Multirotor, multicopter and quadcopter discussion - The Drone thread

OK everything seems to be binded, calibrated my sticks and swapped the channels over so they are in the correct stick movements.

Although I can only get some motor action through the Naza motor test at the moment, I am not sure if there is some sort of failsafe on at the moment, but I wanted to test it would throttle up quickly with the props off before I head to bed.

I keep getting telematry lost/recovered on my TX.

Trying to follow guides but its very hit and miss.
 
I've never used the Naza motor test function... instead just give it a quick arm (pull left stick bottom right and right stick bottom left at same time) then let go... they will all spin up then stop again. If you get on the throttle before it disarms you can continue to spool up motors....... I'm pretty sure you cannot arm it while Naza is plugged into USB, so unplug this first just in case.

Maybe put some insulating tape on each motor to help see rotation direction... the correct directions of motors is listed on the model type selection page of Naza assistant for reference.

When you are very close to 450 with Taranis you will get RSSI warnings, that's normal... if you move away a little it will stop.

It's great Taranis is talking to Naza, first big step done :) ....once you have flight mode and IOC switches done, and tested failsafe functions you are close to maiden flight :D
 
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Cool, I was sat close, so maybe the RSSI was causing the telemitry lost/recovered

Yeh the motor test in Naza software literally only does a quick spin.

I did take out the USB at one point to give it ago spinning up the motors by just increasing the throttle stick, nothing, was trying for about a minute and about half a minute in and the throttle stick at half way (props off) I had a quick blib on all motors, but then stopped again.

Not sure if this is like you say RSSI, maybe I will stand a bit further away, or test with the stick positions you mentioned.


I still need to do a bit of tidying up, I am re-thinking on the position of my X8R from being at the side of the Naza V2, to being near the front, but may leave it where it is.

Got to permenantly fix on the GPS, do a final tidy and fit the top plate.

Then there is more tuning on the radio (to find out if I am missing stuff) :p
 
Keep us posted how it goes... one thing I didn't mention is after you have mounted GPS / Compass mast you need to tell the naza assistant software where it is mounted in relation to centre of mavity.

The RSSI is the signal level the X8R is getting from the Taranis... the X8R sends this back to the Taranis and yells when getting low (I assign it to a switch also so I can get a verbal reading during flight). When very close together it doesn't work... even though your radio will work fine. As long as you are a meter or so away you won't get the error.
 
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Cool yeah I read about that briefly, will need to look in to it in more detail and get that sorted.

Ta :) will let you know how things go


Do people use the Taranis companion software to programme TX ? or just do it manually through the TX itself?
 
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I am finding my self slightly annoyed... what does the word drone mean you guys?

For me it has no real connection to our hobby, they are multi-rotors. The word Drone never gets applied to RC Airplanes and Helicopters which are all UAV's but multi-rotors seem to have been labeled as a Drone my the mass media. For me it feels like they are called this to put a negative slant on their usage (thanks to abuse) by linking them with military use.

The reason I am slightly annoyed is I just went on the Maplin website and their section on RC quads is labeled drones.

I am sure I am being a bit 'sensitive' but its still annoying.
 
'Drone' does have a slight negative and military connotation, and official bodies ie CAA and EuroUSC don't like using it. But then, the amount of abbreviation variations that get used like UAS, RPAS, UAV etc are never going to appeal to the public so drone will always be used by the media and Joe Bloggs.
 
Any recommendations for uprated motors / props for my F550?

I've got the extended arms on order so could use up to 12" props according to the info for them but 10-11" would likely be a decent step up I'm think?

I did look at some Emax 2216's that were I think 810kV so slightly slower than my current dji ones but for spinning a bigger prop that's the idea if I'm not mistaken?
 
Not such a good idea to try some hovering in the kitchen



Just a quick question, what battery range to people set on the taranis for the display? and battery alarms, say for 4S 5000mah lipo?

Also, is the only way to initiate the start of throttle up between the taranis and naza is by placing the right stick to bottom left, then left stick to bottom left? and then throttle up? - thats the only way I can get to spin up.

IE if I just turn on radio, let it bind, and then throttle up, nothing happens.


Also if I do it the way that was mentioned (the motors are at low RPM at 0 throttle, then they dont really start picking up power until throttle stick is half way (again I dont think this is normal?)
 
No prolly not a good idea.... :)

Battery alarms ?, well you have voltage limits on the Naza (unless you have an appropriate telemetry module the Taranis doesn't know anything about the 450 voltage levels). The way they set it up is total nonsense. Set loss figure for both to 0... then set first level protection to 3.6V per cell (14.4V on your 4S), and 2nd level 3.4V per cell (13.6V)

There are a couple of ways of arming, but bottom right bottom left should work, unless cal is out. Unless you arm throttle will do nothing... and Naza won't start take off till over 50% throttle... but that's just the way it works.

Once airborne 50% throttle should get you a stable hover.


Naza keeps everything slow and easy to fly... nothing to catch you out really. It's a great controller though for larger birds... where you want docile performance and a steady camera platform. Mind you when pushed you can still do crazy speeds and rates of accent.


Once you get FPV and iOSD you can turn all the Naza Voltage rubbish off.... and fly till you want to land by monitoring voltages. The 3.6V per cell is a little early to land for maximum flight times. On 2nd level protection 450 will try and decend but you can override this by throttling up.
 
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Flukester said:
No prolly not a good idea.... :)

Battery alarms ?, well you have voltage limits on the Naza (unless you have an appropriate telemetry module the Taranis doesn't know anything about the 450 voltage levels). The way they set it up is total nonsense. Set loss figure for both to 0... then set first level protection to 3.6V per cell (14.4V on your 4S), and 2nd level 3.4V per cell (13.6V)

There are a couple of ways of arming, but bottom right bottom left should work, unless cal is out. Unless you arm throttle will do nothing... and Naza won't start take off till over 50% throttle... but that's just the way it works.

Once airborne 50% throttle should get you a stable hover.


Naza keeps everything slow and easy to fly... nothing to catch you out really. It's a great controller though for larger birds... where you want docile performance and a steady camera platform. Mind you when pushed you can still do crazy speeds and rates of accent.


Once you get FPV and iOSD you can turn all the Naza Voltage rubbish off.... and fly till you want to land by monitoring voltages. The 3.6V per cell is a little early to land for maximum flight times. On 2nd level protection 450 will try and decend but you can override this by throttling up.
Click to expand...



I managed to maintain a hover for a few mins but ultimately didnt quite get some stick movements correct and lost 3 props, they didnt cut out in time when I throttled down. I have two spare but will have to order some and have learnt my lesson, outside only even when testing


Ah cool so you arm it before anything happens, pretty much why I didnt get any throttle then with the props off yesterday, that clears that up. I noticed two of the motors were spinning the incorrect way so I swapped their motor cables around and they are going in the correct direction now.

Well I was just watching video on the taranis set-up which was going through some of the more general set-up, and in there was the battery range (so basically the voltage display on your radio, what range did you want it to display) and thinks like battery warning alarms, but those depend on type of battery and rating you use.
 
Ouch!, takes a big impact to kill those DJI props as they are pretty bendy. Yeah find a big field.

You have to throttle up within 2 secs or so or the arm disables and it turns off again. It's a safety feature to stop you taking off before you are ready. It again takes a couple of secs for the props to stop on throttle off.

The video must have being used with a voltage telemetry module fitted to the X8R. You can get another that Rilot uses that gives total amount of mAH used... quite handy.

You can get away without all that if you go for some kind of on screen display via FPV (iOSD is best for your Naza no doubts). I use a cheap Fatshark Predator v2, but it does a great job.
 
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yeh unfortunatly after a hover I moved in to a fridge, so not the softest of things to smash in to :p

What aftermarket props are you guys using? im probably just going to order another pack of DJI but may upgrade to better ones in a month or so.

Yeah I guess thats a pretty decent safety feature.

Nah the video was this one, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHQCsIR21Ig

(Battery meter range)


Done a bit more tidying today, and mounted GPS mast, top plate, attery velcro, etc, trying to think of how to mount the battery with it being tidy and not show the lipo battery cable, ideally I want to mount it like that though, may need to move stuff about.


Even though the GPS mast is mounted, I need to get some bluetack or something and wedge it on the ends of the pipe mount so the GPS sits straight and not rotate.

Also need to use a non-hot glue method (somehow) of mounting the RX antennas.


Iv tidied as much as the cable between the plates as possible, I cant really do much else tidying.

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I would stick with e300 props

Btw. From photos your gps puck is not pointing the right direction (look at arrow on it). It's also a compass so orientation is critical

It need fixing so it cannot rotate in flight... I used epoxy ...best not use blue tack :-)

Sorry for quick reply ...on phone :-(
 
Flukester said:
I would stick with e300 props

Btw. From photos your gps puck is not pointing the right direction (look at arrow on it). It's also a compass so orientation is critical

It need fixing so it cannot rotate in flight... I used epoxy ...best not use blue tack :-)

Sorry for quick reply ...on phone :-(
Click to expand...


I have some epoxy resin, but didnt want to hard mount it with pretty much perminant stuff just incase I ever needed to remove it. But will use that.

Yeh should be facing the front same direction as the MC arrow, but as its not been locked in it moves until I perm fix it forward.

Just set the controller orientation (X, Y, Z values in Naza) hope its correct, the GPS is about -4cm behind the COG/MC, about 3cm to the right and GPS is about 7cm above the COG/MC

Now on to some other bits. Im hoping I can get a pair of props delivered for Sat, annoyed that I done that now

How important is IOC? I have seen mentions of this being quite an unuseful or not a great feature.


Set-up Ch5 - 3 Way switch (GPS Atti, Atti, Manual) and 2 way switch failsafe
 
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I used to have my GPS locked with some hot glue that worked also and was less permanent... I was just paranoid about it turning in flight, which could be a real disaster.

I must admit my flight mode switch is set GPS / Atti / Failsafe ....just so I don't flick to manual mode by accident. In fact I don't have manual setup at all....though I've read about lots of people using it when a flyaway happens, actual success stories of it's use are few and far between.

I looked at your offset and I think you have z offset wrong polarity...

x: -4
y: 3
z: -7


I never use IOC but you want it setup as a added safety feature. Say if you are long range and you lose orientation (or FPV feed) you can switch to home lock and just pull back to bring bird back to you. Without that it would be a nightmare to navigate home. On a hex it has added function in letting you navigate home with a prop missing or motor fault.. and as hex spins it will come home gradually.

Course lock I've never even tried :)


Another great feature on Taranis is you can set a audible voice alert for every switch position.. the built in voices cover everything you need.

Don't forget to set a switch to give you RSSI reading audible alert... I set the toggle on switch SH as it's momentry and you can access it while still on the sticks
 
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