I just had the worst FPV experience ever, and it was my first time out FPV'ing for real.

Situation was:

Emax TinyHawk Freestyle

FLI14+ FlySky RX w/ telem & FlySky Dark Knight NV Nirvana TX
AKK F3 VTX
Luminere Micro AXII (RHCP)
**************************************
FXT Viper 2.0 Goggles
Aomway ANT009 Diamond Directional and a Pagoda RHCP

I could not get more than 20 feet away without loosing signal all the way (mostly)

ends up this was the issue/s:

Had the +in going to the OEM EMAX VTX input pin 5v. ( really lower than the 7v min input req.)
It was in PIT mode.. ( learn how to exit out of PIT mode for your particular VTX)


Once I put the +v input wire onto the + lipo pad and got it our of PIT mode the image quality was awesome and I could actually fly it FPV.

Make sure to identify if you are in PIT mode , and do not assume your VTX runs on 5V

Other than that, buy a Freestyle and 20 batteries and have a blast, and email your fav battery charger mfgr's and ask for a 10 pack capable 2S 1AMP 10-port active charger with a wide range DC input. and within 2-3 months we should be able to buy that unicorn charger :-)

It's been a while since I posted here.

Land Drones have a longer runtime lol


Robot Pushups

PhantomX MKIII (0 min 24 sec)

My latest design that I can show the public. I like the 250 FPV racers but I am getting tired of all the "me to" flat plate & standoff designs that have saturated the market. ( not that anything is wrong with them) so I wanted to try something different, attack the frame design from a different way.

I used Formula-1 racing as my inspiration for this layout.

The rear spoiler is just for looking cool when sitting on the shelf, it offers no flight benefit at all except maybe orientation. it simply magnetically attaches with 2 3mm neodymium magnets

The main chassis is basically 4 10mm carbon fiber tubes, the motor arms are made from 3mm carbon fiber tube and everything else was 3D printed on my little Bukito printer.

I'm using the following parts:
1. Flip-32 FC basic
2. Spektrum SAT
3. 3S 2,200mah Lipo
4. 2,300 KV motors
5. 5030 Gemfan props
6. One-Shot enabled ESC's running BLheli FW ( ESC is unknown lol)

one of my goals was to move the battery axially inline with the craft CG and is what attributes to the length

I'm currently using a Silicon RTV adhesive to bond the tubes to the printed parts, that way if I break anything I can easily dig out the broken parts and fit a new piece.

This is the first prototype and I do plan to make changes and refine this design. I have not really seen anything similar yet and that also motivated me to carry this project through to completion.

I hope you all... I mean I hope most of you enjoy this :-)...Continue Reading

Here are some pics of some Multicopters I've designed. This has been the funnest time in the hobby for me. I did these to be super light/ rigid/ and cool looking. more than pure function.



Dave
DC-Concepts
www.dc-concepts.com...Continue Reading

The rain did not stop me from flying today I put rain coats over the esc's on the arms and the AR Drone body work protected the FC. it was a lot of fun
My son took the pics and video.

MK Quad flying in the rain (0 min 32 sec)

MK Quad flying in the rain 2 (0 min 54 sec)

...Continue Reading

I mounted my eBay keychain video camera to my MK and got a quick flight. complete with crash into my tree at the end lol. so thats what my neighbors have in their yard lol

MK FPV flight-1 (2 min 25 sec)

In January 2010 I had an idea to build a FPV aircraft and figured a Tri-copter would be the best layout as the front rotors are spread far apart allowing a clear view.

in January I had searched the net and was not able to find anything like this so I thought it was a neat innovation.

I started initial testing of the v-tail towards the end of January as you can see in the YouTube videos. I had the YouTube videos locked as private until today.

I always killed the gears in my yaw servo for one reason or another. so I thought about creating a servoless Tri-copter. which turned out to really be a hybrid of a Quadrocopter.

I'm a Mechanical Designer Engineer so unfortunately I was not able to design and write code to create a "proper" Flight Controller for this
All I was able to do at the time was use standard off the shelf parts and see if could just prove out the V-tail concept. Well as you can see the craft works but seriously needs a proper FC to control it and make it stable enough for FPV use.

I really could use some help from you guys to get a flight controller setup for this platform. I had thought about modifying the Shrediquette FC but I do not know enough about programming to re-do the mixer code.

I had been keeping this project secret but I found I cannot progress and finish it on my own now. I originally intended to use the FMA Co-Pilot but then did not want the environment dependency it required. I really wanted an Accelerometer based...Continue Reading

Dave

X-3D-BL Quadrocopter (0 min 35 sec)

X-3D-BL Quadrocopter 2 (1 min 44 sec)

...Continue Reading

Spektrum guys need to get off their butts and develop a 2-3 axis gyro/rx system. (I have no idea whats going on behind their doors in R&D )

I hate to say it because I am normally only a super high end guy, and sometimes just super high lol.

Walkera is basically making E-Flite look sub par. I know e-flite makes solid reliable gear but cmon they let Walkera come out with a 3-axis system for sub micro helis lol.

Currently Fbl and gyro augmentation is used on high end systems/equipment. Mikado V-bar / beastX/ skookum robotics / and others are now the rage today in rc helicopter tech.

Very high end systems have been developed and cost several hundred dollars.

This is debatable.... But the walkera 3-axis gyro/rx not only is the most weight optimal system for palm size helicopters, it's the ONLY off the shelf system today. It may even be on par with Aligns 3G system. (no body would want to agree on that statement..)

I used to be a HUGE E-Flite advocate. They do make Good reliable and easy to use products. But today I have realized that their technology is lacking to the point where Walkera has now become the sub micro technology leader. (sure ok everything I am saying is subjective. That's CYA for ya ) right now, today the hottest topic in helicopters is ditching the flybar. Botom line FBL is all the rage right now. Walkera is serving that rage. Of course the Walkera offerings do not compete performance wise to Skookum/Mikado/BeastX/Align 3G... But...Continue Reading

I flew my new Excellium 500 over my vacation. it flies very well. nice heli.

Ill have to take some pics of it and post them soon. it looks nice.

Here are some vids of flipping the X-BL-FP Quadro on Sunday,


2 crashes from radio interference straight into the ground, zero damage, this thing is pretty resilliant.

Solid investment

X-3D-BL Quadrocopter (0 min 35 sec)

X-3D-BL Quadrocopter 2 (1 min 44 sec)

...Continue Reading

I decided to design/manufacture and sell a carbon fiber conversion frame for the RC UFO that is manufactured by Senario. there is some talk about this in the Alien air thread as well.

I felt that the electronics were decent enough to make an aftermarket frame system to help improve it's flight dynamics.

besides the frame, another recommended mod is to alter the 3 Gyro gains by simply replacing 3 resistors that effectively lower the gains to achieve more agility in flight.

you can find the stock saucer here LINK



Evader Pro conversion frames sell for $60 total including shipping anywhere in the USA.

PM/Email is you are interested in a kit or for details on shipping outside of the USA

PM for details if you are interested in a kit

I can also do the conversion and gyro mod for an additional $40 if needed.

any questions about the Saucer and it's slightly larger brother ( Jump Jet sold by Snelfight) can be found in this huge thread https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=813134

Gyro modification thread ( to increase agility ) https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show...93&postcount=2

some videos

Carbon Framed Saucer 2 (0 min 33 sec)

Saucer Carbon fiber frame conversion. (0 min 52 sec)

...Continue Reading

https://www.rcgroups.com/forums/show...postcount=1673

When I first got my 4#3A I instantly liked it. it flew very well for being so small. Then the never ending urge to MODIFY suddenly took over.

I wanted faster response.

I wanted more agility

I wanted it to look fast standing still.

I just wanted to be different..




So I extended the tail by .5" and installed the 4G3 tail assembly.

Installed some Tuff struts (which looked very funny until I modified them, gave it the rake angle).

Swash support.

Blue -Q grips

Bell/Hiller Mod:

This mod worked out very nicely, gave me exactly the level of response that I had imagined it would.

My first goal was to make it all work with off-the-shelf parts.

it basically consists of:

1. Mixer arm (from 4G3)
2. Mixer arm shoulder screw (from 4G3)
3. Linkages (made from 2nd set of 4#3 dog bones cut 30% off, 4G#3 plastic ball link, the connecting tube is a cut stock ball link shank)
4. Flybar linkage ( stock 4#3)

it's very simple and instantly gratifying.

Pretty much has the cyclic response of the 4G3 now. only tested so far in my living room because it's storming outside.

I'm sure the geometry is not perfect, but it does have a totally different feel now....Continue Reading

This is a reconfiguration of L.A Heli's Maxir helicopter components + some custom made components.

This is a 3D flight capable aircraft with 3 variable pitch lift rotors and a conventional rudder tail.

This is just a personal project for now. at least until I build a functional prototype. if everything works as expected then I will produce some parts to make a Pro-Star.

This is still a VERY BASIC model, not many details have been created yet.

...Continue Reading

ttt

I started to mock up the prototype.

I used some cheap clip-boards form Walmart to make the frame with . very brittle material, not a good choice.

I've been keeping an eye on these quad and Y type UFO crafts, ?I think they are pretty neat machines.

the other night I had an idea for an ultra responsive 3D capable Y-flyer.

basically 3 complete hornet heli tail booms driven off a single main gear and single motor, all fully collective pitch with possible 3 blade rotors.

here are some very simple concept pictures for now.

this will be able to be controlled via standard 120° ccpm mixing :-)

David

mmmmm

Here is a .IGES assembly of the 3 piece cranks found on my Pterodactyl, from what I understand, thse are the same cranks as the slo-hawk and a few other Kincade Ornis,

feel free to download the plans and make your own :-).


I will not make these because I do not have the tools.