Posted: 1/9/2017 12:09:56 AM EDT
| Just looking at some on line and am looking for some info on pros, cons, and general info. Some footage from one would be cool too. Looking at under $500. |
|
I've got a couple, been doing it for a while. The important thing is a good flight control system. I use Eagle Tree mostly, they've got a good system, I'm actually on their race team. What are you looking at?
Dang, just realized who you were, if I knew you were looking I would've traded ya something for that 1897...lol |
|
Quoted:
Wait, is this a thing? Are they not just rc airplanes? I must know. Tell me more. Yeah, they're pretty much all RC planes, even what the military uses. But instead of just flying around in circles overy a field we put cameras on them, night vision, thermal, etc. Then we use an auto pilot system so you can fly a pattern while looking at the video feeds. Short of arming them the stuff we build/fly is the same. Attached File We make a "ground station" with lcd display to monitor flights, and we fly fpv wearing goggles. Pretty geeky! Lol |
|
Quoted:
I'd love to get into it for FPV flying. No clue where to start or how much it costs. You can get into fairly cheap, or you can go all out and spend a mint. Just depends on what sort video quality and stability you find acceptable. The GPS units and gyros these guys are talking about are amazing. |
|
That's a nice set up. Basically we build our own versions of that. But just like the AR game, this shit aint cheap! Once you get the basic equipment (radio, goggles, cameras) then you're just looking at new air frames. |
|
Eagle tree vector user here as well.
Here is a FPV feed from a 10 mile flight.  10 5 Miles Plane was a Ritewing Zephyr 2 with 2x 3700mah 4s lipo's a 700mw 2.4ghz video tx, and a 1watt 433mhz control TX. Current personal best is 13.6 miles in a XUAV mini talon with a single 5200 4s pack. 1.3Ghz video and 915mhz rc link. |
|
Quoted:
Eagle tree vector user here as well. Here is a FPV feed from a 10 mile flight.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBZh-yra2Ec
Plane was a Ritewing Zephyr 2 with 2x 3700mah 4s lipo's a 700mw 2.4ghz video tx, and a 1watt 433mhz control TX. Current personal best is 13.6 miles in a XUAV mini talon with a single 5200 4s pack. 1.3Ghz video and 915mhz rc link. Nice set up! The Vector is the way to go, lots of stuff you can do with it. I've even got one stuffed in a couple of racing quads. Problem is there's no good long range areas in NC. |
|
So what would be a decent, but not too expensive gimbal for use with a gopro on one of those ritewing zephyrs?
I see a few things advertised for quadcopter gimbals but nothing specifically that would work with that zephyr. Trying to get an idea of all the components required for something that will take reasonably nice, stable video so I can see what kind of price range of a complete rig we're talking about. |
|
Quoted:
Eagle tree vector user here as well. Here is a FPV feed from a 10 mile flight. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBZh-yra2Ec
Plane was a Ritewing Zephyr 2 with 2x 3700mah 4s lipo's a 700mw 2.4ghz video tx, and a 1watt 433mhz control TX. Current personal best is 13.6 miles in a XUAV mini talon with a single 5200 4s pack. 1.3Ghz video and 915mhz rc link. |
|
For tiny FPV, I have flown power levels of 1 mW, 25 mW, 200 mW and 250 mW. More mW is better than less. Image to the goggles is far better when flying 200 mW than 25 mW. It is far better to have an image that does not break up and is easily flyable, than an image that is un-flyable because of breakup.
Tiny and cheap! The Eachine TX02 FPV unit runs on tiny 1s lipo cells, it provides a good image, it has 200 mW. Mine was US sourced, for around $30. Cheap and good goggles are available, I don't use them but others I fly with do. They say the price is near $50. I use Fat Shark Dominator V3 goggles, they have a built in DVR. Many local FPV racers use Dominators but with diversity La Forge receivers. Cheap, small, but good FPV planes: The UMX Radian is a very good flying plane, it can easily carry a TX02 FPV unit and a 1s battery cell to power it. The WLtoys F959 Sky King and Dromeda Sky Cruiser 2, is a pusher plane, it gives a much less obstructed view than the UMX Radian does. Wingspan is nearly the same on these two planes, but the Sky King weighs about 2.5 times as much. The SK uses a 2s battery and has good climb performance, to get above tree tops rapidly. Also the SK can carry more weight than the UMXR, it can carry a key chain video cam that is too heavy for the UMX Radian. Finally, the SK is extremely strong and can survive crashes better than the U Radian. The UMX Radian is a small version of the original, much larger Radian. The URad has AS3X stability augmentation that really works, it flies much like the far larger original Radian. The Sky King does not have stability augmentation, but flies pretty well without it. The SK is like a scaled down EZStar. Hope this helps. |
|
Quoted:
For tiny FPV, I have flown power levels of 1 mW, 25 mW, 200 mW and 250 mW. More mW is better than less. Image to the goggles is far better when flying 200 mW than 25 mW. It is far better to have an image that does not break up and is easily flyable, than an image that is un-flyable because of breakup. Tiny and cheap! The Eachine TX02 FPV unit runs on tiny 1s lipo cells, it provides a good image, it has 200 mW. Mine was US sourced, for around $30. Cheap and good goggles are available, I don't use them but others I fly with do. They say the price is near $50. I use Fat Shark Dominator V3 goggles, they have a built in DVR. Many local FPV racers use Dominators but with diversity La Forge receivers. Cheap, small, but good FPV planes: The UMX Radian is a very good flying plane, it can easily carry a TX02 FPV unit and a 1s battery cell to power it. The WLtoys F959 Sky King and Dromeda Sky Cruiser 2, is a pusher plane, it gives a much less obstructed view than the UMX Radian does. Wingspan is nearly the same on these two planes, but the Sky King weighs about 2.5 times as much. The SK uses a 2s battery and has good climb performance, to get above tree tops rapidly. Also the SK can carry more weight than the UMXR, it can carry a key chain video cam that is too heavy for the UMX Radian. Finally, the SK is extremely strong and can survive crashes better than the U Radian. The UMX Radian is a small version of the original, much larger Radian. The URad has AS3X stability augmentation that really works, it flies much like the far larger original Radian. The Sky King does not have stability augmentation, but flies pretty well without it. The SK is like a scaled down EZStar. Hope this helps. Awesome! Thanks man. Do people upgrade any of those later on down the line with more powerful motor, more batteries, better transmitter, etc? |
|
Quoted:
I have considered fixed wing as well. You can get a lot longer flight time over a quad copter. I'm intrigued by the idea of ease/cost of construction materials. I have a CNC wood mill I built years ago. Haven't used it for much lately, but I'm wondering if it would be a decent option for rough cutting wing and fuselage pieces out of foam, then sanding and laminating for good airflow. Or maybe even making molds for CASTING foam pieces.  Take a bunch of pre-built spares and glue with you when you go flying, so you can make field repairs!
|
|
Quoted:
How are you legally flying at that altitude? As for a gimbal, the Feiyu gimbals are very nice for the money, I got one to put in the nose of my full size talon when I get around to building it. but I just finished up a Team black Sheep Discovery Pro and my gopro is going in that for now. This is a really nice setup for video In my option. .  ?? Mini Talon, Overlook and maiden flights |
|
Quoted:
Just ignore them Quoted:
Quoted:
AmeriCAN not an AmeriCANT. There are actually no laws that I know of. Only guidelines. I fly long range out in the desert, as you can see. Just ignore them Yes just ignore federal laws. While you're at it you should go saw off your rifle barrels... nfa is just a guideline too. I'm surprised arfcom allows posts advocating breaking federal laws and even post incriminating footage. |
|
Quoted:
AmeriCAN not an AmeriCANT. There are actually no laws that I know of. Only guidelines. I fly long range out in the desert, as you can see. while I am up fairly high the only real planes flying that low would be pretty easy to see. Also I fly that high extremely rarely. As for a gimbal, the Feiyu gimbals are very nice for the money, I got one to put in the nose of my full size talon when I get around to building it. but I just finished up a Team black Sheep Discovery Pro and my gopro is going in that for now. This is a really nice setup for video In my option. . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7wevhjjy4cTHAT is exactly what I'm looking for. I love how he can rotate the camera all the way around like that. Very cool. |
 How to build a RC plane for $10 (part 1) THIS has possibilities. Aw yeah. I need a virtual wind tunnel/aircraft physics modeling design program. 
I could do a single setup to cut all the parts out of a 3/4 piece of foam board like that on the CNC wood mill. Just model it in CAD, then cross section the fuselage into 3/4" slices for cutting out of the sheet. |
|
Quoted:
Yeah, they're pretty much all RC planes, even what the military uses. But instead of just flying around in circles overy a field we put cameras on them, night vision, thermal, etc. Then we use an auto pilot system so you can fly a pattern while looking at the video feeds. Short of arming them the stuff we build/fly is the same. https://www.AR15.Com/media/mediaFiles/17187/IMG-20130525-144757-383-122354.JPG We make a "ground station" with lcd display to monitor flights, and we fly fpv wearing goggles. Pretty geeky! Lol NERD ALERT j/k I'm pretty jelly ...  sounds fun |
|
Here's some good footage we took:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMIulFq9eQ4 |
|
Quoted:
Eagle tree vector user here as well. Here is a FPV feed from a 10 mile flight. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBZh-yra2Ec
Plane was a Ritewing Zephyr 2 with 2x 3700mah 4s lipo's a 700mw 2.4ghz video tx, and a 1watt 433mhz control TX. Current personal best is 13.6 miles in a XUAV mini talon with a single 5200 4s pack. 1.3Ghz video and 915mhz rc link. is that 13.6 miles in one direction or 13.6 total? how far away can they reasonably transmit? |
|
Played with fixed wing FPV and it just wasnt as fun. You start to worry about shit when you know it is getting out there.
On screen display and some other items like at least a diversity video receiver and circular polarized antennas are a must. For shorter ranges out to a half mile or so 2.4ghz control and 5.8ghz video will do in many cases. Know the limits of the gear and set up for your video range being shorter than your control link so when your analog video starts to fuzz you turn around. RSSI antenna trackers are nice but it all gets to be a bit much. I found proximity flying close in is the most fun, FPV race wings are where I will go if I return to fixed wing. For now it is racing drones for my fix. The style of flying and the flat out fun is so much more my style. Chasing the damn pidgeons around the park can be a HELL of a lot of fun(if I catch one, which is easy as I am 2x as fast as they are, 23k rpm props will likely amputate a wing or head), payback for all the shit i have had on my cars. 4-6 minutes of flight time is good enough for me on a quad given the nunber of batteries I have. Will look into a more efficient longer range quad in spring for bombing canyons during wild flower season. |
|
Quoted:
So what would be a decent, but not too expensive gimbal for use with a gopro on one of those ritewing zephyrs? I see a few things advertised for quadcopter gimbals but nothing specifically that would work with that zephyr. Trying to get an idea of all the components required for something that will take reasonably nice, stable video so I can see what kind of price range of a complete rig we're talking about. First off have you ever flown any RC stuff before? Can you LOS fly and be able to bring your vehicle in when your video link fails and you are lucky enough to still have eyes on it? I have saved both wings and drones from certain death by being able to find them in the sky and bring them in line of sight. Otherwise you are hope and a prayer in your return to home system if your flight controller has one. Start basic then add systems. |
|
Quoted:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jv3D30RGT-g
THIS has possibilities. Aw yeah. I need a virtual wind tunnel/aircraft physics modeling design program.
I could do a single setup to cut all the parts out of a 3/4 piece of foam board like that on the CNC wood mill. Just model it in CAD, then cross section the fuselage into 3/4" slices for cutting out of the sheet. There are a bunch of flying wings you can build from foam too |
|
Quoted:
Pretty sure part 107 isn't considered a guideline. Edited to add part 61 isn't a guideline. either The FAR are Federal Aviation Regulations. They are not laws. The FAA enforces their rules by removing the permission they gave you to operate under their rules (revoking pilot license, etc) or through civil action (they sue you). Drunk airline pilots are not arrested for flying drunk, they are arrested for reckless endangerment or other similar violations of law. |
|
Quoted:
is that 13.6 miles in one direction or 13.6 total? how far away can they reasonably transmit? |
|
Quoted:
part 107 is for commercial work. Never heard of 61. Quoted:
Quoted:
Pretty sure part 107 isn't considered a guideline. Edited to add part 61 isn't a guideline. either http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/text-idx?c=ecfr&sid=40760189a03dfea0b501608f33820a45&rgn=div5&view=text&node=14:2.0.1.1.2&idno=14 |