Fat Sharks!

Got my Fat Shark wireless 2.4GHz goggles in from the Memorial Day sale from Range Video. Excited to try them out, but I have been very distracted with work and weekends at the cabin, so haven't had time to rebuild my EZ* fuse or even try these out with any setup. I also go the GoPro HD camera in and need to figure out how to put it in the EZ*. I'm very tempted to just try to work it into the system as my primary camera too using the USB power hack...

Going HD...

Well, I ordered a GoPro HD camera for my plane last weekend from Amazon.com. This is a pretty good 1080p/30fps or 720p/60fps HD camera that records to SD card in MPG4 and has a light lion battery and waterproof case plus a ton of helmet and vehicle mounts.  Planning to run it as a separate feed/local recorder for now. There is talk that they are planning to have a FW update that will allow it to output composite standard def video while recording HD, which would be AWESOME (there are some tricks to being able to do this now, but it isn't real friendly).

Ahhh, the rain...

Flew last night and last Monday (it was >30mph then). It was really green last night and I got a flight in at 7PM between rain storms, and pretty calm. I put a gyro on my roll to see if it would help stabilize some of the pitching (it works ok, but need to dial the gain a little). I think I’m exceeding my BEC for the receiver, with the gyro, all the servos and the OSD. I kept getting dropped throttle, then it would go into failsafe, and was only about 150 yards away…RTH saved my butt a couple times and powered up, then I got connection again. Happened Monday too. This eventually lead to a crash. Further research on this lead to this FAQ that points out that it is a low Rx battery warning...well, that answers that. Didn’t get video from Monday, but flew really low over the Falcon Creast GC. Kept the motor slow to not disturb the putts. Grin.

WINDY!!!!

Went out today and tried out the new filter on the video Tx antenna. It didn't help, but I think the cheap HXT servos are just picking up noise from it. Also tested out the gyro on the roll axis for the ailerons, which is set a little too aggressive on the response. Too bad I forgot my sony miniDV recorder. I also got the pitot tube airspeed kit in. Worked MUCH better than the GPS speed, especially with the wind, which was gusting up to 25-30mph. I got a couple low flights over the golf course, and the return to home saved my butt when I was a little low and lost radio transmission...fortunately the motor powered back up and it climbed to where I could get reception again. Also got one of the cheap head trackers, but didn't have a chance to try it. The 3600mAh 3S lipos are heavy.

Ahhh...the fog...

Took the plane up to the cabin to try some scenic mountain flying. I've been waiting to get a better distance and practice before trying in trees and tough recovery locations, like mountains and dense trees. Well, with the last couple flights and testing out the eagle eyes diversity and antenna tracker, and with spring setting on, I figured it would be a good time to try. So, packed it all up. I always forget something, but it is better now with a dedicated tote box of stuff. I still forgot any way to recharge the futaba 9CAPs, but made due. Well, Saturday morning hit, and there was a dense fog (typical in Cascade, ID) from all the snow melt and warm weather coming after a chilly night. It stays low in the valley and can be pretty spectacular when I've rode my dirt bike up the ridge to get above it. So, I wanted to see if I could get video.

Mile High Club!!!

So, I finally made it up over a mile. 5280ft above the ground. And on that SAME day, I flew two other ~20 minute flights. The last one, of which, also got up to about a mile high, but also was almost 11,000ft (over 2 miles!!!) line of sight away. And the subsequent glide back down was long and peaceful. I had a great time. I'm now pushing about 2ft/mAh of battery with the 2835 Turnigy inrunner and an APC 6x4E prop and around a 40oz plane AUW with 2600mAh lipo. Everything went well. I'm still getting some ground loop noise on my second channel video rx with the 3dbi omni antenna. I've decided I'm just going to have to isolate the Eagle Eyes from the rx's with two separate lipo batteries.

AAAAHHHHHHH!!!!!

Well, I got up and left the house with my DW Foamies BAF 48" Yak 54 and my Tiger 2 electric conversion plane in my back seat with plenty of batteries to fly. Temp, a chilly 33'F. Got over to a sod farm that people are flying regularly at over by Eagle Road, and no one was there, but the wind wasn't up yet. Perfect. Flew the Yak for about 4 packs, and had a great time. Wind coming up a bit and my hands are freezing. But I decide to try the Tiger. Hum, forgot my ch 30 module for the plane...sigh. Ok, lets rob the Rx from my Yak. Got it all pulled out and switched over and set all the radio up (first time it has been setup on this new Futaba 9CAPs). Also got the CoG set about 4" back. Hum, ailerons seem to be binding a little. Oh well, lets fly. Full throttle on the 5S1P 4000mAh pack, and it is off like a rocket. Hum...seems tail heavy...and WTF! it wants to roll left ok, I now have full right aileron to try to keep it in the air. Keeps pitching up...trying desperately to get trim set. Long story short, I managed to bring it back around and land safely after a couple terrifying minutes. Turns out, the control horn on the aileron servo was stripped, and it was slipping when I got to full throws..which means it wanted to return to center with a LOT of opposite throw...and to get it to click back, I was having to push the aileron full right to push it back (pretty unnatural response when it was wanting to push the wrong way). Got that fixed and should be good to go...I hope.

OSD Pro Screen Elements

I took a sample screen of my Eagle Tree Systems On Screen Display (OSD) and highlighted what each element of the display is telling you. Just hover over the large image below.

Flying in the sun

Got some video of my Yak 54 from DW Foamies today. Thanks to my wonderful wife for video taping! Here is an iPhone version. Also, here is an iPhone version of me flying the pluma.

FPV 13 - Crash!

Well, in an attempt to get the 3dbi video Tx antenna moved as far away from the servos and Rx as I could, I ran an SMA 24" extension cable out to the end of the wing and put the antenna on there. Figured it would be a little unbalanced, but not completely uncontrollable. Also was a little worried it was running the exact same direction as my Rx antenna (grin). Field check showed it ok for interferance and I powered it up and hucked it. Ouch. I'll get the SHORT video uploaded soon, but I'm gluing things...nothing too serious, I don't think, but it hit straight in and busted the camera clean off the mount and found it lying 25 feet away...and there might be a slight blemish on the lens. Oh, well, was looking for an excuse to get a 2.8mm lens with a little wider angle anyway.