Multirotor, multicopter and quadcopter discussion - The Drone thread

[ArchAnGeL]

Hoping someone can help me... I'v just nbuilt up my first 250 racer but having some rather odd issue with takeoff...

I've checked what I think is everything I need to and all seems ok.
Spec is
Chaos 30A BLHeli DSHOT ESCS
Omnibus F4 V4 Flight Controller
Futaba FM800 rx

Is there something I'm missing or haven't changed/altered in the Betaflight configurator?
Hoping someone can shed some light on this!!! Thanks

That violent tipping is usually cause by the flight controller being in a different orientation to what betaflight thinks

There should be a small triangle on the top of the flight controller. This should point to the front of the quad by default. If you have rotated the flight controller in your build, you need to input it into the betaflight set up

See link https://youtu.be/j0JF97Y7aH4

I’d its not that, the make sure props are correct rotation for their position but that does not typically cause such a reaction

 

[rhysduck]

@ArchAnGeL

THANK YOU! Completely missed that in BETAFLIGHT. Turned the Yaw 90degrees and all ok! Thanks mate. Just gotta wait for a dry day now

 

[ArchAnGeL]

@ArchAnGeL

THANK YOU! Completely missed that in BETAFLIGHT. Turned the Yaw 90degrees and all ok! Thanks mate. Just gotta wait for a dry day now

Glad it sorted it. I have done that before. Thankfully you didn't give it full throttle because they go absolutely mental and you have no control while they bounce everywhere until disarming. It's quite scary

 

[Draeger]

Result!!! Nice one.

 

[MadMossy]

This is something I'd like to get into eventually.

Without reading the whole thread, what's a good starting point for a beginner (eventually I'd like to combine more than one quadcopter to make larger pre-built objects fly)?

What sort of quad are you interested in getting?

A camera drone for taking fancy photos and video.

or

A racing/freestyle drone for flying FPV (first person view) as if you were a topgun pilot.

Both are very different, although with recent camera advancements you can easily capture 1080p 60fps video with a racing drone. Also greatly depends on your budget. For a camera drone, you can't go wrong with something like a DJI Spark (~£500 all in for 4k 60fps video)

For a racing drone, its a little more complex, I wouldn't jump right in with a 5" quad right away, you'll either destroy it or something else very quickly. I would recommend getting something like EMax Tinyhawk FPV bundle (includes drone, goggles and transmitter for ~150). A tiny whoop as they are called are small, light weight drones often made from durable plastic that can be flown around indoors and outside on a calm day, with little if any risk of causing any damage, you can start off learning to fly in stabilised mode (auto levels itself) and progress into acro mode which is essentially fully manual and can be incredibly mobile.

Once your comfortable with flying a tiny whoop you can then look to progress into larger racing quads, some of which are capable of speeds in excess of 100mph.

 

[rhysduck]

Glad it sorted it. I have done that before. Thankfully you didn't give it full throttle because they go absolutely mental and you have no control while they bounce everywhere until disarming. It's quite scary

It was mental enough at just under half throttle! Can't imagine what kind of aerobatics it would do at full throttle.

Hoping for a few flights this week (still need to balance the airframe) before I start strapping my FPV gear to it. Want to get accustomed to acro mode before FPV flying.

I have a question about hovering... It doesn't seem to want to if you understand me. I keep having to give it throttle inputs... Is this normal or is it something to do with my throttle mid point?

What sort of quad are you interested in getting?
A camera drone for taking fancy photos and video.
or
A racing/freestyle drone for flying FPV (first person view) as if you were a topgun pilot.
Both are very different, although with recent camera advancements you can easily capture 1080p 60fps video with a racing drone. Also greatly depends on your budget. For a camera drone, you can't go wrong with something like a DJI Spark (~£500 all in for 4k 60fps video)

The Spark only does 1080p, no 4k video unfortunately. (i'm assuming that's what the Spark 2 will have in it's bag!

@arc@css Do you have experience of flying anything RC? Let me go see what I have for indoor use...

Edit: Mrs bought me a Syma X20 for Christmas as my other indoor mini quad died Christmas time. For a small drone that you can fly indoors then it's ideal for you to learn the basics on (or something similar). It crashes like its indestructible (it's not) and charges quite quickly. Definitely worth a look.

 

[MadMossy]

I was just throwing it out there as its the cheaper end of the DJI range, I have a Mavic 2 Zoom so not really that interested in the Spark. There are 4k capable drones available for that sort of price though, the Parot Anafi and the Yantec Mantis Q for example.

I also have a 65mm Tiny Whoop which uses 1S batteries and a 3" freestyle quad that uses 4S batteries and a 5" that uses 6S, the later 2 of which are like mini rockets they are blisteringly fast, my most recent is the 3" which is a titanium and carbon frame.

 

[Delvis]

It was mental enough at just under half throttle! Can't imagine what kind of aerobatics it would do at full throttle.

Hoping for a few flights this week (still need to balance the airframe) before I start strapping my FPV gear to it. Want to get accustomed to acro mode before FPV flying.

I have a question about hovering... It doesn't seem to want to if you understand me. I keep having to give it throttle inputs... Is this normal or is it something to do with my throttle mid point?

The Spark only does 1080p, no 4k video unfortunately. (i'm assuming that's what the Spark 2 will have in it's bag!

@arc@css Do you have experience of flying anything RC? Let me go see what I have for indoor use...

Edit: Mrs bought me a Syma X20 for Christmas as my other indoor mini quad died Christmas time. For a small drone that you can fly indoors then it's ideal for you to learn the basics on (or something similar). It crashes like its indestructible (it's not) and charges quite quickly. Definitely worth a look.

You're flying it indoors so it'll be prone to the ground effect.

Also, it's a freestyle type quad, it'll never truly hover as it's not GPS locked

 

[MadMossy]

Go find yourself a nice big open area to learn acro, you need the space to correct yourself, and if you haven't already check out a simulator like Liftoff (steam) or Velocidrone. You might need an adaptor though to use your Futaba radio.

 

[ArchAnGeL]

Go find yourself a nice big open area to learn acro, you need the space to correct yourself, and if you haven't already check out a simulator like Liftoff (steam) or Velocidrone. You might need an adaptor though to use your Futaba radio.

This is good advice for starting out with acro. Do it on a sim first so you know what to expect. You'll soon get used to it

 

[Delvis]

Haven't flown in ages, ugh.

There's actually a flying club on my doorstep, they're historically planes/helis only, but they've recently allowed quads, so may start using that

 

[MadMossy]

Been a while since I got outside with the weather we have had, so desperate I just took the tiny whoop out the back of my flat and went through 9 batteries, even with 10mph+ winds it still hauls a**. Not bad for a 21g 65mm drone

 

[Draeger]

Weather been rubbish but it is to be expected at this time of year I suppose. Got out a couple of weeks ago and grabbed some footage of Stirling Castle and the Kings Knot. Charging batteries just now for tomorrow, dry and wind looks light'ish for Sunday.

 

[rhysduck]

What have you done to the Mavic

 

[Draeger]

Fire Rescue skin m8, use it for SAR duties.

 

[MadMossy]

Considered the Mavic 2 Enterprise at all with the FLIR camera and additional parts (high power LED lamp for example)?

 

[Draeger]

Considered the Mavic 2 Enterprise at all with the FLIR camera and additional parts (high power LED lamp for example)?

I'm on it, looking at expanding our SAR capability with something similar. Gotta persuade senior management its a good investment first though.

 

[arc@css]

What sort of quad are you interested in getting?

A camera drone for taking fancy photos and video.

or

A racing/freestyle drone for flying FPV (first person view) as if you were a topgun pilot.

Both are very different, although with recent camera advancements you can easily capture 1080p 60fps video with a racing drone. Also greatly depends on your budget. For a camera drone, you can't go wrong with something like a DJI Spark (~£500 all in for 4k 60fps video)

For a racing drone, its a little more complex, I wouldn't jump right in with a 5" quad right away, you'll either destroy it or something else very quickly. I would recommend getting something like EMax Tinyhawk FPV bundle (includes drone, goggles and transmitter for ~150). A tiny whoop as they are called are small, light weight drones often made from durable plastic that can be flown around indoors and outside on a calm day, with little if any risk of causing any damage, you can start off learning to fly in stabilised mode (auto levels itself) and progress into acro mode which is essentially fully manual and can be incredibly mobile.

Once your comfortable with flying a tiny whoop you can then look to progress into larger racing quads, some of which are capable of speeds in excess of 100mph.

@rhysduck & @MadMossy Sorry for the late reply.

This will sound a bit bonkers but having seen these sorts of things crop up, I'd love (eventually) to be in a position to build something like what we see here. I have a project in mind though I guess the first thing to do would be to make some rough scamp drawings/designs in Illustrator/Gimp or Photoshop.

For some reason, the video I'm trying to post...won't.

 

[MadMossy]

Building a quad is easier than you might think, providing you get the right parts, a good place to start is with a kit, there are plenty available and they start from pretty low prices.

The Eachine Tyro79 is only about 60 quid currently, that includes all the parts you need to build a 3" quad (excluding the tools), you just need to add a battery, transmitter and fpv goggles.

You can obviously go much higher than that, but as a first build something cheap is panky wise, just incase you balls up the soldering.

 

[arc@css]

It's letting me post it now, this is the one that inspired me.