ingleburn

Glad to see you pop back in Rob. Thought we'd lost you to the Naza forums

Had to laugh at your felt covering of the board. The #3 fix does the same and looks a bit nicer but if it works then all good.

Im starting to think I should have gone a bit bigger with my quad. The gimbal came in today and now Ive got to squeeze it in somewhere.

I got this one and will do this mod with it with a few slight differences to suit my mounting location. It would be easier to just use a gopro but Im to tight and will stick with the mobius for now.

Although Im still thinking about this. Mnem didnt you do a review on this one. Maybe some thoughts.

ingleburn

The Horus eh. Never even knew about them. Might have to do some searching although Im pretty sure the Taranis will do me fine.

Had a little problem with the 250 quad the other day that maybe you can help with. Using the fatshark power filter which is great but only outputs 5v to the camera.
As Im using a 12v camera I bought one of these to step it up to 12v. After I wired it I found that it would only step down the voltage so did I buy the wrong one, get sent the wrong one or am I doing something wrong?
Yeah I shouldnt play with electricity but with this hobby you got no choice

rikybob

Cool IDEA!

b

mnemennth

ingleburn -

Your gimbal looks like a good start; if you have the actual FPV Spider, you should be able to completely eliminate the aluminum plates/rubber grommets and mount the stock motor assembly directly to the anti-vibration plate that came with the FPV Spider. I don't know that I'd be too keen on replacing all the aluminum bits with bent sheetmetal; they form accurate and rigid right angles which are necessary to the operating geometry of any gimbal.

Yes, I did in fact review the SJ4000; it's an AWESOME camera for the $100 price range. The camera HK is selling may or may not be the one I have; mine was a "New PCB" model which is supposed to be capable of doing live video out (via mini-HDMI) with just a firmware upgrade. The giveaway is that it only does 60FPS in 720P mode; this is with frame doubling and is a limitation of the combination of the sensor and this video chipset as stated in my reviews:

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2168338

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0naqkArxUcE All the current model SJ4000s come with 720P/30FPS mode available stock. They have just released a WiFi enabled version; as I suspected they soon would in my reviews.

http://www.tmart.com/SJ4000-Waterpro...FZTm7AodPDoAIw

Alas, they have not sent me one to review, so I have no idea if it's worth the extra 20 quid. Remember, TMart is an authorized Reseller, so you will get a genuine SJ4000 (at least 3 different fakes... very POOR fakes... have already been identified in the wild) and their prices do include free (if somewhat slow) International Shipping.

Here they have the current SJ4000 for $90: http://www.tmart.com/SJ4000-1.5-LCD-...r_p245155.html

You were a victim of BS eBay MarketingSpeak. You SHOULD have gotten a Buck/Boost or Step-Up/Step-Down regulator; all you got was a step-down regulator. Their wording is vague enough that they'll be able to tie you up with the usual "Chinese Language Barrier" BS until you're ready to reach through the phone lines and strangle them with their own intestines.

You need what Pololu calls a Step-up/Step-down regulator; this way you can use from 2S to 4S and still power your rig. They have several here to choose from in fixed and adjustable variants:

http://www.pololu.com/search/compare/133

If you only need 12V, then they have one capable of 2A here; good if you also need 12V for your VTX: http://www.pololu.com/product/2577

Here's a 12V/200ma one if you only need to power a camera: http://www.pololu.com/product/2096

And here's a nice little one i try to always keep handy, as it can power almost anything from a 1S to 3S pack: http://www.pololu.com/product/2120

Pololu's switching regulators have a great reputation for reliable, clean power across their product line. Definitely worth a look.



b -

Just smear some Vegemite in there; it'll fix all yer Jello!

Yeah, I saw that in either the Mobius thread or one of my scratch-built plane threads like forever ago; I tried it and didn't like the results with a quad. I think the 4 motors were more shakin' than it could handle.


On a side note, my search for a frosty storage unit is finally over; I found one of these:

http://www.homedepot.com/p/LG-Electr...85PL/203744080

a year old for $350 from a couple who just moved into an apartment that came with a fridge. They had it running in the garage for me to see; even outdoors in the 103° Texas suck, it was 0° in the freezer. A-WHEEEEE-Some! *Knock on wood*


Allright; goodnight you freaks!



mnem
*UnregulaTED*

Rob2160

I'm still betting their 3rd radio will be called the "Rex"

ingleburn

Yeah I thought as much. Ordered this the other day so I hope it will work. I have this one and it works fine but space is tight in a mini so after something smaller.
The gimbal went on a diet. Shed 80g but a motor is bad. Hope they send me a new one instead of making me ship it all the way back.

Rob2160

Interested to see what you think of the gimbal, I tried the Quanum 2D for a while but accidentally broke it by being too ham fisted. I didn't think it was that fragile. So I'm looking for another. The Quanum worked ok and the tilt function was good but it had terrible roll any time the quad yawed. Vids on youtube from your gimbal seem much better.

And today this arrived from good old HK, the Australian Express channel has been a very consistent 8 days lately. .

Finally got one Brian!!... and pretty impressed by the hot glue already on the antenna ( I opened mine to do that mod myself ) and the gimbal calibration is dead accurate. Thumbs up so far.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7pni26ncio

ingleburn

Welcome to Taranis I dont know if you have any other radios that are like it so have fun learning to program it. Once you get used to it, its awesome.

And I havent set up the gimbal on the quad yet. The latest videos are using the 250 mini and the Mobius is just strapped to the top.

mnemennth

Do a continuity check on the wires; may be as simple as a bad crimp or solder joint.

That reg will work fine as long as you're flying 2S or 3S; the ones i linked to will automatically switch modes from step-up to step-down if you decide to fly 4S like many of the maniacs on the C250 thread, or if you decide to use the setup on a bigger quad that uses 4S.

Here's some more related "build candy"...




http://www.buildrcdrones.com/store/p...egulators.html



http://www.redrotorrc.com/index.php?...&product_id=52



http://simplepdb.com/


mnem
*tzzzzt*

rikybob

Congrats Rob!

Mean spirited comments on YT!!!

b

rikybob

Posh Git rig!

Mines ready but for.....

b

ingleburn

Cheaping out on props

Finally gave up on the gimbal. Roll axis is perfect but pitch is all over the place. Swapped motors and makes no difference.
Looks like the board or sensor is faulty. Not worth the pain to ship it back for refund so ordered a new board and sensor.
Guess thats why they are called goodluckbuy. Hope the replacement works.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJmgdettV58

ahamay

Hmm... rcg has had a coat of paint since I was here last.

mnemennth

So has RCU.

Good to see you alive & kickin' Jonesy! Guess the drop bears didn't get you either!



In other news,

http://youtu.be/N4cHQTL4gX0
mnem
*Taranified*

ahamay

Yeah... I meant RCU... anyways... yes still kicking.

ahamay

Havn't done anything RC for at least a month now. Had a birthday the past week and this just landed today.... Can't wait to fly it. It's the Durafly P51D Old Crow.

rikybob

Mnem,


My right hand to GOD I can't tell ANY difference (other than the lack of HOT AMBER)!

I think I'll hold on to my paltry "B" version.

Enjoying my SWR, new sliders and tricked out BIG speaker!

Fly something with it or I'm going to have to come over there!

Yer pal,

b

rikybob

Apply named aircraft considering your 50th birthday the other day!

Gonna need to see some viddy!

b

rikybob

AllCon,

Had a nice day yesterday.

Went out flying with Eric at the field. Forgot the FS Goggles and HAD to fly my other gear. The Teksumo was a blast. The Popwing a bust (yet again) and the Fox Glider a blast.

However, there was a "man down". Since I crashed the Fox Glider at the other club in a sunlight blackout the canopy didn't fit QUITE as snug. It blew off in my aerobatics and landed in the woods some where.

I was able to order a new one on my Px at the field but went sans the little pilot (saved 6 bux).

I'll get a "hair band" from the local 5 and 10 to secure same here to fore.

Additionally my 250 is ready to fly but for a part that's missing (I'll fire my consultant).

I should have it up in a few days!

Hope y'all are getting some stick time!

b

PS Special thanx to Noel for niggling me into the 250 project and paving the way and saving me a LOT of headaches!

mnemennth

b -

I promise you... in person, the difference is night and day. Digital cameras just can't seem to capture the details of LED lighting properly; I believe that's because they're optimized for white light spectrum and LEDs are much narrower bandwidth.

Bottom line is, the lew LCD doesn't make my eyeballs squirm while I'm programming; for me, it was definitely worth the hassle. Hopefully once they redesign the new RF module, the Taranis will finally have an SWR meter that actually measures SWR, not just the useless arbitrary scale they have now that's "sortof like SWR but not really". Right now, it's like the difference between an idiot light and gauges in your dash; I'll hold out for the actual gauges.

[EDIT]

However, for your Taranis, near as I can tell, just swapping out to the new LCD should be very simple with no soldering involved. As long as the old one's not bonded to the backlight, should be a simple matter of unplugging and plugging in the new one; if the LCD brackets are a different configuration, worst case scenario a little hot glue or silicone RTV abuse might be necessary. Still worth the hassle, trust me.

The only things holding it up are:

1) LCDs available to purchase separately.

2) Mike adding support for the new LCD to the regular Taranis Firmware.

See my pictures of the new LCDs and insides HERE: http://s1183.photobucket.com/user/mn...?sort=9&page=1

[/EDIT]


Had a small windfall in the form of a larger payday than expected; ordered 4 of the DYS 1604s from BG. At $35 shipped, I couldn't say no!

Also put in an order for a couple of these:



http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2234203

DANG! That Afro32 is TINY; even in this frame. But uhhh... just curious... why'd you add the spacers on the bottom plates? The reason the guys on the C250 thread are doing it is to relocate the ESCs between the plates. They say that bringing the ESCs in closer together counters the pendulum effect of raising the battery 10mm; plus, you know, looking better.


mnem
Arrrou?

rikybob

I botched the wiring and had to add more wire! The spacers are 5 millimeter.

mnemennth

Ummm okay... but why? Or are you saying you tried to put the ESCs between the plates, and the spacers are just lingering until you get materials to do it right?


mnem
Pizza doesn't fly as well as you might think. Pizza boxes, however, fly great on 3S.

rikybob

When I went to to the build I cut all the ESC wires too short. In doing so it would not allow for wires to go AROUND the arms.

If I tried the wires would be too short and it would pinch them.

So's what I did was give myself 5mm of room. The spacers occur on the new M3 bolts and are secure. The lines sandwiched between the the frame are secure as well.

These aircraft will take a beating and believe it or not I too am on a budget so I suspect I'll kill escs and motor and will most likely do it "right" on the next rebuild.

But until then it will simply have to be done "adequately"!

All the best!

b

mnemennth

Sorry... I guess I'm the only freak left who keeps several meters of each of the common sizes/colors of silicone primary wire in my parts drawer...

I wasn't trying to rag on yer... I was just trying to understand something that looked a bit weird to me. I was thinking maybe Noel had been whispering in your ear about a new hop-up trick I hadn't heard of yet; being out of micro-quads for like a year. That's forever, really... just like computers and smartphones.

Peace and tailwinds, my friend!


mnem
*Feeling utterly pants*

ingleburn

Me being the crash test dummy on this project suggested it as a way of fitting a PDB in between the plates.
Ended up being a waste of time as the one I chose didnt give clean enough power to the Vtx https://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/...dProduct=55556
On my next rebuild it will be coming out and Ill use the space to fit the esc,s in. Brians excuse is he cant solder for s h i t and needed 5mm spacers to make some room
My battery fits in between decks so pendulum effect is not there.