Tricopter high altitude and crash

rogue-insight

Junior Member
I finally got things working well enough to try some FPV. Today got windy, just as I got out there. This was my first time using a patch antenna on the video Rx, and it made a world of difference. No snow, no static. So i took it up pretty high and really enjoyed the view. I did a little bit of a dive to descend. Near the end the power just cut out. I can't figure out why. I suspect I lost the RC link b/c all motors stopped at once. I know the batt was charged.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4QCP3pZSa4
 
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ananas1301

Crazy flyer/crasher :D
The video is great up to the point you crashed :D That was really good footage! Too bad it crashed, somehow.
 

rogue-insight

Junior Member
Thanks. I've struggled so much up to this point to get decent video. This one still isn't up to par for my goal, but it's getting there. I see so many videos where it doesn't wobble at all, it just flies around smooth. I'm hoping that's just b/c of the wind. How do you guys get that ultra smooth video? I've done a ton of balancing, and the camera is mounted on a tray, with the battery, that is isolated from the main body by really soft earplugs.
 

Shadow74

Multi-rotor madman
you need a camera gimble that's stabilized by gyros i think some controllers have them built in

That is one way to do it, but very costly and still not perfect. Unfortunately I am discovering that to get really super smooth perfect video is not gonna happen on a Tri-copter. I love them don't get me wrong, but when I went to a quad the video was way better......and now im moving to a hexa cuz it blows the quad away for stability.

The more motors, the more lifting/stabilizing points around the lifting disc, the more stability.

This is not to say that there is no hope for our beloved Tri-copters, they can get very good video, its just a bit harder. I watched the video, and it didn't appear to have vibrations....which is good...cuz that can be tuff to isolate and get rid of, but getting the "rocking around" out of your footage comes from a few things. If you fly in wind.....you WILL have rocky vids. No matter what. Try to fly in the calmest conditions possible if you are trying to collect smooth footage for a video. Also having your gyro gains set perfectly will help to eliminate rocking. Also your dual rates and expos need to be set at a level comfortable for you. That will help smooth things out a lot. Then finally practice. Which is a never ending journey.

Oh, and one more thing.....I learned through trial and error. Multi-rotors don't fly well light. The lighter it is, the less wind you can fly in and get smooth footage. I was having trouble with a quad that I built cuz i built it super light and it rocked around ALOT so I added weight and wallah it flew rock steady. You just have to figure out the balance between too heavy and too light....too light = rocking around. Too heavy = short flights.


Hope this helps!


Cheers!

Eric
 
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Yon

Junior Member
Did you ever find out why the failure? I was listening to the audio and it sounded like to me that you lost only lost 1 of the motors could it have been ESC low voltage cutoff ?