Progress Report

[sutty]

Been waiting a good few days for some bits and bobs. Three separate deliveries, and no sign of them for ages.

Today, all three arrived at once, and best of all, the 3D gimbal from HK international, which was one of them, did not attract any VAT. I think this is the first time when one has just got through by its own devices, without me declaring a lower value, or fiddling the invoice accidentally by ordering it with points, and where I've just been missed.. Lack of VAT, and the current strength of the pound, has made this a very cost effective buy.

So at the left we have a carbon DSMX satellite. In the middle we have an infa red thermometer. At the right we have an optical heli tach. Of course at the back we have the 3D gimbal.

I went for the carbon sat so I can mount the Rx on the outside of the body, and have the antenna mounted in a vertical tube going straight up from the quad, for extra diversity.

I got the 3D gimbal to hopefully elliminate the wobble on yaw, and I got the other two little gizmos just because I've always wanted them, and they were well priced and available in the UK warehouse.



Cheers

Sutty

[sutty]

Just broke my 600, so of course I'll have to fix it directly.

I was wanting to use it to demonstrate some specific MicroBeast behaviour, but discovered that it wasn't bound. It wasn't bound because when I updated my DX18 firmware recently it said I would lose all models, as it was a major upgrade, so I copied them all to the SD card. When you import them back they are no longer bound, so each time I want to operate a model for the first time in a while I have to bind it first.

Anyway, I couldn't get a bind plug in, so I had to unmount the receiver mounting plate, and try to twist the receiver around. Doing so I sheared off one of the short antennas against the sharp edge of the frame side.

I don't think I'll have any trouble soldering another antenna on, but it is going to have to be a complete strip down to get the Rx out. Grrrr.

Oh well, best set to it.

Cheers

Sutty

[sutty]

and, finished. Two hour non-stop repair, just because I couldn't get my bind plug in earlier.

Cheers

Sutty

[Heli Yea!]

[copterboy]

Well Sutty, sounds like your letter to Royal Mail did some good Some nice gadgets there, been wanting an IR thermometer myself

As for me I am like you, I just been waiting for a nice calm day to test things, but has been blowing a gale when I have the spare time So, I just thrown myself back into work since the holiday. Really starting to annoy me now that I don't have my own transport, so I'm cracking on to see how quickly I can raise funds for a new set of wheels now

Looks like we are due a break on Tuesday. I'll probably be in work, but fingers crossed I'll try and work in an early dart.

[Heli Yea!]

Good to see ya back Den. I cant hardly wait to hear about your new FBL adventures and thoughts.

[Heli Yea!]

Tom any word on the wherabouts of your ET Vector??

[copterboy]

Cheers Chad, y'know today isn't looking too bad if the wind drops later. I've managed to injure my left hand at work yesterday, and it's still throbbing like mad. Was hammering some pipeclips in and managed to miss a few times so I'll have to take some painkillers and see how it feels later

[Tomstoy2]

If I remember, the next shipment is the 9th. Getting close now.

As far as the motors go, I need more testing.
The Penguin, less power than stock 2815 motor, but doable. Will have to wait and see how it handles with time and wind.

The Ranger, just got to love Tmotor!
Definitely a hell of a lot more power, almost 2300g. of thrust vs. 1700g., and looks like I gain at least 1 minute of time on a single battery. Running dual, I should expect around 1/2 hour.

[sutty]

Chad, as discussed.



Cheers

Sutty

[Heli Yea!]

fingers crossed Andy.

[Tomstoy2]

Well, went to a new location to fly when the sun came up.
It's a nice large sports park, just outside of town aways.

Got the Ranger all set up, take off, handling well,,,, crap, forgot to turn on the GP!
Land, start recording, take back off. This is cool!. Try a loop, no problem. Try a roll,,,,
what is that black thing falling off of my plane?
Shit, I bet it's my GoPro!

Land, now tail heavy,, no problem.
Put everything away and go hunt.

Took a little while, but I found everything on the grass.

The camera bracket had worked itself loose.
Found all the pieces, got home and went to recover the recording,,, damn, the sd card popped out and I have nothing to show for it!

I found the camera battery and battery cover 15 feet away from the camera, itself. Never though about the sd card.

[Heli Yea!]

Oh crap Tom that sucks. Those sd cards are microscopic so chances are it would still be lost if you had known to look for it. Really sucks cause those tiny things are expensive. Is the GP OK?

[sutty]

Fantastic that you found the camera and the other stuff though. Pity about the recording, and the card, but I don't think they're too expensive. Under £10 to record more than enough for a single battery on a GoPro. Of course if you want to record more, if you have the camera powered, then bigger is better, but I think even 64Gb can be had for about £25.

Is it worth going back to have a look do you think?

[Tomstoy2]

No, I barely found the camera as it was!
All the black camera housing pieces stood out on the freshly mowed lawn, but the GoPro I couldn't find until I practically stepped on it. It had speared itself into the grass so only the smallest surface was exposed and it was below the top of the grass.

As the GoPro got thrown the furthest, and I'm pretty sure the card ejected on impact, it could be practically anywhere.

When I landed the first time, at the very end a wheel ended up being chocked by a lawn plug and went over on it's back.
As this has happened a few times before and on a hell of a lot harder surfaces it broke enough glue loose.
Plus, I didn't help matters. I had the pan out 90 degree's, so there was momentum.

Nice thing is, I'll have it up this evening. Nothing is broke, GoPro powers up, and I do have another sd card I can use. It's smaller, but will do until I can hit civilization.

The Ranger works a charm on the grass. I'll head back out there again, tomorrow morning, bring a few battery's.

[sutty]

As Chad said then, at least you can console yourself with the knowledge that even had you noticed you could have done nothing about it.

[Heli Yea!]

Originally Posted by sutty

Chad, as discussed.



Cheers

Sutty

You should be ashamed posting pics of balls and joints. watch out for sniffer dogs. I claimed $5 for customs so Idont think they will bother you for any £ on delivery.

[sutty]

Awesome.

[jperkosk]

Poor Gopro
Happy you found all the pieces, Tom You're still using GPH2, right? So it uses full sized SD card, most of them are blue, so maybe if you could re-track to the crash site the task isn't as hopeless as it seems?

[copterboy]

@Sutty - I was after a 64GB microSD card, but I was seeing them for £65! If you know somewhere that has them for £25, I'd like to know please!

High pressure and settled weather has returned to the UK for the next few days I also got use of the car, plus hoping for an early finish today. Fingers crossed I get out later, but if not I will definately get time before weekend!