Mockup of the newest bird...

[theGreenOrange]

yeah, i know how the failsafe works, i just wouldnt cause my system to intentionally go into failsafe,

I don't think Jerry and I have talked about this before, but I use the exact same setup and same retrieval method. If it is crashed far, I may bring my DVR goggles and my radio with me. As long as you test your failsafe pre-flight, I don't see a problem.

If you don't trust your failsafe, why would you trust your FC to do 32,000 caculations a second as you whiz over your head? If it messed these up by a small amount, you would lose control in a split second. This requires more trust than a simple failsafe.

 

[VirtueViolater]

failsafe is to keep flyaways from happening when you loose signal, its not a matter of trusting my failsafe, its a matter of not having to trust my failsafe if i dont have to (i have had a flyaway, that is now on a milk carton)

 

[Jtrjr]

I think we all just have different perspectives on how and when to use failsafe. I setup failsafe before my birds go in the air and I utilize it often upon a crash. I have only had to actually use it for a flyaway situation once and that was in my first week of flying and the first video I posted to this site.

To each his own, peace and love, peace and love, my Brothers!

Jerry

 

[Jtrjr]

Up at the lake now, no flying for me!

Jerry

 

[Jtrjr]

Okay, scrapped everything RF and went back to my tried and true BFF3 AIO FC. So here's what we've got:

QAV-Skitzo Frame
BetaFlight F3 AIO Flight Controller
Emax 30A D-Shot Bullet Series ESC's
Emax RS2205-S 2300KV Motors (Thanks Virtue!)
FrSky XSR Receiver
ImmersionRC Tramp HV VTX
Runcam Swift Mini FPV Camera
GoPro Session Hero 4 Camera

BetaFlight FC provides OSD and the ability to access and change PID's through the radio and the Tramp HV VTX. I also set-up the Tramp HV wand tag so I can change the VTX channel, band and power with the ImmersionRC Wand. Preliminary tests show all is operational. Can't field test with the 30-50mph winds we're having today. As you can see from the video, Failsafe is set-up the way I like it. I think this thing is going to scream!

Jerry

 

[VirtueViolater]

yup

 

[Jtrjr]

Look's like it's just you and me these days. We probably should swap emails in case this place shuts down!

Jerry

 

[VirtueViolater]

what would they do without us?....lol
keith must be burning paks with no time for us anymore

 

[Jtrjr]

Yeah, Green must be on vacation or something. I see him chime in every now and again but he doesn't seem to be on here as much as he used to be. He's probably getting tired of us noobies. Lot's have come and gone in a short period of time, that's for sure. Check your "conversations".

Jerry

 

[Jtrjr]

Since everything looked good on BF 3.1 I decided I should update it to the latest version of BetaFlight v3.1.7. I updated it, reconfigured everything, got the props on and took it outside for a quick liftoff. Plugged the battery in and "poof"! ESC on motor 1 smoked. Took it inside put it on BLHeli which requires you to plug the battery in and "poof" on ESC 1 again. I have no idea why everything was great on v3.1.0 and everything smoked on v3.1.7. Back to the drawing board.

Jerry

 

[theGreenOrange]

Yeah, Green must be on vacation or something. I see him chime in every now and again but he doesn't seem to be on here as much as he used to be. He's probably getting tired of us noobies. Lot's have come and gone in a short period of time, that's for sure. Check your "conversations".

Jerry

I'm still here guys. I have been a bit occupied with switching out my 36gal aquarium for a 125gal. Then last week, I quit smoking. I smoked anywhere from 1 to 2 packs a day for over 20 years, and would check in on here during most cigarette breaks.

But I am still very much into FPV. It turns out my Predator X doesnt just have 1 bad motor, it has 2 or even 3 bad motors. But 2 more replacements came in yesterday. Also, the last bit of shrink wrap and wire sleeving neded to try that Skitzo FC on my Martian came in.

Now I am having major second thoughts on switching to RF at all though. I have the Skitzo and a Millivolt on my bench. I only have one 5" and one 3" quad (and my brushed micro) so the downtime of switching back and forth is a factor.

 

[Jtrjr]

Green,

Don't get paranoid about RF because of my experience. I think my issue was more the Bolt than the Revo. I think many of us are seeing that there's quite a bit of "experimentation" in this hobby! I've certainly been having a few setbacks. The latest these Emax 30A ESC's. I really have been **** about soldering so I don't think that's the issue. Bench tested great on 3.1.0 then "poof" as soon as I flash it to 3.1.7. Go figure? Now I've got to hope I didn't smoke the motor too and decide wether I put a new Emax on there or I go back to my tried and true Aikon's.

Jerry

 

[Jtrjr]

Good luck with the smoking! I've been smoking my whole life too but everyone on my Mothers side (5 of them, including my Mother) were life-long smokers, they quit and within 3 years of quitting died of lung cancer. I've got a few years yet before they put me in a home so I figure I'll quit about 3 years before I think they may try to get rid of me!

Seriously, good luck, it's a very difficult thing to do.

Jerry

 

[VirtueViolater]

Green,

Don't get paranoid about RF because of my experience. I think my issue was more the Bolt than the Revo. I think many of us are seeing that there's quite a bit of "experimentation" in this hobby! I've certainly been having a few setbacks. The latest these Emax 30A ESC's. I really have been **** about soldering so I don't think that's the issue. Bench tested great on 3.1.0 then "poof" as soon as I flash it to 3.1.7. Go figure? Now I've got to hope I didn't smoke the motor too and decide wether I put a new Emax on there or I go back to my tried and true Aikon's.

Jerry

my favorite are the littlebee spring 30a blheliS, havent had a problem with them and have them on 3 builds right now
also Jerry, i hope you try the revolt v2 with regular esc's, its amazing

 

[Jtrjr]

Virtue,

Yeah, I've had really good luck with the Aikon 30A ESC's too. Got them on three birds as well. I'm going to do a little research on these Emax 30A's and then I'll probably try to replace the one that burned up first. I read somewhere that they're making these things too small to handle the load. If it smoked one of my new motors too I think I'll just swap them with the Aikon's. I might try the RF V2 in a future build since I have two of them!

Jerry

 

[Jtrjr]

Just did a quick search on YT about these Emax 30A Bullet Series ESC's and saw quite a few smoked and defective ones. I think I'll cut my losses and put the Aikon's on.

Jerry

 

[Jtrjr]

Emax 30A Bullet ESC was toast and it took out motor #1 as well. Swapped the Emax ESC's for Aikon 30A and replaced the motor. Flashed it with BetaFlight v3.1.7 at the very beginning, Bench tested it several times and all looks good. Hopefully, the weather will cooperate and I can put it in the air tomorrow.

Jerry

 

[Jtrjr]

Wouldn't you know it, woke up to thunderstorms this morning!

Jerry

 

[VirtueViolater]

Wouldn't you know it, woke up to thunderstorms this morning!

Jerry

Same here, the simulator is getting old

 

[Jtrjr]

I know I should spend more time using the sims but I just can't get into it. I've got two more builds to do but I think I'm ready for a build break. Skitzo was a real PITA. When I swapped the ESC's I thought it'd be easier to strip the ESC of all wires and leave the existing ESC wires attached to the FC alone. By the time I finally got done with reattaching all of the ESC's, I wished I had just pulled the wires from the FC. Of course, I soldered up two of them before I realized I hadn't put the heat shrink on! Had to pull those two apart and start over. Long day yesterday. I'm still hoping this weather clears up for a bit so I can at least test the dang thing.

Jerry