550 Pilot's lounge

[havasuphoto]

If it's just the wires from the motors you need a total of 18...but you'll have plenty of spares

No, these are the extension wires that come from from the motor-bullet connector, to the ESC's-bullet connector.
So, 3 wires, each end needs 1 female and 1 male bullet, to that's 3X2=6, times 6 arms=18..you're right!!

Guess what just came in the mail Today?? The fancy Readymade soldering jig w/extra arm, and, a bunch of bullet connectors(3.5mm), from Hobby King!!! Just love when things arrive at the same time.

Now-the only thing I have left to do is some test flights on my F800 and hope I don't crash the stupid thing. Have a bunch of spare parts, so a little "wounding" wouldn't be to bad. Just don't want to mess up my expensive T-motors.

I'm just hoping the heat on the ESC will be fine, with the 11X5 E-Graupner props, AND, the 12X4.5 APC MR's. Only going to test the 11X5's tomorrow, probably. We'll see how it goes.

Really need to put about 10 hours on this new set-up before I can "sign it off" and start using it again. That's a lot of weight-and I don't want any surprises. So, it will spend a lot of time over the beach.......going back and fourth.

I'm hoping also to get into the 10+ minute flight time category. My friend has a huge 10,000 mah 4S battery. IF, I need that much power, I can probably try it. But-I'd rather prop up first, and stay with the single 8000mah first.
I can run 15" props on this thing if I need to. But-I think I'll get into the law of diminishing returns, more heat, and it will be all blade, so it probably won't handle the winds well.

 

[OI Photography]

lol I didn't realize it was the extention wires, so you'll need 18 pairs of bullet connectors...18 male/18 female. Which sounds like what you got

How soon did you plan to do the soldering? I'm not sure if I can get the vid together tonight but tomorrow might be possible.

And yes you're absolutely right to start light and test before adding bigger batts. You might be able to get away with the 10000mAh battery on the 12" blades, depending on what it pushes your AUW to. But that bridge is further down the road.

 

[havasuphoto]

lol I didn't realize it was the extention wires, so you'll need 18 pairs of bullet connectors...18 male/18 female. Which sounds like what you got

How soon did you plan to do the soldering? I'm not sure if I can get the vid together tonight but tomorrow might be possible.

And yes you're absolutely right to start light and test before adding bigger batts. You might be able to get away with the 10000mAh battery on the 12" blades, depending on what it pushes your AUW to. But that bridge is further down the road.

I'm in now rush to solder those bullets onto the extension. Will be probably a week or so before I cross that bridge.
What I have now ain't pretty, but it works. Once I get through with testing-then I can re-wire and make it look pretty. BUT, I don't want to spend all that time, if I just end up crashing it....

Yea-that 10,000 mah battery is heavy!! I'll bring my scale-but I think I weighed it before and it was 960 grams!!!
I'm already going to be at 3200 ish grams with camera and FPV gear...so adding another 300 grams would put me at 3500 grams, getting kinda heavy there.
I think once you pass 3000 grams, it's a struggle. I do have the advantage of the longer arms...but only to the extent of stability and the ability to add longer props.

 

[OI Photography]

I think once you pass 3000 grams, it's a struggle. I do have the advantage of the longer arms...but only to the extent of stability and the ability to add longer props.

Yeah 3kg is the line I try to stay as close to as possible with the 11x5's I have on it now. I'm usually a bit over but that's the point at which extra weight really starts to make a noticeable difference in flight handling on my rig.

 

[havasuphoto]

I think once you pass 3000 grams, it's a struggle. I do have the advantage of the longer arms...but only to the extent of stability and the ability to add longer props.

Yeah 3kg is the line I try to stay as close to as possible with the 11x5's I have on it now. I'm usually a bit over but that's the point at which extra weight really starts to make a noticeable difference in flight handling on my rig.

Yep...that's why I have the 12X4.5's....going to be interesting to test them in comparison to see what kind of increase I get in flight time, Vs. any extra heat in the ESC's.
Right now-I'm paranoid about heat. Remember-I flew my aircraft with ESC's that were over 200 deg's F!! And, they kept working!!! That's the amazing part-those cheapy ESC's didn't fail, even with the heat shrink melted off-they still worked.

 

[PJA]

However, I do experience the slight video noise in the display and audio noise recorded by the camera, both attributed to the new USB port that replaced the old rear port like on your -2D. I'll be doing the modification to swap the old port from the busted -2D I bought for that purpose. To be honest though, unless the slight impact on the quality of display on your monitor really bother you, and/or you must have noise-free audio on the camera's original recording, the mod might not be worth it.

You know what? After doing some research on the plate connector modification you wrote about, it sounds like the best solution for the audio-video ribbon problem. I didn't even realized the H3-3D came with that ribbon/USB connector and not the plug on the plate for the GoPro.

I watched this guy explain it here on video and it works well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZt1aJuxQyo

I'm sure there are other video's out there with a better step by step conversion.

I did buy a Zenmuse H3-3D this morning... An open box special, never used, new, with the GCU included... I just hope it works OK... Taking a chance, but I saved $110.00. I'll probably use my Zenmuse H3-2D plate for the conversion. Looks like my broken gimbal will come in handy after-all...

It's killing me today because this has got to be one of the best Summer days this year around here... No Wind, Low Humidity, Low 80's... and both my copters are apart for service... Hope to be up and flying by next weekend with the new Gimbal... Video will follow!

Thanks again for all the great help, you guys...

 

[havasuphoto]

I don't know that the h3-2d plate will work....kinda curious how that turns out.
I have a 2d on my F550 and held my 3D next to it, and it doesn't look like any of the holes will line up....and the gimbal balls are not the same size either.
Glad you found a deal on the 3d-you'll love it. I may decide to put one on my 550 after awhile. but right now-I don't have a mounting solution using the 2 rails system I have. might have to drill some holes in a CF plate to mount it.
will be watching your build to see how you mount it.

also-they now have a 550 mount that looks like it attaches to 2 of the front arm mounts, and 2 holes in the front of the bottom pcb board. haven't looked at mine to see if those holes are already there-but I'm sure they've figured it out.
but it won't work with my rail set-up.

 

[ElGuano]

I didn't even realized the H3-3D came with that ribbon/USB connector and not the plug on the plate for the GoPro.

It did at first, they changed it from the 30-pin to the USB shortly after release. I have an older H3-3D that has the 30-pin back connector. My non-DJI gimbal uses the USB, I'm really not sure if I care one way or the other

 

[havasuphoto]

Sucessful first and second flights w/ new engines and 4S!

Just returned from the Ball Fields were I completed 2 successful flights with the new ESC's, T-motors and 4S. Both flights were a success in that I didn't crash and nothing fell off!!
1st flight, battery in was 97%-forgot to write down the voltage(remember-using Readymade 4S 8000Mah batteries). after 1 minute checked temps of engines and ESC, not more than 10 to 20 degree's above ambient, and ambient was 100 deg's.

Flew some more-did some gain adjustments in Atti and GPS mode-but it seems the most stable right now, where it was before-no surprise there.
Had 1st level warning set at 14.30 loaded...flew for 2 minutes past the 1st level warning and landed at 14 minutes and 30 seconds.
AUW was 3030 grams.

ESC max temps were in the 130 deg range, with engines no more than 118 deg's...no one engine or ESC was significantly hotter than the other.
Battery out voltage after resting was; 14.89@14%(will know how many Mah I put back in after awhile)

I should also mention it was "windy", out of the South East at 10 gusting to 16mph. The F800 handled the winds beautifully.

2nd flight; batt in was 98%@16.93 volts. Repeated what I did on flight 1-flew in Atti, with max tilt in all directions, including max yaw rate with full stick throw, then stop. Full nose down to 35 deg's, then full nose up-no issues. Aircraft performed perfectly-and, nothing broke or fell off!!
Did full throttle climbs-but, in Naza you're really limited anyways...no issue there.
Did a "power check" in manual mode-just before lift off, throttle was at 40%, so hover power throttle position would be around 43%..excellent.

Flew 2 minutes into the 1st level warning and landing at 15 minutes!!

Battery temp was 10 degree's above ambient, hottest ESC was in the mid 130's, and I saw a 140 deg reading once. Engines never got much above 122 deg's.

So now the plan is, to install the FPV gear, lower my 1st level voltage warning, and 2nd level, and go back out and fly some more. I'm not touching anything right now. Not going to try any other props-and I'm not even going to look at the aircraft funny.....it works fine, so any "improvements" can wait a bit.

I want to try to nail down a solid time and voltage where I know I need to land.

I'll re-edit this with how many Mah went back into the batteries later.

@Ol-can you post your 1st and 2nd level voltage settings again please? I lost them, and I'd like to compare what you get out of these batteries and what you put back in-so I can get an idea of what the voltage limits really are. I don't want to Volt Out.
Thanks

 

[OI Photography]

Re: Sucessful first and second flights w/ new engines and 4S

@Ol-can you post your 1st and 2nd level voltage settings again please? I lost them, and I'd like to compare what you get out of these batteries and what you put back in-so I can get an idea of what the voltage limits really are. I don't want to Volt Out.
Thanks

Yeah I'll try to dig them up again today, or just reconnect the 550 and take a peek. I'm afraid 4S voltages don't stick in my head as naturally as 3S numbers do for some reason.

It sounds like you've got your setup dialed in just right, and 15min with the 8Ah batt sounds like the sweet spot. I might hit that with my current weight once I add 12" props...and trim a bit of fat maybe.

It struck me the other day that everything on my 550 below the bottom plate (i.e. all the landing gear and rods and camera mount, telemetry sensors, and the BEC and entire 12v circuit) can be removed without compromising flight capability...I'd just need to re-route the LED. I think I might try that sometime soon and pop on DJI's stock crab FW landing gear (like ElG used 3/4 of for his Y6), I bet the weight savings would net some impressive flight times as well as potentially competitive speed :twisted:

Now if I could just get Flytrex to add WKM compatibility...

 

[ElGuano]

Re: Sucessful first and second flights w/ new engines and 4S

I think I might try that sometime soon and pop on DJI's stock crab FW landing gear (like ElG used 3/4 of for his Y6), I bet the weight savings would net some impressive flight times as well as potentially competitive speed :twisted:

Be prepared for some crazy wobbles when it sits on those gear It'll torque like a pendulum when you arm your motors.

Now if I could just get Flytrex to add WKM compatibility...

I think this can be done, but it's a bit tricky. You'll need a wrapper to read the CAN data from the WKM GPS and translate that into that serial communications format output by the Naza GPS. It's pretty much the same but the container is different.

 

[OI Photography]

Re: Sucessful first and second flights w/ new engines and 4S

Be prepared for some crazy wobbles when it sits on those gear It'll torque like a pendulum when you arm your motors.

Like the way a muscle car shakes when you turn the key? Sounds like a feature to me :twisted:

I think this can be done, but it's a bit tricky. You'll need a wrapper to read the CAN data from the WKM GPS and translate that into that serial communications format output by the Naza GPS. It's pretty much the same but the container is different.

Makes sense, I figured it was due to the fact the WKM GPS was on a regular canbus chain. I put a buzz in Amit's ear about it every now and then.

 

[PJA]

It did at first, they changed it from the 30-pin to the USB shortly after release. I have an older H3-3D that has the 30-pin back connector. My non-DJI gimbal uses the USB, I'm really not sure if I care one way or the other

Someone on a Youtube said this in the comment section:

"...Version 1 of the H3D3 has the back plate connection but I think GoPro threatened Zenmuse for using their proprietary connection and not paying them royalties. GoPro is showing themselves to be some greedy bastards. I mean the H3D3 was MADE for the GoPro, it even increased their sales and apparently GoPro wanted more - Forcing Zenmuse to make a quick fix on a 2nd version or pay more money in royalties..."

I don't know how true that is, but I would prefer the 30 pin back connector for the GoPro...

havasuphoto » Sun Aug 10, 2014 2:02 pm
Just returned from the Ball Fields were I completed 2 successful flights with the new ESC's, T-motors and 4S. Both flights were a success in that I didn't crash and nothing fell off!!

Sounds great... Glad you got it back in the air... Also notice you ditched the retracts for a rail system landing gear... Looks good... (Just trying to catch up for the month long time I was away from this forum).

 

[havasuphoto]

Yea-retracts were stupid heavy and not needed. The gear I have on now holds the 2-rails together nicely, and is just wobbly enough to allow for some pretty un-even ground take-off's and landings.

I reset the voltage in Naza to;
1st level loaded=14.00
2nd level loaded=13.80

I put back in 6285Mah in Battery 1. I landed that at the old 1st level warning(14.30), just a little after. Out voltage was 14.83@14%.

Battery 2 might take back in a little more-as I plugged it back into the aircraft to power on the now installed FPV gear and give it a final check-and also to change volt levels in Naza.
EDIT:
I put back in 6957 Mah in Battery 2. It showed about 10% before charge.

Now the bad news; New AUW=3330 grams!!!! So-my GP3+2D gimbal+VTX and antenna, gained me 300 grams exactly. That is right around a net loss of 5 minutes of flight time. Which puts me back in the 10 minutes or under category-with the current 11" props.

So, the plan now is to test with the gear, check temps, volts, flight time, etc. I have my timer on the remote still set at 9 minutes-so at that point the aircraft will be close anyways. I don't plan on flying that far-just some FPV out to around 600M or so.
I want to see if the changes I made, makes the interference I was getting through the FPV go away. I should know Tomorrow. It may be caused by the EZ-UHF TX/RX remote....if I can confirm that-then I can swap to Futaba in about 10 minutes. Probably lose a few grams too.

 

[ElGuano]

I heard that rumor but have no idea if it's true. You would think they would have taken action against the h3-2d first...

I don't buy that the 30-pin is proprietary, it's been an iPod connector for years. And if you want to talk pin-level ownership, Gopro uses a proprietary 10-pin mini-USB plug as well, but it's ok to use that?

 

[OI Photography]

True and I can't imagine that every place that sells accessories (not just for FPV) that use that port are either paying licensing fees to go pro or facing legal action.

 

[Acill]

Did my first FPV flight today! Didnt go to far, but man it was fun!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbltXmc-lgc

 

[ElGuano]

True and I can't imagine that every place that sells accessories (not just for FPV) that use that port are either paying licensing fees to go pro or facing legal action.

Oh I tried to fit an old ipod connector into the back of the GoPro, it doesn't quite fit. They're both 30-pin and the pins do line up, one of the latches is keyed 180 degrees around. Maybe it is proprietary after all?

 

[havasuphoto]

So, do the newest versions of the H3-3D come with the 30 pin back plug for the GP3? If not-I guess if I decide to go that way on my F800, gonna have to "sacrifice" my perfectly good 2D.

I'll know tomorrow whether or not I'll even need it. In previous flights-I saw no 3rd axis stability problems at all-with those long arms, it was like the camera was on rails it was so smooth.
Now-if they'd just fix the drifting horizon!!! I'm so tired of having to tilt my video's to the left-and sometimes to the right, because of horizon drift....drives me nuts.
The small micro-vibes I can blast through in post, more or less...but that tilting horizon had gotta go.

OH-and why can't we have a rotatable 3rd axis, like the CM3000?? Is that to much to ask of DJI? That CM has been out well over a year-and I haven't heard much about it-other than it's heavy. Doesn't seem to be much talk of it at all anymore. Wondering if that ended up being a lost cause or what?

 

[ElGuano]

So, do the newest versions of the H3-3D come with the 30 pin back plug for the GP3? If not-I guess if I decide to go that way on my F800, gonna have to "sacrifice" my perfectly good 2D.

No, AFAIK current H3-3Ds are all "v1.1" which have the USB ribbon cable. IMO it's not the huge deal everyone makes it out to be, but to each their own.

OH-and why can't we have a rotatable 3rd axis, like the CM3000?? Is that to much to ask of DJI? That CM has been out well over a year-and I haven't heard much about it-other than it's heavy. Doesn't seem to be much talk of it at all anymore. Wondering if that ended up being a lost cause or what?

I figure it's a number of things - the main market for the H3-3D is the Phantom, which doesn't have retracts or enough channels to support a controllable 3rd axis; the Phantom isn't a platform intended for dual-operator; it wouldn't be economical or weight-efficient to build it with a slip-ring, you'd need a larger motor with a central shaft to pass through wires (which would again not allow unlimited 3rd axis movement and could twist and bind); and DJI offers unrestricted movement on its professional line of Z15 gimbals.

I kind of wish the H3-3D had a greater yaw range as well, but I doubt I would use it, and I think they made the right engineering choices for what is one of the lightest 3-axis gimbals around for the Phantom.