/diy/ - Do It Yourself

>>2809234
Any materials that'd help to learn how to:
1) design and engineer drones like it's actually done by professionals? e.g. all the specialized moments of what there's to pay attention to for drones in terms of aerodynamics, frame requirements, weight distribution, satisfaction of customer needs, etc;
2) make the typical proper documentation of the project? I don't mean "standardized formatting" (since requirements tend to differ) as much as I mean "what's there to include".


Or, if we take this university project report as an example, what could be missing from it for it to be a solid, industry-tier report?
https://titula.universidadeuropea.com/bitstream/handle/20.500.12880/5207/tfg_JoseLuisGonzalezAlbarca.pdf
I already see that some of the good things it's missing are:
1) overview of local and international drone regulations;
2) simplified table of components that includes their price, weight, dimensions;
3) the estimation of assembly costs of one unit.
Anything else?

>>2809136
remove it but solder an extension dongle

>>2809263
> design and engineer drones like it's actually done by professionals? e.g. all the specialized moments of what there's to pay attention to for drones in terms of aerodynamics, frame requirements, weight distribution, satisfaction of customer needs, etc;
It depends on the type of drone and itspurpose. For your standard fpv quad, no one cares about that shit, just save weight

>>2809263
If you're asking about engineering and producing commercial products like DJI, that probably involves the labor of (pulling a number out of thin air) like thirty different PHD-level specialists.

If you're asking about enterprise drones and big camera rigs, they're mostly building drones the same way we are but bigger, more redundancy in hardware/better flight controllers, MUCH higher budget, and often with some extra features like variable pitch props.

ordered a jumper t20s for 70$ off aliexpress, upgrading from a jumper t light v2

>>2805461
according to the rosser PID guide if i limit the motor output i can use higher voltage batteries with my motors.

i think if i just limit it so the maximum power the ESC can pump out to be the same as the maximum power on the data sheet of the engines it should be fine.

>>2809665
That's mostly true, but definitely don't do something like 6S batteries on a kv meant for 2S. That's just asking for trouble.

>>2809672
i wanna put 4s batteries on a quad whose motors say theyre rated for 12v maximum 8A. i think if i put it on a 75% limit there should be no issue (honestly i think im being too safe and i fan fully rip 4s on 3s motors but id like to see if the motors get super hot before i try this)(

>>2809702
About the only way that should get hot is if your filtering sucks or your PIDs are set retardedly. One of the best things I learned was that PID and filter tunes on custom builds are stupid, and you should learn to do that yourself.

>>2809702
Maybe a real EE can backup or deny this, but wouldn't running a higher than intended kv motor put a lot of strain on the mosfets?
When you limit the throttle, you're not limiting the voltage, just the length of the full voltage pulses. I don't really see it being an issue motor side as it's still making the same heat as a 3s, but on the ESC side, the lower resistance (high kv) motors would make the mosfets work harder to control the current.
That being said, your situation is probably(?) fine, but I don't know how far you can stray off the spec sheet before it becomes unreliable.

>>2810171
>When you limit the throttle, you're not limiting the voltage, just the length of the full voltage pulses

Not an electrical engineer but I believe that for the purposes of what we're doing limiting pulse length is pretty much the same as limiting peak voltage. I don't think it's possible to make broad deterministic statements about how the ESC fets will fare without detailed information about the circuit and the specific mosfets in use. I think most drone hobby pcbs -especially escs and aios - are designed with excess/misuse in mind. Like you can run the same motors and pcbs with both 40mm props and 3" props and probably be fine even though the 3" pushes exponentially more volume.

updated this POS to the latest firmware and now it goes into 'turn off to save energy' screen after 5 mins of inactivity and beeps when it does so. so if im leaving it connected to the PSU it beeps every 5 mins

does anyone have this thing and know how to turn it off? or should i go searching for older firmware? i think the older versions have a narrower range of voltages you can charge/discharge to under the default LIPO/LION/LIHV profiles

>>2810492
>40mm props and 3" props

what's wrong with you

>>2810568
nta
It's some stupid bullshit that happened between tinywhoops and everything else. Tinywhoop props get measured in millimeters, and everything else gets measured in inches.

>>2810563
Try pressing and holding the jog wheel with no batteries plugged in for the options and see if there's an option in there. Did the new firmware fix the stupid defaults for storage charging?

>>2810580
i actually just found out that menu existed, no i dont see an option there to turn off this retarded shit. i mean if they wanna add battery saving to the firmware make it turn off the screen after 5 mins but it doesnt it stays in the save energy screen and beeps. its really distracting so i cant sleep in the same room if i leave it plugged in

as for storage charging for LIPO it allows you 3.75V to 3.95V. i actually didnt understand what the name (StoCHG) meant i should it was something about stopping charge. i used charge/discharge manually instead.

anyways ill try going 1 firmware version back and see if it still beeps

My dad is moving and was somehow able to fit 12 helicopters in his car.

>>2810583

>>2810582
Fuck sake, I just wanna storage charge to 3.7 without screwing around...

>>2810586
idk i always storage charged to 3.8. still they should give you a wide range.

for discharging batteries they let you go down to sub 3V like totally kill the battery why the fuck wont they let you StoCHG to 3.6 at least

>>2810583
>>2810585

I've never taken the helipill, but I was admiring a blade eclipse 360 at the hobby store the other day. Why do you need 12 of them? Aren't they all used for pretty much the same zippyflippy LOS shenanigans?

>>2810606
He has just collected these over the past 35 years or so. No, he does normal flying.

Here's a video of him : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOevMP-0PTw

>>2810582
>cucked by firmware updates again
After my first elrs experience/nightmare I just started running things as they come and only update when they dont work.

>>2810622
Why does everyone have a hard time with ELRS? I've found it to be among the easiest stuff to update and bind.

>>2810609

Looks like a lot of fun anon. I enjoy cruising more than freestyle tricks too.

How stiff are tinywhoop frames? They look extremely flexible on video, and I'm trying to come up with a minimalist toothpick frame for my 1s build

>>2810702
Yeah it's weird, I thought it would be a complete nightmare but it's super convenient so far. Though I've heard the PWN receiver has some minor issue with chapter 5 according to painless.

>>2809234
"High speed" UAV footage makes me fucking puke, most of the operators suck shit. It's not fucking parkour. Think Navi in the OOT intro instead.

>>2810702
my whoop wont automatically connect sometimes and I'm forced to connect the battery three times and bind. admittedly I need to setup passphrases, update my radio, and my quad. but I'm lazy and new to flight rc, I'd rather get irl flight time than fuck with the software right now.
when it does work, +9/10 times, it's as easy as my RTR surface shit.

>>2810794
On some models, the 3x plug didn't get me where I wanted to be, so I just wait on the 60 second swap to Wi-Fi mode and set the bind phase with my phone. After binding, I make sure to change the init rate for instant connection as I run everything on 50Hz. I always opt for more penetration.

>>2810794
i dont get how this happens im still using the same phrase in my ELRS configurator that i first used the first time i flashed a receiver. i never had a problem and i must have used like 6 elrs modules by now including builtin SPI, builtin UART and external uart.

>>2810762
my betafpv 85pro frame is a bit thicker and stiffer but the 65mm stuff is usually a lot less stiff. the whole point is stiffness is not as beneficial at this size since your prop frequency is super high. the point of them is you can easily abrorb crashes, flip over and go back to flying without having to go pick up the drone or switch props.

personally i think whoops are a lot more fun than toothpicks at this size, the first one i got is the mobeetle which comes with both a whoop frame and a carbon fiber toothpick frame and i quickly stopped using the toothpick frame

>>2810702

Binding a new receiver with FrSky
>connect receiver to radio
>flash the one firmware file I downloaded years ago that just lives on my radio & gets used for every single receiver I buy
>power cycle receiver while pressing bind button

Binding a new receiver with ELRS
>power up receiver
>connect to receiver wireless hotspot with phone/iPad
>set receiver wireless settings, binding phrase, model match ID
>power cycle receiver so it connects to home WiFi
>move to computer, open ELRS configurator
>find out there's an update to the configurator, download it & install it
>select correct version, target, binding phrase, etc.
>wait for it to download the source from the Internet & build the firmware from scratch
>hope it finds the receiver & flashes it
>power up radio, open ELRS Lua script
>try to remember what packet rate & telemetry ratio to use
>forget to set model match in the radio, waste 10 minutes trying to figure out why it's not working

Don't get me wrong, I use & love ELRS. But it took me the best part of an hour sat at my computer with the wiki open to figure it all out. I have never needed a wiki for a RC link before.

And even now I know what I'm doing, I can't bind a new receiver without access to both my phone/iPad & my computer with an Internet connection. With a FrSky receiver, I could literally take it out the packaging while at the field & have it updated, bound & flying with nothing more than my radio.

>>2810875
>open configurator
>flash the receiver with the same phrase saved on my configurator
>it just werks with my radio

and i dont think the packet rate of telenmetry ratio matters it all works automatically. the only important thing about this is you gotta load the ELRS configuration for your packet rate in the betaflight presets if you want the idea betaflight feedforward for ultra responsiveness but otherwise it doesnt matter

>>2810908
>open configurator

So straight away you need a computer running companion software, just to flash a receiver. Many people would consider that a big step back in terms of complexity compared to previous systems.

>and i dont think the packet rate of telenmetry ratio matters it all works automatically

If you want to use something like the yaapu script for ArduPilot it matters a lot.

>>2810798
>I always opt for more penetration.

>>2810875
>Binding a new receiver with ELRS
1. open up LUA script on radio and enter bind mode
2. connect battery to copter 3 times
3. done

>>2810939
this is only with 3.4
>>2810926
yea youre right. i guess it doesnt matter to me as much since i always flash everything i receive to the last version and flashing my phrase into it just goes along with that.

but you could always just wait a minute without connecting and the ELRS receiver switches to wifi mode where you can connect to it via any phone,computer and change the settings/phrase. ive even done this on my car's android media computer once.

now you got like 3 methods of binding receivers and all are not really complicated

>>2810939
If you don’t mind running old firmware on your receivers.

I’m not aware of any way to update ELRS receiver firmware using just your radio, but I’d be happy to be proven wrong.

>>2810702
my first quad, i followed bardwell's tutorial, ended up bricking one receiver, got the second to work after like a hour, then realized i didnt have to endure any of that fuckery in the first place. thats why i dont bother to update anything

>>2810960
I'd say to give it time. These devs are pretty much giving us everything under the sun so far. Just takes dev time.

>>2811070
Sometimes Bardwell's advice isn't the best. He can be quite opinionated and will often ignore superior alternatives because he doesn't like them for whatever reason. Aside from setting my mind phrase, I also enter my home network credentials. By doing this, I can update with one press of a button when the model is near my home access point. Can update my entire fleet in under five minutes.

>>2811114
>mind phrase
bind phrase...

>>2811117
>mind phrase

Just because you don't know yours...

>>2809234
Hello /rcg/, I don't need help or nothing but would like to let you guys know that I will be able to install the last part(vtx) of my first drone this Friday. I've got a lot of hours on the simulator so I am excited to try it out in real life. I might report back. Have a nice one!

>>2811138
congrats, report back and tell us how it went

>>2810583
Based
I decided I was never going to fly RC helicopters after trying them out in simulators and also finding out how expensive they are
Really cool but just not for me

>>2810583
I crashed one into the snow and was never able to ge it to fly again :(
Helis are too complicated for me

Pour brake fluid to destroy paint.
Pour a smelly liquid bellow the windshield.
Drop a brick on it.
Drop a brick on his hood.

The new age has come.

>>2811698
i dont get it

>>2811702
THAT'S BECAUSE YOU'RE A PLEB! The new age of revenge has come! Smart people ruling savages from above!

Thinking of buying the Walksnail Goggles X along with a RTF WS quad to really test out the WS system. But they are teasing some supposed new 20KM range thing being released in August so maybe I should wait.
According to Bardwell this is probably just an upgrade to a new "artosyn" manufactured chip. Does anyone know what the artosyn chip actually does and what improvements the new one has?

>>2810583
Reminds me of being a kid and my grandfather driving to visit us once a year with his car full of planes. Good memories.

>>2812117
It's merely an upgrade of what we're already doing. Personally, I've held off on getting the Goggles X unit due to piles of stupid design flaws. Their system is pretty good and I've done 5 miles on the standalone VRX, but I'm not spending premium money on a beta test. If they get their act together, sure I'll pay for a new goggle.

>>2812145
do you know if there's any difference in latency between the standalone VRX and the Goggles?
I want to get the best possible setup here to give it a fair test. I thought maybe the VRX would have additional latency due to having to use HDMI. I previously tried the VRX over a year ago and wasn't particularly impressed with camera quality, latency or penetration vs analog. But I wanna give it another shot in case it has improved
what goggles are you using?

>>2812171
Running over HDMI does incur a touch of latency, but it varies from person to person on how noticeable it'll be. I can't feel it at all. Using the Sky04X V2 goggles with it.

got my jumper t20 for 68$, ordered a bag for it because i saw pic related in a review but it arrived with a bag.

seems like a good deal for a 1W radio

>>2812222
kinda nice

>>2812222
How's it feel to use so far?

>>2812258
ive only done 1 pack with my whoop around the room with it so far after flashing the latest edgetx and elrs. i mainly got it for the 1W power but the thing im most impressed by is the gimbals. upgrading from the jumper t lite these feel much better. i kinda dismissed gimbal snobbery but i kind of get some of it now

>>2812263
Thanks for the info. I rarely think to replace any of my core gear, but it's good to have an idea of what's out there in case I want to.

can i drill out a 1.5mm shaft prop for 2mm shaft motors or will it not hold?

>>2812637
Props are cheap. Give it a try.

>>2811138
I am back
4 runs, 3 crashes.

The first run I panicked and crashed it into some deck furniture in my backyard. No damage.

The second run, I left put mode on by accident and started losing signal so I panicked as it started going fuzzy and ran it into some rocks right next to me. I was flying over a park so I did not want it to get lost. Propellers a little roughed up but very usable.

Third run. The golden run. Everything went right, did flips and went ~500ft out. Scared my mom and neighbors. Landed perfectly. It was awesome.

Fourth run. The worst, left it on put mode before confidently taking off at max speed. Visual signal immediately cut out over the park and it dropped 150ft into a dumpster. One of the motors is locked up now b/c it got a dent. The propellers are all shot now. It'll be a week before parts come. I also have poison ivy rashes from retrieving the drone now lol

It was a lot of fun but leaving it in pitmode is something I'll never forget now. Flying is awesome thanks /rcg/

>>2812852
Might I suggest skipping pit mode and using low power disarm instead? Aside from that, glad to hear you're enjoying flying!

>>2812852
Congrats anon
Please don't fly near any other people. Consider that you may need to disarm at any point, and consider where momentum would take it if you did.

building a drone from aliexpress components was pretty easy
frame, motors, esc stack, receiver, vcr, camera, battery, easy peasy

rc cars, like drift cars, is another story.
pretty much a noob in this regard, so I'm not even sure where to start.
and since it seems more niche than drones, I'm having a hard time finding guides.
can someone point me in the right direction?

>>2813105
I hear you there. So far, all I've managed for ground use is a tank. It removes the need for all the fancy steering joints, and combines that function into the propulsion. Could 3D print stuff, but I know 3D printed parts are super fragile on impact unless it's TPU. Not really well suited for structure as it's too soft. The frames that are sold tend to be fairly expensive. Ground stuff is a challenge.

>>2813105
for surface stuff I normally go for RTR, keeps it simple and I change shit later when I break things or feel the need for an upgrade. I did put together a TT02 kit and bought some drift tires, but it's not a proper drift setup.
bunch of companies make full chassis kits you put together for drift/road cars, redcat RDS comes to mind for a drift chassis (not shilling but it is $50 off today), then get your own body + electronics.
even if you want to build up a short course truck from scratch, pretty much everything is going to be focused around the big brands' vehicles, tekin, arrma, traxxas, associated, etc. and at that point you could have bought a RTR, roller, or kit, or a used bare chassis for less money. a used 2wd slash chassis, as an example, goes for like $80-130 on ebay everyday. I've even seen used ones on faceberg marketplace with all their electronics go for $150.

>>2813189
Hey, this is the tankfag. Do you know of someplace to learn terminology and various standards to use for these things? That was my hangup on learning planes. Everyone was already established and using terms I didn't know, so trying to learn anything was difficult. Guessing RTR is Ready To Roll, but what is a slash chassis or a short course truck?

>>2813212
RTR means Ready To Run, you just need batteries to go, which is what the drift rc guy should consider imo, remember you can always swap the bodies to whatever you want.

>>2813212
>learn terminology and various standards...on learning planes
sorry, I can't help much on that I'm pretty new to air/multirotor rc stuff too. search engines are your friend.

picrel is a Traxxas Slash, it's a short course truck style rc.
https://traxxas.com/products/landing/slash-4x4-bl-2s/ https://traxxas.com/products/models/electric/slash-2wd-brushless has a bunch of pics, there's 2wd and 4wd versions with different motor+ESC (electronic speed controller) setups.

the other anon is right about RTR, but sometimes it's used as "ready to race" (but still ready to run) as so many hobby shops or whatever will have a stock class for certain vehicles. slash class races are pretty popular here in burgerland since they're cheap and parts are very easy to get. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfI3Ok67HZc&t=38s
I could talk shit on traxxas for a good while, but I do love blasting around my buddy's 2wd slash.


are the tank plans online? that thing looks neat

>>2813284
>>2813261
Thanks for the info! No worries about planes as that's already sorted last year. I'm trying to branch into ground stuff now.

As for the tank, look up the RD9000 on Thingiverse. The original design is decent enough, but definitely use the revised gears and maybe even print them at 99% scale. The revised wide tread is better too as I found the original to be ultra tight. I cooked up a little FPV pod to fit the canopy as it's kinda hard to mount a camera in just a hole. Some of the M3 screws it needs are like 35mm long, but it never gets mentioned. Definitely get a variety pack! Running mine off of 2S at half channel weight for now. Not sure if the motors will take continuous operation at 100% without burning up. Just barely got it done so my tests are limited. The designer recommends 100% infill on nearly everything, but I'm beginning to think it would be faster and cheaper to just glue in lead weights as solid infill doesn't do a ton for the strength, but it definitely needs the weight.

1/3
A long time ago here, I posted my home made underwater FPV ROV/submarine. It worked, it was cool, then it got cold and life got busy so I shelved it for a time. Life recently got less busy and the weather picked up so I decided to dust it off and do a systems check of it before putting it back in the water.

Here's it in better days underwater

>>2813353
2/3

And it caught fire. Some electrical wiring on one of the ESCs shorted and lit the wiring on fire. I managed to get the fire out pretty quickly, but the damage was in the area between the drybox of the sub and the outside water, meaning all the sealant between the dry and wet areas needed to be ripped out to change the wires. Pain the ass, but whatever. The submarine is connected to the RTX and VTX through 100ft of CAT5 cable.

This then got me thinking... there are a lot of batteries down in this thing and above water. There are x5 12V 3S (x4 motors + underwater spotlights) in the water plus x4 AA batteries (camera). The batteries are in the submarine dry area because trying to transmit the power through 100ft of CAT5 cable was not tenable. Above water there is a 9V attached to the VTX and another 6V on the RTX. Motors designated as M1, M2, etc. Signal lines as S1, etc. (Sv is video signal).

I'm not an electrical engineer by trade (as you can tell from my great circuit diagram), but can anyone think of some alterations to the system that might make it function better?

>>2813354
3/3

Subby in dry dock

>Go out flying for the first time in a while
>Light wind throwing my Mobula 7 around, but nothing too major
>Feeling confident, decide to turn on the recorder and do some sick stuntz
>Immediately bounce off the pole for an overhang I flew under
>Land upside down on a storage shed behind a presumably locked gate and next to a wall
>Turtle mode does nothing
>Power down and prepare myself to become walrus Sam Fisher
>Look again and my drone had fallen off the roof and landed right side up
Thank fuck, that was close. It was a public building at a park so my little climb probably wouldn't have been too bad if someone raised a fuss, but man.

>>2813355
Those antennas that come with the EV800DM are absolute trash, you deserve better.

Cute cat!

>>2813353
cool af
is this video with the spotlight? either the water is too murky or the spotlight is weak or something
>>2813373
75mm quads are like that they give you confidence to fly near people/houses but then shit like this happens. turtle mode and a tiny battery beeper on my quad + a cheap fishing net on a telescoping rod saved me many times.

Anyone into FE boats in here? Just did a full overhaul on my Revolt 30. New ESC, motor, servo. Currently trimmed out running 50 mph on 4S. Thinking of getting a 3S pack to pair with a 2S for 5S running. May hit 60 mph, which I dont think the fiberglass hull could handle any more speed than that.

>>2813483
My beeper is barely loud enough to be useful, but the quad is so optimized I'm not going going to screw with it. I sure won't be building anything that doesn't include one though. A net on a stick is exactly what I needed though, I'll have to get on that.

Praying that this shielded wire solves all my gps troubles...
I went ahead and grounded both sides, but is there any actual value in that? I heard that only grounding one side turns the shield into an antenna, making the EMI worse, but I have nothing to back that up.

>>2813700
>but I have nothing to back that up.
Bonding one side makes it the same potential. Bonding both sides allows current to flow.
Current creates an electromagnetic field. You probably want to avoid that.

>>2813703
Ok! That's good to know. Since it's easy enough to disconnect, I'll test it both ways and see what works best. But I'll start with one side bonded.

>>2812957
I considered binding pit mode to the same switch as my arm but this idea is a lot more elegant. I did it and it works like a charm. Thanks!

>>2813504
I personally am not but don't let that keep you from posting, I like reading what anons are up to.

>>2813399
They are, but I stand right beside the VTX so I don't need better.

>>2813483
>is this video with the spotlight?
Yes, it was in a dirty river harbor. I was hoping to get the subby fixed up and go explore a shipwreck in clear water in a few weeks

>>2813724
>shipwreck in clear water in a few weeks
Forgot to attach

>>2813700
i dont think you need to connect the gps side to ground i just think the shielding needs to be connected to the battery's ground, i think if you connect both sides that creates a loop which could be a reasonator or something idk, people say to avoid 'ground loops'.

what helped me with GPS problems:
>braiding the wires together with ground , i think this makes sure that any outside interference affects both wires at once and gets cancelled out
>moving the GPS braid away from the FC's/ESC's chips, some generate noise
>just switching UARTs on the FC, some UART's work better than others , im not sure why
>tiny capacitor on the GPS's power pads

im sure you could diagnose all these problems better with a osciloscope or something where you could see the noise but i dont have one and these are the anecdotal things ive read that worked for me

I figured it'd be better to ask here than /ham/, but is there a practical reason for long antennas anymore?

>>2813700
>>2813744
Different anon, I did actually resort to using an oscilloscope to track down my GPS problem a few years ago. Turns out the RC receiver was creating a lot of noise on the 5V rail whenever my transmitter was connected, which manifested as the GPS never exceeding 5 or 6 satellites. I swapped the GPS power over to the 5V output from the VTX & suddenly I got 20+ satellites.

It was a pain to diagnose, because the GPS worked perfectly when I powered up the quad at home *without* my radio switched on just to test the GPS was working. But then when I got to the field the following day to actually fly the thing & turned my radio on, that killed the GPS.

>>2813764
The length of the active section of an antenna is a product of the wavelength. These days most people use 2.4GHz for control links & a 1/4 or 1/5 wave antenna for 2.4GHz is less than an inch long.

If you use 868/915MHz you will find that the common half wave dipoles are nearly 6” long.

And if you look at photos of ancient RC gear where people are using 27MHz the antennas are several feet long.

So antennas are shorter these days because we’re using higher frequencies. Physics, mang.

>>2813802
idk i always connect both GPS and receiver to pads that power on from usb. this way i can test out the radio and telemetry without taking off and if i leave the quad on my window with usb power and les it pick up sats it will lock 5 times faster when i go to fly that day (i think it downloads the 'gps almanac' or something and keeps it in memory)

i do a test on the window to see that it locks with the FC/radio on and later i test it if it loses GPS when hovering outside (test ESC/VTX interference). some FCs just have noisy 5v pads

>>2813744
All good tips, especially about switching UARTS. I'm not trying to go too crazy over it, I just want a few sats!!
>>2813802
I have the gps & rx on the same 4v5 rail, so I'm definitely suspicious that I might have your same situation.
High time for me to buy an oscilloscope and figure it out.

>>2813802
Dang, I had never considered the other stuff sharing the rail! You may have just convinced me to buy a low grade O-scope.

>>2813858
It was a weird one to diagnose, took me ages to realise that the only difference was whether my radio was on or not & then at first I couldn't think of any reason why that might make a difference.

Found the photo, 48mV peak to peak of ripple. Cheap scope from banggood, did the job fine.

>>2813856
>>2813858
cheaper to try different pads or slap a capacitor on that rail. i think scopes are a thing thats not worth investing in unless you're gonna get one of the fancy ones

>>2813889
Except why would I (>>2813883) have thought to try an entirely different 5V regulator, especially when everything else running on that regulator was working fine?

>>2813915
just to try different pads if the gps sucks

>>2813700
hint: it won't
the biggest source is the (digital) VTX, not even the radiating antenna and the only thing that helps is separation

unmount the GPS, connect it to your computer and watch the signal strength while moving it around near your powered quad

>>2813918
Trying different 5V pads on the FC achieves nothing if the problem is noise on the FC's 5V rail.

>>2813802
>>2813883
any good noob guides on doing this sort of thing? Have never used an oscilloscope before...

>>2814208
For finding a noisy signal, you just hook your power up to the scope and look for what makes more wiggles. A flat line is ideal as it means the power is very constant. Imagine you're trying to hit a specific spot with water from a garden house, but some jackass keeps turning the spigot. It would be very difficult to be accurate. It's the same with sensitive electronics. A GPS relies on very precise timings to figure out what the fuck is going on, but with some noisy device screwing with its power, it can't run its clock or receiver very accurately.

>>2814241
thanks my nigga

>>2814241
Don’t you just wire a capacitor in parallel to clean the power signal?

>>2814402
That can help to dampen the ripple by soaking up the peaks. Works best when using capacitors with a low ESR. Doesn't fix it if it's seriously bad though.

>>2809234
Why does that building look like a Doom level?

Used Air 2 for $400 with a full kit or a new mini 3 pro?

>>2814794
> buying Appleshit or chinkshit
ngmi

Is 13g for a tinywhoop considered pretty light? Would pairing the lowest possible weight with 40000kv motors be "flingy" and capable of flying outdoors?

>>2814794
Mini 3 Pro.

>>2814963
Incredibly light. How did you manage this? No video?

>>2814963
yes the lighest ive ever had is a 17 gram (all other than battery). what parts are you using for that?
outdoors it depends on how exposed to wind we're talking, it's gonna throw your drone around hard you'd hard to tilt a lot into the wind just to stay still of you're going 20m in the air on a flat plain.

how did you get the drone so light? what frame are you using? id say you need to go into 2s whoop territory if you want a good outdoor experience

>>2814963
I don't think a 13g whoop build is possible tbqh. You sure your scale isn't busted?

>>2809557
I've always used Radiomaster, but the ergonomics on this radio look fucking tight. I've heard a lot of bad about the gimbals on the t20. I'm keen to hear what you think of it, Anon. That form factor looks better than the Boxer which I currently use while being a lil closer to the Pocket in size but not giving up all the useful switches.

>>2810762
65mm are made of pp typically and really bendy, but in a good way. Look into the Fractal frames and the Hachidorii v2. The Hachidorii looks sweeeeet.

>>2815053
In the betafpv discord they held a lightweight whoop competition and tdog built an 11.5g whoop. It was sketchy as all get out and the video feed looked awful but it was still really cool to see. Some of the other entries were 12 or 13 grams.

>>2815274

>>2815275
What the holy shit!? That's completely unhinged!

Is there any new updates or guidance in regards to a nano long range? I already have a 3d printer and can easily make frames. I just want to build a small cruising boy.

>>2815255
keep in mind i never tried radiomaster gimbals only smaller jumper gimbals, these might be shit in comparison and i wouldnt know.

i was gonna get a boxer and i only got the t20 because i found it for a good price (68$ on aliexpress)

i love the rigid folding antenna that you can put vertically to align with your RX antennas but i kinda wish it was connected to an SMA plug on the outside so you could easily switch antennas because i have a 2.4ghz patch antenna around

>>2815352
Weekly reminder. Don't print frames. They're not stiff enough and will cause poor gyro performance. Just spend the $10-30 on a carbon frame.

>>2815456
But when are you going to manage to run the range out on ELRS? I've done over 5 miles on 50Hz 1W and there was range to spare.

>>2815468
its mostly not for just distance but for penetration like flying behind many trees and bushes. ive had situations where my circular walksnail video singal from the drone was fine but my linear ELRS to the drone had low LQ and i could feel the drone's control stuttering

im guessing this is what the whole ELRS gemini thing is for but i think just raw power (1W, patch antenna) should help with that

>>2815472
You running horizontal antennas? Your control link should never fall short of your video link.

>>2815515
no i use a monopole whip on both my quad and whoop. its vertical and tilted the same as my camera and vtx antenna to maximize gain in the horizontal direction when flying with the camera pointing to the horizon.

still it has weak spots like i just flew ~1km away and when my drone was flying back in such a way that the VTX antenna is between the ELRS antenna and the direction im standing i got LQ drops while the video was perfect both ways.

my point is its hard to munt most common 2.4ghz antennas without some weak spots while my 5.8ghz one is super long and gets a clear LOS in almost all directions

>>2809317
>It depends on the type of drone and itspurpose
That's understandable, I just want to see any concrete examples of what's paid attention to
>>2809318
>like thirty different PHD-level specialists
I mean, surely they all don't do PhD-project-tier inventions and re-approaches all the time, there's likely an industry standard for each parameter/feature they have as a baseline for first

Thanks

>>2815352

Long range is still generally relegated to quads with 3"+ props and will be until we see a major breakthrough in battery technology or some other related field.

is there a noticable difference between a monopole antenna and a dipole for the elrs antenna?

>>2815352
how nano are we talking?
also you're much better off using CF frames than printing them. CF handles the vibrations of an FPV quad better than anything printable.


id say copy an existing design for your first one

>>2815646
I have the Croc 4. It's okay, and did serious range for me, but get the Flywoo. It's just better.

>>2815686
what range/flight time?

>>2815638
yes

>>2815784
Got about 5 miles on 3000mAh Li-Ion pack. Took about 24 minutes on a calm day. The reason I argue against it is the design of the frame. It's extremely overcomplicated compared to what it needs to be. I've actually stripped much of mine down and swapped parts for greater reliability. These days, I tend to just cruise around with it and take it easy when I don't feel like doing any tricks or changing any batteries. It's not bad, but definitely not the best.

All systems back operational after the fire (VTX, RTX down, RTX left, RTX right). Having to reseal now, probably will take over a week of sealing, drying, waiting, rinse and repeat.

I have a big problem that the VTX runs off a 9V battery (see >>2813354). The VTX drains the 9V Alkaline battery in about 20 minutes. Any suggestions? Should I just hook it to a 3S 11V? It already runs hot on 9V.

>>2816171
coat the vtx in a thin layer of epoxy for insulation and put it in the water for cooling

>>2816192
The heat has to do with the 9V burning out?

>>2816200
you want to cool the 9v? i dont get it

>>2816171
Why not run the VTX off of regulated power? Give it a couple of Li-Ion cells and one of those 6-30 regulators that'll do 5 or 9 volts based on if you bridge two pads. Should give you all the time you want. You could also toss a little 12v fan on there and it'll run at reduced but acceptable speed. I did something similar with 5V on my tank. Since it won't get the airflow from flying, just force air over it.

>>2816200
>>2816202
Higher voltages tend to come at the cost of more waste heat on many components. Video transmitters are notorious for this.

Why all big batteries for homes, cars and bicycles are basically a packs of tiny 18650 cylindrical batteries where majority of space is taken by voids between them and majority of weight is taken by the metal casing of each individual cell?

Isn't it better to have battery packs like on drones that look like a flat pancakes in a plastic bag, like all those RC cars and drones have?

>>2816273
>a packs of tiny 18650 cylindrical batteries
They're more safe, predictable, cheap

>>2816274
How are they cheaper in a metal casing?

>>2816298
Because of overall ease and low costs of manufacturing

>>2816298
>How are they cheaper in a metal casing?
scale of economics

>>2816192
>coat the vtx in a thin layer of epoxy for insulation and put it in the water for cooling
very bad idea. that's not how RF magic works

>>2816171
>I have a big problem
you have more than one problem with that huge wire mess, no clean power layout (VTX powered from a 9V block?? seriously? your power supply consists of AA batteries???) and your pressure chamber being a plastic lidded tuperware container
have a look at how others do DIY subs

>>2816273
You're thinking of lithium polymer batteries. They have less capacity for the weight, but explosive levels of output. That's why they get used for a lot of RC vehicles. Lithium ion cells go the other way, but will just output fire if you push them that hard. As a stationary battery bank doesn't need to care about weight, you can just stack a ton of them in parallel until current demands are met. Oh yeah, also lithium polymer packs tend to have a shorter lifespan.

>>2816339
No, I'm talking about same battery technologies used in those fields - lifepo4 and whatever ecars have. I was asking just about the cell size and casing material.

>>2816343
>like on drones
Those aren't LiFePo4.

>>2816347
Anon you are dumb. Read my previous post until you figure out the question was not about battery technologies.

>>2816360
If you want to be well understood, don't drop in information that will drag people away from your intent. As for what you wondered, it's probably easier to keep a bunch of individual cells cool. Those suckers can get hot.

>>2816312
>your power supply consists of AA batteries???)
Yes, I don't have enough 3S lipos to power everything.

> your pressure chamber being a plastic lidded tuperware container
Yes, and it works absolutely great for being cheap and solid.

Honestly, you just sound like a hating faggot.

>>2816214
>>2816213
Good ideas. I'll take a look at fans and regulators. Probably strap a few heat sinks to the VTX too.

>>2816202
No, my biggest problem here is that the 9V drains in 20 minutes. The heat isn't a huge concern to me as the VTX remains above water in an isolated container.

>>2816312
>very bad idea. that's not how RF magic works
> what is an antenna
you sound pretty dumb anon

>>2816312
rf isn't magic, retard

>>2816395
Yeah man, Matek has 3 packs of the regulator I'm talking about for $15, and you can get a pair of 18650s and a cell holder for pretty cheap. There are even cell chargers for like $3 out there. It would pay for itself in no time considering the fact that you're getting 20 minutes out of your current disposable setup.

>>2816435
Thanks dude. The Matek ones are $45 on amazon with markup lmao. x5 Funsto step downs are $13 on amazon, will get these

>>2816437
Must be regional bullshit. I swear the price differences are completely insane.

>>2816465
If you’re buying this sort of thing on Amazon, you’re paying a scalper who just buys it on Ali & then lists it on Amazon at literally 5 times the price. It’s nothing to do with region, it’s just people taking advantage of impatient &/or clueless people.

>>2816517
>impatient
Mostly this. Wait 4 weeks for something to shown up vs. 2 day delivered to door

>>2816396
>> what is an antenna
not talking about the antenna

>>2816421
>rf isn't magic
ever heard about the rhetorical concept of hyperbole?

you two tards should meet and suck each other off

>>2816563
i've heard of you being a fag
is that magical enough for you?

>>2816567
stop projecting
go find some 9V blocks to power that VTX

>>2816517
I really pick Amazon for hobby parts, but sometimes the price is close enough that the free shipping actually keeps it cheaper. I'm not losing sleep on $5 per regulator.

>>2816576
>really
I meant rarely. I'm a phone fag today. Sue me.

>>2816569
What's even funnier is that you are too stupid to even match writing style to realize who you are replying to.

You've only managed to run your mouth ITT without offering anything of value. You really are just an oxygen thief.

>>2816576
Yeah, and the quicky delivery. I ocassionally order from banggood but the delivery time can stretch out weeks.

>>2815809
i put a dipole on it, flew in places where i had LQ before and now its all smooth.

any ideas as to why my motors wont show up in inav?

>>2816949

>>2816949
does ESC configurator work?

>>2816949
Do you even have a vehicle type selected? That'll usually add motors to the config for you. iNav doesn't actually detect motors or servos automatically as that really wouldn't help anything.

>>2816977
already tried that.
>>2816990
ill give it a shot.
>>2817004
>Do you even have a vehicle type selected?
i think so, it asks for a vehicle type on a new flash.

My tinyhawk 2 is bricked it won't boot up or respond to anything in betaflight, is replacing a flight controller a noob easy task or am I better off with a whole new whoop?

>>2817076
That model uses plugs for the motors and cam, so no soldering makes it very easy.
You should however try fixing the FC. Did it just suddenly stop working one day, was it a hard crash, or just messing with stuff in betaflight?
oscarliang has a good article if it was bricked by betaflight.

*No soldering except for the battery pad (l2solder if you haven't already)

>>2817121
It was a hard crash, I was reading that others had the same issue due to a crack in the FC and they had to use a reflow board or whatever, I can't solder to save my life let alone solder even smaller stuff.

>>2817126
If you're going to do RC hobby stuff, I highly recommend you learn to solder. Get a cheap soldering iron (TS101 or Pinecil are nice starters), Amtek flux, a can of brass turnings, and fine 60/40 lead tin solder. You'll be able to save so much busted crap that you'll wonder how you skipped on that skill. Oh yeah, and be sure to get silicone insulated wire. PVC blows.

>>2817126
This is a frustrating & expensive hobby, moreso when you can't solder. And if you go further into it beyond whoops with plugs, it's pretty much a requirement (even prebuilts need to be repaired).
>>2817151
This is all excellent advice, although I'd argue that a shitty $15 60w iron w/ temp control is fine for beginners as a low price, entry-level option, especially for the inexpensive 900m tips.
Also if he's really really bad, a grinding out a practice board will help.

>>2817156
Hell, I wasn't even aware that cheaper stuff was worth getting. If it's out there, by all means. But yeah, practice boards are amazing. No risking your nice components while you learn how solder behaves.

Wow, even my idea of cheap is out of date...
Always remember to immediately bin the crap solder+flux they throw in these kits

>>2817151
>>2817156
Welp time to git gud I guess.

>>2817160
>Always remember to immediately bin the crap solder+flux they throw in these kits
I've been using the same flux and solder for about 5 years now

mounted a cargo bed from a garden cart onto my Badger UGV project, hauling wood scrap i got for free as firewood. thing hauls ass even over that overgrown, bumpy gras land behind my barn
https://youtube.com/shorts/QyPoxy4957M?si=EkMrrYL6meWAlxkk
https://youtube.com/shorts/Eo0d3sdI3S8?si=KCUvpRlY1PoOeVEX

>>2817328
Glorious! Ride it into battle!

>>2817342
i was already taking rides on it, it has no suspension, its literally painful to ride. its alright on gravel or a paved path

>>2817344
No good fight lacks pain! Bear it, brother!

>>2816990
ok, so i tried useing ESC configurator but the motors still wont show up.
maybe the ESC is bad? the FC seems fine.

>>2817358
does it do the musical beeping thing when you connect the battery?

>>2817366
yes, but its missing the last two notes the VTX is probably also dead.

>>2817379
idk about that my VTX makes no beeps only the ESC and if i connect a buzzer the FC


if its bheli32 (i think other firmwares are the same) it should do 3 at power up and 2 once it detects the signal from the FC. maybe the wiring between the FC and ESC is wrong or it doesnt detect the right protocol. i would guess its the wiring since you cant open the configurator (btw did you remember to power on the ESCs before trying to configure them? usb power is not enough)

one thing that happened to me before is the FC-ESC connecting wire that has a bent pin or one of the plugs that had a bent pin

>>2817379
What does the video transmitter have to do with your ESC? The lack of two beeps at the end indicates a lack of communication from the signal line. How you got this thing hooked up?

>>2817380
>>2817389
the ESC and FC are connected with the cable the stack came with.
like in the pic.

>>2817390
i had a speedybee f405 where the ESC wouldnt work and one of the pins on the connector on the ESC was bent.

unplug the cable and look at the pins. other than that idk what it can be, fried ESC?

>>2817328
where can I buy one?

>>2817412
most parts are from amazon, some from ebay, saber tooth dual h-bridge battle bot motor controllers from dimension engineering, all held together by 3030 aluminum extrusions and thick black polyethylene plates from my local polymer shop

>>2817444
Good ol 3030, that's a hell of a frame. Now all you need is to have it run around autonomously on inav or whatever

Is there any way to have betaflight write over/delete the oldest blackbox log? Or will I have to manually erase it every time? I'm that close to just buying a 32gb openlog and having enough space for the rest of the drone's life.

>>2817571
I'm not aware of any way to do that. Sure as shit would be nice. Have had lots of times something odd happened and wanted a log to see wtf went down.

>>2817573
I seriously don't understand why most FC's call it a day at 8/16mb flash chips. Really grinds my gears, but I guess that's enough space (like 10min of flight time) to get your info pid tuning and call it a day.
Time to buy a logger, because yeah, it does suck to be completely in the dark when weird shit happens.

>>2817568
Im ahead of you :) . I plan to use a dual gps pixhawk and ardurover with lidar obstacle avoidance. Pixhawk prices exploded. Since the chip shortage. Scalpers run rampant. Im already tinkering with a machine vision gesture control dohicky, so i can make it follow me like a pack mule.

Detonators are not expensive or complicated to improvise, and they can be difficult to come by through conventional means. They can be made DIY style with a rifle cartridge, some wire, a 12v battery, and some steel wool. Is is very simple, the electric current ignites the steel wool then the rifle powder inside. A 12 gauge shell works as well. You wrap the wool around each wire, empty the powder, reassemble. You can do this from the front or back, some like to take out the primer and crimp the top of the casing. Super cheap and simple to make in quantity, as opposed to buying blasting caps.

The switch connects the two wires and sets off the detonator, setting off the main payload, which are two entirely separate parts. Many will simply have a little wire or bit of metal sticking out the front that closes the switch. I am only publishing the detonator section of the draft here for practical reasons: It is good to start with the switch/detonator as it minimizes the amount of time that the weapon is fully assembled, which is conducive to operational security.

Impact switches, pressure plates, car door openers, any means of closing the circuit and igniting the detonator. For example, a victim operated (VO) switch is unwittingly detonated by the victim. Pressure plates, trip wires, and motion detectors are often used for this. Wireless and VO switches were the standard in the early 21st century, while radio detonated mines are even older.

>>2817681

>It is very simple

See, still need to proofread and edit.

Weaponizing the drone like a Ukrainian guerrilla is a matter of attaching the payload with detonator to the bottom of the drone and affixing the switch to the front in view of the camera. Artists, art students, electronics tinkerers are well suited to this activity, it requires and rewards creativity, there are a million different configurations that can be made.

Of course, following the laws and regulations are important as well. Here in the United States, such weapons can be legally registered and built as per the 2nd Amendment as Destructive Devices (DD) under the National Firearms Act.

Safety is paramount, especially when handling dangerous materials. It is a proven fact that men who are alert, who think out a situation, and
who take correct precautions have fewer accidents than the careless and indifferent.

>>2817577
Heck it would still be useful for PID tuning. I can't count the number of times I've collected data, adjusted, and forgot to clear flash before doing another test flight.

>>2817682
that thing cant freestyle for shit with a brick strapped to it

>>2817577
8 megs is perfectly fine for tuning if you only log gyro+setpoint at half the frequency and only do it for 1 flight at a time. you can just connect it to your phone and download the log

>>2817764
They're busy fighting for Jews instead of fighting for sick tricks. Not a worthy trade, IMO. FPV is too good to become a mere weapon.

>>2817794
what do you mean like the fpv scene in israel?

>>2817806
Jews are found in many interesting places. Zelenski himself is a Jew. He and his cabinet are all comedians. If you think I'm kidding, look it up. We literally live in clown world.

Dry dock is floooded, major sea trials are underway. A few small bubbles coming out of one of the main cable areas, but nothing major. No noted flooding or drops inside. Bouyancy is every so slightly positive, which is great (meaning if power runs out, the ROV will resurface by itself). Everything is looking good towards full pool sized testing this weekend, weather depending.

>>2817881
It might be a good idea to toss a bag of desiccant beads in there. The cold and pressure will cause condensation and get your stuff wet.

>>2817961
A better solution is replacing the air inside the electronics compartment and camera casing with nitrogen at one atmosphere of pressure. Just requires a connector to fill the enclosure and a valve to evacuate. Let in nitrogen in into the case, its displacing the oxygen. After a minute you close the inlet, and then the evacuation outlet. Perfectly dry insides at atmospheric pressure. Its how we keep optical instruments and night vision systems from drowning in condensation.

>>2817980
Anon doesn’t even have waterproof connectors for the cables, do you really think they’re going to properly evacuate/purge the container?

>>2817873
im just asking because im moving there in a few weeks i wondered if there's a big FPV/RC scene

>>2817988
.....oh...right

>>2818017
I've never been any place that's seen heavy use of recreational FPV aircraft. Usually it's just some tool with a DJI quad from the store who is busy making the hobby look bad by being an asshole.

Got my a1/a3 license

>>2817682
I like how drop systems for dji shit are designed. Separate power supply, triggered by the drone’s bottom light

>>2817961
Good idea.

>>2818035
Be fine.

I have a lot of experience with embedded programming and I wanna make my own quadcopter. Are there any resources on the internet that describe the best way to process stuff like gyroscope data to maintain stability and direction?

>>2818131
>Are there any resources on the internet that describe the best way to process stuff like gyroscope data to maintain stability and direction?
Are you sure you want to get into flight stability and control? Pic related is my university nightmare module. Be prepared for the maths...

>>2816949
decided to remove the vtx and suddenly everything is working, at this point I'm more confused than angry.

>>2818323
is your vtx pulling to much power for your power regulator, or is your entire power distro board just garbage?

>>2818324
no idea, the damned thing doesn't work, no signal, no lights.

can i somehow remotely power-cycle my VTX from my FC? i crashed a quad in some bushes and the walksnail system's ranging feature really helped me go in the right direction but the vtx on the ground quickly overheats and shuts down.

can i somehow restart/power cycle a walksnail VTX from a betaflight FC? i mean it knows when i arm from the MSP connection there has to be a way to tell it to restart or something.

my alternative idea is to install one of those tiny 20x20x6 mm 5V cooling fans on top of the VTX so hopefully it wont overheat even after a crash.

i wish ELRS had a ranging signal, LORA modules using the same chips have it.i could wire it to a backup battery (like a vifly GPS-mate) so even with a dead/ejected battery it still transmits

>>2818323
those VTXs are an EMI nightmare it's probably generating noise on your FCs power circuit that fucks with something

soldering a atiny capacitor to the power pads might solve it, or buying a BEC to bypass the FC and connect the VTX to the battery leads.

>>2818408
wrote the same question twice lmao im tired from searching for the drone in thorny bushes

>>2818408p
Yes, you can power cycle remotely by wiring your vtx to a transistor, and then control it using betaflight's PINIO. Alternatively, buy a BEC for reasons here >>2818410 and you can still wire it up on a switch using the same method. Bardwell has a video on PINIO.
But seriously... you're supposed to display your gps cords in the corner of your osd (you have a dvr for a reason) and use a buzzer to close in on the last 20ft.
Hindsight 20/20 I guess. Get some rest, review your footage, and find your quad.

>>2818440
i tried doing that, logging GPS telemetry on my radio. GNSS is very unreliable where i live its usually ok if i hug the ground but if i fly 10+m up it shows my quad as being in another country going 500km/h

recording on the goggles + beeper/radio RSSI is more than enough for 95% of crashes it just gives me peace of mind to have the exact distance to my quad in the goggles.

i lost the first quad i ever built less than 100m from myself. it had no beeper and the battery was low so the radio/ESC beacon didnt last long + i didnt record it and since then i have losing-quad-phobia.

>>2818451
That sucks about your GPS situation, I won't take the 5 sats I get for granted ever again. You're sure it's a location problem? Just double checking you tried out an M10 chip/a different gps.
And I still get shaky hands flying over water or a lot of trees. But they've always said, only fly what you can afford to lose...

>>2818584
yes its the same with my car and phone gps its not the drone's problem. it depends on the location and i dont know any place i can fly where this doesnt happen when im 20m in the air.

get a fishing net on a telescoping rod if you're flying around trees/bushes. theyre cheap and saved me many times

Sub anon signing in. Thank you for the silica suggestion anon. It's going in the water tomorrow so maybe by Monday I'll post how it's going.
Anyway, on to the next project. I've wanted to build a long range, autonomous, fixed wing drone for a while now. 50km is my arbitrary target goal). I built a balsa RC plane with shrink wrap about 15 years ago so I know how, but I'm out of touch a bit. I really like what this guy does and the design works extremely well - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0f9IiRUFqY so I don't see much point deviating from his design.

With that said, I'd personally make some adjustments, mainly to do with materials. He uses foamboard (extensively) with an aluminum spar, whereas my thought process is that balsa with wrap is lighter and stronger. The foamboard he uses also seems to require a lot of packing tape and glue.I really feel like this is limiting his performance goals Can somone add some input to this please?

From the fixed wing in the video above, some other thoughts on adjustments
> downward winglets
> moving the antennas back to trailing from the V stab
> reducing the fuselage CSA, it just seems very wasteful
> dihedral wings to increase stability, his design seems prone to wind buffetting
> material selection, balsa & wrap vs. foamboard

Overall thoughts?

2016 called & told me to do another Armattan F1 build.

>>2819045
do something simpler before jumping into a long range FPV plane. AeroStuff's planes are designed to be simple to build and he gets plenty of range out of them.

>>2819142
I already feel bad enough for ripping off the kids design lol. I'll have to chuck some bucks his way if I make a complete copy of it.

>>2819045
I'd like to help you there, but most of what I know is configuring the guts for max range, rather than the body itself. I'll certainly answer whatever questions in that department.

>>2819188
Thanks bud. I'm pretty comfortable with the guts from building and smashing FPVs. Never really worked with GPS autonomous flying before though.

Some odd questions
I would like some camera on it, whether FPV or recorder. FPV is nice if I have to switch over to manual flying and to check in. I'd operate the VTX on 1.2GHz for range. The VTX consumes a lot of power though, can this be linked to a 6 channel RTX to turn it on and off as required? Maybe a regulator on Ch5 or something.

GPS. Is this just a shield on the FC? I can probably youtube this as it's the same concept for octocopters. From watching AeroStuff's videos, altitude falling out of calibration also seems to be an issue, is a barometer required? Or are there ones integrated onto GPS boards?

>>2819136
There is simply nothing better than dive bombing a 5" and knocking up 120km/hr on the clock. Do it.

>>2819271
There are indeed ways to enable and disable a VTX, and often times it's easier to switch the power output level. See if you can get one that supports pit mode where it'll have an output of 0.01mW. Otherwise, there are VTX switches that have an enable pin that controls it.

On the subject of positioning sensors, a GPS is often barely different from a receiver to install and use. I have a few of them that cost $15 and are the size of my thumbnail at 1g. Their biggest issue tends to be dirty power and interference. If yours struggles, the 1.2GHz VTX is going to run at a very near frequency to what it's going to operate with. Separate them as much as you can, and if it still doesn't help, try a low ESR capacitor on the power pads directly on your GPS.

For altitude drift, this is always going to be a problem. A GPS will gradually get things close, and a barometer will be quicker but suffers from temperature and pressure change. Using them both helps a great deal. Expect to be 10-20 meters off if your GPS begins to struggle, and leave a cushion for it.

Before you ask about a compass/magnetometer, just skip it on a plane. GPS heading calculation is plenty, and is often less of a problem to deal with.

>>2819316
Oh right, on the topic of barometers, many flight controller boards include them. If large amounts of air will be blasting your flight controller, consider taping open cell foam over it to soften the airflow.

Is it possible to fly a dji drone autonomously by way point, or is that something you have to do completely diy? My idea is to have a drone fly to the beach, record 5 minutes of footage or so to check the ocean and waves, then return home

>>2818408
i ordered a bunch of these and 2cm 12V ones. i think the tiny one connected to my FCs 3.3V pad should be enough tho, ill make some tpu thing to mount it on the VTX so ill have a VTX with no overheating which makes looking for a crashed quad x10 times easier

>>2819451
IIRC yes but it still requires a connection to the controller to work, a lost in connection will cancel the mission and start RTH.

Submarine ROV had two props going the wrong way (forgot to check for that), after fixing them, then I broke the ONE FUCKING PLACE I soldered on the whole system and had to call it a day. Submarine otherwise was pretty good underwater, no leaks, left and right motors working good. Balance of the balast was off a bit causing it to tip back, but that can be easily adjusted. Will go back into the water in 2 weeks.

>>2819316
Thanks anon, will take a look. GPS L1 should be 300kHz away from 1.2GHz (unlicesed ham), I'll move the antennas around to get better signal.

Is the barometer built into the GPS or seperate, usually?

>>2819728
Yeah, normally I'd say that much frequency separation is fine, but GPS receivers are set so sensitive that nearly any signal can mess with them. Once had an AIO mess with one, and a mere inch of separation was all it took to remedy the issue.

I have yet to see a GPS with a barometer on it. They've all been on the flight controller, except for this odd addon board with a baro and mag together.