Trex 800 Camera Ship Instructions?

[R_Lefebvre]

Anybody know where to get the manual for the Trex800 camera ship with the full fiberglass body? I inherited one that has never flown, and just trying to figure out how to get it working.

Most of the mechanics is no mystery to me. But I think I'm missing some parts related to mounting of the body, as there's no obvious way to get this mounted as it is now. Also, no clearance is provided for the rudder pushrod to exit the body. So, just trying to figure this out.

[Khosravi]

Found this on their website:
http://www.align.com.tw/ManuaLib/Heli/aerial/HC8012.pdf

[R_Lefebvre]

Thanks! I looked but couldn't find that. Looks like I'm missing all the little aluminum mounts. The original owner found them though.

[Mapoff]

Is that a camera ship with the gbal on the front? I bought the whole gimbal alone and used my own gbal controller. It all turned out to be a waste of money because I put a cheap chinese gimbal on there and it was light years better. The belts had lots of slop even though they seemed tight. After I had good luck with the brushless I beefed it up and now carry Red/Blackmagic Production with silky smooth results.

Are you going to throw a pixhawk/ardupilot on there? I have had great success on multirotors but a $3500 heli scares me.

[R_Lefebvre]

Yep. There she is, complete with Pixhawk of course.



Yeah, the whole Trex800 and gimbal system is not very good. I had to put the new Align head on it to get rid of the DFC crap. But the customer had already bought the heli and wanted to use it.

$3500 is nothing. I'm using it on $30,000 systems, as are quite a few other companies. Go to UAVSI Exponent in May and have a look around. You'll see many military grade systems, using Pixhawk (if they let you look under the hood, which many won't).

[Mapoff]

I have an Align 800 with a completely custom frame now. Brushless gimbal on it carrying a Blackmagic Production 4k camera. I don't know how I"ll ever go to a multirotor. The DFC, and that gimbal, which I had, suck. Any servo based gimbal isn't fast enough to have smooth video. I'm using the Photoship One style front tubes and that gets rid of any vibrations left over.. I bought some turn buckles and I put on one blade. I noticed a full turn for tracking with the standard ones is about a full degree. With the turnbuckles I can dial in an exact tracking.

The manual for that should be easy to acquire. I don't doubt you on the stability of the pixhawk. I have too much wrapped up in mine to leave the Naza H. maybe one day.

[R_Lefebvre]

Yeah, I'm not looking to do video with this at all. That would be a waste of time. This is just for photography, where IMO the servo gimbals are actually better because they "just work". No need to spend half a day re-balancing and re-tuning the stupid every time you change the SD card...

Agree, turnbuckles are a must. Haven't found them for this one yet though.

I was disappointed when I bought the new head, it came with rock-hard dampers just like the DFC head. I had to then find and order the red F3C dampers.

[Mapoff]

I've got extremely stable video using a brushless gimbal and basically the same exact thing. I went with a 3G V1 head. I've spent four years to finally get where I am so I've experimented with EVERYTHING. I found that the black dampers work better than the Red. I got less vibrations and more authority with Black. Also that myth about low headspeed makes worse vibes. With the BMCC I run at least 1550. The lower you go the larger the vibrations. Maybe a 3 blade with low rpm would be more efficient but these are my findings.

[R_Lefebvre]

I was amazed that Trex800 with an AUW of 22lbs flies with a headspeed down to 900 RPM!

[Mapoff]

900? I've been down to 1100 with no camera at all and seemed ok. With the BMC closer to 28lbs there is alot of collective at 1450 and flies like mush. I just run at 1550 and I have alot more authority, speed, agility etc. Keep us posted even though you were asking for instructions.

[R_Lefebvre]

And with the Trex800 I got 15 minutes flight time at 22lbs, on 6S. 6S 5300, two in parallel so 10,600 mAH.

Building a new machine now, should go over an hour.

[Mapoff]

I'm using NanoTech 8000, in series for 12s and getting 14minuyes at 1550. For video I get no vibrations, and speed with better cyclic control. My all up weight is nearing 30lbs. The problem with the bigger blades at 6s is your current draw is almost double. My friend works at the VT UAV lab and he said some guys brought in a Vapor 35. Regurgitating the words, I believe it was 14s, 800-900rpm, and triblade. The 3 blades allowed more lift at a lower rpm and the 14s allowed for great efficiency. I believe the actual flying time was between 30minutes and I believe closer to an hour.

I normally do 30 amps 12s, and ended up doing 75-80 amps 6s. The motor kv was probably a little higher which made me run at a low throttle out.....on a castle, so it wasn't the best 6s setup but 6s on an 800 seems too dangerous. I still feel like a noob so im only giving my opinion.

[R_Lefebvre]

The Trex800, I'm flying on just 35-40A, on 6S. And I think that the motor is pretty inefficient.

[Mapoff]

I think the 10T pinion would really help. Thats asking alot to run an 800 on 6s. 10 would probably be a better combo.

[R_Lefebvre]

It's really not an issue.

My Procyon 800E UAV heli is also running 6S. AUW is 25lbs (yes!) and it uses only 50A in a hover, and 40A at cruise. It can fly for 1 hour, so, hard to say there's a problem here...

[Mapoff]

How the #%$@ are you getting 40-50amps on 6s. May I ask what motor, esc, pinion combos you are using. Is all that weight battery?

[R_Lefebvre]

Ah, that's the secret sauce.

[nightflyr]

Originally Posted by Mapoff

How the #%$@ are you getting 40-50amps on 6s. May I ask what motor, esc, pinion combos you are using. Is all that weight battery?

40 - 50A?????
A bit wasteful if you ask me.

It really is no big secret to get the gearing optimized.



As to payload current load...

Try slinging 30 lbs of lead under the frame along with the onboard cameras.
Pulling 38A



Been building long endurance camera ships for some time now.
It no big secret or magic to do.



The real trick is to get photos and video with no post production software.
Which is the path I took.
I hate having to fiddle with software in order to get presentable video.
So I work the mechanics to get clean raw footage.

GOPR0 Clean Raw Footage (6 min 33 sec)

[ic-racer]

For what purpose do you use these? Industrial, comercial or fine art?

I ask because i recently learned how to fly an rc heli and i have a Masters of Fine Arts in Photography and Cinema. That 800 trecker looks like something i want, but im not sure what to do with it.

Also, if one is both a rc heli pilot and photographer, does the assistant fly the copter or run the camera?

[nightflyr]

For what purpose do you use these? Industrial, comercial or fine art?

For myself, just personal use.

I ask because i recently learned how to fly an rc heli and i have a Masters of Fine Arts in Photography and Cinema. That 800 trecker looks like something i want, but im not sure what to do with it.

Also, if one is both a rc heli pilot and photographer, does the assistant fly the copter or run the camera?

That is one option, 2 man team.
For myself, I just engage the auto pilot, then concentrate on working the cameras or set up shutter times and fly and let the camera take a picture every few seconds.

All really depends on what your requirements are and skill levels.