Making new friends with the Solo in Costa Rica

cheebs · Jul 12, 2016

I got to my place in Costa Rica yesterday, and as soon as the first battery was charged I was up in the air. Not the prettiest of flying days, but I was itching to be up. Everybody was fascinated, not one negative remark or look from anyone, and of course they were blown away by the live HD video feed. Here I am with some folks from Kenya who had been traveling for 24 hours to get here.

bluesgeek · Jul 12, 2016

Sweet

cheebs · Jul 13, 2016

Argh, dangit I lost one of my brand-new Relish3D feet in the drink! And they were on TIGHT! Luckily I still had the stock 3DR extenders, which I have now put back on with a dab of Elmer's to make sure they don't pull the same stunt.

Andrew McCuaig · Jul 13, 2016

Cool man!

Pedals2Paddles · Jul 13, 2016

Nice! I've been very lucky with my neighbors as well. They all think it's really cool. There's a kid who has one of those tiny little $30 coaxial toy helicopters that flies it around when he sees mine buzzing around.

cheebs · Jul 13, 2016

Today I flew a pack just for stills. So far I like these two. The house on the point is interesting because at one time notable international scoundrel Robert Vesco was holed up there before he got kicked out of Costa Rica. Great read if you're into stuff like that. The bay behind the point is called Brasilito Bay and is home to a massive Westin resort/golf complex.
Second picture is of my complex, called The Palms, with Flamingo Beach in the foreground and Potrero Bay in the background.
PeauPro 82 with Peau CP filter.

cheebs · Jul 14, 2016

Today was MUCH nicer flying weather. Flew two packs of video and one of stills.
I keep this Solo here and hadn't done the HDMI cable replacement yet. Vibrations in the video are pretty significant.

I brought a Relish cable to try, will install it tonight. Will be a good before/after. I also noticed that the camera was a bit loose in the mount. Also brought some Sorbothane and Kyosho Zeal but both were too thick and wouldn't let the camera seat properly. Then I remembered I had some 3M mounting tape here and that fit just perfect between the back of the gimbal and the camera. Left one side of the wax paper on. It's now snug in the mount.

Craig L. Johnson - USMC · Jul 17, 2016

Great pictures.

cheebs · Jul 17, 2016

This is after installing the Relish3D HDMI cable and a small piece of 3M mounting tape (wax paper left on one side) between the camera and back of gimbal to make them snug. Definite improvement but still not up to the standard of the white birds, of which I own the last two models. Next time I'm down there (keep the Solo in Costa Rica to avoid the hassles of traveling with it) I will do the rubber damper/earplug mods in hopes of more vibration reduction.

PdxSteve · Jul 17, 2016

Have you balanced your props and motors?

cheebs · Jul 17, 2016

PdxSteve said:
Have you balanced your props and motors?

Props yes motors no, although I will bring a new set of props and a Du-Bro with me the next time. Will do the motors in September. I was only there for 5 days this time, and my nights were pretty busy, only one free that I used to do the cable work.