NAB 2016 Post

[Rusty Jones]

can you get a main board separately?

 

[John hill]

Not sure on this one, BUT I did see a project that had either a 100' or 200' tethered line.

100 feet cable gets awfully heavy and control is difficult because the tether tends to alter the flight characteristics like a pendulum.

 

[John hill]

Yep, I guess I'd better get a main board and another gimbal. I've already invested in 8 new motor pods, a new shell, 5 batteries, 6 sets of props and 2 GPH4B's. If the main board or the gimbal goes out and 3dr stops supporting this thing at the consumer level, I'll have a whole bunch of unusable inventory. Certainly not good news for me as a non-professional enthusiast.

Jerry

Well you nearly have enough to rebuild which is good, but it will be a shame if 3DR go down this path because I think the product is damm good, I have had the white things, early ones and they all came to grief, but touch wood solo hasn't misbehaved yet and as a platform for filming is fantastic it's just so stable, the only one to me that could be an opposition in that price range is the P4 from what I have seen and read, anyway we just have to wait and see I guess.

 

[Soul Patch Films]

here is a pic of that optical flow housing that is on the solo flying at NAB
View attachment 3147

No optical flow sensor at this year's NAB. And though I could care less about obstacle avoidance, I would like to be able to fly indoors or in areas where I couldn't pick up GPS.

 

[Soul Patch Films]

100 feet cable gets awfully heavy and control is difficult because the tether tends to alter the flight characteristics like a pendulum.

The tether cable is actually very thin and light. The tether itself will affect flight characteristics slightly, wind will have an affect on the tether as well. The battery emulator needed for the use of the tether also has a small battery to allow time to land in case of failure.

 

[Soul Patch Films]

lots of pictures and video on FB
seen the tether sony camera flir camera new gimbal there was a solo there with lidar and optical flow

I did not not see Solo with optical flow at 2016 NAB.

 

[jibcamera]

I did not not see through Solo with optical flow.

When are we getting optical flow for the Solo, we have the answer!

 

[Soul Patch Films]

So forgive me if it's mentioned in the videos, but given the gauge of that wire/tether, is it safe to say it's AC from the box up the tether and is converted to DC onboard the Solo? Can't imagine they could send enough DC up a tether like that.

Power is converted at the source and sent up the tether as DC.

 

[pyrate]

I did not not see Solo with optical flow at 2016 NAB.

the one they were flying on the tether all show had optical flow

 

[pyrate]

BTW I was told that a merged SOLO / Arducopter rebase was also flown at NAB, that is subtle but very important news

 

[Rusty Jones]

Power is converted at the source and sent up the tether as DC.

You know this for sure?
My Solo is averaging 15-16 Amps when flying. The DC voltage drop for 16 A at 100' with that tiny cable is going to kill the voltage.

 

[franknitty69]

BTW I was told that a merged SOLO / Arducopter rebase was also flown at NAB, that is subtle but very important news

that is big news. i have been following the the rebase repo. devs are keeping busy for a company that's closing its doors.

 

[pyrate]

yeah you get the feeling something is up with that Pixhawk 2 crew too
very exciting

I am just trying to catch up. I am starting x8 rebuild next week onto a Iron Man Frame.
The end game is to upgrade motors and props when the Pixhawk 2 and carrier boards hit

 

[Soul Patch Films]

You know this for sure?
My Solo is averaging 15-16 Amps when flying. The DC voltage drop for 16 A at 100' with that tiny cable is going to kill the voltage.

This was a question I asked the Hoverfly rep at the booth this morning.

 

[John hill]

Power is converted at the source and sent up the tether as DC.

The interesting thing is you saying the cable is fairly thin and yet i dont know what the Solos consumption is all up say on climb but it will be fairly substantial so the tether has to handle that plus a bit in reserve I saw a Video of it Flying with the tether and it had over an hour up they were swapping pilots cause id say it got booring after a while just hovering, but they wouldnt produce the tether if it couldnt support the current drain.

 

[STMPNGRND]

This was a question I asked the Hoverfly rep at the booth this morning.

By the looks of the heatsink on the the solo I would think they are pumping very high voltage/low current up the tether then stepping down onboard.

 

[Mr GruntHunter]

You know this for sure?
My Solo is averaging 15-16 Amps when flying. The DC voltage drop for 16 A at 100' with that tiny cable is going to kill the voltage.

At that distance I would have to believe it's ac and then rectified to dc in SOLO which would explain a large heat sink maybe.

 

[Stephen]

What was the general response to 3DR @ NAB?

 

[Adimuzio513]

I counter that, maybe you feel they owe you more.
As an early adapter myself, they have delivered and more

Have to say they have given quite a bit, but even me having more or less one of the better experiences, still some hoops to jump through and a bunch of patience early on required. I'm definitley happy and they've made good on the promises, but I'm still hoping for a reasonable priced solution for hero 5. That said we've surely already got what we paid for, even if mines having some issues this week.

 

[v3rlon]

I do like the updates we are getting. I wanted a platform for a camera, and the Solo keeps getting better at that.

DJI with the flyaways seems to have upgraded from planned obselesence to random evanescence.

Sure I wish I had gotten the lower price. I wish I'd gotten my 2015 salary back when I was in high school too, not to mention my Xbox 1 and modern computer and cel phone. Technology gets cheaper with time. That does t look to be changing any time soon.