Gimbal first flight

Tomek · Oct 12, 2015

Happy Monday everyone.

I thought i will share my first flight with a gimbal. Nothing spectacular (unfortunately i don't live on the coast

but I thought it turned out pretty nice, video is smooth.
During the flight i have noticed solo vibrating a lot when hovering (new props, no prior crashes, but slight wind) in result gimbal was significantly shaking, but it is not noticeable in video at all - i'm surprised and amazed.

I did not do any stabilization in post, just straightened the lens distortion.

Pink floyd music goes so well with this

I'm surprised to get only 11 minuted on a battery with gimbal and Gopro 3 black, not to mention, no video start/stop from the app - here we go, now i need to get a new gopro. I'm also curious if latest gopros manage power better allowing solo to stop charging when full in result allowing for a longer flight.

Enjoy.

Chuck · Oct 12, 2015

Nice job, Tomek. When you said no start/stop recording, did you just not use it, or were you not able to use it?

Tomek · Oct 12, 2015

Chuck said:
Nice job, Tomek. When you said no start/stop recording, did you just not use it, or were you not able to use it?

Thank you.

I had to start recording before I mounted gopro into gimbal. There is no control over start/stop of the GoPro from the app.

Chuck · Oct 12, 2015

Double check to see if your firmware is all up to date, including the camera. It should be running version 3.0. I have the GoPro Hero 3+ black as well, and I have no problem starting or stopping video after takeoff from the app.

mcneely19 · Oct 12, 2015

Chuck said:
Double check to see if your firmware is all up to date, including the camera. It should be running version 3.0. I have the GoPro Hero 3+ black as well, and I have no problem starting or stopping video after takeoff from the app.

Isn't 3.03 the latest? That's what my 3+ black is running.

Sent from my VS985 4G using Tapatalk

Tomek · Oct 12, 2015

Chuck said:
Double check to see if your firmware is all up to date, including the camera. It should be running version 3.0. I have the GoPro Hero 3+ black as well, and I have no problem starting or stopping video after takeoff from the app.

I have the latest soft, but i don't have hero 3+ i have hero 3 (no plus). I didn't upgrade it since it was advertised to work, but it doesn't.

egodinho · Oct 12, 2015

nice work!!! Really cool! Curious the battery life time of 11 minutes

Chris Day · Oct 12, 2015

Do you have another battery, if so fly both and send the logs showing the time difference? I had one that was only giving me 8 min flights. I made a flight with both batteries and sent the logs to 3DR. They gave me an RMA to exchange the battery.

The GoPro doesn't use much power, so having it fully charged and not sending power to it will not increase flight time by any negligible amount. After installing the Gimbal and GoPro my flight times didn't decrease very much. I usually get about 13 to 15 minutes out of mine flying aggressive in high winds.

Tomek · Oct 12, 2015

Chris Day said:
Do you have another battery, if so fly both and send the logs showing the time difference? I had one that was only giving me 8 min flights. I made a flight with both batteries and sent the logs to 3DR. They gave me an RMA to exchange the battery.

The GoPro doesn't use much power, so having it fully charged and not sending power to it will not increase flight time by any negligible amount. After installing the Gimbal and GoPro my flight times didn't decrease very much. I usually get about 13 to 15 minutes out of mine flying aggressive in high winds.

Hmm. interesting. I think on a newer battery i had even less time, some wind and not aggressive flight (as you can tell in the video) I can do that, quick question though - when does logs become erased? In a scenario where i finish flying on one battery, turn off solo, than turn it back on without turning off the controller - should i assume controller keeps the logs for both flights?

If i power cycle controller, does it erase the logs?

To generate the logs i need to send it to 3DR - correct? then logs are embedded in the email - is that the only way to get logs? Hate to spam these guys w/o actuall issues.

Thanks

Jubalr · Oct 12, 2015

Using the support link in the app sends the last 3 logs. If you are on Android, it's possible that you have every log on the tab let/phone that you have used that device for. See here...Tlogs, Tlogs Everywhere! | 3D Robotics Drone Forum

BiggSean · Oct 12, 2015

It's interesting that the flight time is so paltry with a gopro connected. I too am seeing about 10-11 minutes of flight time.

Pales in comparison to the 20 minutes or so that I'm getting out of my P3PRO.

I like my Solo, and I feel it has tremendous potential, but I think a lot of its features were oversold.

Hoover185 · Oct 12, 2015

Tomek said:
Happy Monday everyone.

I thought i will share my first flight with a gimbal. Nothing spectacular (unfortunately i don't live on the coast but I thought it turned out pretty nice, video is smooth.
During the flight i have noticed solo vibrating a lot when hovering (new props, no prior crashes, but slight wind) in result gimbal was significantly shaking, but it is not noticeable in video at all - i'm surprised and amazed.

I did not do any stabilization in post, just straightened the lens distortion.

Pink floyd music goes so well with this

I'm surprised to get only 11 minuted on a battery with gimbal and Gopro 3 black, not to mention, no video start/stop from the app - here we go, now i need to get a new gopro. I'm also curious if latest gopros manage power better allowing solo to stop charging when full in result allowing for a longer flight.

Enjoy.

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I'm using a GP4 Silver. I noticed a big difference in flight time with the gimbal vs. without. I was getting around 18 minutes (based on the length of continuous video) and am now only getting 10-12 (depending on wind, etc.)

Earldgrayjr · Oct 12, 2015

BiggSean said:
It's interesting that the flight time is so paltry with a gopro connected. I too am seeing about 10-11 minutes of flight time.

Pales in comparison to the 20 minutes or so that I'm getting out of my P3PRO.

I like my Solo, and I feel it has tremendous potential, but I think a lot of its features were oversold.

If you have low flight times it isn't because of the Gopro. It uses almost nothing.

Tomek · Oct 13, 2015

I flew yesterday again, both batteries. Got 11:30 on one, with just slow flying at 150ft up to 500ft distance around my neighborhood. Then 12:30 on second, at over 200ft, same distance, but much more aggressive flight. Those times are in air only, not including getting sats, etc. Batteries were at 98% when took off. Send the logs to 3dr. Will see whats the official answer to those times

AKPilot · Oct 14, 2015

I too have a GP3 black. Solo support email response was that updated firmware doesn't work with the non "+" version. They recommended I get the firmware rolled back to an earlier version of 2.0 and to contact GoPro on how to do this. I spoke with GoPro yesterday and at first they said they never roll back firmware versions but after putting me on hold and speaking with other techs they realized this was a major problem with the joint development with 3DRobotics and offered to have me send it in to them and they would make sure a prior firmware was installed properly. Of course, they made me agree to a whole host of disclaimers. Both companies believe only the record function will operate. I'm hesitant to send it in. It may have voided my warranty but I drilled a tiny paperclip size hole over the record button and just push record with a paper clip before take off. I had tried taking it in and out to push record but didn't like having to manhandle the gimbal like that when it was turned on.
Has anyone else sent their GoPro back to the company for a afirmware downgrade?
As for battery life, I am getting 15-16 minutes in no wind with moderate flying at 24.0F degrees out, 200ft above sea level. I touched down with 17% battery left after 15:30 minutes on my last flight today.

Maybe it's time to get a GP4 Silver and handheld gimbal for home video recording and use in my Solo too.

Maybe after modding to increase connection distance since my record so far is 1,110' out, 150'up in the middle of nowhere Alaska with no possible wifi interference and line of site the whole time.