Back to the real world of flight. Can I get some opinions?

J R · Oct 15, 2015

I'm providing a test flight that I did with my new Solo and Tower. Basic stuff. 15 waypoints, a mix of waypoints and spline waypoints, mostly at 90' with no speed changes. Go Pro Hero 4 Black set at 1080p and medium FOV. Just a take off and go. Does this look like it's operating properly? Seems to have a lot of low-level vibration and looks somewhat jerky in the transitions from waypoint to waypoint as compared to my P3Pro. Just trying to get feedback to start with some sort of baseline before I start trying to tweak things. Any opinions or suggestions would be appreciated. Thank you.

Jerry

z-axis · Oct 15, 2015

Props and hubs balanced?
Non-spline waypoints look normal to me.

J R · Oct 15, 2015

Z,

No, didn't balance the props or hubs. All stock, out of the box. Did the cable stuff inside the battery bay to make sure nothing was binding. Short of that, bone stock.

Jerry

Jim..... · Oct 15, 2015

What have you got "DO_CHANGE_SPEED" set to in that mission? Looks like you going round @ 15m/s

Jubalr · Oct 15, 2015

You can reduce the speed between waypoints and transitions by reducing the speed on the solo performance sliders or through the WP parameters. I slowed them down as I always thought the speeds were a little high.

J R · Oct 15, 2015

Jim,

I don't believe that I changed the speed in this test. I'm looking at it on my pad now and if I have the right test, I just let it go at whatever the default was. It is possible that I've got the wrong test but I don't think so.

Jerry

rrmccabe · Oct 15, 2015

@J R I don't have an answer but that vibration you are seeing is common to a lot of the videos I see. Hoping the aftermarket HDMI cables might help that out.

Jim..... · Oct 15, 2015

Jerry,
I carried out a mapping mission yesterday in Tower and forgot to set the speed. Solo got to first waypoint then took off like a bat out of hell. I landed, then added a speed change to 5 m/s then she went round very smoothly.

J R · Oct 15, 2015

Rich,

I suppose we'll see. I should be one of the first with the new HDMI cable!

Jerry

J R · Oct 15, 2015

Jim,

I hear you. I left that thing on default and did an auto take-off. That thing shot off like a rifle right out of the gate. Good thing I'm out in the boonies and clear of many obstacles. I usually do manual take-off and landings but wanted to see if auto worked. I won't use that feature very often.

I know I can slow it down and alleviate a lot of the vibration but it seems to me that the gimbal should be much smoother even at a higher rate of speed. My "white" one is as smooth as silk at any speed.

Again, just trying to establish some baselines. Thanks for your input.

Jerry

Raybro · Oct 16, 2015

J R said:
Jim,

I hear you. I left that thing on default and did an auto take-off. That thing shot off like a rifle right out of the gate. Good thing I'm out in the boonies and clear of many obstacles. I usually do manual take-off and landings but wanted to see if auto worked. I won't use that feature very often.

I know I can slow it down and alleviate a lot of the vibration but it seems to me that the gimbal should be much smoother even at a higher rate of speed. My "white" one is as smooth as silk at any speed.

Again, just trying to establish some baselines. Thanks for your input.

Jerry

Jerry - Jerry - Jerry,

What you gonna do when that white thing has a fly away....or you need support......service...

rrmccabe · Oct 16, 2015

Raybro said:
Jerry - Jerry - Jerry,

What you gonna do when that white thing has a fly away....or you need support......service...

LOL

J R · Oct 16, 2015

Ray,

I'm gonna give the little "black" thing some props today! Did a couple of obits around the property and was quite pleased and surprised with the results. Once I toned down the speed a bit it actually did a pretty damned good job! Did the "road test" (down my gravel road about 3/4 mile and back home) as well, trying to get a feel for signal strength. She made the journey. Had a little blip on the turn-around between two spline waypoints, still not sure what it did, I thought it was going down. It recovered and completed the mission successfully. I did maintain video and control but I had complete LOS throughout the trip. At it's furthest point the signal strength on the screen showed red and no bars.

Overall, surprisingly pleased with orbit but not quite as confident in long distance runs just yet. I'm also having a tough time with the fisheye stuff again. I really like the flat horizon on the "white" guy. Props to 3dr and the Solo, it can only get better from here!

Jerry

J R · Oct 16, 2015

BTW, No fly-aways for me yet! As far as service goes, I bought my "white" things knowing full well that there wouldn't be any.

That's why I have a Solo in my fleet now. Seeing the Gimbal Update was very nice. I love seeing this company communicating with it's customers. Whether the news is good or not so good, you can't go wrong communicating with the people that are invested in your success. It would give me great personal pleasure to see this company push right on past the "white" guys!

Always remember Brother, I encouraged and supported your purchase of the Solo!

Jerry

Earldgrayjr · Oct 16, 2015

J R said:
I really like the flat horizon on the "white" guy.

Get the PEAU 4.35 lens for GoPro, or the 5.44 if you want even narrower FOV. Both are rectilinear (straight lines/flat horizon) and work well.

J R · Oct 16, 2015

Thanks Earl! I will do just that! Just completed a 2.5 mile Tower run. It took 4:30 minutes at max speed and I had 50% battery left. That would tell me that I'm not making 5 miles? I'll try a 4 mile before it gets too dark.

Jerry

J R · Oct 16, 2015

Well tried a 4 mile run after a successful 2.5. I haven't turned the RTL off at this point because I'm trying to test the signal. Took the same path that I did in the first run, just extended the outer edge. Got out about a bit more than a quarter of the route and it initiated an automatic RTL. Couldn't retry because of battery. Kp index at 1, 12 sats, 5-6mph wind. Getting too dark for any more tests tonight. I might get another crack at it in the morning. Learned quite a bit about flight characteristics and the Tower and Solo apps the past few days. All in all, lot's of fun!

Jerry

Earldgrayjr · Oct 16, 2015

J R said:
Well tried a 4 mile run after a successful 2.5. I haven't turned the RTL off at this point because I'm trying to test the signal. Took the same path that I did in the first run, just extended the outer edge. Got out about a bit more than a quarter of the route and it initiated an automatic RTL. Couldn't retry because of battery. Kp index at 1, 12 sats, 5-6mph wind. Getting too dark for any more tests tonight. I might get another crack at it in the morning. Learned quite a bit about flight characteristics and the Tower and Solo apps the past few days. All in all, lot's of fun!

Jerry

I am told by several that have done it, that 4 miles with the hard mount is about the limit, based on battery. With that people are getting back with 5%. Yikes...

There is a guy working on a "stamina kit" for Solo that apparently includes larger motors and an additional (under slung) battery, but I haven't seen it.

If I were trying 4 miles, I would want upgraded Wifi cards, so I could make sure to stay connected with it the whole way.

Jim..... · Oct 17, 2015

Earldgrayjr said:
Get the PEAU 4.35 lens for GoPro, or the 5.44 if you want even narrower FOV. Both are rectilinear (straight lines/flat horizon) and work well.

Just as a side note, I felt the same on the fish eye, so changed out the lens for a 5.4. I now wish I'd gone for the 4.35 as any vibes show up more with the narrower 5.4, but mostly okay with a lovely flat horizon.

Raybro · Oct 17, 2015

J R said:
BTW, No fly-aways for me yet! As far as service goes, I bought my "white" things knowing full well that there wouldn't be any.

That's why I have a Solo in my fleet now. Seeing the Gimbal Update was very nice. I love seeing this company communicating with it's customers. Whether the news is good or not so good, you can't go wrong communicating with the people that are invested in your success. It would give me great personal pleasure to see this company push right on past the "white" guys!

Always remember Brother, I encouraged and supported your purchase of the Solo!

Jerry

LOL...still thinking about that challenge. I have the mission all worked out. May do it with the white thing first just in case it turns out to be a suicide mission.
You gotta hang on. Patience.....we all about pulled our hair out before the gimbals started showing up.
Things will get better. They have rounded the bend with the Solo and Gimbal rollout so now they are concentrating on improvements.

I don't think Solo was ever meant to be a long distance runner. I feel like C. Andrerson is playing on the side of the feds with the LOS, altitude guidelines.

You need the FPVLR kit too. It will give you a more reliable connection.