550 Pilot's lounge

[lgeist]

Anyone ever put two 3s batteries on the Phantom? I just mounted two but now I'm a little worried about the vertical CG. Don't want it to flip over.

I haven't flown mine yet, but I have a single 3S 6600 mAH battery weighing 790 grams and was wondering about CG too. I'm considering mounting it on the underside between my landing gear rails. Has anyone else tried that? Ladykate, what's the weight of your two batts combined?

 

[ladykate]

Anyone ever put two 3s batteries on the Phantom? I just mounted two but now I'm a little worried about the vertical CG. Don't want it to flip over.

Yep, when I used that config for a while I just strapped them to those common under-arm trays you see everywhere. Made it a bit less stable on L or R roll, but I never got the sense it was anywhere near the danger zone. The NAZA is supposed to keep you under a certain amount of pitch in any direction, dual batts on the side should be well within what it can manage for that.

What was your percent increase in flight time? Generally ... was it worth it?

 

[OI Photography]

Anyone ever put two 3s batteries on the Phantom? I just mounted two but now I'm a little worried about the vertical CG. Don't want it to flip over.

Yep, when I used that config for a while I just strapped them to those common under-arm trays you see everywhere. Made it a bit less stable on L or R roll, but I never got the sense it was anywhere near the danger zone. The NAZA is supposed to keep you under a certain amount of pitch in any direction, dual batts on the side should be well within what it can manage for that.

What was your percent increase in flight time? Generally ... was it worth it?

Ehhh maybe, but that's what led me to migrate to a P2 shell so I can carry larger single batts. As long as your total AUW is below 1300g then you can expect about a 50% increase in flight time from adding a second battery of identical capacity, perhaps a little better in ideal circumstances.

Carrying two batts is obviously better than one when that's your only option, but I got more mileage out of moving to a single 2700mAh maddog battery vs. carrying two stock 2200's.

 

[ladykate]

Oh... gag... sorry about this - I screwed up my question.

Of course I wrote Phantom when I meant to write F550. I put two 5200 mah batteries on the 550 and it seems top heavy. Has anyone ever put double 3s batteries on the 550? (sorry - and thanks for answering the question I asked - even though I was too silly to write the question I meant).

 

[OI Photography]

Oh... gag... sorry about this - I screwed up my question.

Of course I wrote Phantom when I meant to write F550. I put two 5200 mah batteries on the 550 and it seems top heavy. Has anyone ever put double 3s batteries on the 550? (sorry - and thanks for answering the question I asked - even though I was too silly to write the question I meant).

Ahhhh makes sense now lol. I just thought you were throwing us a curveball

I've never run double batteries on the 550 but that's one of the next tests on my list. However, I plan to have one on the "roof", and the other one in the battery cage at the back of my landing gear...which counterbalances the camera/gimbal up front. If I were going to run 2 5000mAh+ batts on the 550, having both on top probably does put the COG a good bit higher. Are you stacking them up there or setting them side by side?

I know others have run dual 5000-6000mAh batts on 550's, but I don't know what the preferred mounting scheme is.

 

[ladykate]

Ahhhh makes sense now lol. I just thought you were throwing us a curveball

I've never run double batteries on the 550 but that's one of the next tests on my list. However, I plan to have one on the "roof", and the other one in the battery cage at the back of my landing gear...which counterbalances the camera/gimbal up front. If I were going to run 2 5000mAh+ batts on the 550, having both on top probably does put the COG a good bit higher. Are you stacking them up there or setting them side by side?

I know others have run dual 5000-6000mAh batts on 550's, but I don't know what the preferred mounting scheme is.

I put it on the top deck next to the other battery. However, it still seems like a bigger load than I feel comfortable with unless someone has experience with it. I may make a sling across the landing gear C/L and mount the other one there. Will require a pigtail but I can make that fairly easily. My CG is pretty good right now and putting a battery on the back deck would throw it off quite a bit. I was charging ahead until I read about the warnings not to mount heavy batteries on top of Tarot builds - they tend to flop over unless the batteries are slung underneath instead of on top (which also might explain some of the 800 crashes on take-off (flip of death))

 

[OI Photography]

I put it on the top deck next to the other battery. However, it still seems like a bigger load than I feel comfortable with unless someone has experience with it. I may make a sling across the landing gear C/L and mount the other one there. Will require a pigtail but I can make that fairly easily. My CG is pretty good right now and putting a battery on the back deck would throw it off quite a bit. I was charging ahead until I read about the warnings not to mount heavy batteries on top of Tarot builds - they tend to flop over unless the batteries are slung underneath instead of on top (which also might explain some of the 800 crashes on take-off)

Yeah I think some of the Tarot's (810/960) actually are designed to have the batt sit up on a platform that's even higher than the top of the main deck, which of course really changes the variables in the math for balancing. However, I'd suspect that anybody who had crashes from batteries being mounted too high just failed to adjust the COG properly in the NAZA/WKM...they both should be able to compensate for that, unless it's a real big batt and a good deal off/above the centerline.

 

[ladykate]

OK... new crazy thing that ended up OK (remember, I was the one who had the battery come loose)

Was testing some 8FGHS mods and was just buzzing around the neighborhood empty lot. Brought it back in and landed it a few feet from me. The video transmitter antenna fell off and plopped to the ground under the airplane. I had put it on and I swore it was on finger tight but I had noticed it came loose occasionally.

Had the antenna came off when I was 100 yards out, I might have lost it and fried the tx. So... lucky in a couple of ways but still kinda crazy.

Put it back on again only with blue thread lock and tightened it with a small wrench. Anyone got a wager on what falls off next?

 

[lgeist]

Question for the group - I have a Zenmuse H3-2D on backorder with Atlanta Hobby for my 550. I contacted them this morning to ask to cancel my H3-2D and put me on the list for the new H3-3D gimbal. Their reply was that the initial release of the new gimbal will only work with the Phantom and will not work with the 550. They didn't elaborate on the reason why, so I'm wondering why it wouldn't? The tech specs say that it is also compatible with the Wookong and A2 flight controller, so where is the problem?

Thoughts?

 

[ladykate]

I believe the H3-2D comes in two flavors. One with GCU and one without. The one with will work on the 550 (and is a bit more expensive - I think it includes the HDMI to AV converter). The one without will work with the Phantom. However, that is about the extent of my knowledge of it all - and that's just what the big boys down at the pool hall tell me.

Here is the GCU that is already in the Phantom (I think): http://www.heli-world.com/detail.aspx?ID=11552

 

[OI Photography]

Question for the group - I have a Zenmuse H3-2D on backorder with Atlanta Hobby for my 550. I contacted them this morning to ask to cancel my H3-2D and put me on the list for the new H3-3D gimbal. Their reply was that the initial release of the new gimbal will only work with the Phantom and will not work with the 550. They didn't elaborate on the reason why, so I'm wondering why it wouldn't? The tech specs say that it is also compatible with the Wookong and A2 flight controller, so where is the problem?

Thoughts?

I think ladykate is right that the initial H3-3D may not have an onboard GCU and will rely on the GCU built in to the Phantom 2' mainboard (like the current Phantom version of the H2-3D. Those who want to use the new 3-axis on a platform like the 550 will probably have to wait till DJI releases the model with a built-in GCU.

 

[ladykate]

Question for the group - I have a Zenmuse H3-2D on backorder with Atlanta Hobby for my 550. I contacted them this morning to ask to cancel my H3-2D and put me on the list for the new H3-3D gimbal. Their reply was that the initial release of the new gimbal will only work with the Phantom and will not work with the 550. They didn't elaborate on the reason why, so I'm wondering why it wouldn't? The tech specs say that it is also compatible with the Wookong and A2 flight controller, so where is the problem?

Thoughts?

I think ladykate is right that the initial H3-3D may not have an onboard GCU and will rely on the GCU built in to the Phantom 2' mainboard (like the current Phantom version of the H2-3D. Those who want to use the new 3-axis on a platform like the 550 will probably have to wait till DJI releases the model with a built-in GCU.

I wonder if the H3-2D GCU will work with the H3-3D? It seems they are using the one from the Phantom for it... You could get the GCU seperately if that was the case. I'm going to have to get one for my next build - plan on using the 2D gimbal as an interim solution for a camera until I can figure out what camera I'm hanging on the next project.

EDIT: The A2 and WKM have Zenmuse controllers built in according to a web search I just made. Now I'm as confused as lgeist. Is it the NAZA versions that require the seperate GCU? Looks like it.

 

[OI Photography]

EDIT: The A2 and WKM have Zenmuse controllers built in according to a web search I just made. Now I'm as confused as lgeist. Is it the NAZA versions that require the seperate GCU? Looks like it.

The NAZA, WKM and A2 all have basic gimbal control capabilities based on the same processes used to orient the aircraft itself, but the external GCU's are better at that specific function (gimbal control). The P2 board has a GCU built in (I think).

From what I understand, using the NAZA/WKM/A2 to control a gimbal is good enough to get you by, but a dedicated GCU would be the better option.

 

[FangsCPO]

Wow!!! The GCU cost $160. So if I currently have the H3-D2 on my F550, I can just switch it out and install the H3-D3 and be good to go?

 

[ladykate]

Wow!!! The GCU cost $160. So if I currently have the H3-D2 on my F550, I can just switch it out and install the H3-D3 and be good to go?

I'm not sure about that. Since the H3-3D gimbal works on the Phantom, I made the leap that it might work with the H3-2D controller on the 550 but that is a leap.

 

[OI Photography]

Wow!!! The GCU cost $160. So if I currently have the H3-D2 on my F550, I can just switch it out and install the H3-D3 and be good to go?

Dunno yet, I'm waiting for more info on it. Usually GCU's have to be specifically designed for 3-axis control, you can't usually just connect a 3-axis gimbal to a 2-axis GCU. However, with DJI, who knows :roll:

 

[lgeist]

I asked DJI Support a variety of questions yesterday regarding the new H3-3D and whether or not I could use the GCU from a 2D and if and when they would have a standalone version available that I could use with my F550. This was the response I received this morning:

Dear Lloyd

The current version is only Phantom 2 only. We will have one for others later on, stay tune.

Best regards,
DJI Sales Dept.

 

[chopperflyer]

Has anyone considered taking the guts out of a P1 (or wrecked P2) and making a 450? I was looking at the parts requirements and you could, if you could cannibalize the components, make a 450 for quite a bit less than $500 by repurposing the P1 parts. What am I missing?

your biggest out lay will be a NAZA V2 with GPS, you can fit the motor's, ESC's,the electronics are all built on the bottom base board, then it is how far you want to go after that. can not think of what else you need from the Phantom.

 

[ladykate]

Has anyone considered taking the guts out of a P1 (or wrecked P2) and making a 450? I was looking at the parts requirements and you could, if you could cannibalize the components, make a 450 for quite a bit less than $500 by repurposing the P1 parts. What am I missing?

your biggest out lay will be a NAZA V2 with GPS, you can fit the motor's, ESC's,the electronics are all built on the bottom base board, then it is how far you want to go after that. can not think of what else you need from the Phantom.

I went through this in my mind (it was an easy trip) and then went on to a heavy lift 450, then a heavy lift 550 (and many versions between). I finally settled on a bigger airframe and a higher end controller. The parts are slowly coming in.

I have a P1 but the wife is now wanting to try it out.

 

[Uncle Meat]

So the assembly has begun! Soon I will join the ranks of 550 pilots!

Got the rest of my stuff in the other day so tonight I'll install the brains of this contraption. This is my build components thus far:

DJI F550
NAZA-M v2 w/GPS
Futaba 8FGHS w/R6208SB MD 2 receiver
DJI Zenmuse H3-2D Gimbal
GoPro Hero 3+ Black
NEEWER Fpv Anti-vibration Multifunction Landing Skid

Still haven't decided what batteries and which charger to go with. For now I'll just use my stock Phantom v1.1.1 batteries to get this rig setup and calibrated.

I also have not ordered any of my FPV gear yet, still researching that stuff.

I think I may be in over my head! This radio system is complex (well the S-Bus sure makes connection easy though).

Any advice or things I need to watch out for while installing/configuring the guts in my 550 tonight?

U.M.