550 Pilot's lounge

[FangsCPO]

Ladykate - to avoid having your battery slip and fall off...add velcro to the battery and the location where it sits. Using the velcro and the straps assures you that your lipo will not slip off. When my F550 went in for a swim the battery remained snuggly in place...even with the impact of crashing into the water....and that was a pretty hard slam.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dTA5ySzF60[/youtube]

 

[ladykate]

Ladykate - to avoid having your battery slip and fall off...add velcro to the battery and the location where it sits.

Yep. You should see my 810. It is in a cocoon of Velcro. I started putting on Velcro right after the battery came loose (back in this thread about 10 years ;-}) However, the 550 doesn't seem to be the airframe to do aerobatics... even if you stripped it down it is far from a 3D (ish) machine (IMHO). The Phantom would be a better choice for a 'make do' - everything is contained very well. It is light and small and agile. They can do a lot in manual. I can just see a 550 doing a slow loop and pulling out about 6 inches late. :lol:

Speaking of 3D, I'm getting a Yak 55. Not a multirotor but I might put two motors on it so I can post here about it. :lol: Saw one flying a couple weeks ago. Freakin' awesome. Was also looking at fixed wing FPV and realized the multirotors have a great advantage - I can go as far (farther in a lot of cases) and as fast and carry the same loads - and hover/pan/tilt etc. Much better.

 

[lgeist]

Finally got my new Panasonic GH-4 mounted to my multirotor (see photo), but a little short on lifting power. Looking for motor upgrade recommendations ;-)

 

[havasuphoto]

That's hilarious!!!
Just put some bigger CF props on it, and run it with the camera battery-good to go!!! :lol:

 

[havasuphoto]

This is my new F550, with CF 800mm arms;




Has retracts, UHF R/C, Graupner 11" C/F props...etc, etc.
Now the challenge; I need to find someone that is in San Diego(where the aircraft lives) to deliver it to me in Lake Havasu, AZ.
We don't want to remove the arms-so it would be in a big box with the props off.....so if you know anyone in the SD area, headed to the "Lake"....send me a PM and I'll help pay for gas.

OH, and for you F550 experts, my goal eventually is to run 15" props on 1 4S battery. Would like some suggestions on good engines that will run forever and not break the bank. I'm gonna fly it the way it is for awhile.....and, it will probably just be carrying a Go Pro, even with the 15's...just want a lot of flight time

 

[Uncle Meat]

Why the need for retracts on that bird? Usually retracts are installed in an effort to get the landing gear away from the camera/gimbal. It appears the camera mount for this 550 is well out in front and there's no possible way the props nor the gear will ever come into the cameras field of view. I love it!

U.M.

P.S. What is that wire with the ping pong ball at the rear for?

 

[havasuphoto]

Why the need for retracts on that bird? Usually retracts are installed in an effort to get the landing gear away from the camera/gimbal. It appears the camera mount for this 550 is well out in front and there's no possible way the props nor the gear will ever come into the cameras field of view. I love it!

U.M.

P.S. What is that wire with the ping pong ball at the rear for?

The retracts are on there for "future things"....right now-they're just cool..serve no real purpose.
But, I may eventually try a larger 3-axis that will rotate-so the gear will work out well for that....future proof
the wire on the back holds the ping pong ball-which is used for visual reference to where the back of the aircraft is-just a visual aid.

 

[PJA]

Why the need for retracts on that bird? Usually retracts are installed in an effort to get the landing gear away from the camera/gimbal. It appears the camera mount for this 550 is well out in front and there's no possible way the props nor the gear will ever come into the cameras field of view. I love it!

U.M.

P.S. What is that wire with the ping pong ball at the rear for?

The retracts are on there for "future things"....right now-they're just cool..serve no real purpose.
But, I may eventually try a larger 3-axis that will rotate-so the gear will work out well for that....future proof
the wire on the back holds the ping pong ball-which is used for visual reference to where the back of the aircraft is-just a visual aid.

Looking "COOL" IS a purpose!!!

I had an XAircraft X450 Pro that had the ping pong ball thing... It was a visual aid for looking forward on mine...

Good Luck with your new Hex...

 

[havasuphoto]

Thanks-I'll probably draw a smiley face on it with a sharpy
I do that with my CP antenna's.

 

[labmansid]

Looks like a sweet setup! You should have some real fun with that. And I agree, looking cool does count as a purpose! Hope you find a way to get it delivered to you soon. Maybe y'all could meet halfway somewhere.

 

[havasuphoto]

Looks like a sweet setup! You should have some real fun with that. And I agree, looking cool does count as a purpose! Hope you find a way to get it delivered to you soon. Maybe y'all could meet halfway somewhere.

That's the option that makes the most sense too me. We'll see what the seller's schedule is next week....

 

[FangsCPO]

So today I decided to try out Course Lock and Home Lock after watching a few videos on YouTube. For some reason when using Course Lock, when I push forward on the stick my F550 comes back to me....it flies backwards. In other words....I just took off and I'm going forward and then when I switch to Course Lock and I push on the stick it comes back to me...flying in reverse. Is that how that's suppose to work for Course Lock? Did I misunderstand??

I understand the Home Lock and when I pulled on the stick it came back to me no problem.....I think. LOL!!

I checked in the Naza Assistant Software and all the settings are correct. The toggle I'm using for Course Lock is the correct one and the toggle I'm using for Home Lock is the correct one. Thoughts? Suggestions??

 

[ladykate]

Drive over and get it! Glad to see you sprung for it - best of luck. You will have a ball with it.

 

[ElGuano]

So today I decided to try out Course Lock and Home Lock after watching a few videos on YouTube. For some reason when using Course Lock, when I push forward on the stick my F550 comes back to me....it flies backwards. In other words....I just took off and I'm going forward and then when I switch to Course Lock and I push on the stick it comes back to me...flying in reverse. Is that how that's suppose to work for Course Lock? Did I misunderstand??

I understand the Home Lock and when I pulled on the stick it came back to me no problem.....I think. LOL!!

I checked in the Naza Assistant Software and all the settings are correct. The toggle I'm using for Course Lock is the correct one and the toggle I'm using for Home Lock is the correct one. Thoughts? Suggestions??

DJI has good information on how CL and HL work: http://wiki.dji.com/en/index.php/Naza-M ... on_Control

The A2 description is even more informative IMO: http://wiki.dji.com/en/index.php/A2_Int ... on_Control (it illustrates something most people don't realize- that HL is radial control for aileron).

It sounds like you may have either: 1) taken off prior to course lock being captured (30 seconds after boot), or 2) moved your 550 after course lock was captured and took off in the opposite way? If you fly behind your tx in CL mode, it will go toward you when you hit forward.

You can also get it to happen if you do some weird config with the Naza and have it pointing backwards but reverse some channels to make it seem like it's facing forwards in regular flight, but that's more of a rare/bizarre Phantom mod...

 

[FangsCPO]

Is it safe to say that switching to CL once already in the air is not the way to use that feature? So I should be taking off already in CL mode?

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

 

[OI Photography]

(it illustrates something most people don't realize- that HL is radial control for aileron)

I didn't realize it either until I just read that description, but it does make sense. I'll have to test that to see how well it can be used as a makeshift POI feature. Speaking of which, I finally played around with that today on my 550, and man is it awesome

Is it safe to say that switching to CL once already in the air is not the way to use that feature? So I should be taking off already in CL mode?

You should be able to enter or exit CL mode at any time you want after takeoff. I'm not really sure what caused the weird behavior you saw other than ElGuano's suggestions above.

 

[ElGuano]

As OI said, you should be able to switch to CL anytime. You just need to always be aware of the lock direction, so if you fly to a position where you need to turn and face the MR, the controls will seem to shift on you.

It's also possible that you reset your CL while in the air? If you switch rapidly 3-5 times between normal and CL mode, you'll set it to whatever direction your MR is facing.

 

[Uncle Meat]

New Futaba receiver antenna is worth it!!!

So I ordered one of the 400mm Futaba replacement antennas. They are designed for RC boats, but will work with any Futaba 2.4GHz FAAST receiver regardless of the platform. Installation was very easy. Just popped the plastic case of the receiver, pulled the old antenna off the circuit board and then snapped the new one on. Took all of 3 minutes at most. Didn't even have to remove the top plate to do it either.

I left the stock antenna hanging straight down through the bottom plate of my 550.

I routed the 400mm antenna down one of the arms and let it dangle off the end.

I took her out this morning for a quick jaunt and was able to hit 1800 meters (Yes! Finally surpassed the mile mark!) without it going into fail safe!!! Still had a great picture from my Boscam FPV equipment too! I would have pushed it even further but I stopped at 1800 meters and did a 180 only to find I had NO VIDEO when the hex was facing me! Kind of freaked me out so I really didn't want to push it any further.

Now I need an FPV transmitter with two antennas! One forward facing and one rearward... then I'd be all set!

U.M.

P.S. Yes the Iris Aerial landing legs are canted back instead of flush with the bottom of the arms. I did this to minimize getting the legs in frame when pointing the camera straight down.

 

[FangsCPO]

Wow!!! That's pretty impressive. What was your flying time and how high were you??

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

 

[PJA]

Was that 1800 meter flight with your 8000mah battery, U.M.?

How long was the flight time... Do you have any video footage? We'd love to see it...