Ritewing Z3 Crash video and damage report

iwan_canobi · February 29, 2016, 02:34:38 PM

Finally got round to editing some bits together for this. I've probably been putting it off to avoid thinking about it! :-[

Crash video with damage report -

http://youtu.be/Kgt--mN7ELI

dogzilla · February 29, 2016, 04:56:05 PM

Damn sorry to see feller. Losing RC link at 2.5km is just shocking. What antenna's were you using with the EzUHF and was it the diversity RX or single?

Not meaning to rub it in and I'm sure the EzUHF fanboys don't want to hear this but I have seen quite a few EzUHF related failures like this. I experienced plenty myself including my Z2 losing link within 1.5km and crashing into a field just like yours did. Got rid after that, haven't looked back.

stevec · February 29, 2016, 05:16:23 PM

That's a shame it looked co cool too.
it is horrible when you are just watching something go in with no control experienced it myself a few times with spektrum gear on helicopters...

I like your attitude though, we have the technology!

rebuild thread?

Cheers
Steve

Brucey · February 29, 2016, 05:32:47 PM

That was some impact, jeez!

iwan_canobi · February 29, 2016, 05:34:50 PM

Cheers guys! I have to admit I felt physically sick when I realised I had no control. Perfect video though, 1.3ghz was awesome right the way to the ground! :P

I think I got away lightly, but it just re-enforces the fact that I need failsafe, DVR and not to fly anywhere populated. Even out there I nearly managed to land on a building!

Quote from: stevec on February 29, 2016, 05:16:23 PM
That's a shame it looked co cool too.
it is horrible when you are just watching something go in with no control experienced it myself a few times with spektrum gear on helicopters...

I like your attitude though, we have the technology!

rebuild thread?

Yep, never want to experience it again! Rebuild thread is a good idea, going to re-visit my seaplane and the Skipper XL I got first, then hit this rebuild full on!

Quote from: dogzilla on February 29, 2016, 04:56:05 PM
Damn sorry to see feller. Losing RC link at 2.5km is just shocking. What antenna's were you using with the EzUHF and was it the diversity RX or single?

Not meaning to rub it in and I'm sure the EzUHF fanboys don't want to hear this but I have seen quite a few EzUHF related failures like this. I experienced plenty myself including my Z2 losing link within 1.5km and crashing into a field just like yours did. Got rid after that, haven't looked back.

Yeah its frustrating when I've been out to 4.5km on bog standard FrSky 2.4GHz with the L9R receiver! This is the JR module EZUHF with the Lite Rx, with a Hawkeye 433MHz dipole. The Tx antenna is just a standard whip that came with the JR module. I was going to go cheap and go for the Hawkeye stuff but thought I'd be better with the Immersion stuff...looks like you don't always get what you pay for! What do you use?

Wonder if I should try Crossfire or Hawkeye?

stevec · February 29, 2016, 05:44:47 PM

My long range set up is using xfire but with the weather we have been having it will be a while until I fly it any distances...

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Brucey · February 29, 2016, 05:45:17 PM

That'll be your problem, the standard whip is crap, don't know why they include it. Diamond antenna the way buddy.

AdamG · February 29, 2016, 05:51:55 PM

Do all the electronics work once put back together on the ground? (Sorry if you said in the vid, i had to watch without sound as i'm at work).

Is it possible that your 5V power source died, disabling your Rx (reason for control loss so close) and disabling your servos hence allowing it to fly in random direction without servo resistance? And your 12v supply to video gear continued to function.

I think Dogzilla, like myself, is using Dragonlink

FPVSteve · February 29, 2016, 05:54:30 PM

Failsafe might have saved the day though :P Lesson learned!

FPVSteve · February 29, 2016, 05:54:59 PM

Quote from: Brucey on February 29, 2016, 05:45:17 PM
That'll be your problem, the standard whip is crap, don't know why they include it. Diamond antenna the way buddy.

I'm guessing the include it primarily to stop people from hosing their Tx by turning it on without an antenna attached

Billy_boy_2010 · February 29, 2016, 06:03:47 PM

standard whip antenna is rubbish. Although 2.5km should be a doddle even for that. Or you run extreme hopping?

everyone rates the diamond but I'm not a huge fan- solely because it requires you to hold the tx vertically which gets tiring and awkward after a while- or add an extension.

Given a dipole is the gold standard of UHF- why not use one on your Tx antenna? That way your antenna is at the correct orientation already so you can have the Tx on your lap.

Coyote · February 29, 2016, 07:24:10 PM

That sucked , I hope it's fixed soon enough. 2.5km is shocking rang but not unheard of especially with monopolies and stock whips on the tx.

B foreign anything set the Danny failsafe :) Then dipole on the plane with a Diamond on the tx, preferably mou Ted vertically for some stress free flying :)

iPeel · February 29, 2016, 08:07:19 PM

The Diamond doesn't require you to hold it absolutely vertically, you may think you have to but it's not strictly necessary. Nobody can state why the diamond works so well as technically it's a half wave antenna at 433 which doesn't make sense, I refuse to analyse one as in doing so may stop the magic from working. Either way you have to go pretty far to find a better alternative to the Diamond, my PB on a Diamond TX and dipole RX is 22Km and that was in far from ideal circumstances, to better that I've needed a Yagi.

There's definitely a finger to point at the stock duckies, Sander has tried to defend them stating there's nothing wrong with them, despite him producing a guide on how to make a better alternative in which he also provided completely incorrect dimensions.

With UHF your friend is always the spectrum analyser, which is why most of the UHF systems provide you with the feature baked into the transmitter. So much stuff blasts over the 430-450 band you need to hunt out and replace anything that does which can be a painstaking process. The worst I have seen are the HobbyKing 12V BECs which lower the noise floor to around -65db at 50cm, the Mobius has also been proven to exhibit issues as have a few other board cams and stepup regulators.

None of the above will act like a switch, you'd have received a few warning shots first with lost packets, sudden complete loss of reception smacks of something else to me.

Anyway, you've a bigger job ahead of you than trying to find the range culprit! You're best off looking forwards and getting her airworthy again, then once you have everything in place make sure you're on the best firmware and using the spectrum analyser function to make sure everything's good there and taking baby steps on range.

I don;t know what camera you're using but that thing's bomb proof!

Coyote · February 29, 2016, 08:25:35 PM

Quote from: iPeel on February 29, 2016, 08:07:19 PM
The Diamond doesn't require you to hold it absolutely vertically, you may think you have to but it's not strictly necessary.

It's not strictly necessary but by having it in its optimum position will give the best performance.

iPeel · February 29, 2016, 08:32:11 PM

Quote from: Coyote on February 29, 2016, 08:25:35 PM
It's not strictly necessary but by having it in its optimum position will give the best performance.

So long as you're not pointing the antenna directly at the model the propagation will be fairly even, they don't issue a plot but 2.15dbi suggests a fairly even doughnut outside of the expected upper and lower nulls.

Anyway, my statement should be more along the lines of you needing to go pretty far to find something that outperforms the Diamond in any articulation.