Tarot 810 (or other)

lol yeah when it comes to this kind of stuff the internet confuses as much as it educates. Probably more.

The leaflet packed with each of my ESC's (which do have SimonK) gives specific instructions on how to calibrate them (same steps as in every vid I found on it), I had no idea there were various camps on whether that was right or not. I've never seen a suggestion to do it with DJI's esc's so I just surmised that they were good to go out of the box...which would support some of what you found as well.

ladykate said:
Will hook another rx to common ground (and proper power) and calibrate that way - seems easier than reprogramming the A2.

Yeah I would suggest that (and should have), it's a quick process if you can get it wired up easily. Alishanmo (who also uses SimonK) made a wiring harness to calibrate multiple ESC's at once...I haven't tried it, but he claims he uses that with all the builds he does: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUaAH3SS2Vo

(He also has one of the vids I saw originally showing throttle calibration with SimonK ESC's)
 
OI Photography said:
Btw...when I looked up the ESC's you have, it didn't seem like they have SimonK on them, are yours flashed with it?

No... I think they are flashed with the stock factory - no reason why they shouldn't. I originally read somewhere they were simonK but I can't find that now. May have been a rework by someone and not apply to normal ones.

I'm wiping an old laptop and gonna use it for the shop. After that, I should get this thing running today. Flight test soon!
 
ladykate said:
OI Photography said:
Btw...when I looked up the ESC's you have, it didn't seem like they have SimonK on them, are yours flashed with it?

No... I think they are flashed with the stock factory - no reason why they shouldn't. I originally read somewhere they were simonK but I can't find that now. May have been a rework by someone and not apply to normal ones.

I'm wiping an old laptop and gonna use it for the shop. After that, I should get this thing running today. Flight test soon!

Post some more photos. Maybe video it flying.

I was interested in your comment that the 550 had more room for electronics.
 
jondrew said:
Post some more photos. Maybe video it flying.

I was interested in your comment that the 550 had more room for electronics.


Probably won't get to it today - trying for tomorrow if the weather holds. Here is an interim picture with wires not stowed or nicely arranged and all my labels still on. All that space on top is for the battery. To get the space back, I had to fashion a battery holder for underneath - but that will be temporary. I stacked most of the basic components on the corner but if I add a gimbal, controller, GS, and FPV, there isn't any room left. Right now, the IMU is buried in the center underneath that CF battery hold in the middle. You can see the spaces between the arms but that is not for use - the arms fold into those spaces when you break it down. Like all things, it is a tradeoff - I grabbed the space underneath but I will have to give it up when I get the cross rails in. Will then have to figure out how to mount the battery near the CG without hogging all the space on top. Essentially, on a 550, you have two decks and a much smaller battery. On this, you have one larger deck but a big-*** battery that hogs it.
 

Attachments

  • interim1.jpg
    interim1.jpg
    250.8 KB · Views: 319
Things never go quickly.

Finally got the Futaba rx bound to the tx and hooked up a kludge to calibrate the ESCs without using the A2 processor. Did all 6 (they didn't do quite what the manual says they would do but it was close - specifically, the beeping tones for minimum throttle were downright confusing and it took almost a minute for them to program). First time through, three motors were obviously out of cal (they would stop at mid-throttle). Second and third time through got it down to one motor. Twice more and that motor started acting normal. Did a motor bump using the administrator and they would bump at mid-position.

As a result, I think I can say they are better calibrated than when I started but I'm sure they aren't perfect.

Having blown an afternoon on this, I'm behind my desired schedule but progressing.



Something I forgot to add. The battery underneath puts the CG almost dead on the location of the IMU (which is in the center hole of the 810). Only CG setting I had to modify was the GPS which is 6 cm aft.
 

Attachments

  • readyto test1 -small.jpg
    readyto test1 -small.jpg
    291.1 KB · Views: 359
First flight is done. Worked well - getting heavy wind gusts but it seemed stable. Getting a green followed by three reds which says GPS < 5 but GPS was working. Have to explore that. Otherwise, I'm quite pleased. Made this short - no need for hi-rez - chopped to less than 2 minutes.

Edit: Just noted that old video was not showing up using the YouTube accessory. Edited out the accessory and posting the raw link here (this posted on 5/15/2014)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OODSpth5iUY
 
Awesome, it's always great when all the time spent pays off and it flies, first time,
(we won't count the tip over... ;) )
 
Boozshey said:
Awesome, it's always great when all the time spent pays off and it flies, first time,
(we won't count the tip over... ;) )


I have all kinds of excuses for the tip-over. John Belushi would be proud. There was a wind, the landing gear snagged on the jacket, I didn't accelerate quickly enough, there was a tsunami, etc.

Interestingly, I'm getting late beeps on two of the escs. Plug in power and the sound synchronizes except for two of them which beep about 1/2 second behind the others. However, they all run fine.

The GPS works. I was a little bothered by it losing satellites at the site but it locked in at the back yard very quickly - even locked on in the house. I think I was in a bad area (my normal testing area was blocked off due to construction). We'll see.

Flight times on this thing should be huge. With no accessories on it, I was not on first warning at 13 minutes and I was jockeying it around a lot. The battery charged quickly though I haven't figured out how to see what it took in... have to read the darned instructions on the charger. Hate that... ;-}

labmansid said:
Congrats on the new "toy", and it seems to work fine, too! Now let the real fun begin, adding more stuff to it. :D

Yep... should be a ball. I have a ton of things planned for it. Waiting on some platform extensions so I have enough room to add things. I've got most of the standard stuff now. A whole laundry basket full of stuff. Maybe I should have built a 1000... ;-}
 
That looked awesome!!! Nice job on the build. Can't wait to see more photos and vids.

I always wonder, do we need that much high/clearance that is created by the type of landing gear you have? I still haven't installed my new landing gear to replace my DJI landing gear simply because I like the low profile. Also, I feel that in high winds it would take a lot for my F550 to tilt over using my DJI landing skids as apposed the skids I have waiting to be installed. Decisions, decisions. Then again, I'm only using a HERO3....others are using a DSLR. So I can see the need for more clearance.
 
FangsCPO said:
That looked awesome!!! Nice job on the build. Can't wait to see more photos and vids.

I always wonder, do we need that much high/clearance that is created by the type of landing gear you have? I still haven't installed my new landing gear to replace my DJI landing gear simply because I like the low profile. Also, I feel that in high winds it would take a lot for my F550 to tilt over using my DJI landing skids as apposed the skids I have waiting to be installed. Decisions, decisions. Then again, I'm only using a HERO3....others are using a DSLR. So I can see the need for more clearance.

For the 810 build, this is a many edged sword.

The landing gear actually balances the CG nicely. Of course, that can be done other ways but it is fortuitous.

The landing gear is foldable but folding it presents an issue since you will still have the GPS antenna on top (tall mast) and the gimbal on the bottom (tender equipment). About the only way I would feel comfortable packing it in a case would be to remove the gimbal and GPS. That really means I won't be doing that very often. For me, that means the folding issue isn't a big plus. I think I would rather have the middle deck space.

If you look at my first flight video, I'm almost certain the wind played a big part in that initial tip over. 20 mph winds and a tentative lift off caused it to just fall over - those big props were like an umbrella and just caught the wind and went with it. Had the gear been lower, it might not have happened. Alternatively, if your props are already close to the ground, a slight angle on lift off would cause a strike, too.

Saying all that, the taller gear seems to work in almost every other instance. It can hold a large gimbal, it is quite sturdy (at least for now... wear and tear if I fold it a lot might make it loosey-goosey.) Also, you don't have a problem with dirt or other things since the main deck is up above it all.

I really disliked the plastic landing gear on the 550 - you can read my concerns in the 550 thread. When I would plant it on concrete or hard ground, the legs would skitter and cause it to catch and hop a bit. With the skids, that doesn't happen. It settles down very nicely. Maybe the ideal would be a gimbal that would lower itself down once airborne. ;-} You could then use stubby gear and have some advantages.
 
But so worth it. Lol

I was actually told today by someone that they liked the way the phantom looked better then my 680. :(
 
Boozshey said:
But so worth it. Lol

I was actually told today by someone that they liked the way the phantom looked better then my 680. :(

I've got a Phantom and a F550 and I agree with that remark. The Phantom is alot more pleasing to the eye and less scary looking. LOL!!

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk
 
Boozshey said:
But so worth it. Lol

I was actually told today by someone that they liked the way the phantom looked better then my 680. :(

Yes. The Phantom is a commercial looker. Flies great and is hard to beat. I just showed mine to our Easter guests and they all thought it looked very cool. However, when I brought out the 810 and sat it over the Phantom, the conversation turned to serious drones and what they could do.

Our quest has not been to make it look pretty. If we go that route, then a shell over the top would be all that was required. But it would only be cosmetic.
 
ladykate said:
Boozshey said:
But so worth it. Lol

I was actually told today by someone that they liked the way the phantom looked better then my 680. :(

Yes. The Phantom is a commercial looker. Flies great and is hard to beat. I just showed mine to our Easter guests and they all thought it looked very cool. However, when I brought out the 810 and sat it over the Phantom, the conversation turned to serious drones and what they could do.

Our quest has not been to make it look pretty. If we go that route, then a shell over the top would be all that was required. But it would only be cosmetic.

Did you tell them the next build was to hang a Hellfire off it?
 

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
143,066
Messages
1,467,358
Members
104,935
Latest member
Pauos31