ken Gracey
I've got to know, Rich - how did you find this particular deal? It's a winner, more than the GoPro on Woot last week!
Ken Gracey
...Tiger
I finally bit the bullet and ordered my ELEV-8 last night, and I picked up the Spektrum DX8 radio set at a local hobby shop yesterday - I'm wondering if Ken or someone else who has a Spektrum DX8 can save their setup to the SD card and post the file here for any of us newbie pilots??? It sure would save me A LOT of time with the radio and let me spend more time on the build!
Thanks in advance to anyone who can help with this!
http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?136787-QuadX-my-latest-Propeller-with-Propellers
I got a chance to fly it in a big field today and it really rips. I'll see if I can get some video tomorrow.
Nice to have a ground station now!. Do you have some scheme to calibrate the ESCs for those of us who cannot set the PWM end points of our ESC? I have thought of several ways to do so, but am interested in your thoughts on the matter.
Regards,
TCIII
Thanks for the insights. Much appreciated. Will give it a try as soon as my Propeller Platform and ProtoPlus boards show up. They should be here in TX by tomorrow hopefully.
Regards,
TCIII
I ran the GroundStation.exe application and opened the configuration tab. At the top of the tab you have the Gyro orientation selection, but I believe that the ITG3200 Gyro Icon is really the ADXL345 Accelerometer since the Accel board has eight solder holes while the Gyro has only seven and the Icon has eight. Also, the ITG3200 Gryo does not have the "X"/"Y"/"Z" orientation legend on the board while the ADXL345 board does.
Comments?
Regards,
TCIII
Nice flying. Wish that I had your skills! Maybe some day!
I received my Gadget Gangster Propeller Platform USB and the ProtoPlus Shield board yesterday. Last night I experimented with laying out the Gryo and Accel on the Shield. It looks like I might move the SDA/SCL pins to 13/14. That way the receiver and ESC input/outputs can come in on one side of the shield while the sensor control line run on the other side of the shield making for a clean installation. I know that the Propeller Platform USB is more expensive than the Parallax board, but it is small enough to fit in my Rad Rotary Rev 7 quad where the Aeroquad Rev 1.6.1 Arduino 328 presently resides.
Regards,
TCIII
Build my ELEV-8 : easily with the kit.
Flys !! (24 december) but a bit unstable.
Some adjustements to make
And my pilot skills to improve !
Happy Christmas
Cats92
What is going on with the ELEV-8 that has it unstable? Have you tried adjusting your gain settings? When your gain settings are not quite right, the ELEV-8 will we unstable during flight and will give off a kind of beaping sound. The board does not go into trouble mode, as you can still arm the board and fly, but it will have a kind of "hard to fly" feeling about it. If you start around 40 for your gain setting, and adjust from there, you should see better results! If you are still having troubles, let me know. Happy Holidays!
-Nick
Unfortunately, two of the motors have bearings that are not too great. This will be apparent in the video. I have already ordered replacement bearings. A quick Google search reveals that other people have had issues with the bearings in these motors as well. I'll also put up a video where I spin the motors so that you can see the difference in the bearings.
After I get the replacement bearings I will try to make a nice blog post with more pictures and videos.
Ken Gracey
You can hear it pretty well in this video, don't watch in full screen if you know what's good for ya.
If the problem is from the motors then we will replace them pronto. I'll get a request in tomorrow.
Knowing that there is some vibration coming from the bearings I figured I should take care of that first because it could be interacting with the gyros. However, I will try lowering the gain while waiting for the new bearings that I have on order and see how that works.
http://www.hoverflytech.com/video-tutorials.html
The bearing noise still annoys me but I have to say it was a pleasure to fly this time. Very smooth.
Video to follow... The video didn't turn out too great. It was raining lightly and droplets on the lens made everything fuzzy.
Rich: How much flight experience do you have? Even with the vibration, the quad is actually quite stable. Hope I can get my quad that stable quickly because my flight experience is dubious at best (never flown long enough to get to try landing - on planes).
Now that the xmas rush is over, I may get time to try my home-brew quad and Jasons gyro PID code for starters.
It's been raining here so I took a flight in my (still not finished) shop. I reduced the gain again to 35% and it is the smoothest yet. I'll be posting the video in the next couple hours.
I have several of the Turnigy 2217 on a quad frame from Aeroquad. I have found the Turnigy motors to have extreme shaft runout when using the pedestal style propeller mounts. So I have always reversed the motor shafts and used collet style propeller mounts on the motor shafts. This results in much less runout which will save the motor bearings. I also balance all the props that I use on my quads. Instructions for reversing the motor shaft can be found on the web.
Just a thought.
Regards,
TCIII