Hey,
I'm new to FPV but not to flying RC planes. At the weekend i am starting my build and thought id start a thread with my progress. After a lot of research on forums and Youtube tutorials etc this is the stuff i purchased:
Up in the air:
-Skywalker 1900
-Turnigy Motor Aerodrive SK3 3536 - 1050kv
-Turnigy 60a ESC
-Turnigy servos
-pan and tilt from RMRC. Holds both GoPro and flight cam
-Sony WDR 700 line flight cam
-GoPro 3+ Black
-Cyclops Tornado OSD
-Dragon Link v2 Rx
-Lawmate 1.2ghz Video tx
-Blue Beam Mad Mushroom on Vtx
-Turnigy 5v & Quanum 12v UBEC's
-Homemade LC Filter
-2 x Turnigy 5000 4S 25c
-APC 9x6 Prop
-Telefly Pro OSD (in series with the tornado to provide GPS data to the MFD AAT)
On the ground:
-Turnigy 9xr tx with 2200 LiPo Taranis with Zippy 2500 3S
-Dragon Link v2 tx
-Fatshark Base SD goggles Fatshark Attitude V2 Goggles
Mounted in a case: Mounted on a Tripod:
-7" Monitor
-Lawmate 1.2ghz receiver
-Mad Mushroom antenna VAS 1.2 Crosshair Antenna
-4 way video splitter/amplifier
-Mini C-DVR BEVRC DVR
-Turnigy 5000 3S 30c
-MFD Auto Antenna Tracker
-25mw 5.8ghz Fat shark Vtx (relay video from ground station to goggles).
Cant wait to get this built and flying :)
Bloody hell that's a beautiful setup.
Others will say it if I don't.....
Strongly consider flying it in its most basic form.
Video tx & cam and that's it.
Every other component adds complexity and, until it's dead reliable, reduces the fun factor.
Just do a few flights first and then add a component in.
Quote from: Billy_boy_2010 on November 04, 2014, 09:09:58 PM
Bloody hell that's a beautiful setup.
Others will say it if I don't.....
Strongly consider flying it in its most basic form.
Video tx & cam and that's it.
Every other component adds complexity and, until it's dead reliable, reduces the fun factor.
Just do a few flights first and then add a component in.
Thanks :D
So i guess you mean without the OSD and pan/tilt?
I am definitely planning on short range flying in a park for quite a few flights before heading slightly higher and further away.
Looks a well thought out list. A lot of things to consider hen your mixing all the kit together so a well thought out build is a must.
I look forward to its progress
Thanks Coyote. Its taken me weeks of research before making these purchases. Ive watched so many videos on different aspects of FPV (?)
Forget the cloverleaf and mad mushroom and just go for two skew planers then at a later date go for a helical with a diversity vrx
You'll get better rejection of multipathing from two skews than you will from the clover/mushroom for very little cost of dBi
Nice set up otherwise
Cheers
My plan was to move to a helical with diversity at a later date once i had a bit more experience.
So you sell these skew things for 10 each? in 1.2?
Unfortunately i don't really know what "better rejection of multipathing" means :opps:
Quote from: AdamG on November 04, 2014, 09:24:45 PM
Thanks :D
So i guess you mean without the OSD and pan/tilt?
I am definitely planning on short range flying in a park for quite a few flights before heading slightly higher and further away.
IMO yes.
It's just additional complexity.
You're likely a far far better LOS pilot than me. And will probably rapidly overtake me on the FPV front soon.....
But you're not running a simple OSD- it's a full autopilot you have there. It takes people ages to tune them in properly- and until you do they act weird! I haven't even tried to get mine setup yet!
Consider flying it on a smaller battery first so it's lighter. And maybe just keep all the components in the bay to begin with. Don't fit the go pro either.
Get a few flights in first and you will learn so much. It's so much to take in at first you won't be able to concentrate on the RTH and osd info. You certainly won't be able to think about pan and tilting.
Just a few flights and then you will be addicted and you can spend some time setting it up beautifully. But, at first at least, it won't add to the enjoyment.
Quote from: AdamG on November 04, 2014, 09:57:05 PM
My plan was to move to a helical with diversity at a later date once i had a bit more experience.
So you sell these skew things for 10 each? in 1.2?
Unfortunately i don't really know what "better rejection of multipathing" means :opps:
Ah, wasn't trying to flog you antennas but give a bit of advise
Multipathing is the reflection of the vid signal bouncing off buildings,trees etc causing dropouts in the vid signal, skews are better at rejecting this loss at nearly zero loss of dBi
If you do want a quote though pm me mate
Cheers
Simon
Quote from: bignose13 on November 04, 2014, 11:22:03 PM
Quote from: AdamG on November 04, 2014, 09:57:05 PM
My plan was to move to a helical with diversity at a later date once i had a bit more experience.
So you sell these skew things for 10 each? in 1.2?
Unfortunately i don't really know what "better rejection of multipathing" means :opps:
Ah, wasn't trying to flog you antennas but give a bit of advise
Multipathing is the reflection of the vid signal bouncing off buildings,trees etc causing dropouts in the vid signal, skews are better at rejecting this loss at nearly zero loss of dBi
If you do want a quote though pm me mate
Cheers
Simon
Am I right in thinking that multipathing is more prominent as the frequency increases?
So CP is an absolute must have with 5.8- but if the guy is using 1.3 is it less useful? Still useful but less so?
Did a bit of work this weekend creating the ground station :D Simple and not quite complete, but you get the idea. Connector in the middle below the monitor is for the goggles:
...
...
:)
Wow that looks awesome, well done!
Very nice :)
Not got as far as i would have liked, done a lot of soldering and wiring, all seems to be working well so far including the OSD. Aiming to have it up in the air in a couple of weeks ;D
Pics below, Ground station and power supply wiring through current sensor with LC filter after 12v UBEC.
Pics below of work in progress, motor testing, and video feed testing. Changing and full throttle is not producing video feed noise so far on my single 4s setup.
Before you install the Tornado osd,
Have a good think of how to mount it so you can remove it easily without to much hassle.
It still early days for the firmware and they are updating the firmware quite often lately.
Eg.
I removed mine the other day to update to v1.07
Didn't get around to it, had a check to see what the firmware was like by others reporting on it.
And then found another update to v1.08
Am glad I didn't update it, reinstall it in the plane, and then found this update.
That was about a week apart.
Tj
Looks good so far.
Testing for interference is pretty pointless at that point because nothing is laid out where it is going to be or the wired routed where they are going so your results are not going to show up any problems as it is right now. The interference will not show up much anyway with the motor until it has a propeller on either, with no load on the motors its not dragging any current down the cables which is what causes the interference.
Have you got some extra wire running along the ground line on the current sensor? It looks like the two ground wires are soldered at either end of the PCB and the PCB alone may not be up to handling the current. It's good practise to either solder the ground wires right next to each other or solder some bare wire along the PCB to increase the amount of conductor between the grounds.
Neil.
Quote from: _tj_ on December 11, 2014, 01:59:25 AM
Have a good think of how to mount it so you can remove it easily without to much hassle.
It still early days for the firmware and they are updating the firmware quite often lately.
Hi TJ,
I had considered this and its going to be mounted right next to the hatch on the side for easy access and will only be held in place using velcro :)
Quote from: Coyote on December 11, 2014, 07:57:58 AM
The interference will not show up much anyway with the motor until it has a propeller on either, with no load on the motors its not dragging any current down the cables which is what causes the interference.
I guessed this was the case which is why i said "so far" ;)
Quote from: iPeel on December 11, 2014, 08:38:45 AM
Have you got some extra wire running along the ground line on the current sensor? It looks like the two ground wires are soldered at either end of the PCB and the PCB alone may not be up to handling the current. It's good practise to either solder the ground wires right next to each other or solder some bare wire along the PCB to increase the amount of conductor between the grounds.
Thanks Neil, wasnt aware of this, ive got plenty of wire so doing this wont be a problem :thumbsup:
I use 3m double sided sticky pads.
4 little squares in the corners holds it well.
Just my personal choice,
But I find Velcro still allows the unit to move,
Which could interfere with the gyros with if there's any vibration.
Any other thoughts?
3m double sided pads vs Velcro.
Which is most popular.
Looking good. I hope the build continues to go well. :D
Thanks for the comments and feedback :)
Tj i think i will take your advice and use some 3m tape to secure the OSD :)
Not had much spare time recently so progress report is that i have assembled my Pan/Tilt, soldered in Aileron servo extensions, made aileron Y connector, connected up all the electronics and programmed everything on my Turnigy 9XR (OSD flight modes, pan and tilt dials, pan tilt override switch, RTH failsafe) :D
With a bit of luck i might have it practically finished this weekend :cheers:
Looking good! What pan/tilt is that?
Quote from: iwan_canobi on December 17, 2014, 12:00:23 AM
Looking good! What pan/tilt is that?
Thanks :D
Its a ready made RC pan tilt. Wanted something that could hold both the GoPro and flight cam so that my GoPro footage also includes my 'looking around' :)
http://www.readymaderc.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=11_408&products_id=1657 (http://www.readymaderc.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=11_408&products_id=1657)
Ah, cheers! I've been looking around for one for my skywalker 1680, but ended up going for a hobbyking one. Not seen much about it but hoping I can find a way to mount the board cam to it as well as you say, and get the head tracking working on my fat sharks! :)
This guy - http://www.hobbyking.co.uk/hobbyking/store/__44627__HobbyKing_Go_Pro_Camera_Gimbal_with_Pan_and_Tilt_1pc_.html (http://www.hobbyking.co.uk/hobbyking/store/__44627__HobbyKing_Go_Pro_Camera_Gimbal_with_Pan_and_Tilt_1pc_.html)
Annoyingly I ordered from international w/h before realising they stock it in the UK, so still waiting on it.
Quote from: iwan_canobi on December 17, 2014, 12:16:50 AM
Ah, cheers! I've been looking around for one for my skywalker 1680, but ended up going for a hobbyking one. Not seen much about it but hoping I can find a way to mount the board cam to it as well as you say, and get the head tracking working on my fat sharks! :)
This guy - http://www.hobbyking.co.uk/hobbyking/store/__44627__HobbyKing_Go_Pro_Camera_Gimbal_with_Pan_and_Tilt_1pc_.html (http://www.hobbyking.co.uk/hobbyking/store/__44627__HobbyKing_Go_Pro_Camera_Gimbal_with_Pan_and_Tilt_1pc_.html)
Annoyingly I ordered from international w/h before realising they stock it in the UK, so still waiting on it.
I never spotted this when i looked on HK! i probably would have tried that first if id seen it as the one i got was quite expensive once you add servos. Although i have to say it does work really well now that its assembled. Was a bit tricky to assemble and came in laser cut templates... reminded me of airfix kits :P
Just watched a few of your skywalker vids and got me excited to have my first FPV flight :happy:
Yeah I was looking around for a while and when I saw that and how cheap it was I figured it was worth a punt!
Cheers! My Skywalker has been great, bought it off Blueflyer on here so all the hard work was done, I just got to enjoy it! Its currently out of action though, awaiting the APM I bought from Coyote which the wife is holding hostage till Christmas! :D
Its a great plane, you'll love it!
I purchased mine ages ago now, maybe 2 months ago and still not in the air. Its a long process planning planning and building one of these things :o christmas break will see my maiden flight though :D
whats it like in high wind? is there a max wind speed you'd take it up in?
Cheers
Ive not really tested that part of it yet to be honest, its stable as a rock in up to about 10mph but thats the most I've flown in so far. I imagine with stabilisation on it won't be an issue really, only thing I've heard reports of is that it won't cope that well with a strong crosswind since the side profile is so big, but I've not experienced that much so far.
I probably wouldn't fly in anything over 20mph as a general rule anyway, but I'm a wuss! :P
There is a huge difference in flight characteristics between the 190 & 168. The 190 is less agile and flys more like a large scale glider. Needs mor dihedral and bigger ailerons.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
So I did a bit more work over the weekend on my Skwalker :D
-I made a base for the battery and OSD to be mounted to with a velcro strap to hold the battery in place properly
-made the front canopy by cutting the standard EPO one and adding plywood for solid mounting places for camera pan tilt system and VTX
-labelled all cables, connected it all and tested before mounting inside the plane.
-Cut a channel for the Dragon Link antenna to sit in the tail of the plane.
-Used slow cure Epoxy to glue plane together, and the plywood base to the bottom.
-Mounted the on/off switch and my OSD menu control panel on the inside of the door so i have easy access when its open.
-Connected a silicone tube onto the airspeed sensor, and fitted a pen from work at the front as i pitot tube, which turned out perfect hehe :P
-Mounted Dragon Link Tx to my Turnigy 9XR
Next step is im going to paint it. Then to finish it off I simply need to attach servo linkage and the motor, which is already prepared to go on the plane :whackydance:
Build and Maiden flight video to come early next year if all goes well :D
Quote from: AdamG on December 17, 2014, 09:49:39 PM
I purchased mine ages ago now, maybe 2 months ago and still not in the air. Its a long process planning planning and building one of these things :o christmas break will see my maiden flight though :D
whats it like in high wind? is there a max wind speed you'd take it up in?
Cheers
Your build is going well. Worth taking the time to get it right, it looks very neat.
I took my Skywalker for it's maiden flight in 10-12 mph wind which was not ideal, but made it easy to launch! Being a bigger heavier plane it handled a lot better than my Bixler did at those wind speeds.
High side profile meant it went 'sideways' as well as forward across the wind, but I didn't find it a big deal. I was running with Eagletree Vector, so the stabilisation probably helped.
Very good setup, I'm watching this one closely. Next for me is going to be a sky walker me thinks ! Between the 1900 and 1600 model is the body size very different ? (ie the canopy space and room inside)
Quote from: benitoculito on December 23, 2014, 10:41:34 AM
Very good setup, I'm watching this one closely. Next for me is going to be a sky walker me thinks ! Between the 1900 and 1600 model is the body size very different ? (ie the canopy space and room inside)
Thanks :D
The body is identical for both models, just a different main wing that's all :thumbsup:
Looking good.
Here's a link to the newest firmware in case you haven't spotted it as yet.
Tornado v1.09
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showpost.php?p=30092785 (http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showpost.php?p=30092785)
Quote from: _tj_ on December 23, 2014, 03:31:40 PM
Looking good.
Here's a link to the newest firmware in case you haven't spotted it as yet.
Tornado v1.09
http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showpost.php?p=30092785 (http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showpost.php?p=30092785)
Cheers TJ, will look into that as i do have the USB updater tool :thumbsup:
For anyone following this build, here is exactly how I've wired it together:
No problem.
Any reason your not using the ppm single cable method to the rx
Quote from: FlightyFishcake on December 22, 2014, 11:08:46 PM
Quote from: AdamG on December 17, 2014, 09:49:39 PM
I purchased mine ages ago now, maybe 2 months ago and still not in the air. Its a long process planning planning and building one of these things :o christmas break will see my maiden flight though :D
whats it like in high wind? is there a max wind speed you'd take it up in?
Cheers
Your build is going well. Worth taking the time to get it right, it looks very neat.
I took my Skywalker for it's maiden flight in 10-12 mph wind which was not ideal, but made it easy to launch! Being a bigger heavier plane it handled a lot better than my Bixler did at those wind speeds.
High side profile meant it went 'sideways' as well as forward across the wind, but I didn't find it a big deal. I was running with Eagletree Vector, so the stabilisation probably helped.
I flew my v6 in winds gusting to 23mph, it handled it pretty well with storm, on a 4s setup 600w motor.
At times it was making me think my osd was playing up.
I thought I was flying away from me, and the wind was pushing me back on about half throttle, so the distance to home was going down.
Quite odd, when the plane was facing away from home.
All good fun though.
And if this wind keeps up for too much longer I will be forced to go out and do it again.
Before the withdrawals become to much.
:)
TJ i won't be brave enough to maiden if the wind stays like this :o
oh and i didn't use the single ppm cable mainly because I've never heard of one :laugh: :opps:
You can use one lead from the receiver to the osd.
Off the top of my head, once you turn it on in the osd menu you connect it to the MOD channel (I think) and run the lead to the ppm ch on receiver.
eliminates quite a few extra cables.
Haven't used Dragonlink so not sure which channel it is on it.
But I'm sure someone on here will know :)
Paint job :D
Very nice :)
Looks a nice clean build :D
Sweet :D
dizzy :)
Well yesterday i finally managed to maiden my skywalker. seems to fly really well as a plane but currently having some issue with my video feed and GPS on the OSD. Once i have these sorted i will get out again and post a vid.
Nice paint job :)
Quote from: UAV Aviation on December 30, 2014, 08:43:42 PM
Nice paint job :)
Thanks ;D
Here a few of the build pics:
-Motor mount is the standard skywalker supplied mount, fitted to a home made larger mound made from plywood, and some BBQ skewers in an attempt to make it a more solid connection with the body.
-ESC externally side mounted to keep it nice and cool.
Looks awesome! Love the groundstation as well. Quite fancy building something like that for myself but where do you put it whilst out in the field? Just on the ground?
Quote from: iwan_canobi on January 02, 2015, 04:58:34 PM
Looks awesome! Love the groundstation as well. Quite fancy building something like that for myself but where do you put it whilst out in the field? Just on the ground?
Thanks ;D I have a tripod with a quick release panel, which i plan to bolt to the bottom of the case. For now it just sits on a chair in the field :laugh:
Vid screen shot:
Really nice build.
My only bit of feedback would be the board cam and go pro will screw up the aerodynamics. I know it's not a super fast plane, but even at the 30-40mph you will be going it will have an effect.
Can you shape some foam to go around them a bit? Solid foam behind them will help, as will a slight lip below the gopro. I guess it's tricky with the pan and tilt system, but anything you can do will help.
It's such a beautiful build I'm probably just being fussy but it sticks out a mile on an otherwise smooth airframe.
Quote from: Billy_boy_2010 on January 02, 2015, 07:50:13 PM
Really nice build.
My only bit of feedback would be the board cam and go pro will screw up the aerodynamics. I know it's not a super fast plane, but even at the 30-40mph you will be going it will have an effect.
Can you shape some foam to go around them a bit? Solid foam behind them will help, as will a slight lip below the gopro. I guess it's tricky with the pan and tilt system, but anything you can do will help.
It's such a beautiful build I'm probably just being fussy but it sticks out a mile on an otherwise smooth airframe.
Thanks for the feedback Billy. I think it would be really hard to put any foam around the pan/tilt as its movement requires so much space. Will take a look though :)
Quote from: AdamG on January 03, 2015, 01:22:20 AM
Thanks for the feedback Billy. I think it would be really hard to put any foam around the pan/tilt as its movement requires so much space. Will take a look though :)
Even if you left the pan and tilt bit alone and has some foam behind it it would help.
so instead of
------\ III
PLANE. CAM
You would have
-----\|||||||) III
Plane foam. Cam
Quote from: Billy_boy_2010 on January 03, 2015, 01:53:58 AM
Quote from: AdamG on January 03, 2015, 01:22:20 AM
Thanks for the feedback Billy. I think it would be really hard to put any foam around the pan/tilt as its movement requires so much space. Will take a look though :)
Even if you left the pan and tilt bit alone and has some foam behind it it would help.
so instead of
------\ III
PLANE. CAM
You would have
-----\|||||||) III
Plane foam. Cam
Cheers, will see what i can do :+
Quote from: Billy_boy_2010 on January 03, 2015, 01:53:58 AM
Quote from: AdamG on January 03, 2015, 01:22:20 AM
Thanks for the feedback Billy. I think it would be really hard to put any foam around the pan/tilt as its movement requires so much space. Will take a look though :)
Even if you left the pan and tilt bit alone and has some foam behind it it would help.
so instead of
------\ III
PLANE. CAM
You would have
-----\|||||||) III
Plane foam. Cam
Billy_boy, that's a helpful tip. Thanks.
I have a similar setup to AdamG on my skywalker and the drag is noticeable and increased current draw too. That said it's great to have the pan and tilt set up with head tracker to look round in flight.
I'll see what I can do to make it more aerodynamic.
Picture of the GS with the crosshair, and everything packed away ready to go.
Now i just need a day where I'm not at work and its not ridiculously windy for my first proper flight >:(
Quote from: FlightyFishcake on January 03, 2015, 01:52:50 PM
Billy_boy, that's a helpful tip. Thanks.
I have a similar setup to AdamG on my skywalker and the drag is noticeable and increased current draw too. That said it's great to have the pan and tilt set up with head tracker to look round in flight.
I'll see what I can do to make it more aerodynamic.
The new MFD twin plane is a good example. You can see here behind the board cam there is a bit of foam.
http://www.myflydream.com/index.php?main_page=popup_image&pID=21 (http://www.myflydream.com/index.php?main_page=popup_image&pID=21)
Putting a bit of foam the shape of a cone/bullet on the back of the board cam would improve it even more- provided the board cam was straight ahead.
As soon as it panned around the cone would get blown off of course :D
So i finally got my first proper flight in yesterday, and it was so much fun!
Tested automated flight modes for the first time and it worked pretty well! very strange feeling to let it circle me by itself in RTH :D
Flight lasted 21 mins, used 62% of my 5000mah pack, max distance 1.05 miles, max altitude 413m.
I have videos but don't think they'd be that interesting to you lot, so here are a few stills:
(http://s18.postimg.org/jmwqcy12d/Screen_Shot_2015_02_08_at_21_14_57.jpg) (http://postimg.org/image/jmwqcy12d/)
(http://s30.postimg.org/7rmrg89gt/Screen_Shot_2015_02_08_at_21_22_27.jpg) (http://postimg.org/image/7rmrg89gt/)
(http://s15.postimg.org/zepyi681z/Screen_Shot_2015_02_08_at_21_32_17.jpg) (http://postimg.org/image/zepyi681z/)
(http://s23.postimg.org/beb4rrvqf/Screen_Shot_2015_02_08_at_22_05_22.jpg) (http://postimg.org/image/beb4rrvqf/)
Watching this thread with interest ... I'm getting ready to build mine :D
(https://scontent-b-lhr.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfp1/v/t1.0-9/10968506_412280912263689_4064131184036288709_n.jpg?oh=58afb1901083f2f8058188caacc71d1d&oe=554AA6C5)
So clean, so pure.... now to attack it with tape :)
Looks good, what paint did you use on it?
Haha Steve i remember the days where mine looked like that... handn't been attacked with a knife, paint, tape, glue and god knows what else, won't last long :P I love the skywalker and can't wait to get out flying again!
I painted it with a spray from B&Q. Was a 'Multi purpose Primer'. Used about 2 cans and cost about £6 each if i remember correctly