Multirotor, multicopter and quadcopter discussion - The Drone thread

[Electroshadow]

i tend to use giant shark for props tend to get them next day if you order before 1pm on the cheap postage

 

[PinkFloyd]

I've looked quickly at giantshark but finding props on their is a bit of a nightmare. Saying that most retailers I've come across don't have them labelled well with decent pictures. No idea why no-one seems to let you go "I want 8" props with a 4.5" pitch - show me what you have" :/

Anyway, here's a video of some of my flying yesterday
Anyone got any tips for getting video to youtube with decent quality. Straight off the camera this vid looked decent but no matter how I save it I end up with youtube nuking the quality

 

[Genoma]

Great vid, what controller are you using and what type of settings?

 

[FunkyCowie]

It is hard with youtube's re-encoding. If its gentle movement the encoding process still gives a clear picture but if there is fast movement like when you are flying or driving a motorcycle some areas are prone to pixelation in changes of light levels and areas where it is dark.

Before uploading you should re-encode your video to a format youtube encodes to at a bit rate the gives you the least size file for uploading but with the best quality. However a 5 minute lossless file could be about 500-750mb.

 

[Resa69]

It is hard with youtube's re-encoding. If its gentle movement the encoding process still gives a clear picture but if there is fast movement like when you are flying or driving a motorcycle some areas are prone to pixelation in changes of light levels and areas where it is dark.

Before uploading you should re-encode your video to a format youtube encodes to at a bit rate the gives you the least size file for uploading but with the best quality. However a 5 minute lossless file could be about 500-750mb.

YouTube is such a pain

 

[FunkyCowie]

this is quite a good article for explaining what you need for youtube.

http://www.streamingmedia.com/Artic...ouTube-How-to-Get-the-Best-Results-83876.aspx

Have you upgraded your mobius to the latest firmware? its not just .mov any more

 

[PinkFloyd]

Great vid, what controller are you using and what type of settings?

Using a KK2.0, currently on a 1.6++ firmware. Not check for updates in a while though.
Got the P/I gains linked for Aileron/Elevator:
Pgain - 40
Plimit - 100
Igain - 25
Ilimit - 100

Yaw is like so:
Pgain - 50
Plimit - 120
Igain - 0
Ilimit - 10

Not really played around with them for a while so sure I could likely get it more locked in. Just need to read up on how to tune it again to find something.

Cheers for the tips+links around youtube uploading. Will play about
For a start I've changed the Mobius (up to date firmware) to MP4 instead of Mov. I've also turned off the auto colour balance as it was really over doing it in that vid.

 

[Skeeter]

Ordered a cheap 1s to 3s battery alarm, bit what turned up was a 1s to 8s dual alarm with LED screen. It shows voltages of each cell and allows custom setting for when the alarm triggers. Win!

What do you guys set your alarms too? 3.3v seems to be what all the alarms come as standard.

 

[Tackle_Berry]

Changed my FPV250 frame to a Chinese carbon 250 to reduce jello which worked.

Now just need to tidy up motor/esc cables on the arms and get some FPV gear.

Sorry for about iphone pics

 

[PinkFloyd]

Nice build, snazzy receiver
Do the ESCs get hot buried away like that?

 

[Tackle_Berry]

Nice build, snazzy receiver
Do the ESCs get hot buried away like that?

Thanks, will soon find out about the ESC's

 

[d_brennen]

My 12a Emax ESCs seem ok mounted like that. Looks like you have the spacer kit from MakeItBuildIt? I have that, though my build is nowhere near as neat

e:

Spoiler

 

[Tackle_Berry]

My 12a Emax ESCs seem ok mounted like that. Looks like you have the spacer kit from MakeItBuildIt? I have that, though my build is nowhere near as neat

e:

Spoiler

Yeah that's the one got the frame and spacer kit from there, very pleased with the frame.

How did you get on mounting the KK2? I ended up drilling holes but then didn't line up so double sided tape came out lol.

 

[Flukester]

X100 chargers arrived, I must say I never got excited over a charger before but these are dam cool

 

[d_brennen]

Yeah that's the one got the frame and spacer kit from there, very pleased with the frame.

How did you get on mounting the KK2? I ended up drilling holes but then didn't line up so double sided tape came out lol.

Lol Pound Land double side foam tape is immense for flight controllers

 

[PinkFloyd]

Managed to thump my quad into the ground again earlier. Broke the 2 T pieces at the front - so they normally wouldn't hold the arm tubes in place at all. However bolt is still there (they pivoted backwards) and it still holds fine so probably not even going to bother switching them at this point.
Can't believe the abuse this frame takes compared to the previous one!

Question re: making my own power distribution - if I just soldered all the live cables to one strip of copper, then all the ground to another and connected them up to create the circuits would that work? Would using just a chunk of copper cause any issues? Wouldn't look pretty at all but could be quite practical in terms of packaging.

 

[d_brennen]

Couple of bits of copper would be fine, as long as they are thick enough for the amperage you expect the motors to draw. You could solder together bundles of wire in a single loom. Its a bit of a faff, especially when you decide to add something like LEDs after you've made the loom and shrinked it up ... For this reason, I always use a pdb, even on my 250s, its only a couple of grammes

E: forgot to mention, if you go with strips of copper, make sure that in no circumstance could they come into contact with each other a crash is bad enough but taking home a smouldering pile of plastic and fibreglass is no fun after a lipo fire

 

[PinkFloyd]

Yeh I'd have some copper as thick as the cables, would be more than enough I should imagine.
I've got the bundles at the moment and they're a bit of pain. Could have done a better job with them, they're quite bulky and they're not at all tidy. Whilst if I went with some blocks the soldering would be easier and I could flatten the cabling out more. One thought I've had with my current setup is that I could easily put these power distribution blocks within the actual tubing. With some heatshrink around them to stop anything shorting.

 

[spookywillow]

I finally got around to taking a couple of photos and upload them, FPV is just fantastic and am looking for a good fpv camera as I'm using a gopro at the moment and I also need a light gimbal as I'm already around 1200g if anyone has any good suggestions

 

[PinkFloyd]

Love the sky in that last picture! Much post processing or did it really look that good straight off?