Originally Posted by kaptondave

My feeling is that many with limited experience in photography choose it because of the cool-factor without a full appreciation of its traits.

So why Go=Pro?

In my case, I like the wide FOV. Helps with situational awareness when flying FPV in close quarters.

I've got the GPH3S with the newer lens that reduces barrel distortion (yes, it is ugly) but I find it's not too bad when used on the 1080p med setting which isn't quite as wide as "wide" but still offers a nice, wide FOV.

I don't much mind that objects look smaller...makes it look like you are really moving.

Also, the weight savings on a tricopter are not insignificant when you don't have to have a flight cam too.

I appreciate your answering seriously Invid. I have a lot of experience in Kite Aerial Photography (KAP) and Balloon Aerial Photography (Bap) but none so far from 'copters. I would like to get a good HD video camera and am trying to decide which one. Obviously some like you see benefits to the GoPro that offset what I see as deficiencies, and I would like to know what those are. Unfortunately some comments have been less than helpful.

Originally Posted by kaptondave

The sensor calibration is primary, and as others have said can be done any time and as many times as you like.. ACC Trims are just that, trims for fine tuning. Many users never touch them, and among those that do there is disagreement on how effective they are.

I know that you disagree. That is why I said "can be considered to be the rough setting", not "is the rough setting".

The truth of the matter is that the one sets it based on how well you have leveled it and the other allows you to fine tune it. The numbers in the ACC trims can be into the hundreds I hear.

NP Kaptondave, I suspect your tone came off as a little accusatory while I thought you were looking for an answer that you thought you may have overlooked.

There are other reasons too: the aforementioned excellent image quality in HD, and the light weight too. In fact, I would go so far as to say I can't think of another cam that has as good a PQ:Weight ratio. You really do get good PQ for the weight penalty.

Also, this is a KK2 thread, and this board is really popular with multicopter flyers. For the most part, you don't really want pan and tilt on a small multi, which means you need a fixed mounting position on the cam. If you mount the cam so that you can still see somewhat ahead of you at high speed / high acceleration, you have it pointing so high that at low speeds near level you can't see much of the ground which makes for boring footage and flights.

The very wide FOV goes a long way to solving both problems, and that's also why you will see a lot of GoPros on multicopters, at least IMO.

It's not perfect, but it's a good choice given the constraints of the craft we fly. A plane is a different beast and may benefit from a different camera choice.

Originally Posted by flarssen

A short video of my erratic throttle in the cold. Actually just around 0 C in this case. No problem inside my living room. I tried to flash 1.2, 1.4 and1.5. Same behaviour with all, SL ON/OFF. Tried another RX, just to rule that one out.
Sorry that sound and picture are not synchronised.

Video


Fred

The tuning videos say that altitude is hard to maintain if the gains are too high. Possibly the I gain.

Originally Posted by h710railfan

I couldn't find any information on this unless i missed it but i just got done crashing my tricopter... I was flying and i flew into the gutter of the house and it hung off the gutter by the tail so it was facing downward, then the battery fell out and then it hit the ground nose first. Now when i got try to re fly it it told me that the gyros were out of limits and asked me to recalibrate it so i did and now it is telling my that X and Y are not ok. X is at 873 and Y is at 1028. I tried factor reset and it didn't help either What should i do? It is version 1.2

Try waiting a day for the board to dry off. Else if your gutters are metal it might have shorted something when it touched them.

Originally Posted by Invid

It's not perfect, but it's a good choice given the constraints of the craft we fly. A plane is a different beast and may benefit from a different camera choice.

Good points. I am realizing that 'copters dictate a different set of requirements than other camera platforms. Thanks.

"TUNING" my quad was the most challenging part of my build process.

Finding different methods and bits and pieces after hours of sifting through
the forums was part of the difficulty.
Here is what I did to get it to fly really well...the following is bits and pieces
from different post all over the place...lol

1)With self level off, take off and adjust "transmitter" trims for level flight.
You can do this in flight or if your not good on the sticks yet you can watch
which way its drifting then land it and adjust the trims and repeat until you
have it flying the best it can fly using the transmitter trims.

2) Switch self-level on and take off. Do not adjust transmitter trims. Instead
see which way it is drifting and then land it. Disarm and then adjust the
ACC trims in the KK2 self level menu.(see pic below)


In the ACC self level menu
If you want it to drift more left or more forward = negative(decrease the numbers)
If you want it to drift more right or back = positive(increase the numbers)

Left and Right would be the Roll
Forward and Backward would be the Pitch

================================================== =======


Here are the PI settings recommended as a starting point for frames ranging
from 250mm to 600mm. I believe these are better than the stock settings that
come pre-programmed in the KK2 board:

Pitch and Roll:

-45
-100
-30
20

Yaw:

-80
-20
-70
-10

Low voltage Lipo Alarm Settings:

-2s battery: 070
-3s battery: 105
-4s battery: 140

================================================== =======


Sticks scaling: Stock numbers are 30. If the quad is too aggressive for
you, reduce the numbers. Increase if you want more stick response.
DO NOT attempt flips with the stock settings. You need at least 70 on
ailerons and elevator to attempt flips. Try your first flips with lots of
altitude!


Set stick scaling

AIL 30
ELE 30
RUD 50
THRO 90



I set my PI settings to what was suggested above and my stick scaling
and self level trims are shown in the pics. The ACC trim numbers are what
I ended up with after trimming. Yours will be different.

Hope this helps someone out there to get there quad flying great!! It's such
an awesome feeling to have your quad flying as smooth as the ones you
see in the videos




This link is a short clip of my tuned quad flying in the basement.
MOV09072 (0 min 27 sec)
.
.

Originally Posted by romans1015

"TUNING" my quad was the most challenging part of my build process.

Finding different methods and bits and pieces after hours of sifting through
the forums was part of the difficulty.
Here is what I did to get it to fly really well...the following is bits and pieces
from different post all over the place...lol

1)With self level off, take off and adjust "transmitter" trims for level flight.
You can do this in flight or if your not good on the sticks yet you can watch
which way its drifting then land it and adjust the trims and repeat until you
have it flying the best it can fly using the transmitter trims.

2) Switch self-level on and take off. Do not adjust transmitter trims. Instead
see which way it is drifting and then land it. Disarm and then adjust the
ACC trims in the KK2 self level menu.(see pic below)


In the ACC self level menu
If you want it to drift more left or more forward = negative(decrease the numbers)
If you want it to drift more right or back = positive(increase the numbers)

Left and Right would be the Roll
Forward and Backward would be the Pitch

================================================== =======


Here are the PI settings recommended as a starting point for frames ranging
from 250mm to 600mm. I believe these are better than the stock settings that
come pre-programmed in the KK2 board:

Pitch and Roll:

-45
-100
-30
20

Yaw:

-80
-20
-70
-10

Low voltage Lipo Alarm Settings:

-2s battery: 070
-3s battery: 105
-4s battery: 140

================================================== =======


Sticks scaling: Stock numbers are 30. If the quad is too aggressive for
you, reduce the numbers. Increase if you want more stick response.
DO NOT attempt flips with the stock settings. You need at least 70 on
ailerons and elevator to attempt flips. Try your first flips with lots of
altitude!


Set stick scaling

AIL 30
ELE 30
RUD 50
THRO 90



I set my PI settings to what was suggested above and my stick scaling
and self level trims are shown in the pics. The ACC trim numbers are what
I ended up with after trimming. Yours will be different.

Hope this helps someone out there to get there quad flying great!! It's such
an awesome feeling to have your quad flying as smooth as the ones you
see in the videos




This link is a short clip of my tuned quad flying in the basement.
MOV09072 (0 min 27 sec)
.
.

Looks pretty stable...good job brother and thanks for sharing your kk2 settings.

I just thought I would report a happy outcome with a KK2. I've been using it for a while, flashed it to 1.5, and I keep building new MRs to put it in. Today I maidened the HK version of the F550 hex. Turnigy D2930/11 1000Kv motors, 10" plastic props (unbalanced as of yet), HK F30A ESCs flashed w/ SimonK, Futaba radio gear, 3S 3200mAh battery, and almost 3 meters of light strip.

I simply reset to factory settings, upped the ail/ele P Gain a bit and set I to half P. On her maiden flight I used 2 (of 30) clicks of roll trim and she hovers pretty good. Nice and flat and not wandering around. She flew so well I finished off the battery zooming around in acro. I have never had a craft maiden so well. All I did after the first flight was up throttle scaling to 100 and now she flies so well I'm too lazy to tune her. It's too much fun just to swoop her around.

Sorry I don't have any pics or video. She not really anything special, honestly. She's just fun. I have 26 minutes fly time on her, mostly in the dark. I love night flying.

I'll do a thread with all that, but for now I just wanted share my joy. If anyone is wondering, yes, the KK2 is a great FC at any price. It does what it advertises very well. Sure, there are better FCs, but not for $30. Just buy one. I fly every frame with a KK2 first.

Originally Posted by Steveis

This will be an interesting test. Do you notice any glitches on the receiver test screen?

Haven't checked, but will do next time I experience this problem. I tested yesterday and all was perfect without CPPM. Unfortunately it was OK with CPPM too, so maybe not cold enough (1 dgr C).

Originally Posted by jasmine2501

I think if you're using a quality BEC, you can disable all the power supplies coming from the ESCs.

True. As I found out, having all +V wires connected on M2-M4 can lead to heat in one of the three ESCs, since a single BEC (the one with highest voltage) will supply the logic of all three ESCs. What you suggest will therefore lead to low heat generation and same temperature in all ESCs.

Fred

If you want a better way to supply voltages to the FC and receiver
I use these tapped off the main lipo supply before the ecs (VIA deans tap)
out to two leads (servo & 2pin) I use the 2pin to supply FC & servo lead for Receiver

Not My sale item! ...I buy mine here though
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/LM2596-DC-DC-...item35bfcddbee

Main technical parameters:
Conversion efficiency: Up to 92% (output voltage higher, the higher the efficiency)
Switching Frequency: 150KHz
Rectifier: Non-Synchronous Rectification
Module Properties: Non-isolated step-down module (buck)
Short circuit protection: current limiting, since the recovery
Operating temperature: Industrial grade (-40 to +85 ) (output power 10W or less)
Full load temperature rise: 40
Load regulation: ± 0.5%
Voltage regulation: ± 2.5%
Dynamic response speed: 5% 200uS
Input voltage:4.5-40V
Output voltage:1.5-35V(Adjustable)
Output current:Rated current is 2A,maximum 3A(Additional heatsink is required)
Dimension:43*20*12mm(L*W*H)


Theres lots others available out there too

Originally Posted by ripmax

I'm using kk2 on hk y3 tri, it flys real nice but how should self level work? at the moment if I give stick movement it stays in that plane (for instance, if I give left input and let go of the stick it stays at that angle) thought self level should return it back level? kk lcd says self level on.

Thanks in advance anyone.

If using the stock 1.2 firmware thats what it will seem like as it is a bit slow to level out but it does work, I flew with 1.2 for ages before switching to 1.4 which is how self level should be.
I turned my Self level P gain down a bit to make it smoother on my Tricopter.

Write down your 1.2 settings first as it will go back to defaults, Flash it to 1.4 or 1.5 (if you need camera stab), load correct motor layout, do calibration and receiver test, put in your recorded values, leave Self Level Gain and trims at default until you test fly it.

Originally Posted by symon

Hi,
On the KK2 board can you turn self leveling down..or is it either on or off??

With the 1.4 or 1.5 firmware you can turn down the Self Level gain in the settings which will slow the response.

The default was to harsh for me so i reduced it by 10-15 i think and it made it a lot smoother.

Originally Posted by brontide

Sounds like you need higher rated batteries. I would not go below 108 personally since just because the average is 3.5 doesn't mean that you are not pushing one cell into the red zone,

Cool Ill set it to 108 and see what the battery voltage is after landing. I'm using 2200 20c turnigys and I normally fly for 5min on a full charge leaving them with about 11.2 volts left. Tbh yesterday they hadn't been used in a few weeks and had been left charged for a while.