Another interesting Tower run (Better screen record)

[Shawn Mehlert]

Nice! How did you do the flyover, gimbal down, fly away maneuver?

In tower, you set waypoints 1, 2, 3 in a straight line and set number 2 to be a ROI (Region of Interest) – see image

 

[Maddog]

Ahh- I was wondering if it was a cable cam.

 

[Shawn Mehlert]

Shawn,

Hey, do me a solid and post a screenshot of that mission. I'd love to see your waypoint placement and positioning.

Jerry

Waypoint 1 & 8 were my start and stop points hence the reason you cannot see 1

 

[pyrate]

personally I see this as a multiple point look at me, much more effective than cable cam in a lot of situations, but cable cam has its uses too, what if you dont want the same POI at each point. Then if I understand correctly you would set a way point for location and set a POI, then set your next way point and another POI, then another and another. It would be like chaining cable cams

 

[Shawn Mehlert]

personally I see this as a multiple point look at me, much more effective than cable cam in a lot of situations, but cable cam has its uses too, what if you dont want the same POI at each point. Then if I understand correctly you would set a way point for location and set a POI, then set your next way point and another POI, then another and another. It would be like chaining cable cams

Yup! Sneak peek at my next project. ;-)

 

[erikgraham]

Erik,

Yeah, figured it out my way, the hard way! Really screws things up when you try to move an ROI from waypoint 49 to waypoint 4!

Working on the motorcycles now. Weather sucks again today.

Jerry

Another "gotcha" to look out for.

I've always had the most success if I set a normal waypoint first, before I set an ROI. When the mission starts with an ROI, strange things can happen. (unless they fixed that in the last couple months of updates).

 

[J R]

Waypoint 1 & 8 were my start and stop points hence the reason you cannot see 1

Thanks Shawn! I just got a chance to run a few of my own before it got too dark. Pretty trick stuff. I'll let you know how they turned out when I get a chance to look at them.

Jerry

 

[J R]

Another "gotcha" to look out for. When the mission starts with an ROI, strange things can happen.

Erik,

Yeah you're right about that. Even with a regular waypoint at 1 you need to be careful. I had a couple of squirrely mission starts. I think I'm putting 1 too close to me. When you first initiate a mission that thing takes off like a bat out of hell. I'm putting the bird in the air before I start the mission. If you're turned in the wrong direction and a 10-20' to the side of that thing will do some strange stuff. In Litchi, I always put the first waypoint 15' in front of me and maybe 50-60' altitude. The bird smoothly goes to the waypoint. In Tower the bird wants there right the F now! I'll figure out the right spot for Tower's waypoint 1 soon enough. I flew a few missions tonight before it got dark and they seemed to perform well. I haven't had the opportunity to review them yet.

Thanks for the tip!

Jerry

 

[erikgraham]

Erik,

Yeah you're right about that. Even with a regular waypoint at 1 you need to be careful. I had a couple of squirrely mission starts. I think I'm putting 1 too close to me. When you first initiate a mission that thing takes off like a bat out of hell. I'm putting the bird in the air before I start the mission. If you're turned in the wrong direction and a 10-20' to the side of that thing will do some strange stuff. In Litchi, I always put the first waypoint 15' in front of me and maybe 50-60' altitude. The bird smoothly goes to the waypoint. In Tower the bird wants there right the F now! I'll figure out the right spot for Tower's waypoint 1 soon enough. I flew a few missions tonight before it got dark and they seemed to perform well. I haven't had the opportunity to review them yet.

Thanks for the tip!

Jerry

Oh yeah. Good point. I almost always take off myself and fly near to the first waypoint, and then start the mission. Having said that, I occasionally (rarely) include launch and land in the mission. When I do that, I just put the first waypoint after take off somewhere right above the take off location.

 

[Jubalr]

Oh yeah. Good point. I almost always take off myself and fly near to the first waypoint, and then start the mission. Having said that, I occasionally (rarely) include launch and land in the mission. When I do that, I just put the first waypoint after take off somewhere right above the take off location.

What i do most every time and regardless of mission complexity is to accept the offer to add the takeoff/land point to the mission when uploaded. I then download the mission before take off to be sure of the WPs, then take off in manual and when I get close to WP 1 and height I hit Auto. Then as it is returning to home (the last WP) I take back control in manual to either land or fly around the remaining battery.

 

[erikgraham]

What i do most every time and regardless of mission complexity is to accept the offer to add the takeoff/land point to the mission when uploaded. I then download the mission before take off to be sure of the WPs, then take off in manual and when I get close to WP 1 and height I hit Auto. Then as it is returning to home (the last WP) I take back control in manual to either land or fly around the remaining battery.

That's almost exactly what I do, minus the auto take off and landing, which I always refuse.

 

[Jubalr]

That's almost exactly what I do, minus the auto take off and landing, which I always refuse.

Sure.. The only reason I do is for one thing, it doesn't effect the mission I planned in any way, but as a last resort I now have my current position in there twice. I have my FS set to continue mission should controller signal be lost, and the initial RTL that was set for unguided failures.

 

[Maddog]

That's almost exactly what I do, minus the auto take off and landing, which I always refuse.

Why do you guys refuse the auto takeoff & landing?

 

[Jubalr]

Why do you guys refuse the auto takeoff & landing?

Not a refusal, a preference. I prefer to do the flying when I can and save the auto stuff for when needed. It's no fun just pushing buttons all the time and watch. Goes back to the pre GPS days I suppose.

 

[Maddog]

Not a refusal, a preference. I prefer to do the flying when I can and save the auto stuff for when needed. It's no fun just pushing buttons all the time and watch. Goes back to the pre GPS days I suppose.

That's what I meant. I was wondering if the auto takeoff/ landing was problematic- not predictable, not precise enough, etc.

 

[J R]

That's what I meant. I was wondering if the auto takeoff/ landing was problematic- not predictable, not precise enough, etc.

Maddog,

The few times that I used auto takeoff, that son-of-a-gun took off alright! Like a bat out of hell. Scares the crap out of me. Maybe I'm doing something wrong but it's just too quick for me.

Jerry

 

[Maddog]

Maddog,

The few times that I used auto takeoff, that son-of-a-gun took off alright! Like a bat out of hell. Scares the crap out of me. Maybe I'm doing something wrong but it's just too quick for me.

Jerry

Thanks, that's good to know. If I ever get to that point I will do what you guys do.

 

[erikgraham]

Why do you guys refuse the auto takeoff & landing?

For the reasons others have mentioned... old habit, and because it can really take off on you. There is another reason. Flying up to position your drone near the first waypoint gives you a chance to confirm the aircraft is flying normally. Every once and awhile, things feel "off" - in which case I just abort and land.

 

[Ralph E. Johnson]

How did you all learn to set waypoints?? What would you suggest I read to be able to do the same??

Thanks

 

[Francisco Cobos]

Ralph: You should check youtube videos like this one, it is a real jewel for newbies like me.

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, there is another on connecting Tower to the Wi-Fi sololink via UDP

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good luck!