I agree,
Those down wind turn can get to be somewhat a beast to handle.
Out here on the farm My RC field can get very tricky, with my ES. Most of our strong winds is out of the south. At the BASE LEG of the app. there is an high line to clear. Not a problem, but with a strong south wind, then there is an issue of a 100+ foot hill [no trees], remember, this is Kansas. the UP SLOP WIND on the down wind app. will set you up for some interesting things to occure.
WIND
UPSLOP CURRENTS
BASE LEG CORRECTIONS
HIGH LINE..[most of the time there is room to turn inside of the highline.
BUT
Keep about 1/2 power all the way over the highline, then with the ES , pull power, nose it down a little, over the app. end of runway [all grass], NO TREES, remember this is Kansas.
Push to about 3/5 foot above runway. touch down at about walk speed.
WATCH THAT [TIP STALL].
ENOUGH
SARG5

Hey Mike-O! The 808#16 camera came, and yesterday was perfect blue-sky with light winds. I packed the ESII to the top of a hill with a spectacular view. WOW, what an improvement in video quality! How can a picture that good come from a lens that tiny? I can't wait to try some other sites, though there is already too much snow on the higher ridges. Snow made for interesting landings. It touched ground and never slowed down till it found a bush or a snowdrift.

EasyStar II with 808 #16 camera near Fairbanks, Alaska (5 min 54 sec)

EasyStar II near Fairbanks, AK east view (3 min 47 sec)

You're right about the battery not lasting in the cold. I wish it did so my vids would end with the nose plowing into a snowdrift. I'm thinking about removing the camera battery and plugging into a spare outlet on the RC receiver. Or powering the camera through the USB port.

This is really getting me psyched to try FPV. Now it's a tightrope balancing my desire to fly the camera just a little bit further/higher and my ability to see the plane well enough to control it. Or maybe that doesn't really change with FPV. Then the temptation must be pushing the limits of the transmitters.

Originally Posted by mutski

Hey Mike-O! The 808#16 camera came, and yesterday was perfect blue-sky with light winds. I packed the ESII to the top of a hill with a spectacular view. WOW, what an improvement in video quality! How can a picture that good come from a lens that tiny? I can't wait to try some other sites, though there is already too much snow on the higher ridges. Snow made for interesting landings. It touched ground and never slowed down till it found a bush or a snowdrift.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJ6Nt...ature=youtu.be

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0zA5xd59ow

You're right about the battery not lasting in the cold. I wish it did so my vids would end with the nose plowing into a snowdrift. I'm thinking about removing the camera battery and plugging into a spare outlet on the RC receiver. Or powering the camera through the USB port.

This is really getting me psyched to try FPV. Now it's a tightrope balancing my desire to fly the camera just a little bit further/higher and my ability to see the plane well enough to control it. Or maybe that doesn't really change with FPV. Then the temptation must be pushing the limits of the transmitters.

Nice place to fly. I've been in USA a couple of times with my wife and, maybe, we'll be there next year too. I hope since many years that, someday, we will save enough money -and free time- to visit Alaska.

Which #16 camera have you bought? Your seems to have a better video quality than mine, which is a V1 with blue lens.

P.S: my EZII is airworthy again and tomorrow I will test it.

It's 808#16 V2, Lens B.

Update - I fixed the battery problem. I cut the cable from a stripped servo, removed the signal wire and soldered the plug from a broken Genius CP main motor to the positive and negative leads. The Genius CP motor plug is identical to the 808#16 battery plug except polarity is reversed. (make sure you ID positive and negative leads if you try this!!)

I switched the + and - leads in the Genius end, removed the battery from the 808#16 and inserted the Genius end of the cable instead. Cut a notch in the case for the new wires to pass, closed the case.

Now I can plug the camera straight into an empty port (5 volts, matches the camera) in my Spektrum receiver and run the camera as long as the plane will fly. I tried it out - the camera records as usual. The only downside is the camera date resets to Dec. 31, 2010 every time I unplug the camera. I'd already removed the date stamp anyway, but all the video files are dated 2010.

Unfortunately it was too windy to fly today. I'm at work the next 48 hours, so maybe Monday...

Originally Posted by mutski

Hey Mike-O! The 808#16 camera came, and yesterday was perfect blue-sky with light winds. I packed the ESII to the top of a hill with a spectacular view. WOW, what an improvement in video quality!...

This is really getting me psyched to try FPV. Now it's a tightrope balancing my desire to fly the camera just a little bit further/higher and my ability to see the plane well enough to control it. Or maybe that doesn't really change with FPV. Then the temptation must be pushing the limits of the transmitters.

Mutski,

glad you like it. I certainly enjoyed the video of your stunning landscape.

The 808 cameras also lured me into FPV. And it doesn't have to be forbiddingly expensive or difficult getting started. The ES ll is not a bad FPV platform, and you can get a decent 200mW VTx/VRx/camera at HK at around $70. I guess you'd get good range out of 200mW in your area, which doen't look very radio infested.

The major cost is a good set of video goggles, which is main limitation of video quality. I use the $300 FatShark Dominators, and I suspect I could sell them again rapidly and with little loss if i wanted out of FPV.

Keep us posted on your fligths - I'd love to see some high altitude video of your playground when snow has fallen

The retail store where I usually shop sells some FPV set from ACME brand. They are modular and they seem reliable. I had some in my hand and they are pretty light too.

I didn't had enough time to try them but the seller use them on his own plane, and seems to be satisfied.

The advantage is that they are designed to fit together and they are modular. You can just use the camera or add the tx/rx set. The receiver has it own stand-alone video and/or goggles.

They have their own internal battery and you can mount the camera/transmission set on a modified EZII canopy with some simple velcro strip, so I guess could be easy to get airborne in little time.

Range is not that far (~500 meters) but it fits well to me because Italy is a dense populated area, even in rural areas, and I would not lose my model over some peoples' house.

I like them and I would like to try the FPV but, because we are saving money to get to USA again next year, they are out our budget. Maybe in a couple of years from now I will buy them. Or I will buy them in U.S., where everything costs a lot less than in my country...

Here's the link, check it out:
http://www.flycamone.com/

http://www.flycamone.com/cgi-bin/cgi...=334&undefined

Originally Posted by l.aluffi

The retail store where I usually shop sells some FPV set from ACME brand. They are modular and they seem reliable. I had some in my hand and they are pretty light too.

Wile E. Coyote always used ACME brand but never had luck with it..

Originally Posted by l.aluffi

The advantage is that they are designed to fit together and they are modular. You can just use the camera or add the tx/rx set. The receiver has it own stand-alone video and/or goggles.

Most other FPV products are modular as they will mix and match rather freely. perhaps apart from the VTx and VRx. The baseband signals are more or less the same, and you can use most cameras with most set of VTx/RTx and with most goggles/monitors. Just avoid a NTSC camera for a PAL-only monitor/goggle and the other way around.

And to get this back on the ES ll track/topic: The Easy Star is a nice and flexible beginners FPV platform, although it's limited in the amount of bulky and heavy equipment it will carry. But a basic camera/VTx set-up will easily (haha) fit into the plane.

I flew at the soccer fields yesterday to test the 808#16 from an empty slot on the AR6115E receiver. It worked slick - had the plane up for 25 minutes at -4 celcius (with a few landings to warm my fingers!) and the camera ran the whole time without a glitch. I practiced turns and touch-and-goes, and banked a little more than 90 degrees while distracted by a bystander's questions (brief adrenalin moment ). I managed to recover - no embarrassing crash. Touch-and-goes should be good video to tune my brain for FPV!

End of autumn (3 min 23 sec)

We got 8 cm of snow yesterday afternoon. From here on out, it's ROS, not ROG. I'm thinking about a big muff over the tx to keep my fingers warm. I can fly with gloves, have done that already. But when it gets colder, can I fly with mittens?

FPV gear will probably wait a few months. I just bought tickets for a trip to study spanish in San Cristóbal de las Casas, México. That will give me time to read and choose between 1.3 ghz, 5.8 ghz and 900 mhz. I doubt that I'll go with 900 mhz due to bulkier equipment. Maybe 1.3 ghz for a little better penetration if trees get in the way. My controller is 2.4 ghz, so that's out. I may try the 808#16 as the FPV camera - the quality of the image certainly seems sufficient!

Originally Posted by 2500GENE

Wile E. Coyote always used ACME brand but never had luck with it..

Eheh, you are right, gene. I will keep it in mind, along with advices from Mike_O, when will come the time to move on FPV.

Mutski, your #16 camera's image quality seems to be better than mine #16: which model are you using?

In the meanwhile I would like to share with you some almond macaroons that I just "FPVed" with my wife. They are really good, expecially the ones with the chocolate mould

l. alufi - the camera is 808#16 V2 lens B

I recently purchased on 808 #16 V2, this is my first video. Going to have to increase my flying range and make some right turns occasionally to make the videos more interesting.

Aerial Video 10/14 (4 min 22 sec)

Originally Posted by mwoneal

Going to have to.....make some right turns occasionally to make the videos more interesting.

You and me both!

EZII low flying practice (3 min 54 sec)

Having looked at yours and others' videos, I know I need to take a look at my motor/prop and work out why mine is so rattly! I'm pretty sure its the prop rather than the motor, as it the bare motor wasn't noisy but it sounded like this from the second the prop went on...

Also, your #16 has a far better picture than mine; though some of that may be down to the Colorado sunlight...

Originally Posted by Colonel Blink

You and me both!

https://vimeo.com/51658546

Having looked at yours and others' videos, I know I need to take a look at my motor/prop and work out why mine is so rattly! I'm pretty sure its the prop rather than the motor, as it the bare motor wasn't noisy but it sounded like this from the second the prop went on...

Also, your #16 has a far betterpicture than mine; though some of that may be down to the Colorado sunlight...

I had almost the same noise a couple of days ago. It was from the left servo snake. A point of glue went away so the vibrating tube started to hit the fuse. It was just a couple of centimetres long section.

I found it by pushing with a finger with the motor switched on.

Originally Posted by Colonel Blink

You and me both!



Having looked at yours and others' videos, I know I need to take a look at my motor/prop and work out why mine is so rattly! I'm pretty sure its the prop rather than the motor, as it the bare motor wasn't noisy but it sounded like this from the second the prop went on...

Also, your #16 has a far betterpicture than mine; though some of that may be down to the Colorado sunlight...

Wonder who is flying the plane ?? looks like they almost hit some guy ??
Had to take an anti- vertigo pill, was gitting dizzy going round and round
feel better now I notice the Absence of Trees in that area . Did some one cut em all down ?? Just curious