V5 Skywalker ....... again :)

[6lennn]

did this to mine earlier, it was a breeze, takes less than a minute from start to finish

[BlueFlyer]

Glad I could be of help :)

[Coyote]

After a few tests with the MFD i became aware of a small problem, the MFD regulator board would cut supply to the OSD if anything came into contact with it, or vibrations got to it.

Not really a great thing :( Half way through your flight you loose video, then if you get it back, home is lost and the OSD has no idea where you are !

I removed the regulator board, tried resoldering the connections incase it was a bad joint, but the problem still persisted. The remedy i hoped was a BEC. The onboard BEC was capable of running 6v, and my UHF max voltage was 6v also, so i removed the regulator and tapped onto the now switched to 6v BEC supply instead :)

Here`s the offending little bugger :

One of the things that worries me, is having the plane sat with Vtx on and not moving. Vtx`s can burn themselves out really easily if sat. What i like to do is have my vtx off, but be able to see the Osd, Camera etc on the ground before the flight. The longer the plane is sat locking sats the better for the OSD and tracker.

What i did was add an RCA socket to the video one on the fuse :



Now i can have the plane sat there, all systems on, apart from vtx, letting the OSD gather sats, and i can plug in my MFD Tracker to the audio out and confirm the MFD is getting a signal,telemety and picture while others fly on the same frequency and without chancing the vtx in the heat 

[g.collins]

Hi Coyote
Have you contacted the retailer about this problem, I will have to do the same thing when I set up my MFD.
I will need to do a similar thing with my VTX on my new mini Skywalker, the GPS takes some time to fined all the Sat's.
:) G

[Coyote]

No ive not contacted Charles G, its easier to run it off the BEC ( as long as its set to 6v ) instead of waiting for another regulator

[papa_lazerous]

Not been on the forum for a few days Just wondering if you got a maiden in yet or not?

[Ian F]

After a few tests with the MFD i became aware of a small problem, the MFD regulator board would cut supply to the OSD if anything came into contact with it, or vibrations got to it.

Not really a great thing :( Half way through your flight you loose video, then if you get it back, home is lost and the OSD has no idea where you are !

I removed the regulator board, tried resoldering the connections incase it was a bad joint, but the problem still persisted. The remedy i hoped was a BEC. The onboard BEC was capable of running 6v, and my UHF max voltage was 6v also, so i removed the regulator and tapped onto the now switched to 6v BEC supply instead :)



What i did was add an RCA socket to the video one on the fuse :

Now i can have the plane sat there, all systems on, apart from vtx, letting the OSD gather sats, and i can plug in my MFD Tracker to the audio out and confirm the MFD is getting a signal,telemety and picture while others fly on the same frequency and without chancing the vtx in the heat 

Do you think the fault with the 6 volt regulator is a 1 off or inherant? Ive just started with the MFD and have 4 of these I am about to test when the weather improves, no faults noted on the ground.

Nice idea with the seperate video socket on the side of the fuss, are you plugging the video direct into the MFD to get telemetry? More details would be interesting.

[Coyote]

Not been on the forum for a few days Just wondering if you got a maiden in yet or not?

The maiden sucked lol, a slight crash after 1 min of fighting with it, it was flying real tail heavy despite the cg being the same as my other walkers

[Coyote]

Do you think the fault with the 6 volt regulator is a 1 off or inherant? Ive just started with the MFD and have 4 of these I am about to test when the weather improves, no faults noted on the ground.

Nice idea with the seperate video socket on the side of the fuss, are you plugging the video direct into the MFD to get telemetry? More details would be interesting.

No i think it was a one off, on the maiden i had diagonal barring though, it seemed to be the vtx, but ive tried another vtx and same thing, once i removed the mfd telefly osd from the equation the barring has now gone

The video socket and audio socet are soldered to the vtx video and audio inputs, the telemetry is carried down the audio channel so i can plug the plane into the mfd to get both vid and telemetry now :)

[Ian F]

[/quote]
The video socket and audio socet are soldered to the vtx video and audio inputs, the telemetry is carried down the audio channel so i can plug the plane into the mfd to get both vid and telemetry now :)
[/quote]

COOL

[papa_lazerous]

Not been on the forum for a few days Just wondering if you got a maiden in yet or not?

The maiden sucked lol, a slight crash after 1 min of fighting with it, it was flying real tail heavy despite the cg being the same as my other walkers

That sucks :( I have been wanting to take my SW up but the only days I havent been working we have had that extreme wind

[Coyote]

Ive stripped it apart over yesterday and today. Strengthened the horizontal stab a bit more, i still have a wonky tail though that im open to suggestions for :)

Im not happy with this WDR650 camera, ive used the vtx`s many times before and never had any chew, but with this new camera it just really doesnt like the vtx transmitting.

So ill fit a WDR 600 that i know is fine and that should solve that. Ive removed the MFD for now to fit on my tri, but another MFD will be on its way over soon to go back in the walker.

Im also getting a couple of Gopro`s next week as well so ive done the Tri`s gopro gimbal already so set about fitting a case to the walker. I have previously flew before without the case, the £300 Gopro lasted i think it was 7 days from brand new to throw away :(

Although the case is unsightly and large and cumbersome ill be using it on all my planes from now on for damage limitation :)

One thing about the new Skywalker canopy is it doesnt lend itself to house a Gopro, teh flight camera will for the most part be blocked by the case if you fitted it normally, so i decided to sink the case into thge canopy.



To remove it i just unscrew the pivot screw

The base plate was glued inside and holds it really well in place

[Coyote]

Ok, had a re-maiden CoG set to servo slots ( 75mm ) from LE and she flew miles better.

On reflection though, the gopro would have got a great shot, but i used my smashed one just in case :) My flight cam however was just getting most the picture taken up looking at the rear of the Gopro. Some wouldnt mind, as long as the gopro got the money shots, but for me the fun is in the flying and thats gonna spoil it.

So at 2.30am sat chatting to Bignose i figured i best do something about it, without effecting too much. I wanted strength still, the Gopro dropping, none of the plane in the Gopros view so i came up with this :

A spare bit of ply laying around was cut and the nose tip sanded, the foam tehn cut to sink the ply into



Epoxied a gopro foot to the ply and cut the foam away



Ill fill in behind the camera where it was previously located

Now it sits much much lower, the pods still strong and no nose in gopro shot :)



A bit of Depron tarting up and it looks pretty good now :)

[Coyote]

Today i had a nice flight, but the Gopro was still prominant, so i figured I`d give the Gopro live feed one more go. Im not expecting much after previous attempts proved the Gopro`s live out is dismall in low light

So, anyway, first mark and drill a hole corresponding with the 2.5mm jack live out of the Gopro :



Next, buy the lead from Simon and cut to length and in this case i soldered a servo plug to the yellow and shield ( Video out and Ground )



I have already put a servo socket next to the WDR600.



Two reasons for this :

1) Incase i wanted to try the Gopro out again

2) The most common wire to break when your camera has pan and tilt is the 3 pin camera wires mollex plug. Instead of ging home and making a new wire, i carry spares, just unplug dodgy wire and plug in replavement in seconds :)

So, i unplug the main cam wire, and plug the Gopro out feed wire in and your ready to rock n roll

[tdmodels]

Will be interesting to see how you get on with it Ian.  In the last hour, I have just purchased a GP2 (should arrive Friday) and am also wondering how to mount it.

As the batteries sit below the canopy lip, I may even make a U shaped plate so that the GP sits another half inch lower than yours. Do you think that will make enough difference?