DONE! Stretched Trex Helicam

[j_kookboy]

I'm just the opposite. My bird's ass heavy.

I loaded up all the electronics on the gimbal/nose so that they are isolated from the rest of the heli.

Just have to fab up a frame mount point for it.

Looking good Iven.

Jesse

[bullaculla]

Okay, more progress.
Made some mounting plates at the rear of the frame for electronics/batteries. I have to keep them spaced off the frame because if I screw into the frame, I block the space reserved for the main lipos. The 5350s barely fit in there. Also, the extension I made for the big lipos hanging is acting like a diving board under the lipos weight, so I made supports for it. I also made a little plate to spread out the boom supports to make more room for the lipos, and widen the triangle for more support.
I plan to run all the cameras electronics at the rear of the frame for balance, except the wireless downlink. I plan to use that to counter balance the tlit servo and wheels because the servo side is so heavy that the helis balance really changes when you pan the camera around. So I need to balance the gimbal.









Its amazing how much weight I need to counter balance the nose mount. What also surprised me is how little I need to move them to make a big difference in balance.
Starting to look like a real camera ship, and not just a pretty helicam...
Now for the hard part, wiring everything back up again.
Stay tuned

[Efliernz]

Lookin great Iven. I'm outa here for 5 days (no HF!!!).

The more I look at your machine, the more I want it !!!

Merry christmas

Pete

[bullaculla]

Merry Christmas Pete! :
hopefully I can get it in the air by the time you are back online

[Ginvent]

Subscribed

[bullaculla]

For all those watching this project thread, there will be a little delay. so these photos hopefully will keep you guys happy for awhile. Here is what happened.
I got it all wired up and running today. So the first thing I did was spool it up to check for vibes. I wanted to check my issue with the tail, so I removed the head, shoved some earplugs in my head (last time my ears rang for 2 days ) and held the heli in my hands after setting the HS. Tail held solid, no weird sweep that I was getting earlier. and no vibes except for the extreme end of the tail boom. The main frame and nose mount had no vibes at all. So that is good news,at least no vibes without the head anyway...
But as I was holding the heli I noticed the tail boom was getting warm. So I started feeling around where the shaft drive bearing was, and it was super hot!
I quickly hit thottle hold, unplugged everything and worked quickly to remove boom and get the bearing out before it ruined my CF boom. I couldn't tell what was really wrong cause I pulled it out before checking it. It might have been seated wrong. The bearing holder did not look like it was spinning in tube because there was no wear and looked fine. I can only guess that the bearing is bad and needs to be replaced. While I do have replacement bearings on hand, I do not want to destroy any of my TT shafts just for the crappy align bearing. So i ordered a graphite raptor 90 shaft to convert and a bunch of high quality ABC bearings . The shaft i'm running right now is the standard rappy 90 shaft, and it is very thin wall steel. Its very hard to work with, and the align ends are too small to fit in it. Also for those who want to stretch theirs trex600s, the raptor shaft ends work, but the little nipple at the end is too big. The 3D guys flying stretched trex600s have been cutting off the nipple, and the drive teeth slides right in. BUT the nipple is there to keep the shaft centered. mine has some free play and may have been off center. I think thats why my tail has a high frequency vibe, and may be the reason my bearing burned out. So when I get the new shaft, I will check to see if the align ends will fit it, or turn down the rappy ends to fit the align bevel gears. Or I could also drill out the plastic bevel gears to fit over the rappy nipple, but it has to be precise. I guess I could put the plastic gear in a chuck and slowly sand down the inside with some fine sandpaper, but I'd have to do that everytime I changed the gears.
Anyway, here are some photos in a makeshift dining room bedsheet studio to keep you guys pacified while I wait for parts

with the downlink TX and small 3s lipo on the gimbal opposite of the tilt servo and belt drive, it stays perfectly balanced pointed in any direction.

I cut the tilt servo wire a little shorter and put a coily on the extention to keep it neat. Hopefully it will unplug itself it the operator over rotates the gimbal. I still have plenty of movement tho. The hanging wire is for the trigger.

The wrap protected harness is the only wiring going to the gimbal.

As soon as I got the mount, I took most of it apart to sand all the edges. They are pretty sharp when they get out of a CNC mill. Just want to make sure any wires dont get cut because CF is a good conductor and will short out cut wires. I still wrapped most wire anyway :wink:

The back end is a mess for now with all the tail servo/gyro wires and the AP2000i sensor wire all bundled up :o

You have to be able to make your own plugs and wires to be an APer

Nice and thin. I am already making a buck to mold some thin FG so I can make a half canopy like the Copterworks body. Mostly its just a place to put company stickers on tho

Even without an ass, she still looks good to me!

BTW, just carrying nose mounted camera heli by its head, it becomes clear why its so much easier to fly. When you move the heli around, it does not swing. As long as it is balanced, it just stays nice and level. An under slung will swing like a pendulum. with the weight at both ends and closer to the head, it acts like a tightrope walker using a long pole to balance.

[Ginvent]

2 question. what is that thing on the veiwfinder of the camera and will you be cutting up a canopy to put on this thing?

[bullaculla]

The blue thing on the back of the viewfinder camera? a little RAM heatsink glued on with thermal compound. I was bored.

Originally Posted by bullaculla

I am already making a buck to mold some thin FG so I can make a half canopy like the Copterworks body

[bullaculla]

Well, I got bored today after opening presents with my family and NOT getting the elusive trex500 I was hoping for
So I got out an extra stock CF boom and torque tube driven tail, put it on and ran the 620 NHP blades and flew it. Surprisingly, the ready to fly weight with panasonic PVG120 was only 10.5 lbs. I didn't use the downlink, but it was onboard with all the control lipos and downlink lipos. Shot a little video. I had some high feq shakes, I think due to the blades being out of track. The tracking was set for the 690s. The tail fin had no vibes at all, but the pool noodle was all over the place.
I just wanted to see how she would fly. and it was very nice!
Flew just like a normal trex600 except heavier. but way lighter than my underslung setup which was 12-13 lbs. Still very windy here, and stuck in tight quarters since I am at home. I may try to get out to the field and fly with nicely tracked blades and hopefully put up a decent video.
Short, limited to 10mb test video with out of track blades :o flight was a lot longer, but most of it was just a few feet off the ground shooting pavement.
http://photos.imageevent.com/bullacu...x700/12-25.wmv

[Sugarbaker]

I'm pretty impressed with the smoothness of the video... and to think it's not even your finished set up. Definitely keeping me inspired. Soon the build of my 600 camera ship will begin.

[bullaculla]

Thanks Sugar
I got the Raptor 90 graphite torque tube in the heli last night, and it is a really nice high quality peice. Very straight with nicely machined ends. Not like the align TT at all. Almost makes me want a raptor 90!
I was really careful while sanding the little end nipples down to keep them round. Took about 2 hours to do both sides using wet dry sandpaper and turning it by hand. They were exactly 6mm diameter, and needs to be 5.5 to fit in the align TT drive gears. It is a perfect fit and has no wobbles at all
The sad part is that it has been crazy windy here for almost 2 months! I wont be able to get the bird in the air today. Its really bad today

[BungeeMike]

SISSY!! Cant fly in 35+ with gusts??? Call me if you want to go to a large empty theatre to test hover in. I will be doing the same. Would like to see your bird
Bungee

[bullaculla]

I did an 20ft fully loaded auto today! and it was perfect!
I'll give you a call Mike

[bullaculla]

Its pretty much done now!

Just a quick flight video, and baby autos. Its very stable. Hitting hold at 15 feet is no problem. I'll go out a practise some real ones at the field, so look for move vids in the following weeks
Everything is staying very cool and smooth and little vibes even tho the mount has no damping. It flys almost too nimble. The other day, I took it up and did some hard flying and pirouettes and was thinking about doing a roll! It feels so much like my play 600!
What do you guys think?
http://photos.imageevent.com/bullacu...st%20shoot.wmv

[trackhead]

Nice, like the front mount. So much cleaner looking than the underslung madness.

[crewchief]

Iven,
The Vario landing gear looks perfectly proportioned to your new stretched/front mount configuration! Nice job.

[mk1spitfire]

wow man

how heavy?

[bullaculla]

I just put it on the scale with all the lipos and downlink gear, and the heaviest camera and lens it will ever carry (XTi with 10-22mm) and is just over 13lbs. I had to weigh it a couple times because I couldn't believe it.
I shot some more test video today at the field. I will edit and post it soon.

[bullaculla]

Long test flight at our field today. Kind boring
The guys who appear in the left side of the frame are flying planks. The guy sitting in the lawnchair is Scott from Aloha hobbies giving lessons.
The compression is bad, so its hard to tell how smooth it is. But it is very smooth
http://photos.imageevent.com/bullaculla1/heli/01-07.wmv

[j_kookboy]

Very nice Iven.

Jesse