Twitchity Hex - Oh boy, here we go again!
- Thread starter jhitesma
- Start date
Yeah, I haven't really looked into the settings on the OSD too much yet since this was the first time I had a chance to fly with it. Honestly when I'm flying I don't even notice the OSD for the most part - sometimes I like taking a look at the altimeter just out of curiosity, and the arrow to home I usually like but that wasn't responding yesterday...I'm guessing I didn't have home home set right yet, testing GPS settings is tough since inside my GPS doesn't get signal so I have to do the config outside and then I can't see the screen on the computer well 
The one big thing on an OSD I usually like is battery feedback, but I don't have that setup at all on here yet...should soon though since I have a voltage/current sensor on it's way. I'll also put some foam over the baro.
I don't know if the Brain has a flight review page at all right now...If not I may look into adding one but I've got a couple of other things on the core Tau code I've kind of offered to look at that I need to make time for first
The one big thing on an OSD I usually like is battery feedback, but I don't have that setup at all on here yet...should soon though since I have a voltage/current sensor on it's way. I'll also put some foam over the baro.
I don't know if the Brain has a flight review page at all right now...If not I may look into adding one but I've got a couple of other things on the core Tau code I've kind of offered to look at that I need to make time for first
last night when i was reading the OP notes.. it did mention about GPS.. to wait up to a half hour for it to sink.. once its sinks then its much faster after that the next time you connect, once the configuration as the satellites are who knows where till it can get a map of them i guess, or whatever signature the satellites uses to talk with teh GPS... so im assuming that time is just to allow for them to pass over..
must be quite of few of them up there if its only a half hour to get a fly by a satellite.
the GCS looks fantastic for FPV/GPS stuff. the GUI seems very professional.. i was sorta surprised.. i was expecting more of a hack to be honest.
the documentary is quite odd. i had to read through a bunch of stuff i had no need for just to learn how to update the boot loader manule as the software could not find it.. turns out the boot loader was a year old.. anyhow, GCS makes it stupid simple to flash a new firmware.. much easier compared to other things iv had to flash.. props to the developers for making stupid simple.
chris.
must be quite of few of them up there if its only a half hour to get a fly by a satellite.
the GCS looks fantastic for FPV/GPS stuff. the GUI seems very professional.. i was sorta surprised.. i was expecting more of a hack to be honest.
the documentary is quite odd. i had to read through a bunch of stuff i had no need for just to learn how to update the boot loader manule as the software could not find it.. turns out the boot loader was a year old.. anyhow, GCS makes it stupid simple to flash a new firmware.. much easier compared to other things iv had to flash.. props to the developers for making stupid simple.
chris.
Yes, most current GPS units have an EEPROM that lets them store information so they can start up faster once they've go their bearings. But...they can still be slow to initialize if they've moved enough while powered down. And the little lithium battery on them that keeps the memory alive doesn't last forever. So if you don't use it for a few weeks it can loose it's memory and take a long time to do it's initial init again.
The problem is that in our application the GPS's aren't really powered up enough to keep that backup battery fully charged so the memory tends to not last super long.
Even so from a cold start the ublox 6 units tend to get a good usable 6-7 sat fix in about 5-10 minutes for me. When the memory is good they fix almost immediately.
There are a LOT of GPS sats. Currently there are 32 sats in the constellation. It's not uncommon to have 10-12 overhead at any given time. Tau requires at least 6 locked in to consider the 3D fix usable.
The sats are constantly moving - but they're in fixed orbits so the GPS unit knows based on when it last saw a sat when it should see it again. If it's memory is still good
I started studying the GPS system in the late 90's when SA was still active and degrading the civilian signal. It's a really interesting system and just what modern GPS units do is pretty amazing.
Wow, RCTimer's express shipping from China is faster than Banggood's standard shipping from their US Warehouse
Unfortunately their description of this as "It is not solder." apparently doesn't actually mean it comes unsoldered as I had hoped
I'll have to be careful and check that it actually does do 3.3v output and not 5v before hooking it to the Brain.
Should have more useful data in my OSD soon
Unfortunately their description of this as "It is not solder." apparently doesn't actually mean it comes unsoldered as I had hoped
I'll have to be careful and check that it actually does do 3.3v output and not 5v before hooking it to the Brain.
Should have more useful data in my OSD soon
So I did some tests on the sensor and it does look like it's 3.3v safe as advertised...but I haven't had time to hook it into the hex yet.
I did order one of those eachine 200mw 5.8TX/110 degree camera sets to try - I'm not that impressed by the camera, it's the narrowest usable field of view out of the 4 lenses I have (one which is WAY too narrow to fly with) but not too narrow - but the image quality in lower light is horrible compared to my Sony's. Haven't had a chance to try it in daylight yet but it's probably fine there. For now I put the camera aside as a spare and just moved the power wire that connects to the TX from the bottom connection (5v) up to the pin above the ground which is VIN and since I'm powering it off 3S that's 12v and my Sony camera actually works. So both the hex and my FPV250 are setup with working cameras/VTX's simultaneously for the first time!
And the antennas I ordered to go with them came packaged in some nice black open cell foam...so I cut out a chunk and wedged it over the baro on the brain board finally.
Winds were super crazy gusty today...but I had to give altitude hold a try with the new foam. It worked very well. I still don't like vario flying, but it did hold altitude very well now. I thought about trying position hold...but I'd like to try it in calm air before I try it in the kind of winds we had today. Plus I tried to LOS slalom around the posts of my neighbors carport but misjudged distance and took out 4 props, since they were HQ's that stung and I decided not to waste any more in the wind
I also flew the FPV250 with Tau on the Naze32 for a few packs in the wind...but man it was annoying getting tossed around like that. Both the FPV250 and the hex had no problem overpowering the wind...but the wind kept shifting and gusting and was impossible to predict so the flying was all reactive to the wind and I couldn't just relax and fly
A friend clued me in on http://www.usairnet.com though which has great wind predictions. He day job includes testing of NASA parachutes at YPG so if he says the site has good wind predictions I'm inclined to believe him
Oh...and if you guys haven't got down to the tools forum you should check out the other little project I started this week:
http://forum.flitetest.com/showthread.php?18033-CNC-adventures
Won't be cutting my own CF frames anytime soon...but maybe, just maybe....in a few months.....
I did order one of those eachine 200mw 5.8TX/110 degree camera sets to try - I'm not that impressed by the camera, it's the narrowest usable field of view out of the 4 lenses I have (one which is WAY too narrow to fly with) but not too narrow - but the image quality in lower light is horrible compared to my Sony's. Haven't had a chance to try it in daylight yet but it's probably fine there. For now I put the camera aside as a spare and just moved the power wire that connects to the TX from the bottom connection (5v) up to the pin above the ground which is VIN and since I'm powering it off 3S that's 12v and my Sony camera actually works. So both the hex and my FPV250 are setup with working cameras/VTX's simultaneously for the first time!
And the antennas I ordered to go with them came packaged in some nice black open cell foam...so I cut out a chunk and wedged it over the baro on the brain board finally.
Winds were super crazy gusty today...but I had to give altitude hold a try with the new foam. It worked very well. I still don't like vario flying, but it did hold altitude very well now. I thought about trying position hold...but I'd like to try it in calm air before I try it in the kind of winds we had today. Plus I tried to LOS slalom around the posts of my neighbors carport but misjudged distance and took out 4 props, since they were HQ's that stung and I decided not to waste any more in the wind
I also flew the FPV250 with Tau on the Naze32 for a few packs in the wind...but man it was annoying getting tossed around like that. Both the FPV250 and the hex had no problem overpowering the wind...but the wind kept shifting and gusting and was impossible to predict so the flying was all reactive to the wind and I couldn't just relax and fly
A friend clued me in on http://www.usairnet.com though which has great wind predictions. He day job includes testing of NASA parachutes at YPG so if he says the site has good wind predictions I'm inclined to believe him
Oh...and if you guys haven't got down to the tools forum you should check out the other little project I started this week:
http://forum.flitetest.com/showthread.php?18033-CNC-adventures
Won't be cutting my own CF frames anytime soon...but maybe, just maybe....in a few months.....
Last edited:
I can't wait to see you cutting. Maybe Twitch will send you the plans and you can build a mini-tricopter and get past that servo-phobia.
I got some new lipos for my hex.
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=24211
The high C rating really makes a difference. Punchouts have a whole new meaning.
I got some new lipos for my hex.
http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=24211
The high C rating really makes a difference. Punchouts have a whole new meaning.
Cutting won't be happening anytime too soon, that's a very long term project
Haven't done much on the hex, been too busy with work and no time to fly. And when I have had time it's been really windy lately. Summer heat is starting to set in as well
But, my friend with the warp sent me a message that he's going to be back in town for awhile and is bringing his TX this time. So I should have a reliable flying buddy again very soon at least for a few trips.
Haven't done much on the hex, been too busy with work and no time to fly. And when I have had time it's been really windy lately. Summer heat is starting to set in as well
But, my friend with the warp sent me a message that he's going to be back in town for awhile and is bringing his TX this time. So I should have a reliable flying buddy again very soon at least for a few trips.
narcolepticltd
I unbuild stuff regularly
Cutting won't be happening anytime too soon, that's a very long term project
Haven't done much on the hex, been too busy with work and no time to fly. And when I have had time it's been really windy lately. Summer heat is starting to set in as well
But, my friend with the warp sent me a message that he's going to be back in town for awhile and is bringing his TX this time. So I should have a reliable flying buddy again very soon at least for a few trips.
That's great! I'm guessing you guys probably live in a layer of sunscreen due to the heat.
I've started looking over the Brain a little bit, but I'm a bit confused on the layout and how to hook up 6 motors. You've mentioned you really like their tuning, and rate mode... are you running the stable release or are you running some of the newer stuff?
Sunscreen doesn't help all that much out here
Becoming nocturnal, waking up early, siestas and AC are the keys to survival This time of year I do more building and less flying - it's why I get confused and keep calling winter Summer except there isn't really a good name for what summer is then!It's all on the hardware page: http://www.brainfpv.com/support/hardware-setup/
Basically to do 6 motors I used the servo ports for motors 1-4 and then set my RX port to "PPM + UART + Outputs" which gives me motors 5+6 on the main plug along with my PPM input and an extra serial port.
I'm running a custom build from git of the latest firmware - I'd rather run the stock but the stock release doesn't include oneshot yet and I didn't want to have to unsolder the jumper on all my ESC's
Other than oneshot the stock firmware should fly pretty much identically to what I'm running.
narcolepticltd
I unbuild stuff regularly
Sunscreen doesn't help all that much out here
It's all on the hardware page: http://www.brainfpv.com/support/hardware-setup/
Basically to do 6 motors I used the servo ports for motors 1-4 and then set my RX port to "PPM + UART + Outputs" which gives me motors 5+6 on the main plug along with my PPM input and an extra serial port.
I'm running a custom build from git of the latest firmware - I'd rather run the stock but the stock release doesn't include oneshot yet and I didn't want to have to unsolder the jumper on all my ESC's
Other than oneshot the stock firmware should fly pretty much identically to what I'm running.
I'd looked at that diagram, but my brain didn't click that you'd have to remap ports to get the 5 and 6 on there... derp. I'd definitely want oneshot support, but I'm willing to bet that by the time I'm ready for a hex it will be supported in the stable tree.
The official Brain source has oneshot - there just isn't a binary release with it yet. There's a lot of work going on under the hood to cleanup oneshot on Tau (and experiments with some other different ideas in regards to ESC communication and eliminating latency) which Shred (the guy behind the Brain) is pretty involved with. So I'd guess the next release won't happen until oneshot is fully official in Tau.
If you did go hex with a brain first I could give you a copy of the firmware I built. The only catch is I can't build GCS for windows to match. So you'd have to use a recent Tau build from Jenkins to enable oneshot - and you'd have to use the last Brain GCS to edit the OSD stuff.
One of these days I may look into setting up a windows build system...but I'm really in no rush to deal with that mess!
If you did go hex with a brain first I could give you a copy of the firmware I built. The only catch is I can't build GCS for windows to match. So you'd have to use a recent Tau build from Jenkins to enable oneshot - and you'd have to use the last Brain GCS to edit the OSD stuff.
One of these days I may look into setting up a windows build system...but I'm really in no rush to deal with that mess!
narcolepticltd
I unbuild stuff regularly
Which OS are you running/tinkering with MC on? My main is OSX but can run a VM if needed for whatever.
yeah, no point wearing sun screen when its 115F.. light long sleeve would offer more protection id think.
we just live in side with the A/C this time of year.. another reason to build a new MR..
this one im not going cheap.. will be name brand stuff, and hopefully built like a take assuming name brand stuff is more durable than cheap stuff. lol.. at this point as much fun as im getting out of this 139.00 kit.. i may end up buying another one of them but with the EMAX frame down the road. but that is in the future, i want to try and get my sisters husband involved. he was hooked when i let him fly the nano, and flight sim when he was over last visiting with my nephews who i ended up building a chuck glider for.
he crashed the nano the whole time.. be sure had fun.. first thing he said when flying the flight simulator, this is not like a video game. LOL
im not 110 percent positive what FC im going with for this next project. im considering another CC3D. but maybe a brain, or sparky 2..
i would say naz32.. but since the acro version is what id go with since the more expensive one features really are not that great from what iv read.. so id rather get the CC3D and flash it with clean flight.. so i have the choice of either OP< or clean flight, tau etc.. as i do not think iv seen a port of OP for naze yet. however, the next build is gonna cost more so will take longer to build.. probably the summer.
unless i get off my lazy butt and list a few more guitar pedals on ebay.. they are sorta just taking up space where my RC hobby stuff could sit.. so maybe i will do that. that would be free money. anyhow..
i had to go to my pain doctor today for more pain meds, i have to go once a month since the drugs im on are so restricted it nuts each pill go for about 80.00 a pop on the street.
they cost me 600.00 for 90. and the other one i take are 40.00 a pill on the street, and like 400.00 for 120.
anyhow, what i have notice if you get up right at day light its perfectly calm. so yeah ill be flying in the mornings i think quite a bit.. but im sure if the wind is down ill be out in the tripple digits heat too. what can i say i need my flying fix. i was at the doctors imaging doing circles around a palm tree in my head this morning waiting to see the doc, that is pretty sad on my part.. heh.
chris.
we just live in side with the A/C this time of year.. another reason to build a new MR..
this one im not going cheap.. will be name brand stuff, and hopefully built like a take assuming name brand stuff is more durable than cheap stuff. lol.. at this point as much fun as im getting out of this 139.00 kit.. i may end up buying another one of them but with the EMAX frame down the road. but that is in the future, i want to try and get my sisters husband involved. he was hooked when i let him fly the nano, and flight sim when he was over last visiting with my nephews who i ended up building a chuck glider for.
he crashed the nano the whole time.. be sure had fun.. first thing he said when flying the flight simulator, this is not like a video game. LOL
im not 110 percent positive what FC im going with for this next project. im considering another CC3D. but maybe a brain, or sparky 2..
i would say naz32.. but since the acro version is what id go with since the more expensive one features really are not that great from what iv read.. so id rather get the CC3D and flash it with clean flight.. so i have the choice of either OP< or clean flight, tau etc.. as i do not think iv seen a port of OP for naze yet. however, the next build is gonna cost more so will take longer to build.. probably the summer.
unless i get off my lazy butt and list a few more guitar pedals on ebay.. they are sorta just taking up space where my RC hobby stuff could sit.. so maybe i will do that. that would be free money. anyhow..
i had to go to my pain doctor today for more pain meds, i have to go once a month since the drugs im on are so restricted it nuts each pill go for about 80.00 a pop on the street.
they cost me 600.00 for 90. and the other one i take are 40.00 a pill on the street, and like 400.00 for 120.
anyhow, what i have notice if you get up right at day light its perfectly calm. so yeah ill be flying in the mornings i think quite a bit.. but im sure if the wind is down ill be out in the tripple digits heat too. what can i say i need my flying fix. i was at the doctors imaging doing circles around a palm tree in my head this morning waiting to see the doc, that is pretty sad on my part.. heh.
chris.
At 6,300ft it doesn't matter how hot or cold it is. If you are outside unprotected you are gonna fry. Snowy, bright days are the worst. I'll blister under my beard if I'm not careful.
I'm still waiting for my new camera and transmitter for my hex to go FPV.
I also gotta figure out how to wear FatSharks and not have them fog up on me. What's the story there?
I'm still waiting for my new camera and transmitter for my hex to go FPV.
I also gotta figure out how to wear FatSharks and not have them fog up on me. What's the story there?
I'm doing most of my experiments on Linux since it's easiest for me to setup dev tools there. Plus it's what all my notebooks run (since they're too old to run decent versions of windows.)
OSX should be fairly easy to setup a dev environment on since it's unix based...but I've heard some issues lately with building some of the new stuff going into Tau on OSX...but devs are working on ironing out those wrinkles.
I generally just use the latest unofficial windows GCS build for most things, it gives a mismatch error since it doesn't have the OSD stuff...but it's fine for everything else and I don't change OSD settings very often.
OSX should be fairly easy to setup a dev environment on since it's unix based...but I've heard some issues lately with building some of the new stuff going into Tau on OSX...but devs are working on ironing out those wrinkles.
I generally just use the latest unofficial windows GCS build for most things, it gives a mismatch error since it doesn't have the OSD stuff...but it's fine for everything else and I don't change OSD settings very often.
maybe what the divers do and spit in them would work? now i think about it, i guess that would not work.. different type of environment i guess. maybe they sell a no fog solution for glasses etc that would work.. i do not wear glasses so i do not know if thier is a product like that out there.
shrugs.
i found this, maybe it or a similar product would help?
http://www.safetyglassesusa.com/anti-fog-spray.html
chris.
Last edited:
narcolepticltd
I unbuild stuff regularly
get the new headplay HD's, problem solved!
Actually, I've considered the fogging issue (and it's one of a few reasons why I went with headplay for a first set)... The problem is a lack of airflow. punching holes in the eye cups would fix that, but now you have light getting in. one thing I considered doing was punching a few holes in the bottom and the top (like 1.5mm/ 1/16") and then going over that on the outside with small strips of that... -stuff you use to cover the ground in your flower bed prior to dumping expensive planting soil in there, to keep weeds out- ... Weed blocker?
You could also go the ski goggle mod route, as that foam should replace the eyecups and should be breathable (not so sure it'll save you on cold days though)
thank you for the video.. that is a cheaper solution than that fog juice that may or may not work.
chris.
Similar threads
