Playing with the A450 warp quad at the field ;-)

LitterBug

Techno Nut
Moderator
Working on my LOS skillz and dug out the ol' A450. Got the haze knoked off in anticipation of a lot of LOSing at Flite Fest East.

Cheers!
LitterBug
 

PsyBorg

Wake up! Time to fly!
haha LB going old school with the Warp quad. That thing is HUGE compared to what we fly now. Guess there is no excuse for losing orientation on that beastie. You can just about see that one from space! :p
 

LitterBug

Techno Nut
Moderator
haha LB going old school with the Warp quad. That thing is HUGE compared to what we fly now. Guess there is no excuse for losing orientation on that beastie. You can just about see that one from space! :p

PB
Not only is it Big, it's slow. My buddy did a great job with the edit making it look like the fastest 450 ever. Thing is a slop monster and need to tune the PIDs bad. Never had it out more than 1/4 mile, and yes, it was still very visible. Just wasn't going to take a chance on range. Have an A550 HEX in the works. It will be my heavy lifter and have a more modern FC running dRonin. Go big at Flite Fest right? Although I can't compete with that awesome giant race drone the FF guys built. Can't wait to see that thing fly in person.

Cheers!
LB
 

PsyBorg

Wake up! Time to fly!
IF they get it back together in time. It got tumbled pretty hard at FFW. I saw some BIGG parts flying as it cartwheeled.
 

LitterBug

Techno Nut
Moderator
So this puppy has been updated from an APM FC, crappy ESCs, and lame motors, (those motors and ESCs were taken from a Cheerson CX-20) to an AirDTF Seppuku F4 FC/OSD, 6S capable 30A ESCs, and SunnySky X2212 kv980 motors. Expect more goodness soon! It's been autotuned on the latest beta of dRonin: https://dronin.org/tunes#?key=ahFzfmRyb25pbi1hdXRvdG93bnIYCxILVHVuZVJlc3VsdHMYgICA-Myv0AgM

Out with the old... (on the right)
Screenshot from 2018-06-04 13-05-46.png

Cheers!
LitterBug
 
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LitterBug

Techno Nut
Moderator
More testing out behind the house. I've run about 6 packs through the A450 now. 1x 2000mah 3S, and 5x 1550mah 4S. Testing the latest pre-release dRonin firmware. So far just hover tests, Althold, Position hold, autotunes, etc... Did a hover test tonight and got 12+ minutes of hover @ 80'AGL in position hold on a single 4S 1550mah pack with some % to spare. Gave it a minute before flight to grab satellites, although the GPS is really quick to lock in.

Current specs: @900g
Frame: Diatone A450
FC/OSD: AirDTF Seppuku (internal compass and Baro)
RX: FrSky R-XSR
PDB: Matek FCHUB-6S (10V & 5V BECs plus current sensor)
Firmware: dRonin pre-release Inconceivable
GPS: RTFQ ublox M8N with Compass
ESCs: DYS XMS30A (3S-6S)
Motors: SunnySky X2212 kv980
Props: T-Motor CF 9x3 AntiGravity

Cheers!
LitterBug
 

LitterBug

Techno Nut
Moderator
Been doing all LOS work up until this point. Finally got out to the field last night and got some real Pos/Althold testing, and ReturnToHome testing in. Also did some crazy flying in Horizon mode with Flips galore and still managed to pull off a perfect RTH on that pack. Getting 12+ minutes of flight time out of a 4S 1550mah battery with 10-20% reserve power. Got a little too crazy last night doing flips @3' and busted one prop.
PropDOH.jpg


Threw an LED strip, FPV camera, and VTX on it today, along with a new set of props. Should be hitting the field soon for some FPV fun later tonight. This could turn out to be a really nice exploratory cruiser with some long range gear and a higher mah batt on it.

Cheers!
LitterBug
 

PsyBorg

Wake up! Time to fly!
Sounds like this one is being set up for some LR explorations huh.

I been watching too many OZZY33333 videos and what he can do LOS. I was testing to make sure the bell I replaced on the Alien would stay on so what better way then to bounce it on the ground a few times.

I was blippin up and letting it fall til it just touched the grass then blip and flip to see if I could do them where the props cut grass as the quad rolls. Managed to get a few to work so will be checking footage here after I get some food in me. at least the bell is still on and I didn't even bend a prop.. Not sure how that all works but hey Ill take it.
 

LitterBug

Techno Nut
Moderator
:-D
Did some FPV testing tonight out at the field. Did some treetop proximity flying, and even shot a gap. Also compared Eagle vs. Night Eagle. Eagle is awesome at dusk, Night Eagle better after dusk. Time to throw HD camera on here and get sum smooph vidz.
Screenshot from 2018-06-07 23-18-10.png

Screenshot from 2018-06-07 23-29-57.png

Screenshot from 2018-06-07 23-33-14.png

Screenshot from 2018-06-07 23-39-46.png


Cheers!
LitterBug
 

LitterBug

Techno Nut
Moderator
Some more rippage and carnage at the field today. Killed 4 props, an ESC, and a Motor at a minimum after getting behind a tree line and loosing video. <sigh> thank goodness for clearance parts.... Still have spares, but no more of the "good" props on this puppy for FPV. Having GPS, Telemetry, and a good lua script allowed me to find this in the middle of a soybean field, when I thought it was in the tree line between fields.
A450DOHDohdoh.png


Cheers!
LitterBug


EDIT: FYI, Top speed on 4S is 45MPH......
 

Gatormurica

Member
Yeah, my 450 has looked like that many of times. The hud and GPS are cool tho. That's a bummer that it's broke. Nice yellow zip ties.
 

PsyBorg

Wake up! Time to fly!
hehe how do you fly with all that stuff on the screen? You planning on going to war with that? Bout the only thing you are missing is the weapons store information and arming status of said weapons hehehe.

Pretty cool stuff though. I was all excited about a full on osd like that when I first got into quads but for freestyle and racing its wayyy to much distraction not to mention it takes too much focus off flying to use it. Think you learned that shooting gaps with all that stuff distracting you subconsciously. ;)

Its perfect for long range and targeting specific areas by way points for more precise aerial photography as you can get better information on how close you are to something having altitude or gps info on hand live like that. Whats the next phase for this project?
 

LitterBug

Techno Nut
Moderator
PsyBorg, you are exactly right. I have started minimizing the OSD now that initial testing is done. I like to start full bore and dial it back once I have validated everything works on pre-release software. I also rearrange things to my common layout so there is no hunting for data. Need to grab last nights DVR footage and edit it down. Need to RIP an old 78 record for flight music since this is Old School too!

Cheers!
LitterBug
 

Snarls

Gravity Tester
Mentor
Nice to see someone repping a larger build. I might go even more old school and whip out my 450 spider quad with a wood frame and DT750 motors. Should be fun with 11" props and a 2200mAh. My TBS Discovery is too heavy/fragile with a camera gimbal and 5200mAh to do anything more than puts around as a camera ship.
 

LitterBug

Techno Nut
Moderator
Snarls, Do it! Big underpowered stuff is SOOOOOoooo cool. Makes you fly so much smoother. :-D

Well, it's pretty much back together. In addition to the ESC and Motor, PWM2 got nuked when the ESC puked. Replacement arm = $2 so went ahead and replaced it too. uhhhh HEH HEH HEH.... FIRE!!!!
Screenshot from 2018-06-11 19-38-29.png


No worries about dead PWM2, just remapped the NE motor to PWM 5 and all is good. Simple to do with dRonin:
Screenshot from 2018-06-11 19-32-49.png

Made appropriate change on the Output's tab for ESC endpoints, Flashed 14.9 to the replacement ESC, and recalibrated endpoints.

Just need to wait for the rain to stop and I'll run out back and get a new autotune. Playing with different props, so should be interesting to see what kind of fly times and hover throttle % I get with the different props. Eventually want to compare 3S, 4S, and 6S of equivalent Watt Hour ratings too.

Cheers!
LitterBug
 

Snarls

Gravity Tester
Mentor
I do have a bunch of 9-10" props laying around in pristine condition from my vibration testing last summer...
 

LitterBug

Techno Nut
Moderator
I do have a bunch of 9-10" props laying around in pristine condition from my vibration testing last summer...
So which props won that test again?? I just switched from T-Motor 9x3 AntiGravity to HQ 9x4.3 Props.
Screenshot from 2018-06-12 14-37-28.png


Both seem decently smooth and about the same efficiency wise in hover. The T-Motor props are more responsive though.

Responsiveness comparison
Screenshot from 2018-06-12 14-32-08.png


Link to autotune results for this build.

Cheers!
LitterBug