quickrelease from dronexpert and new 5,8GHz rc transmitter

[helixaviator]

Re: quickrelease from dronexpert and new 5,8GHz rc transmit

Yes, you can expect the same latency that the Vision 2 Plus has if you use the GoPro, since the data is following the same path after the camera.

The usual way to get lower latency is to bypass wifi and use video transmitters that broadcast the analog NTSC signal.

On the dronexperts website they claim no latency which is misleading....should be no different than the latency with the stock vision camera as you mention.

 

[rbhamilton]

Re: quickrelease from dronexpert and new 5,8GHz rc transmit

I've got an ancient GoPro Hero. Probably v1? I think it's got an AV out... any chance it would work?

 

[akbardotinfo]

Re: quickrelease from dronexpert and new 5,8GHz rc transmit

how do I know my current version ? if I click the "Bootloader ver" it show 1.0, is that my current firmware version ?

Thank you!

 

[erikgraham]

Re: quickrelease from dronexpert and new 5,8GHz rc transmit

Ordered the QuickRelease back on November 6th. It hasn't arrived yet. My order status hasn't changed in 4 plus weeks. I haven't recieved any update emails. I wasn't even sure if my order had gone through, except I did see it hit my credit card. They really aren't supposed to do that - you don't charge someone's card until you ship the product. I get the impression that DroneExperts is kinda of a small shop. Maybe even just 1 guy. I had to send them an email a couple times to get a reply. Before I decided to pull the trigger, I asked them a question via email and never got an answer.

Having said all that, I'm still looking forward to the QuickRelease and I hope it arrives soon.

 

[akbardotinfo]

Re: quickrelease from dronexpert and new 5,8GHz rc transmit

the problem only appears on P2V+V3 (cannot download album files using default camera) next week QR gonna release firmware updates

 

[erikgraham]

Re: quickrelease from dronexpert and new 5,8GHz rc transmit

At last!

Got an email from DroneExperts. My QuickRelease is on the way. I even have a fedx tracking number.

Now it's a race to see which drone gets the Hero 4. Will it be the Iris+ or the Vision+. The Iris+ ships today from Aeroworks in the US. The QuickRelease is already on its way, but coming from Holland...

 

[rgb62]

Re: quickrelease from dronexpert and new 5,8GHz rc transmit

Mine's on the way as well, I expect it Wednesday. Can anyone speak to the install process for the vision+ v3? Is it straight forward? Is the anti-interference board for H3-3D necessary?

 

[DrTelemark]

Re: quickrelease from dronexpert and new 5,8GHz rc transmit

Mine's on the way as well, I expect it Wednesday. Can anyone speak to the install process for the vision+ v3? Is it straight forward? Is the anti-interference board for H3-3D necessary?

You don't need the anti-interference board and if you have the V3 version of the 2+, you don't need the Y-cable for the channel 7 function either. Thus you don't need to even open up the body of the quad.
The tricky thing I found was balancing the camera - first be sure you calibrate the Quickrelease Channel 7 feature as in their video, then also calibrate the range of movement for the Zenmuse gimbal in the Vision Assistant app.

I had to mount a dime on the rotation joint on the gimbal to balance my GoPro4 (the GP3 was balanced enough not to require that) otherwise the gimbal would do this weird vibratory buzz at certain tilt angles trying to counter the weight of the heavier camera apparently. Once it was counterweighted, it was a happy gimbal. (I did upgrade the Zenmuse firmware too - per the note in the Quickrelease txt file. using the Assistant program).

 

[rgb62]

Re: quickrelease from dronexpert and new 5,8GHz rc transmit

Thank you for the abundant information, it's greatly appreciated! Got the QR today and I expect the H3-3D tomorrow. I'll be following your advice to the T, thanks again!


quote="DrTelemark"]

Mine's on the way as well, I expect it Wednesday. Can anyone speak to the install process for the vision+ v3? Is it straight forward? Is the anti-interference board for H3-3D necessary?

You don't need the anti-interference board and if you have the V3 version of the 2+, you don't need the Y-cable for the channel 7 function either. Thus you don't need to even open up the body of the quad.
The tricky thing I found was balancing the camera - first be sure you calibrate the Quickrelease Channel 7 feature as in their video, then also calibrate the range of movement for the Zenmuse gimbal in the Vision Assistant app.

I had to mount a dime on the rotation joint on the gimbal to balance my GoPro4 (the GP3 was balanced enough not to require that) otherwise the gimbal would do this weird vibratory buzz at certain tilt angles trying to counter the weight of the heavier camera apparently. Once it was counterweighted, it was a happy gimbal. (I did upgrade the Zenmuse firmware too - per the note in the Quickrelease txt file. using the Assistant program).[/quote]

 

[erikgraham]

Re: quickrelease from dronexpert and new 5,8GHz rc transmit

Mine's on the way as well, I expect it Wednesday. Can anyone speak to the install process for the vision+ v3? Is it straight forward? Is the anti-interference board for H3-3D necessary?

Got mine today. The instructions and manual could be better. The video is fine, but it should be broken into a couple separate videos - or else they need to be more clear about what is and isn't required for the different versions of the plus. Their manual also refers to a video showing how to fix the white bands in FPV... but there is no link to a video??? They also don't show you how to calibrate your quickrelease in any of their videos. It is mentioned in the manual but seems worthy of a demo video given it's importance. And DR Telemark's post is the first I've heard of the need to calibrate inside the Assistant app. I've heard elsewhere that you can severely damage the gimbal if you power it without a go pro installed. They do mention not to do that in the manual, but they don't say why (I guess the gimbal motors could burn out???).

So it's a bit of a hassle to gather all the videos and manuals and other instructions (ie info on these forums) into one place, and then figure out which steps are required for your Version (I, II, or III) of the Vision+, but once you get yourself sorted, the actual installation process is easy and straight forward.

My Vision+ camera/gimbal rig snaps right on, and works exactly as it did before. My H3-3D and Hero4 rig snaps right in, but I haven't calibrated yet, so I don't get full range of motion... yet.

 

[erikgraham]

Re: quickrelease from dronexpert and new 5,8GHz rc transmit

...(I did upgrade the Zenmuse firmware too - per the note in the Quickrelease txt file. using the Assistant program).

Hmm. What text file are you referring to?
(Maybe it's too long, but any chance you could copy/paste the text into this thread?)

When I connect the Phantom with the Quickrelease/Zenmuse/GoPro attached, will the Assistant recognize the zenmuse and allow me to update the Zenmuse firmware the same way I update other components of the vision?

 

[rgb62]

Re: quickrelease from dronexpert and new 5,8GHz rc transmit

Thanks again for your help on this. The install went quite well and I did have to go to the gimbal calibration under Advanced in the PT2 Assistant software. Once I did that it's working like a charm! Can't want to fly it now. I hope the weather cooperates soon..


Bob

You don't need the anti-interference board and if you have the V3 version of the 2+, you don't need the Y-cable for the channel 7 function either. Thus you don't need to even open up the body of the quad.
The tricky thing I found was balancing the camera - first be sure you calibrate the Quickrelease Channel 7 feature as in their video, then also calibrate the range of movement for the Zenmuse gimbal in the Vision Assistant app.

I had to mount a dime on the rotation joint on the gimbal to balance my GoPro4 (the GP3 was balanced enough not to require that) otherwise the gimbal would do this weird vibratory buzz at certain tilt angles trying to counter the weight of the heavier camera apparently. Once it was counterweighted, it was a happy gimbal. (I did upgrade the Zenmuse firmware too - per the note in the Quickrelease txt file. using the Assistant program).[/quote]

 

[erikgraham]

Re: quickrelease from dronexpert and new 5,8GHz rc transmit

I have everything working... I think. I might write up a summary of steps, but first a question to Dr Telemark or RGB62 (or anyone else):

How did you successfully complete the Channel 7 calibration as shown in their video?
(11:30 minutes into this video: http://youtu.be/WueysoLOtic )

Following the video did not work for me at all. The light just stayed red forever. Am I missing something?
I have a Vision+ (Ver 3) with the new tilt wheel RC.

Eventually I gave up, snapped on the GoPro camera/gimbal, did the calibration under Advanced in the PT2 Assistant software. All I needed to do was set the Horizontal and Vertical Limit to give me full range of motion with the GoPro.

Anyway, all seems well. I can't test fly because of rain, but everything seems fine and I wonder if the calibration step shown in the video is required. Maybe I got lucky.

 

[rgb62]

Re: quickrelease from dronexpert and new 5,8GHz rc transmit

erikgraham,

With the V3 you can't complete the calibration, it requires the Y cable to be in place, I verified with DJI. Just set the limits like you did and you're good to go. Make sure the GoPro is on before you turn on the phantom. Else, you'll have no video.

I flew it today and while they were just quick bouts between courses, I swear the thing was flying very slow. Not sure about this, will try more tomorrow but I couldn't get it to go more that 10mph when it usually goes at a nice clip. It may be totally unrelated.

 

[DrTelemark]

Re: quickrelease from dronexpert and new 5,8GHz rc transmit

Hmm. the slow flight thing is weird - make you wonder about the RC calibration with your control sticks. Make sure it is on the default settings.
As far as the channel 7 calibration, sounds like you got it working just with the Vision assistant calibration so you are good. I did use the Dronexpert video method to calibrate mine initially but I also did go into the Assistant software to calibrate the Zenmuse gimbal (after the firmware upgrade) to be sure the ranges of movement were where I wanted them.

Glad to hear you got it up and flying. Flying slow isn't so bad since blazing speed is great way to crash your quad anyway.

 

[erikgraham]

Re: quickrelease from dronexpert and new 5,8GHz rc transmit

Thanks RGB and Dr Telemark!

I haven't flown much with this setup (yet), but durring the three or four (short) flights I have completed, I did not notice any change in speed (or any other flight characteristics).

 

[rgb62]

Re: quickrelease from dronexpert and new 5,8GHz rc transmit

Yep, the slow flight thing was in my head. Actually there may have been a much stronger wind at 300 ft and it was deceiving. I did get to fly quite a bit yesterday and it's all working as advertised. I was having on issue where the H3-3D gimbal was pressing the settings button on my Gopro hero4 in flight but I found this fix http://youtu.be/l1eYGMlNNGs and it's all good now. Happy flying!

 

[erikgraham]

Re: quickrelease from dronexpert and new 5,8GHz rc transmit

I was having on issue where the H3-3D gimbal was pressing the settings button on my Gopro hero4 in flight but I found this fix http://youtu.be/l1eYGMlNNGs and it's all good now. Happy flying!

Awesome find. I really did not want to grind down that part of the Gimbal.

 

[rgb62]

Re: quickrelease from dronexpert and new 5,8GHz rc transmit

So I've put about 10 batteries through the P2V+ v3.0 with the droneexpert.com quick release and the GoPro Hero 4 Silver and I'm also using the GoPro smart remote. My impression is that while the overall experience of starting it up, waiting for sats and sending it up changes pretty drastically, the quality of the video at 1080p 60fps is worth it. It's not as easy to do the above mentioned dance but it's not that bad. You have to ensure that the GoPro is started before you start up the phantom. I've had 1 instance where I just couldn't see any video and had to restart the phantom to fix it. I've also had another time where I had to swipe into ground station and then back to the camera to get video (as mentioned at droneexpert.com).

The FPV video at 640*480 15fps looks fine but there are scrolling white lines across the screen quite often. This is a gopro issue that has something to do with the fact that it's receiving power while feeding video. I think there may be a fix for it but I haven't looked into it yet. It doesn't bother me much.

As mentioned above, the video quality is excellent and I find the stills to be better than the DJI camera, even without a RAW option. Using the smart remote is nice, especially if you are filming something specific and not miles away from phantom. I've been able to start/stop video and snap pictures at up to 600 feet away. The only thing I've found is it takes a long time for the remote & gopro to sync back up again once the phantom has been out of range for a while. Sometimes the sync just won't happen and it seems to disassociate itself from the GoPro. To solve this I simply shut off the remote if I'm going to fly distances and turn it back on once the phantom is back in range. This has been working like a charm.

All in all, I'm loving the video quality and I've found that I like that I can fly it without the camera and still have all the telemetry and radar available on screen. The QR, adapters and GoPro definitely add to the cost of the hobby but in the long run, I'm glad I did it. Sure I could buy a simple phantom 2 and add FPV but I like the all inclusive package that the Vision+ offers and the addition of the QR simply opens up new capabilities. I would definitely recommend it!

 

[erikgraham]

Re: quickrelease from dronexpert and new 5,8GHz rc transmit

Regarding white lines durring FPV: The fix has something to do with scotch taping the pins that provide power to the GoPro. Like you, I haven't minded the lines enough to bother fixing, but I remember watching a video on how to do it a month or 2 ago.

I have not tried using the remote because I thought it connects via the wifi from the GoPro, which interferes with the phantom. I'm surprised you've been able to use it without issues.