550 Pilot's lounge

[Uncle Meat]

Yeah congrats UM...we all know what an awesome feeling that can be.

You might indeed need to tweak the voltage settings in the NAZA to make sure you're using the full working capacity of the battery. Do you have a voltage tester you can use to check the battery right at landing and then again a few minutes later? If you can take those readings after a couple of test flights, you can use that to judge what settings are best for your aircraft and that particular batt.

Do you know what your total flight weight is? That can also help determine if your battery results are abnormal.

Couldn't say on the weight, will have to try and find some way to weight it properly. Bathroom scale says I'm around 3.9lbs.

Battery at full charge read 12.60v
Battery reads 11.66v immediately after battery protection led starts flashing. (First level warning set at 11.55v, second level at 11.10v). Acts like it skips over the "First level" of protection and goes straight to "Second Level" and into decent mode.

Batter reads 11.70v 15 minutes after end of flight.

So I'm going to go into the assist software and enter a loss of 0.11 correct?

U.M.

 

[OI Photography]

Yeah congrats UM...we all know what an awesome feeling that can be.

You might indeed need to tweak the voltage settings in the NAZA to make sure you're using the full working capacity of the battery. Do you have a voltage tester you can use to check the battery right at landing and then again a few minutes later? If you can take those readings after a couple of test flights, you can use that to judge what settings are best for your aircraft and that particular batt.

Do you know what your total flight weight is? That can also help determine if your battery results are abnormal.

Couldn't say on the weight, will have to try and find some way to weight it properly. Bathroom scale says I'm around 3.9lbs.

Battery at full charge read 12.60v
Battery reads 11.66v immediately after battery protection led starts flashing. (First level warning set at 11.55v, second level at 11.10v). Acts like it skips over the "First level" of protection and goes straight to "Second Level" and into decent mode.

Batter reads 11.70v 15 minutes after end of flight.

So I'm going to go into the assist software and enter a loss of 0.95 correct?

U.M.

Technically you can enter whatever "no load" and "loss" values your heart desires, the only ones that do anything are the two "loaded" figures. The first-level loaded figure is when the LED warning is supposed to start, and the second-level loaded figure is when auto-land kicks in.

When adjusting voltage settings, my goal is to get the to the point where the battery level it plateaus at a little bit after flight (I wait 5-10 min max) is around 11.1v-11.25v. So, using the same math in the all those voltage fields, that would result in a second-level loaded setting of ~10.25 (based on the .95v sag you measured). If it were me, I'd start with a slightly higher figure of say 10.4v at first, and then after a couple of more flights you can tell how close that gets you to the goal of 11.1v-11.25v a bit after flight.

Once you have a value entered in the second-level loaded field, set the first-level loaded field a bit higher...the difference between the values in those two fields controls how long before auto-land the LED warning starts.

 

[OI Photography]

Also, here's info I just posted about the scale I use for weighing my 550: viewtopic.php?f=21&t=12298

 

[Uncle Meat]

I adjusted my voltage from 11.55 to 11.40 and got a little more flight time. Battery voltage was 11.55v when 2nd warning activated.

I've also noticed the motors are warm (not hot) to the touch after a flight.

Well this baby is flying so well I've gone and installed the gimbal and GoPro. Tomorrow morning she makes her first video.

U.M.

 

[labmansid]

Looks really good to me. Hope the initial filming session works out well.
BTW, just curious, but what did you use to attach the GPS puck on top of it's mast? Double sided tape? I have a foldable mount I need to put mine on, and was wondering the preferred way to attach it. Also need to figure how to get it off the fixed one it is on now.

 

[OI Photography]

I adjusted my voltage from 11.55 to 11.40 and got a little more flight time. Battery voltage was 11.55v when 2nd warning activated.

Cool, you've still got a lot of usable capacity in there you're not tapping into, so just keep stepping it down gradually until you end up with a battery that's at ~11.2v ten minutes after landing (not when the first or second-level warnings happen).

 

[FangsCPO]

UM it looks pretty good. So let me ask you this, today you flew with no GoPro and I see where you have your lipo. Did you have to do any balance corrections? Also, once you attach your GoPro will you need to adjust your COG again or is that handled by the NAZA when flying in GPS or Atti GPS??

Did you figure out your lipo issue? I need to go back in and check on my voltage settings because I'm getting 11:30min with that battery and I'm feeling bad that you aren't getting the same results. I will say this much, when I put my lipo back on the charger, I'm at about 25% battery remaining. I know I did lower my voltages but I can't recall to what settings exactly.

 

[labmansid]

From what I have researched so far, you should have no less than 20% left in your battery after use for optimal performance and life of the battery. That is where a good charger comes in, that can tell how many mAmps ( or Amps ) it puts back in the battery when it charges. So for a 5000mA battery, you should have to charge back no more than 4000mA into it. That's sort of my next project, seeing just what sort of voltage I can go down to and not discharge my battery down too low. It's kind of confusing for now.

 

[Uncle Meat]

BTW, just curious, but what did you use to attach the GPS puck on top of it's mast? Double sided tape?

Yup! Used the original double-sided tape that came with the Naza.

Cool, you've still got a lot of usable capacity in there you're not tapping into, so just keep stepping it down gradually until you end up with a battery that's at ~11.2v ten minutes after landing (not when the first or second-level warnings happen).

Roger that. Will take the volt meter with me to my flying location today and will record voltages at 10 minutes after landing.

UM it looks pretty good. So let me ask you this, today you flew with no GoPro and I see where you have your lipo. Did you have to do any balance corrections? Also, once you attach your GoPro will you need to adjust your COG again or is that handled by the NAZA when flying in GPS or Atti GPS??

Yes I did balance corrections. I slid the battery & tray either fore or aft once the battery was connected to adjust the COG. Now that I have the GoPro on there I had to reconfigure it again since I added more weight to the front (GoPro/Gimbal). You can see in this latest pic I've got the battery as far back as it will go and I've tightened up the distance between the outriggers legs. This was all done to maintain a COG as close to the center of the bottom plate as I could.

Did you figure out your lipo issue? I need to go back in and check on my voltage settings because I'm getting 11:30min with that battery and I'm feeling bad that you aren't getting the same results. I will say this much, when I put my lipo back on the charger, I'm at about 25% battery remaining. I know I did lower my voltages but I can't recall to what settings exactly.

I'm working on that with each flight. Seems that my Naza's battery voltage warning system is a little off. I'm taking battery voltage readings after each flight and adjusting accordingly. I hope to see 8+ minutes today when I go out.

U.M.

 

[FangsCPO]

I just checked mine. I have mine at
No Load 11.30v and Load 11:00 Loss .50. That's been working for me. It does take your lipo to it's limit if you push to 11:30 min of flying. I usually come back at 9:00 minutes and the lipo is at 30%. Give that a try see what you get.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

 

[Uncle Meat]

I just checked mine. I have mine at
No Load 11.30v and Load 11:00 Loss .50. That's been working for me. It does take your lipo to it's limit if you push to 11:30 min of flying. I usually come back at 9:00 minutes and the lipo is at 30%. Give that a try see what you get.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

Got back a little while ago and here are my times and voltages remaining.

Total motor Runtime = 8:45 Battery voltage after 10 min cool off = 11.44v
Total motor Runtime = 10:40 Battery voltage after 10 min cool off = 11.33v

I'll adjust accordingly. More flying in a bit once my batteries are recharged.

U.M.

 

[FangsCPO]

Looks like you've got more time u can squeeze out of those batteries.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

 

[Uncle Meat]

**EDITED** Here's my first video from this morning. I'm happy with it considering it is my first attempt. The footage was shot in the early AM while the sun was just peaking in and out of the clouds. Not the most ideal conditions. I noticed when the GoPro is pointed straight down my Neewer landing skid is in view. I've now pushed the FPV platform as far forward as it will go. Hopefully it's far enough out to prevent that from happening again. To compensate I had to move the battery all the way to the rear and that still wasn't enough to keep the COG centered . It's still a little nose heavy, so I added a couple negative CM's in the "X" axis and all is well.

U.M.

This is the Daniel Pratt Cotton Gin Factory. Built in 1838 and is the reason there is a Prattville Alabama on the map today. Pretty cool old building complex and dam.

What video format looks the best when uploaded to (converted by) YouTube? WMV, MP4, MPEG 1,2,3,4, H.264, mov, avi, etc.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9odLIllnB44[/youtube]

 

[FangsCPO]

Leave it to an Air Force guys to fly over water on his first flight. LOL!!!! Video looked great. I see what you mean about the skids being in view when looking straight down with the HERO3. The video footage looks pretty smooth. I'm curious, what props are you using and have you balanced them? Did you sand them down, apply tape or use nail polish? I tried sanding mine down but I wasn't making any difference so I gave up. It certainly wasn't as easy as balancing my Phantom Carbon Fiber props. So I gave up. LOL!!

 

[Uncle Meat]

Leave it to an Air Force guys to fly over water on his first flight. LOL!!!! Video looked great. I see what you mean about the skids being in view when looking straight down with the HERO3. The video footage looks pretty smooth. I'm curious, what props are you using and have you balanced them? Did you sand them down, apply tape or use nail polish? I tried sanding mine down but I wasn't making any difference so I gave up. It certainly wasn't as easy as balancing my Phantom Carbon Fiber props. So I gave up. LOL!!

I'm using the stock DJI 10" props. I used some of the wife's clear nail polish and a Dubro prop balancer to check 'em. Stuff is heavy and thick enough that just a "dab" will do ya. I only had to make a brush stroke or two across the last half inch of the prop tip to get them into balance.

U.M.

 

[Uncle Meat]

Hey I noticed that my motors are getting pretty hot now that I'm able to push 10+ minutes of flight time. I'm using a 3S battery and stock 10" DJI props. Are the hot motors a concern?

U.M.

 

[SanCap]

I just finished installing the Tarot T2D on my 550. Here is the first video, it was pretty windy today. http://vimeo.com/92058961

 

[ladykate]

Hey I noticed that my motors are getting pretty hot now that I'm able to push 10+ minutes of flight time. I'm using a 3S battery and stock 10" DJI props. Are the hot motors a concern?

U.M.

They will get warm but shouldn't be uncomfortably hot. Mine are warm (even on the P2).

 

[Uncle Meat]

Hey I noticed that my motors are getting pretty hot now that I'm able to push 10+ minutes of flight time. I'm using a 3S battery and stock 10" DJI props. Are the hot motors a concern?

U.M.

They will get warm but shouldn't be uncomfortably hot. Mine are warm (even on the P2).

I wouldn't say they are uncomfortably "hot" but they do get pretty warm.

U.M.

 

[OI Photography]

Just to provide some evidence that I do actually fly my 550 sometimes, I had my "2nd-assitant photographer" (who is also my chef...and driver...and facilities operations manager...) grab some quick footage today with the best cell phone we had on hand lol.

It's mostly 10 minutes of boring simple maneuvers (I was just testing the battery and some controller settings), and the vid quality is crap, but it clearly shows how stable this thing can be...which is still my favorite part of owning one

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQonGPCOGes[/youtube]

I'll throw up some of the vid from the gopro that was flying on it, once I get around to processing it.